Monday after Sunday Random Thoughts

 Church at the Grove, Jesus, Missional, Random Thoughts  No Responses »
Jun 092008
 

Yesterday was a great day.  I walked away after the service wondering if “we will ever get it”.  I am so burdened for people to know Jesus and experience the abundant life so many of us have been blessed with, but I often wonder if we are willing to pay the price to share Jesus with others.

  • We began the One Prayer series yesterday and I shared my one prayer; “God, Make us Reproductive!”
  • As I stated yesterday, If I had One sermon left to preach, this would be it.  We must STAY AWARE of the people for whom Jesus died. 
  • I am encouraging our people to go to oneprayer.com and keep up with what is going on at the website and fully engage in what God is doing over this month. 
  • We are all called to be reproductive as believers.  Apples produce apples, oranges produce oranges and Disciples produce Disciples.  Matthew 7 “You will know them by there fruit.”
  • The air conditioning wasn’t working properly in the cafetorium, but we have already received an email from our wonderful principle refunding half our rent payment and they have technicians already scheduled to be there on Monday.  Wow!  I so wanted to say to everyone, “If you think its hot in here, just think how hot it is in HELL!”  I refrained.
  • It was a fun day to be in  one service and to have great energy but I warned our people about getting comfortable in one service because we will eventually go back to two services.  We should have to if we are reaching out to people like we should. 
  • The DAWGS won yesterday!  Josiah and I had a blast going to the games in Athens for the super-regional.  Last night was one of the most thrilling and exciting sporting events I have ever personally attended.  On to Omaha and the College World Series. 
  • I am praying for our church to multiply its influence this summer and fall.  We must ramp up our intensity of reaching people that are disconnected from God and Church.
 Posted by at 9:54 am

DAWG Day afternoon; Craig Story’s Birthday & One Prayer!

 Church at the Grove, Sports  No Responses »
Jun 072008
 

 DAWGS Super regional

Today was a DAWG Day afternoon!  I had a blast taking Josiah to see the Diamond DAWGS play in the Super Regional of the NCAA baseball championship tournament.  They were playing North Carolina State and whoever wins 2 games out of 3 goes on to the College Baseball World Series in Omaha.  Georgia won Friday, NC State won today so they play tomorrow for the trip to Omaha.  I love doing things like this with my kids.  It was hot, but it was a blast!  Josiah loves it!

Craig Story’s birthday is tomorrow June 8!  Craig will be 3? years old.  He is a very YOUNG man!  Make sure and give Craig a “Happy Birthday”!, a hug, a pat on the back, a big thanks for all he does, a high five, OH YEAH and MONEY!  Well, make sure you acknowledge his birthday. 

Tomorrow starts our new One Prayer series.  It is going to be a great four weeks.  The part that I am exited about the most is the fact that we will be joining with over 1200 other churches and almost one million other believers in four weeks of praying, fasting and giving in order to see God break through and do something amazing. 

One Prayer

 Posted by at 7:21 pm

Thursday Thoughts

 Church, Church at the Grove, Church Planting, Leadership  No Responses »
Jun 052008
 

Nathan wrote a great post on praying for your pastor and he was inspired by this post from Perry Noble.  I would love for people to be praying for me and our staff.  Check out these posts and commit to praying for your pastor. 

I am so looking forward to our New Teaching Series “One Prayer” as we meet in One Gathering this Sunday at 10am!  Don’t miss The Grove this weekend!

I am reading a great book called Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich written by Mark Kriegel.  Pistol Pete turned to follow Jesus late in his life but this book is not written from a Christian perspective.  It is simply a sports biography.  Pete began drinking in high school and his alcohol problem began to escalate through his college years while playing basketball at LSU.  Check out this quote:

To be sure, he drank because was a college kid who liked to get high on beer.  But he also drank for his father; Press’s hopes and expectations formed a cruel yoke around his thin neck.  He drank for his mother, too, as they shared a burden in their blood.  He drank because no matter how many points he scored, it would never be enough.  Amid all his record-setting triumph, all that apparent joy, there was an undertow of grief.  To watch Pete hoist a beer was to see a college kid having a good time.  But to look in his eyes was to see the sadness in his soul. 

Wow!  How many people do we come into contact every day that simply need someone to look deep into their eyes? 

I had a great conversation with a server at a restaurant today.  I ask the server, who was obviously in her twenties, what her perspective on “church” was.  She shared that she had not been to church much in her life but she was exposed to it some by her grandmother growing up, who expressed belief in God and the Bible.  She had a problem, though, with her grandmother’s obvious racial remarks toward people of other color and her grandmother’s negative comments toward people with tattoos.  I told her about CATGrove and she said, “I will come to your church!”  WOW!  I think we simply need to be willing to initiate some conversations. 

 Posted by at 3:58 pm

Dude! I thought you were on crack or something!

 Church Planting, Leadership  No Responses »
Jun 042008
 

I was eating breakfast with a friend recently and he was sharing about an awesome ministry he was on the verge of launching and he was trying to describe how excited he was.  He stated, “I feel the way you acted when CATGrove was about to launch and the first weeks when it did launch.  Dude!  I thought you were on crack or something!” 

I wanted to be excited for him, but his comment immediately took the wind out of my sails for the day. (We were meeting for breakfast)  I was and I am excited for him, but I was and I am quite concerned over the choice of one word he used in referring to me in describing how he felt.  “WERE”  He said he it seemed as if I “WERE” on crack!  Not as if I “AM” on crack. 

Here is the question that immediately came to mind, “What happened to the excitement I had then?  Where has it gone?  Why am I not as excited now as I WAS then?  There are some practical thoughts concerning the change:

  • Planting a church is hard work, and we simply get tired.  The energy methodically gets drained out of your life because of the constant grind.
  • The weekly routine becomes the norm and the never-ending cycle of weekly “ministry” isn’t new any more.  The new simply wears off.
  • We allow the grinding monotony to steal our passion and joy for our original mission.
  • We lose the laser focus of our vision and allow the administration and busyness to steal our DREAM of reaching the unreachable.
  • We crack under the pressure and wonder if we have what it takes to continue on.

Here are some ideas for persevering, recovering and maintaining the joy, excitement and adventure of life in a new church:

  • Spend non-negotiable time with God, in His Word focused on prayer for your biblical vision and dream to become a reality. 
  • Get away for a day and read over your original prospectus, ministry plans and launch documents.
  • Take one of your team to lunch and talk about the original steps taken to launch the church or ministry.
  • Get adequate rest in the midst of a busy schedule. 
  • Make sure you are taking steps to have other people and ministry poured back into your life.
  • Spend time with people that reflect the fruit of your church’s ministry.  Listen to them talk about how God has transformed your life. 
  • Revisit the vision; revisit the vision; revisit the vision!!!!
 Posted by at 4:56 pm
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