Average is the enemy of excellence

I don't know about you, but there has always been a drive in me to be above average. (accept algebra I ....& Botony...& well maybe all other academics as well) In life it is so easy to get comfortable and complacent in life. Human nature is to gravitate toward what is easy and comfortable. With C3, one of our key values is to evaluate everything. Between services, after the Sunday morning or event we always ask; what could we have done to make it better? It is awesome to be a part of a team where there is enough trust, that honesty can happen for the betterment of the big picture. Then you have to have people with enough self esteem to be able to take it in the right vein. We are totally getting there! It is great to see comments that would have normally offended someone, now not sting because they now the heart behind it. What is best for C3?
So what are some ways that you evaluate yourself or what you are involved in? Who can be honest with you in order for you to break away from average?

losing sight of the shore

Andre Gide said "One doesn't discover new lands, without losing sight of the shore." How true and frightening is that statement? Losing sight of the shore means you are leaving your safety net of "even if God doesn't show, I can still save my self." What if all Christians followed what they believed God was calling them to? Out into the unchartered waters of faith? The place where God moves on our behalf because He sees our heart and trust in Him, our Father. I think of my boys and little girl. If as a dad I see them doing something that is daring and potentially dangerous, I react. What if we operated in that gung ho attitude, rather than our normal defensive Christian posture? Maybe, just maybe we could change the world.

God help me to keep YOU on YOUR toes.......well....or at least try!

Family Fun Night rocked!

It went great! We had between 300 - 400 people show up to spend the evening with their families. Kids were bouncing on inflatables, people were devouring hot dogs and their were several smiling kids eating ice-cream. The weather was 70 degrees and sunny and our people did amazing. I love being a part of a church where the majority are involved in serving those around them. It was a huge win for Pickerington and our church! I had some great conversations with several people who said they have been looking for a church. It is amazing that when outside guests see Christians living what they believe, they become intrigued. We as a church are striving to "live out loud".

Family Fun Night!

Tonight we are doing a Free Family Fun night for our community. The Pickerington Chamber of Commerce asked us if we would take a night for "Turn off TV Week" to encourage parents to shut off the TV and spend some time with their kids. We will have inflatables, hotdogs, drinks and build your own ice cream sundaes. It should be a lot of fun. We are getting some serious buzz in our community as the church that is always doing something for the community. Our people have been amazing by donating stuff and have given of their time and energy to be a positive influence in their world. The weather is beautiful today and we are hoping for a good crowd!

Time will tell.

My Nana

Late Saturday night I was on my way home from playing some "blugrass/southern gospel ish" music with my family band in Canton Ohio, when I stopped by to see my Nana (grandmother). She has been diagnosed with cancer that is well along in it's stages. We had one of those conversations that I will carry through my lifetime. I am sooo grateful to have grandparents that chose to serve God and passed it on to my father, and now to me and on to my kids. When I think of how her life has affected mine, I thank the Lord and Saturday was able to thank her. In that conversation she spoke "life" over me and told me how proud she was and that she always knew that God was going to use me. It was truly a humbling experience. As I hugged her neck and began my drive home, I had time to reflect on what was said. Life is all about relationships. The most important things in life aren't things, but people. I'm very thankful for those who have given me a foundation from which to build my life on. Nana is one of them. She has always been one of those "pillars" in my life that I always knew was available for me and an endless well of love for her oldest grandson. My prayer is that I can now use my life to invest in others as she has invested in mine.
- I love you Nana

Spontaneous baptisms

This last Sunday we did a spontaneous baptism at our service. We had no one sign up to be baptized, so we filled the tank anyway. At the end of the service, we threw out the chance to be baptized and 2 people felt led to do so. I unclipped my mic, kicked off the shoes and jumped in. Somehow I feel that was a little closer to how they did it in the New Testament. A person gives their life to Christ and wants to be baptized as a public profession of their faith. Simplicity! Anyway, it was awesome to be a part of what God is doing.

V Tech Tragedy

As I watched the news, I sat there with this horrible feeling deep in my gut. Why? What would make a person do something like this? Then to come back after thinking it through for a couple hours, this is just hard to understand. So many questions and not enough answers. It's amazing what people are capable of doing. The only real answer is "sin". Ever since man chose to be disobedient, sin entered the world. People have used their free will and freedom to some horrible things. The Bible talks about how the world will get worse and worse until He comes back for His people. I guess tragedies like V Tech are a wake up call to Christ's followers. We must continue to do our best to love as Christ loved, for our time is perhaps closer than we know. We must pray for those affected by this terrible incident and be the hands of feet of Christ in the situations we find ourselves in.

Half Marathon

I ran the Columbus La Salle Bank half marathon on Saturday and am still feeling it on Monday. I placed 42nd out of around 3,500 finishers with a time of 1hr and 28minutes for 13.1 miles. It was a great time! The winners actually tied, which is almost unheard of with the new digital chip timing. Crazy! Running a race of that distance is all about being able to read your body and adjusting in order to run the distance as fast as possible. So many variables with prior training, weather, distance, pace, etc. There were several people who started off way too fast, that began to fade after a few miles never to recover. Really, that is kind of like life. I personally want to live in such a way to get as much as I can out of it. It comes down to balancing family, friends, church, staying close with God, my own personal health, etc. If I get out of balance, something or someone suffers. So in the race of life, are you living balanced? A better question may be: How much longer can you continue to run this current pace?

Favor

I know you can't see it the best in this picture, but as I was driving to Pickerington, it was if among all the clouds that the sun broke through and was beaming down just over the area our church is in. I looked at this and smiled. C3 is truly experiencing the favor of God on our church. There is nothing more valuable in life, than God's favor! Nothing. It can't be bought or manipulated. God chooses, period. My only aim it to stay humble and grateful before an ALMIGHTY, ALL POWERFUL, GOD who loves us endlessly. We are building HIS church. Thanks God for your favor! In my prayer time, I almost become overwhelmed of all that HE is doing. Favor....nothing compares!

motorcycle hall of fame

As a part of a leadership program I'm a part of, we went and toured the Motorcycle Museum and then had our meeting there. On the tour I got to see the evolution of the motorcycle. It is cool to see the progression of thought, ingenuity and a little luck. But it evolved because of those who kept pushing the envelope. In my context of C3 Church, our heart is to keep moving forward and experimenting with ideas and continuing to be on the cutting edge of church ministry. What about you? Are satisfied on a 1952 Huskavarna, or will you go after something newer, faster and better? Never stop evaluating and experimenting.

windows to the heart

Reading a book by Craig Groeschel that really got me thinking, He talked about how praise and criticism are both windows to our hearts. We tend to praise what we value most and criticise what we are most insecure about. Have you ever thought about this? What do you tend to praise or criticise the most? This is yet another window to peer inside ourselves and plainly see what needs to change. Ouch! These kind of challenges hurt, but are needed if we are to continue to grow.

Back to the basics

Today I am back in the coffee shop where I spent most of my days as my office before we got internet in the church. Now that we are online, hired Gary and brought in a couple of interns, I pretty much spend most of my days in the church. This is good and bad. Good in that I can give some direction and get some stuff done, but bad in the fact that I am not out among the people of Pickerington whom God has called me to reach. It almost felt good to walk in and here the person behind the counter call me by name. I then began to dialog and pick up where we left off. If you look at the life of Jesus, He spent more time at the well's and the market places than He did in the synagogue. Today, our "wells", are the coffee houses and the mall's. I personally want to spend time there dialoging with people. Lord help me never to lose touch with those You have called me to reach. Sooo, from Cup O Joe in Picktown....this is Konan signing off.

growth blocker

At C3 Church we are in a series called "grow", and have been dealing with things that hinder us growing. Whether in our lives, business or church there are certain things that hinder growth. The key is to identify these growth blockers and put a plan in place to either remove or overcome them. It's like a potted plant, it grows until it hits a growth blocker. This may be a lack of water, sunlight, bad soil, size of pot, etc. Our job is figure it out and deal with it. So what are you dealing with right now that hinders growth? What plan will you or have you put in place in order to tackle that growth blocker?

sharing

Why is it so hard to teach a little kid (or even adult) to share? Right now I'm trying to teach my little 19month old Kali to share and she wants nothing to do with it. Both her older brothers are pretty good with sharing after a long process of several years. Maybe because she is the youngest, she gets things taken away from her so often, that she will do anything not to have to share. Lately, in the front driveway, I've been having all 3 of my kids take turns in a little red car while I push them down the sidewalk. But when it's Kali's turn to get out....ohh my! The nieghbors probably think the tornado warnings have gone off.
But I have found that life is better when you share. When you accomplish something great, you want to share that with someone. Or how about enjoying an cool experience together. Maybe it's an ice cream, a cold glass of lemonade or a ride with the convertible top down. There have been times in my life where I have hoarded something all to myself.....and honestly it didn't taste as good nor seem as fun.
What about you, are there certain things you won't share? If so, why not?

Eggstravaganza, huge success

WOW! Last Saturday was an amazing day. Not only did the Buckeyes beat Georgetown but C3's 10,000 Easter Egg hunt was off the chain! There was big inflatables, face painting, firetrucks, pictures with the Easter Bunny, prizes, and a ton of eggs. We had right at 1,000 people on our property for this amazing event. Our people were incredible! Everyone jumped in and took ownership of their piece of this huge undertaking and it was a success. The parents who brought their kids were amazed at how well it was thought through and organized. We actually had several families return for our Sunday services the next day. It was a tribute to the unity of our church and the favor of God on C3!
Oh yeah - We also had the biggest Sunday morning attendance for C3, two weeks in a row!