crazy month

January has been a month of craziness around C3 Church. First with all the construction, our offices have been an 8ft table in the sanctuary. Drywall dust is everywhere and on everything and you combine that with the noise hammers and loud machinery and you have craziness. Also, we are in the process of hiring a new administrator and all our office stuff is jammed in a small room I used to call my office. Due to the construction taking longer than expected, we've had to cram all our meetings in this month. Everything from Partnership, business meeting (Dream3), Starting Point and launching our Community Groups have all happened this month. Today we baptized 8 people and our kids met in the unfinished dusty new sanctuary....with a live llama. It has been crazy.....but I wouldn't trade it for the world, because of where we are going. It is an exciting time in the life of our young church and we are moving fast and furious!......all to see more people experience the LifeChanging power of Jesus Christ!

Dream 3

I love our church! We had a great Dream 3 meeting where we shared where we are currently and where we are going in the future. We discussed how the leadership structure is set up, how kids ministry is being restructured and about the new building. Probably the biggest news though, was that God is expanding C3's Vision to reach the City of Columbus. We are looking at becoming 1 church, in many locations surrounding the 270 belt-loop around Columbus. We are looking to launch our first video venue campus in the Gahanna area in the Fall of 2010. This would be an off site C3 campus with live site pastor, live worship, kids ministries, video teaching from the main campus and all the other C3 fixings. We can begin to plant new site churches in movie theaters and school auditoriums at a fraction of the price of building new buildings. Through these C3 sites, we can also reach more people for Jesus Christ just by expanding locations. Another amazing thing is that we have church planting agencies through the Assemblies of God that will help us fund this whole thing. God is doing something amazing through C3.....and we have only just begun!

What's the difference?

What is the difference between Christianity and other religions? There is one thing that Christianity has that no other religion even claims to have....and that is the Holy Spirit. When Christ left, He sent us Holy Spirit to lead us in truth, to comfort us, to guide us, to move through us in power. No other man made religion can say that. If we are truly following Jesus, then we should be different! If we have truly surrendered to Holy Spirit then we should be doing things no else does and not doing things that everyone else does. We should be walking reflections of Jesus Christ! That's the difference!

rising temperature

God is about to blow this thing up at C3 Church. Yesterday, we had 10 people give their lives to Jesus Christ! At our prayer meetings you can sense a growing hunger for more of Jesus. We are a couple of weeks from being in our new sanctuary and people are excited. It's crazy that at the same time, I can definitely feel the spiritual temperature (opposition) rising. At times it can be heavy. Every Pastor wants to see their church grow, but as I am learning there is a price to pay for that.

the little things

Today, I changed our living room into a "paintball" field. Furniture was moved & cushions, chairs & blankets were used as bunkers! With Nerf foam dart guns that hold 12 shots & shoot 30 ft, the battles began. Having played paintball on a sponsored team in the past, I used the time after every game for a 30 second "pointer" or "coaching" session. I was amazed how fast they were getting it and began working together to beat me! Like in any sport or competition, it usually comes down to the fundamentals or the little things that add up to win competitions.

It can't be done without God

I love our Executive Leadership Team (board) of C3 Church. Last night at our meeting, I said again, "Let's attempt something that is bigger than us! Something that only God could pull off. Then when we see it come to pass, only God can get the glory!"
Personally, I don't want to pass from this Earth only attempting things that I can pull off in my own strength. (of course even that is a gift from God) I want to dream the things on God's heart and trust Him to help us accomplish them. If I have nothing, but have God....I have everything! So with "THE EVERYTHING" for us, who or what can stand against us.

reflect

Just as the moon has no light in and of itself but rather reflects the suns light, so do we have no light in us, except for what comes from Christ. The love we reflect back to God and others, only comes from the love that He gives to us. How good of a reflection of Jesus am I? Is my life lined up in such a way that Christ is reflected well? Or are there too many things in the way? What are you reflecting?

quote

In Mark Batterson's book "Primal" he says "If God can create billions of galaxies in just 4 words, what can't He do for you?" WOW! Now that is perspective! Why do we try to shrink God to the size of our biggest problem? It's so easy to lose perspective and get lost in our own little world and put God in our tiny box. How big is your view of GOD? Whatever it is....it's too small!

revealing question

This Sunday, I threw out a question that has been challenging me for a couple weeks now. "Would I rather have a year of no problems but get no closer to Jesus, or have tests and problems and draw closer to Jesus, which would I choose?"
Think deep about that question, I hope you wrestle with that

worship

Batterson says, "Love turns work into worship." Have you ever looked at everything that you do as worship? If it is your everyday job, do it as worship unto the Lord. This thought really helped me even looking at my time spent at home with my family and kids as worship to God. I can worship God by loving my kids and wife as Jesus would. I can worship through kind words to others and by serving someone else. I can worship God by giving the very best I have at anything that I am doing. If I truly have God's love, it can turn most anything I do into worship toward God. Are you worshiping?

american idol

Last night Keri and I are watching American idol and laughing and crying at all the real life stories. Then comes up this guy that said he was a "church singer." His name was Jermaine I think. When he started singing, I could feel the anointing! I turned to my wife with tears in my eyes and said, "that dude is anointed!" Then the judges were all saying WOW and Mary Jo Blige says, that it was "anointed." There is and should be a difference in our lives when Holy Spirit resides in us. I'm anxious to see how he does....time will tell.

not prepared

This morning I ran with a couple of friends for over 2 hours in the 6-8 degrees. By the time we had finished our eye lashes literally had ice hanging off of the them as well as our hats were covered with ice. I have ran in the cold, but never that far. I was comfortable, except for my fingers. The gloves I had were not thick enough, even with my sleeves pulled over them. I literally ran with my hands in my pockets for several miles. When I got home, I was a little scared looking at my pale white fingers. I have had numb fingers many times, but never quite as cold as today. All is good, but I will not be unprepared again when it comes to gloves. It is amazing the difference being prepared makes. You can be so much more effective or a whole lot more than you should have, and it all comes down to being prepared. Are you prepared?

church cohort

Today and tomorrow I am part of the "Chruch Life Cohort," which is training for pastors. I'm ready to learn and grow. This is a one year journey with 27 other pastors and coaches with reading and assignments between the every other month over night sessions.. In order for C3 to keep moving forward, I must keep moving forward. It's "grow time!"

brand

This morning while running 15 miles on a treadmill (painful) it gave me plenty of time to listen to some podcasts. As I listened to several different pastors preach, I began to notice that they are all giving a different "brand" of Jesus. Some preach all judgment, while others grace, prosperity or faith. The truth is, EVERYONE on the face of the planet has a limited and incomplete picture of the depth of God. Personally, the closer I get to Jesus, the more I realize how much I don't know of Him. I'm so glad we have the Bible which is full of Truth and understanding of God, and Holy Spirit is much needed to help me grasp that truth in depth.
This whole thought has led me to ask myself, what "brand" of Jesus am I preaching? Maybe the better question is, how small is the box that I try to put God in when I try to describe HIM? Better yet, what "brand" of Jesus am I living daily? For what I am living, is truly what I believe.

let it snow

We are having to cancel the "Dream 3" meeting tonight due to the snow that is coming, right at the time of the meeting. Time will tell what happens.
I do remember last year when we had to cancel b/c of a level 3 snow emergency. The funny thing was, our parking lot was packed with people......sledding!

Dream 3

This Thursday night we are having a "Dream 3" night at C3 Church. It will be a cross between an annual business meeting and a vision night. I'm excited to share where we feel that God is leading us in the future to position ourselves to take a city for Jesus Christ. C3 exists to make a "Dent" for the name of Jesus. We will make Jesus famous in Columbus!

Sunday

Sunday at C3, we talked about going to the next level as a church. I along with others, have this deep stirring that God is about to do something amazing at our church. When I pray, I feel that we are standing on the edge of God moving powerfully. We kicked off our new Sunday night prayer service and had a great turn out of people who are hungry for more God. I really feel that this is the beginning of something new for our church. There is so much more found in Jesus and we are only scratching the surface. I want ALL WE CAN HANDLE OF JESUS. My prayer is that a renewed hunger for Jesus fills our church.

awkward

I'm on the treadmill at the gym, tortuously hammering out 14miles, when I get something in my eye. I'm holding one eye closed (which looks like I'm winking) trying to fix the problem when a woman walks up the steps and we lock eyes. AWKWARD.

In the same day, I'm taking my boys to the bathroom and see the "family" bathroom. I walk over and "assume" that it is available b/c the door is not even fully shut. I open the door and there is woman using the restroom who begins yelling.."THERE IS SOMEONE IN HERE!" AWKWARD.

In moments like these that you just have to laugh.

New Year

Who knows what this new year holds. All the challenges, joys, sorrows and life experience. As I get older the years seem to clip by faster and faster. I want to enjoy every breath of life that God entrusts to me.
Have you taken time to think through how this year, you could position yourself for it to be the best yet? I have read that what you plan and begin in the first 90 days of the year, will determine what gets accomplished for the year. What will you begin in the first 3 months to make 2010 the best year yet?