memorial

Saturday night we had a memorial service for a true woman of God from C3. Her name was Wanda and she went to be with Jesus at 88 years old. Her family would help her in the doors and to her seat every week. You could see her dancing during worship while holding on to her walker. Her family said she loved "rock n roll worship." All those present at her memorial service shared how she walked with Jesus and prayed continually.
Driving away, it really challenged me to look at my own life. Wanda left an incredible legacy behind to her family. I talked about a quote from Covey that says, we can give 2 things to our family, wings and roots. I want to give both.

humbling

I love Fridays, because I am all alone at C3 as the all the other staff take their day off that day. Today, I spent some time with Jesus just sitting in our new sanctuary. It really is overwhelming and humbling to be right in the middle of what God is doing. To watch our young church grow and to see Jesus change peoples lives is a dream come true. It is a excitingly scary thing when I realize that this new sanctuary will not be able to contain all that God is going to do. On occasion, God gives me glimpses of where we are going.....and I sit in His presence speechless. All I can say is...we've only just begun! The DENT will be made....and a city will be impacted for the name of Jesus Christ!
"If God is for us, who can be against us!"

HE heard my cry

This morning I show up for my 3rd straight day of jury duty. They then call us out of our chambers and announce that the dispute has been settled and that we are free to go. Thank-you Lord!

I do have to say that I learned more of how the judicial system works and I met some new people on the 10 person jury. Also, it was funny that someone from C3 was on the jury to. So, back to the office....and now 2 days behind!!! ha.

my duty

I am currently serving a 5 day sentence in jury duty. 5 DAYS! No cell phone, no texting and no internet, how does one function? I am now forced to try to get all my work done at night after the kids are in bed, while still training for the Boston marathon. This morning I was up at 4:20am and running by 5am to get in my 20 miles before a 5 minute shower and off to the HALL OF JUSTICE. I guess as long as this a once in a lifetime experience, I will take it.
PS - I would love to be a lawyer just to question the witness!...or at least badger them!

jury duty calls

Tomorrow I have been selected to show up for jury duty. When they ask me my occupation, I'm thinking about saying "minister" and "ALL THE LAW BREAKERS DESERVE TO DIE!" lol. I'm sure that would get me out of there quickly. OR I could say, "WHATEVER ANYONE DID IS UNDER GRACE AND CAN BE FORGIVEN, AND WE SHOULD DO THE SAME." Ha. I am bummed though, that I am missing our monthly pastor meeting in our new sanctuary.

whirlwind

This past weekend was awesome! We were in our new sanctuary and it was electric. We have an amazing team of C3'ers that pulled this thing off. Everything from getting all the technical stuff ready to cleaning, it took a ton of man hours to pull this thing off....but we did. As we looked around we realized one problem...it was built too small. God is doing something amazing in our church and peoples lives are changing as we continue to keep Jesus as the focal point. I'm excited to see what happens as we ramp up to Easter.

Olympics

I love the Olympics! I cry sometimes as I stand at attention with my hand over my heart as the medals are given and the United States National Anthem is being played. Being a "very" amateur athlete, I can only imagine the hard work and dedication that goes into the performances we see from our couch while eating chips. The countless hours in practice, the very early mornings, the right foods, the list can go on and on of what they have sacrificed in order to be the best. It inspires me to push harder and run faster in every area of my life. I love the Olympic Games!

the dream lives on

Tonight, Gary and I had a meeting at a place called "Rule 3." Rule 3 is a really sharp restaurant/bowling alley/wii rooms/ and video arcade all in one. It was created for families and it is a great asset to our community. The owner, who I knew casually, passed away 5 days ago in a tragic car accident. We pray for his wife and 4 young children that he left behind.
I spent some time reflecting on his life as short as it was. Tonight at Rule 3, I looked around and saw the place close to full, taking part of his dream. Although he passed from this Earth, his dream and vision is still alive and will continue to live long after him and affect peoples lives.

I want to live my life in such a way that my life's influence will point people to Jesus long after I am gone.

the journey begins

Today, we begin interviewing for C3's first site pastor. Again, we are moving to a "1 church, many locations" model, in order to make a "dent" in Columbus. Our heart is to surround the 270 belt-loop around Columbus with video venues. That meaning the main teaching is video of the main campus and everything else is live and duplicated from C3. By doing this, we can expand our church without dumping millions into more buildings, by renting facilities. The site Pastor that we are looking to hire will be the Pastor of that church, which is an extension of our main campus. By doing this, we are able to reach more people in a broader area. God has given us incredible favor and growth and our heart is to reproduce that all over the city. We want to dream so big, that only God can pull it off. We are praying that God will direct us today.

no new building yet

I was bummed that we were not in our new building yet, but this looks to be THE WEEK. If not, we are in trouble cause we are tearing down our old sanctuary to put the stuff in the new one. It shouldn't be a problem, but you never know. We have several C3'ers who are here now and helping us clean everything to get ready for Sunday. Hopefully we will be saying good bye to drywall dust for a while...that is until they begin remodeling our current space for kids rooms. So pray we get into the new sanctuary this week!

day off

It is amazing having all our kids in school at the same time. This is a first for Keri and I and we take full advantage or our 3 hours of solice, one day a week. Today, we worked out at the gym, hung out and then picked up the kids and went sledding. It was a great day. I topped off the day by marrying a great couple in a small wedding in our new sanctuary....before our first service. How cool is that?

area pastors meeting

Today, I met with 5 other like minded ministers from our area to discuss how we can make Jesus famous. I love that there is no "competition" feel between any of us. In fact, there are times we talk about those who keep bouncing around to each of our churches and at times get a good chuckle. We have gleaned different things from each other and many times one pastor may have the answer for another guys question. I think God smiles when His children can put their own agenda's or differences aside and work together for the KINGDOM of God. It' not about an empire....it's about His Kingdom!

empty pentecost

I am reading a book on the life of John G. Lake that is challenging my socks off! (almost literally) With Lake moving in the power of the Holy Spirit on an daily basis and then seeing those who called themselves "believers" who are filled with the Holy Spirit, he said "our hearts will never satisfied with an empty Pentecost." The day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2 was a revolutionary moment for the disciples that changed their lives and our lives forever. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they literally changed the world. If the Spirit of God truly lives in our lives we should be different and if not we only have an empty pentecost. The power of God that so changed the lives of the early disciples is still at work today and is available to ALL believers!

fruit

The Bible very clearly says that if we are following Jesus, then there should be Godly fruit to prove it. Just as an apple tree bears apples, so a Christian should produce the fruit that only comes from God. Fruit like love, joy , peace, patience and the list goes on. The question is, what fruit is our lives bearing right now? What tangible fruit is their to prove that Jesus is in control of my life? But the question that challenged me in my reading last night is, "What Godly fruit will be produced from my life after I am gone?" I hope these questions challenge you like they are challenging me.

93.7 percent sure

This next Sunday, February 14th should be our 1st Sunday in the new sanctuary! I say that with 93.7% surety! It will be a mad-dash to make that happen by Thursday for the final inspection, but I believe! Time will tell. Our whole team is excited to go back to 2 services again (9:30 / 11:15). It couldn't be coming at a better time. Sunday our 2nd service was at capacity and the other 2 were getting close to full. It's an exciting time to be a part of what God is doing at C3!

priority

Tomorrow I'm preaching on priority as it pertains to marriage....God 1st, spouse 2nd, kids 3rd and on and on. The last 18 hours, I have been practicing my priorities. Last night Keri and I watched "Fireproof" together. Then this morning, we had family pancakes and the whole family played nerf-gun wars. It was a blast. We will be heading out for a snow adventure shortly in the fresh 6-8 inches.
It's truly the little things in life that make it good. I'm learning to capitalize and enjoy the simple things with those I truly love. May God help me always keep my priorities in the right order.

fuel

It's amazing the difference that the right kind of fuel can make. If you put diesel fuel in a gas engine, you will know it. Waterlogged wood on a fire doesn't work real well either. Or how about a professional marathoner eating a big mac, fries and a coke the night before a race. The truth is that fuel is a major factor in determining performance.
For my life spiritually, if I get away from reading the Bible as much or miss my time with Jesus, my spiritual life is affected. If I am not reading spiritually challenging material or rubbing shoulders with others who are chasing after God, then I will be affected spiritually. What spiritual fuel have you put in your tank this week?

20 miles

This morning I ran 20 miles before 8am. When I came home for a shower before work, my little girl just kind of stared at me. When I finally looked in the mirror, I realized just how rough I looked. My eyes and face were very red from the cold weather. Keri said I looked half dead. Funny. All these miles to reach my goal of completing the Boston Marathon in April. I can't wait!

Retreat

The C3 staff just returned from Kalahari indoor water park for a Ministers Retreat. It was truly great to just get away for 2 days and have others pour into us and to have no responsibility. The days were intentionally open to spend with family and enjoy the water park. We created some amazing memories with our kids that we will have for a lifetime. It is good to be back and I'm ready to jump back in.