next level

I know that God is wanting to take our church to another level in 2012. In order for that to happen, I have to go to another level. I feel that God is calling me to a deeper prayer life with Him. Making this a reality will take more than emotion or hunger, it will take discipline. I have set down to work out my weekly schedule in order to organize what I truly deem important and prayer is at the top of the list. I'm praying that 2012 is our greatest year yet in Loving people to LifeChange!

personal prayer retreat

Yesterday afternoon I showed up on the Heartland campgrounds to spend some time with Jesus. I try to do this at least once a year to seek God for His vision for my life as well as the church He has allowed me to Pastor. It's a time to evaluate the past and plan for the future. This is a time when I try to give God my complete undivided attention....except for while writing this post......

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Our 2 Christmas eve services went well and Christmas day was incredible just being with family. Our house was full of our family, food, presents and nerf gun wars. Life is so much better when we take time to be grateful for the little things.

die daily

This life with Jesus is all about us dying to our flesh in order to live in Christ! I had to ask myself today, what have I died to lately? What fleshly desire am I currently burying? And if I can't think of one...am I really denying myself, taking up my cross and following Jesus. My walk with Jesus must be daily and that means "death" to myself...daily. Ouch.

what are you?

Are you an encourager or a discourager? Does your life instill hope or hopelessness in others? Do you build people up or tear them down?
To discourage someone is easy: Do nothing. Say nothing. Be negative. Encouraging on the other hand takes some work. I learned the power of encouragement from my Father. People like to be around my dad for the simple fact that he makes them feel better about themselves. He is a Pastor, so on a weekly basis people at his church line up to shake his hand, receive a hug or just a kind word following each service. Many will wait for 20+ minutes for this opportunity because it is that important to them.
How do you know if you are an encourager or a discourager?
- Do people gravitate to you?
- Are you intentionally looking for ways to build others up?
- Do others smile often around you?

Be an encourager this week?

notes from Hope Matheny

This morning in our C3LI (Leadership Institute, or pastors in training) we had Hope Matheny who has served in leadership at C3 since the beginning. She is an amazing woman of God and a business woman as well. Here are some of my takeaways from her teaching on Conflict Resolution.
- Division/Conflict is a spiritual battle and must be approached, prayed through and treated as such.
- Everyone walks in with their view of the truth...even if skewed.
- If there is conflict, it is due to either fear or pride.
- Chase the truth fiercely.
- To deal with conflict effectively, we have to deal with our own hindering issues first.
- I have no right to anger within a conflict.
- I must guard against myself trying to control the situation and must rather seek God's Will in the circumstance.
- I must be aware to the fact that the enemy may be using me to bring or contribute to the conflict.

looking ahead

Next week I'm heading to Heartland Conference Retreat Center for a personal prayer and planning retreat. I'm looking forward to getting away and spending some time with Jesus and to seek His face for the vision and clarity. It's probably a weakness of mine and many other leaders, and that is to get away to think and pray.

Christmas Sweater Sunday

This Sunday is C3's annual "Christmas Sweater Sunday!" It could be their favorite Christmas sweater, ugliest, prettiest, one with a story or just one from grandmothers closet, but whatever the case it's going to be fun! We will award a prize and have the congregation vote in each service. We have a couple people who take this pretty seriously. It's gonna be a blast.

powerless

Feeling powerless is a decision. Think about that. It's a decision that we make, to give up. The Bible says that "with God, all things are possible." Therefore, we are never powerless. Rather it is a decision to hope and trust in Christ or not.

giver or taker

Are you a giver or a taker? This applies in so many areas of our lives. How about emotionally? Are you the person that is in constant emotional distress and takes from everyone around you? Or how about in time or energy? Do you drain others or pour into them? We can look at financially, at our jobs or in any situation. So are you a giver or a taker?

target

Have you ever wondered when we get to heaven and look through God's lens on our lives, if we missed the target? I'm wrestling this morning in prayer by asking God if my target for success is His target? How much of my life is truly lived out for Him and in honor of Him and how much is selfishly for me? Then the responsibility of leading church and helping guide others toward Jesus. I know that I am heading in the right direction, but I just don't want to hit the target, I want to nail the bullseye. I'm praying for wisdom and clarity from God as I want my will to be His Will.

be present

Tonight we had a ManUp event at C3. Gary did a great job leading the discussion on "Being Present." In a culture where busyness and multi-tasking rules, we talked about how we can lose the distractions and truly focus on what is important. We do that by BEING PRESENT.

temptation

One of the first steps to beating temptation is recognizing something as temptation. Too many times we can't see, or don't want to admit that something is temptation. If we can with God's help identify what is temptation in our lives, we can then deal with it appropriately. Is there an area of temptation in your life that is undercover?

attention

Whatever has your attention has your worship.

Attention is one of the most sought after things on the planet. All day long, people and things are trying to get ours. It is really a battle to give our attention to the things that matter most. We must guard it and become good stewards of it. For truly, whatever has our attention has our worship.

ManUp hunting trip

15 guys from C3 church headed to Waverly Ohio for a 2 night, 2 day deer hunting trip and we had a blast. We had several guys who had never harvested a deer. There was some great guy bonding as well as a lot of lead flying. 3 deer fell and all had a great time. The weather was perfect and the terrain was rugged. Every guy at least got to shoot at a deer, so we couldn't have asked more than that. But the most important thing was a bunch a guys who love Jesus got to hang out together and make some incredible memories.

our hearts

It's amazing how God uses circumstances, problems, stress, success, failure, money and life to try to deal with our hearts. God is constantly trying to shape our hearts to look more like His. This is a lifelong journey. How's your heart? What has control of your heart?