Courage

Listening to an Andy Stanley message from the Catalyst Conference this morning in my "automobile university". He talked on Courage and challenged with some great questions. One was: What are you afraid of? We all hit roadblocks or tough situations where we are afraid to step up or speak out, or perhaps to make the tough call. We must define that fear and learn to live with some constant fear for it is a constant companion. But where fear lies, there is also opportunity. If we fear missing an opportunity, more than not doing something, we will prevail. For the fact is "you obey what you fear". So let's get some healthy fear going rather than the unhealthy stuff that hinders us from reaching our potential. Go get some courage!

Identity theft

We just finished a series at C3 entitled "Identity Theft". Yesterday we talked about how "our past is not our identity". We closed with a time of everyone bringing a rock and placing it in a pile symbolizing that they were leaving their past at the altar. It was a cool time with our church. We also addressed how we usually go back to our desires even though we have great intentions. Desires trump intentions every time. We must begin to desire what God has for us and move past just have good intentions. God has our real identity that is only found in Christ and we must guard that against theft.

mother in-law

My Keri's mom flew in yesterday from Alabama to spend a couple of days with us. Now for some this may be a bad thing, but for me it's all good. I have like "The Perfect" mother in-law. I mean she has a 4 wheeler, bass fishes and shoots a deer every year while still remaining to be feminine! What more could a guy ask for? Oh yeah, she used to ride a motorcycle. Anyway, today we are all heading for the zoo, which should be a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy the chance to swap hunting stories sometime during the day. Maybe a nugget for myself today would be, when I'm away from work....really be away from work. I will try to focus totally on my family and give them my undivided attention. So if I don't answer my cell phone.....now you know why.

half full or half empty?

Came across this quote - "A pessimist is someone who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks."
I have met people like this. They are not happy with themselves and everything they see, do or are a part of is negative. But we must realize that being a negative person is our choice......so if that's you, change it. Sometimes we feel that someone else can make us really happy. But true happiness must start inside of ourselves, with a relationship with Christ. So try today to see the bright side of life.

good decision

A mentor of mine once said "I make a good decision and then I make my decision good". I feel like that right now. We have sought God and He has led us to the decision of planting C3 church and now it is our job to do our best to make that decision good. That is done by not looking back and doing everything within our power to make this thing work. God is giving our church incredible favor, but we must continue to push forward and hear His heart. I think it is awesome to know we serve a God that wants us to succeed more than we do.
Are you in the process of making a decision or making a decision good?

mom

I hope you had a great mothers day yesterday. I was blessed to have my mom here at C3 for both of our Sunday services. We had her take a little piece of each service and she did great. Also at the end of my message, I brought my mom on stage and we sat while I thanked her for her investment in my life. It was a real special time for both of us.
Moms are truly amazing! Don't forget to let yours know that once and a while. When I think of all the sacrifices that were made on my behalf by my mom over the years, I am truly grateful. I love you MOM!

branding

It has been awesome to see the effects of branding first hand with our C3 logo. It is simple yet it is easily recognizable. Everything we print, mail, email, screen,newspaper articles, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc, has our logo on it. Talking with people in our community, they are now beginning to recognize it and put 2 and 2 together. Honestly, we are the only church in this area with a brandable logo. How is your logo? Is it brandable? Is it marketable? What is it saying?
- The UPS guy stopped me as he saw me putting up a small yard sign off the road to give me a package for C3. He said, "I didn't even read the sign but I knew it was one of your church signs". Wow, just the look and the logo are saying more than we even know.