today

Today I got up and hit the gym, met with 3 other pastors of growing churches and just had lunch with Gary and Pickerington's City Planner Tim. It's crazy how much good dialog I was in before lunch was over. Whenever I go into a meeting or just meet with someone, I always try to think through a few things. Things like, what is the outcome I want to see. Another would be, what information am I wanting to communicate to the other party AND what can I learn from THEM. Usually after I leave a conversation or meeting, I think through what I could have done to have made it gone better or more productive.

drop it

In life, we are always trying to fit more in. In our minds, "more" usually translates to "better." But, is this really the truth? I know personally when trying to improve my life, I'm always looking at what more I can ADD. The question I have hardly ever consider, is what am I willing to QUIT doing in order to make my life better? What are the things that I am doing that are GOOD but not GREAT? How about you?

community groups

We are about to have a Community Group leaders meeting to give some info and training for our upcoming new groups that will start in August. We run our small groups (no more than 12 people) on the school calendar. They are the lifeblood of our church. We firmly believe that people grow when they are reading the Bible, interacting with the Holy Spirit and doing life with other believers. When true "Community" begins to happen, it is powerful. Accountability, true love, faith, and more begin to happen when God's people are in unity. We know that the bigger C3 gets, the smaller we must become. People long for authentic relationships and a place to belong and we will do our best to facilitate that.

u can have what you want

I believe that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I can have as much freedom in/through Christ as I want. I know many Christians who live in all kind of bondage and chains. The Bible is crammed full of promises that belong to every follower of Jesus, yet many choose not to walk in them. I can't imagine the conversations when we get to heaven so bound, only to see what could have been ours while we walked the Earth. Are there any chains that you are bound by? Maybe it's fear, anxiety, worry, depression, unforgiveness, the list can go on and on. You choose how you live.

vision steps

Every time you present something new or want to see a change, you are casting vision, whether you know it or not. Many times we run into conflict because we are wanting to change something people are comfortable with or even something that was originally their idea. Andy Stanley gives 3 steps to cast vision correctly:
1. Define the problem - Why do we have to change?
2. Offer a solution - Here's what has to be done to fix it?
3. Reason why it has to be done now - It has to be urgent.
At C3, we also go through different steps according to how much people are vested or apart. Example would be that our board (ELT) is always in on the beginning discussions and then we go to our Key Leaders and then Partners (our members) before it ever goes to the congregation. I have found that people are usually "down" on things they are not "up" on.

quote

Tom Peters said "Chaos and uncertainty are market opportunities of the wise." Think about it, when these things happen, it is setting the stage for a leader to step in and succeed. In times of chaos and uncertainty, it drives people to seek for answers and solutions. Whoever steps up with clarity or a plan, is then followed and hailed the leader.
In your current ministry or situation, is there some chaos going on that needs someone to step up and bring clarity? Be that person.

- We are signing the loan papers today and the ball is about to start rolling very fast to build our new 500 seat sanctuary. I am pumped!

A Great Fathers Day

Yesterday was a lot of fun at C3 Church. I had the privilege of having my grandfather and father here with me. We played a 3 song bluegrass/southern gospel medley with upright bass, mandolin and guitar. The look on our peoples faces was priceless! The we each took 10 minutes and shared what had been "handed-off" to us by your fathers and what we have done our best to "hand-off" to our children. After each of us spoke, we handed a relay baton to the next generation. At the end, we all stood on different size podiums to show how we all stand on the shoulders of the generation before us. I even brought my son Kaden out and handed my baton off to him. When all the dads left, they were each given a baton and left with the truth that "WE ALL HAND-OFF SOMETHING!"
In the last service my Grandfather gave me his 1940's Gibson electric mandolin! What an incredible blessing/heritage that he has passed on to me! I will have these memories for ever!