Springfield

Well. So I told you that I’m starting a church. Things are moving rapidly. I was in Cedar Rapids Thursday for LG and now I’m in Springfield, MO for the new church. Not much has changed in Springfield, except I’m not used to seeing snow on the ground. I thought for sure that would be gone by the time I got south of Kansas City. Nope, no luck. It is warmer than Des Moines though, as far as I can tell. I got in about 10:30 last night and went straight to the hotel to finish up some work for our big leadership meeting at CBC on Sunday. So going to bed at about 3:00am and getting woke up by housekeeping early was not my idea of a good night’s sleep. But the breakfast was awesome, it’s the reason that I stay at a Drury Inn any time I can during my travels. Well that and free wireless access.

Anyway, I’m here to meet with another church planter. This should be great day of brainstorming and idea making. The thing I like about the guy is that nothing is impossible. We constantly ask the question why are things done the way they are, can they be changed, and how effective is it, really. Is it reaching people. To all you church planters out there, this is the kind of guy you need to have around you, someone that will challenge you and make you rethink the ways things are done. I relish these kinds of meetings.

Well, he’s here. I’ll let you know how it goes!

My Plans? Looking up!

Wow, I just looked at how long it has been since I last wrote. Six months, that’s a while. Anyway, I’m back. I plan to be a little more faithful to the blog this year. So let’s have a look at what’s happened in the last six months.

1. I’m getting out of the real estate business to focus more on what God has really called me to do. (Let’s face it, this isn’t the ideal time anyway!)

2. I’m still working for LG Electronics, with an expanded territory this year. (Woo Hoo! Positive note: the job will take me to Vegas at least twice this year. Good thing? Yes, but that’s for another blog.)

3. And the drumroll………I’m planting a church in Des Moines. What does this mean for the blog you ask? Well, ChurchFuse will also serve as a journal for the progress of the church plant, not just the fun little project it has been for exploring with and helping pastors find new ways to use technology to help the church.

4. With this new endeavor, that means I also am shutting down ChurchForward and the Thrive Web Group to fully focus on the plant, whose name is known to a select few but will stay mostly quiet until we actually launch and really won’t be a big surprise to anyone who knows me.

That leaves the last questions to be about the new church itself. What kind of church will it be, what will it believe, will it be an Assembly of God church? Great questions you’re asking. To answer, 1. a great church with a very specific focus, 2. It will believe most of the A/G doctrine, but not all, and 3. Since not all A/G doctrine (you know, the 16 Fundys that every A/G church has on it’s website, I’m in the web industry, I’ve seen them) will be observed, it will not be an A/G church. Non-denom, one of my favorites. Sorry to all my A/G faithfuls out there.

I’m really excited about this, God’s been dealing with me about it for a while and I’ve been struggling with how He wants it all to come together, but it’s been falling into place. How awesome is that? Anyway, time to pick up the beautiful wife, talk to you later.

LifeChurch.tv does it again! Facebook style!

LifeChurch.tv is now reaching into the world of Facebook with Facebook Church. It’s a great idea and even has a Facebook Church application. For those not familiar with Facebook, an application is an add-on you can put on your personal page. This should be very good and I’m interested to see how far it will go. Here’s where you can find more info.

Vision, Vision, and oh yeah, Vision

Here’s a good post from Todd Rhoades on some important factors in the church. He quotes Craig Groeschel from LifeChurch.tv saying Vision, Vision, Vision. He also asks some thought provoking questions that would be good to ask of your ministry.

What do you think?

Does Your Church “Get It”?

Does your church “get it”? What’s “get it” you may ask? Get it is understanding that what’s most important is reaching people and seeing their lives changed because of what they got. Seems easy enough doesn’t it? So what got me thinking about getting it? Todd Rhoades gave ten observations of great churches he’s visited over the past few months who “get it”. See what you think, and then ask the tough question, “Does my church get it?”

Here are the first 3 to get you started.
1. Each church has a pastor with a vision. And it’s not just that these pastors have a vision… it’s that they have a gift for communicating that vision to their staff and their entire church. While it might not be a surprise to anyone that churches that ‘get it’ have pastors who ‘get it’, it is a glaring similarity among these churches: their pastors are great leaders with a great vision.

2. Each church hires almost exclusively from within. Most every staff member of these churches was hired from within. When asked if this was intentional, most said that it was. Here’s the deal: most of these churches do a tremendous job of training leaders and empowering people in ministry. When that happens, the cream rises to the top, and that’s how they find their best staff people. Most do not have church staff experience, but rather bring their expertise from another area of business or commerce. And, I have to say, these are some sharp people.

3. Speaking of staff, the staff of these churches ‘get it’ too. The staff in these churches are very loyal to their church and to their leadership. These are people that have a long history with the church; and they are totally sold on the mission, vision and values of their church. They also view their job not only as to serve God, and the church; but also to come along side and support the vision and leadership of the senior pastor. These churches have very loyal staff.

Read the enitre article HERE. Thanks Todd for the article.

Until next time.