Relative Truths

Ok, so it has been a typical Wednesday for me.  However, most people wonder what a typical day for a church planter is like.  I mean, I don’t have an office to go to, so what do I really do?  Well, here is a typical Wednesday for me:

Went to accountability group this morning.  We met up in Braselton to see the new facility that The Vine, the church my brother David serves, will be moving into.  It is a great retail space off of Hwy 211 in Braselton.  I must admit, I was a little jealous.  It gets me excited for the day (hopefully soon) when Connection Church will have a facility of its own in Suwanee.

Been working on Sermon prep and planning.  I am wrapping up Sunday’s message as well as outlining future messages.  Danny is a great worship planner/leader, so I try to get outlines to him quickly so he can come up with great music and effects for worship. 

In a little bit, I will doing some work on a set design for Sunday.  We are venturing into set design this week.  I am excited that maybe people will feel like they are coming to something a little different, not just a meeting room!

We have Connection Group tonight!  I really enjoy meeting with our groups, and the nooma study has been awesome.

Anyway, those are just a few things that make up a typical Wednesday for me.  What do you have going on?

Ok, so I just got word that a man from one of my previous churches died today.  He was 39 years old, and he has three daughters.  He was my friend.  He was one of those guys that was a big affirmation as to why I do what I do.  He was a clear example of God’s grace and a picture of a transformed life.  I won’t go into all the details, but one of my most powerful experiences in ministry involved him and a long conversation. 

He is one of the guys I think about a lot.  Whenever I speak about how God has something better for your life, I think of him.  He embodied being different in Christ.  His life, outlook, priorities, and desires all changed when he gave himself to Christ completly.

I will miss him.  My heart breaks for his family.  Please keep them in prayer.  The comfort I have is knowing that after a life of ups and downs, he is with his Lord and Savior.  He was an example of a transformed life, and I take heart in knowing that he is now an example of an eternal life.

Ok, so, as I mentioned earlier, I had my wisdom teeth out Monday.  It has been a bigger recovery than I expected.  For example, my mouth is still hurting, and I can’t eat a whole lot (good for a diet, bad for my happiness).  The medicine is still bothering me a little bit, but I am almost done with that.  Anyway, just wanted to hit some highlights on what I did today, getting back in the swing:

Met with Danny today.  We talked through the next few services.  Getting into more worship planning, and not just church planning has been fun.  I can’t wait until the bulk of my time is on sermon prep and forward thinking on the church. 

Went by George Pierce Park to check on a few things.  We are so blessed to be able to worship there.  For a temporary spot, I couldn’t ask for a better place.  I can’t wait until the spring arrives and we are able to develop an even stronger relationship with the park. 

Been working on some marketing for Connection Church.  I can’t wait until all of Suwanee has had a chance to be a part of Connection Church.  Maybe that is shooting for a lot, but hey, we serve a big God.

Anyway, that is all I have for the day.  No big truth other than it is better to be getting back in the groove than to be lying in bed in pain!

Ok, so I mentioned earlier today that something happened that kept me from blogging yesterday.  Yesterday morning I had my wisdom teeth taken out (two upper ones to be exact).  For those of you that have had wisdom teeth removed, you know that it pretty much makes you out of it the rest of the day.  I am blogging about this because something occurred to me about the process of wisdom teeth.

I found out I had wisdom teeth about 5 or 6 years ago.  At that point the dentist told me I had two options: have them taken out or hope they don’t move, thus not being a problem.  Obviously, I opted to ignore them, hoping they wouldn’t move.  18 months ago, the dentist told me they were dropping and I needed to get ready to remove them.  I kept ignoring them.  Then, last fall, the dentist told me that they were about to break through and they needed to come out.  So, I finally made the appointment to remove them.  After the surgery, I was out of it and in pain.  Today, I have still kind of been out of it and pain.  I hope I get back to a more normal state tomorrow.

Anyway, this makes me think that sometimes in life there are problems that need to be dealt with, but we choose to ignore them.  Sometimes we avoid painful decisions because we hope they would just go away.  In churches, sometimes we just hope conflicts and problems will work themselves out, and only deal with it when it is absolutely necessary.  I should have removed the teeth long ago.  But I waited and as a result dealt with pain leading up to it.  And now, in the midst of starting a new church, I have been out of action for two days.

So, the truth that I learned is that when we know there is a problem, we should deal with it.  I know that conflicts will come up with Connection Church.  So, I can either trust in God’s guidance and vision and deal with it, or ignore it and deal with the consequences later.  The truth is dealing with it now can save more pain for later. 

Ok, so I haven’t been able to blog about Sunday yet.  I had something happen yesterday that I will blog about later.  Anyway, I wanted to give the highlights of Sunday’s service at Connection Church:

-It was the final part of our preview series “What’s the Point?”  We looked at the point of Connection Church.  The main take-home point was “The point of Connection Church is to provide a connection.”  Fleshing that out to connect people to Christ, to connect people to each other, and to connect the church to the community. 

-The worship set was awesome.  They opened with God is Alive, then Marvelous Light, Mighty to Save, You are the Light (offering), and God of This City (closing).  I think it was the best I have ever heard Marvelous Light every played.

-My set-up people continue to amaze me with how great and quick they are. 

-We are ready for March 1 weekly launch.  Please come check us out for this special day, and invite a friend or neighbor!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Ok, so I was able to attend a group discussion time today with some other ministers.  Maxie Dunham, Chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary, was the leader of the discussion.  He preached yesterday at Sugar Hill UMC and took three hours today to talk about his view of the church of tomorrow (which he pointed out we are looking at today) and the direction he thinks all churches need to go to stop declining and start making a difference for Christ.

He never mentioned worship style.  He never mentioned pews versus chairs or buildings versus store front.  He didn’t bring into the conversation what translation of Bible is read from.  He talked about being relevant and meaningful and how people are not coming to the church because they want something that makes a difference.

One point he made was that faith-based communities are growing.  He described this as a small group of some kind, not connected to a local church, that allows for some sort of spiritual growth.  More importantly, these groups are allowing folks to do something in the community that makes a difference.

Last Sunday, I preached on the point of church.  I mentioned that if a church isn’t a place where people learn about hope in Christ and learn to be a reflection of Jesus in the world, then the church has no point.  I think that hits at the root of what Maxie was saying.  Folks are not finding growth and ways to live out this growth in too many of our churches.  So, they are seeking other ways to do that.  My prayer is that Connection Church will ALWAYS be a place of hope, but more importantly and place that allows people to grow in grace and to serve in grace, making a difference. 

I will speak more to this meeting during the week.  It spoke to me in a lot of ways, and I look forward to sharing. 

Ok, so I’m sorry for not posting this last night.  Most of you know that I am a sports nut.  Well, last night was this little thing called the Super Bowl.  I got caught up watching that, so I forgot to do what will soon be my weekly Sunday night blog (more in a second).  I promise this will only happen once a year when there is a Super Bowl.

Anyway, so as Connection Church continues to worship, I’ll have a Sunday Night reflection talking about the highlights of the day.  As I have mentioned before, I am totally ripping this off from Perry Noble.  It works for him, so I thought I would give it a try.  So, we had our second preview service last week.  We are doing a series called “What’s the Point?”  During the course of the three services (Jan 18, Feb 1, and Feb 15) we are looking at the Point of Jesus Christ, the church, and Connection Church.  Yesterday was the church.  Here are some highlights from the morning:

We had less volunteers setting up, but set-up quicker.  It is amazing what a little experience will do for you!

Brad and Susan Jordan are awesome.  I just had to say that.

We had a smaller crowd than Jan 18, but we still are holding back on advertising.  However, we had some return visitors, and that makes me pumped.

I mentioned that if a church doesn’t tell people about the grace that Christ offers, then it doesn’t matter, and really has no point.  I could tell that a lot of folks were with me on that.

Anyway, it was a great service, and the music was awesome again.  Still trying to figure acoustics in there, but its coming along!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are being blessed with the beginning of your week!