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Coming Sunday...

OK, I don't want to be that guy.  You know, the guy that says, "Whatever you do.... DON'T MISS SUNDAY!  IT'S GONNA BE GREAT!".  But this week... I'm that guy.  This week could be the most important message we've heard to date.  It's about living in community.  Doing life together.  IT'S ABOUT US BEING THE BODY TOGETHER.  There are a couple of phrases in the sermon that I love but.... I won't share them here yet.  I'll probably recap next week but not right now.  You need to hear it in context first. 

If you didn't read the Rick Warren thing below... READ IT!  Let this phrase change your world:  God is more interested in your character than your comfort.  In the light of this phrase "building character" takes on a whole new meaning.  That, my friend, will get you through the day.    

The Big Picture from Rick Warren...

Thanks to Jeff (my brother) for sending me this article.  It's from an interview of Rick Warren by Paul Bradshaw.  Amazing insight into the mind/heart of one of the great church leaders of our time.  It's long but let me encourage you to stop and take the time to read it.

People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life,there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter ow bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God nd others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

In the happy moments, PRAISE GOD. In the difficult moments, SEEK GOD. In the quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. In the painful moments, TRUST GOD. And, in every moment, THANK GOD.

Wiiiiiiiiiiii...........

CNN ran a story on this today.  I love it.  I love the time we live in.  I love the idea that computer games have come full circle and are becoming physical.  How cool will it be when I can climb out of my wheel chair and slip into a suit that will help me play tennis or dunk a basketball. 

Doing church different...

You know how you know something but for some reason you don't act like you know it?  Like you know that "Fireburger" from Varsity really isn't good for you.  It's bad for your waistline, your arteries, and will give you heartburn.  But for some reason you go ahead and order it, down it with the beer battered fries and five glasses of tea.  Then for some unknown reason you wonder why your pants are tight, you need a nap and eventually poor you is having quadruple by-pass.  Well maybe the by-pass will wait a few years, but you probably realize this post isn't about burgers, fries and myocardial infarction's.  It's about the fact that unless we truly are different.  I mean different down deep.  We will miss the mark.  Sure we are different on the surface, but I mean down deep.  The "who we really are stuff".  The "how and why we do stuff" stuff.  Here's the punch line.  Sunday morning just isn't enough.  Terry Storch was quoted as saying this: "Our focus as a church used to be all about service times, Sunday morning was where it was all at. But that simply doesn't apply anymore--we are a 24/7 culture now."  He's right.  I'm trying my best to get it through my head.  To restructure how I think and live.  To discover what the church looks like in a 24/7 culture.  To help people connect with God, connect with others, and serve the world.  Sunday morning is working.  Sure it could and will bet better.  But now we must get people connected and doing that 24/7 life thing TOGETHER.    That's where life happens.  That's where life-change will happen.  Life Groups are coming.  Soon to follow will be full on active serving in the community.  The life-groups will be teams.  Teams on a mission to help others find and fall in love with God, to help each other, to love on each other, to challenge and push each other, and then to serve the world.  To reach out and share all of the goodness God is pouring out in their lives.  It's coming.  October 7th, Sunday night in our home you are all invited to explore the idea of small groups.  To try to connect and form Life Groups.  It is who we are.  It is who we will be.  It is the way to live life.  I can't wait.... Of course we could just do things like these guys.  I've got a few habits I'd love to drop..... On second thought maybe not.... Life Groups it is.

Eyes to see...

Guilt?  I realize that our (my family's) time in Fort Smith, both at Grand and CBC, has been priceless in preparing us to lead TheBOD.  Yet I feel guilty for having been so immersed in the work of the "church" and building Johnny's secular kingdom, that I failed to invest in the lives I passed every day.  It's a work in progress but that is changing.  Pray that God will continue to change me.  That He will give me eyes to see the world around me that I've never seen.  The world that's been there the whole time and I was too busy to notice.  That I may truly grasp the reality that the fields are ripe and in our back door.  That within walking distance to wherever you or I sit there is hurt and pain that we can ease.  At least Jesus can ease through us.  That I will have a holy discontent for "the least of these" to the point that I can no longer stand to do nothing about it.  That I am able to make this vision "viral" by example.  That it spreads throughout our body to the point that the world is shaken and changed.  To the point that we are shaken and changed.  Our Lord deserves nothing less.

The Real stuff....

Found this today.  Says it better than I ever could.  Thanks to Jeff for the post. 

1. Religion says, “be good. Jesus says, “be honest.”
2. Religion says, “change.” Jesus says, “be changed.” 
3. Religion says, “perform.” Jesus says, “bear fruit.”
4. Religion says, “obey me.” Jesus says, “follow me.”
5. Religion says, “divide up.” Jesus says, “unite.” 
6. Religion, again, says “obey.” Jesus says, “repent.”
7. Religion says, “be right.” Jesus says, “be real.”
8. Religion says, “caught ya.” Jesus says, “go and sin no more.”
9. Religion says, “try.” Jesus says, “trust.”
10. Religion says, “do.” Jesus says, “done.” 

Sunday Evening......

Short list....

• What an amazing day.  The second week came off without a hitch.  The crowd was up.  Tons of new faces.  Tons of people I've never seen.  Tons of kids.  We've already outgrown our nursery and pre-K rooms for the 10:00 Experience.
• Numbers.... how about this one.  ONE... that's the number of people who accepted Christ today.  She picked up her "What's Next" package after the service.  Praise God... a life changed for all eternity today. 
• Lunch with the gang at TeeTime today.  Chicken Cordon Blue was off the hook. 
• Spent the afternoon working in the shop.  It was a wreck from all of the church planting construction.  Sawdust and junk piled everywhere. 
• Built a fire in the pit for some hot dogs and our own version of Sm-ores.  Toasted marshmallow between two chocolate chip cookies.  Mmmmm good.
• God showed up today.  Sweet time of worship.  I wish we could do it again tomorrow.
• Finished Holy Discontent this week.  Read it.  Warning:  If you are tuned in... it might wreck your life.

   

Bedtime.... Don't Blink guys... we are on the verge of something remarkable.

The Real Cost...

I'm going to copy an paste a post by Vince.  It's raw and to the point but it needs to be said.  If you are looking for a church focused on making church folks happy then TheBOD is probably not the place for you.  If you are ready to make a difference and change the world... hang on, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Vince writes:

ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?

So how do we improve at reaching lost people? First, we need to understand God’s heart for lost people. Probably we even need to have God’s heart for lost people. Without that, I don’t think it will help to learn how to do a worship service that connects with the lost, or a new effective way to share the gospel with the lost, or creative marketing ideas that will get lost people to show up.

Why won’t it help?

Because it will always be easier to not reach the lost. It will always be easier to reach the saved and seek to keep them happy. And so even if we know how to reach lost people eventually we will stop trying because it’s just too difficult.

This is why every church wants to reach lost people, but so few do.

I read a story about Jeff Van Gundy, who used to be the basketball coach of the New York Knicks. Later he was hired to coach the Houston Rockets. The day he was hired he left the press conference and went straight to the airport. He took a plane to the hometown of Steve Francis. Steve Francis was the Rockets’ point guard, and one of the better players in the NBA. But Steve Francis had led the Rockets in shots and in scoring every year of his career. That is not the role of a point guard. Point guards distribute the ball. They get everyone else involved and should rarely take shots. So Jeff Van Gundy flies to Steve Francis’ hometown, drove to his house, knocked on his door, walks in, sits across a table from him, looks him in the eye, and says, “Steve, everyone wants to be on a winning team. The question is: Are you willing to sacrifice to be on a winning team?”

And every church wants to reach lost people, the question is: Are you willing to sacrifice to reach lost people?

Because there are sacrifices if you want to reach lost people. There are costs you will pay.

• There’s the reality that if you reach out to truly lost people, you’re gonna have people curse in yor sanctuary. We had someone curse in a baptistery!
• There is a lot of extra work, many hours, that goes into having facilities that look great, rather than settling for good enough.
• There is the messiness of the lives of people you will reach – and you will get drug into their messes.
• There’s the burden of having to fire people on your staff who don’t live up to the standards that you’re striving for rather than taking the easy way out of just keeping them around so that you don’t make waves.
• There’s the cost that you will be criticized by other churches for the methods you’re using. I’ve had someone call me and say, “You hand-clapping gospel puke!” and hang up on me
• You’ll have thumb-sucking Christians whining to you all the time about how they’re “not getting fed.”
• You will lose people in your church who don’t understand why you do things the way you do and why you focus so much on unchurched people. Those people you lose may be tithers. We have lost the biggest giving family in our church in the last year … twice! They left, came back, and now they’ve left again. And they’ve taken their money with them. That’s a real cost!
• And if you seek to reach people who are truly unchurched rather than those who go to other churches, well non-Christian, unchurched people don’t tithe. And so there will be less income for your church, and therefore less salary for you.
  You will have people who dress wrong, people with Mohawks, people who smoke on the church patio, people sitting in the middle of your sanctuary who smell like beer.

Everyone wants to be part of a church that reaches lost people, the question is: Are you willing to sacrifice to be part of a church that reaches lost people? Most aren’t. And if you’re not, well, who will?

The truth is that we’ll never be willing to make those sacrifices until we understand and have God’s heart for lost people. Next time we’ll listen to God’s heart beat …


- Featured on newchurches.com

Launch Photos

We have a few photos of the Launch posted HERE.  Thanks Leisa for capturing the memories.

Three, Two, One.....

"Houston.... we have lift off.... "  What a day, what a ride, what a great God.  Here's the recap.

• I asked one of our leaders this evening how we can keep our focus off of the numbers.  The reality is that at this point that's what everyone is curious about so as best we can tell without double counting anyone in the two services we had 177.  There were days early on when this vision began to take shape that I hoped we'd have 17.  God let me dream bigger.  Give me more faith.
• I won't be posting attendance numbers often.  Why?  We aren't concerned with gathering a crowd so much as seeing lives change.  A number that thrills me... 43 kids sixth grade and under.  Can you say "Growing up world-changers".  How about the number of men who've been disconnected from church and are showing up SERVING!   Or the number of hands that went up in the call to sell out for Christ.  Give me some of those numbers.
• The band rocked the house.  Danny, Von, Jake, and Jordan... you guys are the best. 
• Big props to Tracy for handling the sound.  Priceless. 
• Bod'ers.... are you kidding me.  You guys are amazing.  How cool was it to see the men parking cars.  The ladies serving up sweet tea and donuts.  The students leading small groups and running sound in the KidZone.  TheBOD.tv t-shirts everywhere.  Insane.  You guys are CRAZY!  This town has no idea what's about to hit.
• OOOOPS!  STORE MANAGER, we didn't know we'd be blocking the truck from unloading at the Dollar Store.  Sure we can move the cars.... before you CALL THE POLICE!
• No problem that the drummer walks in half way through the first song.  The count down said go, so I started!
• One hour goes by in a hurry.  Yes, we started and ended both services on time.
• Yes, I was completely exhausted, drained, stunned, whatever else you might expect.... but what an amazing day.  I cannot believe it's finally here.  I cannot believe that I get to be in the middle of it. 
• How about the train load of 3 and 4 year-olds circling the parking lot with Captain Mark at the wheel.
• How about my wife?  Are you kidding me?  She has done an amazing job getting ready, building a team, praying like crazy.  It showed today.  Dude, she's smart, good looking, loving God and all mine to boot!
• Thanks to Jake's Razorback buds for making the trip down last night and showing up for the second service to worship like warriors!  Nice.  I hear PhoVietnam doesn't take Debit Cards.... hehehe  Too bad DaddyATM wasn't there to bail you out.  Sounds like you scraped up enough to escape.  Did Josh have to flex to get you guys out?

I'd better quit for now.  So much to talk about and we've only just begun.  Keep praying for us.... Bod'ers... Don't Blink.... we're on the verge of something remarkable.