Is it just me?

I know it can't be just me.  Surely you've had the same thing happen to you time and again.  You know, that forwarded email that finds its way to your inbox?  Most of the time, it's the email that has a story about a God encounter that never really happened.  The story is clearly made up to draw upon the sympathy of the reader. This isn't really the problem I have with these emails.  Who doesn't like a good story, even if it's made up?  

The problem I have with these forwarded emails is that when the story is done, you're required to do something...FORWARD IT YET AGAIN!!!  I cannot put into words how much I dislike these emails.  They're annoying.  And, if you didn't know it, you're loyalty, devotion and love for Jesus is directly related to you forwarding it to at least 10 people within a specified time frame.  So am I to believe that if I DON'T forward the email, I don't love Jesus?  If I don't forward the email ***cough spam*** that I won't receive God's blessing in my life?  If I don't forward the email that I'm not a true follower?  

Since when does my loyalty, devotion and love for Christ depend upon whether or not I forward an email?  

Now, I have to say, I love the friends that forward these to me, but I don't love the emails.  When I get one, I can't hit delete fast enough.  

Here is the ending to an email I received recently: "Send this to 10 people in 2 minutes and you will feel the Holy Spirit brightening your life in just an hour."

What if I sent it to only 8 people?  What if I get side-tracked and it takes me 3 minutes to send it?  Why am I required to send it in 2 minutes, but it takes the Holy Spirit a full hour to brighten my life?  These are serious questions!

I don't wish to offend anyone, but these emails are ridiculous!  Is it just me??

Proud Parent

Gracie won 1st place at the Science Fair! I'm very proud of her. She worked hard to on this project and it paid off. While I'm "getting my brag on", I may as well point out that Gracie also received an Achievement Award for "A" Honor Roll, Highest Average in Reading, Highest Average in English, Highest Average in Science, Highest Average in Social Studies and the Principal Outstanding Behavior Award. She received the highest average in every subject except math and she only missed that by 1 point. Chase is in 2nd Grade and he also is on the "A" Honor Roll! I'm very proud of my kids' Academic accomplishments. They're just like their daddy...err, I mean Mom.

Church Marketing and more

One of my goals this week was to get or info in the local newspaper.  Up to this point, we have done virtually ZeRo advertising for Bayou Community Church.  That's about to change.  I'm going to look into billboard advertising next week as well.  I read something Mark Batterson wrote some time ago and I'm paraphrasing here, "The church has the greatest story ever told and the greatest story deserves the greatest marketing".  

My hesitation up to this point has been the idea of pulling people away from their current churches to "try" ours.  I'm not at all interested in this type of church growth.  I am believing God to open doors to share the gospel with non church attenders.  Those are the people I want at BCC...not the church shopper. 

I think we can effectively market our church to that demographic or try real hard to do so anyway.  

I talked with the owner of the newspaper today and something cool happened.  He asked if I would be interested in writing an editorial each week for the paper.  He said, "We live in a world that needs encouragement so desperately and I'm looking for pastors to write weekly articles to help encourage our community".  

I accepted the invitation without hesitation.  Just a few hours prior, I was on the phone with my brother, and was telling him how much I'd like to write an article for the paper each week. The problem was, I didn't think I could afford the cost right now.  As God would have it, the paper is offering this as a free service to the community.  To write weekly articles isn't going to cost us anything!  I was sToK3d! 

Questions: 

1.  How do you view church marketing?  Should churches market themselves?

2.  Is marketing the church further playing into an already consumer saturated "church" experience?

Bus Driving has its Privileges

I had the opportunity to drive the Varsity Boys Golf team to a 2 day tournament Monday and Tuesday of this week to Augusta Pines Golf Course.  The weather wasn't ideal but the course was beautiful and I even bought a new "golf" hat. :)

I snapped a couple of 

pictures with my phone so the quality isn't so great. :)

Club House

Course

I hope to go back to this course and play it for myself, soon!

One BIG Experiment

Have you ever felt as if life is that way, just one big experiment? Just over six months now into our new pastorate I'm feeling this way. So we're approaching 2008 as if everything is an experiment. The thing with experiments however, is you have to be willing to fail. Yep...willing to fail. I'm reminded though of Thomas Edison's words after having tried 200 different elements before he found the right element to make the incandescent light bulb.

He said, "Don't call it a failure, call it an education. I now know 200 ways that don't work".

So, we're going to brave the chilly waters of experimentation. If experimentation leads to discovery, we will soon discover what the heart of our community is, and then be fully prepared to reach in and touch it. 

Coca-Cola, in it's first year of business only sold 400 bottles of Coke.

Dr. Seuss's first book, "And to think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street", was rejected by 28 publishers. The 29th publisher Dr. Seuss approached sold six million copies of the book.

Chicken Soup for the Soul was turned down by 33 publishers. The 34th publisher sold over seven million copies in 20 languages.

There is not to be found a successful businessman, inventor, writer or even pastor who hasn't had to fail before they discovered the dream they believed so much in. I believe Bayou Community Church can and will become the church God has destined her to be. The question that remains is, "Are we willing to overcome all obstacles, discouragements, frustrations and fears to discover it?"

2008 is the year of Experiment! God will lead us to discovery. I've heard it said, "the greatest risk is to take no risk", this is my personal motto for 2008!

January 2008 Newsletter

Have you ever...

...Done something that you never thought you would? I'm doing it right now! I'm driving a school bus. Yes, I'm driving a school bus. I had thought about this on different occasions in the past and well this summer I decided it would serve beneficial in our adaptation to this new area we're now in. It allows me to meet many new people while also helping to make ends meet financially. Being a Contractor for all my adult life I know I could go out and build a business in this area as construction is everywhere but we didn't move here to build a business, we came here to build a church.

Another benefit to driving a school bus is the route I'm on. Others in the transportation department would argue with me but I think God has uniquely placed me where I am on my route. I transport the JJAEP Students. JJAEP stands for, Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. Yes, I transport the "bad" kids. But you know what? Over the last month since school started here I believe God has really let me see these kids in a way other than the way many see them..."convicts". When others are referring to the students I transport, they say things like "You got those convict kids on your bus, you better watch them". I don't see "convicts", I see lives. Lives that are full of potential and lives that God loves and Christ died for. I refuse to label these kids as "convicts".

Last week I loaded an ice chest up with ice and filled it up with bottled water. When my students boarded the bus, they were amazed that I had thought of them in this way to bring them cold water. The first student on the bus asked me, "Is this on you man?" I said, yes it's on me...enjoy. He replied, "Man, not everyone would do that, thanks!". He made certain that everyone who boarded the bus thanked me for bringing cold water for them to drink.

My prayer is that this bus route would be more than a job but an avenue to do ministry even if those receiving it aren't aware it's "ministry". The vast majority of these kids are from single parent homes and are struggling at best to understand life and the hand that has been dealt them. I hope that over the course of my time as their bus driver I'll be able to have a positive influence in their lives.

Our new church work is going well and I'll be writing more about what's taking place soon! Stay tuned!

Gearing up!

I've been relatively quiet on matters concerning our new ministry here in Dickinson, Texas. The reason for this silence is that there was a transition in place and I didn't feel like it would be appropriate to divulge too much information. That has now changed. As of last Sunday, September 02, Tiff and I are formally the Lead Pastors of Bayou Community Church. Along with this comes the liberty to share more of where the ministry is and where we hope it will go. We're approaching "church" from a little different perspective in comparison to our last church which we pastored for the last 9.5 years; Living Springs in Bandera, Texas. We still very much love Living Springs and the wonderful people there but our hearts were beginning to be removed from the ministry there and God has now placed us here. Living Springs, having been our first pastorate had to put up with a great deal of inexperience with us. We think that this new work will benefit in that we have grown and matured a great deal since 1998. :)

We enter into this new work considering what it means to be the "church" in a more holistic manner. I pray that will translate into many coming to know Jesus as Savior.

This Thursday is our first midweek meeting in which we will have an open dialog about what it means to be the church and how the church should influence and impact our community. It's an ITF (Invent The Future) brainstorming session where we'll talk over many ideas that we can create into ministry. Another approach to ministry that we're going to consider as a young church plant is what I'm going to call Community3 or C3 which simply means community to the 3rd power. I'll be sharing more on this as it develops.

Needless to say, we're very excited about what God is preparing to do through BCC! Already we're seeing new faces come in and expressing a willingness to become part of this work! I think God is up to good things!

More to come :)

Chi Alpha Campus Ministries

A friend of mine, Will Robinson is a Campus Missionary at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and I thought I would highlight the positive things he and his group are doing there for my Thumbs Up! post this week.

As you may know, when a High School student makes the transition from home life to Dorm/Campus/College life, it can be very overwhelming and extremely intimidating. One of the things that Will and Chi Alpha do in Corpus Christi for the new Freshman coming into the University for fall classes is to assist them with help moving into their new homes. They offer them cold water, a helping hand and a smiling face willing and eager to help them . For many, Chi Alpha is the first or only welcoming they'll receive as they enter this new world. It's amazing to me how every year the members of Chi Alpha will give of themselves in this positive manner to make the uncertainties of college life fade to the background with a helping hand. For that, I applaud my good friends, Will and Jennifer Robinson and their Chi Alpha team! Pray for them and their ministry to the students and staff of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi.

Brownie

Too often we fail to heed the words of Jesus, "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;"

It's all too easy to pass quick judgment upon others, all the while minimizing our own failures. This little video illustrates judging too quickly pretty well. :0)

Edit: After I posted this, I watched it to make sure I embedded the file correctly and my son walked up and saw it. He said, "Dad? What did he do?" I said, "What do you think he did? He said, "eat poop!"

Yes, he needs to learn to not judge too quickly as well. :)

Mike Yaconelli

I saw this on Glenn Hagar's site and thought I'd share it here.

Super Charged!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for our District's Annual Honor Bound Men's Retreat.

Looking forward to it!

Help us!

I could go on and write a lengthy post on the parallels here to the church/christians, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions. :)

Positive Influence

When I read Rodney's challenge for Thumbs Up!, I was encouraged and immediately wanted to be part of it. As Colin stated in one of his comments on his inaugural Thumbs Up! post, "Already I find with this Thumbs Up! initiative, that I am being forced to think of positives. I'm liking it".

Like Colin, I find myself looking for the positives in everything. You know what? They're out there, ready to be highlighted and pointed out. As I was considering what I would post positively on this week, I just looked around and watched people. I knew none of those that I was watching but I watched and I saw some amazing things, many of which we often take for granted. I saw smiles shared between strangers, hellos exchanged and have a great day was wished to others. I noticed others helping to carry things that would have been too heavy for one to carry alone. I witnessed a concerned neighbor help a stranded motorist. I watched as so many gave of themselves for the benefit of another.

To me, that is "positive influence" at work. It happens all the time but unfortunately many times we fail to recognize it for the true beauty it is. A simple Hello accompanied by a smile could make someones other wise rotten morning brighten up and help them to say, "Today is going to be great day"! We do well to not minimize the power of positive influence.

I remember just this past November I was alone and in Chicago. I knew no one and I was in the middle of downtown. I thought I would catch a cab and visit the Sears Tower. I hailed my cab and got in. As the driver left the curb, he turned, looked at me with a smile and an African accent said, Where would you like to go?" His smile put me at ease.

We began making small talk as he drove me to my destination. As it turns out, he and his wife were Christians and when he found out that I was a pastor, he was extra excited to have me in his cab. If a taxi ride could ever be delightful, this was the one.

As I exited the cab, I offered to this gentleman $20.00 which would have been plenty for my fare and a nice tip for himself. He looked at me with a smile and said, "No sir! You're a pastor and this one is on me!" I often think about my downtown Chicago taxi ride and the "cabby" who made it so enjoyable. The only thing he did was drive me to the Sears Tower! No, he made me feel at ease and shared his taxi and his life with me for a few minutes which has left, to this day, a positive influence on me. Whenever I think about him I pray for he and his wife.

What positives are we missing out on every day? You never know just the kind of positive impact you can have on someone by simply being nice and sharing a smile with them. The little things count too...don't overlook them where you live!

Accentuating the Positive...

As I was making the blogroll rounds today I read an interesting blog written by Rodney over at The Journey. Rodney has come up with a way to highlight the positive in the blogosphere. It's no secret that all one has to do to hear negativity is to turn on their television or chat with the neighbor or sadly, simply read some blogs. We're bombarded with negative communications from every side.

Join the positive discussion and link to Rodney's site via the badge code you will find at his site. Simply put it in your sidebar and post positively on someone or something every week!

There's enough people blogging about the negative aspects of life, Christianity and everything in between so let's mix it up a bit with some positive!

Alone...

Here I am alone again tonight in this old empty house...

Those are the first words to an old Alan Jackson song about going crazy after the one/s you love have left. Well, that's kind of the way I feel tonight as I write this blog. I don't want to get too mushy on you tonight but I'm missing my family terribly and they've only been gone for about 9 hours. My wife and children are with Tiff's mother and two sisters on a vacation to the beach for the next week.

It's funny, the silence you crave in moments of constant noise isn't so desirable when the noise has faded. I want to hear my children laughing or even fussing about having to brush their teeth; at this point, even that would be welcome. I want noise because noise is an indication of normalcy around our house. For the next week, it won't be normal around here. Just me and the noise I make. Yes, I may begin talking to myself just to hear some noise. :)

When they were pulling out of the driveway, my wife asked me if I was alright and like any strong man would do, I said, "Yeah, I'm fine". Honestly, it sucked watching my family leave.

So now I have a week and 1 day to find something to do with myself. Oh I'll find something to do. Actually, I have plenty to do that will keep me busy during the day, but it's the night time that gets to you, ya know?

I think the bond that we all develop as a family is Godly. I believe that God creates that bond within our hearts that when we're away from those we hold dear, it hurts. We long for their voice and their laughter but all we have until they return is the memory of those sounds. If it's true what they say, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder", I'll be so fond of them when they get back I may never let them leave again! ;-)

New blog links

I love to read blogs and have a few that I recommend for your reading in my blog roll on the right margin of my blog. All of them are there for unique reasons to myself. I've added two more today that I should have added a good while back but failed to.

Rodney Olsen- The Journey

and

Michael Morehart- Morehart

Stop by and join the conversation with these guys. You'll be glad you did. :)

Blog Addiction?

No way I'm 71% addicted to blogging! Is denial the first sign? ;)

71%
How addicted are you?

How much do I have to change before you'll like me?

Interesting indeed how often those of us who call ourselves Christians demand a change in others before we'll let our guard down and accept people just the way they are. As I read through the Gospels, I don't recall Jesus saying to the twelve he chose; to change and then come follow him. He simply invited them to "follow him". I love the way Rob Bell put it in his book titled, "Velvet Elvis". He likens the Christian journey to that of jumping on a trampoline. "We jump and simply invite people to jump with us, to live the way of Jesus and see what happens".

The radical hope of the gospel is that if we follow Jesus, change will then happen.

Perhaps if we were more "tolerant" of others as they are, they would be more tolerant in listening to our gospel and thereby be more inclined to accept an invitation to jump with us.

What are your thoughts?

1. How are you in this area? Do you typically want to see change before you accept people or are you willing to let them be themselves and allow God to effectuate change?

Have you ever done the Stupid?

I have...Shortly after moving to Texas City, Texas from Bandera, Texas, I changed the address on my Driver's License to reflect my new address. $11.00 and 3 weeks later, they arrived in the mail. I took my old license from my wallet and compared the new information to the old and everything was satisfactory. So, I put what I "thought" was my new license in my wallet and placed what I "thought" was my old license on my desk for discard later. Later came and I took the license that was lying on my desk and proceeded to my kitchen. You have a junk drawer in your house right? The drawer where all of the odd things end up. We do too. The scissors are in this particular drawer. I grabbed them with confidence and began cutting up my license that had previously been lying on my desk. All is well. That is until I go to the bank to cash a check and they want to see identification. Beaming with confidence, I pull out my long, black leather wallet and extract my new license. Just because I like the look of my new address, I glanced down to see it again and what I saw stopped me in my tracks. I mumbled something under my breath. It was something like, O CRAP, NO I DIDN'T! I had cut up my NEW Driver's License not my OLD Drivers License.

I felt sooo stupid! So now I have to pay another $11.00 to get another Driver's License which will take another 3 weeks! Whoever said stupidity doesn't cost, never met me. :-)