Tag: friends

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2009: What A Year!

2009

I heard on the radio this morning that people had a shredding party to end 2009 and this decade. Since I am headed out of town for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and list some of the things I am thankful for in 2009. It’s been an interesting year, but I still have plenty to be thankful for:

1. My amazing wife Nicki. I, along with the rest of the world, am thankful that she is definitely not me. God knew what he was doing when he put us together. We couldn’t be any more different from each other, but that is not a bad thing. We help balance each other out. Nicki is full of mercy…I try to be, but its not my strength. I’m the type that calls it like it is, and I’m okay with that. Nicki has been a huge help to me in our new endeavors this past year. She is a great mother to our children, I couldn’t ask for a better woman to live my life with.

2. My amazing children: Gavin, Tristan and Hailey…yes they are still more amazing than your children 🙂 Each have their own personalities and characteristics. I love the way they make me smile. They are definitely a gift from God!

3. New Passion Church – Wow! I cannot believe it actually happened. There were days I just didn’t believe it was going to launch. There were so many thoughts and ideas that I had about launching this church that when they didn’t happen, I thought I had made a mistake. On September 13, we launched with 109 people and averaged 91 in our first month. We’ve now settled in the upper 60’s to low 70’s every week including our volunteers, children, and adults. We’ve already lost families to deployment, some of which jumped in and assisted from day one…I hated to see them go; and we’ve lost others because we didn’t fit their idea of church, it’s funny, I’m definitely at peace about that. We purposely started with our series “Rediscover Church” because we know we will not be for everyone. I am blown away by these numbers because we started with Nicki, our three kids, and myself, so yes, I am amazed at what God has done so far! I can look back over the first three months and see answered prayers and life change, and I know New Passion is definitely a movement of God and its definitely been worth it. I am thankful for the amazing team that God has assembled, they have huge hearts, have sacrificed greatly, and love Jesus with a Passion. They were definitely gifted to be church planters. I am thankful to everyone who has selflessly invested financial and material resources to help New Passion be successful in living out its vision to “lead people to a passionate relationship with Jesus.” I can’t wait to see how God uses us in 2010.

4. True Friends – “Best” friends is an overrated and overused term. “True” friends are what matter in life. I’ve come to realize in 2009 that “people’s actions are rarely as big as how they promote themselves…” A true friend is someone who you can rely on and who is honest. I think those two characteristics and qualities go a long way.

5. Jesus

Of course there is plenty more I could list, but this should be sufficient. I hope you all have an awesome send off to 2009 and a Happy New Year!!!

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The Gathering in One Picture

The 2008 Gathering is over. I hate having to type those words. I think Doug tweeted it best, I wish we were all neighbors. Every year I make new friends and deepen my relationship with those who I am already connected with. My favorite part of these few days together is pictured above, sharing life with some of the sharpest leaders in student ministry. We do not discuss numbers, we don’t flaunt successes, we sharpen each other, we stretch each other, we pray for one another and we have tons of fun! I cannot describe the power of the authenticity that takes place around our tables during our various sessions, but I can say, its good.

Check back…I’ll be posting more about the Gathering and my week in California…right now I’m getting ready to fly home to my family who I greatly miss. California is great, but it stinks without them! California with my family would = Heaven 🙂

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The Bowling gods Hate Me

Last night the PDYM State Mentors went to Lucky Strike Lanes for a little dinner and bowling.

My Results:
Game #1 3rd place 114 pts
Game #2 4th place (I didn’t get serious until frame 6) 101 pts

Doug Fields showed all the youth pastors how to do it with the high score of the night at 159 and Jim Clark came in a close second with his strong effort of 139.

I even tried a little meditation…the bowling gods still did not smile on me.

I choked like the Chicago Cubs in the pursuit of a World Series Championship.

Despite facing the anger of the bowling gods, I had more fun than I have had in a long time.

It’s sad I only get to hangout with these youth workers once a year. We’ve had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately it all ends today at 3:00 pm PT.

The after party heads to Hollywood afterwards, so who knows what will happen there!

(This is for Ben Taylor)
Join the Conversation: When’s the last time you had a lot of fun?

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Influences (Part 2)

I’ve always told people that I feel God expects a lot out of me because I feel I have had so much invested in me. The Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is required.” I listed 7 leaders who have had influence in my life, either personally or from a distance in my Influences (Part 1) post HERE. Yet, I feel like the people I listed there and the people I will list here have been used by God to get me where I am today, but yet there are still other leaders waiting in the wings to help me get to the next level of my potential. Erwin McManus said this in Chasing Daylight, “No one moves from potential to maximum capacity without help from others. Often lost potential is the result of lack of investment.” – I never had anyone personally disciple me or take me aside and teach me leadership principles or principles for life in general other than my parents, I learned mostly by watching and observing others in action, and listening to others’ conversations and reading.

So with that, here are some of the final influences in my life, this is not by far all of them, but some key ones:

8. Rick Warren – Purpose Driven is not the only way to do ministry. In fact some churches have found that other paradigms work best for their church, however Rick Warren was key to opening my eyes to a whole new way of looking at life and ministry, simplified but effective. Who can argue with the 5 Biblical Purposes for our lives and a strong balanced focus for our ministries based on Evangelism, Discipleship, Service, Fellowship, and Worship? Rick Warren was one of the first people to help influence me in a direction away from legalism and religion.

9. Andy Stanley & Louie Giglio: When I think of Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio for some reason I think about them together. It was the Thirsty Conference in 2005 and the 2006 Catalyst Conference that I was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff in ministry. I was devistated, wounded, and ready to throw in the towel. However, at both conferences, God gave Andy and Louie the message that I needed on both occassions. I am sorry if you were one of the thousands of people there, but you were just along for the ride. 2 different conferences, 2 different years, 2 different speakers and a perfect message for some areas I was dealing with. Some of the key things I have learned from Andy is the following: #1 Leadership is a sterwardship, its on loan from God and He will hold us accountable. #2 God is soverign over the kingdoms of men and he gives them to whoever He chooses, even the lowliest of men. (I didn’t even have to look it up, its seared into my brain) and #3 The biggest temptation leaders have is to presume on God. Some of the key things I have learned from Louie is so much I cannot list them all, but a few are #1 How to love Jesus more and be who he has called us to be #2 How to pray like I am praying to a Big God and #3 The power of the cross.

10. Erwin McManus – I have never been so challenged in my life. I love his books, his podcasts, and every message I have heard from him. No matter how much I listen to Erwin, I walk away challenged and educated. I love Mosaic, I had an opportunity to visit there two years ago & it is amazing what God is doing there.

11. Larry Brown – My wife’s first pastor from birth until we got married and my pastor for several years. I never agreed with everyone he had in leadership positions at the church he pastored and the Christian school they ran, but he was a very godly man who loved Jesus and loved others, a man of integrity, a strong leader, and a great friend to my parents and my inlaws. Most of all he is a great pastor to his people and a friend to other pastors. He had a lot of influence in my life as a young person.

12. Charlie – Charlie is a friend who happens to be a superstar. Charlie is a morning show host for a Country radio station (WCOS 97.5) in Columbia, SC and last years Acadamy of Country Music Award Recipient for the Broadcast Personality of the Year for the Medium Market. I could careless about those stats though. Charlie has been an inspiration to me, I have seen him stand firm for what is right, when all others abandoned him and made him stand alone. I have seen him on the other side of the mic and see the huge heart that he and his wife have for our family and for other people in general. Charlie and his wife and their daughter Katy have been great friends to our family. Charlie is an outstanding teacher of the Bible and has greatly influenced my life through his teaching. Beyond being a great friend Charlie has been a mentor to me as a young man.

13. Dolphus Bell – Has some of the greatest integrity I have ever seen in a man. I served on a church leadership team with Dolphus and he is full of wisdom and has been a great spiritual mentor to me. I have learned so much from Dolphus I could not begin to share it all. I have seen Dolphus sit silent in some controversial meetings holding his peace, but when he spoke up at the very end, it was as if his words were straight from God. When I think of Dolphus I think of two things: #1 Wisdom and #2 He can get a hold of God; if you had a special prayer need, Dolphus is the type person you would usually want to go to first.

14. Bob Wilson – Bob and I have a special relationship. He is a great friend but also a great spiritual mentor. Bob and I have spent hours upon hours talking Jesus and ministry. Bob was our Small Groups Pastor at a former church and I was his understudy. He enabled me to learn small groups and to implement them in the ministries that I oversaw. He taught me a lot.

I believe one of the greatest things these people have taught me is character. None of them are perfect and some of the people mentioned here I have never met, but God has still used them in my life. Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” I believe these men have used their power for good in my life and I am eternally thankful for it!

Join the Conversation: Who has had an influence in your life lately?