Monday Routines

I got a question the other day from another Church Planter about how I handle my Mondays. Wayne Cordeiro said that pastors give birth on Sunday and then wake up on Monday pregnant again. So here is my typical Monday routine:

• Help Leslie get CB off to Mother’s Morning Out
• Spend some time with Leslie (she doesn’t get a lot of my time on Saturday’s & Sundays)
• Head to office, usually wearing my comfy clothes
• Read, Read, Read
• Read past weeks bloglines
• Read GreenvilleNewsOnline.com
• Read the Word
• Read at least 200 pages in my current reading
• Read some tech blogs (helps de-clutter my mind)
• Read over upcoming weeks sermon notes
• Read emails (respond to some)
• Read some reasearch based articles (topics vary from marketing to social justice to kids toys)

I know, exciting! Monday is one of the best days for me to process information. I’ve already digested Sunday and am ready to move. So on Mondays I read and gather as much info as I can and begin processing it. Something that I’ve noticed is that typically throughout the week I will filter and funnel out a lot of what I process on Monday; and by the following Monday have the best of nuggets gathered.

Lessons from ghost & missing animals

No, this isn’t a post about animal sacrifices; it’s about miss-led expectations. Sunday, we took CB to our local zoo for the annual Boo in the Zoo. CB had to be the cutest bunny in the park. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t for the other kids dressed up as animals, we might have not seen any. Although this was my first time at the event, I figured all of the animals would be out for CB to enjoy as we walked through collecting candy. Instead we saw cutout ghost & pumpkins, some vultures and a few goats. BOOOO Boo in the Zoo.

Couple this with our Sunday experience at Waypoint I sat this morning wondering how well we are doing at letting people know what to expect when the come. Especially first-time guest! But even those who come as regularly as once a month. Are they coming with expectations? Are their expectations met, exceeded, or let down. Are they getting everything we have? Have we provided an over-the-top atmosphere? Were they challenged to Regroup, Refresh, and Realign? Or did anyone walk out and wonder if they had just hung out with some vultures & goats.

So this week I’m beginning the process of evaluating our up-front, pre-sunday appearance. Praying for guidance and wisdom!

Sheperding more

It’s hard enough to develop and grow your own spiritual life. Following disciplines, finding mentors, allowing yourself to be cut and molded, being patient, confessing!

It only got harder when I got married….all of the above now x’s 2. Leading your spouse to become the person God intended her to be all the while chasing recklessly after Him yourself: constantly wondering why I signed up for this?

Along comes a daughter; my task, propel her! Give her everything I have and opportunities I didn’t to make a kingdom impact

I knew I was called to work within the church in 2000, 9 years later I found myself as a pastor leading, shepherding the lives of others. I’m trying to bask in the goodness that God has given, celebrating the victories. Yet I’m full of fear as he continues to put more sheep into my pasture.

His Mission: Imago Dei–my task–letting it happen!

Split emotions

Today I sat in my office and suffered under the heavy hand of split emotions.

excitement filled me up as I reflected on Sunday. God showed up and blessed our worship, again. His Spirit broke through the darkness of 2 lives moving them into a relationship with Him. Healing took place, LOVE changed everything. As I’ve looked over the past 2 months I have seen God’s hand consistently bringing blessings to Waypoint….and to my family.

Yet against this backdrop is fear….fear that I’m incapable of handling the blessings God is bringing. fear that my faith isn’t strong enough to continue to take risks and challenges that I took before. Fear that I’ll screw it up! Fear, because I’m now shepherding over more lives…..

to be continued….

Monday’s Brew

Monday’s drink = chocolate milk 2 glasses

I am in amazement at what God is doing in the life of Waypoint Church right now! All I can do at this point in our life is to sit and enjoy the beauty of his workmanship!

Here are just a couple of highlights

• Highest non-Easter attendance to date!
• We’ve broken the above highlight  3 times over the past 6 weeks!
• Had 2 more individuals come up and let me know they wanted information on our Baptism service on 10/4
• Had 20 people show up for our first Music Ministry Meeting!
• For a church of our age and size: I said it, and truly belive it, we have the best worship leaders and musicians in town!
• Kicked off Why? series looking at questions that stump our faith journey
• Got to connect with lots of new people
• Several key volunteers are stepping up huge right now! Love IT!

I am more excited today, more than ever about what God is doing in our faith community; and what He will continue to do!

Lots to say…

I’ve had a lot to say recently, yet as you have seen I haven’t posted anything!

The past few weeks have seen our family enter into owning our first home, remodeling our first home, first days of school (well, Mother’s Day Out). It’s been an exciting time.

Waypoint has had some of the best services over the past few weeks. I really feel God’s hands on where we are headed. Trying to be very attentive to His voice; as well as, having the guts to be obedient even when it’s the hard conversations.

I know greater things are still to come! But the past few weeks have been a huge blessing, sorry I haven’t shared the journey as faithfully as I should.

Organism vs Organization

I remember in my college days hearing the new words amongst church life….”we are an organism not an organization!” I was perplexed; loved the concept, but also loved the structures and systems that organizational life provides. Low and behold, 10 years later Jim Akin, the guru of church planting from West Ridge Church posted the following:

“every organism has organization or it falls apart. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” faith begins as a tiny atom/seed of thought in a person’s life – “is there a God?” “how did all of this stuff get here?” etc. etc. that faith is germinated and grows into a living breathing person of faith, but 99.99% of the time without an organization to attach itself too that faith will die.so we may glamorize the church as an organism, fluid, changing, alive, without the organization the organism dies.”

Love it! No longer am I perplexed  Read the entire post here

 

Lending Workers to Other Companies

#6 on the Wall Street Journal’s creative ways to avoid layoffs during a recession (here’s the link to the article) describes Rhino Foods of Vermont-they make Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream better…trust me–sending their employees over to a fellow company who was experiencing a seasonal rush. So companies are sharing employees (even if an invoice comes later)! This is huge for privatized companies with trade secrets….this isn’t typical….this emerged out of necessity and innovation. AND BOTH companies won!

I wonder if churches will ever take this leap–sharing of staff, key leaders, workers, resources. Will we ever get to a point where we are Kingdom minded and not just Church minded. Can we stop competing with each other and learn how to complement each other. I’ve had this discussion several times over the past few months. I’m not sure where it’s going, but it keeps coming up…I’ll keep you in the loop as it progresses.

Challenged by words…

I collect quotes, and keep a ready supply on a file on my desktop. That was untill my PC crashed and now I have a blank document…

Words mean a lot and can radically change my approach, my emotions, and my courage. Here is what I was challenged by in the last few days via my Twitter Feeds.

• @RickWarren “Surrendering to God isnt fatalism or laziness. It may mean sacrificing & suffering criticism to change what needs changing”
• @davidhfoster “It’s the hard thing you do that makes you stronger not the easy. Stop pushing paper and tackle the thing you dread.”
• @andywood “a river takes the path of least resistance, that is why it is so crooked!”
• @chasenc “I’m stuck in a bathroom” (ok…this one just gave me a good laugh)
• @davidhfoster “No one can take from you or keep from you what God wants for you, but you!”
• @RickWarren “It is when we try to be God that we end up most like Satan, who desired the same thing.

Playfully Lazy…

Last week I was living the life of a bachelor while my girls enjoyed the beach. By the end of the week I realized something that must change for future bachelor experiences. Week to week I try hard to balance and prioritize work and family. I try to debunk the myth that Pastors are slothful and just play each week by approaching my time with tactical fervor. I always fill up each day and often am late because of overdoing/underestimating my time constraints. Most of the time I overdo a day…but I love it!

This past week, when my family wasn’t in the picture my entire routine was messed up creating open spaces for playful laziness. By the end of the week, the few hours each day created a lathargic individual. I didn’t waste time, I just didn’t invest my time in things that matter.

So for the next bachelor experience I will be embarking on some radical journeys, pushing the limits of my studying, developing, and writing; as well as, inviting others to hold me accountable–that was the missing element.