Kirk Bowman's blog

Our church set out to make Christmas happen for 500 underprivileged kids again this year.

The latest update to that - we have sponsored 539 kids for Christmas!!!!

It's been such an amazing blessing to watch literally thousands of Christmas presents flow through this place over the last few weeks. We didn't just hand out a box with coloring books. This was major bags of presents being handed out.

Tears flowed freely from lots of moms (and from us) as we handed them loads of presents for their kids.

Every present had a sticker that said"This present was lovingly picked out just for you to show you how much God loves you".

An amazing team of volunteers and our paid staff and our hugely generous church made this happen.

Huge kudos to Coral Childrey who organized and coordinated the connections for all this to take place.

What a joy to pastor such a generous church.

Goals are funny things. They are targets we aim for. If we aim at nothing we hit nothing. They give us something to try for.

One of the primary pieces to the DNA and culture of our church is an atmosphere that inspires and encourages people to succeed in business and enterprise.

God has a plan for us to thrive in every area of our lives - spiritually, emotionally, relationally and in our work environment.

Work is not a curse. Barrenness on our work is a part of the curse. Jesus has broken all the curse for us!

Feeling unfulfilled in the work we give ourselves to is not God's intention for us. Finding our gifting and employing it in a meaningful way is so important to making work work.

At our last Business Breakthrough meeting one of our guys was sharing his story. His job had transitioned. He put out lots of resumes. Nothing. So he decided to print a few business cards and give it a go on his own. Doors started opening up like crazy from him. Favor over all his efforts.

He was expressing his gratitude for the environment and support of our church and specifically our Business Breakthrough team in helping him have the courage to step out there and take a chance on something new.

Awesome!!!!

Christmas for 500 kids is about touching 500 kids one at a time with the love of God.

One of our church members who is engaged in this project with us comes running into my office yesterday. "This is a freakin awesome church" she says. Then she tells me the story of a mom we just handed a carload of Christmas presents to.

The dad had taken the kids bikes and sold them to buy drugs. The dad was being put in the jail that day. The mom is feeling desperate for her kids. Our church took on the job of making Christmas happen for her kids.

We just handed the mom new bikes to replace the ones the dad had sold off. The Mom is sobbing with gratitude.

Awesome!!!!

Inoculate or Permeate. It seems either one of these views defines perspective on Christianity or even church life.

The inoculaters would have us huddled into "the bubble" never to be tainted with anything secular. While there are definitely some things to avoid associating with - this view can definitely insulate us from actually engaging in the real life context of the world we're called to reach. The salt can get stuck in the salt shaker.

Permeators are engaged in advancing the kingdom into culture and into individual lives. This is surely what God has called us to. The downside of permeation, that I have observed, is sometimes the salt can lose it's flavor. People become so much like their culture, in trying to relate to it, that their distinctiveness is almost completely erased.

One of our permeation projects right now is "Christmas for 500 kids". Our church is stepping up in it's usual generous way and so far we have 350 children sponsored. At close to $100 per child, do the math, it's already a sizable move from our awesome church family.

The stories of need amongst kids this year seems escalated. There are some really difficult situations that are in desperate need of a touch of the love of God.

We are still working hard to make Christmas happen for kids. Anybody wanting to engage with us on this - call our office and get involved. We still have a lot of kids that could use our help.

Last year our church heroically stepped up and made Christmas happen for 500 underprivileged children who would not have experienced any presents for Christmas without our help.

It was awesome to bless all those kids. And families.

We're doing it again this year. As of right now, we have pledged sponsorship for almost 300 kids.

Could I encourage you to get involved in helping us bless kids in Jesus name.

We just have a short window of time left to get this done.

The Bible is clear about God's heart for the poor. My heart always goes to kids, especially. They are the ultimate victims of poverty. They really have no options.

We are blessed to be a blessing! Let's rise up and do this.

For years I have read about how valuable time is.

"Time is the most precious commodity. Money lost can be recovered, time lost can never be recovered." Quotes I have read that all ring true. But I just had a new awakening to another dimension to the value of time.

The other night I was discussing with some leaders the value of their presence at meetings. Sunday meetings. Leadership meetings. Prayer meetings.

We all have meetings we go to. Any time there is a gathering of people, that's a meeting. Dinner with my family. Work. Going to play golf. Going out to eat. Church meetings. All meetings. That require some of our time.

As we discussed the value of their presence at these different meetings I had a fresh realization about the value of time. I was asking for their time. A very valuable commodity.

Time is a valuable thing. Time with God. Time with my wife. Time with my kids. Time at church. I only have so much time. Only so many hours to spend.

My words were careful, my heart very aware. All these guys are so busy. Lives so full. And I was asking for their time. For God. For His house. For our church to be all God wants it to be.

And they all responded with a beautiful heart. God and His house was worth their time.

Whoever and whatever we give our time to tells a lot about what we truly value.

My heart had a new appreciation for the value of time when I was asking people I love and respect to give this valuable thing called time.

Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We had 25-30 people over for a great day of feasting and hanging out together.

It was a great mixture of friends and family. Long time friends (almost 25 years of friendship). A guy who used to be in my teen ministry way back in the day - now with a wife and 3 kids. New friends. A newly married couple. Lots of church friends and then my awesome family.

My wife is an excellent hostess and cook so everything was perfect for the day. Jambalaya and oyster dressing are two New Orleans dishes that I anxiously await every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Suzette does them so well.

I think some of the main things I am thankful for were represented on that day. My amazing wife. My gorgeous girls. Long time friends. New friends. Church friends who have stuck with us through thick and thin. Family. Health. Home. Blessing.

I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed as well.

Still reflecting on my latest trip to Ghana and what a powerful event it was. I've been pondering an idea as a result of my time there.

The idea is: Find out what God is blessing and then become a part of it.

It's so much better than trying to get God to bless what we want Him to bless. God is good, but He is stubborn. He is God, we are not. So I want to go with His flow rather than trying to get Him to go with my flow.

This analogy always helps me : If I want the hand of God on my life, find out where His hand is and then get under it.

"Why change the world? Change worlds!"
Henry Miller

I want to get in the world of God's blessing and favor and then bring others in with me.

After 42 hours of travel (each way) , I returned late Saturday night to Asheville from Kumasi, Ghana. The trip was grueling but it was well worth it.

Partnering with Dr. David Shibley and Global Advance ministries, I had the opportunity to minister to 1,500 pastors and leaders from around Ghana.

It was amazing! I felt swept up into something greater than any of us could have put together on our own. It was a God moment. God is up to something great in Africa.

Some highlight reel moments for me.

1. Watching every single one of those guys sow into an offering to help sponsor another conference for leaders to be held in northern India. What a holy moment as they gave unselfishly from what little they have to help someone else hear the gospel.

2. While I was teaching on "The power of a proclamation", I encouraged them to take a minute to proclaim the praise of our awesome God. The Holy Spirit took over the meeting and for 15 solid minutes we all declared the greatness of God. It was electric.

3. At the end of the conference, Dr. Shibley called them to commit to plant at least one new church in the next 12 months and for some of them to go cross cultural if they would. Watching hundreds and hundreds of guys stand with determination to answer that call was so touching. It wasn't just the numbers but the presence of God in the moment was powerful.

The African pastors and leaders are such beautiful people. Humble, serving like crazy and completely sold out to God and His cause on the planet. They all danced in worship like little kids. Joyful and without a care for anything but expressing their praise to God. It was fun to experience.

Thank you to all who prayed with us. Your prayers affected a nation!

In just a couple of days I leave to minister in a pastor's conference in Ghana, Africa.

I'm joining up with our great friend, David Shibley, who started and heads up Global Advance ministries. Global Advance is one of the premier missions ministries in the world and our church was one of the first to support them in their beginning 17 years ago.

This will be my first time in Africa . The 18th nation I've had the privilege of ministering in.

A few ideas swimming around in my head going in to this:

1. Relationships are the door to everything - I get the privilege of ministering to 1900 pastors in Ghana because of my connection with David. An opportunity afforded me by a relationship.

2. The gospel is universal, every culture is unique. Having had the opportunity to experience so many different cultures has given me a great appreciation for the uniqueness of each nation. So there always has to be a unique understanding of the culture we find ourselves in and how to "voice" the gospel to be heard in that culture. This principle applies to spreading the gospel in Asheville or Africa.

3. You can go anywhere from here. I live in Asheville, a small town of 70,000 people. But I can go anywhere on the planet from here. Where you live does not have to define how big or small your life can be.

4. I am blessed. I get to experience the whole world and all it's many colors and textures. God has given me so many opportunities to spread His good news all over planet earth. I love being the bearer of good news.

Pray for us!

Tonight we're having a Family Fun Night for kids and families. It will be a safe and family oriented way for kids to dress up and play and eat lots of candy. And have fun.

It's something we like to provide for our community. A way to bless. A bridge we're building.

I can remember the days when we used to almost boycott Halloween. It was the devil's day and we would have nothing to do with it. Certainly, there are some gruesome and yucky aspects to Halloween that I wouldn't really want to endorse.

I even preached messages against Halloween.

Now, I don't see Halloween as a hill to die on. I'd rather use the opportunity to build a bridge rather than build (yet another) wall.

There are some hills to die on. No question. The Lordship of Jesus, the Cross, the Bible as God's word, Salvation.

But when there's a chance to bless and build a bridge I'd rather do that than fight a battle for a hill that's really not worth dying on.

Yesterday we had a blast at church!

We were pausing to celebrate our church's 18th birthday. 18 years of journey. 18 years of God writing the story. 18 years of blessing.

Suzette and Tori and I moved here with $500 and a dream. And a whole bunch of naivete about church planting. We didn't know anyone in Asheville and certainly didn't know how to start a church. We've certainly made our share of mistakes along the way.

Our 18 years have had their ups and downs for sure. Highlight reel moments and tearful, painful moments as well. My takeaway on it all - God is good and always faithful to His word.

From that little seed of faith and hope our church has grown to 900 members and over $6 million in assets. Thousands of people have been touched. We are grateful for God's blessing.

Our dream of a life-giving church full of color and fun and music and friendships and lifting people rather than condemning them still burns brightly.

I know God will be as good and as faithful in the next 18 years as He has been in the last 18.

The party is still on.

Party on, Wayne! Party on, Garth!

This is from my Bible reading in Joshua this morning:

All the tribes of Israel were given their allotments of land by God.
But they still had to go in and take possession of what had been given them.

Everything God gives must be taken.

The sons of Joseph are given their allotment but start complaining because it's too small and there are some difficulties involved in taking their piece of land.

Joshua says to them:
JOS 17:18 but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong. "

I love this phrase: For though it is a forest, you shall clear it

When we were building our buildings a few years ago, the piece of land we had was rolling and forested. Through a vision of what we wanted to build, we cleared forest and moved dirt and built our buildings. Now you'd never know what was there before.

What forest do you have to clear in order to fulfill your vision or take your land?

Here is God's belief in you - though it is a forest, you shall clear it.

This past weekend we launched a new semester of Connect Groups. Our Connect Group Fair was a total success and had a great buzz and feel to it. Our gym was packed with CG leaders and people checking things out. Met lots of new people God is bringing into our church.

Two things that have really been working for us is going to a semester format and having "fairs" or launch date celebrations. We have done this same thing with our Volunteer Team in the spring and it worked really well then, too.

If our destiny is found in connections than of course the enemy will work hard to keep us disconnected. I think some of the greatest spiritual warfare in life is over our connections - i.e. relationships. He stirs up vain imaginations which eventually turn into broken relationships.

Life is better together.

ECC 4:9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.
ECC 4:10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
ECC 4:11 Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?
ECC 4:12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

I am loving these two CD's right now.

Remedy - David Crowder

Beyond The Neighborhood - Athlete

Actually, these two CD's represent two of my favorite genres of music - great worship music and moody, alternative British bands.

If The Doves would get saved and write worship music I would be beside myself.

Radiohead just bypassed the whole middleman process and put their newest album online for download. And you could pay whatever you wanted. From what I've read - 1.2 million downloads at an average of $8.00 each. In the first week! So that's close to $10 million. Wow!

No question the whole music industry has to be sitting up and taking notice of this. We should be as well.

This raises a whole new set of questions, thoughts and approaches for the way ideas or music or anything gets distributed.

My main call and passion is to spread the good news of the kingdom of God. The idea (if you will) stays the same. The distribution method has to be thought through and reconsidered over and over.

Today is a magnificent day. The weather is stunning. Crisp, clear, fall colors. This is the kind of day you move to Asheville to experience.

I'm officiating a wedding for two very special people today.

Gary Johnson - my golf buddy. Gary is such a great guy. He serves in Kids Church, helps the elderly and single moms fix their homes. Always ready to help anywhere he's asked. And a heck of a golfer, to boot.

Debra Parker is a great lady. Been in our church for 15 years. Loves to pray. Been a great friend to Suzette. A very special person.

Their wedding will be a lot of fun to be a part of.

Tomorrow we kick off a short (2 weeks) series - Party! We're going to develop a party theology. Then after service we all get to hang out at our Connect Group Fair and help people get started in building life-giving friendships.

Should be fun.

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away"

Suzette and I are riding in the car after our Friday morning breakfast date in gorgeous (fall colors and temp.) downtown Asheville.

We're talking about getting her a digital camera and I start thinking about all the old, dead formats that have transitioned in just the last few years.

- From film photography to digital
- From Cassette to CD (which is now giving way to mp3)
- From VHS to DVD

The list could be quite long but you get the idea. I remember reading Paul Pilzer's "God Wants You To Be Rich" several years ago. The best book I've read on understanding abundance mentality.

He makes the case for the progression of discovery of new formats in all arenas as the way of uncovering all the abundance God has buit into the fabric of the universe. Fuel goes from whale blubber to coal to petroleum oil. Cars go from carburetors to fuel injection. In other words, there is no shortage in God or how He created the world. We're just on the journey of discovering all the abundance He has created.

To bring it home for me - and you. I wonder if there are "old formats" we hold on to that are limiting what God could do in our life.

I know there are some "formats" that shouldn't change. Like marriage.

A shark "formatted" into a 10 gallon aquarium will only grow to a few inches long. Throw that that same shark into an ocean "format" and it will grow to several feet.

I believe there are amazing things God wants to do in our planet - and in our lives -that could be released if we had a different format. A new category of thinking and believing.

Now, which camera should I get my wife?

"The leader of the past knew how to tell, the leader of the future will know how to ask" - Peter Drucker

Because we live more and more in a niche-oriented, knowledge economy asking is becoming far more important than telling.

People on your team - in family, church or business - most likely have more knowledge than the leader in a certain niche of expertise.

Great leaders create solar systems where collective knowledge flows freely. It's not even the job of the leader to know it all. And then tell everyone what to do. Their role is to create environments where those who know best can share - what they know best. Everybody wins that way.

Obviously, this includes more listening than talking. More questions than answers. But I think it will lead to better answers.

A good question is far better than a bad answer.

I think this is why my mom always told me there was a reason God gave us (me) two ears and one mouth.

Your destiny is found in your connections. The quality of your life is largely determined by the quality of your relationships. You will become just like the people you hang around with.

These axioms have guided my life and ministry for many years.

Relationships can be a great channel of life or a destructive channel of toxicity.

This Sunday - Oct. 21 - we start a new Connect Group semester. 50 different groups will be available for people to start to build real relationships out of.

We know we cannot legislate relationships (how foolish to even try that) but we can help facilitate relationships. Connect Groups are a great way to start down the road to meaningful friendships.

Please let me encourage you to get involved in life giving relationships. Hardly anything is more important.

Get involved in a Connect Group this semester. You'll be glad you did.

This month I am celebrating 2 anniversaries!

First - and best - Suzette and I are celebrating our 26th wedding anniversary on October 17. I'm 51, so that means I've spent over 1/2 my life married to Suzette.

Outside of my relationship with God - Suzette is the best thing that has ever happened to me. By far. She is amazing. I am still completely infatuated with her. She's totally gorgeous, lots of fun, really loves God and people, sings like an angel and has the purest heart of anyone I know. I am blessed!!!

Then - our church is celebrating our 18 year anniversary. Wow! Sometimes it seems like yesterday we were just starting our church. God has done some amazing things for us, in us and through us. It's been quite a ride.

What's cool to me is - we are becoming The Rock 2.0 (or maybe even 3.0). Things are changing. Part of it is on purpose and part of it is by God's hand. I know the next part of the journey will look different than the first part. I'm loving it.

My life is exceedingly blessed and I am very grateful.

Our 2007 Unforgettable Women's Conference just wrapped up. This year was absolutely amazing!

Some highlights:
- About a third of the conference was brand new girls invited by friends and family. This is a culture for the conference that Suzette has been working for several years to build. Very fulfilling to see the invite factor rising.
- 40 men volunteering to serve the ladies. They were amazing.
- Watching all the volunteers pour their heart into making this a great event. They were having a blast serving together.
- Worship was amazing!
- Our ladies stepped up to sponsor 95 kids!!! with Food for the Hungry. The FFTH guys were astonished by the generosity. They expected 20 or so sponsorships from our size group. It is so great to pastor a church with so much generosity
- Of course, Holly Wagner. She is world class in every way. We are blessed to have her come.
- The whole event felt great! Videos, worship, gifts, messages, the big tent, all the details were in place
- The ladies are way better than the guys at creating atmosphere
- God moved!

Thank you to all our volunteers and paid staff who worked so hard to bless our ladies. You rock!

Our church is abuzz with activity this week as we get ready for our annual Women's Conference.

I love all of our conferences. It's just a great time to party together and shower value and love on people.

Our ladies are always so creative and put together such a great event. Every detail lovingly planned out. Great music, great videos, great speakers, great fun, great prizes and gifts. It's so much fun.

This year we are having Holly Wagner back. And my awesome wife will be speaking as well. Both of them are amazing. Girls, don't miss this!

Girls, Ladies - we love you and want every good thing God has in store for you.

Today is 9/11. It's a date that all of us remember. A date that changed a lot of things in the world and the way we view things.

I remember 9/11/2001. Suzette and I had just returned at midnight on 9/10 from a ministry trip to Australia. My daughter Tori (then 13) woke us up telling us there was something on the news about a plane hitting a building. We were totally out of it with serious jet lag. We kind of blew her off.

Soon after we got up and starting watching the news, the second plane hit the second tower. We were in a daze. Hard to know how much was jet lag and how much was disbelief at was happening.

Now I look back 6 years ago and think about what life was like then. And what it is like now. And what it will be like on 9/11/2013. 6 years from now.

There are people I dearly loved then who are no longer a part of my life now. Sad. There are people I love who have stayed in my life since then. Peace. There are new people in my life that I dearly love that I didn't even know then. Happy. Somehow I know there will be new people in my life in 6 years who I don't even know now. Hopeful.

Funny. 6 years ago I probably would not have posted about people and love - love lost, love remaining, love coming. Now it matters more to me than almost anything.

Faith, hope, love. The greatest of these is love.

Yesterday we had an appreciation luncheon for our guys who serve in guest services. What a great crew of men and women who so unselfishly serve people in our church.

Parking lot guys, front door greeters, sanctuary ushers, welcome center hosts, cafe workers. All great people who practically share the love of God with people week in and week out. No way our church would be anywhere near as great as it is without them.

These are the guys who come to church to give not just get. Who come to love not just be loved. Who come to serve not just be served.

I remember my first experiences in church. 18 years old. Fresh out of the drug culture. Didn't understand the culture of church at all. The music was awful. My first pastor used to preach messages with titles like "The Efficacy of the Atonement".

I could hardly understand anything about that little church. What I did understand was - these guys loved me just like I was. That was something I had never experienced before. Their love made the difference for me.

A great big thank you to all of our guest service team who help us share the love of God with people very single week. You guys rock!

I am reaching the end of my 99 day journey and I thought I would write a little about it.

My 99 days were to include:
1. Walk every day - 30 minutes
2. Touch heaven every day
3. Write a book

Here's my report on my progress with all of those things -

I walked almost every day. Maybe missed 15 or less days. Not perfect but I feel good about it.

I did touch heaven almost every day. I think every day, to be honest. Meaningful Bible time, prayer time or worship time. Something every day. My favorite of all this was our 11 - 2 prayer time at church. Our sanctuary, with worship music playing and cool lighting. No one else there some times. A handful there other times. Really rich and chocolaty. Loved it!

My book efforts were the least successful. I started out pretty strong for the first 30 or 40 days. Then I faltered pretty heavily. Lots of stuff going on this summer that threw me off. I wish I could have plowed through it all and kept writing but I couldn't.

My idea for the book - "Solar system leadership" is still strong in me and growing even stronger. I do intend to get back to working on it.

I'm used to communicating through public speaking. Writing is proving hard for me but I will break through on this one.

To all who had the courage to try something for 99 days - Bravo!

Whether you did really well or not, remember you are loved - not because you are good but because He is good.

I'm not into tattoos. Not for the normal reasons most people give, though. I don't think there's anything morally wrong with having a tattoo. Actually, some people's tattoos look pretty cool to me. If someone wants a tattoo for them self, that's their choice.

My personal issue with tattoos is this: What looked cool to me when I was 20 doesn't look so cool now. What I thought looked so awesome then is a picture we would all laugh at now. I used to have a moustache that looked like the guy from Hall and Oates. Cool then. Really!! Stupid now. Glad it wasn't a tattoo.

To make a permanent mark on yourself with the viewpoint you happen to have now just doesn't make sense to me. 20 years from now it may look ridiculous.

I've seen "what was cool" change so much over my lifetime. I've seen dozens of looks and ideas that were so hip at one time but now appear entirely outdated.

I've had a lot of opportunities to get tattooed. The ways we thought looked so cool about church, money, evangelism, worship, discipleship, etc. 20 years ago all look pretty silly now.

I don't want to make (or take) a permanent mark on something I happen to like now. There has to be the freedom to evolve into a new day. Some old ideas and paradigms need to be shed to keep growing in life.

Cool sideburns, Elvis.

I'm working on an idea. This idea is working on me as well. It's about a different approach to leadership than I've known in the past.

I started teaching on this last summer and it keeps growing inside of me. It's becoming a "big idea" for me.

Instead of viewing leadership as a "top down" management of people, projects, resources, vision and ideas - I'm seeing leadership as "solar systems".

A leader is the center of a solar system. There are still people, projects, resources, vision and ideas - but they are not managed from the top down. They more circulate in a solar system around the leader and his/her anointing, grace, gifting and call.

People are attracted to solar system leaders. They want to live in the atmosphere that flows out of their anointing. Great leaders create a world that their "followers" can live in.

Solar system leaders build a culture rather than organize a program. Which doesn't do away with organization or programs - just a realization that a culture is about the atmosphere of the place. A "square" program in a "round" culture will never work - unless it's constantly managed from the top down. This wears everybody out.

"Solar system" is about all of our relationships as well. So a thought on this - why not work on being attractive to your spouse, kids, friends, associates, etc? Don't push them away - draw them in with love, care, interest, keeping your soul well, etc.

How about our churches becoming more "attractive" and less "managed"?

A few years back there was a commercial where Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) offered Deion Sanders 15 or 20 million to play for him. His reply "Both, boss"

I like the both, boss approach to living.

Should I be prosperous or sacrificial - both, boss

Should I be confident or humble - both, boss

Should I be devotional or an active revolutionary - both, boss

There is a conversation going on right now about whether the church should be attractional (Ya'll come) or missional (Let's go). Guess what I think? You're right - both,boss

We should gather for meetings. It's the Bible. Any other form of Christianity is non-Biblical. If we're going to have meetings, let's make them fantastic. The best 100 minutes of a person's week. Attractive in every way.

But when we're done - go into all the world and bring good news. Not because the church organized a program for you to reach out but because you care enough to make a difference.

Let's send attractive people out on a mission. Let's be on a mission to attract people to God and His house.

Both, boss.

I think having an abundance mentality opens our world up to so many possibilities.

Thinking scarcity makes people guarded, jealous, stingy and small. Got to protect my few pieces of the pie! And make sure no one else gets more pieces than I do.

Knowing God has created the world with abundance written into the code of things frees my spirit. Abundance is in the air because God is abundant - limitless. It's not just what He does - or what He gives - it's who He is. There is a river - unending abundance - that flows from the throne of God.

Abundance frees me to be generous - I know more is coming.

Abundance frees me to rejoice in other people's blessings and accomplishments - there's more than enough to go around.

Abundance frees me to try something new and fresh. If it doesn't work - no worries. There are more chances and opportunities.

Abundance frees me to think in unlimited possibilities.

Abundance is way more than just being about money. It includes money but limiting it to that is missing the point - entirely.

Abundance gives other people room to breathe. They see it different. They are different. It's OK. It's a great big world. God has created an abundance of colors.

Here's to your abundance!

I would rather see our church go up in the flames of attempting to be extraordinary for the glory of God than sail placidly along in the calm waters of mediocrity

I dream of a church:

Accessible enough to people who haven’t embraced Jesus yet and spiritual enough to grow those who already know Him

Full of mystery and decidedly practical

Big enough to make a difference and small enough (connect groups) to provide intimacy and care

Great big sounds of worship (think U2 concert) and every person entering into an intimate personal worship experience

Lots of fun and laughing and enjoying the colors of life and enough character to not abuse those beautiful gifts from God

Positive, uplifting, encouraging, faith-filled, go for it, you can do it, God is on your side, everything works out for you, God is good, you are gifted, you are valuable and compassionate enough to be touched by people’s hurts

Non-judgmental of others and totally committed to a holy life that pleases God

Modern and ancient

Embracing all the promises of God and totally in touch with the reality of the world we live in

All about the presence of God and all about loving people

Fantastic, life-filled, inspirational, totally cool meetings at church and taking it all to the streets outside of the church meetings

I have a dream .....

Tammy Faye Messner died of cancer this past Friday.

When she and Jim Bakker were on TV together I didn't like her (their) style - at all. Everything about their show and their style of ministry sat wrong with me.

But then, a couple of years ago I saw her on a reality show on VH1. I started Tivoing the show because I was so impressed with how she was handling herself. She was on that show with a former porn star, a former rock star and several other odd and unique personalities.

She was the sweetest, most non-judgemental, loving person - by far - on the show. She never compromised her values but she totally loved everyone on the show. I was completely impressed with her.

I sat there many times thinking "I would hope I could handle myself as well she did"

I saw her in a restaurant in Charlotte. People were asking to take their picture with her. She was laughing and loving all of them. There was a party all around her. Totally sweet. Totally fun. Totally loving.

The hair. The makeup. The style. Definitely not for me.

She may have made more than a few mistakes along the way.

But her spirit. Loving, sweet, non-judgemental. Wow.

May she rest in peace.

One of the ideas that is swimming (or flying) around in me for a while now is: find out what you can be great at and develop that.

I called it "your thrive zone" in a message at our men's conference.

Fish swim well. Birds fly well. Birds will only be mediocre swimmers. So be a great bird if you are a bird. Because you are gifted to be great at that.

One of my pressures as a pastor is the expectation of lots of people to be what they want me to be. For them. But I'm not able to be great at everything. No one is. I can be great at a few things.

I bet many people face that same pressure in their world as well.

Focusing on your "thrive zone" is huge. Be great at your greatness.

One of the great concepts to go with this idea is called Zipf's law.

It basically recognizes that no. 1 in anything is categorically higher than no. 2,3, 4 and so on.

It was first discovered in relation to letters in the alphabet and their frequency of usage but it can be applied to almost everything. The no.1 movie of the week is categorically higher than no. 2,3, etc. The no. 1 golfer in the world (Tiger) is way above the rest of the field. No. 1 ice cream favorite (vanilla) is way above all the rest in popularity. And so on.

For us as Christians, it's not about competition with others. It's about being our very best at what we are gifted to do.

Gal. 6:4 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.
Gal. 6:5 Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

Long post, sorry. These ideas fascinate me. More to come.

We just finished an amazing weekend with our men. Our annual Men's Conference is always a highlight.

It's such a great time to get a bunch of guys together. Team competitions, sanctified trash talk, inspiration, playing together, praying together - it's all good. Kevin Gerald brought it. 2 excellent messages. I love the sound and feel of a bunch of guys worshipping God - loudly - together. Lots of fun, lots of inspiration, lots of connecting.

Sunday afternoon saw us sending out yet another team to the nations. 3rd one this year. A team of 10 is going to Mali, Africa to work with our long time friend Bruce McDonald. Very strong team filled with great men and women. They are going to do a crusade and then help a church Bruce works with there. Pray for them. Should be an excellent trip.

Sunday service was superb. Great worship. Loved the videos of the guys telling what God is doing in their life. I'm totally enjoying teaching the Galatians series. 12 people responded for salvation or rededication.

In the midst of all that, there are a few people mad at me. And our church. Go figure!

Neh. 6:3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

One of the things we work really hard on in creating great services is making sure our transitions are thought through and coordinated well.

You can have a great song list and really be entering into worship but then lose it because of a poor transition between songs. The transition needs to be practiced as well as the song itself. This idea applies to all dimensions and aspects of a service.

Transition is a part of all of life. The page turns. Old chapters end. New chapters begin. God keeps writing the unfolding story.

Many church people seem unable to make graceful transitions. This may be true for all people in transition but most of my experience is with people coming and going into church.

It amazes me how people feel the need to demonize the church or the direction or the leadership in order to validate their need to move on. They seem to feel the need to throw mud (or worse!) around on their way out. Is that really necessary?

I think a new mindset is needed on this. How about being grateful for what you have received and then if a person feels God turning the page leave with blessing instead of cursing. Why do anything to damage the house of God? Why cast stones just to make your decision look right? If it's time to go, transition gracefully.

Sigh....

Change is like exercise. You don't have to do it now but you will pay the price for not doing it later on.

It's also like exercise in that I like "having exercised". We all like "having changed". But actually changing can be difficult. We like what change brings but it is hard to do.

All progress requires change but not all change means progress. So not all changes are good but the only way to find out is try. Everything is an experiment. If it's not immoral or unethical and nobody dies then you make the change, evaluate and then make the adjustment.

When we change things at church - yikes. It is amazing to see the different reactions. Change is easy to amen when preached but hard for some to actually accept when we do it.

My dog Leo barks with a nervous "woof" every time he sees something in a new place. Some people are like my Leo, "woofing" nervously at any change they see.

So we're changing a few things at our church. No more choir, giving our auditorium to our rapidly growing teen ministry on Wednesdays, soon expanding our children's ministry on Sundays to be better for our families and our kids, adjusting the way we receive offerings. It's just a go at improving things.

Pray for Leo. And his Dad.

Yesterday, I talked about the grace of God in church.

My topic was "running from legalism". A "legalistic, rule bound, don't, shouldn't, can't" type of Christianity is actually a lie about the character of God. God's disposition toward us is grace. He wants to give us all good things - salvation, blessing, peace, abundance, love. Our job - believe and embrace it for our own. Nothing we can do to earn any of it.

There's something about teaching the grace of God the way it comes off in the Bible that feels a little dangerous. I have this feeling that I should hedge things a little. After all, where would people go in their brains and hearts without sufficient guard rails?

But i have to say that the grace of God makes me want to obey God. I just celebrated my 33 year spiritual birthday and I love God more than ever. And His grace continues to amaze me.

Just went to see Spiderman 3 a couple of days ago. Amazing!

I'm not a big movie person. Maybe 4 or 5 a year. But I love the spiderman series.

I loved Marvel comics as a kid. Spent my entire 10 year old weekly allowance every week on comic books. Mostly Marvel.

Spidey 3 deals with revenge and forgiveness. And does it well.

Forgiveness is releasing yourself from the hurts others have inflicted. Holding on to vengeance only eats you up on the inside. Let it go. No use in carrying that hurt around forever. They may have hurt you in the past. Don't let them keep hurting you.

If you haven't seen Spiderman 3, Go!

Today I begin my 99 day journey.

I'm working on 3 things for 99 days:
1. Worship - I want to pray and be in the word every day for 99 days. I want to touch heaven and let heaven touch me. Every day.
2. Walk - I want to walk (exercise style) every day for 30 minutes.
3. Write - I want to write every day. I'm working on my "solar system, irresistible leadership concept" book.

Sorry for the illiteration on the ideas. My mind has been trained to do that by so many years of presenting messages. It helps me wrap my brain around ideas.

If you are a part of of our church (or even if you're not) please register your 99 day journey on our website. We're looking forward to what can develop out of this.

Another one of our work culture mantras:
Do it right, do it now, do it wow

Do it right - with excellence
Do it now - overcoming procrastination
Do it wow - put some extra on the ordinary

I like these ideas for all of life, not just work.

Do it right - We want to do the job right the first time. If we don't have the time to do it right the first time, how will we have the time to redo it to make it right.

And .... if it's for God (and isn't everything!) He deserves our very best.

Do it now - Just get started. Get going. Now. Most things are not as hard as we think, if we'll just get going. A bunch of piled up, undone procrastinations makes you stressed out.

Do it wow - Go the second mile. The extra touch, the extra five minutes. Of thought or time or effort. Put a signature of extraordinary on whatever you put your hand to. As Seth Godin says "Quit trying to be perfect, start being extraordinary".

We're doing a cool thing this summer.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day is 99 days. We're asking everyone in our church to choose an area of their life and focus on it for 99 days. Every day for 99 days.

Take something you've been dreaming about. Or planning to do. Or know needs your attention. And give it your attention every day for 99 days.

Read your Bible all the way through in 99 days. Work on your weight. Or fitness. Your marriage. Write a book. Produce some art. Write songs. Build a business. Focus on your kids. Just give it attention every day for 99 days.

We're asking people to register their 99 day journey on our website. We're going to pick 4 people and follow them through their journey (with their permission) and produce a "reality show" regular update based on their 99 day journey.

Should be a lot of fun.

This is an interesting idea.

An old fashioned instrument - an antenna - can receive a new kind of signal - HDTV.

Two sides to the story for me.

1. No matter how advanced we get we still can't beat the old fashioned fundamentals of personal prayer, personal time in the Word and some solitude to gather our soul and stay tuned in to heaven.

2. The other side - there are are some fresh new signals coming in. We can't stay stuck on analog when God is sending digital.

Back to our work culture mantras.

#2 - Yes, Whatever it takes.

I love a "Yes" mentality toward life. Yes, I'll help. Yes, that's possible. Yes, I can do that. Yes to cooperating.

A way back side note - one of my favorite groups as a teenager - Yes.

Yes is positive. It finds the bright side of things. The up side of things. The best part in people. The possibilities in life.

Faith, hope & love - all positive things.

No. But. Maybe. Even yes, but. These are all inferior ways to approach life.

Starting with a yes in your spirit gives you a head start on the field.

To some, this is only positive mental attitude. To which I reply "A positive mental attitude is better than a negative mental attitude any day of the week.

Say yes to God. To life. To the people you love. To life. To your dreams. To yourself.

Today was a great day at church. We are exploring the idea of legacy. Leaving one and receiving one.

David had a vision for the house of God in his heart but the work was handed to Solomon - the next generation. It takes both parts of the equation to pull this off.

This is making me reminisce on people who have invested into my life. There have been many. I am standing on their shoulders.

Some of them have really messed up along the way but that doesn't take away their investment into my life. I am grateful for all of them. Warts and all.

I love the creative communication of today. Videos depicting the vision of C2. People placing pictures that represent their sense of legacy. Interviews with teenagers who really love God but are still very much teenagers. And a short message.

I love our teenagers and I'm VERY proud of them. I want to encourage them to be themselves and I want to invest into them so they can run past me to create the future.

I have been given something by many great people. I hope I'm doing the same for others. Even with my warts and all.

On the idea of "Everything is an Experiment"

Google has a "fail fast" philosophy. That is - launch, listen, improve, launch again. It requires a significant level of honesty when assessing data on how well things are working. Change it if it isn't working!

This is probably exactly the opposite of many church's philosophy. We have had this modeled for us: Get an Idea (maybe), committee it to death, talk about how "it's never been done that way before", "wait on God's timing" - then launch it way too late and then keep riding the dead horse when we should have dis-mounted a long time ago.

Another church barrier to experimentation and improvement is putting too many things under the "God told me to do this" banner. Then it becomes really difficult to be honest about shortcomings. Because "God told me"

I do believe in God giving us direction but it might be more honest - and healthy - to say "I think this would be a good idea. Let's try it,"

Save the "God told me" for when He actually really does tell us.

I do intend to have an ongoing dialogue on our 5 work culture ideas but I wanted to post this idea.

This morning I woke up extra early - not on purpose - and flipped on the TV to check out the weather. So, I see this guy (youngish, fairly contemporary church setting) preaching away at what everybody in his church should be doing - praying, fasting, tithing, serving, etc. He is letting them have it.

I do think all of those are good things but it's the "you should" over-the-top tone that concerns me.

This a significant paradigm difference:
1. A relationship with God is all about what you should be doing
vs.
2. A relationship with God is about being connected to a God who is a "Helper"

Yes, there are things we should do. Things that are right.

But I think people are carrying enough of a load in life without having to carry all that as well.

God as a helper is not "Santa Claus who gives me all the candy I want". Please. A little more respect for God than that. But He is God. He doesn't need our behavior. We need His help

Christianity is more about believing than behaving. And good believing always results in good behaving. Christianity is more about God helping us rather than us keeping up with all the "shoulds".

There are some "shoulds" in life but to paint a relationship with God as being all about doing what we should is not really giving the true picture.

That pastor should stop doing that.

OK - all you "blog-o-rhythm" police guys (& girls) cut me some slack.

Here are some ideas we are working through as a church staff that I thought would be interesting to dialogue on.

I want to preface my words by saying we have a great, talented and hard working team of people on our church staff. I love them all.

I know it is my job as a leader to "define reality" for us, though.

So we came up with these ideas to guide the culture of our staff this year. I think these ideas will work in a lot of settings, so that's why I'm putting them out here.

So here are our 5 "work culture" guidelines:
1. I love this place, 24/7, 365, 100%
2. Yes, whatever it takes
3. Do it right, do it now, do it wow
4. Everything is an experiment
5. I win when the team wins

On no. 1 - I think it's vital to make sure we love what we're doing and who we're doing it with.

Every 7 years, Old Testament slaves were given a jubilee option. You get to go free or you stay where you are because you love it.

It's probably good to evaluate some things every so often (not on the really bad days!) and see if we are still doing things we love or just doing things out of old habits.

We wanted all of our guys to really look into their hearts and determine if they worked here because they love it wholeheartedly (still) or just because they've been here for a while.

It's a good thing to keep doing what we love, to stop doing what we don't love anymore. Or figure out why we don't love it anymore. Maybe we just need to push reset and start loving it - again.

OK - so I'm a bit of a beginning blogger and have not developed my "blog-o-rhythm" yet. I intend (promise would be a big commit at this point) to do better and post more often from here on out. I will do better, I will do better...

This is an interesting story to me.

A very popular world class violinist playing a $3.5 million Stradivarius in a subway station is basically ignored.

There's a lot of layers to this, but it immediately makes me think of the power of context and expectation.

The same guy in a concert hall with a huge expectation level from his audience transfixes everyone. And gets paid really well.

Creating great context is so important. Going to great lengths to make church great is all about creating a context for people to be touched by God. Romantic context matters (listen to me boys). Going into our prayer closet is about creating a context to hear from God. Great context makes a huge difference.

The power of expectation is big as well. No one expects world class music in a subway station. So they rush on by.

Made me think of trying to witness on Bourbon Street in New Orleans as a new believer. It wasn't really a great context to have a meaningful conversation. The "Jesus freaks" were just as much a part of the show as the strippers.

Create great context for great experiences in order to live well.

Keep your expectation level high. God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or think.

Today was an amazing and beautiful day. Great meeting with a great feel to it.

Our team has the greatest hearts for God and people. I feel very blessed to serve with them.

Guest services. Creative team. Tech team. Children's ministry team. Everybody just loving and serving and giving their best. Hats off to all you guys for all you do!

Full house. Just over 800 (811) people in church. 21 people raising their hands in adult service to respond to Christ. 15 children responded in Kids Church. 36 people moving closer to God. Yeah!

Loved seeing people that have come to our church in the past but had to move away for various reasons. They still long for "The Rock" experience and cannot locate it anywhere else.

I know God wants us to reproduce what He has given us. In satellites and church plants. In reaching beyond the walls of our church into our community.

What we have in God is way too good for us to keep for ourselves.

The best part of it all was hanging out with these two guys. Two of my best friends in life.

Whit Toland is a spiritual son of mine we sent out to Greensboro to plant a church a few years ago. He is doing an incredible job. Our relationship is fun and organic. We just like each other. Laugh a lot. Share vision. And pain. We're like Jonathan and David.

Andy Banfield is the prince of kindness. He is the most generous guy I know. He has opened the door for me to see and play golf in places no mortal gets to visit. My life is immeasurably better because of Andy being in it.

Great friends are a huge treasure in life.


This is me standing in front of the 12th green at Augusta. One day, I would LOVE to hit a shot into this green

Had a great lunch meeting at my house today. Wanted to gather a few leader guys for men's stuff coming up. Connect Groups, events, etc. Had 40 guys show up at my house for an informal "strategery" session. Loved connecting. Hanging out. Great feel to the whole thing. Wow - the future is bright!

Taught on friends at church today. Really had it on my heart to address toxic relationships. You could have heard a pin drop at one point. Sold out twice on tapes of the message.

Nothing so wonderful as great friendships. Nothing so hurtful as bad ones.

I'm believing God for great things to happen in people's relationships.

New Connect Group semester begins April 22. Sign on!

Your future is in your connections.

So, I'm cutting my grass this morning.

I actually enjoy mowing my lawn. It's fairly therapeutic for me. My yard is pretty big and it takes close to 3 hours. It's fairly mindless work so I get to pray, think, sing, worship, listen to my Ipod while I'm riding on my lawn mower.

Today I'm thinking about the power God has given us to cultivate a great life.

All along the edge of one side of my yard are thorns and weeds and various "weed stuff". No telling how much of that owned my yard before I started defining what would be grass that I could mow. And create a beautiful lawn.

What used to be weeds is now lawn because of cultivation.

I think too many people are passive about designing the life they want. Some just don't realize they have the power and permission. We can all cultivate great relationships, financial increase, a great walk with God.

If you want tomatoes in your life. Plant tomatoes.
If you want friends. Plant love.

I like the idea of cultivation. It seems to have an elegance to it. Cooperating with the forces God has created rather than "forcing" a manufactured thing.

Here's to you cultivating the life you've dreamed of.

Reading a Brian Tracy article on business and creating customers for life and thought about its application to church and all of life.

He says two key elements of great business are Positioning and Differentiation.

BTW - I think truth is truth and it usually applies to all areas of life. There aren't "church truths", "business truths", "family truths". God's kingdom truths are for all areas of life. As John Maxwell says "There's no such thing as business ethics" Good ethics are good ethics - everywhere. Truth works - everywhere.

BT's two statements -
Positioning refers to the way your customers think and talk about you and your company when you are not there.

Differentiation refers to your ability to separate yourself and your product or service from that of others.

Positioning
Everyone and everything holds a position in people's perception - people feel a certain way about me, you, the church, the president.

I am on a mission to change the way people think about church. To change our "positioning" in people's minds.
Not church that is boring, judgmental, legalistic, behind the times, out of touch, bland, looking back.
I see church as exciting, colorful, life giving, uplifting, positive, helpful, creative, looking forward - great buzz and energy.

Differentiation
I still think as cool as we want to make church. And we do. Our quintessential uniqueness is love. God loves you. We love you. You are worth being loved. We love each other.

Style is definitely a part of uniqueness but we can get so hung up on "style" that we miss the real point.

The reason there are many churches in a city is this idea. Our church appeals to a certain type. So does the church down the road. I want our church to be the best "The Rock Church" we can be. We can't ever appeal to every person's style. We do our best for God and others when we embrace our uniqueness - and let other churches do the same.

Also - you are uniquely you. Celebrate that. Enhance it. Go for it.

Great weekend at church!

I have to say - our worship team rocks. I love the presence of God - especially when it's loud.

Finished up on The Plus Factor series. I've loved this series. Planting the seed of serving well in our church family. People are getting it. Even taking it home, not just in church. Very cool.

Volunteer Fair has been a total hit. What a great way to let people get in the game.

9 people responded to Christ. Love that!!!!!

Last night went to The Orange Peel again - this time to see MuteMath. They were really good.

The whole opening act thing needs some rework, though.

There were 3 (three !!!) opening acts for MuteMath. It just feels like too much. I've been to 3 different shows this past month. Which, by the way, is a lot more than normal for me. All the opening acts were a disappointment.

It seems to me the whole setup for those opening act guys is working against them. They might do fine with another positioning but the expectation level is so low. And they play too long. Give us 4 of your greatest songs. Do them exceptionally. Be Brief, Bold & Brilliant. Then leave us wanting more. Not hoping you'll stop.

Also, can't they come up with a more creative, entertaining way to transition equipment and set up between acts. I don't think that would be that hard. Make it fun. Appealing. Make it entertainment. Think it through and make it part of the act.

Well, I know there's got to be another level.

I love golf! And I love gadgets! So, small wonder I love golf gadgets. The best of both worlds.

I try to only buy the good golf gadgets. Not the stupid ones. At least most of the time.

My wife calls me "Pastor Gadget".

So anyway, my latest golf gadget is a "Sky Caddie". It's a GPS device that tells you exactly how many yards you are away from a green. It's awesome. It tells you exactly how many yards to the front, center and back of the green.

What an amazing day we live in. A GPS satellite in space can communicate with a device the size of a cell phone and tell me exactly how many yards I am from a given target.

Using my Sky Caddie the other day got me to thinking about God being completely dialed into the minute details of my life. The Bible says He knows the number of hairs on my head. That's more than I even know about myself.

Of course, if you don't have any hair on your head - He's still dialed in to you.

A yard is one step. If a satellite can tell me when I've taken one step, then God can know exactly where I am and what's going on with me - at all times. At every step.

Be encouraged - God knows and cares about exactly where you are. Every step of the way.

It has been my experience that most people do not actually want advice. They want to be told that what they have already decided is correct.

I used to try to "fix" everybody and everything. Now I have another approach - unasked for advice is unheeded advice.

If someone doesn't ask. I don't offer. Sometimes I won't even actually give advice when people ask unless I'm pretty darn sure they really want it. Too many people have gotten mad at me when I gave them the advice they asked for.

All of of us have blind spots. Areas we just cannot see clearly in. I have them. You have them.

It doesn't diminish our value to have a blind spot. It's just part of being human.

We can deny the law of gravity all day but it will always pull us down when we step off the edge of a cliff. If my blind spot has me heading for the edge - I need to know.

A great friend would be one who loves you enough to totally believe in you and your potential but would also be willing to tell you the truth. Because they love you.

People don't want your "truth" if you don't love them. Some people feel called to straighten everyone out. Forget that. Jesus said something about having a log in my eye and spotting a speck in your eye.

Don't go around dispensing advice to everyone now. But do have someone who loves you, believes in you and is willing to tell you the truth. Falling off a cliff is not fun.

But that's only my advice ......

Steve Jobs and Apple rule. They keep doing everything so cool and so well.

I love my Ipod(s). Very cool design. Simple to use. Look great. Great interaction with Itunes.

Now there's an article on Apple stores and how they rule.

Our church used to be all Macs. Then they got rid of Mr. Jobs. Apple started falling apart. We went PC. Now I'm going back. Got a new PowerBook coming this week.

Let's not even get started on the IPhone!

BTW, I am buying Apple stock like crazy over the past couple of years. How can it not go up?!!

I want our church to be like an Apple store. Cool. Simple. Creative. Connected. Great experience. Fresh atmosphere.

Saw Switchfoot at The Orange Peel last night. Amazing! They have written such incredible songs that describe longing and hope simultaneously. They are a great live band, putting a unique twist and sound on each song. Live better than the record! Imagine. We were all singing along at the top of our lungs. It was really fun!

The Orange Peel is intriguing to me. It's like a bumblebee. You know they're not supposed to be able to fly but they do. No A/C. We had to stand on wood floors (for hours!). Pretty basic, almost beat up decor - but it all works.

I'm always curious about places that work. Restaurants, churches, stores. Some click. Some don't.

Teaching about some of this at church. Putting "The Plus Factor" of serving on all arenas of life.

I so want the church to be an amazing place of life and hope for people. I think God deserves an amazing church, as well.

So we had a volunteer fair after church yesterday. Great buzz. Great feel . Lots of new people getting plugged in.

It's been fun to interview people in church and get their story of how involvement has benefited their life.

Some people seem to want to choose to be bystanders in life.

Some people just jump in and make the world a better place. I like the "jumper inners"!!!