Kirk Bowman's blog

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.