Kirk Bowman's blog

Christmas For Kids 2009

2009-12-02T15:22:00.005-05:00

Christmas For Kids - our effort to help disadvantaged kids have Christmas - is in full swing for 2009. As of right now, we have sponsorships for well over 300 children. That’s at $75 per child. Do the math. Complete awesomeness.

One of the great things about this year has been the ingenuity of our so very generous church in raising money to help kids out.

One of our ladies, realizing she would not have any “extra” money this year, raised over $400 by selling candy.

Just got a note from one of our members who works in a beauty salon. From friends, family, and clients, they have raised over $1,000 and are asking for as many wish lists as we can give them.

Just love it when people get creative about blessing others.

U2 in the ATL!

2009-10-14T16:15:00.003-05:00

Suzette and I went to see U2 in Atlanta last Tuesday night. What an amazing and powerful show these guys put on. Sold out Georgia Dome and they completely owned the place.

This was my second time to see them. Amazing both times.

It really is a spiritual experience to go to their concerts. They “do church” in a powerful way.

Great big sound. Songs that matter. Inspiration to make a difference. Pull everyone in to connect. Amazing atmosphere. Lots of great ideas to put into practice to make church great.

A Lesson from Family Force 5

2009-05-14T10:10:00.003-05:00

I love concerts. The whole experience of live music, all the people, the vibe, the feel, the atmosphere.

Last night – Family Force 5 and Flyleaf at The Orange Peel.

There was an opening band even before FF5. They were good enough but it is tough to be an opener. Anyway….

FF5 is a fun band. That’s all. They are Christians but they are not trying to do “Christian” music. They are just fun.

My big thought from watching them: Confidence is a very cool thing.

They are totally comfortable with who they are and what they do. Confidence exudes something amazing.

I heard someone say once that actors need to get over needing to have the approval of their audience. That “need” puts something in the atmosphere that is counterproductive to their performance.

I think it’s important to be confident – in God, in your calling and in who you are. It helps everyone around you relax. It helps you fulfill your call.

“Don’t throw away your confidence. It has great reward” Hebrews 10:35

Amazing Weekend

2009-05-11T13:10:00.002-05:00

Just finished an amazing weekend and I’m toast today.

Incredible Men’s Conference. Stellar Worship. Fantastic Videos. Hilarious Competitions. Lots of Food. Powerful Messages. Incredible God Moments.

All so good!

Thanks to all the volunteers and our staff who put their whole heart into making Men’s Conference a complete success.

Hopefully I’ll have some pics for later in the week.

Church yesterday. Amazing!!

Church is growing like crazy right now. In numbers and in health.

What can I say? Too many great things to elaborate on.

Certainly a highlight for the day was watching everyone write the names of friends and loved ones they want to see get saved on the prayer wall. A powerful moment. I just wanted to hang around in that moment for a long time.

The Demise of the Church?

2009-04-14T08:22:00.001-05:00

I’m reading the reports of so many churches from this past Easter Sunday:

Church of the Highlands – Birmingham - 8 years old – 19,404 attendance
Elevation Church – Charlotte - 3 years old – 7,800 attendance
Newspring Church – Anderson – 10 years old - 15,000 attendance
7 Hills Church - Kentucky – 4,500 attendance
Oasis Church – Nashville – 1,465 attendance
City of Grace – Scottsdale – 7,000 attendance
The Rock Church – Asheville – 1,017 attendance (I feel puny!)

These are just a handful of reports. And there are so many other circles of ministry I'm not even in touch with.

And people are predicting the demise of the church in America? Come on. I’m just sayin……

The Masters

2009-04-09T09:20:00.006-05:00

The Masters – a tradition like no other …..

I went to the practice round yesterday with my brother in law. Thanks to my great friend, Andy Banfield, who always helps me out with tickets. Always a treat to see Augusta National and all the great players of the game. Looking forward to watching every bit of The Masters I can this weekend.

For golfers – Spring begins at The Masters

Easter

2009-04-06T09:48:00.003-05:00

Easter Commercial 2009 from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Easter is one of our very best opportunities to reach people for Christ. We are going all out this year to invite people to our Easter Services.

Here’s our plan:
1. Billboards covering our whole city
2. Over 400 commercials on Fox news. MTV, ESPN, ABC family, USA prime time and even the Golf Channel (it is Master’s week!)
3. An 18,000 piece mailer going out to our area
4. And thousands of personal invite cards

All of this is taking place the 2 week period leading up to Easter

We’re reaching and believing for God to do great things in people’s lives this Easter.

Our creative team is hard at work on making Easter absolutely fantastic. Should be an awesome day!

Pray with us!

Making Asheville a Better Place

2009-04-01T09:41:00.006-05:00

JER 29:7 'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.'

Our church has always been highly spiritual in approach. Not more spiritual than anyone else, mind you. But, we have really focused on worship, prayer, the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in church life.

A few years ago, God started speaking to my heart about making Asheville a better place by serving. More practical, hands on, get out there and help with some stuff.

We have not abandoned our emphasis on prayer and worship – but we have added a dimension of practical serving.

I’m glad we have – our church is loving it and doing it. Some people only seem to talk about it. Our guys do it - and I'm so proud of them.

A few weeks back 135 of us spent a Saturday helping out at a school right down the road from us. It was fun. I think it made God happy. That’s always a good thing.

Keep Your Zipper Up!

2009-03-16T11:00:00.004-05:00

Crazy week last week – will try to post a few thoughts this week on everything that went on. It was all good!

I had a first 2 Sundays back.

I am about ready to celebrate 35 Years (!) of walking with Jesus. I started in ministry almost immediately after I got saved. So, I’ve got 34 and a half years of experience preaching, teaching, singing, leading worship, etc. I’ve been on the platform doing all that and more for over 34 years.

So we’re having a great service on Sunday. Awesome worship. Presence of God. People giving their heart to Christ. Great day! I just finished preaching my heart out. One of those messages where I felt like I nailed it. They don’t all feel that way, I promise you.

I’m walking off the platform, feeling great about the whole day and one of my guys walks up to me and says “I’m not sure, but I think your zipper is down.”

Sure enough – I had preached my entire message with my zipper down!

Oh well…. Hopefully, I've got another 34 years till that happens again.

Shout Out

2009-03-04T15:50:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to our incredibly generous church.

We had Chims Phiri from Zimbabwe in this past weekend. Our church gave almost $10,000 in an offering to help sponsor the education of kids who have been orphaned by AIDS.

Way to go Rock Church!

This Saturday is a Big Serve Saturday and we’re going to bless Sand Hill Venable Elementary school right down the road. As of right now, we have 97 people registered to serve. Anyone else who wants to jump in and get involved, just register online.

Awesome!

Fearless Declarations

2009-02-12T13:47:00.003-05:00

So looking forward to continuing our Fearless series this Sunday.

I went through a bunch of scripture this past Sunday and wanted to put them all in declaration form. I am a big believer in declaring the word over our lives. So here ya go:

God has not given me a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Because I am righteous, I am as bold as a lion.

In this world I will face pressures from time to time, but I will take courage and cheer up; for Jesus has overcome the world.

I am a child of God and I have the spirit of an overcomer; because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.

Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- my faith.

God has granted to me His precious and magnificent promises, by them I am a partaker of the divine nature,

I am building my life on the promises of God, not on the pressures of the world

Thanks be to God, who gives me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God, who always leads me in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through me the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

I will not be overcome by evil, but I will overcome evil with good.

I will humble myself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt me at the proper time,

I will cast all my cares on Him because He cares for me. I will live carefree before God; because He is most careful with me.

No weapon formed against me will prosper in any way. This is my heritage as a servant of God

God will cause all things to work together for my good. Everything always works out for me because God causes it to do so.

Happy Birthday! Suzette

2009-02-11T11:07:00.004-05:00

Today is my wife's birthday. She is such an incredible person who is so easy to love. This is a little video our team put together for her. We showed it Sunday in church and everybody gave her 2 (two!) standing ovations. She totally deserves it. And more!!

PS Birthday Video 2009 from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Nail it to the Cross

2009-02-09T09:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was one of the most moving and powerful services we’ve ever had in our church. No hype. It was amazing.

We started our new “Fearless” series and I was encouraging people to have the spirit of an overcomer. Choose faith to run your life, not fear.

At the end of our service, we had people write the greatest fear they are facing on a “fearless” card and nail it to the cross. We thought a few people would respond. We were wrong. Everyone seemed to want to nail their fear to the cross. People were streaming to the cross, crying and so moved by the Holy Spirit. It was a moment. The room was so thick with God’s presence.

Can’t wait to hear the testimonies of God’s power and love helping people.

\

Fearless

2009-02-06T13:10:00.002-05:00

Pretty darn excited about our new series starting this Sunday - Fearless

I've got a great feeling about this one. Bring a friend!! This will be powerful.

Fearless Series Trailer from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Why don't you try reading the rules?, Shankapottomus

2009-02-05T11:25:00.003-05:00

I'm a little late with this, but these are definitely my two favorite Superbowl ads.

What, I can't flex the golden pipes?!

Why don't you try reading the rules?, Shankapottomus

Two new phrases that will proably enter my vocabulary
And annoy everyone around me :)

Christine Caine roundtable

2009-01-28T10:49:00.003-05:00

I just had the privilege of attending a great round table with Christine Caine from Hillsong Church. It was hosted by Matt Fry of C3 Church right outside of Raleigh. Matt leads an amazing church. 10 years old and already running 4,000 on Sundays. He and his wife, Martha, are so real and down to earth. We enjoyed a great dinner at their home – Daniel Fast friendly! They are a great couple leading a great church.

Thought I’d share my notes from Christine’s talk – and our discussions - on what makes Hillsong Church work:

Hillsong is not trying to be a worship movement
Mainly focused on reaching the lost in their city
Bigger church - bigger issues

1. Ownership
Because it's our church
Don’t come because of great programs
It has to be your vision - not just get behind my vision

2. Relationship
Close friends with the Houston’s but always keep them as senior pastors
Doing life on the run
Make the adjustments
Change and transition are not the same thing

3. Loyalty
Presencing the senior pastor well at every level
Absalom drew people to himself
This is especially needed with multiple campuses
Loyalty does not come by being paid
Christine has never been on paid staff at Hillsong

4. Flexibility
“The world of the moving goal posts”
So needed at high levels of leadership
Has to be present in Holy Spirit led church
Systems are to serve us - not us serve them
Spontaneity essential

5. Longevity
Hillsong doesn't grow overnight
She is least at 20 years of being on the team
Senior leader has to provide the right umbrella for this
90% of their leaders come out of the youth ministry

6. Submission
Come under the mission of the church
Matt. 8 - under authority

7. Passionate
No bureaucracy
Don't institutionalize
Nothing slick about them
Stay Undignified
Vision is as strong as the cause it's attached to

8. Empowerment
Especially the next generation
Absalom built a monument to himself because he had no sons
Not built around a man

The prize is always home
Not - the prize is out

Their Leadership pipeline is through Connect Groups
99.9 per cent unstructured leadership development

Advisory Teams

2009-01-27T16:38:00.001-05:00

Back in the day, I saw a lot of abuses and problems with the typical “elected deacon” approach to church government.

Authority was given to deacons – who were not called to full time ministry - and responsibility was given to pastors – to pretty much carry out the deacons wishes. This meant the church was not being led by the vision and calling of the ministry but by people who were not really called to ministry.

The first time I saw a church led by the ministry, I was amazed at the positive difference it produced.

Since then, I have been completely committed to the “elders” of the church being comprised of people called to full time ministry.

In my reaction to all this, I do think I went a little overboard in the past in trying to insure only the ministry was leading the church.

Now – our church has an amazing advisory team built out of some phenomenal leaders in our church. The primary leadership and direction for our church still flows out of the ministry leadership. Our advisory team serves as eyes and ears for our church – as well as sharing the load of creating amazing church. We invite their unfiltered input on everything but ultimate authority for direction still resides with the elders.

We just met with our advisory team last night and they are the best! What a great time - eating, praying, sharing ideas and laughing together. The healthiest leadership team we have ever had in our church.

Jesus Moved On

2009-01-21T17:26:00.002-05:00

Matthew 12:15 – The Message
Jesus, knowing they were out to get Him, moved on. A lot of people followed Him, and He healed them all.

Interesting – There were people who didn’t want to follow Jesus. They were even antagonistic toward Him. Out to get Him.

Jesus moved on.

A lot of people followed Him – they all got healed.

Leadership Lesson:
Move on from those who don’t want to follow your leadership.
Bless those "lot of people" who do follow you. Enjoy them.

Make an Event Out of It

2009-01-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

I love all the celebration revolving around the inauguration of our president. It is important to make an event out of things that really matter.

Too often, we let birthdays or anniversaries or other special moments of life pass us by without making a big deal about. I think we should – make a big deal about it.

Don’t let the big moments of life pass you by without some kind of recognition.

Candler Jones and Prayer

2009-01-16T14:09:00.003-05:00

Just for fun. Candler Jones on prayer. From our CORE series

Candler jones 2 from Rock Church on Vimeo.

For you locals - don't miss this Sunday - it's going to be great - CORE continues

Something Big is Up!

2009-01-15T10:28:00.003-05:00

We just had an incredible prayer meeting last Saturday night. 225 people were there, giving themselves wholeheartedly to worship, praying and seeking the face of God for 90 minutes. Together. It rocked! It seemed like 15 minutes.

Our whole church is fasting and praying for 21 days. I know of dozens of other churches that are doing the same thing. The Jentezen Franklin tribe. The Awakening tribe. There are probably other tribes doing the same thing.

I think there are hundreds of people fasting and praying in our church right now. I don’t think it would be over-estimating (misoverestimating. grin.) to say hundreds of churches are fasting and praying right now. Do the math. Hundreds of churches times hundreds of Christians. That would mean at least a million Christians fasting and praying. Maybe multiple millions.

Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah and God agreed to spare the city if they could locate 10 righteous people. Unfortunately, they couldn’t even locate 10 – and you know the rest of the story.

When people put down the church in America it totally baffles me. American church is not perfect – because it’s full of people who are not perfect. There will always be room for improvement, no question. But there are some things that are really right about church. This Prayer & Fasting movement is one of them.

If God would save a city if He could find 10 righteous and now we can find millions of people fasting and praying, I think this postions us for something amazing from heaven.

Something Big is Up!

American Idol - Season 8

2009-01-14T15:15:00.003-05:00

Suzette and I watched American Idol last night. The whole thing – 2 hours long. It seems it’s going to work again as a major show for the 8th season in a row.

Lots of “copy cat” types of shows have come out since Idol. But none of them seem to reach the audience Idol does.

Makes me think. And wonder why.

One reason American Idol seems to work comes to me – they connect you to people and their story. There are weirdos, talented people, heart tugging stories and not so nice people. You see all kinds of people and are given a chance to connect with their story.

We all want to connect with people’s story. I think this is the draw Facebook has on me right now. I get a daily glimpse of what people are thinking and doing. I’m drawn to it. It even feels a little bit voyeuristic.

People are interesting. We are all drawn to connect with their story.

Excellence Is Not Fun

2009-01-12T13:05:00.003-05:00

I have a strong commitment to living a life of excellence. God is a God of excellence and I want to be like Him.

My hearts cry for many years has been for the church to walk in a level of excellence that would bring glory to God. No more second rate for God. He deserves our very best.

I’m reading a new book, “Talent Is Over-Rated” by Geoff Colvin. His premise is: It isn’t really talent that separates super achievers, it’s disciplined practice in areas that stretch you. It’s an interesting theory and he makes a great case for it.

He says – Most people settle into mediocrity in life or sport or business or whatever because they will not practice in areas that stretch them. The “stretch zone” is the only place growth occurs. And the stretch zone is not fun. It’s hard. Really hard.

So – the path to a life of excellence is developed in a “no fun” zone. That’s why there are so few world class achievers.

Interesting

Candler Jones and the Mall of Doom

2009-01-09T12:57:00.002-05:00

For the creative element in our CORE message series we are doing a series of videos on “Candler Jones and the Mall of Doom”. FYI to those not in our church – our church building is in Candler, NC. Check out this opening video. We’ll have a new one every week built around our CORE themes. Lots of fun.

Candler Jones 1 from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Invite a friend and be in church this weekend.

All dogs go to heaven

2009-01-08T10:56:00.013-05:00

Two churches across the street from each other having it out!

Any That Pisseth Against The Wall

2009-01-06T17:27:00.001-05:00

Sunday I talked about reading your Bible on a regular basis. I’m convinced that regular, consistent Bible reading and prayer are the two “big rocks” we have to get in our schedule. They will make all the difference in our lives.

It’s not rocket science and it’s not new. But it works!!

I also encouraged our church to read a translation of the Bible they can understand.

Check out his verse in KJV:
1Sam. 25:34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

I mean, honestly, who talks like that anymore.

I’m just sayin ….

Get the first button right

2009-01-05T11:09:00.004-05:00

When you get the first button right on your shirt, it’s easier to get the other buttons right. If you miss on the first button, all the other buttons are always off.

This is one of the long standing axioms in our church: Get the first button right!

Looking forward to an amazing 2009 and we are trying to get the first button right.

1. Our whole church is on a Daniel Fast from Jan. 5-25. Lots of prayer times included. Cafe open with worship music Mon.-Thurs. from 11-2. Mega worship night Jan. 10 from 6:00 to 7:30.

2. We are encouraging our church to read through their Bible in 2009. Here is an online version of our guide. We also have print versions available.

3. New series – Core. Practical basic core practices that will take you to another level with God. Greatness in any arena always requires mastery of fundamentals. We’re covering: Read your Bible, prayer, church attendance, the right friends, giving/serving.

Had a blast yesterday talking about reading our Bibles - and "he who pisseth against the wall". You had to be there ....

2009 – Let’s make it great!

Finishing Christmas at the Movies

2008-12-22T10:27:00.004-05:00

We have had an absolute blast with our Christmas at The Movies series. We decided to put our effort into all the Sundays of the Christmas season rather than go for one big event.

Our creative team did an amazing job. Costumed characters handing out bulletins, stage set up, movie clips. It was all fun. We showed the movie each night with free popcorn. Great family time.

We have received a huge positive response from our church on this series.

We had tons of new guests and 26 people prayed to respond to Jesus.

We covered:
• Elf- Everybody wants to belong
• The Grinch – Hurt people hurt people
• It’s a Wonderful Life – The power of one life
• A Christmas Story – What you want is not always what’s best for you

Here’s a few pics:

Wrapping Up Christmas For Kids 2008

2008-12-18T11:39:00.010-05:00

This week, we are wrapping up our Christmas For Kids program for 2008. It’s been amazing, once again.

Each year, we learn a little more and we are able to pull it off a little better.

First, huge kudos to Kathy Hawkins. She led the charge this year and did an astounding job of coordinating all the different aspects of CFK. Hundreds of volunteers flocked to her engaging leadership. Kathy Hawkins rocks!!

It was so cool to have so many new people, as well as many of our “old” faithfuls, totally engaged in this effort. Shopping, wrapping, delivering and connecting with people. Such a great team.

Our church is so hugely generous. I know we are supposed to be in a recession but our church family hit it out of the park once again this year. We sponsored 369 kids at $75 a kid. When it’s all said and done, at least $30,000 invested into blessing kids and families this year.

What really makes CFK so special is the many wonderful stories of individuals touched by CFK. Both those who gave and those who received. It's not just about a huge number. It's about each person and their story.

We are trusting God to use this labor of love to draw people to Him.

Way to go Rock Church!!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

2008-12-16T17:08:00.007-05:00

This past Friday was a milestone day for our family. My baby daughter, Elizabeth, turned 18 years old.

So hard to believe how fast the time has flown by.

Elizabeth is an amazing person. She is so smart, tons of fun and very “together”. She wakes up singing and is always pretty darn happy. She has a great fashion sense and is completely organized – always has been. No question to me, she will go far in life.

It’s been such a joy to be her dad. Suzette and I are so proud of her.

Happy birthday, Elizabeth!

C2 - Finishing Strong

2008-12-05T16:30:00.007-05:00

This Sunday we are asking our church to make a 6 month pledge to our C2 (C2 – The Next Chapter) capital campaign. The original campaign was for 3 years. We are now entering our last 6 months of that 3 years.

Many of our guys made huge commitments to C2 that have not materialized for them. These are people who really had a plan and worked hard. But it’s a different economy now.

So we decided to give everyone a “year of jubilee” and have them reconsider what kind of pledge they could make for the last 6 months.

We wanted to take any guilt off of them for not keeping a pledge. We also want them to think clearly and pray about what they could do for the next 6 months.

The pastoral side of me doesn’t want to put undue pressure on anyone if they are struggling. The apostolic side of me knows we have to keep advancing the kingdom and reaching people for Christ.

No matter what is going on in the world around us – it’s still vital that God’s people stay full of faith and maintain a willingness to advance the cause.

Looking forward to Sunday

Christmas For Kids

2008-12-02T17:22:00.001-05:00

For the past few years, our church has generously given Christmas presents to kids who would not otherwise have any presents. We work with several local schools and helping agencies in locating kids in need. We also make sure everyone in our church family is looked after.

I’m so thrilled to say our church family has sponsored 378 kids so far this year for Christmas For Kids. At $75 per child - that is totally amazing!

We are wrapping up (pun intended) our efforts this weekend. 90 plus volunteers will descend on our church this Saturday for a Big Serve day to shop, wrap, call and deliver presents. If you’d like to get involved, with either giving or serving, please contact our church office this week.

So cool to be part of this amazing effort.

Elf at The Rock

2008-12-01T12:25:00.003-05:00

What an amazing day we had in church yesterday.

We kicked off our “Christmas at the Movies” series and it went over incredibly well. We looked at “Elf” and talked about “Everybody wants to belong”.

So many great creative elements. Guys dressed up like Elf and elves and papa elf - handing out bulletins, and candy, talking to kids. Amazing creative video. Then we showed the movie at 6 pm and hundreds of people came out – with their kids – and we had such a fun evening. Popcorn and all.

Usually the Sunday right after Thanksgiving is like ghost town in church but we were packed!

Tons of new people! They keep pouring in.

Hats off to our whole team for doing such an amazing job at making Sunday morning the best 100 minutes of the week.

Christmas at The Movies

2008-11-26T10:26:00.002-05:00

Christmas at the Movies - promo from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Had a great weekend going down to Atlanta to minister at Tim & Andrea Skinner’s church – Church In Motion. Tim & Andrea used to be part of our leadership team at The Rock and are still a part of our family. They have been going about 6 months and are doing a fantastic job starting up a brand new church. Great worship. Great team. And about to upgrade into a semi-permanent facility. It was a blast to see them and be in their church.

This weekend we are starting our new series “Christmas at The Movies” Our whole team is so excited about this series. Lots of work and creative has gone into this series.

Every Sunday we are pulling life lessons out of the Christmas classics. This Sunday – “Elf”! Lots of fun stuff added to every Sunday, as well. And .. we’re going to show the movie we cover on Sunday morning in it’s entirety on Sunday evening at 6:00. Complete with popcorn and refreshments.

This will be a great series to invite your friends and family to.

We're not participating in any recession

2008-11-20T12:41:00.001-05:00

We’re not going to participate in any recession.

That’s what I keep telling my church every week.

We’re going to keep growing and giving and sowing and blessing others.

God’s word and God’s economy is still the same – not matter what season our US economy is in. No shrinking back with fear or hoarding our resources.

I realize we cannot stick our head in the sand concerning our economy but I still believe God’s word and promise and principles prevail over all. This too, shall pass but God’s word lives on forever.

Someone is growing and prospering and blessing others in this season. Might as well be us.

Every year for the past few years, our church has blessed kids and families that would not be able to have Christmas without our help. This year, we are at it again. I am so proud of our church. We are nearing 300 kids being sponsored in our “Christmas For Kids” program this year.

Let me encourage you to rise up and let faith and not fear make your decisions about life.

The Church is Alive and Well

2008-11-17T13:09:00.002-05:00

This past year I have attended a handful of conferences in an attempt to scan the landscape of what’s going on in the church. And in an attempt to explore new “God connects” for Suzette and me and our church.

Several conferences, several different tribes. Some have been tribes I totally identify with, some just tribes I was interested in observing.

I have walked away from all this with at least two major observations:

1. The church in the US is amazingly strong. I have personally met and can name off the top of my head dozens and dozens of leaders and churches that are totally getting it done. Strong, life giving, city shaking, God glorifying churches. Growing, reaching people, making a difference.

I know a lot of people like to point the finger at the flaws of the church but make no mistake there are a lot of really great churches. And that is just in the tribes I have seen.

2. There is no one way to do church right. There are so many different styles, approaches and flavors that God is blessing.

The variety of church style that is working is quite amazing.

It does confirm for me that you just have to be the unique you that God created and He will bless.

We can learn from others but no need to copy. God blesses our uniqueness.

Coldplay!

2008-11-06T22:33:00.004-05:00

Had the chance to see Coldplay - one of my favorites - this week. They were incredible! My second time to see them. They are definitely getting better in concert. Awesome fun.

A few pics:

Hungry, Anyone?

2008-10-30T08:56:00.004-05:00

It seems like the church in the book of Acts lived in a lifestyle of prayer. They especially responded to any challenges or difficulties with intense prayer meetings and prayer focus.

Suzette and I have been planning to do a Daniel Fast Nov. 1 – 21. It’s just a personal thing. We are hungry for God to move powerfully in our lives, in our church and in our world. We mentioned it to our staff and they jumped all over it. I mentioned it in church Sunday and a bunch of people acted very interested in diving in as well.

We are actually planning to do a “proper” church wide Daniel Fast to kick off 2009. That fast will have a lot more effort put into involvement and information. More info will come on that.

With all that is going on in our country and in the world, this is not a day to shrink back and find a corner to hide in. It is a day to rise up live powerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage any of you who are feeling “backed down” to listen to my message from Sunday and jump in on this fast with us.

Here are a few links to gather some info on a Daniel Fast:

www.danielfast.elevationchurch.org
www.christ-web.com/missions/farho/daniel-fast
www.danielfast.wordpress.com/
www.hacres.com/recipes/recipes.asp

We’d love for you to join us.

Why I want to prosper

2008-10-29T10:29:00.003-05:00

This Sunday I will start a series called “Blessed”.

I believe, with all my heart, God is a God who desires to bless. It’s completely His heart toward us. It strikes me as so strange how many people struggle with that idea and want to have theological battles to paint Him in another way.

This is one of the reasons we want to prosper. To do things like this.

Awesome!!!

I Voted Today

2008-10-27T19:56:00.003-05:00

I voted today.

Then I burst into tears when I walked out of the polling place. I have never done anything like that before.

Politics is not my favorite thing. For a lot of reasons.
Not really into it. But I do vote. I think it’s important. I also wish it was Nov. 5.

After I voted today I started thinking about how awesome America is. We live in the greatest country on the planet.

I’ve had the opportunity to minister in 18 different nations. No question, all of those nations have their unique and beautiful characteristics. But no other nation gives the freedom and opportunity we have in America.

My friend, Chims Phiri, lives in Zimbabwe. Their president was recently voted out of office. He didn’t like being voted out, so he unleashed a torrent of persecution and violence on people he thought opposed him. Chim’s wife has just recently spent 3 months in a hospital as a result of a politically motivated attack. Zimbabwe’s inflation rate is totally out of control. Something like 1,000 per cent.

America is not perfect by any means but I feel incredibly blessed to live here. Our economy may be taking a hit right now but we still live in an incredibly amazing place. Plus, we all get to vote, in freedom, for whoever we think will do the best job. (Or at least vote for the lessser of evils.)

This may sound hokey but – God Bless America, land that I love!!

Spirit

2008-10-02T13:37:00.002-05:00

I gave my life to Jesus in 1974. That’s a long time ago. 34 years ago. By the grace of God, I have been a passionate follower of Jesus (and a lover of His church) the whole time. No breaks, no holidays, no backsliding. And I have loved every minute of it. I love God more today than I ever have. He is amazing to me.

My family never went to church. They still don’t. Out of 5 boys and my 2 parents, I’m the only one in my family that has followed Christ and been a part of church. As far as I know, I’m the only person in my entire family, looking back and through in all directions, who has ever given their life to Christ.

For the record – I love my family and don’t intend those observations to be any kind of condemnation. It’s just my story.

I mention all of that for this reason: I had no point of reference for church or Christianity to try and uphold.

To the best of my ability – my views of God and church have been formed out of trying to read my Bible and obey it the best I can.

My first encounters with God were in a “power of God” environment. I was miraculously healed of a life long struggle with stomach ulcers when I met Christ and started going to church. It’s kind of hard to convince me that God doesn’t still heal people when He healed me.

I have almost always been in Charismatic, spirit filled “tribes”. It’s how I started in church life 34 years ago. I still feel at home in some of those tribes.

Over the last 10 or 15 years I have struggled some (maybe more than some) with a lot of Charismatic church culture. There are extremes of style and “manifestation” that trouble me. I keep finding myself distancing from a lot of it.

I love the Holy Spirit. I believe in the power of God. Still think the gifts of the Spirit are valid and in operation today. I see it in the Bible. And my life experience

Starting this Sunday we are beginning a new series called “Spirit”. We want to explore the mystery and power of the person of the Holy Spirit. We want to develop a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit.

For the next few weeks we’re going to explore the Bible and take a look at having a relationship with the Holy Spirit – with fresh eyes.

Is it possible to be spirit filled and weird free?

Come join us.

The Generosity Experiment

2008-10-01T08:40:00.004-05:00

We are pretty excited about a fresh initiative we are launching in our church. The Generosity Experiment.

This idea is birthed out of our Larger Than Life series where we urged everyone to live larger than self maintenance and go to generosity in life.

God says “test me now in this …”. God urges us to bring our tithe and offering and test him to see if He will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing we cannot contain.

We are encouraging our whole church to be generous to God, His house and others from now until the end the year. Take God at His word and see what He will do. Test this out.

So here’s the plan:
1. Honor God with your tithe - the tithe comes first – giving God our first and best
2. Christmas for Kids 2008 will be our big chance to give to (and serve) others
3. C2 is our way to give toward building the house of God

Then see what God will do.

You can log on to thegenerosityexperiment.com and tell your story or read about others experience.

No question, we are living in a day of economic upheaval. All the more reason we want to plug into God’s economy!

Hot Pockets

2008-09-30T16:44:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was an absolute blast!

Suzette and I went to Kansas City to celebrate with our great friends Phillip and Susan O’Reilly as they held their opening service in their brand new building. What a treat.

Their church began 5 years ago and now they have led their church into a great new facility. The place was packed. The energy was great. So happy for them.

The future is bright for the O’Reilly’s and their amazing church - The Rock of KC.

A special bonus to the weekend – Got to see Jim Gaffigan live. So funny. An hour and 20 minutes of non-stop hilarious comedy. Completely clean. Then he stood out in the foyer and greeted everyone who wanted to see him. Stayed until the last one left. For 2 shows!

Hot pockets…..

Toilet Paper Shortage

2008-09-24T08:17:00.002-05:00

When I was a teenager, Johnny Carson was the star of The Tonight Show. In one of his monologues he made a joke about a coming toilet paper shortage.

At the same time, I was working my way through high school and the beginning of college at a grocery store. Sure enough, the day after his monologue we sold out of toilet paper. We then went weeks unable to keep toilet paper on the shelves. Just because of his monologue – not because their was actually any tp shortage at all.

Fear creates shortage.

A fearful reaction to anything never creates a good result.

When I drive by gas stations and see lines of people and the reaction of some as they worry about gas shortage issues, I am reminded of Johnny and toilet paper.

This too shall pass. Toilet paper shelves will be full again.

Rocks

2008-09-23T15:29:00.002-05:00

Love building a culture of generosity in our church. Living big enough to make a difference for God and others.

We have built the whole idea around the revelation that there is a river that flows from God's throne. You have to get a revelation of abundance to really go to generous in life.

If we think resources are limited we will be hesitant to be a giver.

Here's the video we showed this past weekend. Enjoy!

Larger Than Life - week 3 Rocks from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Pond Scum

2008-09-16T17:00:00.001-05:00

Really love the idea behind our “Larger Than Life” series. It’s all about buying into living way bigger than self maintenance.

This past week we showed this video to help illustrate the value of letting great things flow through you – or the downside of getting stagnant.

Larger Than Life - week 2 Pond from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Meetings

2008-09-15T10:53:00.002-05:00

Some people hate meetings. I love them. Not all of them for sure but some of them are indispensable.

This past weekend we had several meetings in the life of our church. Guest service leadership meeting. Children’s ministry leadership meeting. Church on Sunday morning meeting.

I think meetings are essential to doing life together. You get out of the loop of communication when you don’t meet. You don’t get to hear from other voices when you don’t meet. You don’t get to be face to face and feel the other person when you don’t meet.

Some meetings are terrible because no investment goes into making them a great meeting. So make sure you have worthwhile meetings.

Make sure you keep meeting with the people you’re doing life with. It does matter.

Got to go. Got a meeting to enjoy.

Dancing Machine

2008-09-13T14:28:00.003-05:00

Just in case you haven't experienced the full glory of this. Enjoy!

New Vision Class

2008-09-12T09:05:00.006-05:00

We have a new Vision of The Rock class starting this Sunday. Pretty excited about the fact that we have 72 (and growing) people registered to attend.

On our journey of trying to simplify church we developed a 4 step process of how to get connected at The Rock:
1. Attend Sunday service on a regular basis
2. Join a Connect Group
3. Register for Vision Class
4. Volunteer to serve

We’ve always had a Vision (membership) class since way back in the day. But our new thinking really made us realize the vital importance of the Vision class in the process of connecting people.

So we went to work totally upgrading the experience.

We re-shot the video for the class with a great new set. Looks really cool. Employing hosts to connect and love on people. Completely redid the room the class is held in, in order to warm it up. Reworking a lot of little details that are all about helping people get connected.

After the class is over, we can debrief on what can be improved for next time.

If you're a part of our church and haven't gone through Vision class come on and get registered

Looking forward to a whole new group of people joining the family.

There's More Than Enough!

2008-09-11T14:11:00.002-05:00

So, we’re in our series on “Larger Than Life” now. It’s about expanding our view of things to live and give bigger.

Here is a video we put together that we showed in church this past Sunday to help illustrate the idea:

Larger Than Life - week 1 Waterfall from Rock Church on Vimeo.

Hats off to our amazing video/creative team!

Larger Than Life

2008-09-04T15:07:00.003-05:00

Today we shot video for our upcoming new series “Larger Than Life”.

We’re going to look at the idea of expanding our vision of God, ourselves, our capabilities and our resources so we can live a life larger than self maintenance.

Standing in front of a waterfall one day a thought hit me. Somebody was standing in this exact same spot 50 years ago and water was flowing over the edge of this waterfall. In 50 years from now someone will be standing in this same spot and see more water flowing. There is no shortage with God! He is a God of abundance and he has built abundance into the way all things operate. The blessings and resources of God have flowed from His throne for centuries and will continue to flow for centuries.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our 19th anniversary than to recommit ourselves to be big people who let a big God flow through us in a big way!

19 Years and Counting

2008-09-03T08:53:00.004-05:00

This Sunday we will be celebrating our 19th anniversary as a church. At times, it seems like yesterday we were rolling into Asheville with a dream and little else to start our church.

Over 19 years we have had the privilege to touch literally thousands of lives. It’s been an amazing journey.

19 years is a long time. A lot has happened in 19 years. Lots of people, lots of great ideas, a few really bad ideas, lots of amazing God moments, lots of heartache and lots of love have come and gone.

The dream, the passion, the fire, the strong desire for a beautiful, life-giving, God honoring, people lifting church still lives so strong in Suzette and my heart. We really are so excited about the future God has for us and our church.

When I was first saved there was a popular Christian music artist named Evie Tornquist. A phrase from one of her songs has stuck in my head for a long, long time.

“Friends and faces come and go like ashes in the wind,
Attitudes arise that I don’t fully understand,
Praise the Lord, He never changes”

Amen!

Passing The Baton

2008-09-01T09:40:00.003-05:00

Had another amazing day in church yesterday. I was thinking we would be a ghost town because of the holiday and how many people I knew were going to be out of town. To my amazement (oh great man of faith that I am!) we had a great crowd. And a great service.

I’ve been watching the process of transition take place at The Rock Church in Wilmington. Ron and Norma McGee started and have pastored that church for the past 20 years. Ron and Norma are friends of ours. They gave us $1,000 to help start our church in a day when a thousand felt like a million. We sent help to them when their church building burned down and they began to rebuild.

This past Sunday they handed the senior pastor role to their son, Bryan.

I have communicated with the McGee’s through this process, read Bryan’s blog, run into them at different conferences and watched this transition emerge.

All I have to say is I feel like I’m watching a beautiful thing transpire. Bryan’s honor of his Dad. Ron and Norma’s courage to let go and pass the baton. The spirit of this whole thing has been such a joy to behold.

I know Bryan is bringing their church into a new day while building on and honoring the legacy of the past.

I just don’t know how a transition could happen any better.

Thanks guys for modeling something we are all so proud of.

Another Great Weekend

2008-08-25T13:49:00.008-05:00

We had another great weekend at The Rock Church.

Team Church Night on Friday was a blast. Worship, praying, vision casting, racing through the tunnel, ice cream, honoring our awesome volunteers. It was all so good!

Sunday was another amazing day. Really enjoying this Parables series. Only 1 more to go! 24 people raised their hands to commit or recommit to Christ!

Then we had Volunteer Fair after church on Sunday. Always great to meet new people and see them get plugged in to the life of the house. Almost 50 new people signed up to fill 86 areas of involvement. How cool is that?!

Wow! Church feels so good right now.

Team Church

2008-08-22T12:39:00.004-05:00

Tonight is our Team Church Night.

Once a quarter we get all our volunteers together for a great night of big picture, vision casting, worship, praying, playing and honoring.

This is one of my favorite events in the life of our church. I love the atmosphere that happens when you get all the people who “make it happen” together.

It’s good to come together and see big picture. Sometimes when your Connect Group only has 5 people show up or you are caring for ten 2 year olds in a class you can lose sight of the forest for the trees.

Suzette and I are so excited about where God is taking our church. The vibe is so good. From Sundays, to our staff, to all the salvations, to the response from our church on the 99 Days of Serving to all the great things on our fall calendar - Everything is lining up for an amazing season ahead of us.

It takes a team to fulfill a dream!

For all of you who are part of our church - Don't miss this.

Rick Warren is The Man!

2008-08-19T08:17:00.004-05:00

Saturday night Suzette and I were captivated by Rick Warren’s Civil Forum with John McCain and Barack Obama. I Tivo’d it, thinking I would watch it later but I was completely captured by the dialogue that took place and watched the whole thing.

I have always avoided the political process. I do vote, but the name calling, the demonizing of anyone with a different viewpoint, the pandering to interest groups to get elected (or re-elected) just doesn’t appeal to me. In any area of life.

Hats off to Rick Warren for introducing a civil conversation approach. I felt like I got to hear from each candidate on where they really stood on issues.

In the past, the church has taken too much of an adversarial role in politics. Believe just like or else! We will boycott you or something.

I do have my own beliefs and I hold to them strongly. What I love about America is our freedom to hold to different beliefs and still support each other’s humanity. Room to breathe is a beautiful thing.

Go Rick Warren for leading the way in a new way for Christians to engage in the political process.

2008-08-18T08:59:00.004-05:00

I am so blessed by our church’s response to our 99 Days of Serving campaign. It has been so cool to watch so many people step up, get involved and make a difference. This is only the beginning of our church rising up to make Asheville a better place.

This past Saturday was an amazing day as we descended on our church facilities to clean, paint, mulch, fix stuff and otherwise make our facilities shine. We had about a hundred sign up and over 140 show up. We had a blast working together, laughing together and getting to know each other better.

There is something special about doing things together.

What a great summer – helping so many people in so many ways. Fixing rooms at ABCCM, building houses with Habitat, helping and contributing food at Manna Food Bank, cleaning rivers and the list goes on.

BTW – great day in church yesterday. Packed house. Prayed for our kids going back to school – can you believe how many kids we had up front? 18 people responding to Christ at the end of the meeting. Café was buzzing with energy with tons of new people.

The Last First Day

2008-08-14T13:05:00.003-05:00

So, every year on the first day of school we make our girls march out on our front porch and let us take their picture. It’s a family tradition. We’ve done it every year of their school life.

Today was the last picture I will get to take of the first day of school for my girls (Outside of college). Tori has graduated and now my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is marching into her senior year in high school.

Elizabeth is an amazing person. She is smart, fun and almost always in a good mood. I know God has great things in store for her. How can my baby girl be in her last year of high school? Sigh.

Chambers Bay

2008-08-13T08:35:00.004-05:00

The day after our conference in Tacoma a group of us went out to play a round of golf on Chambers Bay. Chambers Bay is an amazing new golf course that has been selected to host the US Open in 2015. We had a blast!

I got to play with one of my great new friends, Troy Maxwell. Troy and his wife Penny are building a great church in Charlotte - Freedom House Church. I like Troy. He's a good guy and good golfer. We both shot 80 that day. And mildly trashed talked each other. My kind of friend!

Where It All Began!

2008-08-12T16:58:00.003-05:00

As most of you know, Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks coffee. When Suzette and I read Howard Schultz’s book on Starbucks “One Cup at a Time”, I literally almost cried a few times as I felt a parallel in his passion to “plant” Starbucks coffee shops and our passion for the church.

Starbucks does a lot of things right that we could learn from in the church. Great atmosphere, friendly people, excellence, a totally cool vibe, being a “third place” and so on.

Plus, I love Starbucks coffee!

Here are a few pics of us at the very first Starbucks in front of Pikes Market in Seattle. A very unassuming place to begin a worldwide movement.

London in Tacoma

2008-08-11T20:26:00.004-05:00

Last week I took some of our staff to the Team Church 08 conference in Tacoma, Washington. We had a blast together. Great speakers, unbelievable worship, fantastic connections, reuniting with some old friends. Altogether a great time was had by all.

One of the highlights for me had to be the night of worship with the Hillsong London worship team. I am always blown away by the worship and music and serving culture that comes out of Hillsong Church. There is an amazing amount of willingness to work with and cooperate with their leadership by exceedingly talented and gifted musicians.

A whole night of music, worship and unbeatable atmosphere. I absolutely loved it. Wish you all could have been with me.

Off

2008-08-01T08:32:00.003-05:00

I have taken Fridays off for almost 25 years. It’s true that sometimes my day “off” can get taken up with some kind of church activity. But over the long haul, Friday has been my day to unstring the bow. My Sabbath, if you will.

Saturdays don’t really count for a full day off for me because my brain and heart are all taken up with being ready for Sunday. From Saturday afternoon on, no matter what else I am involved in, I’m thinking, praying, gearing up for the biggest day of my week. If you haven’t had the pressure of having to deliver the goods every Sunday you wouldn’t understand. Every pastor knows what I’m talking about, though.

Some pastors take Mondays off. I’ve taken Fridays because it occasionally gives me the feel like I have something like an actual two day weekend. Plus, I probably would’ve quit on many Mondays if I had too much time on my hands so it’s better to get my brain engaged.

I love the feel of my Friday mornings. No pressure to get up at any time; easy, slow moving in the morning; reading my Bible with no place to have to go; just relaxed. A cup of coffee on my front porch. Ahhh, the chance to move slow.

My personality makes me want to start working on Friday mornings – but, at least today, on this Friday – I’m choosing to be “off”.

I think it makes my “on” better

Blank Page

2008-07-29T17:40:00.004-05:00

I just got a 2009 calendar. We use those year long fold out calendars in staff meetings so we can see big picture on our planning.

Right now – my 2009 calendar is blank. But soon it will start filling up with events and projects.

While looking at my fresh new blank calendar I was hit hard with the idea – 2009 is a blank page right now. What will I plan for? What do I want my life to look like in 2009? What do I want to do? Where do I want to go?

For me – definitely time with my family, going to the nations, great events in the life of our church that help people, series of messages that will hopefully touch and lift people, fun stuff with friends and family – and room to breath.

I know all of life can’t be planned. But some of it can.

2009 – it’s blank page. What will you write in it?

A shrinking world

2008-07-28T10:24:00.003-05:00

I’m teaching on the parables of Jesus this summer and really enjoying it. Yesterday we looked at the parable of the talents.

This idea really sticks with me. The guy who blew it messed up because he was afraid and buried his talent. He even lost his one talent he worked so hard to hold on to.

Fear will shrink your world.

It will make you afraid to work, to try (again), to love, to reach out for something fresh and new. You will get guarded about everything.

The enemy will want to steal your confidence and hope. He wants to shrink your world.

If there ever was a day we as believers need to stand up in confidence in God, in His cause, In His goodness and even in our calling – today is that day.

As His church, let’s stand up strong for faith, hope and love. The world needs us to do this more than ever.

Fishing!

2008-07-27T21:18:00.004-05:00

What a great week!

Got to spend all of last week with all my girls. Went scalloping and fishing in Florida. Out to eat. Hanging with family. One round of golf. It was a short but sweet week away. Creating great memories. Loved it.

Mega Worship on Saturday has to be one of my favorite events in the life of our church. An hour and a half of worship and prayer. 150 people all totally focused on God. The time flies. I really love it. One really cool part of this one - tons of under 30 year olds.

Great day at church today. Loving the energy right now. Meeting lots of new people. Numbers are down a little. Summer time. Last few weeks before school kicks back in. But it's all good.

Our high schoolers and young adults are headed to Panama City for Next Gen conference this week. Pray for them. I know it will be great.

Big Serve Saturdays

2008-07-21T10:19:00.003-05:00

Something really, really cool is happening in our church right now and I am lovin it!

Yesterday was another amazing God experience. 9 people responding to Christ. Worship off the chain. Again. Great spirit in the house. Met tons of new people in our café in guest reception. More than one of them broke into tears telling us how they felt God move in their life in service.

Loved teaching on the parable of the eye is a lamp. The value of the right (God’s) perspective. This is my last week to go so long. Still kind of bottled up from One Prayer. Next week back to 35 minutes (or so).

Also, our amazing church turned out en masse again for our Big Serve Saturday. We had so many people show up to serve in our Habitat for Humanity serve day that we got to send a big team to Habitat and then about 50 people back to ABCCM to do some more work over there.

Clutter

2008-07-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

I love great quotes and collect them. Here is one I read the other day that I thought was profound.

“When the purpose of the room is lost, clutter inevitably follows”
Peter Walsh

Isn’t that so true? Rooms without a purpose become the junk room in our house. As a constantly recovering pack rat, I have to continually make conscious moves to remove the clutter.

This also happens in church life. When we have a sense of purpose we have to continually evaluate - Is this ministry, or project or new thing (or old thing!) really helping us fulfill our vision? Just adding ministries to add ministries saps the life out of our church and our best people.

This is probably true for our own lives and schedule and budget as well. Where is the clutter in those rooms? It probably collects easier when our sense of purpose is lost or becomes weak.

Good Stuff!

2008-07-14T16:17:00.003-05:00

We had a great day in church yesterday. I know I keep saying this but worship is off the chain right now.

It felt really good to preach again. It’s been quite a few weeks because of One Prayer. I think I actually went a bit long. A little bottled up.

Our church is responding to our 99 Days of Serving in a humongous way. Teams are going all over Asheville doing good. It’s so cool. Our next Big Serve Day is coming up this Saturday, July 19. We’re going to help Habitat for Humanity.

BTW, if you are part of our church please go to this website and log in some of your experiences in serving this summer.

Catch Up

2008-07-07T11:44:00.004-05:00

Summer and travel does something to my blog-o-rhythm. For those of you who do read this regularly, sorry for no past last week.

Here’s a bit of a catch up:

Had a great time ministering at Philip and Susan O’Reilly’s church last weekend – The Rock of KC. They are some of our dearest friends. Always great to be with them. Excited for their new building which should be ready by late September. Their church is doing so well.

We just finished of our One Prayer series yesterday. Ed Young laid the smack down! The whole thing was amazing. Lots of fun. Great response from everyone. Salvations every week. But I can’t wait to get back to teaching myself.

Worship is off the chain every week at church right now!

I am totally loving the new Coldplay CD – Viva La Vida. And I’m completely enthralled with Leeland right now.

My big thought from the word this past week – God’s normal is blessed

Tribal Gatherings

2008-06-24T08:10:00.002-05:00

Suzette and I spent last week in Scottsdale, Arizona with a group of leaders called Integrity Leadership Ministries (ILM). This get-away happens once a year and is filled with some really great high capacity people.

There’s amazing worship, golf, shopping, eating together, hanging out, superb teaching sessions. But it’s mainly built around relational connecting.

I don’t think I heard one person say how big their church was. Even though a lot of these guys pastor very large churches, there is none of that spirit to this group.

We have grown to love going to this gathering. Every year we get to reconnect with friends and make new ones. It’s a tribe we really enjoy.

“Tribes” are an interesting concept. You can’t legislate them. It’s a mysterious, organic kind of thing. I have respect for all the tribes in The Church but I know I don’t fit in all of them. Some I just learn from, some I belong to, and some I just know there is not a fit. But we all have a need for a tribal sense of belonging.

A Great Weekend!

2008-06-23T14:22:00.002-05:00

We have just had another amazing weekend at The Rock Church!

On Saturday, as part of our 99 Days of Serving this summer, over 70 people from our church showed up at Asheville Buncombe County Christian Mission’s (ABCCM) women’s facility to help upgrade some of the rooms. We had so many people we ended up spilling over into cleaning the kitchen, cutting the grass, fixing grout work and on and on – in addition to totally redoing 3 of their dorm rooms. We had a blast working together and the rooms turned out great!

They told us we were the largest group that has ever showed up to volunteer at their facility. Way to go Rockers!

On Sunday, we heard a great message by Dino Rizzo in our One Prayer series. He spoke on “Make Us Extremely Generous”. We also received an offering to help support an ambitious church planting effort through One Prayer partnership. The goal is 500 churches in China, India, Sudan and Cambodia.

We also had 21 people raise their hand to respond to Christ at the end of Sunday service.

Wow!

Get To The Point

2008-06-12T09:52:00.004-05:00

So, last night I take Tori with me to see Rilo Kiley at The Orange Peel. For the record, I love Rilo Kiley and think they are amazing. This is my second time to see them and they are great live! And I’m not easily impressed.

The downside was – 3 (three!) opening acts. I think I understand the philosophy behind opening acts - exposure for the artist and more entertainment bang for your dollar.

But holy cow, get to the point. Give us a few minutes of openers and then let us see who we came to see.

I don’t want to be rude but I also want to make the observation – some of these guys are not very good and it can become torturous to endure them on the way to hearing what I came to hear. I know they need exposure and experience and all that but when they are categorically less skilled than the main act, please give us a break.

This makes me think about how we do church. We used to do 45 minutes of worship and hour long messages with tons of announcements. Now both worship and message have been cut in half – not in terms of quality but in terms of time. Our announcements are on video and run during our offering. We try to give a great experience (100 best minutes) but we value people’s time and get to the point.

We still have long worship and prayer sessions (mega worship once a quarter) but people come to that because they want to. And they know what they have signed up for.

Our philosophy is – one house, many rooms. Different rooms (meetings) for different things. Get to the point of why you are there.

Fast Forward

2008-06-11T15:07:00.007-05:00

Today my amazing daughter, Tori, turns 20 years old.

Wow, it is so hard for me to believe that my baby girl is now 20. No longer a teenager. When people say it goes by fast they are not kidding.

Just yesterday, Suzette and I were packing all our belongings (which wasn’t much) and our just-barely-learning-to-walk little girl and moving to Asheville to start a church.

Push fast forward and now my baby has grown into a gorgeous young lady.

Tori is sweet, thoughtful, kind and talented. I am very proud of her. She will always be my baby girl.

Preaching To Myself

2008-06-09T09:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was our first day of One Prayer and it went over way better than I thought it would. To be honest, I was a little nervous about showing video teaching. It’s a new thing to our church and I was little apprehensive about how it would be received.

We showed my video teaching I submitted to the One Prayer website. I have never sat and watched myself like that in church. My wife even said to me “No offence, honey, but that was just as good as hearing you live”.

This really opens up possibilities for the future!

One Prayer is about more than video teaching, though.

We are asking our church to fast (at least one meal a week) and pray for our church and for all the other churches involved in One Prayer.

We are also engaging in a service project (which we already had planned with 99 days) for our community. This month - June 21 at ABCCM.

We are also receiving a church planting offering on June 22.

I love doing new things!

Pour Some Sugar On Me

2008-06-04T10:09:00.003-05:00

Def Leppard and Tim McGraw have a new song out – together. I think it’s pretty good. AND – I think it’s way cool to match a country singer with a rock band.

It seems there is more and more a merging of styles to create great music. Who would’ve ever put Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) with Allison Krauss (bluegrass)? Yet it seems to work.

One Prayer feels like this to me. I’m excited about a bunch of kingdom minded guys putting down their labels and just coming together as one to reach the world for Christ.

I know there are still tribes we all gravitate toward. Nothing wrong with that. I have my favorites as well – in music and in the church world.

But a little harmony – two or more different notes coming together to make a unique sound – is a very cool thing.

One Prayer – pour some sugar on me, in the name of love

Beam Me UP Scotty

2008-06-03T08:15:00.004-05:00

This Sunday we begin our One Prayer series. Looking forward to this for a number of reasons.

One of my reasons for doing this is to introduce our church to video technology as a way to expand our capacity to reach people. Hundreds of churches are already utilizing video to multiply their reach capacity.

This idea will eventually take the video church/ministry experience to a whole nuther level. Holographic ministry. Think of the reach potential to previously unreachable places.

The church (well, some of the church) has always utilized technology to expand it’s reach. From the printing press (Gutenberg Bible), to radio, to TV, to internet, to podcasts - etc.

Technology opens new arenas of abundance.

Think about it.

Summer Breeze - Makes Me Feel Fine

2008-06-02T11:10:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was an amazing day in church. Worship was awesome. Loud. Seems like a new level of engagement from our church in worshipping God. Which I love!

We had 14 people raise their hand to respond to Christ at the end of the meeting. Something amazing going on here as well. Since Easter we have had 193 people respond to Christ. Help us by praying for them to continue strong on their journey.

Really looking forward to One Prayer starting this Sunday. Love the idea of partnering with over 1,285 churches. Sharing video teaching. Receiving an offering for church planting. Praying for one another. Serving in our communities.

We have a great summer in front of us!

I Am Iron Man

2008-05-29T10:56:00.005-05:00

Those who know me, know I am not too big on movies. I’m not sure why but they just don’t appeal to me. The only movies I really like are Austin Powers (the first 2 especially) and The Princess Bride. My life has enough drama without watching someone else’s. I like comic relief.

But lately I am on a movie watching tear (for me, anyway). Last week, I took my family to see “Iron Man”. Yes, we did go to the food theater. So what.

Before seeing the movie, I couldn’t imagine Robert Downey, Jr. as a superhero but he did a really great job. I think his appeal is his imperfection. People love flawed superheroes.

Perfection is not nearly as important as honesty and authenticity.

Anonymous Living

2008-05-27T16:22:00.004-05:00

Just a few months after I started my blog I had to set up a filter in order to preview comments before they are posted.

I’ve heard it said before, but began to experience it myself, that the internet is a great place for cowards to roam.

The most interesting thing to me is this: all the weird comments that get left on my blog are always posted by anonymous commenters. I can assure you I will always filter out anonymous comments, no matter what they are.

If you have a viewpoint worth sharing, have the courage to put your name with it and stand behind your thoughts.

Anonymous living, at any level, is for cowards.

Church Pirates

2008-05-25T19:10:00.001-05:00

Just came across this on Ed Young’s blog. What he says is so true. I have lived through “Church Pirating” episodes on more than one occasion. The real loser in the long run is great church people who get knocked out of the race because of this craziness.

I’m not sure if bringing this up will put a stop to church pirating or just slow it down some but it would be a great thing if this kind of thing stopped happening altogether.

99 Days - Serving

2008-05-21T15:20:00.003-05:00

Summer is almost upon us and we are embarking on another 99 Days. It’s 99 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Last year we encouraged everyone in our church to pursue a dream that lay dormant in their heart for a 99 day period. Do something everyday for 99 days to move you toward your dream.

It was a good summer as some people read their Bible all the way through in 99 days or just worked on personal goals for a 99 day period.

This summer our 99 days is focusing on serving. 99 days of serving. We are encouraging every connect group in our church to find a place to serve in our city and in our church. We are putting together 3 big serving Saturdays once a month – June, July, August - for people to get together and make a difference.

June 21 - Serving at ABCCM
July 19 - Habitat for Humanity
August 16 - Work day at The Rock

We are profiling by video every week someone serving in our community. We also have a website set up for people to tell their story and get involved.

We are pushing 3 big values in our church right now:
• Love God – Worshipping God in church together on Sunday on a really consistent basis
• Lift People – get into a Connect Group
• Change The World – serve in the church and in the world

This summer is going to be about raising the serving culture in our church. Should be awesome!

And, as always, we encourage everyone to touch heaven everyday during our 99 days together.

Tree Hugging

2008-05-20T08:27:00.004-05:00

This a picture of a tree we tried to save when we built our first church building ten years ago. I found out I was a closet tree hugger when all the bulldozers started knocking down these gorgeous oak trees. I actually shrunk our parking lot down in an effort to save a few of these trees. Finally, after 10 years, this tree is done. It’s sad to me. You just don’t think big trees should die.

A few months ago, I heard a great online interview with Tom Peters. The interviewer made a mention of a comment a master gardener had given her on his best advice on gardening. Tom went off in excitement over this concept

His no. 1 tip: People need to realize that all plants (shrubs, tree, etc.) have a life span and will die someday. Accept that fact.

So quit trying to grow things past their life span. Some things have expiration dates. It is a sad thing to let some things go but learn to plant new trees. Let go of your past and create your future.

Prince Caspian - and one of my girls

2008-05-19T09:32:00.006-05:00

Had a date night with my 17 year old daughter Elizabeth this past weekend. We went to a local theater that serves food and shows movies. It’s a really cool concept. Watch a movie and have a waiter bring food to you as you enjoy the movie. Cool.

I love the creativity of merging concepts together. Put chocolate and peanut butter together and get Reece’s PB cups. Put chocolate and cherries together and get … Actually, put chocolate and any thing together and good things happen!

Always makes me think about how to improve the whole church experience. We have to consider the whole experience – from parking lot entrance to driving off the property – to beyond.

We saw “Prince Caspian”. There were some good lines and ideas in the movie but I didn’t think it was nearly as good as “Lion, witch and wardrobe”. It was very hard to follow for the first thirty minutes, the acting was less than stellar and some of the dialogue was a little cheesy. Why does there have to be so much “cheese factor” when we do Christian movies, music, etc.?

Anyway, I still had a blast hanging out with my amazing daughter. Who, btw, was just last week inducted in the National Honor Society. You go, girl!

Honest To God

2008-05-15T10:42:00.003-05:00

We are currently in a series called “Honest To God”. It’s all about character, integrity, telling the truth, keeping your word and not lying.

I know this stuff is Christianity 101 but it is amazing the number of train wrecks I’ve seen with people missing the target on these issues. None of us is perfect but we can be honest.

Heavy handed moralizing and legalism is not our style or church culture. We just know life is better with integrity. True friends are ones we can trust.

Check out one of the videos we’ve used in this series:

Friendship matters

2008-05-14T09:25:00.003-05:00

This is my great friend, Frank Loria. We have been friends for 30 years. My relationship with Frank is one of those “Jonathan and David” kind of friendships. We met when I was on the staff of a church that he and his wife started attending. Something clicked between us and our friendship has remained strong for a long time. No matter how long it’s been since the last time we talked, we can pick up like our last conversation was yesterday.

It’s funny how some people come and go through our life and others remain our friends for a lifetime. Fortunately, I do have a handful of long time friendships. They mean a lot to me.

The world could use a few more Frank Lorias. He loves God, loves his wife, loves his kids and loves his church. I don’t think there is a mean bone in his body. He has won hundreds of people to Christ through his easy going approach to trying to reach them for Jesus. He’s stayed faithful to his church for over 30 years. He’s stayed faithful to his wife for even longer. He’s been a great friend to me for a long time.

I’m glad God made Frank a part of my story.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Make Us Shine

2008-05-08T11:05:00.005-05:00

We are so excited about participating in the One Prayer movement. I really do believe this is a God idea.

We taped our message for One Prayer a couple of weeks ago and have finally edited it down to fit the time limits given. I went a few minutes over and we had to trim down to make it fit. It was really hard to figure out what to take out.

Our message is “Make Us Shine”. It’s built out of Isaiah 60. While darkness is growing on the earth the church simultaneously rises up to shine even brighter for the glory of God.

We haven’t decided yet on the messages from other churches we will use. We’re going to look things over next week after all the videos are submitted and then make our choice.

This summer is going to be amazing!

Learning To Breathe

2008-05-07T09:41:00.004-05:00

Just getting back in the swing of things after a great vacation in Destin, Fla. Destin beaches are some of the most beautiful in the world. Had a great time hanging out with my girl for a few chilled out days.

Played golf, ate great, got to leisurely read my Bible every morning with no where to go, met a few new friends, connected with some old friends, laid out on the beach. Ahhh…

A big shout out to my new friend, Pastor Steve Vaggalis, for letting us use his gorgeous condo right on the beach. Steve pastors a great, growing new church in Destin, Destiny Worship Center. He and his wife Jackie are knocking it out of the park with their ministry in Destin.

Had a thought today in my time with God:
“Prayer is breathing in heaven’s atmosphere”

Breathe deep!

I'm back

2008-04-17T11:32:00.003-05:00

Hey guys, sorry for the break in posting. I’ve been pretty busy and just let my blogging slip out of my schedule.

Suzette and I just got back from the ARC Conference in Birmingham, Ala. This is an incredible group of leaders and churches who are passionate about planting life giving churches throughout the USA.

Their vision is to plant 2000 churches by 2020. The have put together an excellent strategy to facilitate this. Their training, financing and support systems are really well thought out. Right now, they are planting a new church every 12 days!

I do love the DNA of this group. They are positive, transparent and very relational. They are also definitely about moving the ball down the field.

Most of these guys have come from Charismatic/Pentecostal backgrounds but have grown weary (as have I) of some of the bizarre behavior and practices of those kind of churches. We love the Holy Spirit and His gifts and power but some of the “packaging” has gotten too weird.

I met a bunch of great new friends and I’m looking forward to what develops out a connection with these guys.

We're In on One Prayer

2008-04-01T15:36:00.005-05:00

Just came across this great idea pioneered by Craig Groeschel from Life Church.

It’s called “One Prayer” and the concept is for hundreds of churches to focus together in teaching and mission during the month of June.

I love this idea! Our church is totally in on this. My heart said "YES" as soon as I heard about it. I’m looking forward to linking up with great churches and leaders to unify and make a difference in the world.

What an amazing way to cross pollinate with a lot of great churches.

Check out his video from Craig for a brief intro:

The Main Character

2008-03-28T08:39:00.003-05:00

From The Message:

Luke 3:16 The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.

Wow! This verse grabbed my heart this morning. Amazing how many layers of truth are in this one sentence.

Beneath The Surface

2008-03-26T10:01:00.002-05:00

This weekend we begin a new series – “Beneath The Surface”.

I have become so convinced that all of us make most of our decisions on an emotional level. Then we build a rationale for that decision. We think our decisions are rational but in fact, they are quite emotional.

This has been a new revelation for me. I have always considered my self not too emotional but I am seeing how much my emotions impact my decisions.

With that being the case - dealing with negative emotions becomes so important. How many stupid decisions born out of anger have ruined people’s lives. How many times has insecurity made us decide not to move forward into what would be amazing for us.

Here’s our trailer:

Believing that God will heal many hearts in this next month.

A Few Easter Pics

2008-03-25T16:19:00.003-05:00

Still hearing the reports roll in from Easter. Lots of people genuinely touched. It really was a great day.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to reaching so many people.

A Great Easter

2008-03-24T08:30:00.003-05:00

Easter Sunday for the church is like the day after Thanksgiving for the mall. It’s always our biggest day and our guys did shine yesterday.

We did a huge series of commercials inviting people to our Easter service. Met quite a few people who came because of them.

The energy and expectation level from our church was the best I have felt in a long, long time. Everyone was on their game – our guest service team was amazing. As always, our music team nailed it again. Kids ministry team was phenomenal. So proud of all of them.

We were completely packed with late-comers having to watch the service from the café and the foyer.

31 people responded to accept Christ.

Met tons of new people in the café after service.

We had a great day! Thanks to all who prayed and worked so hard to make it happen. You guys are awesome!

Come Out Of The Closet!

2008-03-20T13:05:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of spring. And it looks like it outside here. Yahoo! I am so looking forward to warm weather returning. Having grown up in New Orleans, even though I have lived in Asheville for over 18 years, I still have thin blood and I’m freezing every winter. Come on, Spring!

Today also marks my one year anniversary for my blog. It has taken me a while to gather a consistent blog-o-rhythm but I have gotten better. I hope to make my blog better this year than last year.

I started tracking the number of people who are reading my blog on Feb. 6. From then until Mar. 19 there were 586 different people viewing my blog with about half of them being repeat viewers. Google analytics tells me where the viewers come from but not exactly who they are.

Hey you closet blog viewers – how about leaving a comment that lets me know who you are. I’d love to hear from you.

BTW –if you are part of our church, invite someone to Easter service this Sunday. It’s going to be awesome!

I Finally Found What I'm Looking For

2008-03-18T07:58:00.003-05:00

With all respect to Bono......

Came across this video on Seth Godin's blog.

It underscores a concept I have held dear for a long time:
You always find what you're looking for

If we're looking for blue objects in a room, that's what we will find.
If we're looking for faults in someone, that's what we will find.
If we're looking for good things in that same person, that's what we'll find.
If we're looking for bad things in the world, that's what we'll find.
If we're looking for the goodness of God, that's what we'll find.

Our outlook depends on what we're looking out from

MAT 6:22 "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

More Loud Love

2008-03-12T11:28:00.004-05:00

Unleash at Newspring was awesome. All of our guys had a blast. It was fun to do this together. Newspring has got it going on. 2nd year of their conference and it was totally sold out. Completely filled their 2,500 seat auditorium. They have the best guest service, volunteer culture I have ever seen. Way to go, Newspring.

This weekend we're going to continue in our series "Our Love Is Loud".

We're just taking a couple of weekends to push the refresh button on our church-wide understanding of expressing worship.

There are too many references to clapping, shouting, gladness and joy for us to think Biblical worship is supposed to be a "quiet" event.

Here's a fun litle video on "Worship Workout Extreme" we showed last weekend. This was part one. We'll be showing part two this coming weekend.

Don't miss church. It's too fun. Invite a friend!

Easter is coming

2008-03-12T09:58:00.008-05:00

Easter is coming and we are looking forward to the opportunity to reach people.

People in the South will come to an Easter service more readily than any other time.

We're looking forward to loving them into the Kingdom of God.

Here is a commercial we'll be running starting today that will run 40 times a day all the way up to Easter. It will be showing on:

The Weather Channel
Fox News Channel
TV Guide Network
ABC Family
Hallmark Channel
MTV
Nickolodeon
E!TV
USA Network
The Golf Channel - (Yeah, baby!)

Unleashed

2008-03-12T09:53:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow promises to be a great day.

We are taking 56 people from our church to Unleashed. This is a one day conference held by Newspring Church.
Newspring has an amazing story. Started just 8 years ago in the small town of Anderson, SC (pop. 26,000) they have grown to 8,000 in Sunday attendance. Amazing!

We took a small group last year and loved it.

Love getting around great things God is doing. Love giving our guys exposure to what God is doing in the earth.

Should be fun.

A Big Shout Out

2008-03-11T08:46:00.001-05:00

I just want to give a big shout out to our amazing church.

Together we gave $14,725 in an offering to the Youth Champions program headed up by Chims Phiri. He told me this was the largest offering their ministry had ever received for Youth Champions.

Youth Champions gives support to high schoolers in Zimbabwe who have literally become orphaned by their parents dying from AIDS. Some of these households are being run by 13 to 15 year olds taking care of their younger siblings.

We are planning a trip to Zimbabwe in late August. A part of that trip is going to be about making a personal hands on investment of time and love in to those students in the Youth Champions program.

I want to brag on our church for a minute. We just do it! A lot of people talk about helping the poor. Our guys step up and do it.

When we called on our church to help underprivileged kids have presents this last Christmas – our church sponsored 541 children to the tune of $100 a child. Do the math on that! It wasn’t just money thrown at the kids, either. Dozens of people worked tirelessly to make this happen.

Way to go Rock Church! You guys are amazing.