Kirk Bowman's blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

Should be fun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, which camera should I get my wife?

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

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

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

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

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

A good question is far better than a bad answer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This month I am celebrating 2 anniversaries!

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

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

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

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

My life is exceedingly blessed and I am very grateful.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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