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An experience worth paying for

May 30, 2009 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

photo1I love coming back and hanging out in Bradenton.  I have formed so many great relationships here over the years.  One of my favorite places in Bradenton is the Starbucks on SR70.  The reason why is because they a barista their named Cindy.  Have you ever met one of those people that is always excited to see you and greats you with the biggest hello with a smile.  That is Cindy to a tee.  She is one of the most life-giving people I have ever met.  I just want to go buy a starbucks so I can get to see her.

All of this got me thinking this morning, the way we act towards others has a profound effect on them.  I will gladly go pay $5.00 for some coffee if I get this amazing experience.  What kind of experience are others having when they come into contact with us?  Is it such a powerful encounter that they would be willing to pay for it or such a negative experience that they pay for it.

Let’s be a people who give such unbelievable value to others through our presence that they see God’s presence in us.

Making a List

May 29, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Today has been a great day.  I am finally finished up with everything that I need to personally do for the Coastal Community Church website.  Now it is just up to The A Group, who by the way is phenominal to work with, to finish writing all of the code and hopefully we will have our site up by mid June.  I can’t wait for this piece of the puzzle to be put into place.  I never really realized how much work went into writing content, laying out sections and shooting videos for a website.  I have a new found appreciation for the people who do this.

checklist1I don’t know if you are like me but I like to check things off my list as DONE.  I am not one of those guys who just puts a nice little check next to the completed project, I am the guy who scribbles it out until the pen cuts through the paper.  There is something about accomplishing a task that is so fulfilling.  I feel like I have just conquered the world but I have only really finished up a website.  I think God designed us with this internal device that wants to accomplish.  What happens so many times though is that we get caught up in so many projects that we finish none and then we feel overwhelmed.  I think that this is one of the ways that the enemy gets to us and steals our joy.  He gets us going 100 miles per hour and before long we are out of control and getting a ticket of some major anxiety in our life.  We get so caught up in so many things that we can’t sort out what we are to do next and before long we are just defeated.  Paul talks about this very thing in Philippians 4:6-7

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

He says to us to not get caught up in so many things that we lose control and worry.  He tells us some practical truths here to help us accomplish more and freak out less.

  1. Have petitions, in other words make a list.  I think we get so spiritual sometimes instead of just being really practical.  God wants us to have a clear vision about what we are trying to accomplish so we need a plan and that is where the list comes in to play.
  2. Pray, we need to bring God into the situation to know where to go first.  I know that each one of us want to do the easy things first but I believe that if we let God take control and guide us then we will not do just the easy but the strategic.
  3. Everything coming together, as we start accomplishing our tasks that are listed out instead of trying to hold them in our head we will find peace, accomplishment and be settled in our situation.
  4. Center of your life, what will happen is worry will stop controlling your decisions and Christ will take back over as the center of your life.  That is the sweet spot of life where we accomplish more, make wise decisions and do great things for God.

I want to encourage you to slow down and take some time to write out all the things going on in life that you are holding onto and allow God to take His place as the center of your life to lead and guide you and find everything coming together for good.

Change is hard

May 28, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Has anyone ever noticed that change is hard?  Why is it that when we are about to step out and do something different it freaks us out?  Whether it is getting a new hair style, buying a new home, changing your profession, or trying a new way of doing something, change always messes with us.  Sometimes it even paralyzes us where we are just so afraid to do anything and we get stuck.  We find ourselves in this state of being immobilized to do anything.  It holds us back in our family, work and even our relationship with God.

Here is the thing that I have found in life and that is that if we want to do something great in life we have to do something that probably no one else has ever done.  That means that we are going to have to make an extraordinary change in our life that most aren’t willing to make.  Sounds kind of scary to me, but I truly believe that this is the place that God wants us to continually live, in a place of constant change.  The Bible tells us in I John 4:8

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

i-want-change1When you and I have a growing and intimate relationship with God, then and only then will we be secure enough in His love to not fear.  In fact you will be so secure in His love that you will embrace and look for change.  God wants us in a constant state of moving forward and changing so we are secure in our relationship with Him.  This is so challenging for me because more than anything I life the safe and secure way that I have always done things in life.  The thing that I have found though is that when I do the safe and secure, I NEVER GROW! God wants us to continually be changing so we can continually be growing in Him.

  • So what do you need to change today so you can grow in relationship with God?
  • What act of faith do you need to step out in?
  • What phone call do you need to make?
  • What job do you need to apply for or even quit?
  • Who do you need to forgive?

Step out in faith today and make a change!

Outreach Today

May 26, 2009 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

gift-bag1Today was such an amazing day.  Shayla and I had the opportunity to take some gift buckets full of drinks, donuts, tea, coffee, and all kinds of candy to the local schools this morning to thank them for all they do to educate, inspire, and encourage the students to develop the skills necessary to survive in life.  It was amazing to see the look on the peoples faces in the offices when we told them the gift was for them “No Strings Attached”.  One lady said to me “Are you for real, that is for us?”  and it was so great to say yes and thank you for all that you do.

We are so pumped about just loving and making a difference in our community by random acts of kindness.  We think that this is the best way to show people Christ’s love in a practical way.  In doing so we believe that we will have multiple opportunities to share with the individuals in our community why we are do this, and here is why, BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT THEM NOT US.  I know that the gospel isn’t really for us who already know but those who do not yet know.  We want to be Jesus to them with our hands, feet, words and actions.  I can’t wait to see Jesus move in peoples hearts as we serve our community.

The one thing that I have learned over my time in ministry is that the church does not exist to be served even though a lot of times that is what we make it about.  We ask questions about what area would you like to be involved in or can you help us here inside the four walls of the church.  Don’t get me wrong those are very necessary things for us to have engaging worship services but they are not the primary thing.  I love what Jesus says in Matthew 24:28

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The reality is that we are here on earth to serve others, and by OTHERS I think Jesus is referring to those who do not yet know him.  So let me ask you a question:

Who are you serving?  Are you serving yourself or others?


COMMITMENT

May 25, 2009 in Church Planting with 1 Comment

I have been really challenged as of late with one word in particular, COMMITMENT.  I never thought that planting a church would be so challenging for me personally.  I have been fortunate to have been involved with a great church and pastor over the last couple of years and it has really been a catalyst to shape and form who I am today.  Even with all the success of Bayside and everything I learned and experienced there, it has not prepared me for this new adventure.

leap-of-faith1The biggest thing that I think I have learned is that talent is not or ever enough.  I know that a lot of people have talent but when the going gets tough a lot of times talented people quit.  It is the strong, the diligent and the COMMITTED who end up succeeding in life and ministry. This has been a tough challenge for me personally.  I always think of commitment as an easy thing but as Shayla and I have stepped out, quit our jobs and moved this commitment thing has started to settle in our lives.  I have asked myself probably one hundred times, “What the heck are you doing, are you crazy leaving everything that you know, the security for this new church plant” and all that I keep responding with is “I guess I am now really committed.”  See before it was just a really good idea but I could still decide that maybe this wasn’t from God and just go back to my old way of life.  Now on the other hand I am truly and fully committed.  In this process the thing that I have found is that commitment hurts.  I have yet to even experience the pain of truly planting the church but at the same time I am continually facing the reality of commitment.  I think that I truly understand to a degree what Jesus was feeling at the Garden of Gethsemane when He was praying to God to take the cup of suffering on the cross from him.  Even though he was not yet tortured and nailed to the cross he understood and felt the weight of that COMMITMENT he was making to endure the pain in the future.  The commitment he made there in the garden helped him to endure the pain, suffering and sin of the world by dying on the cross for you and I.  The thing is that the decision was made way before he was ever on the cross.

What decision do you need to make right now that is going to take commitment in the future to endure? When we make the decision now then after we have suffered through the pain of that decision there is always a resurrection of the decision where glory is revealed and freedom found but it happens way before we ever endure anything.  I am making and have made a commitment to follow Christ and His plan for my life.  That plan includes planting and pastoring Coastal Community Church here in Ft. Lauderdale.   I am committed to doing whatever it takes to help the unchurched, uncommitted and undecided people of Ft. Lauderdale become Fully Devoted Followers of Christ who are growing in their relationship with God and others, giving of their time, talent and treasure and guiding others to Christ, the church and small groups.

WHAT ARE YOU COMMITTED TO???

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