BACKPACKS OF HOPE-
Our Backpacks of Hope campaign is in full swing and the money and supplies are pouring in right now. Just last night I received confirmation from Bic Pens that they are going to supply every child with pens and pencils. WOW! Yeah God!! Also, this week one of our member while "On Mission with God" in their work setting, told a client about Backpacks of Hope and the client was so moved that he took out his checkbook and wrote a check for $500 without batting an eye. THAT JUST PUMPS ME UP!!!! Also, last week in church someone who was a guest for the first time who is still not sure about this whole Jesus thing decided to invest in someone else and give $10 for a backpack. AMAZING!
I spoke with Mr Pepe this week at BT Washington Elementary and he was just overwhelmed that we would adopt their school this year and provide backpacks and more for every student. For those of you who do not know much about BT Washington Elementary. It is the only "D" rated elementary school in the city of Tampa, which means that most of the students are one or two grade levels behind in most of their subjects especially reading. Our goal is to develop a long term relationship with this school to help kids and families that are marginalized by society in general and help them begin to realize their God given potential.
So far we have collected about $1500 of the $5000 that we need to pay for the backpacks.
I am asking that everyone give at least $20 above their regular giving to help pay for these backpacks for the kids of Booker T Washington. If you can give more that would be great as well. You can give on Sunday in the regular offering or you can go to www.relevantchurch.com and click on the giving link and give through our secure online giving.
Friday, July 24, 2009
"VS" Update
I hope that all of you have had a great week. I am now thick in the throws of football and loving every minute of it. Sometimes as a pastor you can get caught up in the business of the church and forget that there is a whole city out there who does not connect with the church. Not because they do not like Jesus but because they have never seen Jesus in the lives of the people who claim to follow Him. Coaching football allows me to be a regular guy and rub shoulders with people outside of the religious bubble.
Last week I had a compliment from someone who was watching me coach football. This person said "Paul when you are coaching you are just a coach and you get after kids just like any coach I have ever seen". Well for me I knew what he meant. He was saying you did not have your pastor face on out on the football field but everyone still knew who you were. As a Follower of Jesus we do not have to wear the Jesus t-shirts and carry a Bible around with us everywhere we go for people to know it. Who we are should shine through in the everyday circumstances of our daily lives. The problem with this idea is that there is a battle raging within us to keep us from accomplishing this sort of life. That is what our new series has been about and that is why we called is "VS" VERSUS. Because there is always a choice in our life that we have to make as to who we will serve and the type of person we will be.
I look forward to seeing all of you this weekend as we continue our series "VS". This week we will be looking at the topic of Going to A Church "VS" Being THE Church. I think coupled with what we discussed last week about Doing Missions VS Living on Mission With God, this weekend is really going to give us some traction for where God is leading us. This series is taking Relevant to another level in our commitment to Jesus and our commitment to our community. Make sure that you invest and invite someone to come with you this Sunday.
Last week I had a compliment from someone who was watching me coach football. This person said "Paul when you are coaching you are just a coach and you get after kids just like any coach I have ever seen". Well for me I knew what he meant. He was saying you did not have your pastor face on out on the football field but everyone still knew who you were. As a Follower of Jesus we do not have to wear the Jesus t-shirts and carry a Bible around with us everywhere we go for people to know it. Who we are should shine through in the everyday circumstances of our daily lives. The problem with this idea is that there is a battle raging within us to keep us from accomplishing this sort of life. That is what our new series has been about and that is why we called is "VS" VERSUS. Because there is always a choice in our life that we have to make as to who we will serve and the type of person we will be.
I look forward to seeing all of you this weekend as we continue our series "VS". This week we will be looking at the topic of Going to A Church "VS" Being THE Church. I think coupled with what we discussed last week about Doing Missions VS Living on Mission With God, this weekend is really going to give us some traction for where God is leading us. This series is taking Relevant to another level in our commitment to Jesus and our commitment to our community. Make sure that you invest and invite someone to come with you this Sunday.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Spirituality and the Dentist Chair
So yesterday I twittered something that I know sounded like I had been given too much novacaine. I twittered that going to the dentist was like coming to church in many ways. Now before you start sending me emails of your dentist horror stories just listen to mine. For one I have the most amazing dentist in the world. (Dr Mike) Shameless plug for my friend and fellow Relevant peep. So be kind with the dentist stories at church he is sensitive. (LOL) Back to the story. So a couple of weeks ago I went in to have some dental work done and at that time Mike told me that I really needed a good cleaning. So that is what I had done yesterday and that is when God spoke to me in the dentist chair. (I admit it is a little weird, but stay with me). As I sat down in the chair the hygienist (Penny) came in to perform the same cleaning that she has done on probably hundreds of patients, but God wanted to speak to me as His patient at the same time.
So the cleaning began. She started by asking me some questions you know the standard "do you have any pain in your mouth?" etc to which I responded, "actually one tooth on the top is kind of hurting." She then said, let's take a closer look at that and she pulled out the x-ray machine and snapped a picture. "We will take a look at that in a moment," she said as she went back to work. She proceeded to scrape off all of the tartar that had built up on my teeth over the past year. As she was scraping the tartar off she was telling me why it was hurting and bleeding a little. She said when you do not brush and floss on a daily basis the bacteria in the food mixes with your own saliva and creates this substance called tartar and then there is no way you can get it off without help. She then asked me the dreaded question, "Do you floss?" to which I responded, "Well sometimes but probably not as much as I should." I told her that I like the new flossing tools on the stick. I said "those make it easier," to which she responded. "They do make it easier but they do not do it properly." I was busted. She then told me she was going to polish my teeth and get them looking good. Then she said, "now I am going to teach you how to brush and floss the right way." I was a bit taken back, I mean I am 40 years old and I have been brushing my teeth and flossing occasionally for years. I did not think I needed a class on brushing and flossing. But she insisted. She then showed me that she had a mirror above the dentist light and she adjusted it so that I could see what she was doing. She said " I want you to watch how I do every step so you can replicate it when you get home." I watched her brush and floss every tooth with precise detail. Her next statement rocked my world. She said, "Paul I can show you how to do all of this, but now I am going to give you all of the tools and you are going to have to go home and do it every day for yourself." It was now my choice to determine the health of my teeth. So I left the office with a bag of tools that could and would help to keep my teeth healthy if I choose to use them.
WOW! that is when it all sunk in and God smacked me in the head with this idea that I had just experienced church. You see we come in each week and hear a message that generally poses a question as to where we are on our spiritual journey. Then we look into the Word of God to see what God has to say about that situation. Upon looking at what God says about it, sometimes we feel Him scraping the tartar off of our life and sometimes this process hurts. Then, we generally ask the question, "How did things get so bad?" This only leads to a response from God in the form of another question, "Have you been spiritually brushing and flossing each day?" After realizing that maybe we have been neglecting the proper form of spiritual maintenance, God tells us, "No problem I am going to polish you up and show you exactly what you need to do to continue the process". There is only one catch, "When you leave here, He says, you will have to do some of this yourself!"
You see, I think we get confused sometimes with two words. Salvation and Sanctification Salvation or the act of becoming a Christ follower is something that only God can do. Salvation comes from God, but sanctification is the process that God uses to make us more like Him and just like flossing and brushing, we are very involved in the success of this process. I think Proverbs is a great book to help us in this process. Keep reading this week and don't skip the process
So the cleaning began. She started by asking me some questions you know the standard "do you have any pain in your mouth?" etc to which I responded, "actually one tooth on the top is kind of hurting." She then said, let's take a closer look at that and she pulled out the x-ray machine and snapped a picture. "We will take a look at that in a moment," she said as she went back to work. She proceeded to scrape off all of the tartar that had built up on my teeth over the past year. As she was scraping the tartar off she was telling me why it was hurting and bleeding a little. She said when you do not brush and floss on a daily basis the bacteria in the food mixes with your own saliva and creates this substance called tartar and then there is no way you can get it off without help. She then asked me the dreaded question, "Do you floss?" to which I responded, "Well sometimes but probably not as much as I should." I told her that I like the new flossing tools on the stick. I said "those make it easier," to which she responded. "They do make it easier but they do not do it properly." I was busted. She then told me she was going to polish my teeth and get them looking good. Then she said, "now I am going to teach you how to brush and floss the right way." I was a bit taken back, I mean I am 40 years old and I have been brushing my teeth and flossing occasionally for years. I did not think I needed a class on brushing and flossing. But she insisted. She then showed me that she had a mirror above the dentist light and she adjusted it so that I could see what she was doing. She said " I want you to watch how I do every step so you can replicate it when you get home." I watched her brush and floss every tooth with precise detail. Her next statement rocked my world. She said, "Paul I can show you how to do all of this, but now I am going to give you all of the tools and you are going to have to go home and do it every day for yourself." It was now my choice to determine the health of my teeth. So I left the office with a bag of tools that could and would help to keep my teeth healthy if I choose to use them.
WOW! that is when it all sunk in and God smacked me in the head with this idea that I had just experienced church. You see we come in each week and hear a message that generally poses a question as to where we are on our spiritual journey. Then we look into the Word of God to see what God has to say about that situation. Upon looking at what God says about it, sometimes we feel Him scraping the tartar off of our life and sometimes this process hurts. Then, we generally ask the question, "How did things get so bad?" This only leads to a response from God in the form of another question, "Have you been spiritually brushing and flossing each day?" After realizing that maybe we have been neglecting the proper form of spiritual maintenance, God tells us, "No problem I am going to polish you up and show you exactly what you need to do to continue the process". There is only one catch, "When you leave here, He says, you will have to do some of this yourself!"
You see, I think we get confused sometimes with two words. Salvation and Sanctification Salvation or the act of becoming a Christ follower is something that only God can do. Salvation comes from God, but sanctification is the process that God uses to make us more like Him and just like flossing and brushing, we are very involved in the success of this process. I think Proverbs is a great book to help us in this process. Keep reading this week and don't skip the process
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Leadership Opportunity
Well I know that yesterday I twittered that today I would share with you a great leadership opportunity so here it goes. Last year I took my whole SMT (Senior Management Team) to the leadership intensive training at GCC (Granger Community Church) called Leadership Live May 6-7, 2009. The only thing that I can say about it is WOW! We had been outside observers and fans of GCC and their ministry for a couple of years, so when we saw the opportunity to spend 2 days with their top leaders in a small intimate setting we said lets make it happen. All I can say is that it was worth every penny that we spent. Here we are a year later still talking about and using the principles that we learned from the Team at GCC.
So what is the offer you may ask? Well here is the deal. I heard that there were a few spots still available for this years Leadership Live. (Which I was shocked by) and so I wanted to help some guys out who would like to go but the finances are a bit of a problem. So here is what I am offering. I would like to pay $200 toward anyone that would like to go to this 2 day leadership training. The total cost for the trip is $1500 and I know that $200 does not seem like a lot but I can tell you that if you have any money set aside for leadership training this is where you should spend it.
This is what I can tell you from my personal experience about Leadership Live:
So if this sounds like something that you would like to do go to WiredChurches.com and Sign up. Just mention my name and GCC will let me know that you signed up.
FYI: I am not getting a kick back from GCC for this I really believe in leaders learning from great leaders. Trust me I have been to a ton of conferences and seminars and not one of them compares to the tools that I received from Leadership Live.
So what is the offer you may ask? Well here is the deal. I heard that there were a few spots still available for this years Leadership Live. (Which I was shocked by) and so I wanted to help some guys out who would like to go but the finances are a bit of a problem. So here is what I am offering. I would like to pay $200 toward anyone that would like to go to this 2 day leadership training. The total cost for the trip is $1500 and I know that $200 does not seem like a lot but I can tell you that if you have any money set aside for leadership training this is where you should spend it.
This is what I can tell you from my personal experience about Leadership Live:
- The GCC team is the most honest down to earth (real guys) I have ever rubbed shoulders with.
- They share both the successes and failures of ministry (don't you hate going to conferences where everything is great and you feel like all your stuff sucks)
- This is not a conference it is real people sitting around a table talking about how to expand the Kingdom of God.
- This is not just for large churches. (we are only church of 400 and we learned stuff that is going to help us over the next 5 years)
- The Systems and leadership structure that they share are extremely practical and useful for any size church.
- This is not a 2 day event and then it is over. (The GCC team has made themselves available to our staff when we have needed them since Leadership Live)
- Where else can you get one on one face time with 5 key leaders of a growing ministry for a round table discussion.
- I do not know of any other training event that I have been to where the idea of Excellence was displayed better. (from the accommodations, to the food, to all off the little things that just made it over the top)
So if this sounds like something that you would like to do go to WiredChurches.com and Sign up. Just mention my name and GCC will let me know that you signed up.
FYI: I am not getting a kick back from GCC for this I really believe in leaders learning from great leaders. Trust me I have been to a ton of conferences and seminars and not one of them compares to the tools that I received from Leadership Live.
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