Sunday Rumination (12-30-07)

First off, let me say, I'm really tired. This may not be very long. I'll update more later. Just wanted to get this in before tonight!

--- Attendance was 216 today. Both Adam and I thought we were below 200 by looking at it. Don't know if it was how people were situated, but first serviced seemed WAY down to me. I was pleasantly surprised with attendance today. That puts us at 3 or 4 weeks in a row over 200. Very good.

--- 10 first time guests filled out cards today. That was great!

--- Offering today was $3275.50. Great offering for a fifth Sunday.

--- I loved this series we did. I got the idea from Harvest Church in Billings who was doing a series called "Believe It Or Not" this past summer, based off the Ripley's idea. It sparked my mind to do a Christmas series called "Believe" and look at the life of Christ rather than the birth. Adam did a great job with set design and worship through the whole series.

--- I'm tired.

--- I'm excited about our Deal or No Deal series coming up. I really feel this can benefit ALL of us at Element Church.

--- I'm VERY excited about what God has in store for our church this next year. We'll be doing something in January that is going to be VERY fun. Can't wait to reveal it. It can be one of those things that can really impact everyone who attends Element Church that day.

--- I spoke on the final idea of why Jesus came today. He came to take away all excuses. Jesus did enough in this life to take out any excuses we have to follow Him. It's Him or NOTHING. I've enjoyed every message this series and felt like God was speaking as much TO me as much as He was THROUGH me in all the sermons. Usually the best sermons are ones that convict YOU first.

--- I got a little worked up in second service today. Hope everyone comes back. lol There are some things I just get fired up about. The topics we talked about today did just that.

--- I am SO excited. I can't TELL you how excited I am for our connections pastor Grant Clark. Grant moved here in Feb/March and continued working for Frito Lay (as He had in Gillette). It was such a MAJOR risk for him to move the way he did for Element Church. He has worked just about EVERY Sunday since he moved here. He took a pretty major position cut by following God's call to Cheyenne. In Gillette he had his own route, here he's been what they call a "swing" guy where he covers the days off of other guys who have routes. (Hope I'm explaining this correctly) Anyway, today was Grants LAST Sunday to work because starting next week he has his own route. PRAISE THE LORD! I pray God rewards Grant for his sacrifice. This has been a major prayer request since we moved here. CONGRATS GRANT!

--- Ok, that's it for now. I'm heading to take a nap!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Devotional thoughts...

I finished Psalms am in Proverbs now in my devotions. Proverbs is a fantastic book. Every time I'm in it I love it. Such GREAT practical wisdom and knowledge. In fact the "purpose statement" that Solomon gives for the book is found in chapter 1 v. 3 when he says "Their purpose (of these proverbs) is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair." I am an underliner, marker, and writer when I read the Bible or really ANY book. I seem to retain things better if I mark them. Proverbs is one of those books where if I didn't limit what mark, I'd underline nearly every verse and have notes all over my pages. Here are some insights from this wonderful book that I've noted this time through.

Lots of stuff on money in Proverbs. Fitting for the sermon series we are about to go through. The next two talk on that.

Proverbs 1:9 --- "Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life." Funny how we think if we get money we get life.

Proverbs 3:9 --- "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce."

Proverbs 4:23 --- "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

Proverbs 8:13 --- "All who fear the Lord will hate evil." WOW! Their are a lot of people that claim to fear the Lord then, that according to this, don't.

Proverbs 10:16 --- "The earnings of the godly enhance their lives." Why? I think because they are willing to hold it with open hands.

Proverbs 11:4 --- "Riches won't help you on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death." Which is better, money or righteousness?

This next one I love. It spawned a comment from Grant in a sermon during our Unplugged sessions where he said "Where there is people...there's poop!"

Proverbs 14:4 --- "Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." Apply that to church life. Without people, the church stays clean, but you need strong people to reap a harvest of more people. The more a church grows the messier it gets, but isn't that the point?

Proverbs 15:11 --- "Even Death and Destruction hold not secrets from God, how much more does He know the human heart."

Listen to this next one. Read it today.

Proverbs 19:17 --- "If you help the poor you are lending to the Lord --- and He will repay you!" WHAT? Then why don't we help the poor more. Psalms says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And if we help the poor we're actually lending to God and HE will repay us. That is an AWESOME verse! Goes right along with Matthew 25 when Jesus says "Whatever you have done for the least of these (poor, needy) you have done for me." WOW!

Proverbs 20:24 --- "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?" MAN, is that a church planting verse. We so often try to understand all God does (WHICH WE CAN'T, that's why He's God and we're not) instead of just chasing after Him and following Him wherever He goes.

There are a few samples. TONS more I wrote in my journal or marked in my Bible. Good stuff.

Following Christ,

Jeff

2008 --- What's next?

Wow is God stirring my heart. Had a GREAT planning session with Adam today and another good staff meeting. Some of the things we feel God calling us to do in 2008 are absolutely scary (financially, energy, volunteering). Although they are scary we feel like we MUST do them. Two things are coming in January that one is a MAJOR risk for a new church. Can't wait to unveil it. (Staff keep your mouths shut) :) We've got some service projects in the works and have even begun planning for NEXT Christmas when we do our first Christmas Eve service.

I am VERY excited for 2008. We're at that point where it could be easy for us to exhale and say "We made it". We could easily level out, relax, get comfortable and call it good for a while. BUT WHY? Has God moved on our behalf? YES! Has He enabled us to grow and reach people for Christ? YES! But He still has more. Where will He take us? I don't know, but I want to keep following so I can see. I'll be sharing some stuff this Sunday about what God has been talking to me about personally and as the leader of Element Church.

I'm very excited about our next two sermon series. We've already received one phone call from someone who didn't like the content of the mailer we sent out. One thing we will always do at Element Church is talk about the tough subjects. We'll be doing that in January and February. Two of the most difficult subjects to tackle in church we're taking on in two consecutive months. Money and sex. Below is the graphic for the mailer we sent out. We did the split graphic and saved some money by doing to series on one mailer. We're not holding anything back in our sex series. There is a reason the church is silent many times on sex. THE DEVIL DOESN'T WANT US TALKING ABOUT IT. If we don't, he gets all the airtime. Since it seems our country gets all their education about sex from satan, we're going to expose what he's been teaching through our series satan's sex ed series.


We have our sermon calendar prepared through next Fall and I am really looking forward to some of the things we are going to do. The budget got completed yesterday and I feel really good about it. There seriously hasn't been much more difficult, than preparing a budget for a full year, for a church that has existed for three months. We're stepping out in faith on some of the budget items and we understand that there are some things that are unseen for us now that will come up. We're really careful about tracking our spending right now so as to better budget as we grow.

2008 --- what's next? I know this. If we follow Jesus, we can't go wrong. God is a big God, and I think he has BIG things in store for Element Church this coming year. This turned out way longer than I had planned. Sorry. Can't wait for Sunday.

Blog Link

Grant has a great new blog HERE. Go check it out. Good stuff as always Grant!

Offering Update

Offering for Sunday was $3855.50. Just wanted to update that. Thanks Elementers for your consistent giving!

Ski Trip

I took Jonah skiing yesterday up at Snowy Range Ski Area. We had a blast! Jonah did so well. I put a little video together of him skiing. He was cruising down the intermediate blue runs by the end of the day and begging to go down a black. Next time I think he'll be ready to tackle a black diamond run. Enjoy the video.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all...and to all...EAT TONS OF FOOD! Seriously though, have a GREAT Christmas.

Rumination Additions for 12-23

--- A total of 7 people indicated today that the gave their heart to Jesus; became a follower of Christ; crossed the line of faith or as Romans says, got "saved". Whatever you call it, it's a great thing! Our prayer is the Holy Spirit would work on their hearts to bring them into a greater knowledge and understanding of who God is and the decision they made.

--- Kids are in bed, the crowd is gone, and my wife and I are going to watch Amazing Race.

--- I may or may not blog over Christmas. Please have a WONDERFUL holiday and remember the reason....Ok I won't say that cliche. Have an AWESOME CHRISTMAS.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Sunday Rumination (12-23-07)

One more week of 2007 and then we're OFF to a new year. We're kickin' off the new year with two GREAT sermons series that will literally take head on two subjects that are debilitating our country. Finances and sex. I'm VERY excited about both of those series to see what God has to teach us.

Here is the rumination on today.

--- Don't know the final count (need to confirm with Adam and Grant), but there at least 5 people at 9 AM and another 5 at 10:30 that acknowledged they accepted Jesus into their hearts today. I can't tell you how important that is to the life of a church. Churches need to offer a consistent opportunity to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. Very exciting to see people acknowledge that decision.

--- We had more money come in today to add to the over $940 that had already come in for the four moms we adopted. That money went to offset the cost of purchasing many of the items that Element bought for the families. Three of the families gifts have been delivered and our family is delivering the last one tonight. So far the families have been overwhelmed by your generosity. Our Life Group adopted another family as well and we'll be delivering those gifts tonight too.

--- All total, we supported 6 families (4 through the church and 2 others from Life Groups). Grants Life Group went and worked at the Comea Shelter last night and also took some milk in for them. Grant met with the directors there and they said their two biggest needs are $$ and milk.

--- 218 in attendance today. Didn't know what to expect for our first Christmas weekend. Typically you either see a LARGE increase or decrease. We were about the same as the previous weeks up some from last week.

--- Terri told me the offering but I already forgot the #. I know it was over $3000. $3300 maybe. lol It was a good offering. Nice to be consistently in that area. As stated before, we also had some more $ come in for the adopt-a-moms. Can't wait to do more of that.

--- We had a great set up team today. Set up was quite possibly the best we've had. Done in plenty of time and gave the band ample time to practice.

--- Band...Another fantastic job in leading worship today. Adam opened the service with an original rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Instrumental). It is a really cool version (Dare I say Phil Keaggy like?). Leigh, one of our new vocalists ended O come O come Emmanuel with a kickin' solo. He really let loose in 2nd service (wish we had the video of that).

--- 2nd service...wow, 2nd service was unusual. I think it was one of those moments where God allows stuff to just foul up to remind us that it's not about us. In the middle of Adam's opening song we lose ALL power to the sound board and computers. That means ZERO amplification for the guitar, for vocal, for ANYTHING. Adam was on an island of uncomfortability. Pam (sound trainee) went running upstairs to check the breaker. Wasn't it. I was on the floor under the computer table checking the power strip. NOTHING! Adam was ad-libbing on stage getting ready to do his best Backstreet Boys accapella rendtion of O Holy Night. FINALLY after what seemed like 10 minutes (probably 2) we figured out that the extension cord had come out of the wall out in the hallway killing the power to the sound board and computers. Then the theater projector wouldn't come back on. Somehow it just popped on right when we needed it. It was BY FAR the biggest interruption I've ever experienced in church. Thankfully it wasn't during an intimate worship song or the sermon. Everyone laughed (hopefully with and not AT us) and was very understanding. It was definitely an awkward moment.

--- I'm going skiing tomorrow with Jonah. That is his Christmas gift from us. Sabrina took the girls to Princess Wishes On Ice recently for their gift. I love spending time with Jonah like that and watching him enjoy life. He is in a spiritual inquisitiveness mode lately. He asked how old Jesus would be on Tuesday. How do you explain that really, He always has been, but that he came as a man 2000 years ago? Fully human, fully God! Explain that to a 6 year old. He's been asking a lot of spiritual questions lately. We try and answer them as best we can. He asks questions about heaven and hell a lot. He's very concerned that people actually go to hell. I hope that concern makes him into an effective witnesser for Jesus.

--- Jaydah turned one today. We are celebrating her birthday tonight with some friends who are really more like family to us. Every Sunday night we get together with Grant and Terri Clark, Ben and Jill Roberts, and Jen and Brian Thomas. Being so far from our family the Clarks and Roberts' soon became like family to us in Gillette. Jen and Brian have recently joined the clan and we are glad to have them. We have a blast hanging out together. It's a good way to unwind on a Sunday night.

--- Ok, I need to load the Suburban with the gifts we're delivering. I'm excited to help these families. Anything else I'll add as a rumination addition.

Thanks Elementers for supporting us! You guy's are AWESOME!!

Following Christ,

Jeff

First Element Wedding (and a picture to hold on to)

Tonight we had the privilege of performing the first wedding as Element Church. It was a very simple but honoring ceremony that we performed in the garage at the office. I did 5 weeks of pre-marital counseling with the couple I don't have permission to share their whole story, but God is doing some wonderful things in them and connecting them to Element Church. It's actually a very cool story how they found Element. Grant and Mike (groom) had a mutual friend in Gillette that connected them together. Grant connected with Mike and the rest is history. Since Grant had that connection with him I asked him to help me in the ceremony. I wanted to get Grant some experience doing some stuff like this. He is the connections pastor after all. It was an honor to have Grant stand beside me and join this couple together before God. This is one of the VERY FEW occasions you'll see Grant and I together in suits (no ties tonight). Funny, I used to where a suit every week to church, now it feels weird. I'll let Dan where his suit for me. Below are some pics.

Watching Staff

I love watching our staff interact with people. I love seeing them do what they do best. Wednesday night I had the opportunity to attend a Life Group that Grant leads at his home. There were 29 people there for his Life Groups chili and fellowship night. (Food and fellowship are 2 things that I think are biblical commands for churches). As I sat there and watched Grant interact I realized something about hiring staff. (Even though Grant isn't hired he's the first person I asked on my team) I didn't ask Grant to be a pastor on my staff because he was educated. Grant has had ZERO formal training to be a pastor. NONE! I didn't ask Grant to be a pastor on my staff because of experience. When Grant moved here in March his total number of pastoral hours totaled? ZERO! I didn't ask Grant to be a part of my team because he could wax eloquently. (Grant has preached for me before but I didn't need a preacher). I asked Grant to be a part of my team for the following reasons, and I think they should be some of the reasons anyone hires pastoral staff:

1. Loyalty. I truly believe that Grant would charge a hill with me to the death of needed! And I would do the same for him. When hiring someone loyalty has got to be one of the top qualities to consider in hiring staff. Besides the obvious of being loyal to Christ they also must be loyal to the vision of the church. Grant believes in what we do and invites people to join it.

2. Natural ability. Grant doesn't have to try to be a pastor, he just is one. (Just like Adam doesn't have to try to be a musician or be creative, it just flows from him) When I say pastor I don't mean the leader of the church, I mean loving, shepherding, caring and just being with people. We got in the car Wednesday and said to my wife "Grant is a MUCH better pastor than I am". Being a pastor just happens for Grant. I knew that before he was ever on our staff, that's why I asked him to be our connections pastor. You MUST look for what the person does naturally and give them that role. (Other gifts will accompany staff but typically one thing rises to the top)

3. Fill your weak spots. Don't put people around you that will want to do what you do for the church. Seems like common sense but a lot of people don't do that. They find people with similar strengths and skills and put them on their team. I can lead a song, but I am NOT a worship leader. I can talk to people but I am NOT a people person. I used to (key word USED TO) LOVE working with teens, now, not so much! LOL I asked Grant to be on my team cause he filled a hole in me. Grant, you complete me. Again, LOL!

4. Teachable. Don't hire people who can't submit or be taught. Grant is absolutely teachable under me. Here he is, 10 years my superior yet he always listens to me. He may not always like it, BUT, he always takes it and works on it. Being teachable doesn't mean spineless. Teachable is an attitude. Grant has and is allowed to call me on issues, but he has gained that permission through being teachable and humble.

5. Friend. You're going to spend a lot of time with these people in ministry. Make sure you can be friends. All of our staff I consider friends first, co-workers second, and Grant is the epitome of that. Grant and I were great friends LONG before we were teammates. That is going to be a huge hiring factor for me.

Anyway, most of you could probably care less about all that, but I've been thinking about those things since Wednesday night. I could have wrote the same things about Adam or Curtis as well, but watching Grant brought them to my mind. I love our team!!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Adopt-A-Mom Updtate

As you may know, Element Church adopted four moms through the Life Choice Pregnancy Center here in Cheyenne. These women were counseled by Life Choice and have chosen to give life to, and keep their babies. These are four moms who were in need for Christmas and we wanted to come along side them and give them a holiday they could remember. We received MANY donations of gifts and currently have received $940 to offset some of the costs of providing these moms with their needs and gifts. Elementers, you did a FANTASTIC job. Last night some Elementers got together to wrap gifts and here is are some pictures of that. Click on the slide show to view them in a larger format.



Also, another Life Group has picked up another needy mother and family to provide Christmas for. That makes a total of 6 families that Elementers will be providing Christmas for. GO ELEMENTERS!

Sermon Series and community outreach

For those of you on the "inside" here at Element Insider you're going to get the sneak peak of our upcoming series. We'll be promoting it this Sunday at church. January 6th - 27th we are going to be doing a series called "Deal or No Deal" and talking about finances. In fact the first two sermon series of the new year are going to be topics that are literally drowning our society. Money and sex. Along with our Deal or No Deal series, we are going to be offering a FREE, one day Dave Ramsay financial seminar. Adam just got off the phone with a guy, who along with his Dave Ramsay certified brother, will be doing a full day's seminar on finances. Element Church is going to provide this seminar completely free to those in the community who may need a day like this. The seminar is highlighted on our new mailer going out, as well as our invite cards we got made. We'll also be doing an advertisement in the newspaper leading up to it. We'd like to launch a "Financial Peace University" Life Group following the event if we have enough interest, as well as someone to lead it. Below are the graphics for the invites of the upcoming series. All of our invites are done in a "rave card" size (3.5" x 3.5"). We order them from 48hourprint.com and their custom size options. VERY affordable.

Staff Christmas

Sunday night we had a blast hanging out as a staff. Curtis and Heather (youth ministry) had us over to their house and Curtis cooked a mean steak. (He cooked more than one) We were able to just relax for an evening together. We then had a white elephant gift exchange and played a game that had us all laughing nearly to tears. We also got Curtis and Heather started on watching Lost. One by one our goal of converting the planet to Lost is slowly unfolding.

Adam and I (as paid staff) wanted to be able and honor the other guys/gals who don't get compensation for their staff efforts. We gave both Grant and Curtis cash bonuses (small for what they deserve). Terri is a payed employee but she literally keeps the office going so we got her and heather a day spa treatment. Adam and I also purchased one for our wives as well to join the other ladies on a day out. (We have to watch the kids) Sabrina's birthday was on Sunday (big 30) so the day spa was part of her birthday/Christmas present. The day spa includes a one hour massage, facial, herbal wrap and lunch. Part of the deal for Terri was that she had to take a complete day off to do this and it couldn't be her normal day off. She works many extra hours for Element Church and this was just a small way we could say thank you.

The meal, the gifts, the games, the laughs were only great because of the great people I work with. To think that 6 months ago we didn't know Curtis and Heather existed, now I can't imagine doing this without them. Grant and Terri up and left pretty much all their family had known for YEARS. HUGE risk for them financially and with their family. (Morgan and Nate are amazing young men and should be proud of their parents) Adam and Amber left the only ministry they had known together. The church Adam served in was his home church where he grew up. And here we are, all together, doing our best to hang on to Christ as He leads us on this journey. My wife had to "redo" her nest and replant all her children into a new world. Started a business just to meet people and now helps direct e:kidz.

Grant, Curtis, Heather, Terri, Adam, Amber and Sabrina. You make this thing go round' Thank you so much for being a part of my team. You guys are amazing!

Too old? NEVER!

We have some AMAZING people who come to Element Church and there is a group of them that I want to honor today. Many people might think that the only folks coming to Element are "young" adults or "young" families. First of all "young" has nothing to do with age and everything to do with your heart. We do have our share of young people but we have an AWESOME group of...well, age challenged folks. Like Grant for instance! LOL Just kidding bro! One of our regular attenders (I believe she helped ush recently too) turned 80 two weeks ago. I don't know peoples ages but we have several coming AND serving who are probably in their 60's (or close, lol, I'm gonna be in trouble for this). There is one wonderful lady who just recently started coming (at the beginning of "Believe"), I won't guess her age, but she's someone you may not expect at Element and she welcomed me with a smile and a hug on Sunday and left with a glint of a tear, AND another hug. I LOVE having these people by my side. God's purpose for us doesn't go away when we get older. No matter how old you are, YOU ARE USEFUL AT ELEMENT CHURCH! I pray that those of you who attend Element (or anywhere) and are getting up in your years, I pray that you will dream dreams! I pray you will pursue your passions! I pray that you will NEVER believe the lie that you are too old to be used! I had the wonderful privilege of riding out to the local dump today with just one of those folks from Element. We had an AWESOME discussion in the pickup. I don't know how old they are but I know this. If I have HALF of their passion for Jesus when I'm their age, I'll be doing VERY well. God brought them to Element and they are truly an invaluable part of our team. May I never take for granted these people that God has brought us. For all you age challenged followers of Jesus out there. THANK YOU! You are an inspiration and may God use you in MIGHTY ways for Him!

Rumination Additions for 12-16

--- Offering Sunday was $4257.50. WAY TO GO ELEMENTERS!

--- We also received $810 above that for the adopt a mom outreach we are doing. There is still more money coming in for that and if you'd like to give to that you still can. We purchased the remaining items yesterday for the moms and their families and all the money given will go toward that.

--- Thanks Elementers for stepping up and helping out these moms.

--- One of our Life Groups adopted another needy mom here in town. They provided clothes and gifts for the kids and mom as well as providing a holiday meal.

--- Another Life Group will be serving at the Comea House (homeless shelter) this Saturday evening.

--- Fusion JV and Varisty student ministry went out to Wal-mart this past week and put away shopping carts for the store and for their customers as a random act of kindness. WAY TO GO FUSION!

--- Adam has two blogs up. Bout time! You can check those out here and here.

--- My brother in law who pastors in Warrenton, MO has a great blog on serving. His name is Ryan Akers. Check it out here. It goes along with our Random Acts of Kindness idea for the month. Good job Ryan!

Rumination Additions

HOW COULD I FORGET THIS? Just had a power nap. Maybe it re-engaged my brain. (I'm exhausted today)

We had one person today who indicated the accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. We didn't even do an invitation today, yet someone marked on their card that today they became a follower of Christ. WOW!! Praise the Lord. Anyway, thought I'd add that. Probably think of more stuff later.

Sunday Rumination (12-16-07)

Another great Sunday at Element Church! We have such awesome people that come. Look forward to it every week. Well, we have our staff Christmas party tonight at 5:30 so I wanted to get some rumination in, maybe catch a quick nap, and then head out to the party. I may post some more thoughts tonight so this won't be as long as it normally is. (You're probably glad about that)

--- 214 in attendance today. Good to be over 200 again. That next growth barrier is going to be 250. I believe the breakdown was 77 in the first service and 137 in the second. We took the pipe and drape down in between the two services to make room for #2. We're going to need people to start attending the 9 AM service or we'll outgrow the 10:30. By the way, that would be a GREAT problem to have. I hope everyone knows that we post #'s whether they are "good" or "bad". We obviously want to see more and more people come, not so we can break a certain barrier, but so that more people can connect with Life in Christ! #'s are ok. God cares about who is in church, and so do we! We will, and HAVE, put 100% of our energy into church regardless of how many people come.

--- Offering will be posted tomorrow. I do know we got about $1000 of offering through the mail this week, so that's a good sign. The offering will be tallied tomorrow by the tellers. I'll post that then.

--- 10:30 sermon flowed great for me. Our first week at two services I felt like the 10:30 was a dud. Last week they literally felt exactly the same. This week, I didn't feel bad about either but I just loved the way it felt in 10:30. I felt much more connected to the word in 10:30. It's impossible for me not to compare how each service feels.

--- Adam and the band did what had to be the best version of O Come Let Us Adore Him that I've ever heard. They rocked it out man. What a blessing we have in the leaders and volunteers that serve at Element Church.

--- If you don't currently serve at Element, I encourage you to do so. I get paid for what I do, but I truly believe that if I weren't a pastor, I would love serving at church. I just love what the local church does. It is the hope of the world. For some reason, God chooses to leave HIS most important message and tasks to a group of people called "The Church". Why wouldn't we want to be a part of that? There are lots of areas to get plugged in at Element, and we'd love to help you do that.

--- I serve with the greatest staff in the world. I get to hang out with them tonight at our Christmas party and hopefully show them how grateful I am to serve with them. I know there will be a time when we start adding to the team, but I can't imagine serving with anyone better than the guys I serve with now. Grant, Adam, Curtis, Heather and Terri, you guys are incredible.

--- That's it for now. Check Adams blog later for the set list. We had a great worship set today and the band, as usual, ROCKED!

I'll post some more thoughts later. Maybe I'll do a weekend wrapup. Don't forget, if you want to get anything for the adopt a moms we're supporting please do so soon! I love being your pastor.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Devotions...

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart."

Psalm 78 is an amazing Scripture on remembering God's provision. It says several times of the Israelites "They did not remember..." "They did not remember..." "They turned their back..." All the ways that God had provided for them.

Psalm 90:17 says "And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful."

Excerpts from Oswald Chambers devotional for Dec. 13th.:

--- Don't pray for the lost to find a way, pray that they will find God. Don't pray for those in pain to find relief, pray they will find God. This is called intercession.

--- When we pray on the ground of Redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.

--- Don't pray for whatever they are going through. Pray for their strength. Pray for their patience. Pray that they'll know God.

Don't we often pray for our "troubles" to end? Sometimes I think God allows us to go through troubles so we'll find Him IN them. It's when the wind and the waves rise that we most need to see Jesus and be with Him. Sometimes, it's not God's desire to make the storm stop, but for us to find Him in the storm. Perfect for my sermon this weekend.

God's Provision

God is good. MAN, is He good. We are in need of a copier here at work and have been in the process of getting one. We actually approved a lease for a nice color copier, got it installed and started using it. Soon, we realized this copier was just WAY more than what was needed for our office use at this point , and at the price (good price for the copier, bad for what we needed) we just couldn't keep it. So we returned it with no problem. (Thanks to our friends at Rocky Mountain Business Solutions who were so generous in helping us with that)

Well, if you follow this blog at all you've read about our recent budget work. If you'd like you can read about that here and here. Well, as I said, the budget is almost done. Although in reviewing it I had overlooked ANY money for a copier. Really, at this point, a lease is about the only way to go. We already had a meeting scheduled with an Elementer who works in the copy industry. I knew this would be a fairly hefty budget addition once we decided what copier to go with that they would suggest. I was prepared to re-allocate some funds in order for us to get one.

Today they came in to give us their proposal. They handed us a pamphlet of info on the copier they suggested that would work for our size of use. With the pamphlet was the lease proposal. It listed all the service it includes, toner, etc. At the bottom under the lease price per month, in red letters was "RAK". Then these words were written. "Random Acts of Kindness. One never knows when they might return." They are basically DONATING the use of this copier to us. I was blown away. I have had such a peace about this budget thing the last two days. I didn't have that when I started it, but I felt God just saying "Trust Me!". Then this happens. Even though it's just a copier, it's just another way that God says "I have it all under control."

I don't have permission to share who did this for us, but THANK YOU! And I hope we will take your act of kindness and bless someone else as well. If we'll just rest and trust in God, He takes care of all the details.

I didn't overlook a copier in the budget, God already had it taken care of.

UNBELIEVABLE!!

Grant blogged! Here it is. And it's good too (it always is, so that isn't unbelievable).

Budget almost done...

On one hand I HATE budgets. Not HAVING them but MAKING them. Today, outside of our creative session and one counseling session I spent the entire day trying to finish the budget. It is pretty much done and I love the way we are doing our budget. I received some tips from some other church planters and it has really simplified the process of doing the budget.

Now, on the other hand I LOVE this budget. Why? Because starting this new year we are going to be completely on our own financially as a young church. What a scary thought, but what an invigorating one as well. We are 2 months and 2 weeks old, we had 240 people at church last week, we've seen 34 people acknowledge that they asked Jesus into their heart to be Savior AND we are looking at being self sufficient at 4 months old. The goals we are talking about and setting are lofty BUT doable with God.

We are praying for God to continue to bring us people to connect with the Life in Christ. That's what we're about. We didn't go overboard on our budget by any means, but we didn't hold back either. We sat down and piece by piece said "What would we like to see here?" We came out in the end "inches" from where we needed to be. So a few adjustments here and there and we're almost done.

Doing the budget this week has been so time consuming but it's been necessary. We needed to get it done to have an idea of where we're going to be on our own.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Full Day...

Offering this week was $2200 or roughly that. I left the exact # on my office desk and can't remember but it was close to that. lol

Adam and I met for our weekly Monday morning PP time. Planning and Prayer. We've reduced that and called it pp. Each Monday morning at 9 am we meet to start the week with prayer. If any prayer requests are given on the connection cards we specifically pray for them. We also pray for the week, Element Church and the great people God has sent us. We struggled early on to give proper time for prayer so we literally made it a calendared event on Monday mornings. We've made it an appointment that we won't miss. We feel it's that important. We typically spend a good amount of time talking about the previous day. What needs to change for the next week. We evaluate how the day went, if we missed anything, etc. We're just getting to the place now where we are getting comfortable with how the Sundays go (based on how we did personally) and don't have to tweak as much stuff. We then spend a good amount of time talking about the upcoming Sunday and what needs to be done.

In staff meeting today we debriefed The Tour and were REALLY critiquing how we can make it better. For our first Tour yesterday it ended up being really good. There are definitely some things that we feel we can do better to make it a more pleasant experience for all. Some things that we didn't like happened outside our control. Others we felt we could just do better. Our first group at The Tour was GREAT! They were MORE than patient and were very responsive and appreciative. Thanks to all who came and made it a great event.

THEN we took on the challenge (as a reaction to the Colorado shootings) to develop and evacuation plan for our e:kidz area were something horrible to happen at Element Church, as it did at New Life and YWAM. We understand that we cannot control everything but we recognized that we didn't have ANY plan in place so we developed that. We are also going to take some measures to try and insure some more security to our morning. It's sad we have to devote 45 minutes of our staff meeting to talking about that, but we feel it's necessary. Our prayers go out to those involved in the shootings.

Finally, for the remainder of the day, Adam and I worked on budget stuff. We have been blessed to be supported in part by High Plains Church, in Gillette, and by our Denomination. That funding will end come February 1st which means we will be a self-sufficient church plant. SO, we spent the final three hours of hour day hashing out budget stuff. I HATE IT! I hate budgets but I know they are necessary. They are scary, challenging, convicting and down right ANNOYING. We trust that God is going to provide EVERYTHING we need to exist as a full and thriving church. These are just some of the details that are not the most enjoyable part of the process.

That was our day in a GIANT nut shell. Monday is MEETING day at Element Church.

Rumination Additions

Just wanted to add a few things to the Sunday Rumination.

--- Attendance adjusted to 240. We had one family come in after attendance was taken. They only got about half the service so maybe we should count them as 2 1/2 instead of 5. JUST KIDDING!

--- Offering will be counted today, update that later.

--- We had 6 first time guests fill out connection cards yesterday and 4 return guests. One of our prayers since we started Unplugged on June 10th is that each week we would see new people come to Element Church. As of this week, God has saw fit to bring us at least one new face each week we've met. PRAISE THE LORD!

--- Well, off to our Monday morning planning session with Adam as we make lists and to dos for the week and weeks to come. Staff meeting today at 11:30. Got lots to talk about. Have a great week guys!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Sunday Night (afternoon) Rumination: 12-9-07

WOW! What a day. (This is going to be a weird reference so be forewarned) I've never done drugs but I know what it's look to be high and then crash. Sundays are like that. Sundays are exhilarating and exhausting all in one. I absolutely love Sunday mornings. The day starts early for me (4 AM) and by the time I get home, email the first time guests, chill with family and/or friends I am just crashed. The morning is a high. I love seeing people come in those doors, worship, listen, fellowship. Nothing like it man! I thought I'd write while I'm watching football cause after 7 PM on Sundays I'm pretty much useless.

--- RECORD ATTENDANCE TODAY! I believe Grant said 235. If not it was 234. Needless to say it was a GREAT turnout! I believe we had 90 in the first service and 145 in the 2nd. I'll correct that if I'm wrong. Grant takes out the duplicate attenders as well (volunteers who attend both services).

It was a very confirming day for me today. Questions were answered like "Did we make the right move in 2 services?" "Did we do it too soon?" Today confirmed that we needed to do it. That it was the right decision. We couldn't have had a service for 235 people before. Having two services enables that. What's next? Only God knows. I see big things I'll tell you that! God's not done.

--- Offering isn't counted until Mondays now so I'll report that tomorrow!

--- The big question for our Christmas series is "Why did Jesus come?" The big idea today was "He came to increase our faith." We looked in John 4, the story of the Officials son that Jesus healed. Talked about the progress of faith in that story and how Jesus does the same with us. We had 15 -20 people raise their hands saying they've trusted in Jesus for "saving" faith but there are areas of their lives in which they need to "believe" in Jesus. Need to increase their faith. It was a great response and a message that spoke to and challenged me as well. Those are the good ones.

--- No first time decisions today but I just felt like the sermon connected with some people who were already followers of Christ in a good way. Got lots of comments from people that they were challenged. Lots of "Thank yous" for what was said.

--- I referred to a story in Mark 9 today about a dad who came to Jesus for his son to be healed. You can read it here if you want. The dad asks Jesus "If you can, would you heal my son?" Jesus says "If I CAN? Anything is possible if you just believe." The dads response "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." Seemed like that story connected with some people. I admitted in my own life that I find myself like that sometimes. "I DO believe, help me overcome my areas of unbelief." There are times I so desperately want to believe God FOR something or IN something and I feel like that dad. "I DO believe, but I'm struggling in this area." Jesus wants to help us overcome our unbelief. That's why He came!

--- Adam pulled me aside before we started and prayed over me. Really felt that helped. He just felt led to do that. I reported last week how I felt about the 2nd service sermon. This week I felt like it flowed very well in both and the connection to the people seemed MUCH better for me. Thanks Adam!

--- Set up was frustrating today. Some people didn't come that we "assumed" would be there. I ran sound today for one service which is a strain. I had to set my mic, get down to the platform and run back up to the sound board. Keenan stepped in for first service and did a great job! Thanks Keenan! We got it all up, we were about 15-20 minutes behind schedule. Just one or two people not there really backs us up. We had a good crew stay after to help tear down. If you are an Elementer and are looking for a place to plug in and serve in a way that would REALLY help us. Be a part of the set up crew. The guys and gals that come now do a BANG UP job but they need some help!

--- The "spirit" of worship was at an all time high in 2nd service today. Not sure what it was but it just seemed to connect at a different level. The band, once again, did an outstanding job. Added a new vocalist to the band today. (Thanks Lee!) Lee also brought me REAL White Castles home from Chicago after Thanksgiving. GO LEE!

--- Did I mention I love this?!

--- Held The Tour today (our first one). The Tour is our newcomers luncheon. We had 30 - 40 people come for lunch and some Element vision casting. For our first one, excluding a few early hiccups, I thought it went great. Thanks to those of you who came as our guinea pigs. We shared some of our history of Element Church. Introduced all the staff. Shared about e:kidz and Fusion ministries. Grant and Adam both shared from their hearts about their specific ministries. I then talked about some key things all Elementers should know. About our essential ministries (Worship Experience, Life Groups, and Outreach). About our Vision: That God would so impact the Cheyenne area through Element Church that if it were gone the community would miss it. And shared some stuff on my heart. I really felt like it went well. You'll have to ask one of the attenders their opinion.

--- All Elementers don't forget the moms we are adopting. Please join us in making this a special Christmas for them. They are registered at Wal-Mart and Target under First Name (Element) and Last Name (Church). We also have some non-registered items that you can get a list of at the e:connect table.

--- If you get a chance to go to a movie at the Carmike, please tell any of the workers that you are from Element Church and say "Thank you!" They bend over backwards for us. We could not do what we do or have done what we've done without them. We are going to honor all the employees with a good Christmas gift.

Thanks to all who follow! Elementers, you are AMAZING! Keep coming and invite someone with you. I love serving with and for you.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Did you shovel?

It snowed today which meant for all you Elementers you had your first chance to shovel, not only YOUR driveway, but your neighbors. That was the challenge at least.

This morning I took Jonah outside and we began shoveling. I started with our neighbors sidewalk and driveway. It was very nice to tell Jonah "We're doing this just to be kind to our neighbor." Our neighbor was not home and has no idea we shoveled. Later in the day I went out front and Jonah, all by himself, was over there doing his best to shovel off the new dusting of snow that had fell. Loved seeing that. I want to raise children who WANT to serve and give.

As we were shoveling this thought/question entered my heart and mind again. Is being out here with Jonah about him really helping remove snow? NO! He doesn't accomplish much snow removal. I have to go back and shovel over his rough spots. What's it about then? It's about BEING WITH ME, and me being with Him. We need to remember that when God asks us to do something. It's more about BEING with Him than us HELPING Him. When Jonah is out there it's about him learning, bonding, loving. It's not about snow removal. When I'm "out" with God, it's about learning, bonding, loving. That is the MAIN GOAL anyway. At least how I see it.

Devotional thoughts...

I am in Psalms right now, which just blows me away every time I get to it in my reading. A few years ago I became a systematic Bible reader. What do I mean by that? I read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and then start over again. I am big on journaling so I have kept journals of devo thoughts since I started doing that. I've loved going back to read some of the things that God taught me. I love reading the Bible that way as well because it keeps me reading things that I may not choose to read (ie. Leviticus). I haven't always been real big on devotional books. One reason why is because I think people have replaced the Bible with devotional books and that I think is a HUGE mistake. With that said, I think devotional books WITH the Bible can be a very great tool. As you may or may not know I've been reading out of Oswald Chambers "My Utmost..." this year. I have loved it.

Here is another thought from Oz from Dec. 6th, and it goes along with this Sundays message: "...As long as we keep demanding, we can't enjoy His generosity. To say 'I'm not making a commitment until I see what I'm getting' shows a lack of understanding..." "...Waiting for God is incarnate unbelief, it means that I have not faith in Him; I wait for Him to do something in me that I may trust in that." "...I do not believe God unless He will give me something in my hand whereby I may know I have it, then I say --- 'Now I believe.' There is no faith there."

Seeing is NOT believing. Faith comes in things we can't see, and in things we do not yet have. Belief that God CAN, not that he does!

Feelings about preaching

I love to preach. I love studying for a sermon. I love writing them. I love delivering them. What I don't love is when I walk out and feel like I gave a dud. That happened this past Sunday. I felt that the 9 AM sermon was FAR AND AWAY better than 10:30. Thankfully I was told by some people that they actually liked the 10:30 better. It may have been just that I need to get used to preaching twice. The first one feels fresh to me, #2 feels repetitive. I don't know. All I know is I felt really down about how I delivered the 2nd service.

After my daily Bible reading this past year, I've been reading one day out of the Oswald Chambers devotional. What I read for Monday, Dec. 3rd could not have been more timely. Listen to this: "Never rely on the clearness of your exposition, but as you give your exposition see that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God's redemptive power, and He will create His own life in souls." I needed to hear that. Also this: "If in preaching the Gospel you substitute your clear knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the Gospel, you hinder people getting to Reality."

And then to think that God knew I would need to read that on Monday, Dec. 3rd of 2007 so he led me to read the devotional this year. Crazy! So cool how God will work little things out in our lives to reveal himself to us.

Random Acts Of Kindness Idea

We started something this month that we will continue each month, and it's called "The Random Acts Of Kindness Idea For The Month". Serving is a key part of what we want to do at Element Church but I believe sometimes we wait for the next church sponsored community outreach or missions project to do something. What if we just started serving our neighbors as part of our lives? So we want to give monthly practical ideas to try and get us in the habit of serving. This months idea is to shovel your neighbors driveway and/or sidewalk. Just make sure it snows first.

We showed this video to promote our first idea. We chose the windiest day of the week to film, and as you'll see, it effected the video juuuuuust a tad.

Sunday Rumination Additions

--- We had 8 first time guests today that filled out connection cards. I email all first time guests on Sunday afternoon to thank them for coming and two of them have already replied and said they will be back this week.

--- Of those 8 first time guests, 5 came because of our recent mailer, 3 came from our ad in the newspaper and 1 came from a personal invite from my wife. (I have to admit, if she invited me to church I'd go to both services)

--- I didn't help with sound today for the first time since we started. Pat did an awesome job filling in and he actually knows what he's doing. It was so nice to walk down to e:kidz and see how they were doing. To sit down and listen to practice. To pray and meditate on my sermon before we started. Adam is building a great team.

--- Grants first impressions team, I think, would rival just about any team around. they create such a welcoming environment. I have some ideas in first impressions that I'd love to incorporate. We'll see.

Ok, wanted to add those things. I took a nap so I can think a lot more clearly. DON'T FORGET TO GET STUFF FOR THOSE MOMS! I'm counting on you Elementers! You are th greatest.

Jeff

Sunday Night Rumination (12-2-07)

TWO SERVICES HAS BEGUN! Today went great. It was a great start to our newest venture at Element Church with the beginning of our two services. We had been pushing the 210 barrier for three consecutive weeks (maxed out theater) and really felt that to maximize our opportunity to reach more people we needed to multiply into two services. We hit that over 200 mark three consecutive weeks then we went to 155 and 162. Not sure if that is just the natural ebb and flow of a new church, a result of the Holidays or the fact that we had reached capacity. I really did feel that some people when we were running at 200 seemed uncomfortable with some of the space issues. Anyway, we felt that God was leading us to make the decision and we did it. I'm glad. Here are some thoughts on the day.

--- I got a GREAT nap in today. Sabrina went to Denver to visit a friend in the hospital so I had the kiddos all day. We all layed down and got some good rest. I haven't taken a Sunday nap in weeks. My mind is typically RACING from the day. I was unusually tired. There was a reason for my being tired today.

--- I WAS UP ROOTING FOR MY SOONERS WHO WON THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP!! Boomer Sooner! Now they are off to the Fiesta Bowl on January 2nd. I typically get into bed by 8 PM on Saturdays. Last night I was up till eleven and then up at 4 am this morning. Short night. I protect my Saturday nights pretty tightly because I want to be fresh and rested for Sunday morning.

--- 190 in church today. 80 first service. 110 2nd service. That is taking out the people who attended both services. Grant did a good job of keeping track of the double attenders and taking them out of the total attendance.

--- I'll have offering total tomorrow. Not sure what it was. We took the offering at the end of the service today and I loved it. Adam and I have been trying every which way to do the offering and I think this is going to stick. We'll see. The great thing about a church plant is you can try something and if you don't like it you don't do it again or change it.

--- 10 people. TEN! Raised their hands today, acknowledging they prayed to receive Jesus Christ into their hearts as Savior! WOW! We are really battling how to connect with those people deeper. Get them some discipleship info into their hands and plugged into a Life Group. That brings our nine week church salvation total to 34. Now I know some people will question that. Ask if all of them still come. Where are they at in their walk. My response "I don't know" (on some of them). I know this, regardless of what they did with their decision, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to remind them of that moment. Their journey started that day and we will pray that the journey will continue IN CHRIST!

--- Two services meant an earlier set up, PLUS, we added some set design stuff for this Christmas series. Let me tell you. OUR VOLUNTEERS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD. We had an UNBELIEVABLE set up team today. It was like an army of ants man. Everyone moving swiftly, doing their job, getting it done. The team arrived at 6:30 AM and started working. Adam said in his blog that we got done in 50 minutes. Not bad at all. To all you who volunteer, YOU GUYS ROCK! It's actually a lot of fun. I love Sunday mornings. LOVE IT! We plugged in several new volunteers and teams today, just did an awesome job!

--- I hope we got pictures of the e:connect table. Nick and Rita did a fabulous job decorating it for Christmas. Those guys are awesome!

--- I seriously wish I could go to every door of our volunteers and say "Thank You!" You guy's make this so easy for us. We have such a wonderful group of people who serve. We need to count up how many volunteers we had today doing church. AMAZING!

--- We added a little manger scene, an 8 foot light sign again that said "Believe" and "King" on the same board. It was pretty cool. We also added some star machines that put a planetarium type feel to the front wall. We won't always do set design, but for this special series we thought we would. I think it looked great. We also added a stage piece this week.

--- Two services is going to take some getting used to. It was kind of funny. I'm so used to going out and standing to greet people, then rushing in to tear down e:worship. Today after 9 AM service I was like "Holy cow we have to do this again!" It's only a half hour difference in the day so that isn't as big of a deal. Just getting used to doing back to back services.

--- We used pipe and drape to shrink the theater up a bit. We draped off the back two rows so it moved everyone up a bit. MAN, I'm glad we did that cause it helped fill the room up a bit from being used to a packed house. We may have to take it down pretty quick for 10:30 service but for the 9 AM it really made a difference.

--- I felt my 2nd service message lagged FAR behind first service. Maybe I'm just not used to preaching twice yet but I just felt that 9 am was more fresh and real. 10:30 I didn't feel like I connected well. We had good comments on the message and service so it could be just a total feeling on my part. I felt worship was better 2nd service. Not the quality just the energy. There is something about people filling a room that creates energy for worship.

--- Adam has the worship set up on his Sunday Afterthoughts. Grant hasn't submitted to my authority and started a Sunday night blog yet. "GET ON THAT GRANT!"

--- Elementers, PLEASE don't forget about picking up some of the needs for these four moms. We want to make sure and provide for them this Christmas. I think it is a great thing that we are doing to help these moms out. Don't miss the opportunity to provide for someone. Even if it's one package of diapers, or one can of formula, every little bit helps.

--- We started something new today that will be a monthly deal. It's called "The random act of kindness idea for the month" We made a little video to promote it. The video turned out HORRIBLE because of the wind, but it made it funny. You'll need to watch it when we post our service. This months idea is, when it snows to shovel your neighbors driveway or sidewalk. We want servant hood to reach into our neighborhoods and be a part of our life, not just a church sponsored activity. So, there is your idea and challenge. Now lets hope it snows.

Alright, I've typed enough. I'm already excited for this week. I love what I do! Thanks Elementers and everyone else for following along. We'll see you Sunday.

Simple Church and Missions Philosophy

We have taken on some different church philosophies around Element Church. We have done this intentionally. As a new church with limited resources (money, people, time) we want to do our best to maximize our impact to the city of Cheyenne. Really all churches should have impact in mind when determining what and how they do things. So, here is my take of simple church and my missions philosophy.

Simple Church: We have chosen to pursue three main programs at Element Church. The Worship Experience, Life Groups, and Servant Evangelism (missions, outreach). Now there are a few exceptions of things that we do which revolves around these three things. For example: We have First Friday (prayer night for ministry of Element Church and the Cheyenne area on the first Friday of each month), The Tour (our connecting point for first time guests once a month), etc. Pretty much other than our three essentials we are going to say "NO" to everything else! There are lots of great ministries that we will probably never do because we don't feel that's what God has us here for. For instance: I don't know if we'll ever do MOPS program. Why? There are several churches doing great jobs with them already. Why don't we support THEM in what they are doing. VBS: What if we volunteered our services to another churches VBS instead of adding another one to the PLETHORA already happening. It amazes me how many VBS' the same week were doing the same curriculum. Nothing wrong with doing those ministries, and it doesn't mean we NEVER will, we just are choosing to focus on three main ministries. This allows our time, energy, and finances to be focused in three areas. It hopefully will help us maximize our impact.

Missions: In Acts 1 Jesus tells his disciples "...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the world." Now, I'm not saying this is Jesus' missionary strategy but it is ours. We want to be good missionaries to Cheyenne (Jerusalem) first before we ever take our message and serving around the globe. I've said several times that if we aren't good missionaries to our city FIRST we'll never be good ones to another country. Our first calling is Cheyenne. That's why we will put money and effort into organizations such as Life Choice Pregnancy Center, Needs Inc., and into serving the City of Cheyenne. Notice the scope of what Jesus said. Jerusalem (home city), Judea (area or state), Samaria (region, country), ends of earth. If each of us would work from that circle the ends of the earth will be reached. For far too long I think we've placed our major missionary efforts on overseas missions while the whole time the spiritual health of our countries, states and towns were fast deteriorating. SO, we as Element Church are going to pour efforts, finances and time here in Cheyenne. Please don't tell me I'm not concerned about overseas works. My wife and I financially support missionaries in Brazil each month. WE WILL NOT NEGLECT OUR CITY. PERIOD! That is our missions strategy.

Our goal is to do one major outreach/service/serving project once a quarter to our city. We will fill in monthly things and things as they arise as well to serve Cheyenne.

There it is. Simple church and missions strategy. You maybe didn't even want to know, but now you do. HA!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Christmas Outreach and outreach thoughts

Hey Elementers! Don't forget to go to Wal-Mart or Target and start supporting the moms and their families that we are providing Christmas for. Reagan has done a phenomenal job of setting all of this up. We have found needs, wants and desires for these moms. All four moms are soon to have, or recently had children in which they chose LIFE for those Children. We found the moms by partnering with and working through LifeChoice Pregnancy Center. Check out their web-site and see what they do. They are an awesome organization. Element was one of a few churches who sponsored tables at their recent fundraising banquet in October.

We are not supporting these ladies to get them to Element, or even to get them to Christ. We ARE doing this to BE Christ to them. To be the hands and feet of Jesus. That's all. Would we welcome them at Element? YES! Do we want them to receive Christ? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! Simply put, this is part of going to our Jerusalem. Being missionaries to our city. I'll be posting tomorrow on my missions philosophy.

This outreach may not be a gas-buydown in which hundreds of people are served and the news airs it and the city reads about it, but that doesn't make it any less outreach. We are meeting a practical need for some moms who are IN need. Sometimes our serving the city will be a big project. Other times it will be smaller. EVERY TIME it will help bring life to individuals and to our city.

Starting in January we are going to be on the ground floor of a new program to help keep the food pantry stocked at "Needs Inc." here in Cheyenne. Needs is a community non-profit serving the needy of Cheyenne. I'm not sure I'm at liberty to share details but I will when I can. We are the first church in on this program and it will be a HUGE service to this community group and to the needy of Cheyenne. NEEDS also knows they can include us in any service needs they may have.

We are continuing to develop our relationship with the City of Cheyenne. We have asked to be involved in the Easter Egg hunt again this year and even added an idea of our own, that if pulled off, would seriously be the BIGGEST Easter egg hunt this city has every seen. (Not sure the city is on board with the idea...we'll see) We have offered our service to the city, not only at events, but to clean parks, clear brush, paint over any vandalism (graffiti), etc. We want to serve... just to serve.

Anyway, I don't want to just give from our church during the Holidays, but all year long! We are starting our ability to do that. We are 8 weeks old and we have provided inflatable games for the city Easter Egg Hunt (snowed out), held one gas buy down (2 hours, 200 vehicles), provided free inflatable games at the city SuperDay, held anther gas buy down (4 hours, over 400 vehicles), provided prizes to the city Goblinwalk, Sponsored three tables at the Life Choice fundraiser, adopted 4 moms and families to provide for Christmas, and starting in January, this new NEEDS Inc. food pantry deal. I'd say we are building this into our DNA. Wouldn't want it any other way. And we're not done yet. Still developing other ideas and always open to knew opportunities to serve.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Excited, scared and pumped!

Just got back from our first official meeting with the set up/tear down team as well as the tech and praise team. All those areas are involved in the set up and tear down portions of Sunday morning. I've been handling all the set up of the sound system and computer stuff so am so excited that we have a guy that may be able to step in and fill some sound tech issues. Curtis has been running sound during the service, with really no prior experience. I have been managing all of the set up of sound and then setting monitoring it all during praise team practice. With all the other pressures of Sunday morning, I am excited to be able to train someone else how I do that so they can begin serving there. Adam did a great job setting up the meeting and leading tonight. We are moving set up to 6:30 AM on Sundays. We've got set up pretty much down to an art. We don't do a set design for every series but we definitely are for Christmas so there will be a few things added this week that aren't normal.

I am very nervous (scared is more accurate) about two services. Just being honest. This week has felt like a launch week. We did a 10,000 piece mailer to the community for our "Believe" series in which we're launching the 2 services. We also put a large full color ad in the newspaper on three days this week for the "Believe" series. There feels to me more variables in this launch than there were in the beginning. Oct. 7th launch feelings were who will show up? Now they are "I hope they don't all show up for 2nd service." Oct. 7th "Will we get everything set up?" Now "Will we get out before people watch us as the pre-movie entertainment." or "Will we get out before Enchanted begins playing on the screen."

I am pumped about our new opportunity. Even though my nerves rise, they are nerves because I know the gravity of what we do. We hold THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE known to man and I don't want to screw that up. We want to create the most ideal experience for someone to meet Christ or grow closer to Him. We want to allow ourselves to get more people to that experience so two services is what we are doing. I have said a lot recently "I don't know how to prove God to you. I can only hope to bring you to a place where you and God might meet." That's what we do.

I am nervous every time I preach. Why? Because I don't trust God. NO! But the thought that God trusts ME with HIS message floors me. I don't want to screw it up. It is of utmost importance to me to present the Gospel clearly. To be intentional, relevant and practical so that I can be effective.

I told you I had some blogging in me. I can't wait for Sunday. Nervous? YES! Scared? Out of my mind! (Ok, maybe not that bad) But I trust completely that God, once again, will see us through. The comforting thing is that REGARDLESS of how I feel, God is in control. God will rule the day. God will bring the harvest.

Ok, I gotta stop. Elementers, I'll see you Sunday!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Under The Weather

I don't think I have ever had a migrane headache in my life. The headache I've had the entire day today would probably be the closest. Thank fully (praise the Lord) I actually got a lot done today despite my pounding neck and headache (which I still have). I am pumped about this weeks message. I am pumped about our Believe series. The five passages of Scripture we're looking at in John are REALLY good. This weeks there is just some great historical and cultural backgrounds that really make the passage come alive. Anyway, I really have some blogging in me but my head just can't take it. If you would, please say a prayer for me. Tomorrow is a HUGE day in the office for both Adam and I as we approach 2 services. Love all you guys.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Holy Spirit

Thought this was great.

Yesterday, Jonah asked Sabrina who the Holy Spirit was. That question is hard enough to explain to an adult who doesn't have much "spiritual" knowledge, let alone a 6 year old. I love that the inquisitiveness of kids.

Sabrina attempted to give her best explanation in 6 year old terms and thought she had a good way to convey this great doctrinal truth. She said "Well, the Holy Spirit is God's voice when he talks to us. When you're about to do something naughty don't you hear a little voice inside tell you not to?"

Jonah, as serious as could be said "NO, I just hear yours!"

Following Christ,

Jeff

Encouraging Word

God is just so cool! Grant and I had a discussion with an individual here in town over Thanksgiving that was very frustrating. I won't get into the details but it just felt like it was very negative toward our city and toward ministry in our city (even though they were involved in ministry). Nuff said.

Our life group lesson in James 3 tonight was on the power of the tongue. How it is a small thing but able to start "fires" just like a small spark. In fact James says the tongue is set on fire by hell itself. WOW! Strong warning about the words we use. We had some great discussion in the group about the use of the tongue, and James 3 just has some great word pictures.

(Side Note: One of the coolest things about Life Groups to me is hearing other peoples perspective on the Scripture and on life. We're in this thing together. We need to learn from each other)

Anyway, I got an email today that was just what the doctor ordered. We had a guest in church Sunday. He's a local pastor here in town. Had no idea he was there but he had some very encouraging words that he put on his blog today and I wanted to share them with you. His name is Brian and he is the equipping pastor at Cheyenne Evangelical Free Church. Here is the link or I'll paste the text below.

"Yesterday, I was able to do something that comes about only four times per year. I was able to visit another church. I took yesterday off, but was back in town from our vacation in the mountains. So my wife and I decided to attend another church here in Cheyenne. It was the first time that we have actually been able to attend a different church in Cheyenne (except when I occasionally speak at other area churches).

Jenny and I attended a new church plant in Cheyenne called the Element Church. It meets on Sunday mornings in the movie theater at the mall.

It is good to be the visitor sometimes. You realize that visitors do not know exactly where to go or what to expect. You realize that they need some sort of direction. I'm happy to say that the Element Church's greeters where really friendly and steered us in the right direction and one lady even showed us exactly where we needed to drop off the kids and where things were. It really helped to put us at ease.

As for the service, the Element Church is only a couple of months old, so we did not know quite what to expect with them being in their infancy. After the first worship song and video introducing their next series, it was obvious that their infancy was nothing to worry about. For a brand new church, they had it together and did things very well. I was impressed. They are putting much energy and thought behind this church plant mixed with some creative thinking and problem solving.

However, the thing that I liked most about this church was their emphasis of putting an extremely high value on serving the community of Cheyenne. They are not about being content within four walls of a church (yes, a church could get internally focused even if they are meeting in a movie theater), they want to impact and serve the city. They want this city to be a better place and bring hope to those who are hurting. This is something that we are focusing on more and more as a congregation and it's exciting to see another church that has a heart for the community rather than just existing for itself.

I'm glad for this. I support this. I am thankful that the Element Church is a new addition to our community. You could call me a fan of this new church plant. This may sound weird coming from a pastor at a different church but it shouldn't. It should not be weird because we are all a part of the same Kingdom. We are all a part of the Church. We are on the same team. Thus, we need to celebrate when another church is doing something well and bringing glory to God.

Thanks, Element. I trust God will continue to bless your efforts!

Brian"

Thank you Brian! You don't know how much it means for us to have the support of other pastors in town. Very encouraging words! May God bless you for that!

Dudes, we are all about JESUS! We believe that JESUS is the only way for us to receive Life and to enter heaven. We believe JESUS is the only thing (element) that can make us into who we are intended to be. We believe JESUS through HIS local church is the HOPE OF THE WORLD. Folks, that should light a fire in our belly that cannot be quenched.

Will we all agree on strategy, mission, vision or even doctrine? NO! But if we can reach people with JESUS we can change the world! MAN that gets me going.

Sunday Night Rumination (11-25-07) Post #200

Well, I typically try and blog about once a day just to keep things fresh (hint hint Grant) but I decided this week to take a blogging break. No reason really, just thought with the long Thanksgiving weekend I'd take a break. NOW I'M READY TO ROCK AND ROLL!

Another great service today. I think it was THE HARDEST message, in fact this series contained the two hardest messages I may have ever preached. They just felt so real and personal to me. God was REALLY working on ME through these messages. It took some vulnerability and honesty to preach on being grateful and generous. Today's message just felt very heavy at times to me. The tension felt thick in the room, although some mentioned it didn't feel tense to them. Maybe it was just my struggle with the message. Anyway, we had a lot of great response and many people said how good it was for them to hear.

A couple of bullet points. The big question today was "What does a generous life look like?' "Generosity has nothing to do with how much is given but how much it costs the giver." "The key to generosity is to begin to see people as Jesus sees them. When I see people as Jesus sees them it breeds generosity because I want to give myself away." "Generosity reveals itself in more than just money. A generous life is willing to give of its time, talent and treasure."

--- Attendance today was 162. That was higher than I expected for the holiday weekend so that was cool. Actually up a bit from last week. Since launch we have been over 200 three times and only under 150 once. The next step for us is huge. How do we bust that 250 barrier. Going to 2 services will help enable us to do that.

--- Offering today was $2258.50. Giving has been very good as well. For a brand new church I feel we have had wonderful attendance and giving.

--- We announced our Christmas outreach today. I think this is going to be so much fun. We have adopted 4 moms (and their families) through LifeChoice Pregnancy Center. LifeChoice works with moms who are struggling with their "birth" choices. These 4 moms we are adopting have chosen life for their children yet need some help, especially through this Christmas season, financially. SO, we are going all out for these moms. Reagan (young lady in church) kind of spearheaded the whole thing and called each mom and asked questions for needs that I never would have thought of. From cribs, to car oil changes, to one months rent, we want to spoil these mothers with GENEROSITY from Elementers of all ages. Reagan has registered for the items in which we are allowed at Target and Wal-Mart. They are registered under (first name) Element (last name) Church. We will have a list of un-registered items at church on Sunday, and I'll post it on our blog and web-site as well.

I would love to do this for more than four families, and if the response is big enough then perhaps we can do more. Elementers, it's time to step it up. Lets shower these moms with Gods love in a practical way. One thing I want to be made REAL clear. I DON'T CARE IF THESE LADIES EVER COME TO ELEMENT CHURCH!!! That is not the goal. The goal is to be generous. To think of others better than ourselves. And to show God's love in a practical way. I want to be able to do this, not just at Christmas, but all year round. That's the kind of church I want to be.

--- I'm pumped about our Christmas series. "Believe" We are doing some cool stuff during the series. Set design. Effects. And Adam is putting together some AWESOME music sets, including some remade Christmas favorites.

--- We have been blessed, as a two month old church, with an UNBELIEVABLE praise band. Adam, well, lets just say it takes a world class leader to find a guy like Adam. HA! God brought us that dude. Adam is phenomenal. Can't imagine this without him. We have two OUTSTANDING drummers. Seriously, GOOD drummers are hard to find and we have two, count em, TWO KILLER drummers. One of them played for the first time today. What a blessing! Morgan has been playing bass guitar since day 1. Setting up and tearing down from the beginning. Morgan, you ROCK! Can't imagine this without you either bro!

Bryant, Morgan, Nate, Ben, Grant, Matt, Curtis, Terri (wow, Terri does so much), Keenan, Katrina, all you guys have been setting up and tearing down for MONTHS now. Seriously, you guys are amazing.

--- Wow, two services this week. That's crazy! Be praying for God to bring us new people to fill those empty seats.

--- Today we cut it close. The movie in our auditorium literally started as we were throwing stuff out the door to get out in time. We have some MAJOR issues with time in going to two services. We'll need to talk to the management this week. Be praying for us that they will move the early showtime movies to the other wing of the theater.

--- MY FAMILY IS BACK! The quiet house gets to me real quick. I'm glad Sabrina and the kids got to go spend time with her family. I got some stuff done around the house and chilled with friends. I would have loved to go, I just couldn't miss the whole week. I love my wife and kids. Missed them a ton!

--- I am tired! I have more on my mind and will begin posting regularly again this week. Sundays wipe me out man, BUT MY DO I LOVE IT! Thanks Elementers! You guys are the best!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Laughing Before Life Group

I'm sitting here waiting for Life Group to begin. We host a group on Monday's here at our house. I was getting the place ready for group had the front door open and I stood there looking out the door and began to laugh. Why? Because I remember 8 months ago (March) doing the same thing only I was wondering "Will anyone show up to this thing we're doing?" There were 6 of us then. Grand and Terri, Keenan and Katrina and my wife and I. Our first Life Group no one we invited came. I think our second Life Group (maybe more), a lady came that we all had made a connection with. It was hilarious. "SOMEONE ELSE IS HERE!" We all started whispering. 7 of us. Then 10, 12, 14.

In June we decided to start Unplugged. We DESPERATELY did NOT want people to think we had started our church. Unplugged was NOT how we wanted to do church but we knew it was necessary because we were multiplying into three different Life Groups from our original one and we needed that large group time to begin building our team. So, that second Sunday in June we begin, and again I'm watching the door "Will anyone come to this thing?" 34 people came to that first Unplugged.

July 1st, our first "real" service as a preview. August 5th, Sept. 9th, October 7th (launch). Still that same question. "Will anyone show up to this thing we're doing?" And now, December 2nd is coming. What is December 2nd? Our launch into 2 services. And that same question.

Around the office and with the team, it feels almost like we're launching again. We're making this next step. Taking this big risk. It would be comfortable to stay at one. We can know everyone, we know people will come. We financially, volunteer, energy and time wise could do it. BUT that's not why we are here. I don't know if I'll ever stop asking that question. Literally every week I wonder if people will come. I don't know why I'm like that. I know this is God's thing and not mine, and maybe that's why. The fact that I get to lead this amazing thing God is doing blows me away. I get to be a part of GOD'S church. "Will anyone show up to this thing I get to do?"

I don't ever want to lose the sense of anticipation, wonder, awe, amazement at what God does and what He allows me to be a part of. Elementers, I love you guy's. Thanks for coming. Because of you I can answer every week "Someone came!" As long as someone comes, I'll keep doing what I do. lol

Following Christ,

Jeff

Sunday Night Rumination 11-18-07

Today was VERY exciting. We started a new mini-series called Thanks:Giving and these 2 sermons in this series have been some of the hardest for me to prepare for, because I may need to hear them the most. I feel like I've been preached to all week as God has been beating on my heart about some issues in my life when it comes to gratitude and generosity. It's really not about being thankful and giving. "What do you mean Jeff?" Glad you asked. When I have a grateful heart, it produces thankfulness. When I have a generous heart, it produces giving. Anyone can say "thank you" and anyone can give, but not everyone is grateful and generous. I want to be both.

--- 155 today in church. I knew the day was coming when we'd be down in attendance. This was the first time in 3 weeks we've been under 200. I know it's ALL about #'s but there isn't a pastor in the world who doesn't look at the attendance each week and sometimes fret over it. (I'm not fretting and if a pastor says they don't, they are lying)
--- 155 in today in church. (I know I'm repeating) Know what? I am thankful for those 155. 6 weeks ago we were launching this thing and didn't know if 50 would show up. I'll take 155 but I know there are thousands more out there who don't go to church. How will we get them? I will not be satisfied with 155, or 255, or 355. Not sure where God will take us but I know He's a big God and has a bigger heart for Cheyenne than any of us do.
--- $3180 in the offering today. Our giving has been solid. God has been good and taken care of us all along the way. He won't stop. I think when we are generous AS a church, people will be generous TO the church.
--- Great worship service today. The band was again amazing. I think they get better every week. Adam blogged about it here. We spend a lot of time planning our services and really didn't know what to expect time wise this week with dedications and communion. I think we let out of service at 11:18 so it worked out great.
--- We dedicated 10 kids today. It was AWESOME! From 15 years old to a 5 week old. It was a special time. It was so cool to see a mom stand there with her 15, 13 and 7 year old and say "I want to raise them in the way of the Lord."
--- We baptized 2 people today. One 12 year old young lady, and our Elevate kids teacher (don't know her age and wouldn't share if I did). We met at Calvary Chapel (thanks Calvary) and used their baptistery and sanctuary. Pastor Shaun (thanks Shaun), who has been AWESOME to and for us, and his family came to the service. Shaun has been a huge blessing. Just a Kingdom guy, supportive and willing to help wherever he can. As I thanked him he said "I hope we see lots more of these."
--- Grant got in the water and helped me out with the baptisms. What a turn in life that dude has seen. From a mormon home, baptized at 8 years old into the mormon faith, saved in the back of his Frito Lay truck, now standing waist deep in a baptistery, helping baptize his across the street neighbor that he helped lead to the church and Lord. How stinkin' cool is that. Grant, I love you bro! You're doing so good!
--- We are plugging people into serve more and more. I love seeing people commit to what we do. We've had some new help setting up and tearing down each week. We had a young lady start taking pictures for us today (she is a professional photographer) and will also help on the video side of things. Another young lady is spearheading our Christmas outreach event (which is going to be off the charts awesome)
--- Christmas outreach. I can't share yet what we are doing, but it is going to be so much fun. I love being able to bless people and we are going to get to do that. Elementers, get ready to be a blessing. Not only do I love blessing people but it's even greater that we are going to get to do it for some people who made a "right choice" in life. Difficult I'm sure, but right. We will announce it this Sunday.
--- Two services in two weeks. That blows my mind. It feels like we're launching again. I'm getting nervous. "Who will come to the 9 AM service?" We actually had someone show up today for the 9 AM service. We had a news brief in the paper about it yesterday but the family didn't see the date for the start of it that was in the article.
--- Looking forward to our Christmas series "Believe". We didn't do any set design for this mini series but are planning some cool stuff for "Believe".
--- My wife is leaving me! lol, she leaves tomorrow with the kids to go to Oklahoma to her dads for Thanksgiving. All her dads family is going to be there which will be a first in a while they've all been together. She wanted to go and I said "Go for it!" So it will be Doritos, diet pepsi, bologna for the next few days around here. I never like it when my family is going. It's cool for the first night or so, then it's just WAY to quiet. I'll miss them!
--- Got a lot to get done this week on the short week. This weeks message is a tough one again as I talk about generosity.
--- Whether your an Elementer, family, friend or just a casual onlooker. Thanks for following along. I say this too much but I seriously LOVE what I do.