Cheyenne Egg Drop

Hey Element Church! Well, I think it's officially official that the Egg Drop is BACK ON! We talked to the school district today AND to the helicopter company. The helicopter company is thoroughly excited to be on board. They ARE doing the event ABSOLUTELY FREE! They will be offering rides for $30 a piece AND they are so excited about the event that they committed to be our helicopter provider every year! HOLY COW! Talk about roller coaster rides. The School District has been great to work with and are set for the event to take place on their property. So, on Saturday, March 15th at 10 AM (gates open at 9:45) the First Annual Cheyenne Egg Drop will take place. If you are an Elementer and want to be a part of the event sign up at the e:connect table on Sunday morning. If you cannot serve at the event, but would be able to provide some prizes, that would be AWESOME! We'd love to give away some very cool stuff. Element is providing one Nintendo Wii and a video ipod to give away. We are also going to give away some helicopter rides and Easter baskets filled with goodies. If you'd like to add to that list with something to give away (that isn't sitting in your basement), please let us know. Can't wait to serve through this event.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Introducing...

Hey Elementers! Just wanted to introduce you to the newest employee at Element Church. With the rapid growth God has blessed us with, the increased office work became too much for one person to handle. Therefore, we felt it was time to bring on someone to take over the receptionist duties in the office, as well as some office tasks that would free up Terri to continue doing a great job in her role as office manager. We felt God directed us to one of our own Elementers and she agreed to take the job. I'd like to introduce to you Pam Rapp. Pam serves at Element every Sunday on the e:team as our sound technician for the main worship service. She is doing a fantastic job already and we hope she enjoys us as much as we have enjoyed having her. Thanks Pam for joining the team. You're doing a GREAT job!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Cheyenne Egg Drop Almost Became Soup

Get it? Egg Drop Soup? Ok, not funny I know. Hey Element Church! What a ride it's been in our office the past two weeks. A little insane, even for my crazy taste. My personality typically is, if something isn't chaotic, let's change it to make it so. The past two weeks have needed none of my messing with stuff. With the rapid growth, three services, and a major outreach event it's done it all on it's own. We were on a roller coaster with a building situation thinking we'd found something then crash and burn. Thinking we'd found something then crash and burn. Then we get confirmation on doing this SWEET event called the Cheyenne Egg Drop, where we drop thousands of eggs from a helicopter in the sky before our Easter egg hunt. We had talked to the helicopter company 2 months ago and they had agreed to do it. We had petitioned for a place to do it here in town but felt it just wasn't going to work. Then on Thursday, we find out we'd been given a place. CHAOS ENSUED as we in the office try to pull together a 15,000 egg Easter event, with a helicopter drop, prizes, games, supplies, etc. all completed before Sunday. WE DID IT! And then loop # 30 in our roller coaster ride hit on Monday afternoon when the helicopter place backed out. YES, after a couple months of feeling great about it, they all the sudden got cold feet. PANIC set in as we realized a mailer was getting ready to go out to roughly 7,000 homes, 15,000 eggs were on their way (pre-stuffed), and 48 volunteers had already signed up. An event cancel was in progress. Tuesday morning Adam said "We should just call some other companies". I said "Dude, it's too late in the game." Well, my employee didn't listen to me, AND I'M GLAD! Adam got a return call last night (Tuesday) from a company out of Denver. The dude is going to do it, AND POSSIBLY DO IT FOR FREE! WHAT? Yeah, he was SO excited to help us out. He's a helicopter instructor and loves doing community events like this. As of yesterday, he said if we would allow him to charge for rides at the event, he'd come up and drop the eggs for free. CRAZY. So then today, IT WAS BACK ON! We're still waiting on final word from the chopper CO. but it seems as of now we're ready to roll. The mailing house is awaiting our word to send the invites out. We've ordered a TON of invite cards for you Elementers to take and use around town. Anyway, PRAY that if God wants us to get this done, it'll get done. It's going to be such a FUN event, I hope we can pull it off. Our new statement around here lately has been "That's how we roll!" And chaos, seems to be how we roll!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Element Gives Back

Hey Element Church! Hope you all haven't forgotten about checking out Element Gives Back! I can't wait to do that again, and we WILL do it again! It will be a complete surprise but it will be done! There is a new story on there that came up a few days ago. Check it out. I got some CRAZY news on the Egg Drop for tomorrow, but I need to get in bed!

Cheyenne Egg Drop

Hey Element Church! We are extremely excited about this outreach event that is being planned. If you read this today I encourage you to begin praying for God to help us in a few key areas.

#1 A couple months ago we started the planning on this event. A few weeks in we didn't feel like any location in the city was going to be made available to us for use so we kind of gave up on the idea until next year. Well, Wednesday of this last week we got a call from the school district and had been given permission to use Miller Field on the corner of Pershing and Evans. That started the ball rolling VERY quickly. We new we had limited time and needed to announce our event to Elementers on Sunday. So we had just a couple days to try and pull this all together. We found out on Friday that the helicopter was available. All that being said, the first prayer request is for no unforeseen roadblocks to be in our way. Pray that with the rushed planning we haven't missed something or don't miss something that could hinder this event.

#2 People to join the egg drop team. We need around 50 Elementers to join the team for this event. This is by far the biggest event we've tried to accomplish as far as #'s of people needed. If you are an Elementer we encourage you to step up and help us serve the city on this day.

#3 WEATHER! Our first ever servant project as Element Church was supposed to be at the City Easter event last year and it got snowed out. We know the risks of scheduling an event like this in March but feel it is worth the risk and will seek God to clear the way for us with the weather.

So, if you'd join us in those three prayer requests that would be GREAT! Hope to see you at the event serving with us.

Sunday Rumination (2-24-08)

Hey Element Church! Great conclusion to Satan's Sex Ed today. I am SO pleased with how this series turned out. I was VERY nervous heading into the series but God has done some GREAT things through it. We've gotten many good comments on the series and it just seems as if God really helped some people through it. It was very difficult at times to say some of the things we did but I wouldn't take one word back. The room was tense many occasions and I felt awkward in others but all in all they were things that needed to be said. I don't want to train myself to avoid the tough subjects. The hardest yet best thing to do is to tackle them head on. Our next three series aren't going to be quite as controversial. Heroes starts this coming Sunday. Here are my thoughts on the day.

--- Four people acknowledged that they accepted Jesus Christ today.
--- Numerous people acknowledged they had prayed to God for forgiveness on some sexual sin in their life. Those two things right there are what is most important.
--- 371 in church today. Both services were fairly full. First service was VERY full again. So cool to see first service filling up. I'm excited about e:coustic starting in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will open up some seats in our other services.
--- We're getting some good response on people to join the team serving at e:coustic. If you're an Elementer and not currently serving somewhere on Sunday morning we'd love to have you join the e:coustic team.
--- Band rocked it again today. Worship was great in both services and the Spirit of God was evident in both as well.
--- My body is going to be ACHING after three services. Wouldn't have it any other way.
--- We had a MAJOR announcement today. We've been approved (barring any unforeseen roadblocks) for our Easter outreach event. As of 4 days ago we didn't think we had a shot at all in doing the event, then one phone call changed everything.
On Saturday, March 15th we are going to be offering one HUGE Easter event. We are doing an Easter egg hunt with a twist. The event will include several easter games for kids ages 3-12, face painting, free balloons, giveaways including a nintendo wii and a video ipod. Then the big shebang. Following the games, activities and giveaways a helicopter is going to fly in and pick up THOUSANDS of easter eggs. It will then hover over the drop zone (egg hunt area) and will drop the thousands of candy and toy filled eggs over the field. Following the drop the kids will be able to rush the field and pick up all the eggs to put in their basket.
It's called The Cheyenne Egg Drop. We'll be sending a mailer out to families in Cheyenne to invite them to the event. We truly hope it will be a BLAST for all who attend and a way for us to serve the people of Cheyenne with a fun Easter event. Start praying now for AWESOME weather. March can be a tricky month for weather in Wyoming. I'll try and post some graphics on here later this week. We'll be getting an egg drop website up too.

Overflow

Hey Element Church! Random and rambling thoughts will follow this sentence. I don't think my brain can take anymore right now. This week has been absolutely insane. I feel like their are so many projects that need attention (all of them my own doing) that I can't put it all together. Let me tell you something. This Easter season for Element Church is going to be OFF THE CHARTS!! I know it seems we've had a lot of "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT ON SUNDAY" stuff at Element Church before, but I am BUSTING AT THE SEAMS to share with you the announcement we have this week. We've been approved for the Easter outreach idea we had, and it is going to be an annual event that we will continue to make BIGGER and BETTER!! We're going to need LOTS of people to be a part of the e:team for this event to pull it off, and if you are an Elementer you'll want to be a part of it. It will be our privilege to serve the city in this way. We are launching e:coustic in a couple of weeks and we are doing a MAJOR direct mail promotion to the city inviting everyone to Element for Easter. I LOVE being able to do the stuff we do. I have a blog idea I need to put on here called "The way we roll"! I've been laughing all week at the way we do things. I can't do something and "just" do it! If we're going to do something we're going to go all out. This outreach event is something absolutely ridiculous for us to try and pull off this late in the game, but I feel we must. Other things we've done and attempted (as I look back) were absurd, yet they worked. I want to continue to set the precedent and standard for our church that we will do things for other people and make ourselves get outside of our theater no matter how much and how far it stretches us physically or financially. Outreach and Servant Evangelism is one of our essential ministries and part of our DNA, so we will continue to look for and come up with ideas to serve those around us. Random ramblings over. Hope to see you at Element Church on Sunday. If you can't make it, make sure and watch the blog for our exciting announcement!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Devotional Thoughts...

I just started Daniel today in my morning devotions. LOVE the Old Testament and I'm excited about preaching some KILLER OT stuff through our Heroes series. One of my favorite stories in the OT is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When I read the story today a line jumped out at me that never really had before. It should really be the theme to our lives. It's not flashy or anything, just stood out.

In Daniel 3:12 King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered everyone to bow down to this towering image he had made when they heard the instruments sound. The instruments sounded and all bowed, except some of the Kings men came running to the King and in this verse said "But there are some Jews..." I want that said of me that if the WHOLE WORLD goes against God "But there was one man..." "But there was this church..." "But there was this family..." Jesus kind of spoke of this in Matthew 15 when he said "What good is it if you gain the whole world yet forfeit your soul". The young men from Judah could have bowed down with everyone else "But there were some Jews..."

THEN one of the GREATEST verses in all of Scripture I got to read today. Inspires me every time I read it. The King is thrown into a fit of rage because they wouldn't bow down. He told them they had one more chance or he'd throw them in the fire and said "then what god will be able to save you?" My boys answer in Daniel 3:16-18 with some of the greatest words of trust, courage and POWER in the Scripture. "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. (HERE IT COMES) But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your majesty, that we will NEVER serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." In Pastor Jeff words they said BRING IT KING! HA. I love it.

I want a "but even if..." faith. That REGARDLESS of what happens in my life, in our church or in this world, I will not bow down to ANYTHING but Jesus Christ and HIM alone! Do you want a "but even if..." faith?

Following Christ,

Jeff

Three services, a building and a school walked into a church...

Sounds like the beginning of some weird joke doesn't it? Well, it's the life and times of Element Church. Howdy all you Elementers out there! It's been a wild ride for the last four months. October 7th seems like an eternity ago yet it's been 4 months and some change (Pun intended). My how things have changed. God has saw fit to bless us with some very fast growth. With that comes the growing pains that you would imagine. To no avail we have sought out some use of school district property, mainly the East High School fine arts auditorium. At this point, that door seems to be closed. MANY other temporary/portable locations have been shut as well. We've actually looked at two different buildings for purchase, one which has consumed our last two days around the office. Both buildings we could purchase at $1 million dollars but both would need some extensive remodel to make it "church". Even Element Church. The one thing that I feel peace about, is three services. I really feel like this is our option for the time being. I know God has something out there for us and HE will bring it to us. God directed me to two Bible passages I read a while back in Exodus and the notes I marked in my Bible concerning it. Here and Here are links to read them if you want. Exodus 13:17-18 and Exodus 15:22-27.

In the first one God basically doesn't let them take the "easier" route to the promise land because they weren't ready for a battle with the Philistines. Instead He led them in the "roundabout" way they left Egypt and they were like an army ready for battle. I want Element Church to be an army ready for battle.

In the second passage they came to a place called Marah where there was water to drink after having none for three days. The water was bitter and it ticked the people off. They CRIED OUT in complaint about their current situation. When they continued on, they came to the oasis of Elim where they found 12 fresh springs and 70 palm trees. If they would have just waited, GOD HAD WHAT WAS BEST COMING TO THEM! I really felt God reminded me of those passages. God could open up something tomorrow for us if He wants, and we will continue to exhaust ALL possible options, but it doesn't mean it's bad for us. It could just mean we're taking the "roundabout" way. It could mean God is sparing us from a "battle" we're not ready to fight. It could mean that HIS BEST for us is at the next oasis.

Where are you at in your life? Perhaps God is taking YOU through the roundabout way. Sparing you from a battle. Or has your best at the next oasis.

Following Christ,

Jeff

e:coustic service

Hey Element Church! Just thought I'd share we've had a few people join the e:team for our new 9:45 AM worship service, BUT WE NEED MORE! If you'd like to become a part of an awesome team of people who are connecting others with LIFE every week please let us know. We have lots of opportunities to join the 9:45 team. Please email our office if you are interested in joining our team.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Sunday Rumination (2-17-08)

Hey Element Church! I was not feeling well AT ALL this morning (nor was Adam) but God saw us through and we had another great Sunday at Element Church. We had one major announcement this morning that I'll share below. Here are my thoughts on the day.

--- 2 people indicated they became followers of Christ today. Again, that is what it is all about. Praise the Lord for these two souls who received Jesus in to their hearts and forgiveness of sins.

--- 319 in church today. People must have listened to my plea last week and on this blog because first service was much larger than second for the first time ever. That's GREAT because it opens up seats in the late service where we see many of our guests.

--- After 378 last week it was funny cause the service felt empty. Especially second. Weird how one week can change your perspective. Two weeks ago and 319 would have been a record at Element. Today, it makes is down in attendance from the previous week. Crazy!

--- I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't feeling well, but I didn't feel great about either service today, especially 2nd. Just being honest. :) (did I just put a smiley face on my blog?) People responded well afterward though so that's a good sign. I've learned that you can't trust your feelings.

--- Had a guest drummer today from my former youth group in Gillette. He's attending Casper College and drove down yesterday to help fill in since neither of our drummers were available this week. Thanks Casey! He did an AWESOME job!

--- 319. That's CRAZY! Four months old.

--- I'm getting excited for our next series, Heroes. It's a perfect series to go through Easter. Our two series following that are going to be GREAT too! Very excited for that.

Ok, big announcement time. We obviously are seeing a space issue. Lots of reasons why we go from 378 to 319 in one week, one very viable reason could be that people were sitting on the stairs last week. lol A church can't stay at 80% capacity too long before seeing a drop in attendance. Now, we haven't seen a drop yet, 319 is still "up" for us, BUT lack of space will soon become an issue, and we really don't have room to grow much more.

We feel as if we've exhausted all options at this point on buildings or lease space so we have to do something. We REALLY prayed for God's direction, had one emergency lead staff meeting and came up with the following option. We are adding a third service to Element Church.

Here's how it will work in a nutshell. We are keeping our 9 AM and 10:30 AM services exactly the same, and we are adding a staggered service in a different auditorium at 9:45. This 9:45 service is called e:coustic and will be an acoustic style service. There will be no childcare or e:kidz programming and it will not be the full production like our other two services. It WILL be the same songs and same message just a different feel. Adam will still lead worship and I'll still preach. As soon as Adam is done with worship in one venue, he'll go start this service in the other and the same for me preaching.

THIS IS TEMPORARY and is meant to get us by until we get another facility. We LOVE the theater but want to be able to grow as much as God sees fit. It requires 15 NEW volunteers that are not currently serving in either of our other two services. We feel this best fits us because it won't take up any more time in the morning, utilizes facilities we already have and doesn't require enormous volunteer changes or expertise changes. We are VERY excited as a staff to try this new adventure and continue to do our best to connect people with the Life in Christ. This will help advance our vision of having a God sized impact in our city as well.

That's it! I'll post some additions I'm sure. Please pray for our family, we are experiencing some BAD sickness. Love all you guys! Thanks for following.

Following Christ,

Jeff

Last minute plea!

Hey Element Church! If you're a regular Elementer and are NOT attending the 9 AM service, we encourage you to do so tomorrow and for the next several weeks. We're making a big announcement tomorrow concerning our space issues that we think will REALLY help us, but in the meantime our best option is filling up the 9 AM service so we have seats available at 10:30. If you're reading this tonight and wondering what service to go to, GO TO 9 AM! See you tomorrow.

Following Christ,

Jeff

INTRODUCING!!

Hey Element Church! I am SO excited to announce a new addition to our Lead Staff at Element Church. First, let me say that our Lead Staff at Element Church are AWESOME! We are not replacing ANY of them but adding to them. Grant, Adam and Curtis (along with their wives who are ministers themselves) are INCREDIBLE. We had our first ever Lead Staff only meeting yesterday to make some MAJOR decisions for Element Church, and there is no one else on this planet that I trust more than those three men. The same can be said for our new addition. I want to introduce to you Andy and Aubrey Hazelet.

Andy is not only one of my former students in youth ministry, but one of my closest friends. Andy grew up in our church in Gillette, and in May will be graduating from Oklahoma Wesleyan University with a degree in Pastoral Ministry. Andy married his bride Aubrey in March of 2007 (I hope that's right Andy). Andy will be joining us on staff as part of the Fusion Student Ministry team. Curtis and Heather will be JUST as involved as they have been when Andy arrives. Andy will be joining the staff as a volunteer, getting employment outside of Element Church until we bring him on staff as a paid employee. (Both Curtis and Grant are working like this right now as well) Andy will eventually move into the role of our Fusion Director.

Andy and Aubrey were here two weeks ago and through careful prayer and consideration felt God calling them to Cheyenne and Element Church. I can't wait for all of you to meet them. Both Andy and Aubrey are passionate followers of Christ and have a HUGE heart for teenagers to love and follow Jesus completely. I look forward to more introductions like this as Element Church and it's staff grow.

Following Christ,

Jeff

What's next?

Hey Element Church! I came across a blog of mine from July as I was organizing parts of my blog page. I thought it fit exactly where we are at in our life of Element Church. I understanding we are not facing a life or death situation but the principle of waiting still applies. Check it out here. Also, we are excited to be announcing "what's next" for Element Church this Sunday. We are taking on a HUGE task in order to reach more people with Jesus Christ. Make sure you're there to catch the vision of what are going to be doing. If you are currently not volunteering at Element Church, I encourage you to get connected somewhere. There is nothing like serving God through your local church and helping people experience Life.

Following Christ,

Jeff

A HUGE favor!

YO YO Element Church! We are expecting another AWESOME weekend at Element this week, and while attendance has been great we are REALLY in need of some of you 2nd service folks to switch to first service for an extended period of time. SO, if you are an Elementer and can spare to come earlier, we'd LOVE for you to help us out in that way. In doing this you are opening up seats for more people to hear about Jesus. Our 10:30 service is by far the most used for first time guests, and we want to make sure they have a seat. Last Sunday we had 378 people and we would love to see more. We're working tirelessly on options for more space. We are hoping to maybe have some announcements this Sunday on some options. Hopefully we'll see you on Sunday. Don't stop inviting!!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Next Series

Hey Element Church! Wow, has this year started off amazing with our first two series. I never would have imagined the reaction we got out of Deal or No Deal, or Satan's Sex Ed would have been this. I knew they were two VITAL topics to our spiritual lives and two topics that were drowning our society but WOW! Well, our next series does not nearly compare in controversy BUT I am just as excited about it. I'm not sure I could take another series right now as heavy as these last two we looked at. This Sunday we'll start promotions on our next series entitled "Heroes: Ordinary people living extraordinary lives". I thought I'd give you a sneak peek here on the Element Insider. Check out our invite cards below. There is also some surprise Easter service news on there as well.

Element Church Resources

Hey Element Church! Adam got the resource web-site all loaded up today. You can check it out HERE. Every transitional video or promo video we've been done since launch has been uploaded to the web. If you weren't a part of Element Church before launch, I encourage you to watch our short film we took on for our CSI series. It is called "Search". It led up to our launch Sunday. We put an INSANE amount of time and energy into this video when only 70 people were coming to Element. I almost wish we would have waited until now to do something that big because more people could have seen it. We were laughing at why in the world we would do that big of a video in pre-launch stages with all the other WAY more pressing things needed to be done. Needless to say it made for a tireless couple of weeks. Grant walking through a cemetery with a lantern at midnight. Keenan laying in a coffin. Some sort of loud stinkin' alarm on the battery we were using to light up three major flood lights going off whenever it was overloaded. Standing in the rain trying trying to get the right lighting on Keenan's face, standing outside a freaky warehouse. That memory of making that video will never go away. Anyway, thought it was cool that Adam got all our vids loaded up. We'll keep doing that. So, make sure and check it out. GOOD JOB ADAM!

Ruminatin Additions (2-10-08)

Hey Element Church! Here are a few early additions already.

--- Adam has an afterthought post up here. Check it out.

--- If you are an Elementer, please come to first service if you can. That is the best opportunity for us to open seats in the second service. Second service is typically the one in which our newcomers or un-churched people will attend and we want to make sure we can seat them. This is a GREAT problem to have, but it is a problem. lol Gotta love it!

--- If you haven't checked out Element Gives Back lately you should. There are some new stories from the past week or so. Good stuff. You guys REALLY did a great job on this.

--- If you own a building that can seat about 500 people with the capability of growing into that and providing space for our kids WE'D LOVE TO USE IT! lol Actually, we ask all Elementers are those reading this blog if you would join us in prayer for our next location, or a creative way to create more seats in the theater.

OK! Maybe more later.

Sunday Rumination (2-10-08)

Hey Element Church! I don't know what to say. UNBELIEVABLE day today. I'm not going to say I'm amazed cause I say that every week. Folks, what is happening at Element Church can ONLY be of God. People are being set free from sins, bondage and fears every week. Today was no other. Decisions were made today by parents and teens that can change the course of their lives forever. Here are my thoughts on the day.

--- 1 young lady received Christ today. PRAISE THE LORD! Of all today's happenings, that is the greatest!

--- 372 in church today. NO, that is not a typo. That is 3...7...2. Our second service was ENTIRELY full. Every seat in the front row was taken. There couldn't have been but a handful (3-5) seats left in the entire place. After the opening song and random act of kindness video there were people lining the theater hallway waiting to get in. What God is doing through us has struck a chord with MANY people.

--- It was an odd morning. While doing my final study and walk through on my message this morning, I opened my computer to jump on a commentary just to make sure a certain thing I was going to share in my sermon was correct. It was...but when I opened my computer my email program received two emails. Both emails were discouraging ones and began to overwhelm my thoughts. I just felt a heaviness today about the service. Adam shared some AWESOME Scripture with me on the way to the theater and through the morning God really cleared my mind and heart. The heaviness of this subject is doing that to my heart, just making it heavy. (in a good way)

--- Set up went wonderful today. Getting better every week. Our sound tech is learning her way around the board and today I did even less in helping her out. She is doing a great job. WAY TO GO PAM!

--- We had a group of teens come down from a church in Torrington today, that was cool!

--- Held The Tour today. Had a great turnout. I love re-telling our story each month. It never gets old. Thanks Curtis, Grant and Adam for sharing this job with me! You guys do great!

--- The band added a new member this week and it really filled the sound. Adam is continuing to do a great job of leading the band, adding, teaching and ministering through music.

--- We introduced our new RAK (Random Act of Kindness) idea for the month today. We showed a video of me putting away shopping carts at Wal-Mart. That's your task. Help out when you go shopping (wherever it may be) to put some errant carts away, or put someone elses away for them. (Just make sure the groceries are out first) I'll post the video here later this week. It was funny!

--- Folks, we are out of space. We need help in e:kidz with all these new people. Lots of unknowns surrounding Element Church right now. One thing that is NOT unknown is the fact that God is in control. He is not caught off guard by our growth. He is not surprised at our need for space or volunteers. God has something SPECTACULAR in store for Element Church, for you and for our city.

Well, those are my quick thoughts on the day! I'm sure I'll think of more later! You guys are awesome!

Following Christ,

Jeff

A prayer to live for (or perhaps die for)

Hey Element Church! My wife said something to me a few days ago that I've been ruminating (chewing on) for a while now. Sometimes Sabrina says or does things that blow me away (in a good way), and this was one of those times. We were talking about the space issue we are dealing with right now at Element Church. The frustrations I am going through as the leader of trying to figure out what in the world to do.

FIRST let me say this (rabbit trail thought)...If you are an Elementer KEEP INVITING PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE! We, as the local church (all Believers), hold the greatest message our world has known. That there is no other name but Jesus by which men must be saved. We can't let "lack of seats" keep us from helping people come to know Jesus. I/we FULLY understand that we are quickly running out of room, BUT SO DOES GOD! We are going to keep presenting, at FULL FORCE, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? (rabbit trail done, back on track)

Anyway, Sabrina said "God's asking me to pray a big prayer..." I was thinking, cool, she's praying for a building or land or something. She said "I know it sounds crazy but I feel like God wants me to pray for the entire city of Cheyenne to get saved. To be Christian. I don't even know if it's possible" she said "But I am being led to pray that the mormon churches, jehovas witnesses and any other non-christian churches would shut down because they all got saved."

WHAT? Holy cow! Now that is a prayer. Folks I said a few weeks ago at Element Church. "My dream is for God to takeover our city" (and spare me the God already has taken over He's sovereign. You know what I mean). "I know it's a lofty dream, but it's the only one worth pursuing." I'm going to join my wife in that prayer.

Anyone with me?

Element Gives Back

Hey Element Church! Don't forget to check out the new stories on the Element Gives Back web-site. So proud of our people. Many of them trying to figure out how to keep the money going and continuing to help people who are in need. Thanks Element Church for how you responded!

Element Church Knitters

Hey Element Church One of our Life Groups is based around knitting and with their knitting and Bible study they are putting together some GREAT gift packs with some toilitries and essentials for the Wyoming Safehouse. Anyway, the leader of the group started a blog for this Life Group and wanted to show you the latest update. Check it out here. GREAT stuff! Awesome to see Life Groups sharing life with the community.

Roller Coaster

Hey Element Church. MAN, today was one of those days. No other way to describe it other than "one of those days". Ever had one? Had a BLAST this past weekend at the finance seminar, church, and the super bowl party. Finished off our wonderful visit with Andy and Aubrey Hazelet who are praying about a move here to Cheyenne to join the Element staff team when Andy graduates from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in May. We had a record day in attendance on Sunday with 313. Two people gave their hearts to Christ and the energy and excitement at Element is off the charts. Had a great dreaming and planning session with Grant and Adam this morning, spent some great time in prayer then held a GREAT staff meeting. We felt we had a great lead on a meeting location and before going to do a walk through today actually felt as if God was opening an unseen door for us. Then it all came crashing down to make it "one of those days". Where something just totally takes the wind out of your sails. All the positives of the meeting location turned into "no" "no" "no" and "NO" on a couple of VERY key details that became deal breakers. It was nothing against the venue or their management just things that won't work for them or Element Church to partner together in. Isn't it amazing how ONE thing can totally change your day? How 10 things can be GREAT and ONE can erase them all. I'm ending this day by saying "Thank you GOD for ALL you are doing". Am I frustrated? YES Am I anxious? YES Am I waivered? NEVER Why? Well as many of us sang growing up..."My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid ROCK I stand all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand." Everything around us might give way but JESUS can be our rock! Praise the Lord!

Rumination Additions for 2-3

Hey Element Church!

--- Ummm can you say "Giants are Super Bowl Champs"? If your own team doesn't win there isn't much better than watching Bill Bellachick walk off the field like a big baby after the loss. LOL, that was mean but MAN does that dude bug me. I didn't think the Giants had a chance. That was one of the better Super Bowl games in recent memory.

--- Can't believe we had 313 today. That # doesn't make sense to me. Hard to believe.

--- THANK YOU to everyone who has shifted to 9 AM. AWESOME to have two full services. It has definitely helped enable room to grow. More news on a new venue later this week! VERY excited about the opportunity.

--- I was more open, un-filtered and honest today in a message than I may have ever been. I shared some past, ugly, embarressing mistakes I made as well as talked VERY openly about sex and how God has designed our sex lives to be.

Random statements of the day:

---"When a man and a woman experience sex within the bonds of marriage it is pleasing in the eyes of God." That is WEIRD to say but 100% true.

--- "God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and multiply, and he wasn't talking about eating oranges and doing math."

--- "Honey, I'm praying!" (Had to be there)

--- There are PLENTY more you'll just have to listen to the podcast or watch online.

--- Keenan TOTALLY nailed the role of satan in our video today. We made a video called "Satan Talks Sex" for the sermon transition video. It was done in some direct and intentional humor BUT totally reveals the answers our culture would give about sex based on the lies he gives.

--- I think when people watched the video initially they didn't know if they were allowed to laugh or not. We definitely pushed the line more than we ever have today but I started the sermon by saying "We are not going to push the line JUST to push the line. We will push the line SO we can expose who the devil REALLY is." That's important!

--- The Big Question today was "What are satan's six biggest sex lies?" 1. Sex is no big deal 2. Sex is purely physical 3. God is down on sex. (loved teaching against this lie) 4. I am guilty for what was done to me (abuse) 5. God can't forgive me (HUGE lie of satan) 6. It's impossible to stay pure (I HATE this lie. HATE IT! why? Because I KNOW it's possible)

--- We shared some STARTLING stats today about sex. Many of them dealing with pornography. Absolutely STAGGERING what sex is doing to our lives.

--- We TOTALLY blew the timing of the service today. Adam and I didn't have any time to organize the service together. We completely spaced that communion was today and didn't make the proper adjustments to the service. THUS we didn't get out of first service until well after 10:20. We need to be out NO LATER than 10:15. We took one song out for second service and started 5 minutes late to accommodate. Not a good day on timing.

--- Set up and tear down went GREAT! Great teams today. GoooooOOOOO TEAM! lol (that is 9:49 PM and VERY tired dorkiness right there)

--- My blogging bid to play keys on the praise team is paying off. I had two people say things today about me getting my shot. Adam will cave eventually and you will be AMAZED! I can play "Wherever You Go" by Richard Marx like nobody's business.

--- Had a GREAT time tonight with everyone watching the Super Bowl.

--- Praise Band once again did a great job. Sang an Adam original today. "Come and Rescue" LOVE that song. Adam is continuing to do an AWESOME job guys. MAN we are blessed.

--- Ok, I can't stop talking. Thanks for following. I love leading Element Church. You guys ROCK!

Following Christ,

Jeff

Sunday Rumination (2-3-08)

Well, LOTS on my mind but this may be short. Got folks coming over for the Super Bowl. GO GIANTS!!

--- Today was the most difficult sermon I've ever preached. I feel like I've been in a boxing match. Or UFC, that's more manly! There are some weeks when I preach I just feel like I've been through the ringer. Today is one of those. It was VERY emotionally, physically and spiritually draining. Wow!

--- Two people received Christ today! PTL

--- 313 in church today. Another high for Element Church. We are looking at some possible new meeting locations this week so may have some announcements on that soon!

--- This series I think is going to REALLY strike a cord with people. It is HORRIBLY uncomfortable to talk about but we are called to BOLDLY proclaim the Truth of God's Word, so we are doing that...But WOW is it uncomfortable.

--- I am using terms and talking about things I don't even want to in a closed room let alone from the pulpit.

OK, folks are showing up, I'll have to do this later.

Financial Seminar

Hey Element Church! We are very excited about the financial seminar tomorrow! Everything (I think) is in place. This has been a crazy week with Adam's loss in the family, we were waiting by the phone each day as my Grandpa appeared to be nearing his passing (PTL he is making a GREAT recovery). As of this past Sunday morning we thought for sure he wouldn't make it through the day, now he's doing much better. We had the financial seminar this weekend, First Friday, communion on Sunday AND a very good friend of ours is flying in today to kind of check out Cheyenne and pray about the possibility of moving here and helping out with Element Church. Adam really did a lot of the leg work on the financial seminar with a few connections he had. Terri (as usual) did all the admin work on meeting space, food, etc. We got the packets all put together last night while watching Lost (WHICH WAS AMAZING!). Each person will get a three ring binder filled with all the information they need for the seminar. We didn't want to just do a sermon series on money without offering some practical counsel on how to keep it going, so this fills that role. We have 110 I believe coming which is awesome! Alright Element Church. I'm STOKED for Sunday. Can't wait to see you all through the weekend!

Following Christ,

Jeff