Hey Element Church! Three things I'll blog about in this post.
#1 I literally nightmared about Element THE ENTIRE NIGHT! It was horrible. Sweating, waking, getting up wondering if it was real. I had a dream that Adam intentionally sabotaged Sunday morning cause he was mad at me. We were yelling at each other in the worship center with people coming in for church. Worship was HORRIBLE, I didn't have my sermon prepared and people left in droves during my message. IT WAS SCARY! It seemed so real. I dream A LOT and I tend to dream more when BIG decisions come in ministry. I was that way in every other pastorate I've been in. I then woke up at 5:50 AM jumped out of bed and yelled "OH CRAP I'M LATE!" I TOTALLY thought it was Sunday morning and I'm supposed to meet the boys at the office for the trailer at 5:45 AM. I started to grab clothes and I said "WHAT DAY IS IT?" I could not remember what day it was. Thankfully my wife told me it was Tuesday or I may have driven all the way to the office. LOL CRAZY!
#2 We're praying and waiting for final word on the lease. Keep praying and we'll post as soon as we know. We have received $5,000 so far from two people that we're putting toward The Climb! I had a WONDERFUL conversation with an Elementer today who came into our office and handed me a check for $2000. They are SUCH a blessing as a part of our church, whether they gave ANY money they are worth a TON to us! You know who you are and I want you to know how much you are appreciated. Thank you for letting God work in and through you!
#3 Thursday the staff of Element has an AWESOME opportunity. An Elementer who works in the aeronautics division for the state has set up an opportunity for us to fly over Cheyenne on Thursday for the National Day Of Prayer and pray over the city. Each Capitol city of each state in the America is trying to have a fly over prayer. We get to participate in Cheyennes. How cool is that? This Elementer contacted a company to set all this up. The president of the company asked what pastor was flying. They said "The pastor of my church." "What church?" was the response. "Element" The president replied "Oh, you mean Jeff?" The Elementer asked how they knew me and this past Sunday was the president's first Sunday attending Element. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That just doesn't happen. Grant, Adam and I are planning on going up at this point. Curtis couldn't make it. He can pray as he flies his fancy helicopter all over the city. LOL I'm jealous and bitter if you didn't notice! Element needs a helicopter. HA!
I'm headed to Gillette with the band tomorrow to go up and serve our mother church! High Plains Community is a HUGE part in who we are. Element wouldn't exist without them. I'll blog on Thursday and post some pictures and/or vid of the event.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Life Groups Serving
We had some Life Groups who served in some cool ways recently and though I'd share those quickly.
Some of Matt and Reagan Kauffman's Life Group served as Chaperone's at Prom this past Saturday night. I would never have thought of doing that and thought it was VERY cool. Way to go Matt and Reagan! I think they're just trying to re-live high school.
Adam leads the worship team each Thursday as a Life Group. Two Saturday's ago they played a gig for LifeChoice just before their Life Walk to raise money for the ministry. The band took out the whole set up and led worship for the walkers before the event. Life Choice is an incredible ministry serving women who are dealing with unplanned pregnancies. We try and support them as much as we can. Then this Wednesday the whole band is driving up to Gillette to play for a youth outreach night at our "mother" church High Plains Community Church. Good job Adam!
Element Knitters. This is a ladies Life Group and they knit TONS of stuff and give it to the Safe House here in Cheyenne. They are continually serving by making and giving these items away. They make washcloths and put them in baggies with essential toiletries for the people at the Safe House. Great work ladies!
I know Grants group has served at the Comea House a couple times serving meals.
The staff really isn't a Life Group but we take turns each Friday serving lunch at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. My Friday is this Friday. I enjoy it every time I go! Good job staff! (Can I tell myself good job?)
Thought I'd update on that. Please try and get involved in the community Day of Giving May 9th here in Cheyenne. It's a great way to serve lots of different people!
Serving,
Jeff
Some of Matt and Reagan Kauffman's Life Group served as Chaperone's at Prom this past Saturday night. I would never have thought of doing that and thought it was VERY cool. Way to go Matt and Reagan! I think they're just trying to re-live high school.
Adam leads the worship team each Thursday as a Life Group. Two Saturday's ago they played a gig for LifeChoice just before their Life Walk to raise money for the ministry. The band took out the whole set up and led worship for the walkers before the event. Life Choice is an incredible ministry serving women who are dealing with unplanned pregnancies. We try and support them as much as we can. Then this Wednesday the whole band is driving up to Gillette to play for a youth outreach night at our "mother" church High Plains Community Church. Good job Adam!
Element Knitters. This is a ladies Life Group and they knit TONS of stuff and give it to the Safe House here in Cheyenne. They are continually serving by making and giving these items away. They make washcloths and put them in baggies with essential toiletries for the people at the Safe House. Great work ladies!
I know Grants group has served at the Comea House a couple times serving meals.
The staff really isn't a Life Group but we take turns each Friday serving lunch at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. My Friday is this Friday. I enjoy it every time I go! Good job staff! (Can I tell myself good job?)
Thought I'd update on that. Please try and get involved in the community Day of Giving May 9th here in Cheyenne. It's a great way to serve lots of different people!
Serving,
Jeff
Building update
Hey Element Church! Just wanted to update where we're at with this building. First off, let me say I'm blown away at your support of us as your leaders! You guys are such a blessing to serve. I wouldn't want to take this mountain with anyone else but you guys!
#1 Our realtor stopped by the office today to update the progress. He actually advised me on Friday not to announce this to the church on Sunday. Did I listen? Of course not. lol He said things are looking good. The ownership group is meeting tomorrow to discuss the final details. Pray for God's will and provision please. We should have a final lease to sign by Wednesday or Thursday. I'll definitely let you know.
#2 "The Climb" That is what we will be calling your opportunity in joining us financially in taking this mountain. Our goal is to raise $100,000 to pay for the remodel and building costs as we move in. Maybe you happened upon this blog or you follow Element Church from a distance and would like to help support our move into this building. We'll announce the final details of The Climb on Sunday if, Lord willing, the lease goes through. If you're an Elementer, please be praying about what God would have you do financially to climb with us.
#3 I received a REALLY cool email today with some other confirmation of the opening of this building: "I also wanted to share with you that when you spoke of the new building, we listened intently. Then when you spoke the words "600 Carlson Ave" my mouth dropped. My coworker was in the process of leasing that exact space. She talked adamantly about her plans for her new business. They then realized that this space wasn't going to work for them and are moving on to securing a different location. It was wonderful to see how God had been working to allow that space to remain available for the church. I came to work this morning and told my coworker of your message on Sunday and she's excited. They are now planning to attend the parenting series next month."
This is NOT a done deal yet so PLEASE keep praying. I share these details at church and on this blog so you can join us in praying for God's provision and for His will. We will have an "even if" faith in all of this. "But even if He doesn't..." we will still follow, trust, love and serve our God! AMEN?
Waiting,
Jeff
#1 Our realtor stopped by the office today to update the progress. He actually advised me on Friday not to announce this to the church on Sunday. Did I listen? Of course not. lol He said things are looking good. The ownership group is meeting tomorrow to discuss the final details. Pray for God's will and provision please. We should have a final lease to sign by Wednesday or Thursday. I'll definitely let you know.
#2 "The Climb" That is what we will be calling your opportunity in joining us financially in taking this mountain. Our goal is to raise $100,000 to pay for the remodel and building costs as we move in. Maybe you happened upon this blog or you follow Element Church from a distance and would like to help support our move into this building. We'll announce the final details of The Climb on Sunday if, Lord willing, the lease goes through. If you're an Elementer, please be praying about what God would have you do financially to climb with us.
#3 I received a REALLY cool email today with some other confirmation of the opening of this building: "I also wanted to share with you that when you spoke of the new building, we listened intently. Then when you spoke the words "600 Carlson Ave" my mouth dropped. My coworker was in the process of leasing that exact space. She talked adamantly about her plans for her new business. They then realized that this space wasn't going to work for them and are moving on to securing a different location. It was wonderful to see how God had been working to allow that space to remain available for the church. I came to work this morning and told my coworker of your message on Sunday and she's excited. They are now planning to attend the parenting series next month."
This is NOT a done deal yet so PLEASE keep praying. I share these details at church and on this blog so you can join us in praying for God's provision and for His will. We will have an "even if" faith in all of this. "But even if He doesn't..." we will still follow, trust, love and serve our God! AMEN?
Waiting,
Jeff
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday Rumination (4-27-08)
Hey Element Church! Man oh man am I wiped today. I think three services affected more today than any other. Much of it had to do with just the heaviness of the message upon me today. The future for Element is SO exciting but the HUGENESS of what God is asking us to do is so far beyond me. We announced today two MAJOR pursuits in Element Church:
#1 August 1st we'll be bringing Pastor Grant on staff full time. Up until now Grant has worked for Frito Lay full time and donating his time to Element. That needs to change for Grant and for our church. We have grown so quickly that Grant can't keep up with the connecting and small groups and we can't go any longer without him being able to. SO, we are stepping out in faith to hire Grant full time. I CAN'T WAIT to have him in the office, ministering to YOU every day.
#2 We are in pursuit of a building to lease for the ongoing ministry of Element Church. WE NEED SPACE if we are to grow any more. God is HUGELY blessing us with people coming to Element and we don't want that to stop. This will be a HUGE step of faith, but one I think we have to take. We are working on a lease for about 16,000 square feet of space on 600 Carlson Ave. The worship center will hold 300 - 400 people. It would house our offices, kids and a MUCH NEEDED youth space. We'd have the ability to expand into existing empty space adjacent to what we'd be getting if needed. We have a local contractor who is donating his time to help lead the project. As a team of 6 last Spring we laid hands and prayed over the building for God to give it to us. Two months ago I received a phone call from an ownership group that heard we were needing space. They said "We have some space with think you'd be interested in." It was the building we prayed for. More details will be coming this Sunday. PRAY PRAY PRAY for God's will to be done in all of this. This is our mountain. I'm advancing onto it and need YOU to go wit me!!
Here is my other rumination on the day.
--- I am more tired today than maybe any other Sunday at Element. I am SPENT! Feel emotionally and physically drained. Wouldn't want it any other way. Typically means it was a good day at church.
--- The theater employee was 30 minutes late in opening the door this morning. That adds some stress.
--- Had MAJOR technical problems again today with audio/visual stuff. It's starting to REALLY bug me. Getting VERY distracting and I don't like it. Not sure what to do.
--- Adam played TWO originals today. He wrote the song Yearn a couple of years ago and is an AWESOME worship song. I think it's good enough to "make it". He then sang a new song he wrote today called "The Heart of a Warrior". It was based on my heart of a warrior sermon I did on March 30th. I LOVE the fact that we can do original music. Adam wrote another one inspired form our Eternity series that we'll bust out real soon. It too is AWESOME!
--- We'd love to do an Element Worship CD some day. Put some of our original stuff on it. That would be cool.
--- PACKED HOUSE TODAY! 505 in attendance. The Sunday I announced we were going to two services we were way down in attendance if I remember correctly. It was confirming to bust 500 again on the day we're announcing that we are pursuing a building.
--- This building scares me for a couple reasons. #1 I don't want to be about a building. We ARE NOT buying but leasing this space. It will be a 3 year lease. I FULLY expect to move in three years to another, larger location. Either that, or plant another church from Element. (Not me personally, but Element daughter a church) Maybe a video campus here in Cheyenne. (That is a whole other blog) #2 The risk! This is by far the BIGGEST decision I've EVER made in ministry. Moving here affected just my family. Moving now to a building affects our entire church. This is a financial risk for us. We have it made at the theater. But I don't want to "have it made". I want to anticipate God will show up when we need him. He won't lead us down a road He can't provide on. Financially this is a faith move for us.
--- 1st and 3rd service were full. In 3rd we had folks on the front row. I hate that. It's so uncomfortable. Heard one of the families on the front were first time guests too.
--- 55 in e:coustic today. That's up from previous weeks. That's good!
--- I preached on mission, vision and where we're going as a church today and how we'll get there. I want to blog a little this week about what I preached on. I think our decision making process is so helpful to what we do. Maybe it can help another pastor who reads this. Maybe not. I'll blog it anyway.
--- Partnership class this Sunday at 4 PM. Don't miss out on that. If you want to take the next step in Element to get more plugged in and be a part of what's going on you need to come to that.
--- Seriously, Elementers, you guys are the GREATEST! I absolutely love, LOVE leading this church! Can't imagine not doing this.
--- That's it for now. Blog more later.
Following Christ,
Jeff
#1 August 1st we'll be bringing Pastor Grant on staff full time. Up until now Grant has worked for Frito Lay full time and donating his time to Element. That needs to change for Grant and for our church. We have grown so quickly that Grant can't keep up with the connecting and small groups and we can't go any longer without him being able to. SO, we are stepping out in faith to hire Grant full time. I CAN'T WAIT to have him in the office, ministering to YOU every day.
#2 We are in pursuit of a building to lease for the ongoing ministry of Element Church. WE NEED SPACE if we are to grow any more. God is HUGELY blessing us with people coming to Element and we don't want that to stop. This will be a HUGE step of faith, but one I think we have to take. We are working on a lease for about 16,000 square feet of space on 600 Carlson Ave. The worship center will hold 300 - 400 people. It would house our offices, kids and a MUCH NEEDED youth space. We'd have the ability to expand into existing empty space adjacent to what we'd be getting if needed. We have a local contractor who is donating his time to help lead the project. As a team of 6 last Spring we laid hands and prayed over the building for God to give it to us. Two months ago I received a phone call from an ownership group that heard we were needing space. They said "We have some space with think you'd be interested in." It was the building we prayed for. More details will be coming this Sunday. PRAY PRAY PRAY for God's will to be done in all of this. This is our mountain. I'm advancing onto it and need YOU to go wit me!!
Here is my other rumination on the day.
--- I am more tired today than maybe any other Sunday at Element. I am SPENT! Feel emotionally and physically drained. Wouldn't want it any other way. Typically means it was a good day at church.
--- The theater employee was 30 minutes late in opening the door this morning. That adds some stress.
--- Had MAJOR technical problems again today with audio/visual stuff. It's starting to REALLY bug me. Getting VERY distracting and I don't like it. Not sure what to do.
--- Adam played TWO originals today. He wrote the song Yearn a couple of years ago and is an AWESOME worship song. I think it's good enough to "make it". He then sang a new song he wrote today called "The Heart of a Warrior". It was based on my heart of a warrior sermon I did on March 30th. I LOVE the fact that we can do original music. Adam wrote another one inspired form our Eternity series that we'll bust out real soon. It too is AWESOME!
--- We'd love to do an Element Worship CD some day. Put some of our original stuff on it. That would be cool.
--- PACKED HOUSE TODAY! 505 in attendance. The Sunday I announced we were going to two services we were way down in attendance if I remember correctly. It was confirming to bust 500 again on the day we're announcing that we are pursuing a building.
--- This building scares me for a couple reasons. #1 I don't want to be about a building. We ARE NOT buying but leasing this space. It will be a 3 year lease. I FULLY expect to move in three years to another, larger location. Either that, or plant another church from Element. (Not me personally, but Element daughter a church) Maybe a video campus here in Cheyenne. (That is a whole other blog) #2 The risk! This is by far the BIGGEST decision I've EVER made in ministry. Moving here affected just my family. Moving now to a building affects our entire church. This is a financial risk for us. We have it made at the theater. But I don't want to "have it made". I want to anticipate God will show up when we need him. He won't lead us down a road He can't provide on. Financially this is a faith move for us.
--- 1st and 3rd service were full. In 3rd we had folks on the front row. I hate that. It's so uncomfortable. Heard one of the families on the front were first time guests too.
--- 55 in e:coustic today. That's up from previous weeks. That's good!
--- I preached on mission, vision and where we're going as a church today and how we'll get there. I want to blog a little this week about what I preached on. I think our decision making process is so helpful to what we do. Maybe it can help another pastor who reads this. Maybe not. I'll blog it anyway.
--- Partnership class this Sunday at 4 PM. Don't miss out on that. If you want to take the next step in Element to get more plugged in and be a part of what's going on you need to come to that.
--- Seriously, Elementers, you guys are the GREATEST! I absolutely love, LOVE leading this church! Can't imagine not doing this.
--- That's it for now. Blog more later.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Friday, April 25, 2008
First steps
While at my grandma's house in St. Louis, our 4th child took her first steps. Jonah took his first steps at her house too many moons ago. Something magic about their house. We didn't have our video camera, but thanks to the beauty of technology I caught it on my Blackberry.
We get SO excited for steps our children take don't we? First smile...first roll over...first crawl...first words...first steps. All those steps of life we celebrate. How much more does God and His angels celebrate when we take steps in Him? Every step you take, every move you make (sounds like a song huh?) in God's direction He celebrates. Anyway, just thought of that. I love what I heard a pastor recently say and I've used it since. "Christianity is a series of steps" It really is. What is your next step in your faith? What is He asking of you?
Stepping toward Him,
Jeff
We get SO excited for steps our children take don't we? First smile...first roll over...first crawl...first words...first steps. All those steps of life we celebrate. How much more does God and His angels celebrate when we take steps in Him? Every step you take, every move you make (sounds like a song huh?) in God's direction He celebrates. Anyway, just thought of that. I love what I heard a pastor recently say and I've used it since. "Christianity is a series of steps" It really is. What is your next step in your faith? What is He asking of you?
Stepping toward Him,
Jeff
Thursday, April 24, 2008
This is how I feel about Sunday...
Hey Element Church! I saw this on a fellow pastors blog. He used it for the same reason. They are announcing some big stuff this Sunday at their church. What God has laid on my heart and what I am sharing at Element on Sunday makes me feel like this little boy. We're talking about what's next at Element, at it scares the living daylights out of me. HA! It scares me in such a way that we MUST rely totally on God. That's a great place to be. Again reminded that if I can accomplish what God asks me to do in my own power, then God didn't do anything. I want to be a part of something that it's obvious, "God has to do this!". Ready to skate,
Jeff
Back in the saddle
Hey Element Church! Our family made it back in town and I'm hitting the grindstone hard to catch up. I intended on doing a couple of blogs while I was away from our hotel room but I forgot my laptop charger so that didn't happen. I got some catching up to do. Some blogs rolling around in my head. Thank you for your prayers for us and our family. There were definitely felt and appreciated. We had a wonderful time celebrating the life of my grandpa. Numbers of people came to the family visitation on Monday and told my Grandma "I wouldn't have known the Lord if it weren't for your husband!" WOW! My grandpa had asked my dad to officiate the funeral and he did a fantastic job. I was so proud of my dad. I can't imagine doing my own father's funeral no matter how much he was ready to go. It's still your dad. We had some great laughs, good cries and memory sharing moments with all of our family. My grandparents were married for 65 years. I'm not sure you could remember life without your spouse after that long. Even though my grandma knows it was best for him to go, she was really struggling with the love of her life not around. My grandma had a stroke a few weeks ago and that is adding to her difficulties as well. She is VERY independent and will now rely on family to help her get around, get dressed and take care of her. Thank you for those who offered your kind words of condolences and support. You guy's are the greatest!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Following Christ,
Jeff
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sermon Series Sneak Peek
Hey Element Church! If you're on the "inside" here you get the heads up on what's coming next. We're announcing our next sermon series Sunday, but you find out today. I'm super excited about this series. It's called "Little Rascals: From Diapers to Diplomas". It will be my first time EVER talking about parenting. I know not everyone is a parent and we will be intentional about making sure that each sermon can relate to everyone in all stages of life. I am DEFINITELY not the perfect parent and in already preparing for this series am being challenged. If you're an Elementer and a parent, you need to be at this series. If you're an Elementer and NOT a parent, you know parents and you need to be at this series. Anyway, here are the graphics for the series. Enjoy.
Is it from God?
Hey Element Church! I posted here and here on making sure that what we do in church is actually God asking us to do it. That our "vision" for a church or ministry IS the call of God. While those two posts definitely didn't cover or answer all the possible variables in the call of God, or hearing the voice of God, I still believe it's true. We shouldn't move unless we are dead sure God is behind it. The Israelites didn't move in the wilderness until the cloud lifted and went before them. Moses' vision to lead the people of Israel was ludicrous, but God was behind it. Joshua's vision of taking on Jericho was a death sentence, yet by simply walking God showed up. Nehemiah's vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem was laughed at, yet in 52 days it was done. How do we know if our vision is from God?
We have some major decisions coming our way at Element Church. In fact, over the course of the next week some of the biggest decisions I've had to make as a leader will occur. Second guessing takes place. Sleepless nights. I dream a lot about decisions while I sleep, and I've done that. God has given us a vision to be and do certain things at Element Church, and with that it brings LOTS of uncertainty. It brings risk. It brings fear. I read lots of other pastors blogs. I don't agree with everything I read, or everything these pastors believe. If I only read or listened to people that totally agreed with me, how could I be stretched? I could I be SOLID in what I believe? So keep that in mind as I share what I read on another blog this week. Now, while this is not a "dead set recipe" for knowing, I thought it was some good insight. This is from Perry Noble.
Jeff
We have some major decisions coming our way at Element Church. In fact, over the course of the next week some of the biggest decisions I've had to make as a leader will occur. Second guessing takes place. Sleepless nights. I dream a lot about decisions while I sleep, and I've done that. God has given us a vision to be and do certain things at Element Church, and with that it brings LOTS of uncertainty. It brings risk. It brings fear. I read lots of other pastors blogs. I don't agree with everything I read, or everything these pastors believe. If I only read or listened to people that totally agreed with me, how could I be stretched? I could I be SOLID in what I believe? So keep that in mind as I share what I read on another blog this week. Now, while this is not a "dead set recipe" for knowing, I thought it was some good insight. This is from Perry Noble.
How do you know if your vision is from God? Great question…here are a few suggestions…
- If you feel confident that you can accomplish what is in front of you with no problem at all…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If no one is angry at you…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If you don’t have to ask anyone to sacrifice to make the vision come true…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If religious people are not steaming at you, blogging about you and/or leaving your church…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If you have the money in the bank to do what God has asked you church to do…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If every step is perfectly designed and nothing happens to totally throw you off along the way…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If someone doesn’t try to talk you out of what you are about to attempt…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If you don’t stay up at night thinking about the vision…then you didn’t hear from God.
- If your vision is in contradiction to God’s Word…then you didn’t hear from God. (And no, you didn’t get a “special revelation” that gave you permission to trump His Word!)
- If you know all of the answers…then you didn’t hear from God.
Jeff
Thursday, April 17, 2008
One who will be missed
Hey Element Church! I write this with heavy heart, yet SO HAPPY for what my grandpa is experiencing. About 4:45 PM today I received notification from my mom that my grandpa passed away. He'd been battling for a while now, things turned for the worse Sunday, and after a long week he went home to be with his Savior! My dad, his two sisters and my grandmother were all able to be in the room when he passed. His body didn't struggle and he seemed to go in peace. We thank the Lord for that. My grandpa was ready to die. He wanted to go home. There are few men in my life that I looked up to more than him. I have INCREDIBLE God centered grandparents on both sides of my family. They don't just say it, they ABSOLUTELY live it. Memories have flooded my mind this week. I have GREAT memories of him. Tears have come. But this evening, every so often, I just smile. Grandpa is experiencing his reward. He is with God. I can't fathom that. WOW! Blows me away.
Our family will take off as soon as church is over on Sunday to drive to St. Louis. The funeral will be Monday. In the middle of this sermon series on eternity, my wonderful grandpa is experiencing it. I could fill this blog with things about him. When Sabrina and I got married we didn't know when we'd have kids, but I began praying a prayer for my kids that I have tried to pray every day. I looked up to and valued my grandparents SO MUCH so I prayed that at least my first born would know their grandparents. God answered that prayer and more. I'm not sure how long my kids will remember my grandparents, but they all know today that Papa Great is with Jesus in Heaven. His legacy lives on in them.
I'll miss you grandpa!
Jeff
Our family will take off as soon as church is over on Sunday to drive to St. Louis. The funeral will be Monday. In the middle of this sermon series on eternity, my wonderful grandpa is experiencing it. I could fill this blog with things about him. When Sabrina and I got married we didn't know when we'd have kids, but I began praying a prayer for my kids that I have tried to pray every day. I looked up to and valued my grandparents SO MUCH so I prayed that at least my first born would know their grandparents. God answered that prayer and more. I'm not sure how long my kids will remember my grandparents, but they all know today that Papa Great is with Jesus in Heaven. His legacy lives on in them.
I'll miss you grandpa!
Jeff
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The next One
I am admittedly not a natural evangelist. And by evangelist I don't mean a traveling preacher. I mean the guy who can and does naturally share their faith with anyone at anytime. A true evangelist, with the spiritual gift of evangelism, can share their faith and not be obnoxious about it but actually engage the other person in a real conversation about faith, Jesus and salvation. An evangelist isn't the person who leaves a track on the toilet seat, or yells on the street corner. Anyway, that is for another post. It always gets me excited when I do get the opportunity to share my faith with someone who does not know Jesus and they are actually receptive or even initiate the conversation themselves. Just recently I met someone who openly does not know Jesus YET they are REALLY searching for the Truth. I was able to sit down with them for almost an hour and talk about my faith and theirs and try to answer some questions. In no way is this due to my amazing evangelist skills but to their pursuit of me to ask questions. This person had been turned off by other Christians, even pastors, because they weren't willing to allow them to question or search. The reason is they wanted them to make the decision NOW. I mean "Why wouldn't you do it now right?" Anyway, the reason I titled this "The next One" is because of what keeps me excited about my faith. What keeps me anticipating what will happen at Element Church. What keeps me pumped about what other churches experience. The thing that does this is the "next one" who will receive Jesus. We don't know who it will be but God does. The "next one" could be at your work. The "next one" could be in your home. The "next one" could be the person you meet tomorrow. I've added this person I've met to my prayer list and will pray for them by name each morning. I want to do my best and BE my best to them and around them to try and show them Christ in me. I don't know when or if they will receive Jesus but I know they could be the "next one". Do you have a next one? Do you pray for the "next one"?
Waiting for the next one,
Jeff
Waiting for the next one,
Jeff
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Devotional Thoughts...
Hey Element Church. I just finished John today in my devotional reading and thought I'd share some things I wrote down in my journal. I am and underliner and a writer. If I wrote down everything I underlined in Scripture I'd run out of paper quick, so I don't always journal what I underline. Anyway, I try to journal verses and thoughts that jump out at me more than others as I read that day. Here are some of my thoughts.
Matthew 1:21 --- Jesus came to save HIS people from their sins. No one else could do the job HE had to save HIS people. That is one of things that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. (I was going to say "that is what distinguishes" but I know some goober would say "That is not the ONLY thing...")
Matthew 7:2 --- Jesus never said that we "can't" judge. He said that the standard we use in judging is the standard that will be used against us. I don't have the authority to condemn, but I can tell by someones actions whether they are a "good tree" or a "bad tree".
Matthew 7:5 --- Jesus never said we can't point out the speck in someone else's eye, he said that we must first make sure that our eye is clear. If Pastor Grant, who is of my closest friends, has a speck in his eye, not only do I have the right to point it out, I think I am obligated as his friend. As long as my eyes are free of the "plank". When someone says "YOU CAN'T JUDGE ME!" They are in one sense correct that I don't hold their final judgment, but I sure can judge whether their conduct is fruitful or unfruitful. I know some will disagree, but I think in some cases we are responsible to "judge" our brothers so as to help correct heir behavior.
Matthew 7:12 --- If we do this we'll obey all the law. So hard to do, yet so simple.
Matthew 15:8-9 --- Where so many people are at in their life.
Matthew 18:3 --- Faith like a child.
Matthew 20:1-16 --- Good parable on people who decide to follow Christ later in life. Their reward is STILL the same.
Matthew 24:44 --- When is Jesus coming back? Not sure, I know we just need to be ready.
Matthew 27:9 --- This amazes me. The value of Jesus came to 30 pieces of silver. THAT'S IT!
I wrote this in my journal "The stone was rolled away for the men to see it empty, not for Jesus to walk out. He didn't need help to walk out, HE JUST LEFT!"
I'll catch up on Mark and John later.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Matthew 1:21 --- Jesus came to save HIS people from their sins. No one else could do the job HE had to save HIS people. That is one of things that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. (I was going to say "that is what distinguishes" but I know some goober would say "That is not the ONLY thing...")
Matthew 7:2 --- Jesus never said that we "can't" judge. He said that the standard we use in judging is the standard that will be used against us. I don't have the authority to condemn, but I can tell by someones actions whether they are a "good tree" or a "bad tree".
Matthew 7:5 --- Jesus never said we can't point out the speck in someone else's eye, he said that we must first make sure that our eye is clear. If Pastor Grant, who is of my closest friends, has a speck in his eye, not only do I have the right to point it out, I think I am obligated as his friend. As long as my eyes are free of the "plank". When someone says "YOU CAN'T JUDGE ME!" They are in one sense correct that I don't hold their final judgment, but I sure can judge whether their conduct is fruitful or unfruitful. I know some will disagree, but I think in some cases we are responsible to "judge" our brothers so as to help correct heir behavior.
Matthew 7:12 --- If we do this we'll obey all the law. So hard to do, yet so simple.
Matthew 15:8-9 --- Where so many people are at in their life.
Matthew 18:3 --- Faith like a child.
Matthew 20:1-16 --- Good parable on people who decide to follow Christ later in life. Their reward is STILL the same.
Matthew 24:44 --- When is Jesus coming back? Not sure, I know we just need to be ready.
Matthew 27:9 --- This amazes me. The value of Jesus came to 30 pieces of silver. THAT'S IT!
I wrote this in my journal "The stone was rolled away for the men to see it empty, not for Jesus to walk out. He didn't need help to walk out, HE JUST LEFT!"
I'll catch up on Mark and John later.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Church Planting
This post received some attention today at church. Several people asked about it. lol I figured it would. Just thought I'd add some thoughts about it. First off, I'm not mad at anyone and no one has tried to start a ministry at Element that I don't agree with OR start a church in opposition to Element. For two years now, since February of 2006, I've been in the church planting world, seen many different types of plants, talked to many different planters and run the gamut of hearing all types of planting stories. I've also seen and/or heard of all types of churches struggling with the "we should start this ministry" syndrome. From these things I've seen/heard I came to the conclusion of those top five reasons. They serve as a warning sign to ME because we are all susceptible to doing things for OUR sake and not Christ's. To me, the ONLY reason for doing anything in the church is the voice of God. ANYTHING! I've done things for MY sake in church. I've probably done some things at Element for MY sake. I don't want to do that. I don't want to see other guys do that. Anyway, it had been on my heart lately. I had started that blog on numerous occasions and erased it all. It all came out on Thursday. Church planting is near to my heart and I love seeing healthy church plants. I hurt to see it done unhealthy. Anyway, just from my heart. Thanks for listening.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Following Christ,
Jeff
Sunday Rumination (4-13-08)
Hey Element Church! Did some fun stuff today at church. Another great day and here are my ruminations on it!
--- 10 people acknowledged that they accepted Christ into their hearts today. YES! Again, that is what it is all about. Offering people Life in Christ fires me up. Pray for these new followers of Christ that the Holy Spirit will empower them to grow and strengthen in their faith.
--- 455 in attendance today. I'd love to stay in the 450 - 500 range while we continue to seek and pray for a new location to open up. We've passed 500 twice but just not sure how long we can sustain those #'s in the situation we are in. We'll continue to do church with all our might knowing that our God is not bound by walls, #'s of seats or movie times. God will continue to connect people with Life REGARDLESS. Amen? (Ha, now I've started preachin')
--- We tackled the subject of death and hell today. Wow, the gravity of death and the reality of hell still weighs on me. I'm sure I thought about it more this week than usual but it just blows my mind that people will die to today and experience hell. That weighed on my heart so heavy this week. I think it should every week. For more, read this.
--- To illustrate death and the reality that we'll all "go back in the box" I was carried into service in an enclosed coffin today. First of all, the next time I do that I HOPE I'M REALLY DEAD! That is not a "happy" feeling to lay in a casket and be carried to the platform. I don't do well in enclosed spaces.
Apologies to the first service. I had intended to start my sermon from inside the enclosed coffin and then come out. I couldn't hear anything in their so I started my sermon not knowing that on the outside my mic was cutting in and out and no one knew what I was saying. I got pretty flustered in the casket cause' I knew something wasn't right. Felt it affected the entire sermon after that. The sound issue really messed up. For service 2 and 3 I just opened up the casket right away and started off. Seemed to work MUCH better. Props to the four guys who carried me in and down the stairs. Tough stuff!
--- The band sounded GREAT again today. We opened the service with a cool instrumental. You'll have to watch online to check it out. The theme of worship was "salvation" today. Adam did a great job with worship on a tough week with hell. Singing of Jesus' provision for us and rescue from sin, death and darkness to righteousness, life and light was very appropriate.
--- Had two new theater workers letting us in today. They were not only on time, had doors open, lights on, BUT they helped with set up. They did a bunch of stuff for us. It was great!
--- 1 PM movie today, but the theater manager told our lobby crew it started at noon so we tore everything down and had nothing for 3rd service guests on their way out. Mis-communication.
--- Got news this morning that my Grandpa (dad's side) is not doing well at all. He's been in the hospital off and on for over a month now. A few months ago we thought he wasn't going to make it, everyone had said their goodbyes and funeral plans were made. He miraculously pulled through. As of today, they're not sure he'll make it through tonight. We're waiting to see what happens and if he does pass we'll be driving out to St. Louis to be with family and attend the funeral. Your prayers would be appreciated. He is 89 years old, LOVES GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART, and is READY to face eternity. I thought about him a lot today as we talked about eternity. He is one of the men who has influenced my life the greatest. Such a great example of being a godly man. Passed on to his son, then me, now hopefully I can do just as good passing it on to mine.
--- Speaking of MY son. Not good when the # for the pastor's kid flashes up on the screen from e:kidz. Let's just say this...I think Jonah thought he was gonna face eternity when I dealt with him once we got home! LOL He tried to pretend he was asleep when I came in his room. The anticipation of discipline is FAR worse than the actual sometimes.
--- Two more weeks with Eternity. This weekend I'll be trying to answer the question that everyone wants to know "What is the meaning of life?". The final week of Eternity is going to be FUN. Can't share everything for that week yet. ha ha ha
--- Our next two series are going to be a BLAST. We're tackling parenting in May, then in June we're doing a series that will be perhaps the toughest I've EVER done! WOW, do I need to get prayed up for that one. It's called "Untouchables" and we'll be tackling four subjects that the church needs to address. It is going to be tough. Adam came up with an amazing graphic for it. I'll unveil the graphics this week for those two series.
--- That's about it! Heading for my Sunday afternoon nap! Thanks Element Church for being a WONDERFUL group of people to serve. You guys are the best!
Following Christ,
Jeff
--- 10 people acknowledged that they accepted Christ into their hearts today. YES! Again, that is what it is all about. Offering people Life in Christ fires me up. Pray for these new followers of Christ that the Holy Spirit will empower them to grow and strengthen in their faith.
--- 455 in attendance today. I'd love to stay in the 450 - 500 range while we continue to seek and pray for a new location to open up. We've passed 500 twice but just not sure how long we can sustain those #'s in the situation we are in. We'll continue to do church with all our might knowing that our God is not bound by walls, #'s of seats or movie times. God will continue to connect people with Life REGARDLESS. Amen? (Ha, now I've started preachin')
--- We tackled the subject of death and hell today. Wow, the gravity of death and the reality of hell still weighs on me. I'm sure I thought about it more this week than usual but it just blows my mind that people will die to today and experience hell. That weighed on my heart so heavy this week. I think it should every week. For more, read this.
--- To illustrate death and the reality that we'll all "go back in the box" I was carried into service in an enclosed coffin today. First of all, the next time I do that I HOPE I'M REALLY DEAD! That is not a "happy" feeling to lay in a casket and be carried to the platform. I don't do well in enclosed spaces.
Apologies to the first service. I had intended to start my sermon from inside the enclosed coffin and then come out. I couldn't hear anything in their so I started my sermon not knowing that on the outside my mic was cutting in and out and no one knew what I was saying. I got pretty flustered in the casket cause' I knew something wasn't right. Felt it affected the entire sermon after that. The sound issue really messed up. For service 2 and 3 I just opened up the casket right away and started off. Seemed to work MUCH better. Props to the four guys who carried me in and down the stairs. Tough stuff!
--- The band sounded GREAT again today. We opened the service with a cool instrumental. You'll have to watch online to check it out. The theme of worship was "salvation" today. Adam did a great job with worship on a tough week with hell. Singing of Jesus' provision for us and rescue from sin, death and darkness to righteousness, life and light was very appropriate.
--- Had two new theater workers letting us in today. They were not only on time, had doors open, lights on, BUT they helped with set up. They did a bunch of stuff for us. It was great!
--- 1 PM movie today, but the theater manager told our lobby crew it started at noon so we tore everything down and had nothing for 3rd service guests on their way out. Mis-communication.
--- Got news this morning that my Grandpa (dad's side) is not doing well at all. He's been in the hospital off and on for over a month now. A few months ago we thought he wasn't going to make it, everyone had said their goodbyes and funeral plans were made. He miraculously pulled through. As of today, they're not sure he'll make it through tonight. We're waiting to see what happens and if he does pass we'll be driving out to St. Louis to be with family and attend the funeral. Your prayers would be appreciated. He is 89 years old, LOVES GOD WITH ALL HIS HEART, and is READY to face eternity. I thought about him a lot today as we talked about eternity. He is one of the men who has influenced my life the greatest. Such a great example of being a godly man. Passed on to his son, then me, now hopefully I can do just as good passing it on to mine.
--- Speaking of MY son. Not good when the # for the pastor's kid flashes up on the screen from e:kidz. Let's just say this...I think Jonah thought he was gonna face eternity when I dealt with him once we got home! LOL He tried to pretend he was asleep when I came in his room. The anticipation of discipline is FAR worse than the actual sometimes.
--- Two more weeks with Eternity. This weekend I'll be trying to answer the question that everyone wants to know "What is the meaning of life?". The final week of Eternity is going to be FUN. Can't share everything for that week yet. ha ha ha
--- Our next two series are going to be a BLAST. We're tackling parenting in May, then in June we're doing a series that will be perhaps the toughest I've EVER done! WOW, do I need to get prayed up for that one. It's called "Untouchables" and we'll be tackling four subjects that the church needs to address. It is going to be tough. Adam came up with an amazing graphic for it. I'll unveil the graphics this week for those two series.
--- That's about it! Heading for my Sunday afternoon nap! Thanks Element Church for being a WONDERFUL group of people to serve. You guys are the best!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Thursday, April 10, 2008
5 reasons NOT to start a church...
...or any other ministry. Just because you've been to (insert name of church) and REALLY LIKED it doesn't mean you should start one yourself OR that your town needs one. I know, coming from someone who started a church that is ironic. Just because (insert name of church) started a ministry DOESN'T MEAN your church needs to start one. I've fallen for the trap in ministry before, maybe you have to, of seeing something work somewhere else and AUTOMATICALLY thinking "If we do that we'll get the same results." I've implemented programs, ministries, strategies and the like into youth ministries and churches I've led thinking they will give me the same results (insert church name) got. SO, that being said, here are my top 5 reasons NOT to start a church or any other ministry.
#5 I'm tired of being told what church should be like. HA. We start a church because we're tired of being told how church should be like, so we're going to do it how WE think it should be like. You know what happens as soon as, oh I don't know, five people are coming to your church? SOMEONE IS GOING TO TELL YOU HOW CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE. Even with the success of Element, we've got our fair share of people, FROM OUR CHURCH, telling us how they think church should be done. That will never go away. EVER! People have opinions, they have preferences, that doesn't make them evil OR give you license to start a new church OR ministry.
#4 I was a good youth pastor (or staff pastor). LOL Funny thing is I WAS A YOUTH PASTOR before this. If you think you want to start a church because you were a good youth pastor and/or you could do church better, DON'T. A lot of guys start churches because they think they can do church better than the one they are already serving in. Did I always agree with my sr. pastor? No. Would I have done some things differently? Yes. Is that my reason for starting a new church. ABSOLUTELY, 100% NO!
#3 (insert name) thinks I could start a church. (insert name) likes my idea. Umm, unless GOD thinks you could start a church and GOD likes your idea you shouldn't do it. And if you are serving in a church and your pastor/leadership team doesn't feel "led" or "called" to do what your idea is, maybe they aren't the ones with the wrong vision. Just saying. Too many churches start and fail, and too many ministries start and stale because someone supports "MY" idea. Note "MY" idea.
#2 It worked for... Willow Creek, Saddleback, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble. I don't care if it worked for the Apostle Paul it doesn't mean we'll get the same results. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked "What model of church are you?" What they want to know is, are you doing church like Willow, Saddleback, NewSpring, Mars Hill (either one), or any other successful church. Why can't we do church like Element? I've been influenced by MANY churches and pastors, and most of them you would never know their name. I know of people who attend a church like one listed above, come back to their town and because their town doesn't have one of "those" churches they think one should be started. WHY? Maybe God doesn't want one of those churches in town. He may want you to start one but ONE THAT IS YOU AND NOT RICK WARREN! Now I have used ideas, principles and approaches from guys and churches like I mentioned, but THEY ARE NOT A REASON TO START A CHURCH OR A MINISTRY! What's funny is, typically when someone says we need a (insert name) type church or ministry, they start it and it's NOTHING like (insert name) would have done it. In fact they probably would hate it.
#1 I don't like..."...any churches in my town." "the ministries in our church." "my pastor." "my job." I'll take the last one first. If you don't like your job STARTING A CHURCH WON'T FIX THAT! Nuff' said. I've heard of and spoken to so many guys who use the "I don't like..." method of church planting or ministry adding. You know what? When it comes to something as serious as planting a church or starting a ministry, GOD COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE? He cares about what YOUR CITY and what YOUR CHURCH umm... I don't know NEEDS! And maybe, JUST MAYBE we don't always know what our church or city needs. If you don't like your pastor try PRAYING FOR HIM, or SUPPORTING HIM. If you don't like the ministries in the church try SERVING IN THEM TO MAKE THEM BETTER. If you don't like any churches in your town, well, tough cookies. It's not a reason to start one. This is by far THE MOST ABUSED REASON for starting churches and ministries in America.
Why did I start a church? Why SHOULD I start a church (or ministry)? Only...ONLY because the voice of God stirs my heart. ONLY! It was scary enough for me to start this church KNOWING that the only reason was that God was asking me to. If I were doing it for any of these other reasons I would be DOOMED to fail and KNOW IT from day one. NONE of those reasons are reasons to start a church. Ok, I'm done. That's been on my heart lately.
For more read this and this.
Listening for the call,
Jeff
#5 I'm tired of being told what church should be like. HA. We start a church because we're tired of being told how church should be like, so we're going to do it how WE think it should be like. You know what happens as soon as, oh I don't know, five people are coming to your church? SOMEONE IS GOING TO TELL YOU HOW CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE. Even with the success of Element, we've got our fair share of people, FROM OUR CHURCH, telling us how they think church should be done. That will never go away. EVER! People have opinions, they have preferences, that doesn't make them evil OR give you license to start a new church OR ministry.
#4 I was a good youth pastor (or staff pastor). LOL Funny thing is I WAS A YOUTH PASTOR before this. If you think you want to start a church because you were a good youth pastor and/or you could do church better, DON'T. A lot of guys start churches because they think they can do church better than the one they are already serving in. Did I always agree with my sr. pastor? No. Would I have done some things differently? Yes. Is that my reason for starting a new church. ABSOLUTELY, 100% NO!
#3 (insert name) thinks I could start a church. (insert name) likes my idea. Umm, unless GOD thinks you could start a church and GOD likes your idea you shouldn't do it. And if you are serving in a church and your pastor/leadership team doesn't feel "led" or "called" to do what your idea is, maybe they aren't the ones with the wrong vision. Just saying. Too many churches start and fail, and too many ministries start and stale because someone supports "MY" idea. Note "MY" idea.
#2 It worked for... Willow Creek, Saddleback, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble. I don't care if it worked for the Apostle Paul it doesn't mean we'll get the same results. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked "What model of church are you?" What they want to know is, are you doing church like Willow, Saddleback, NewSpring, Mars Hill (either one), or any other successful church. Why can't we do church like Element? I've been influenced by MANY churches and pastors, and most of them you would never know their name. I know of people who attend a church like one listed above, come back to their town and because their town doesn't have one of "those" churches they think one should be started. WHY? Maybe God doesn't want one of those churches in town. He may want you to start one but ONE THAT IS YOU AND NOT RICK WARREN! Now I have used ideas, principles and approaches from guys and churches like I mentioned, but THEY ARE NOT A REASON TO START A CHURCH OR A MINISTRY! What's funny is, typically when someone says we need a (insert name) type church or ministry, they start it and it's NOTHING like (insert name) would have done it. In fact they probably would hate it.
#1 I don't like..."...any churches in my town." "the ministries in our church." "my pastor." "my job." I'll take the last one first. If you don't like your job STARTING A CHURCH WON'T FIX THAT! Nuff' said. I've heard of and spoken to so many guys who use the "I don't like..." method of church planting or ministry adding. You know what? When it comes to something as serious as planting a church or starting a ministry, GOD COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE? He cares about what YOUR CITY and what YOUR CHURCH umm... I don't know NEEDS! And maybe, JUST MAYBE we don't always know what our church or city needs. If you don't like your pastor try PRAYING FOR HIM, or SUPPORTING HIM. If you don't like the ministries in the church try SERVING IN THEM TO MAKE THEM BETTER. If you don't like any churches in your town, well, tough cookies. It's not a reason to start one. This is by far THE MOST ABUSED REASON for starting churches and ministries in America.
Why did I start a church? Why SHOULD I start a church (or ministry)? Only...ONLY because the voice of God stirs my heart. ONLY! It was scary enough for me to start this church KNOWING that the only reason was that God was asking me to. If I were doing it for any of these other reasons I would be DOOMED to fail and KNOW IT from day one. NONE of those reasons are reasons to start a church. Ok, I'm done. That's been on my heart lately.
For more read this and this.
Listening for the call,
Jeff
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Hell week!
Hey Element Church! No, we're not doing any horrible initiation rituals or anything. Isn't hell week what they call Frat initiation time? Anyway. I was able to work on my message for Sunday most of the day today. I told Terri at the end of the day that I think it's the first time I've dedicated an entire message to death and hell. I've definitely talked about hell and probably hung some people over it when I shouldn't have, but never done a whole message on it. I am VERY excited about an illustration we're doing this week. It'll definitely be a first for me. You won't want to miss it. One thing I'm saying in my message is that I DO NOT like talking about hell, but I AM NOT afraid to. Hell is REAL. It is HORRIBLE. And it is a place that people are dying and going to EVERY DAY! That scares me. Not for me, but for everyone who is headed for eternity without knowing Jesus. People must know the truth about Heaven and hell.
Now, I am convinced of this. About a year ago I felt a shift in my heart. I've always said the old cliche question "Where would you go if you died tonight?" Or "If you died today, do you know if you'd go to Heaven?" Now, those are ok questions I guess, but I began to wonder if we were asking the wrong question. I think we're asking the wrong question. Instead of asking "Where would you go if you died?" What if we asked "Where COULD you go if you LIVED today?!" LIFE is what we long for. Life is what we need. And you know what? If I LIVE for Jesus today, guess where I go if I die? We've so focused on death so much that I think we forget to live. We've so taught about Heaven so much that I think we forget people are going to hell. I know for myself I need and want a higher awareness and sensitivity to the fact that people around me may be headed for eternity away from God, and are living their lives without the fullness of knowing Jesus. MAN that should rock our world. Does it yours?
Hell week. It's going to be a heavy week at Element, but what an opportunity to offer life. Be praying for us this week as we tackle this subject.
Now, I am convinced of this. About a year ago I felt a shift in my heart. I've always said the old cliche question "Where would you go if you died tonight?" Or "If you died today, do you know if you'd go to Heaven?" Now, those are ok questions I guess, but I began to wonder if we were asking the wrong question. I think we're asking the wrong question. Instead of asking "Where would you go if you died?" What if we asked "Where COULD you go if you LIVED today?!" LIFE is what we long for. Life is what we need. And you know what? If I LIVE for Jesus today, guess where I go if I die? We've so focused on death so much that I think we forget to live. We've so taught about Heaven so much that I think we forget people are going to hell. I know for myself I need and want a higher awareness and sensitivity to the fact that people around me may be headed for eternity away from God, and are living their lives without the fullness of knowing Jesus. MAN that should rock our world. Does it yours?
Hell week. It's going to be a heavy week at Element, but what an opportunity to offer life. Be praying for us this week as we tackle this subject.
Monday, April 7, 2008
And now...
Final drum roll please...? /\/\/\/\/\ *those are drumsticks* Here are my top three memories of the past 10 months.
#3 Gas buy down. With 502 people in church this past Sunday, what we did last May seems even crazier to me. I think God sometimes clouds our "fear factor" in moments when we need to advance without fear. We had about 10 - 12 committed Elementers on Memorial Day weekend when we pulled this thing off. We recruited family and friends to come help from Greeley, Oklahoma and Gillette just to have enough help. We wanted our first event in the city to be a servant project, and we thought helping people fill their gas tanks would be a great service. We had no real consistent offering coming in, no volunteer base, no way to really promote the event. You can read all about this event and how it worked in the following blogs. Bunch of posts on this one here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Little did I know where Element would go from here. I almost put this #1. It definitely gets the award for "Most Posts On The Blog For One Event".
#2 Element Gives Back. HOLY COW was this fun! We developed a blog to log all the stories of ways people gave back. Go to www.elementgivesback.com to check it out. We planned in August to do a sermon series in January on finances/stewardship. As we were approaching the series we began talking about how we were going to illustrate the scriptural principle of tithing and portraying the idea that "this money is not our own". The gives back idea is not original to us. We saw another church do this in a different way, so we prayed about it and felt like it would be an AMAZING way to model this and that God wanted us to do it. We felt like to do it correctly we wanted to give back one weeks entire offering to the congregation. So we made the decision that the offering from January 6th, we would give back in varying increments to the congregation, on January 13th. Little did we know the kind of impact it would have on our congregation. We spoke truthfully and openly about finances and God's command for us to give 10% of our income back to Him. This is something we hope to do every year at surprise times. It not only teaches the congregation to give back, but it keeps Element Church in that mode as well. You can read all about it here, here and here.
#1b October 7th, 2007 is a day I will never...NEVER forget. I cannot tell you how it feels as someone whom God called to come plant this church, to stand at the door of a theater and watch over 200 people come to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. When we decided to do this thing I didn't have a clue if 2 people would come, let alone 200. I was amazed. ABSOLUTELY AMAZED! To literally begin to see the vision unfold before your eyes. To see the promises of God be fulfilled. Yet it was only the beginning. That day we worked SO HARD to get to, I stood there and said "This is only the beginning.". God didn't call us to launch Sunday. God didn't call us to "start" a church. He called us to lead this church, and I'll do it till I die or He calls me on. I think this would make any list I make from here on out. Not sure how launch Sunday doesn't take the cake. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.
#1a Another #1 is yet to come. Element Church, God is not done with you yet. What amazes me is the new stories that come, will blow these out of the water. God is in the business of doing AMAZING things through His people. It was fun for me to recount these stories, so if no one else enjoyed it I did. And to think, my wife had to talk me into start blogging. I'm so glad I did so we have record of all the things God has done. I'll leave you with this from Isaiah 55
"And these events will be great honor to the Lord's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love."
Greater things are yet to come,
Jeff
#3 Gas buy down. With 502 people in church this past Sunday, what we did last May seems even crazier to me. I think God sometimes clouds our "fear factor" in moments when we need to advance without fear. We had about 10 - 12 committed Elementers on Memorial Day weekend when we pulled this thing off. We recruited family and friends to come help from Greeley, Oklahoma and Gillette just to have enough help. We wanted our first event in the city to be a servant project, and we thought helping people fill their gas tanks would be a great service. We had no real consistent offering coming in, no volunteer base, no way to really promote the event. You can read all about this event and how it worked in the following blogs. Bunch of posts on this one here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Little did I know where Element would go from here. I almost put this #1. It definitely gets the award for "Most Posts On The Blog For One Event".
#2 Element Gives Back. HOLY COW was this fun! We developed a blog to log all the stories of ways people gave back. Go to www.elementgivesback.com to check it out. We planned in August to do a sermon series in January on finances/stewardship. As we were approaching the series we began talking about how we were going to illustrate the scriptural principle of tithing and portraying the idea that "this money is not our own". The gives back idea is not original to us. We saw another church do this in a different way, so we prayed about it and felt like it would be an AMAZING way to model this and that God wanted us to do it. We felt like to do it correctly we wanted to give back one weeks entire offering to the congregation. So we made the decision that the offering from January 6th, we would give back in varying increments to the congregation, on January 13th. Little did we know the kind of impact it would have on our congregation. We spoke truthfully and openly about finances and God's command for us to give 10% of our income back to Him. This is something we hope to do every year at surprise times. It not only teaches the congregation to give back, but it keeps Element Church in that mode as well. You can read all about it here, here and here.
#1b October 7th, 2007 is a day I will never...NEVER forget. I cannot tell you how it feels as someone whom God called to come plant this church, to stand at the door of a theater and watch over 200 people come to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. When we decided to do this thing I didn't have a clue if 2 people would come, let alone 200. I was amazed. ABSOLUTELY AMAZED! To literally begin to see the vision unfold before your eyes. To see the promises of God be fulfilled. Yet it was only the beginning. That day we worked SO HARD to get to, I stood there and said "This is only the beginning.". God didn't call us to launch Sunday. God didn't call us to "start" a church. He called us to lead this church, and I'll do it till I die or He calls me on. I think this would make any list I make from here on out. Not sure how launch Sunday doesn't take the cake. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.
#1a Another #1 is yet to come. Element Church, God is not done with you yet. What amazes me is the new stories that come, will blow these out of the water. God is in the business of doing AMAZING things through His people. It was fun for me to recount these stories, so if no one else enjoyed it I did. And to think, my wife had to talk me into start blogging. I'm so glad I did so we have record of all the things God has done. I'll leave you with this from Isaiah 55
"And these events will be great honor to the Lord's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love."
Greater things are yet to come,
Jeff
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Blog Link
Hey guys! Just wanted to link you to Adams blog. I had almost blogged about how Adam was feeling today but thought I'd leave that up to him, lol, and he did. It was one of those Sundays for him where I think spiritually he was just really feeling attacked. We prayed about it before first service and I really felt like God used him and the band today. Anyway, thought I'd link you to that.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Following Christ,
Jeff
Sunday Rumination (4-6-08)
Hey Element Church! Three services took it's toll on my today more than any. I am worn out today. Not sure what the difference is. We had GREAT services today. Here is my rumination on the day.
--- We had no worship guides or connection cards today. Poor Curtis took them home on Friday night so he and his wife could stuff the guides with the connection cards. Somewhere between then and this morning, he put them on top of his wife's car, who then drove off with them on the car. Somewhere in Cheyenne someone knows A LOT about Element Church. Heather was rummaging through dumpsters in the area this morning looking for them. Needless to say it was quite the morning for them two. I gave Curtis a hard time about it from the platform. He took it like a champ.
--- Speaking of Curtis. He is leading Varsity Fusion tonight in a Random Act of Kindness that my wife and I are DEFINITELY taking advantage of. For 2 hours they are watching Element Kids so their parents can go on a date. HOOK ME UP! That link I posted goes to Curtis' blog. They are doing a fantastic job leading Fusion.
--- 502 in worship today. WOW! Folks, that blows my mind.
--- Had a noon movie again today. With our growth and the movie times something is gonna have to change. Announcement coming? We'll see!
--- Road Crew tear down was AMAZING today. The noon movie was not in our theater but a 12:30 one was. We were out the door by 12:10. People were walking in with their popcorn and sodas as we were closing the door.
--- I thought the worship set Adam put together was GREAT! I felt the "theme" of the set was Adams best as far as themeing everything together. We sang I Can Only Imagine and people seemed to really engage in that one.
--- It sure seems people are beginning to experience freedom in worship. Just seeing more and more people engage physically and emotionally to the worship.
--- Started our Eternity series today. Talked about Heaven. I felt it went really well. I was struggling earlier this week putting something together since it is such a HUGE topic. I ended up feeling great about it leading into today and after today.
--- Next week will be tough. Tackling the subject of hell. The reality of it according to Scripture.
--- We had a better turnout in e:coustic today. That service hasn't grown like I'd like thus far but we saw some good growth from last week. I think we had around 50 in there today. Only 33 last week. It's helped alleviate a little pressure in the other services. We could use some more road crew help in there to set up. If you're interested you can email me.
--- Sundays fly by for me with the craziness of the three service transitions. I start out in our main worship center then head over to e:coustic at 7:30 to help the road crew there. By the way, to the guys who are helping in e:coustic, YOU ARE DOING AWESOME! Keep it up. Then we tear down and we're out. Amazing how quickly it goes by. Hard to imagine we are at the theater for 6 hours on a given Sunday.
--- I can't say this enough...All the Element volunteers are incredible! You guys make Sunday morning what it is.
--- Love serving and leading you guys. Thanks for allowing me the pleasure of doing it.
Following Christ,
Jeff
--- We had no worship guides or connection cards today. Poor Curtis took them home on Friday night so he and his wife could stuff the guides with the connection cards. Somewhere between then and this morning, he put them on top of his wife's car, who then drove off with them on the car. Somewhere in Cheyenne someone knows A LOT about Element Church. Heather was rummaging through dumpsters in the area this morning looking for them. Needless to say it was quite the morning for them two. I gave Curtis a hard time about it from the platform. He took it like a champ.
--- Speaking of Curtis. He is leading Varsity Fusion tonight in a Random Act of Kindness that my wife and I are DEFINITELY taking advantage of. For 2 hours they are watching Element Kids so their parents can go on a date. HOOK ME UP! That link I posted goes to Curtis' blog. They are doing a fantastic job leading Fusion.
--- 502 in worship today. WOW! Folks, that blows my mind.
--- Had a noon movie again today. With our growth and the movie times something is gonna have to change. Announcement coming? We'll see!
--- Road Crew tear down was AMAZING today. The noon movie was not in our theater but a 12:30 one was. We were out the door by 12:10. People were walking in with their popcorn and sodas as we were closing the door.
--- I thought the worship set Adam put together was GREAT! I felt the "theme" of the set was Adams best as far as themeing everything together. We sang I Can Only Imagine and people seemed to really engage in that one.
--- It sure seems people are beginning to experience freedom in worship. Just seeing more and more people engage physically and emotionally to the worship.
--- Started our Eternity series today. Talked about Heaven. I felt it went really well. I was struggling earlier this week putting something together since it is such a HUGE topic. I ended up feeling great about it leading into today and after today.
--- Next week will be tough. Tackling the subject of hell. The reality of it according to Scripture.
--- We had a better turnout in e:coustic today. That service hasn't grown like I'd like thus far but we saw some good growth from last week. I think we had around 50 in there today. Only 33 last week. It's helped alleviate a little pressure in the other services. We could use some more road crew help in there to set up. If you're interested you can email me.
--- Sundays fly by for me with the craziness of the three service transitions. I start out in our main worship center then head over to e:coustic at 7:30 to help the road crew there. By the way, to the guys who are helping in e:coustic, YOU ARE DOING AWESOME! Keep it up. Then we tear down and we're out. Amazing how quickly it goes by. Hard to imagine we are at the theater for 6 hours on a given Sunday.
--- I can't say this enough...All the Element volunteers are incredible! You guys make Sunday morning what it is.
--- Love serving and leading you guys. Thanks for allowing me the pleasure of doing it.
Following Christ,
Jeff
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Top 10 part 2
YO Element Church! Here is #6 - 4. So hard to pick just 10 moments but I'm trying. Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, thought it would be a good blog. And now...
#6 Our first preview service. Before we launched on October 7th of 2007, we did several preview services. Our first one was the first Sunday in July. A preview is just that, sneak peak at what the church will be like. It provides time for the church to "practice" what a Sunday will be like when they launch. Crazy to see our set up from then. We had to haul in every stage piece every week. You can read about it and look at pictures here, here and here.
#5 Two services. Funny how each decision we make gets bigger and bigger. Every decision, at the moment, seems like the biggest decision we've ever made. We actually struggled so much with going to two services. I can't imagine NOT doing two, and now we're doing three. If you'd have told me in November we'd be doing three by March, I would have needed a new pair of pants. You can read about two services here and here.
#4 Egg Drop and Easter: Ok, I'm running out of spots so I had to put two into one. Doing the egg drop and then the full house on Easter are tied for #4. Did I want to be this far by March in our church? YES! Was I shocked? YES! lol, every pastor wants their church to grow like this, but every pastor also knows that each church responds and moves at different paces. God has chosen to bless Element Church in the last 6 months. Here, here and here are Egg Drop and Easter thoughts.
Three through one coming soon!
Following Christ,
Jeff
#6 Our first preview service. Before we launched on October 7th of 2007, we did several preview services. Our first one was the first Sunday in July. A preview is just that, sneak peak at what the church will be like. It provides time for the church to "practice" what a Sunday will be like when they launch. Crazy to see our set up from then. We had to haul in every stage piece every week. You can read about it and look at pictures here, here and here.
#5 Two services. Funny how each decision we make gets bigger and bigger. Every decision, at the moment, seems like the biggest decision we've ever made. We actually struggled so much with going to two services. I can't imagine NOT doing two, and now we're doing three. If you'd have told me in November we'd be doing three by March, I would have needed a new pair of pants. You can read about two services here and here.
#4 Egg Drop and Easter: Ok, I'm running out of spots so I had to put two into one. Doing the egg drop and then the full house on Easter are tied for #4. Did I want to be this far by March in our church? YES! Was I shocked? YES! lol, every pastor wants their church to grow like this, but every pastor also knows that each church responds and moves at different paces. God has chosen to bless Element Church in the last 6 months. Here, here and here are Egg Drop and Easter thoughts.
Three through one coming soon!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Top 10 part 1
Hey Element Church! It's been 10 months since we did our first major servant project and started our Unplugged services (June of 07). With that I wanted to offer my Element Top 10 moments. I'll link you to a few of my archived blogs from my Top 10. It's amazing where God has brought us in 10 months, and I think it's fun to remember what has happened. So, without further adieu, the Element Top 10. Drum roll please....
#10 Starting Life Group and finding our office and finding the theater all in the same month. Here is a link to a blog on our Life Group. 13 people came. I remember how excited I was. It seemed like FOREVER before people came to our group. Here is a link to finding our office. MAN, God provided a great space for us. I think it was and is HUGE to start with an office as soon as possible. And Here is a link to our first tour through the theater. My comments are funny in light what we're going through now.
#9 Egg Hunt Cancelled! In April of 07' we were going to serve at the city egg hunt by providing inflatable games. This would have been our first face into the city. We put an ad in the paper and were REALLY excited about serving and then it got canceled. We were very bummed. Here, here and here are a some posts on it. And look at how GREAT this years event was.
#8 Christmas Outreach. This outreach wasn't as "flashy" as some of the other things we have done but that wasn't the point. I was SO excited to actually help out 4 specific moms and their families over Christmas. They were all blown away. Read about it here and here. 8 moms this year? 12? I hope to go all out again for some families.
#7 First Element Wedding. This was so much fun and it made it so much better to have my boy Grant help perform the ceremony. Read about it here.
This is hard. Didn't know how hard it would be to pick 10. I'll give you four more tomorrow. My top 2 are SET! Easy to name my top 2. But you'll wait.
What are your favorite Element moments?
#10 Starting Life Group and finding our office and finding the theater all in the same month. Here is a link to a blog on our Life Group. 13 people came. I remember how excited I was. It seemed like FOREVER before people came to our group. Here is a link to finding our office. MAN, God provided a great space for us. I think it was and is HUGE to start with an office as soon as possible. And Here is a link to our first tour through the theater. My comments are funny in light what we're going through now.
#9 Egg Hunt Cancelled! In April of 07' we were going to serve at the city egg hunt by providing inflatable games. This would have been our first face into the city. We put an ad in the paper and were REALLY excited about serving and then it got canceled. We were very bummed. Here, here and here are a some posts on it. And look at how GREAT this years event was.
#8 Christmas Outreach. This outreach wasn't as "flashy" as some of the other things we have done but that wasn't the point. I was SO excited to actually help out 4 specific moms and their families over Christmas. They were all blown away. Read about it here and here. 8 moms this year? 12? I hope to go all out again for some families.
#7 First Element Wedding. This was so much fun and it made it so much better to have my boy Grant help perform the ceremony. Read about it here.
This is hard. Didn't know how hard it would be to pick 10. I'll give you four more tomorrow. My top 2 are SET! Easy to name my top 2. But you'll wait.
What are your favorite Element moments?
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Foolish
This post by Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington D.C. was awesome!
Teaser: The people God uses the most are people that aren't afraid of looking foolish. In fact, if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Teaser: The people God uses the most are people that aren't afraid of looking foolish. In fact, if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish!
Following Christ,
Jeff
Heaven is big!
Hey Element Church! No I didn't have a near death experience, but I did figure out through studying my sermon that this is a HUGE subject to tackle. Holy cow! I'm excited about this Sunday's message as we talk about Heaven. I REALLY struggled putting this message together the further I got in because of how much stuff you could talk about. The Bible has a lot to say about Heaven and we have LOTS of questions about it. I finally felt like I broke through this afternoon and I am very excited about the approach we'll be taking as we look at Heaven. I hope we all have a greater understanding of Heaven and eternity after this Sunday.
I spoke at the MOPS group out at Cheyenne Hills this morning. I was a asked a few months ago to come speak on their "salvation message" day and was honored to do so. Adam and I definitely did NOT fit in a room full of women. It was a lot of fun and I appreciated the opportunity to share with the ladies.
I didn't feel real well today. Battled a headache from about noon on. Not sure what was going on. Feel better now. Sab and the kids are over at a friends house so just waiting on them to return. I know, kind of a weird post.
Following Christ,
Jeff
I spoke at the MOPS group out at Cheyenne Hills this morning. I was a asked a few months ago to come speak on their "salvation message" day and was honored to do so. Adam and I definitely did NOT fit in a room full of women. It was a lot of fun and I appreciated the opportunity to share with the ladies.
I didn't feel real well today. Battled a headache from about noon on. Not sure what was going on. Feel better now. Sab and the kids are over at a friends house so just waiting on them to return. I know, kind of a weird post.
Following Christ,
Jeff
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