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

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

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

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.

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.

Something to think about,

Jeff

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

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

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

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