Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes
It's amazing how a slight adjust in how you do things can make a surprising difference!
Conan O'Brien
FUNNY BONES
Caricaturist John Kascht has captured the essence of celebrities such as Barbra Streisand and Eminem, but now he's giving us a more behind the scenes look at his process with his portrait of Conan O'Brien. If you ask us, Coco never looked better.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial Day 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Apostolic Environments: Alan Hirsch
"We are missionaries at the very core of our being." - Alan Hirsch
Thursday, May 26, 2011
This is church planting!
Behind the scenes. The stuff no-one sees.
Church planting like this, in homes, schools and hotels is the stuff where passion, calling and reality meet.
Why the Wilderness?
Why the Wilderness
Much of the contemporary thinking about the Christian life is flawed. Who in their right mind would choose a wilderness? Most of us would rather be on a stage or be featured as the cover story of some famous magazine.
There is a real need for modern ministries to be “proven.” Too often we catch ourselves being awed by people and ministries that have never been tested in the “wilderness.”
Yes, “Jesus was led up by the Sprit into the wilderness.” I’m quite tired of being made to feel that I should always agree with people who are being “led” to a bigger, or better church/ministry. I am always amazed that the spirit seldom leads most of us anywhere uncomfortable. My advice to you is to never trust any “messiah” who can’t tell you about his or her wilderness.
The wilderness is the place that prepares you to deal with the success virus. After you have been in the wilderness, you hopefully have learned that authority is not given to satisfy our fleshly need for bread or in our case more perks. And then there is the problem of the “pinnacle of the temple.” If you think it’s tough in the trenches, you need to get real with yourself. It will be tougher when you are on “top”! Finally, let’s be honest, it’s hard to stay humble when you find yourself surrounded by people who want to make you a king. If you have been to the wilderness, you have settled that there is only One who should be worshipped and it’s not you!
See you in the wilderness!
5-26-2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Pastor Steven Furtick – Purpose over Personality
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Numbers 20:12Everyone is replaceable.
A lot of times we try to motivate people to embrace their calling by saying that if you don’t ______, no one else can. You’re the person God has appointed to do this, and no one else can do it.
It sounds good. Very motivating.
But it simply isn’t true.To the Israelites, it probably seemed like Moses was the only one who could lead them into the Promised Land. But he wasn’t. And so when he wasn’t willing to trust God enough to do what he had been commanded to do, the responsibility and privilege was handed over to someone else.
There’s a scary truth that we all must accept:
Like Moses, you and I are replaceable.Do we really think that if we don’t use our profession as our pulpit, God won’t raise someone else up to do it?
Do we really think God can’t raise up another church to have the impact He wants ours to have if we don’t do what He’s calling us to do?
Do we really think God’s purpose depends solely on us?God is not hamstrung by our disobedience. Or by our unwillingness to join in on what He wants to do in this world. In God’s economy, He values His purpose over the personality He uses to accomplish it. If you won’t do what God is calling you to do, He will simply find somebody else to do it.
Don’t get me wrong, God doesn’t just replace us on a whim or at the first sign of resistance on our part. He chases and pursues us. He is more patient than we can possibly imagine.
But the Creator of the Universe’s purpose is greater than any one person.
You are a part of the plan. But you are not the plan.
You’re special. Valuable. You’re one of a kind.
But you’re not irreplaceable.This isn’t easy to accept, but it’s absolutely essential that we do it. It communicates urgency to us. Not in the sense that God is urgent for us to do something for Him. But urgency in the sense that the window of our opportunity to do something with God isn’t open indefinitely. It has to be seized now.
Believe it or not, there are countless people in this world who would do anything to take your spot in how God wants to use you. Don’t give them the opportunity. Whatever God is calling you to do, do it. And do it now.
One Starry Night
Here's a new project from Group Publishing I'm working on. Just finished this cover and working on the rest of the box and marketing pieces.
It's a great resource for putting on a Christmas event for families at your church.
Very scaleable. It's gonna be a lot of fun!
Glorious Noel-CD Cover Design
Here's a new project (still in process) that I recently did for Mark Condon.
I hand lettered and painted the art myself....on the iPad using Adobe apps and others.
It's good to push yourself creativily every now and then. Do the same thing you've always done, but try different tools, process or methods.
Limit yourself on purpose!
This has become one of my fav CD projects!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Three Words That Will Change Your Ministry: DO IT NOW!
Procrastination has a high cost. For instance, according to one study by H&R Block, Americans pay an average of $400 a year more because we put off doing our taxes and then, we rush at the last minute and make mistakes that cost us more money.
And the cost of procrastination in ministry can be significantly higher. For us, procrastination isn’t measured in dollars; it is measured in ministries never started, people with needs going unmet, and those who are spiritually lost never hearing the gospel.
The Bible says, “Remember, it’s a sin to know what you ought to do and then not to do it.” (James 4:17 NLT) When God calls you to do something, but you don’t do it, it’s not just a bad strategy or a missed blessing. It is sin.
If God has called you to do something in your ministry and you are not doing it, do it now. Not next month, next week, or even tomorrow – do it right now. Proverbs 21:1 says, "Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.” (NLT) None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. You may not have the opportunity to do what God has called you to do tomorrow. You could be saying you’ll do it someday. That someday is today! One of these days is none of these days. Do it today. Start right now!
I talk to guys who say they’re planning to do something in ministry. And I always want to ask, “When are you going to pull the trigger?” They've been taking aim for years; yet, they never seem to get around to pulling the trigger.
Don’t be like that. You need to pull the trigger. These three words could change your ministry forever: DO IT NOW!
Spend a few minutes RIGHT NOW and write down one thing you know God wants you to do in your ministry. Whatever it is, write it down and then put that note in a place where you can’t miss it -- like on your bathroom mirror or on the refrigerator.
But don’t just write it down. Don’t just read it on your refrigerator. Do it -- now! Every time you catch yourself saying you’ll do it later, it should be a warning light that says you’re procrastinating. There's no better time than now. This is the moment of truth. There's got to be a time in your life when you stop intending and start acting. Stop making excuses.
NASA says that getting the rocket off the launch pad requires the most amount of energy. Once the rocket is in orbit, it takes a lot less energy to keep moving forward. That’s why you need to get started now. The initial thrust will start you moving forward.
Artwork by Kirsten Doukas via CreativeSwap.
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times best seller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.
Copyright © 2011 Rick Warren
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Bi-vocational Church-Planters and Pastors...
How do YOU do it? Share your tips here->
- Family?
- Balance?
- Health?
- Prep?
- MTWTF Ministry?
- other stuff....
How you get it done and not skimp an anything? Share your thoughts here and I'll repost it for those facing the same questions.
Wedding Day - 1995
Thursday, May 19, 2011
7 Vital Online Church Planter Resources
7 Vital Online Church Planter Resources
Written by Lauren Hunter // May 19, 2011 // General // No comments
Church planting is always a hot topic. As I comb the web, it seems as though new and valuable resources are cropping up every day to help pastors with a heart for planting churches. Today, I’m sharing with you the top seven resources I’ve found online worthy of sharing with you:
1) ChurchMultiplication.net: Church Multiplication Network (CMN) is
the church planting department for the Assemblies of God (AG) and has just partnered with Fellowship Technologies to offer new church plants free web-based church management software for a full year. Fellowship One, which already supports over 1,800 church and non-profit organizations, will help CMN’s 275+ new church plants get established and grow their respective congregations. The web-based system allows a church of any size, from new church plants to multi-site mega churches, to be more effective in ministry, more efficient in administration, and engage the community. For more information, visit www.fellowshipone.com/churchplants.
2) Church Planter Candidate Assessment Online Tools.
The Church Planter Candidate Assessment (CPCA) is a statistically validated online assessment instrument which helps potential church planters and their respective organizations identify areas of established strength and other areas needing development as they prepare to plant a church.
Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research, and his team at LifeWay Research developed a tool called the “Church Planter Candidate Assessment” (CPCA) to aid churches and other church planting sponsors in evaluating strengths and weaknesses of candidates who desire to establish new churches.
3) ChurchPlanting.com: ChurchPlanting.com aims to equip and encourage church planters who are aimed at winning others into relationship with Christ. Bloggers on the site include a Who’s Who list from the Church Planting World comprised of coaches and authors. These are people who think beyond typical conventions and who are interested in seeing lots of people won into relationship with Christ through church planting.
4) Church Planting Villiage: One stop shop for church planting run by the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
5) The Acts 29 Network: Over the last ten years Acts 29 has emerged from a small band of brothers to almost 400 churches in the United States and networks of churches in multiple countries. They want to allow a unifying, uncommon move of God to happen through Acts 29 — all centered on the gospel and advancing the mission of Jesus through obediently planting church-planting churches. It is their desire to see this leading to millions of lives changed by the power of the Spirit for the glory of God.
6) ChurchPlantingMovements.com: Best church planting practices from across the globe.
7) Church-Planting.net: Passion for Planting is a not-for-profit church planting support ministry started in 2002 by a group of church planters from New Life Christian Church in Centreville, Virginia. New Life was started as a church planting church, and, through God’s blessing, they have helped start many additional growing churches. In 2002, their vision was to help start one new church every year and to be actively working with at least 4 church planters at any given time. Through God’s blessing, they’ve helped over 100 new churches. Passion for Planting is an outgrowth of their local church experience and their passion to help start healthy new churches.
So there you have it, seven great resources to aid you as you walk along your church planting journey. If I have missed any other good church planting resources, please leave a comment with an additional resource.
Lauren Hunter is a freelance writer, church technology consultant (http://laurenhunter.net) and founder of the blog ChurchTechToday (http://ChurchTechToday.com), Technology for Today’s Church.
Killing My Cool » Wayne Francis
Killing My Cool
God is killing my cool.
There is an uber-creative side of me that is definitely a part of everything I do, but for some reason my creativity has assumed a recalcitrant posture, like a stubborn child sent to time-out because he wouldn’t behave. I’ve reached an impasse where cool doesn’t cut it. I’m not sure if it ever did. The more I understand the redemptive mission of the Spirit, and the more I try to partner with it, the more I figure out that it doesn’t have to be cool. It often isn’t cool…at least not primarily.
God is killing any coolness I thought I might have had.
For the first time in a very long while, I am totally dependent on Christ to make me successful in the things that I’m doing (and not just with our church). As I’ve immersed myself back into a secular employment, I’m learning to adapt to a new environment that isn’t a bit passive and where success is determined by performance. My work determines my stability. What a juxtaposition of realities. In one context, I’m judged by what I produce and by what work I bring to the table, and in the other, my work[s] means nothing. The cool things I’ve made in my professional portfolio is only good for yesterday in my secular career, leaving me to find solace and dependency on Christ for all things…not just spiritual things. I need Christ to make me excel in all my endeavors. Sounds strange, like a no-brainer, but this feeling has not been as familiar up until recently. Everything that I’ve done up until this point has come quite naturally for me.
God is killing all of my cool.
Leaving me to wake up desperately needing the grace given for that day and, most times, to feel so awkwardly unprepared for the position of leading. Killing my cool and making the large and grandiose claims I’ve shouted from my gut feel like mere platitude. Killing my cool all day long. No place to hide from the sword of the Spirit, executing all my idols.
Don’t get me wrong, God is not killing my cool to replace it with having a poor looking website or shabby artwork for thrown-together publication pieces. He’s killing my need to be considered cool, my hunger to do things because it’d be cool, my addiction to be affirmed as cool. He’s captivating my attention in a way that feels so fresh.
I’m not left without direction, I’m drawn to deeper devotion. My confidence to lead is empowered by His power to work in me without restraint.
God is killing my cool, and maybe that’s why I’m starting to feel so alive.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
5 Characteristics of a Growing Church
5 Characteristics of a Growing Church
I spent Sunday morning with my friends at the Church on The Eastern Shore in Fairhope, Alabama, a very eclectic artist community near Mobile. I rejoiced with them as hundreds of new faces visited the church on the opening Sunday of their new teaching series. That’s a part of my job that gives me great satisfaction: watching God bless an entire team’s effort. COTE’s story is one that I have seen happen time and time again, but it never grows old. Here’s what I have seen in churches like COTES that succeed in reaching their community for the gospel.
They learn. Growing churches are learning organizations. They are always asking “how can we be better?” They invest resources and in training and helping their staff and volunteers grow. I’m always humbled when I’m asked to consult with a church and help them to stretch beyond where they’ve been.
They have a heart for those outside the faith. Growing churches know that making room for those outside the faith is difficult, messy and expensive, but they choose to do it because to them, reaching out is not an option.
They go the extra mile. I’ve never seen a growing church that didn’t stretch its resources both human as well as financially. They believe that a job worth doing is worth doing well. God deserves our very best.
They believe. Leaders of growing churches know that a crowd is not a church and that unless God shows up, they had a nice assembly and not an experience with the Living God. A meeting, no matter how well planned and exciting it is, never changed anyone’s life. Only God changes people.
They celebrate. A church is, by nature, a volunteer organization. Smart leaders will take the time to pause and celebrate with their entire organization. Gratitude is the currency of volunteerism.
What have you learned about growing churches?
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