Pastor Bob - Circle Drive Alliance Church

A Wonderful Easter

2011-05-04T14:27:00.001-07:00

Easter was wonderful. People were happy. Attendance was about 100 people higher than our average for the year. Lots of folks were there that we don’t see as often as we want to. The music was wonderful, the skit went well, the videos worked and the breakfast after the service was excellent.

Preaching on Easter is always good (not that the sermon is always good, but preaching it is). After all there is no more powerful and life-changing message then the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and how that one moment in history changed everything. I love preaching Easter and New Years.

One of the very human things that is so great about Easter is the feeling of a full, even overflowing, church. Every pastor and every church cares about numbers, but not for the reason that you think. Most people (critics) are under the impression that high numbers are about one or both of two things; either the preacher’s ego or the income. Now, I am not saying that these two realities do not play their part, they do. But I am saying that most of the time they are not the primary reason that Easter (and Christmas) attendance gets so much notice.

A very large part of our church, of any church, is community. People connecting with people are a wonderful part of church life. A church is, by biblical definition, the Body of Christ. We need each other. Not only do we need each other, but we thrive only when we are together, complete, whole. God designed us this way. In God’s plan there are no “Lone Ranger” Christians. Now I am not saying you can’t be a Christian and stay away from church, but I will go so far as to say you cannot be a healthy Christian and stay away from church. To state it more clearly; you can’t not be, what God wants you to be, and not be regularly attending church. But this works both ways.

Our church is not fully healthy when you are not there. Our church cannot be, all that God wants it to be, when you are not regularly attending. That is why a full church on Easter morning feels so wonderful. The Body is more complete. That family is fuller and healthier. Your presence really does make a difference for both you and your church.

Now imagine how great it would be if that happened every Sunday?

Church Renewal

2011-04-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ordinary People with Great Dreams

2011-04-11T09:26:00.001-07:00

Moving Forward

2011-04-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

As I write this we are days away from the Saturday, Legacy of Faith Dessert Social. Three weeks after that will be First Fruits weekend. The dessert social will be sowing. At either that event or sometime in the week after that, everyone in our church will be asked to consider being part of something wonderful; part of the ministry of this church. Everyone, including myself and the other leaders of the church will be asked to invest in reaching our community by improving our church building.

Sunday, May 1^st will be a time to reap. That weekend is when you will be asked to consecrate yourself. One of the meanings of consecration is to come with full hands. It is a picture of bringing to God your best and offering it up to Him. On that weekend you will bring in your commitment, what God had led you to give over the next three years. Once that is done we will be able to move forward and over the spring and summer this church building will be renovated and renewed. We will repair the damage, the wear and tear of the past few decades. It will enable us to minister better and present a better image of the God we worship.

But what then? How do we move forward after that? With help from Rick Warren who wrote a blog that inspired this article, I want to take Paul’s words to the church at Philippi and look at them from a whole church (rather than as individuals).

In Philippians 3:12 Paul says “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” To begin with, we have to FACE OUR FAULTS. Paul was not a perfect man. Neither am I and neither are you. And since you and I are not perfect that means our church is not perfect (because we are the church). We hurt each other, we step on each other’s toes, and we sometimes make some bad decisions. In order to move forward we have to start with an honest assessment of who and where we are.

Of course the good news is that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9). And we are called to forgive each other just as Christ has forgiven us (Colossians 3:13).

The second thing Paul would advise us to do it to LET GO OF THE PAST. In verse 13 he says “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” Forgiveness is a first step but it must be followed by leaving it behind as we move forward. Yesterday is over. It is time to let go of the grudges and the hurt. But there is another side to this. We must also forgive ourselves and let go of our guilt and shame.

How do we know if this is a problem? Simply and honestly ask yourself “does this past issue still affect me?” “Does it still cause me pain? “Do I still argue with people, even in my own head, or have I truly let it go?”

As a church, this also means we must let go of past successes. That can be equally as difficult.

Third, we must FOCUS ON THE FUTURE. “…straining toward what is ahead…” is the way Paul put it to the Philippians. I honestly believe that for CDAC our best days can be still ahead. I say can be because we have to make that choice. Are we ready to move forward or will the ugly stains in the carpet or the hidden pain in our hearts, or the past glories of days long gone keep us stuck in the here and now?

If we are willing to look to the future and ask God to take us where He wants to take us we can see great things. But we need to face our faults, let go of our past, and focus on the future. And finally we need to FIGHT TO THE FINISH.

In verse 12 Paul says we need to “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…” Friends, this stuff is not easy. There are expenses that will lead to sacrifice. There is hard work. We must find common vision that we are willing to take hold of even when it means dying to self and putting others first. I believe this can happen. I believe that the Lord of the church has brought us to this point and He will take us the rest of the way.

I love you all and I will see you in church!

Yearning for the Lost

2011-03-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

Doing More with Less

2011-03-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

Failure and Success

2011-03-08T06:40:00.001-08:00

Time for a New Horse

2011-03-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Recently Sue and I went to see the remake of the classic John Wayne movie, “True Grit.” Now I mean no disrespect to the Duke, but I thought this was a very good movie and Jeff Bridges did a great job playing Rooster Cogburn. But there was one scene that helped me to put words to something I have been feeling about our church. Since it is “True Grit” I am going to assume that everyone knows the plot and the ending and I will not worry about spoiling the movie for you.

Towards the end of the movie Mattie Ross, the girl searching for the man who killed her father, gets bit by a rattle snake. Rooster Cogburn, knowing she has very little time before she will die from the snake bite, picks her up, jumps on a horse, and starts riding to the nearest doctor. The doctor is not close and so he rides the horse for all it is worth. There are several scenes of the horse sweating and breathing hard as it runs at a full gallop through the night. Finally, the horse can go no further and in complete exhaustion he lays down. Cogburn, knowing the horse is suffering and will eventually die, shoots him. He had ridden the horse to death. He then picks up Mattie and runs the rest of the way.

Ten years ago God gave us great vision for what this church could be. At the time we were stagnate, mostly irrelevant as far as the community was concerned, and ready for something new. God gave us a vision based on great music in the worship service, relevant and life changing preaching, a wonderful café atmosphere, and a VBS that drew upwards of 300 kids. Circle Drive Alliance Church became the church that would “change the way you think about church.” It was a great vision. By God’s grace we began to “see” what we could become. And it worked. We grew and changed and lived in God’s blessing. BUT… vision is not made to last forever.

The scripture does not change. Our purpose does not change. Our core values have not changed. But vision… is only meant to last three to five years. Vision, what the church could be, changes. Our problem was we did not see the need for change in a timely manner. Like Rooster Cogburn, we rode our vision to death. Now we have a great need for a fresh and new vision; vision that will come from God and be built on the Scripture, purpose, and core values that remain in place; vision that will show us what we could be and will be in the next three to five years.

So where will this vision come from? Two places, God and God’s people. How long will it take to discover this new vision? I think it will take the better part of spring and summer to work through the process. How will we know when we get it right? There will be a wonderful sense of newness and rebirth that will sweep through the church.

Right now we have a lot of work to do to get ready for a new beginning. We have a capital campaign ahead of us. After that we will have to endure a building project. But when they are all done our church building will look fresh and new and we will, once again, be ready for company. And speaking of the capital campaign, I have a request and a rumor I want to clear up. First the request, would you please begin praying about your part in this campaign. The goal will be to raise $275,000 over the next three years. $125,000 of that will be used to pay off the loan to build the Multi Ministries building and $150,000 will cover Phase Two, which is all about being good stewards of our building. And since it is a three-year plan, we will be debt free when we are done. Praise God!

The rumor has to do with the one-on-one visiting that will happen in March. This part of the campaign is called the Advanced Commitment stage. I have heard that the families chosen to receive an Advanced Commitment visit were chosen based on their giving. I want to assure you, that is absolutely not true. As you know, I have no idea who gives how much to this church. There is only one person who tracks that and she does not share that information with anyone, including me. Giving information was never looked at in this process. The families that are getting an advance commitment visit were chosen based on relationships with church leadership, their commitment to the church and, their stage in life. AND… if you would like a visit from someone on the Advanced Commitment Team PLEASE call Pastor Kelvin and let him know. We don’t want to miss anyone.

One more thought on this subject. Please keep Saturday, April 9^th free. On that evening we will be having a dessert social in order to present the vision, need, and opportunity to participate in “Building on a Legacy of Faith.” This will be a no-check time. At this event you will not be asked to write a check or make an on-the-spot commitment. You will be given information and hear from people who are excited about what God is doing. This is for everyone so please save the date and planning on attending.

Winter, spring, and summer this year will not be easy, but they will be exciting. Change is never easy. Birth is never easy. Campaigns and building projects are not easy. But, in the end they can be glorious and God will be exalted. Please pray, engage, and pray some more. To God be the glory!

God bless you and keep praying!

Fresh Vision

2011-03-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

Recently Sue and I went to see the remake of that classic John Wayne movie, “True Grit.” Now I mean no disrespect to the Duke, but I thought this was a very good movie and Jeff Bridges did a great job playing Rooster Cogburn. But there was one scene that helped me to put words to something I have been feeling about our church. Since it is True Grit I am going to assume that everyone knows the plot and the ending and I will not worry about spoiling the movie for you.

Towards the end of the movie Mattie Ross, the girl searching for the man who killed her father, gets bit by a rattle snake. Rooster Cogburn, knowing she has very little time before she will die from the snake bite, picks her up, jumps on a horse, and starts riding to the nearest doctor. The doctor is not close and so he rides the horse for all it is worth. There are several scenes of the horse sweating and breathing hard as it runs at a full gallop through the night. Finally the horse can go no further and in complete exhaustion he lays down. Cogburn, knowing the horse is suffering and will eventually die, shoots him. He had ridden the horse to death. He then picks up Mattie and runs the rest of the way.

The scripture does not change. Our purpose does not change. Our core values have not changed. But vision… is only meant to last three to five years. Vision, what the church could be, changes. Our problem was we did not see the need for change in a timely manner. Like Rooster Cogburn, we rode our vision to death. Now we have a great need for fresh and new vision; vision that will come from God and be built on the Scripture, purpose, and core values that remain in place; vision that will show us what we could be and will be in the next three to five years.

The rumor has to do with the one-on-one visiting that will happen in March. This part of the campaign is called the Advanced Commitment stage. I have heard that the families chosen to receive an Advanced Commitment visit were chosen based on their giving. I want to assure you, that is absolutely not true. As you know, I have no idea who gives how much to this church. There is only one person who tracks that and she does not share that information with anyone, including me. Giving information was never looked at in this process. The families that are getting an advance commitment visit were chosen based on relationships with church leadership, their commitment to the church and their stage in life. AND… if you would like a visit from someone on the Advanced Commitment Team PLEASE call Pastor Kelvin and let him know. We don’t want to miss anyone.

One more thought on this subject. Please keep Saturday, April 9 free. On that evening we will be having a dessert social in order to present the vision, need and opportunity to participate in “Building on a Legacy of Faith.” This will be a no-check time. At this event you will not be asked to write a check or make an on-the-spot commitment. You will be given information and hear from people who are excited about what God is doing. This is for everyone so please save the date and planning on attending.

Winter, spring and summer this year will not be easy, but they will be exciting. Change is never easy. Birth is never easy. Campaigns and building projects are not easy. But, in the end they can be glorious and God will be exalted. Please pray, engage and pray some more. To God be the glory!

God bless you and keep praying!

A Great Question

2011-02-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

A Blueprint to Build On

2011-02-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

Challenges & Opportunities

2011-02-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

Capital Campaign Update

2011-01-31T08:24:00.001-08:00

As you know by now (at least I hope you do), we have adjusted the building project down considerably. To recap, the Ministries Board, the Elder Board, the Capital Campaign Team, and the Building Project Team took a good long look at the state of the economy and the needs of our church. They prayed, talked, prayed some more, and decided that now is not the time to do all the planned expansion to our building. To be sure, we still need to do the facelift part, but, for now, the expansion is on hold. That should lower the total cost of the project from $500,000 to somewhere about half of that. But exactly how much it will be? That I am not sure of… yet.

The Facelift part of the project will include fixing the leaky drive thru, remodeling the bathrooms, putting new vinyl siding on the back of the church (that will match the MMB), moving and remolding the nursery and the church library, adding two bathrooms to the Christian Education wing of the church, replacing the pews in the sanctuary, reshaping the hallway between the foyer and the fellowship hall, a new stove in the kitchen, new floor covering throughout the church and fresh paint through most of the church.

As of right now, I can tell you what most, but not all of that will cost. I am still waiting on one bid from a possible contractor. As soon as I get that bid, I will meet again with the Building Project Team and we will then be able to determine what the Facelift Project will cost. Once that is determined that amount will be added to the $125,000 that we owe on the Multi Ministry Building (the MMB) and the total of those two numbers will be the goal of the Capital Campaign. I hope to have that for you by Sunday, February 13.

Sunday, February 13 will be a wonderful day in the life of our church. First, we are moving the Sunday Worship Service to the Multi Ministry Building (the MMB). I am anxious to see how many people can sit in there and how it sounds. But it is also time to have a building dedication. We are already using the building and we got our occupancy permit from the village some time ago. So we need to have a dedication. I am looking forward to a great time of prayer and asking God to fill the building with His presence and to commit that everything that goes on in there would bring glory to Him.

During the service we will also install our new Ministries Board and Elder Board members. We have two new elders and by then should have three. We have one new Base Coach and then I hope we have two. We need to recognize and pray for these men and women along with the returning board members. We will also include the Building Project Team and the Capital Campaign Team. All of that will happen along with a great time of worship and praise and a sermon from Galatians 2:17-20 called Led by Sinners.

I hope you will be here for this great event. By the way, in order to bring everyone together for this service we will not be having a Saturday worship service on February 12.

Please keep praying about the building project. We still need God’s direction. Also be in prayer regarding the Capital Champaign. With God’s blessing we can make our church look great again and be out of debt, including the MMB in three years. Praise the mighty God we serve!

Who is Really in Control

2011-01-31T08:23:00.000-08:00

From 1974 to 1979 General Alexander Haig was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for NATO. Later both Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford would make him their Chief of Staff. President Ronald Reagan appointed him Secretary of State. Three very prestigious jobs. Along with that he was a veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War, he was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart.

All of these life experiences made him the man he was. He was a general. People stood when he walk in the room and soldiers saluted him when he walked by. As Chief of Staff pretty much everyone on the White House staff, except the President and Vice President, took orders from him. As Secretary of State, he was constantly in other countries representing the most powerful country in the world.

However, all of that worked against him on March 30, 1981. On that day as President Ronald Reagan was exiting the Washington Hilton Hotel he was shot by John Hinkley Jr.. President Reagan was rushed to the George Washington University Hospital where he underwent surgery. Later he fully recovered and the rest, as they say, is history. But, while the President was going through surgery his Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, declared to reporters that “I am in control here.” It was a mistake.

As every American knows (or should know), there is in the Constitution and the 25^th Amendment, a presidential line of succession. If the President is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office (by impeachment and subsequent conviction) then the Vice President (at the time George H.W. Bush), the Speaker of the House (at the time, Tip O'Neill) and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (at the time, Strom Thurmond), all come before the Secretary of State who is fourth in line for the office of President.

Now to be fair to Haig, he was thinking more along the lines of who is handling the moment by moment decision making in the White House rather than who is ultimately “in charge.” At the time Vice President Bush was not in Washington DC so Haig was the guy running the White House. That of course did not help when the press got a hold of his comment and made it a story.

I think we can all understand the temptation that overcame Alexander Haig. To be on the White House staff when your president is shot? What would that be like? The fear, the confusion, the need to find something, or someone stable. Haig was a man used to being in charge. He was a general. He was a take-charge kind of guy. With the Vice President in Air Force Two somewhere over Texas and the Chief of Staff James A. Baker and Counselor to the President Edwin Meese at the hospital, Haig was the guy to Take control. He just did not handle it well. If I can put in my two cents worth, it seems he was more concerned with appearing in control then actually getting the job done.

“I am in control here.” We have all said it, in our homes, at our jobs, and at church. We have all assumed we are in control at one time or another when the reality is WE ARE NEVER IN CONTROL. Psalm 22:28–29 (NLT) says “For royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations. Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust.”

Call it sin, pride, or simply being human, we want to be in control of our own lives at the very least. Of course, as Christians we have all sat through enough sermons, read enough books, and heard enough teaching to KNOW that we are not in control, God is. We get that. That’s the easy part. So what’s the hard part? Remembering it when things get crazy. That is when we need it most and forget it the fastest. God is in control.

Asking the Right Questions

2011-01-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Change or Security

2011-01-17T08:25:00.001-08:00

Leadership by Design

2011-01-10T11:50:00.001-08:00

The Power of Love

2011-01-03T08:34:00.001-08:00

Pastoral Leadership

2010-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I recently read an email from another pastor where he shared five things he believes about pastoral leadership. It blessed me and caused me to spend some time in prayer and thought about some of things I believe about being your pastor.

First, I want you to know that I love you. I think that first and foremost this needs to be understood. I care about your spiritual growth. I miss you when you are not at church. I work hard to provide the means for your spiritual growth and a good, healthy walk with our Lord.

I say that because I believe that pastoral leadership is based on good relationships. Presidents, generals and CEOs can lead because of their position. Pastors can’t. We can only lead when there is trust and love. So let me say it again. I love you and I love being your pastor.

I believe that pastoral leadership is stewardship. I lead you only as well as I follow Jesus. He is the Head-Shepherd. The People of CDAC are His sheep and WE are following him. But I also believe that He has placed me here to shepherd you. So as an under-shepherd I want to take us where He wants us to go. At His speed and under His direction. This also means that I am accountable to Him for you. I do not take that lightly.

With that said, I believe that pastoral leadership requires team building and transparency. In the area of team building there are two teams that I work closely with. The Elders are like the Board of Directors. They give oversight to the church and to me. In 2010 I did not do a good job of maintaining this relationship. In 2011 I will do a better job. The Elders and I have started a regular, weekly time of prayer. We start out in the Wednesday Prayer Meeting and then move to my office for a more intimate time of praying together. These men are vital to the church and to me. Please pray for us as we heal and revitalize our relationship. Also please understand that being the Board of Directors does not even come close to a job description for church elders. There is much more including prayer, teaching and care, but that will have to wait for another article.

The second team I work closely with is the Base Coaches. This group of four, men and women, functions like staff. We meet regularly to talk about the various ministries of the church and how we can do a better job. Together, the Elder Board and Base Coaches, along with the officers (treasurer and board secretary) make up the Ministries Board.

I believe in transparency. We do nothing in secret. Our financial reports are published as are the minutes of the Ministries Board meeting. I believe in this even though it often makes things difficult. Not because the information is difficult but because when people look at these reports they do not have enough understanding to know how to interpret it. Nevertheless, we will keep doing it right even if it causes problems.

Finally, I believe that good leadership is servant-leadership. I am here to serve you. To pull a quote from the pastor who inspired my thinking on this, “My job is to see what God sees in you, then help you become that person - even when you can’t imagine it yourself.” Sometimes this is easy and other times it can be very difficult. But I am in this for the long haul and together we can make this work.

Let me finish this month by announcing that I am opening 2011 by preaching, verse by verse, through the book of Galatians. I am not sure how long this will take but I am sure we will be blessed. This is a powerful book and I want to take our time and let the Holy Spirit set the pace.

Happy New Year and in case I did not get this point across, I love you and look forward to seeing you in church.

Unanswered Prayers

2010-12-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

One night last week I was watching a chick-flick with my dear Sue (okay, to be honest I fell asleep half way through, but I knew how it would end, so it’s okay). The movie was called Unanswered Prayers and it was based on a Garth Brooks song by the same name. Just in case you missed it, Garth Brooks was hottest country artist of the 90’s. His first seven albums have sold somewhere north of 60,000,000; yes that is 60 million albums. That makes him either first or second all time (depending on whose numbers you use) with only the Beatles as rivals. But let me get back to the movies and song.

The basic plot of both the song and the movie is that a man and his wife run into the man’s high school girl friend at a “home-town football game.” The man, who is telling the story, is reminded that he loved the high school girl friend very much and had prayed that he could marry her. In the end things turn out different and he marries someone else. Now, having been married to the “someone else” for many years he realizes how happy he is and thanks God that He did not answer the first prayer. Got it? Good.

The song came out in 1990 on Garth’s second album, No Fences. My wife, who is a country music fan, introduced me to Garth’s music and I too became a fan. His CDs were a staple as we traveled to church meetings and on vacations and even today his music brings back lots of good memories. But Unanswered Prayers was always a favorite of mine because of the interesting theological implications is raises.

I don’t think there is anyone reading this article who doubts that God knows what is best for us. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows the outcome of all our hopes, prayers, choices and decisions. We call this omniscience. It simply means that God knows everything. We also know that God loves us. He loves us so much that He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for us. And, when you add His omniscience with His unconditional love it makes since that He would not answer prayers that were not good for us. For me the classic example is that God has not (yet) answered my prayers for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle. Why, because He knows it would not be good for me. Why He never answered my prayers for a good golf swing I still don’t understand.

As you may already know, or will soon read about in a new newsletter put out by the Capital Campaign Team, the building project has changed. It has gotten much smaller and more manageable. This will mean, among many other things, a lot less debt at the end of the project. It will also mean that much of the expansion parts of the projects will have to wait. The time is just not right, for now.

So what about all of those, myself included, who prayed for this major expansion? Are these “unanswered prayers”? Perhaps, but I for one am very glad that God knows better and that He is in change. Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. Don’t you?

Building Project Update

2010-12-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

A lot has changed in the recent months, so let me catch you up.

As you know, we are just about finished with the Multi-Ministries Building - our MMB. To date it has cost us about $106,000 and we should finish somewhere around $125,000. The original projected cost of the MMB was to be in the neighborhood of $150,000, and thanks to the fantastic work done by the men and women of the church, a bunch of money has been saved.

Our plan was to then move into Phase Two and begin an additional $350,000 Capital Campaign. These additional funds would allow us to expand the sanctuary and fellowship hall, as well as replacing carpeting throughout the church and replacing the sanctuary pews with chairs. Additionally the bathrooms, kitchen, nursery, and main office were to be remodeled. Phase Two has been changed.

There has been much thought and prayer in recent weeks. We have heard from the congregation and the current economy has been seriously considered. I and the leadership teams do not believe that now is the time for our church to take on so much more additional debt, and we are therefore going to put the sanctuary and fellowship hall expansion plans on hold. We do hope to be able to expand our facilities in the future. Phase Two will continue to include the much needed face-lift of our current building with the exception of many of the proposed kitchen changes.

So, what will Phase Two look like? I’m glad you asked. We are still planning to fix the leaky drive through. We are still planning to put vinyl siding on the back of the church. We need to replace all of the carpeting throughout the church, and at the same time we will replace the pews. We are planning to remodel the current restrooms and the main office. We are going to finish re-locating the nursery where the library is now, and moving the library to where the nursery is presently. We are also going to put much needed restrooms in the Christian Education wing, and replace the two broken stoves in the kitchen with a commercial stove. Phase Two will really be a Stewardship Phase.

How much will Phase Two – the Stewardship Phase cost? I am not sure yet. We are gathering information and prices and I should have figures for you before the Annual Meeting. I can assure you that the cost will be a great deal lower than the original Capital Campaign projection now that expanding both the sanctuary and the fellowship hall has been eliminated. We have put the Capital Campaign on hold until after the Annual Meeting in January, when we know cost and it has been determined how much of the work will be done in-house.

We have a wonderful MMB, and there is work that must be done now to maintain our present facilities. So, please consider giving towards the building project. We plan and desire to be out of debt, to have the MMB and the Stewardship Projects paid for within three years. You do not need to wait for the Capital Campaign to begin in January to give towards the building project. Any present giving will go towards the stewardship projects that will be completed in the spring and summer of next year, and will mean having to borrow less.

God bless you and keep praying.

The Question of Motivation

2010-11-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Every October, as part of pastor appreciation month, the Family Life Network brings a speaker to Bath, to the Family Life Center, and hosts an all day conference for pastors. Pastor Kelvin and I have been to several of these over the last ten years. Over those years we have been blessed with many a good day together, some wonderful meals (FLN really does a great job) and some amazing speakers. This year was no exception. We did however, do something different for us, we invited Richard Viele Jr. to join us. Richard is on his way into the ministry. He still has his education to finish, but I have no doubt that he serve God and His church in the ministry at some point.

One thing I can always count on when spending time with Rich is that he will ask some thought provoking questions. He did not let me down. Just before we got to the Family Life Center Richard asked both Pastor Kelvin and I “What keeps you going? What motivates you?” It was a good question, it was a deep question, and neither one of us was ready to answer it. So, PK made a joke about the engine in the van keeping us going and Rich let it go, for the moment.

The meeting was wonderful. The speaker was Dan Reiland. Dan has been a part of my life for 25 years. For fifteen years (roughly the same years I was in Arizona) Dan was the Executive Pastor for Skyline Wesleyan Church just outside of San Diego. Skyline was the church where John Maxwell was the Senior Pastor and John Maxwell was one of the men that God used to teach me how to pastor. If you look in my personal library you will see a whole shelf of books, VCRs and cassette tapes from John. He was a major influence, and Dan was always in the background.

Later both Dan and John left Skyline and ended up in Atlanta. John works mostly with business now and has little influence left, at least for me, but Dan became the Executive Pastor of another church and started a newsletter called The Pastor’s Coach. This newsletter has become very important to me. Dan has a great heart, lots of knowledge and has become a kind of pastor to pastors. I truly enjoy his newsletter and look forward to each issue. With all of that I can tell you that this FLN Pastor’s Conference was something I was looking forward to and meeting Dan Rieland and telling him how much he has meant to me over the years was a blessing.

So after the conference PK, Rich and I all got back into the van and headed home. And there it was again, Rich’s question. “What motivates you?” This time it was not so unexpected. Pastor Kelvin gave a wonderful answer. He is motivated by his tremendous love for people. If you spend any time with this man you will know that he has a great heart, lots of love, and feels the joy and pain of others. He is the Pastor of Care for a very good and obvious reason; he cares. I was still not ready to answer so I just listened and then took a nap. (Rich was driving).

What motivates me? There are so many ways I could answer this question. Some are very obvious. I am passionate about the Great Commission. Seeing people saved and discipled is very much a part of it. Serving Jesus and His church is part of it. I won’t claim to have Pastor Kelvin’s level of empathy but no man can remain a pastor for very long if he does not love people. God has blessed me with leadership gifts and speaking ability. All of these things and many others motivate me. I don’t think I could come up with a simple single factor. It is complicated, rich and deep. It is wrapped up in who I am. However, in light of the time with Dan Rieland I will let one answer rise to the top. I want to influence people and see God change their life.

In my life there have been many influencers and mentors. Some are well know. Men like John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, Rick Warren and Dan Rieland. Some are unknown. Men like Bill Lewis, Doug Bastian and Bill Vaughn. But all of them, and many others, have been used by God to shape and mold me into the pastor that I am. At one break in the conference I said to Dan Rieland that John Maxwell’s sermon “I don’t have to Survive” was huge in my life. Dan understood exactly what I meant.

Let me wind this up. God uses people to influence and shape people. Yes, He also uses His Word and you cannot underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit, but God uses people to change people and there are many people who have changed and shaped me. That motivates me. I want to be God’s tool to shape, influence and change people. If, at the end of our time together, whenever that is and however long we have, God has used me to grow you, then I will have fulfilled my calling. It is my prayer that God will help me to help you walk closer to Him and become more like Jesus.

The Problem with Anonymous

2010-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I got a package in the mail that contained a short letter and a CD of some preacher’s sermon. I quickly scanned the letter. The person who sent it has a problem with the fact that our church (I assume the sender attends my church) is planning a Fall Festival event for the evening of October 31. The sender of the letter felt that I needed to hear this CD sermon and rethink doing the Fall Festival. I have absolutely no problem with that because I always want to listen and be open minded and humble enough to rethink anything. The problem was that the letter was unsigned. I do not like anonymous and I did not listen to the CD.

The elders and leaders of my church know this. Come to me with a “someone said something” statement and tell me that you can’t tell me who the someone is and I don’t want to hear it. I don’t do anonymous. Here’s why…

First I have no idea whether the anonymous speaker is active member of our church or someone sitting on the fringes. It makes a difference. Obviously I need to listen more carefully to the active member. Members are more committed. Members are more invested. Active members understand more about why we do what we do. Fringe people are very welcome, but because they are on the fringe they are less involved, less committed and less invested.

Second, I have no idea whether the anonymous speaker is a mature Christian, a new Christian or even a pre-Christian. Again it makes a difference. Mature Christians who have been reading and studying God’s Word longer have a much greater understanding of what God’s plans, passions, and instructions are. New and pre-Christians are still on an immature learning curve. Again, that does not mean I don’t hear them, but it does mean I take that maturity level into account.

Third, I have no idea whether the anonymous speaker is chronic complainer or an active team member. Your pastor may not want to admit this, but every pastor knows that there are people in the church who complain about everything. There is no making them happy. On the other hand there are people who never complain and so if they have a problem you listen because you know it is serious.

Finally, I always wonder of the anonymous speaker really cares about what they are saying. I feel that if it is really important you would put your name on it. If you really felt passionate about the subject you would own it. If you don’t care enough to put your name on it then why should I care enough to give it a hearing?

I know that to some of you this sounds harsh. I am thinking that maybe I’ll send it to the newspaper anonymously and see if they will print it. But seriously, the things of God our important and they deserve a full hearing. So let’s not play games. Put your name on it.

Behind the Curtain

2010-10-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

It has been said that there are two things you never want to see made. They are laws and sausage. I can readily understand laws. Although I used to be active politically, I now find myself very uninterested. I am completely turned-off by politics. I find that I dislike both parties and see very little use for politicians. I see little or no honesty and all that seems to be important to any of them is getting re-elected.

I can also understand not wanting to see sausage made. When I was a truck driver, I used to make deliveries to several west-coast meat companies, places where hotdogs were made. I will spare you the gory details and simply say you really don’t want to see how they are made.

But, laws and sausages aside, sometimes it is fun to look behind the curtain and see what’s going on. In this article I want to take you with me and look at an area of possible change at CDAC. Come behind the curtain with me and let’s look at the Saturday Worship Service.

First let’s look at some background. We started the Saturday Worship Service in September of 2001. At the time I had been the pastor here for 15 months. That first year (2001) we averaged 45 people at the Saturday service. In 2002 our average was 56, in 2003 we had our highest average at 88. From there it started to fall off. It was 79 in 2004, 73 in 2005, then 71, 63, 60, 58. This year we are averaging 55.

So, the first question needs to be… should we continue to have a Saturday Worship Service, or bring it to an end? After all, as the old saying goes, if the horse is dead, dismount.

I have taken a lot of time to talk to God and people who attend on Saturday. From both sources I get a resounding “Keep the service.” From a God and Biblical point of view Saturday Worship is about reaching people with the Gospel. To be more specific it is about putting more hooks in the water. Now I’m not much of a fisherman, and Jerry Hartman who is a fisherman, may disagree, but it seems to me that you can catch more fish with two hooks in the water rather than one. And three is better than two and so forth. If Sunday Morning Worship is a hook in the water to catch lost people then Saturday night would be a second hook and therefore better. After all, there are going to be people who will not attend a Sunday morning service. It may be because they work. It may be because it’s the only day they don’t work and can sleep in. It may be because they have been hurt in church and a traditional Sunday morning time slot just reminds them of the pain. There are lots of reasons but the point is they may come on Saturday night just because they can or just because it is different.

So, I believe that both God and the congregation would have us continue this service.

So the second question I ask is, “Why has attendance dropped off?” For that answer let’s look again at a little history. In 2001 when the Saturday service was started it was considerably different than the Sunday service. At that time the Sunday service was more traditional in both music and preaching. The Saturday Worship Service was a place to try new things. The music was more cutting edge. The preaching was more application based. It was on Saturday that we first had drums and lead guitar. Saturday was also more relaxed and casual. It had a small-group feel to it and it was good. It was so good that it began to spill over into Sunday.

Over the next year or two, with some starts and stops, Sunday became more like Saturday in both music and preaching. Our church evolved and grew (our total worship attendance went from an average of 155 in 2000 to 300 in 2004). Eventually Saturday and Sunday were indistinguishable from one another except for the size of the congregation. That is when Saturday attendance began to fall off.

As I was praying my way through this information, God brought some interesting people and thoughts my way. “Saturday has lost its edge” I heard from one former elder. “The music is too much like Sunday” I heard from another regular attendee of both services. I also noticed that we stopped drawing young, un-churched families to Saturday night (although more and more were coming on Sunday morning). I came to the conviction that we need to once again make the Saturday Worship substantially different from Sunday. But what would that look like?

I started with the question of music. In God’s perfect time we have recently had a couple of weekends when both Maria and Vito were unavailable to lead worship. In their place we had used some music videos. I must confess I was not sure they would work but to my great delight the congregation seemed to enjoy them. People sang along. Even better, several times at the end of the singing the congregation broke out into applause. It started with applause on the video (because it was a recording of a live concert) but quickly turned into a form of praise and worship. It was great. An elder came up to me and suggested we could use these music videos on Saturday night. I prayed about it, talked it over with Maria (who was very much in favor of it) and made the decision to give it a try.

Then it was suggested that we move the Saturday service into the Fellowship Hall. I loved the idea. We tried, but it turns out most others did not love the idea. Also, it was filled up with only 50 people, so after one week we moved it back into the sanctuary. The second week we tried having everyone sit on one side so that we were not quite so spread out. That seemed to work well.

I am experimenting with some different preaching styles. Last week I sat on a stool and made it more “conversational” and less proclamation. It seemed to work well (although I did preach way too long!).

Where is this going? I’m not sure, but I am enjoying the journey.

Beautiful Feet

2010-09-13T10:10:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about feet. There are some obvious reasons for this. Most of you know that my dear wife has been suffering with a heel spur in her left foot, or at least that is what we thought the problem was. It started about three months ago as a nagging pain. Got worse over time and she finally went to the doctor. The doctor ordered an x-ray and there it was, even I could see it, a spur coming off of the heal. It was so obvious that both our regular doctor and the technician who read the x-ray came to the same conclusion. We are for a referral to a podiatrist

It took another week and a half but we finely got in. It took about ten minutes and about ten question for the doctor, the proctologist to say “Your problem is not a heal spur.” It turns out that spur had probably been there for years unnoticed. The problem turned out to be flat feet and a couple of pulled ligaments. Sue should be able to get some relief fairly soon.

I have also been thinking about feet because of the sermon series I am preaching on Ephesians on the Armor of God. Ephesians 6:15 says “and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” If you were in church on the weekend of August 14&15 then you heard that sermon. By the way, if you missed that sermon or any other sermon you can watch of listen to them on the website. Just go to www.cdaconline.org and check Audio/Video Sermons at the bottom of the page and you can find all recent sermons.

But back to the point I was making… there is a wonderful, Biblical connection between feet and the gospel. Romans 10:15 says “And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” So I need to ask (after all that is what pastors do), are your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace? Are your feet beautiful?

I have also thought about feet when I watch the workers work on the Multi-Ministry Building (MMB). Some of those men, and a few of the boys, are fearless and somewhat amazing as they move across the top of the building. Rafter to rafter they move. Making it all look so easy. They are sure-footed.

There are lots of other reasons to think about feet. My feet hurt, but that is not for now. Moses’ feet were naked as he walked on holy ground. Peter’s feet were washed as he learned that real leadership starts with dying to self and put others first. And, of course, Jesus’ feet were pierced and bled for my (and your) sins.

So, I am pretty sure that this is not going to turn into a full-blown foot-fetish. It’s just a passing moment in my life. But it did make me think… What I am doing with my feet? Are they fully surrendered to the Master’s work? How about yours?