Archives for November 2007

• Last night’s practice for this week’s Experience was awesome!  I said it earlier in the week, but I’ll say it again…if you miss this week, you’re going to regret it big time.
• Don’t to forget to invite someone to come with you. 
• Don’t forget to bring in food for the food pantry.
• Don’t forget that God loves you and so do I.
• Yesterday was a great day at the office…at noon time I met with a new attendee of United who wanted some spiriutal direction in his life.  After talking with him and sharing the Gospel, he prayed and asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins and to come in and take control of his life!  This week at the Experience he’ll be easy to spot…he’s 6’8″ and will have a huge smile on his face…make sure you congratulate Scott on his decision.
• Amazingly he is not the tallest person in our church…that honor goes to Scott Browning who is 6’9″.
• Can’t wait until we start a church basketball team…we’re going to dominate!
• Just realized that they are both named Scott…easy for you to remember that way.
• Later in the day, Earl lead a lady into a relationship with Jesus!  I’m amazed and honored that God allows us to play a part in His-story.
• Did I mention that I’m pumped about this weekend and that you’d be an idiot not to show up with a car full of guests with you.
• Yes I know I just said idiot….Webster’s says that it’s someone who acts foolishly…so there you have it…you’d be a fool not to invite someone with you this week…there feel better? :)
• The holidays are on a weird schedule this year…tomorrow night we celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and I just found out that Christmas with my niece will need to be on December 21st.
• Lisa’s mom just called from a Florida amusment park called The Holy Land Experience.  Lisa and I visited it a few years back and it was really neat.  Anyway, her mom was in one of the stores and wanted to know if Lisa wanted a lamp like the 10 virgins in the New Testament carried.  Why exactly she picked that out we don’t know….oh no, you don’t think that after 12 years of marriage that she still thinks Lisa is a…
• Haha, I make myself laugh sometimes.
• Yes I know I have an overly inflated opinion of myself.
• Earl said yesterday that it’s the only thing bigger than the 2 Scott’s.
• I love that our staff can joke around with each other…even when there’s some truth mixed in there.
• Alright this post is getting long…I’ll wrap-up with something you’ve never heard from me.   THIS  WEEKEND IS GOING TO BE AMAZING…MAKE SURE YOU INVITE SOMEONE TO COME WITH YOU!

Don’t forget this is our last chance to meet our God sized goal of 50 professions of faith during our first series in the new building.

Statistics show that 1 out of every 3 people invited to a church will attend if asked. We also know that in a crowd of unbeliver’s approximately 1 out of 4 will respond to Christ if the Gospel is presented clearly.  What this means is that we (yes that means you as well) need to invite at least 324 people to come to the Experience this week.  Now that doesn’t take into account that some of us will invite people who are already Christians.  So to be safe if we’ll all just get out of our comfort zones and invite at least 2 people to attend with us, we can still participate in what God wants to do thruogh us.

An easy way to invite someone this week is to let them know that we have a special guest worship leader coming in who is very good and that this promises to be one of our best Experiences EVER!  Seriously, I believe that the music and the message are going to be the best we’ve EVER had…if you miss this week, you’re going to regret it.

As a side note, don’t forget to bring in some non-perishable food items this week to benefit the local food pantry.  This is the last week to participate so bring as much as you can.

This morning I read a blog by Clayton King who heads up Crossroads Worldwide that our youth go to each year.  As I was reading it, I realized that it was a glimpse into my soul…even at 34, I feel that life is so short and I don’t want to waste it.  This post really spoke to me, I hope it does to you as well, or it at least gives you a better idea of who I am.

When I was in middle school, our family carpooled with several other families, but one family really stood out. The dad was a pastor of a church in our community, and he was one of a kind. Old school, Bible quoting, Southern Baptist, and country to the core. He had a jovial and warm personality and was never, that I recall, in a bad mood. He was trained in the classic seminary model, where he moved his family to a seminary town and spent 3-4 years finishing his degree while pastoring small churches, all the while his wife worked 2 jobs just so they did not starve. He was known and loved by all his parishioners and everyone in town.

As the years passed, his congregation began to age, as did he. His health began to fail, largely due to the stresses of his job. The older people felt like the church was slipping away from them; too much change, too many new people, and a pastor that was not “holding things together.” They gave him grief for every little innovation he suggested, encouraged him to stop visiting new people in the community and spend more time taking care of the core group of church members. When he hesitated to give in to all the demands of the older members, the deacons reminded him that he had a secure job with benefits and that if he rocked the boat, he would find himself looking for a new church (and how many churches would want to hire a pastor in his late 50s with high blood pressure, hypertension, and high cholesterol)? He understood their point, and he decided to GO ALONG TO GET ALONG.

A few years ago I was in the hospital visiting a family member when I walked past a room and heard a familiar voice. It was this same pastor, that I had known as a child, whom I dearly loved and respected. It had been years since I had preached for him, but his voice was unmistakable. I entered the room and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. We visited for about 10 minutes until I could tell he was worn out. The heart surgery had taken a toll on him, so after I prayed for him, I was ready to leave.

He grabbed my hand and began to weep. “Are you still preaching the gospel, Clayton?” I responded that I was and intended to until I died. Then he choked out these words.

“Don’t you ever stop, and don’t you ever let anyone stop you. I let a church full of lazy christians steal my passion away from me. They did not want to change, they wouldn’t reach out to anyone, and they did not care about people dying without Jesus. All they cared about was making church easy and convenient. I let them scare me into doing what they wanted. And I slowly died. I would give anything to be your age again, Clayton. I would do it differently and I would obey God no matter what people said. Trust me son, you don’t want to end up like me, dying in hospital with regrets hanging over your head. Once you let anybody other than Jesus tell you what to do, you begin to die.”

We had some sort of weird thing happen yesterday that made the recording stop for the MP3…so being the smart guys we are, we decided to take the auido off the video…for some reason it got cut off as well. So this evening I re-recorded so that it can be heard. Thanks to all who faithfully listen each week…I know a lot of you have already been complaining about the tardiness of getting it posted, so here you go… Money Matters.