- First I love that we don’t change clocks until after the Experiences.
- So nice to get a regular nights sleep.
- Except that I woke up early anyway.
- Because of some unexpected events this past week we weren’t able to do a normal run through on Thursday night so I was bit nervous that everything would be working/look right today.
- Luckily since I’m preaching a series on worry right now, it wasn’t as worried as I might have normally been. :)
- Loved all the music today…good blend of high energy stuff and passionate worship.
- Andrea and Gayle also did awesome with Scars by Allison Iraheta.
- Heard her perform it on Idol the other week and knew it would fit well.
- Love the new stage set that Brian came up with.
- Looks completely different than anything we’ve done before.
- Crowds were sparse today…hope the rain didn’t keep people away.
- Had a lot of fun sharing today’s message.
- As I said, The bible is not hard to understand”.
- Just keep reminding yourself that since God loves me more than a bird, I don’t have to worry.
- Fun singing “Don’t Worry Be Happy” with everyone.
- Forgot how bad I really sing, until I listened back to it on the recording.
- We had a breaker keep blowing during the 2nd Experience putting half the stage in the dark.
- ARRGGGGG!!!!
- Hate that stuff.
- Had a group of 6 people from Harrisburg visiting today to get a feel for what’s to come this fall when we move there.
- I have mixed emotions…sad to be leaving but excited as well to be meeting with people who will be a part of the next phase of our lives.
- If you haven’t seen it yet, we started a Facebook page for the new church which I’d love for you to join.
- Wow I’m tired…time for a nap.
Random Thoughts
Been awhile since I a random thoughts post. Here we go…
- Excited about the 60+ resumes that have come in to take over for me at United.
- Couple of potentially good candidates in that stack. Pray for the search team to find the right person.
- Balancing my full-time responsibilities I still have at CFCOG along with starting a new church is interesting.
- I have a follow-up meeting this Friday with a man that owns one of the buildings we’re looking at. Please pray about that.
- We have two really good but vastly different options when it comes to where we’re going to meet.
- Speaking of buildings, if you know anyone who’s looking to buy a house, steer them our way. Here’s the listing for our house.
- Excited about the new series we’re starting this weekend called, Littlefaither: The Worry Wart Series.
- Don’t forget we ARE NOT changing our clocks this weekend until after the Sunday morning Experiences.
- Love that we do this…why lose an hour’s sleep when you don’t have to!
- It’s amazing the speed I can rip through a whole box of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies.
- What’s even more amazing is how quickly I can go through two boxes! :)
- Really enjoying the warmer weather!
- I know NASCAR said they we’re going to let the boys be boys this year but the whole Carl Edwards thing was a bit ridiculous.
- When someone dies in the future they are going to have a lawsuit on their hands for being accomplices in a homicide.
- The lawyer will argue that because they didn’t do anything about it now, others felt it was ok and the result was death.
- Speaking of sports, my Caps are kicking some serious butt. Hope they don’t use up all there good game play in the regular season then falter in the play-offs.
- Ok, one last sports thing…sorry ladies once my mind goes there it’s hard to stop…This week and the next two are arguably the best all year round. Can’t wait for March Madness to start…especially since my Terps are playing so well!
- Now back to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress…
- The Toyota with the stuck gas pedal thing had to have been quite frightening…did you see the guys face after he got out and was being interviewed.
- I think he was in a need of a change of underwear!
- Can’t believe there are only 9 more episodes of LOST.
- Please writers don’t let us down…we’ve stuck with you this long…give us a good conclusion or I’ll send the smoke monster to your house.
- Glad Idol isn’t 5 hours a week anymore. Even with the ability to speed things up on the DVR, that is still crazy.
- I really liked Andrew, but he’s been a disappointment recently. Now I’m thinking a girl might win it…Crystal?
- Guess that’s enough for now…have a great day!
I Can’t Believe I’m Posting About…
…Women’s college basketball. Ok so most of you know I’m a huge sports fan and will watch just about anything. However, I’ve never been a fan of women’s basketball. I think in this sport you most see the difference’s in athleticism between men and women and to me a fast break that doesn’t end with a dunk is just a bit boring. However, I’m not posting this to get into a conversation about that, instead I want to talk about…
The University of Connecticut team that last night won their 70th game in a row. This is the second time they’ve done this, but what stood out to me in the article I just read about it was that every victory in this streak has been by at least 10 points or more. In other words, they’re very good at what they do and they don’t let the outcome in doubt.
To me that’s what churches should be all about. Work together as a team to do the very best you can and each week make sure the devil knows that he’s not just beat, but stomped on big time. I believe we need to run up the score on him. Never should a Sunday pass us by that we just barely got through. Never should we go into an Experience/Service without a game plan to severely humiliate our opponent. God is the Harlem Globetrotters, the devil is the Washington Generals. We should make him look foolish and our record should be unblemished.
Here’s the bad news. The church in America is on the decline. While the population has increased…and surprisingly people’s interest in God has increased over the past decade, statistics tell us actual attendance is on the decline. In fact the amount of unchurched in our nation has doubled since 1994. Is the problem with God? No, He hasn’t changed. Do we need to give up on church and do something different? No the church was Jesus idea and He said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against it. Do we need to change our strategy in how we do church? Yes!
The same game plans that won basketball games back in the 1950’s no longer works today. Same goes for football. The best teams and coaches keep up with what’s winning now, not what won 50 years ago, 20 years ago or even 5 years ago for that matter. Our culture in America is always changing and either we keep up and redeem it or our culture looks at us like we’re in the stone-age and thinks of us a boring and antiquated. That’s not a reflection on God, that’s a reflection on us and our methods.
I had no idea where I was going with this post when I first started writing, but it’s become pretty clear that this was meant for pastors and church leaders to examine your methods. Remember, the message never changes, but our methods must. Are you just barely surviving and sometimes that devil wins a game or two, or are you like the UConn women’s team? Each week executing your game plan and running up the score? Geno Auriemma the UConn coach gave the predictable, “We just take it one game at a time” quote when asked about their success. But there’s truth there. Just concentrate on creating the best worship experience you can this week. After that’s done, repeat it again the next week and then the week after that. Before long you’ll have put together a nice streak and the devil will have been put on notice that he’s in for a losing battle. So be strong! Be courageous! Do not fear for God is with you and will give you victory!
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Not preaching or speaking at all today so I’m live blogging the second Experience.
- Just got done baptizing over a dozen people!
- I’m coming in during the first song…”The Time Has Come”.
- 3 of the normal team members are gone, but the band still sounds awesome none the less.
- The 1st Experience was great. Everything went smoothly…Earl’s message was great and Brian did a very nice job with his remarks.
- More of that to come later.
- Just moved to the song, “Yours Forever”.
- So proud of the growth of Brian these past 3 years.
- Crowd is still coming in…the joint baptism service went long so people are late arriving.
- Last I saw Earl he still hadn’t changed clothes…he’s about 1 minute from having to be on stage.
- Maybe he’ll come out soaking wet. :)
- “We are yours forever, our lives won’t be the same…”
- Shouting and clapping…that would have never happened 3 years ago.
- Earl on stage doing announcements.
- Don’t forget that next week we WILL NOT change our clocks until after the Experience is over.
- Done this for 3 years now and everyone likes it…don’t lose an hours sleep.
- Don’t forget to let others know.
- Sign up to help with the Easter Egg Hunt. Last year we had over 1200 kids show up so we need your help. E-mail kristy@chambersburgfirstchurchofgod.com
- Earl asked not to do fist bumps today because he hurt his hand one time. Poor Earl.
- Back to music…”We Will Run”.
- Andrew getting his guitar groove on!
- Crowd’s a little dead.
- One last song…”Kingdom Come”.
- New song…love Brian’s lighting for this one.
- Just looked to my left and Tim, Jerry and Chris are all busy making the tech happen here in the back.
- Cressa giving some awesome harmony while Brett’s bass and Thom’s drumming are building…building…building….
- “Raise your hopeful voices, make a joyful noise and sing to the King of Glory”.
- Brian praying…please hold be right back.
- Earl in jeans and a nice looking shirt…using the table and stool. We’ll make him contemporary yet!
- “It’s ok to be disappointed that Gilbert’s leaving. But that leaves questions. I want to answer those today”.
- “I want to tell you a story”
- July 24th 2004: The first preview of United.
- Mike Schooley leading.
- Earl looked in that day. One person he saw was Adam Swisher who is still with us today.
- Mike’s vision was that United be like a bar where people would feel love and excited.
- “Under Mike’s leadership Chapter One of United had begun”.
- “At the beginning of 2006 Mike came to us and said God had called him to plant a church in his hometown of Horseheads, NY”.
- “In the spring of 2006 Mike left. Chapter One was done”
- “During that same time God brought Andy and Gayle Krull came to lead worship and up-grade our technology.”
- “Andy and Gayle said you need to talk to our friend Gilbert Thurston”.
- “Gilbert came on and things began to really grow”.
- “Gilbert really stressed excellence and evangelism”
- Fall 2007: A second Experience had to be started because of all the growth.
- “Last week you heard that like Mike, Gilbert is leaving to start a church in Harrisburg so chapter 2 will be coming to a close”.
- APPLAUSE for me. Thanks all!
- “The book is not done…chapter 3 is coming up and I can’t wait to see how God is going to work”!
- Ephesians 3:20-21
- “Mike laid the foundation, Gilbert added on, but the best is yet to come”.
- “Tuesday of this week an ad went out…so far over 50 people have applied. We will be seeking the right person to lead us in Chapter 3”.
- “We want to challenge you to pray…for search committee…for the right person…Gilbert…myself, staff and leadership…yourselves”.
- Ephesians 3:14-18
- Earl’s talking about Avatar and 3-D. “God is 4-dimensional”.
- “2nd challenge is to not fall away just because leadership is changing”.
- “Some leadership is not changing…one person is Brian Miller”.
- Brian now on stage.
- “Leading you in worship is amazing”.
- More applause for me…Oh stop. :)
- Brian is talking about praying after finding out I was leaving.
- “God slapped me across the face”.
- God spoke to him that it wasn’t Gilbert or Brian or the team that built this building, saved, hundred, etc. It was all God.
- AMEN Brian, good word!
- “God is not leaving us, nor are the 70,000 people in our community who don’t yet know Christ”.
- Brian is having people yell, “I’m excited”.
- Earl speaking again…”Don’t stop inviting people, Gilbert will still be here for a few months and then the next person will come on to start chapter 3…again the best is yet to come.”
- “We also want you serve so the next person coming on can say ‘wow'”.
- “Gilbert and Mike are two completely different people yet their passion was the same. The new person will be different than Gilbert, but the passion and vision will be the same. Don’t miss Chapter 3”.
- Earl praying.
- Brian and team back on stage finishing out with “The Time Has Come”.
- Well that was fun…have a great week everyone!
Questions Answered Part 5
Today I’m wrapping up the most common questions I’ve been getting since announcing that I’ll be leaving United to start a church in Harrisburg.
11. What’s the name of your new church? ExponentialChurch.tv
12. Why the .tv on the end? The domain name was already taken for things like .com, .org, .net, etc. Since .tv is not as common we just tacked it onto the name. This is actually pretty common. In fact did you know that Life Church which has been the organizer of the One Prayer series we’ve done the last two years is actually named LifeChurch.tv?
13. What’s your vision for the new church? I won’t go into a lot of detail here because I’ll be doing that in the future. If you’re really interested ask me and I’ll give you a full 20 page document until I post more here. For now though let me share the following 4-prong aspect to the vision:
- Weekend Experiences: Pretty much what we’re doing in United now. There are over 425,000 people in the Harrisburg area that don’t yet have a relationship with Christ. So in the same way we’re currently doing church for those that don’t like church, we’ll do it up there but in a much bigger way.
- Community Outreach: This will in some ways be similar to our current You Matter Ministry. Monday-Saturday opportunities will be given to go out into the community serving the needs of the people in practical way.
- Life Skills Center: People will be able to come to the church to get trained in various skills that can then be translated into jobs in the community or service to organizations. One of those organizations will be ExponentialChurch.tv. Essentially what we’ll be doing is offering our building to various people in the community who want to teach skills such as voice, instruments, video editing, computer programming, database, carpentry, sewing, etc. The people they give lessons to will then be offered an opportunity to hone those skills as a volunteer at Exponential.
- Church Multiplication Center: One of the aspects I miss about working for Purpose Driven is that I got to help tens of thousands of churches all across North America in being more effective in reaching their local communities. The final phase of Exponential will be in helping churches and new churches to get started. We will do this by offering 1 year residency programs where potential church planters can come in to get trained in how to not only start a church, but grow a thriving church that is making a huge impact in whatever community they happen to be a part of. Also, our goal is to plant other churches around the Harrisburg area to make sure that all 425,000 people without Christ get to hear the good news of what Jesus has done for all of us.
That’s a very brief glimpse of what we’ll be doing. What has been amazing is watching God open door after door confirming this was what He wants us to do. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done yet, but God has been faithful and I know will provide all the resources and strength that we need.
14. Couldn’t you have stayed in Chambersburg and done this same thing? Trust me…Earl and I talked about if it were possible. However, we both quickly realized that a vision like this will require a much larger city than Chambersburg to pull off. And besides, God made it clear that we were to go to Harrisburg. So if someone else wants to try this in Chambersburg they can, but as for us, we are called to leave. As I’ve said all week long…not because we necessarily want to, but because we know that being faithful to God’s voice and His direction often requires discomfort and sacrifice.
That’s it for now, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any more questions.