Join us for a free conference!

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NinesCome and join us at FP Carthage for a really cool conference on September 9th…in our auditorium. ?We will be gathering around the computer/video screens for this FREE online leadership conference sponsored by Leadership Network and Catalyst.

Here is the details from the website…

What if you could sit down across your desk with some of the best leaders in today’s church and hear what they would say to you? That’s the idea behind THE NINES.

THE NINES is a free one-day event that will take place totally on-line. It is designed for all church staff members who want to be motivated and stretched in their leadership.

Leadership Network asked some of the church’s greatest communicators: “If
you had nine minutes to talk one-on-one with thousands of church leaders, what is the one thing that you would tell them? The result is a series of passionate and personal messages that will help you and your church navigate into the future.

The format is simple: Nine minute video leadership lessons that can help
multiply your church’s impact. You will be stretched as a leader, and motivated as a church. And you’ll hear a personal word from many of the leaders you know and trust (along with some great new leaders we’ll introduce you to). It all starts at 9:00 a.m. Central time on 09/09/09. We’ll make a day of it. The conference will probably last around nine hours! You can come and go as you please, but hope that you’ll be with us the whole day!

We are encouraging every church staff member in America to attend THE
NINES. Watch it alone, or with your entire staff. It’s free.

Here is the trailer that explains the idea behind the conference…

Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall Meeting for Hope

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Connect with families across the nation for a truly radical message: HOPE.

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Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that?s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what?s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we?re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!

Join us at Forest Park Carthage at the Bykota Community Center for this free event April 23 at 7:00 p.m. CST in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

Check out this video to see what it is all about!!

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–3.8.2009

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Had good services today.
  2. 242 in attendance in two services
  3. …Seems rather petty (the numbers) in light of Pastor Fred Winters passing today.
  4. Here is a link to CNN for what happened…http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/08/church.shooting/index.html
  5. Pastor John went to seminary with Fred Winters…Also, Fred’s brother, Zack is a member at Forest Park.
  6. Pray for that family.
  7. Pray for that church.
  8. I am reminded so vividly of the shooting at Wedgewood BC in Fort Worth when we were at Southwestern Seminary.
  9. May God be glorified in this tragedy as He has been in the past!
  10. I am still loving the Kindle 2!? Becoming quite the Kindle evangelist…in line at the store…at the dentist…etc.
  11. Pretty sad that I am an evangelist about a stupid device and not my Savior.
  12. I was able to turn the conversation to Christ and our church though at the dentist office.
  13. I had two wisdom teeth taken out…drugged out for a couple of days…but doing good now.
  14. Had a birthday celebration on Saturday afternoon after Taylor’s basketball game…Strawberry cake–my favorite!
  15. Katie helped us tear off wallpaper…we are gaining on it…but very slowly though!

Here is a gallary of pictures that I posted on twitter and from my phone this week…

The Week In TwitPics….

Take advantage of Drive-In Conference

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Tuesday is for Training . . . Drive-In Online Conference

I got the opportunity to go to the first DRIVE conference several years ago and it was a life-changing experience. It just really began to put some of the pieces together for me of church planting and especially creating “irresistible environments.”

The beauty of the Drive-In Conference is that you can sit in your boxers on your couch…you don’t have to drive or fly to Atlanta to go to the conference. Simply go to driveinternational.org, register, and “attend” the conference. You can also see the archived sessions and join in on the conversation on the blog.

The even better part than boxers…it’s free!

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Reaching the Next Generation

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I am trying to get on to more of a schedule with this blog…if I don’t, then you get a random post once every two weeks, or one when John or Dinwiddie bugs me about not seeing any posts lately!

Today, TUESDAY IS FOR TRAINING. . . I am going to include something that I am learning and will write something or, like today, steal from someone who is smarter than me that is teaching me!!

Joshua Hedger, our Youth Pastor at the Joplin campus, sent this out to our staff and his youth staff and I thought it was really good about how to reach the next generation.

Reaching the Next Generation (from LifeChurch)

To reach the next generation for Christ, we must be three things:

? Conversational.

? Missional.

? Generational.

Let?s start today with conversational. This generation craves intimacy in relationships. They want to know and be known.

Too many Western Christians are turned off (or intimidated by) the young, tech savvy, tattooed, and pierced young adults.

Some churches preach against these outward appearances. Others are striving full-time to be ?cool? and ?relevant? believing the right environment, best light show, or hot sermon series will win the young adults to Christ.

Both these strategies miss a key ingredient. This generation wants to talk. Conversation matters. Relationships matter. Intimacy matters.

Here are some rules of conversation:

? Before they listen to you, they want to know if you?re listening to them. If you?ll get to know them, they will listen to you.

? If you?re quick to judge, don?t bother trying to connect.

? It doesn?t matter if you?re cool or relevant. It matters if you bring the real you. Fake is the worst thing you can bring.

? The fifth conversation might be the difference maker. In my ?Christian Witness Training? course at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, we were trained to knock on doors, present the gospel, and ask people to pray the sinners? prayer. While this might occasionally still work, it isn?t a likely path to life change. This generation builds trust slowly. If you don?t plan on having a third, fourth, or fifth conversation, you might not want to spend a lot of time on the first.

? They want to be loved. My most consistent conversations with 20-somethings happens in the gym. After getting to know some young men, I genuinely care for them and believe in them. I try to tell them often, ?I?m proud of you? I?m pulling for you? I believe in you? I love you.? They seem hungry for acceptance and affirmation and respond well to sincere Christian love.

DRIVE-IN Conference 2009

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I have been to DRIVE two different times at Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. That conference has been a huge turning point each time in my own life and ministry. I have learned a ton of things about church leadership from Andy Stanley and the Northpoint folks over the years.

They have just recently announced a new conference for people who can’t make it to the DRIVE conference in GA. DRIVE-IN is a series of online web events on several days this spring starting this Wednesday, January 21st at 9 a.m. EST. Click HERE for more details.

It can be a really cool thing for our church to get all on the same page about how to create a church for people who don’t like church–in our culture! Jump in, log on, and drive-in.

Just Another Manic Monday . . . and Tuesday . . . and . . .

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Go ahead and sing along the old Bangles song with me!? Don’t you just love the 80s?? They don’t make cheesy goodness like that anymore!? Who knew that Prince, or “The Artist formerly know as,” or simply “The Artist” wrote that gem of a song?

Ok, to the heart of the post . . . It seems as though I am really, really busy, but I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done!? Do you ever feel that way?? We had a great staff meeting yesterday morning, but the day seemed to get away and before I knew it, it was time for Life Group at our house.

We had an AWESOME Life Group.? I absolutely love hanging out with our new found friends and study the Bible and hang out together!? We are really starting to gel and “click,” which is really cool.? We are studying “Discovering God’s Will”–an Andy Stanley/Northpoint study.? Man, what a great study so far.? Some highlight statements that really spoke to me from this week:

“The problem with knowing God’s will is not God’s unwillingness to speak; the problem is our unwillingness to follow through. Discovering God’s Will by Andy Stanley & Reggie Joiner, 21

“God does not give us direction for our consideration; He gives us His direction for participation.”

“God is more interested in your discovering Him than His will.”

“In the process of trying to know His will, we get to know Him.”

The message was built around Proverbs 3:5-6–

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

I think this verse is very appropriate for my Tuesday that I had today . . .

Have you ever noticed how we seem to tell God “how it’s going to be?”? You know the deal.? We basically expect God to get on board with what we are doing.? When He does something we don’t want, weren’t expecting, or makes us uncomfortable; and we get all bent out of shape.? We tend to work harder, plan more thoroughly…work YOUR plan and ask God to bless YOUR plans.

God doesn’t work that way!? He wants us to wait on Him.? He wants more than anything a relationship with us that is real and personal.? He wants us to be so close to Him, that of course we would know what to do in order to do His will.

I am learning that the more plans I put together, the more they will not go so hot.? When I seek God and work on my relationship with Him, then I set to planning. . . that is when the my plans will become His plans.? When I am so atuned to His heart, that His heart becomes mine.

When things are seeming to “go your way.”? Maybe it is a perspective change?? Maybe it is a change in who is making the plans.? As Experiencing God says, “God is always at work around you.”? You need to find out what He is doing and do it.

Never Give Up in Doing Good . . .

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I have really had several encouraging moments over the last week or so that have really made me rethink Paul’s words in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

First off, I went to my new dentist here in Carthage and one of the dental hygentists is a daughter of a fellow pastor way back when (’95) , when Jenny and I were in Pryor, OK.? Her father is a great man and served in the Methodist Church in both Pryor and Locust Grove (where I was serving).? The work in Locust Grove was especially challenging, but he was always faithful to the call of God on his life.? I learned a lot from him in a very short time.

Then, later on that evening, I got a Facebook message from a former student in my youth group.? He was recalling a particular message I preached on a Wednesday night a LONG time ago that was still impacting his life!? What??? He talked about a simple phrase has stuck with him all these years and has helped him finally deal with some “junk” in his life and actually let some other people in the body of Christ to help him along in the journey!? At this point, I’m feeling really pumped about what God has done through me.? It gets better. . .

This Saturday night, I was studying for the next morning . . . looking over service, message, etc.? I had my email inbox open and got a latenight message from another “blast from the past.”? It was from a young lady that was in my youth ministry in Burleson, TX while I was in seminary.? She had been thinking about me and looked me up on the internet and found the Finley Crossings website and eventually this blog.? While she was looking at the CFC website, she downloaded a podcast–happened to be my last message at Finley before moving to Forest Park Carthage.? As she and her husband were sitting in their kitchen listening to the podcast, they made a decision to find a church in their city and really follow the call of God on their life–AWESOME STUFF!? So now I am really thinking that God is amazing and what am I mopeing around about, right??? It gets even better–last night . . .

I took Dinwiddie with me to Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark, where I was a student pastor starting in ’99 after seminary.? We went to hear Aaron Hill give his first sermon ever.? Pretty stinking cool!? Aaron? was a 7th-8th grader when I left to plant Finley Crossings.? He was always one of “those kids” that you know God was going to do an amazing work through–you know the kid.? I am really good friends with his dad, John, who’s blog is linked over in the right margin.? Jenny and I have been worship pastors at their (HBC) children’s camps for about 5 or 6 years now and have gotten the opportunity to spend some quality time with Aaron in a cabin with a bunch of crazy elementary kids!!? I have always thought God was going to “do something” with Aaron. . . and I think he deep down thought the same thing.? It was really great!? He did an awesome job!? Brought back a ton of memories of student ministry at Hopedale as well as my “first sermon.”

I remember my first sermon in January of 1994 at FBC-Springfield at “College Night at Christmas.”? I gave the message and several of my other buddies did the other parts of the service.? It was a real nerve-wracking experience to say the least!? I was really nervous . . . in a suit and tie . . . had microphone feedback issues . . . and forgot (are you ready for this)–John 3:16.? I think they probably should have pulled my license at that point for sure!!

Again, I am reminded of Paul’s words of “never give up in doing good.”? Even thought things don’t always “go your way” or turn out the way you might want them to turn out . . . never give up.? Life and ministry are difficult and Paul was encouraging the early church to keep pressing on and hope for the harvest.? I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to do what I do and really thankful for His encouragement this week!? Thank you God!

Golfer shows extreme integrity

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Veteran golfer, J.P. Hayes, turned himself in for using a golf ball not approved for play by the United States Golf Association.? In doing so, it disqualified him from the Q-School tournament and he did not get a coveted 2009 PGA tour card.? There are many articles and blog posts about this event when you do a Google search. There is also a great discussion on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio here.

I played golf on my high school golf team (Go Chiefs!!–That’s for Ronnie!).? With those experiences, I learned a lot of lessons about integrity and life.? I also learned that the game of golf is officiated by each player and there is the possibility for a lot of cheating to take place.? I had an experience one time during a match where an opponant’s father was watching the match.? He came up to his son after we left the green and told him something.? The player then told the guy with the score card that he had not properly marked his ball on the putting green and would need to take a two stroke penalty.? Amazing couple of minutes for sure.? Turns out that his team needed those strokes to win and they lost the match.? Again, there is a ton of stories like this that come out of sports, especially golf.

So, for the weekend hacker, don’t kick your ball from behind the tree, play “winter rules” in the middle of the summer, take a mulligan every hole, and the list goes on and on.? Play the game with integrity and most importantly–enjoy the game!? Enjoy the day that the Lord has made!? Enjoy the people you are playing with (though it is extremely difficult at times!). Enjoy this terrible, horrible, exellent, frustrating game we call golf!

When have you seen someone show integrity when no one would have known?

Do you hear what I hear? Probably not.

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It is pretty funny (ironic rather than “ha ha”) that every time I seem to feel like I am getting along better as a leader, husband, father, friend, etc., the Lord always tightens the screws a bit and makes me better!? The problem with that is that it, most of the time, is a painful process of humility and putting others ahead of myself and my agenda.? This is the same idea that Christ talked about to his disciples–that we ought to serve other people, that we ought to put others first in all things.? Why?? We ought to serve others and be humble because he served us and humbled himself “even to death on a cross.”? (Phil. 2:8)? He is the ultimate leader and every time I get to thinking I am figuring this stuff out, he lays another nugget of truth on me!

One of the HUGE concepts that God is laying on my plate these days is learning how to listen.? There is a difference between listening and having a person “be heard.”? I think I am a good listener–just ask me!!? We all would probably say the same thing, wouldn’t we?? But maybe we ought to ask those around us if THEY think we are a good listener.? But be careful, as in my situation, the Lord will allow those people to be TOTALLY honest with you and you just might not like what you are hearing!

So we have a choice.? We can deny the problem exists of our lack of listening to people, or we can allow God to shape and mold us into the kind of leaders we were called to be.? For me, it is going to be a pretty long journey of conversations asking if I am a good listener. . . i.e. “do you feel like I ‘heard’ you?”? I am also quite certain that this process of becoming a better leader and listener is going to include me becoming more humble–realizing that only with Christ’s help can I be better.? It is also quite certainly going to include some apologies for a lack of “honor” that I have not given to those I serve alongside each day.? Jesus called us to love our neighbor as ourselves.? I think I’ve got the loving myself down!? I even love to hear myself talk sometimes!? Now God is shaping me into truly learning how to lead–in love.? All the while, making sure that all around me are “being heard.”

When are some times when you thought you heard, but really didn’t hear at all?