We are NOT here to coddle the already convinced, or to cater to the consistently comfortable.  We’re here to help convert those who are YET to believe, and challenge the STINKIN’ HECK out of those of us who already do! 

Hey Jeff:

After your sermon today I felt led to write this.  God worked up some deep emotions in me – more of ultimate thankfulness for saving my life.  This email could never do justice but I am going to try.

I am so glad God brought about the start of Element Church.  If not for Element being here, I would surely be dead, along with so many others in my life.  Dead both in this life and in the next. Because God brought Element Church to Cheyenne, He saved me, my wife and my children’s lives.  Not to mention, all those yet to be discovered or who will be a part of my life.

There are so many life changing events, it would be impossible to list here. To name only a few: everything from quitting my 20+ year addiction to smoking, changing my selfishness and having a true hatred and anger toward the cross, to saving my wife from drug and alcohol abuse and helping her heal from her past physical abuse issues (rape by relative). Also, my wife’s previous husband hung himself, yet through Jesus she has been healed from that. We are both becoming more like Jesus everyday, and others are taking notice.

It’s the coolest thing to have my daughters talk about God in a way I never did at their age. I am taking my family in a bold direction that makes me so proud.

In the past, if you told me that I would be a Christian, and on top of that, volunteering and running a community group, I would have said you were the craziest person on the planet. I was so far the other direction. This is truly a miracle by God and my biggest calling is to be a larger impact to the world with you! I am 100 percent on board brother!!!

Because God called Element Church to Cheyenne, you guys have reached me. Because God reached me, He was able to reach my wife and our children, friends, and family.  Like you said, this is how we change the world! One person at a time.

For someone who use to stick my middle finger up at the cross and at churches while shouting “F you”, to now being reformed into someone who LOVES Christ and even who is running a group and praying in public is surely a God thing. This would have never happened if not for Element Church.

I am so excited to be a part of the movement!! I want others to experience what I have.  I am 10000000000000 times on board in anyway I can be!! My life is for Christ and my support will forever be with Element Church!

Love,

(Name)

Praying,

Jeff

—  Today was the culmination of MONTHS of prayer, planning and preparation for what is next for Element Church.  It was about a year ago that God began to stir my heart toward this next step we are taking as a church.

—  Each sermon and sermon series since February has been building up to the end of this series today.  In February we did a series called “Movement” and looked at “Church as it should be” from the book of Acts.  In March we did a series through our discipleship process and strategy as a church, then this series was focused on all of our core values leading up to our vision today.

—  Essentially, here is what it boils down to.  Our vision has ALWAYS been the same. “To have such an impact on our city that if our church were gone the community would miss us.”  About a year ago I was convicted by ONE number I came across.  The number 8.

• Wyoming is the 8th largest unchurched state in America.  So there are more lost people per capita in the state of Wyoming than in 48 other states in our country.  That blew me away.  So I started praying and seeking God’s guidance on what Element Church could do to change that number.
• As I was praying and seeking God’s guidance I couldn’t escape one word in Scripture.  You don’t necessarily READ it, but you SEE it all throughout Scripture.  “MOVEMENT”!  Jesus started a movement that we are STILL a part of today.  We are standing on the shoulders of men and women who over the last 2.000 years have taken the message, mission and movement of Jesus seriously so WE could do what we do today.
• Well, because we are launching our first campus in Wheatland, WY in January of 2013, not only did our vision “statement” need to change, but based off the stats I shared earlier and that word I couldn’t get off my heart, I felt God was EXPANDING our overall vision.  So here is the new vision of Element Church.  “That we’d be a MOVEMENT of churches having such an IMPACT that if we were gone our COMMUNITIES would miss us.”
• As I was praying through that number 8, and praying through that word “movement”, God began to lay another number on my heart.  The number 23.  We were ONE church starting TWO campuses in the EIGHTH largest unchurched state in America.  That number 23?  That’s the number of counties in the state of Wyoming.
• Now here is our LONG TERM VISION:  We want to start a campus in EVERY county in the state of Wyoming.  (Or as many as we can.  Long story, there are 3 counties that we are not currently going to pursue a campus.)  This won’t happen in 1 year, it won’t happen in 5 years, it may not happen in 10 or 20 years, but as long as I’m the pastor of Element Church, we are going to do our BEST to be a part of the movement of JESUS and change that number 8.
• We have the BEST MESSAGE on the planet…why WOULDN’T we do EVERYTHING we can to take that message to lost people?  It would be irresponsible for us NOT to do WHATEVER we can to reach more people for Jesus OUTSIDE the city we live in.

—  I’ve been waiting SIX MONTHS to give this message today.  HA!  Good to have it out.  Now I’m ready to just MOVE AHEAD!

—  In between 2nd and 3rd service I was just sitting in my office, getting prepared for 3rd service, when all of a sudden an overwhelming urge to throw up hit me.  I had that sensation in my throat and mouth and thought I was about to blow.  My body got the chills, and I became very weak.  It was VERY weird.  I was on the floor with a trash can just in case.  Texted Pastor Kody and told him what was going on.  I didn’t know if I was gonna make it out or not.

—  The team had the video of the previous service ready to go if we needed to play it, but I felt good enough to give it a go.  I felt LOST during that service.  My legs were jelly, my mind couldn’t focus, body was weak.  Thankfully the Lord saw it through.  I don’t know if anyone but those who knew would have even noticed anything.

—  As I said, we closed out our series “This is how we change the world” today.  Today wasn’t really a sermon, I got to share the story of Element Church and talk about where we are headed.  I did use these Scriptures to set up the story of Element Church today.  Matthew 13:16-17 and 1 Peter 1:10-12.  Here are some other excerpts on the day:

• (About Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego)  We get so focused on them being from the fire, we miss the power of their response through faith.
• They had an “even if” kind of faith.  Whether God comes through for us or not we will NEVER be through serving and following Him.
• The BEST stories are yet to be written.  Everybody loves a good story and we are a part of the GREATEST story of all.  The story of Jesus and HE’S NOT DONE!
• Sometimes to get to where you’re going, you have to remember where you’ve BEEN.  To become who you need to be, you have to remember who you WERE.
• Attendance at Element Church is up 27% from this time last year and our giving is up 61% from this time last year.
• We have two choices.  We can stop now and not mess this thing up, or we can GO and not lose momentum.
• This is not about our state needing more churches, it’s about people needing JESUS, and as long as people need JESUS we will CONTINUE being a church that does BRAND NEW THINGS!
• I can’t look at that number 8 (8th largest unchurched state) and NOT do something to try and change it.
• How can we change the world?  WE CAN’T but JESUS CAN, and He’s handed off His message, His mission, His MOVEMENT to us and says “What will you do with what I’ve given you?”
• Whether God comes through for us or not, we are NEVER through serving and following Him.  We will have an EVEN IF kind of faith.  “EVEN IF He doesn’t come through, I want you to know that we will NEVER STOP SERVING OUR GOD!  His name is JESUS, and He is LORD of all!”

—  Alright Element Church.  I am SCARED and I am EXCITED!  This vision is an “If God doesn’t come through WE’RE through kind of vision!”  And it’s the ONLY kind of vision to have!  If we are able to accomplish this dream, if we even accomplish HALF of it, the ONLY person that could receive credit for it is GOD!

—  I love you guys!  Couldn’t ask for a greater group of people to serve God with.  You guys are AWESOME!

Till the end,

Jeff

If you call Element Church home I NEED you to be here on Sunday.  I get to share with you what the next step is God’s asking us to take as a church, and unveil the newest chapter in the life of our ministry.  What I’m going to share with you won’t be accomplished in one year.  It may not be completed in 5 years, 10 years or even 20, but I believe it has the potential to affect GENERATIONS and to impact communities FAR beyond Element Church in Cheyenne, WY.  When you see ALL that God has already done, you can RELEASE yourself to the unknowns of what He’s going to do!

How can we change the world?  Come this Sunday and find out.

EXCITED,

Jeff

I don’t want to settle.  I don’t ever want to get to a place where I’m satisfied with where I am.  I’ve said this to our team before that “I want to ALWAYS be content but NEVER satisfied!”  You might think those words mean the same thing, and according to the dictionary you could possibly make a case, but to ME they are two different things.  Here’s how I explain it:

Contentment for me is saying “God, if this is ALL you have for me I’m ok with that.  I’m at peace in YOU. But Lord if there is MORE, I want it.  If there is…More STRENGTH.  More COURAGE.  More BOLDNESS.  More HOLINESS.  More TRANSFORMATION.  More LIFE CHANGE.  More of YOU God, I want it!  I’m NOT going to settle.  WHATEVER it takes God!”

Satisfied for me is saying “God, I know there is probably more, but I’m ok with that.  I’m comfortable.  If there is more, I don’t need it.  If there is more…more strength, more courage, more boldness, more holiness, more transformation, more life change, more of YOU God…I want it…but not that bad.  I’m just going to SETTLE.  I don’t have what it takes.”

But if we are going to live IN the presence of God we CAN’T SETTLE!

Genesis 4:16 says So Cain left the Lord’s presence and SETTLED in the land of Nod.

I think there is more to that word “settled” than “that is where he made his home”.  The ONLY thing you can do outside of God’s presence is SETTLE!  So…have you settled?

I want to be ALWAYS content but NEVER satisfied.

UNSETTLED,

Jeff

—  11 people acknowledged to us they accepted Jesus as Savior today and found NEW LIFE in Him!  WOO HOO!  If only for the ONE!

—  I met two young men in the living room today who came for the first time as their Mother’s Day gift to their mom.  She was beaming!  They asked her “What do you want for Mothers Day?”  She said she wanted them to come to Element.  They did!  Hope God spoke to their hearts!

—  The other young man I met in the Living had never been involved in church as an adult.  He started coming to Element a few weeks ago after an invitation from one of our volunteers and today he brought his MOM to church!  LOVE IT! One mom bringing her adult sons, one adult son bringing his mom.

—  Leadership Summit is TONIGHT at 6:30 PM in the worship center.  Childcare is provided.  If you are currently volunteering anywhere at Element Church or if you are INTERESTED in volunteering, the Leadership Summit is for you.  We’re going to spend some time in worship, and I’ll be casting vision on the future of Element and bringing a message from the Word.

—  I’ll be sharing to our volunteers FIRST what I’m sharing with the church as a whole this coming Sunday.  What I’m sharing is a GOD SIZED VISION.  It’s a goal that if God doesn’t come through, we’re through kind of goal.  I can’t wait to talk to you about it.

—  Don’t forget that this coming Sunday, May 20th, is VISION SUNDAY!  We’ll be closing out our series by casting some vision on what the next chapter is here at Element Church!  I believe what God’s called us to do can effect GENERATIONS and will impact communities FAR BEYOND just Element Church in Cheyenne, WY.  Hope to see you there.

—  We continued our series “This is how we change the world” today by talking about our last core value.  Honor in all things — We will honor God and honor people with EVERYTHING we do!  Preached from Mark 10:35-45.  Here are some excerpts on the day:

• If we’re not careful, values can just become carefully crafted statements that sound good and look cool.
• James and John were thinking “If we sit next to the throne, people will serve US.”  But Jesus said, “NO, if you sit next to the throne you’re going to serve OTHER PEOPLE.”
• A good waiter makes it all about the other person, and so does a good follower of Jesus.  And so does a good church.
• The only way to fulfill my desire to be honored is NOT by being honored more, it’s by living a more honoring life.
• Honor is not about self recognition, it’s about recognizing how selfish we are and lifting other people up.
• Honor is demonstrated whether you ever receive any honor in return.
• Honor has much more to do with my posture than it does my position.  The posture of honor is SURRENDER!
• If anyone could have demanded honor it was Jesus.  If anyone could have used their status it was our Lord.  But He came not to BE served, but to serve OTHERS!
• I can either pursue honor or I can pursue Jesus.  If I pursue honor I CAN’T pursue Jesus.  If I pursue Jesus I WON’T pursue honor.
• If I’m pursuing Jesus my desire is to live more like Him.  If I live more like Him I’ll bring honor to GOD and to OTHER people.
• Any position we might receive.  Any status we might attain.  Any honor, any value, any recognition, any praise, PALES in comparison to the price our Lord paid.  He deserves the honor, glory & praise for He gave His life away.  The way we show Him honor is by giving our lives right back to Him.

—  Don’t forget, Leadership Summit is TONIGHT at 6:30 PM and VISION SUNDAY is this coming Sunday, May 20th.  If you are a volunteer, I hope to see you TONIGHT.  If you call Element Church home, I hope to see you THIS SUNDAY!

—  Gonna call it good for now.  Element Church, I LOVE you guys!  You’re the greatest!

Till the end,

Jeff

I read something in Scripture a while back and made a note of it in my journal, then I saw something on Deadliest Catch the other night that brought it back to my mind. If you don’t know, Deadliest Catch is a show on Discovery that follows the crab fishing season of several  boats in Alaska.  I LOVE watching the show.  It’s fascinating to me.  But the other night, I saw something that broke my heart.

A captain of one of the boats employs one of his own sons as a crewman on the ship.  This son is still learning the ropes on the boat and his dad wanted to give him a shot at a new role.  “Throwing the hook”.  This is the art of tossing a hook out into the sea to snag the rope that’s attached to the crab pot and the bottom of the ocean, which then brings the pot up to the surface to haul in the catch.

Well, this young man (20 something) tried it several times but to no avail.  The dad, and captain of the ship came down to the deck and began to belittle his son in front of the crew.  Literally beating him down word by word.  The dad goes back up to his post and announces over the ships loudspeaker for everyone to hear “Your mom is going to be real proud when she sees this.  She always wanted a girl.”  The camera captured the look of the young man.  It was like his dad just took some of the life right out of him.  Who knows, he may never throw the hook the right way again, just based off what his dad said.

But this is something that jumped out at me in Scripture.  God used it to challenge me on the words I use with my children.  SPECIFICALLY my son!

In 1 Chronicles 28, David is handing off his throne to his son Solomon as well as the plans for building the Temple.  And 1 Chronicles 28:20 says this Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.

Essentially he’s telling Solomon “I believe in you and SO DOES GOD.  HE will give you the power to do this.” David spoke SUCCESS into his son.  He spoke LIFE into him.  He spoke BELIEF into him.

Then when Solomon becomes King, 1 Chronicles 29:23 says this So Solomon took the throne of the Lord in place of his father, David, and he succeeded in everything, and all Israel obeyed him.

You’ll never convince me that Solomon’s success didn’t have anything to do with his dads words.  DAD, your words carry WEIGHT!  Speak LIFE, speak SUCCESS, speak BELIEF into your children.  IT MATTERS!

As dads, if we understood the WEIGHT of our words, we would worry a little bit more about WHAT we said! 

Worrying,

Jeff

I could have titled this “What EVERY husband needs and what every wife should know!”

In 2 Samuel chapter 6, King David was returning home from a hard days work.  They had just completed the STRESSFUL task of moving the Ark of God into Jerusalem.  It was something David had wanted to do to honor the Lord and bless the people.  (The last time David tried this, someone died.  So this was a BIG deal!)

2 Samuel 6:20 says When David returned home to BLESS HIS OWN FAMILY, (Men, your role is to BLESS your family not BELITTLE them.  To BUILD them up not BEAT them down.  To BE a servant, not to BE served.  And you do this, REGARDLESS of what your wife or children do for you. Now back to the wives.) Michal, the daughter of Saul (and wife of David), came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!”

David’s intention when he came home was to BLESS his wife, but when he entered the door he was immediately met with a BITE!  He had just completed something he had long wanted to do, and all his wife could do was tear him down.  Point out his mistakes.  Share her disgust.  Do you think David fulfilled what he set out to do?  To bless his family?  Hard to bless when you’re beaten up.

Wives, you need to know this.  There is ONE person outside of God and our own dads that we want approval from and it’s YOU!  Even after 5 years of dating and 15 years of marriage, I’m STILL trying to impress my wife.  It’s HER word of encouragement I need.  It’s HER support I’m looking for.  It’s HER respect that matters.  And I PRAISE GOD EVERY DAY that God gave me a wife who GETS IT!

I understand there are husbands who aren’t earning respect.  I know there are men who abuse the role of husband.  But wives (as I heard another pastor say) inside of every man is a KING or a KID.  The one who you speak to, is the one who will come alive!  Speak to your man as a KING and he’ll be better able to live like it!

RESPECT him (we take pride in what we do).  ENCOURAGE him (we often feel inadequate in what we do).  SUPPORT him (we need you beside us in what we do).  (All of that and I didn’t even use the dreaded “S” word…SUBMIT.  I’ll leave that for another day)

There you have it.  My ramblings on “What every husband needs and every wife needs to know.”  Maybe it helped someone today!

Here’s to hoping,

Jeff

This past Sunday I preached a message on our core value of “It Matters”.  That no matter what you do IN the church, it matters just the same FOR the church!  I truly hope that our people begin to understand the value of EVERY person and EACH place in the church.  I want to eradicate the “I’m JUST” mentality that is so prevalent in the church.  “I’m JUST a greeter.”  “I JUST serve on the parking team.”  “I JUST help out in the office.”  There is no “JUST” in God’s church.  EVERY person has a place and EVERY place matters.  It’s why I always say “The sermon starts in the parking lot.”  EACH place and EVERY position makes a difference in helping people experience LIFE and making an IMPACT!

It’s a tragedy to me that some people are EAGER to use their gifts, and DO use them, they just believe that what they do DOESN’T matter.  That it’s NOT as important as what someone else does.  But just as much a tragedy, are the people who HAVE the ability.  People who HAVE the gifts, they just aren’t eager to use them.

Exodus 36:2 says this ² So Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and all the others who were SPECIALLY GIFTED by the Lord AND WERE EAGER to get to work.

That verse is in direct reference to the building of the Tabernacle.  “Serving” in God’s church.  To me it implies that there were at least SOME people who were specially gifted, they just weren’t EAGER to get to work.  And the same is true today.  Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 both tell us that each Christian has been given a spiritual gift…whether we USE that gift, and HOW we use it is up to us!

Someone who is GIFTED won’t DO any good, unless they are EAGER to use their gift FOR God. 

To all of you who are EAGERLY using your gifts at Element Church…THANK YOU!  What you do MATTERS!

To anyone who still needs to get plugged in…I challenge you, go HERE and become EAGER to use your gift.

EAGER,

Jeff