Sunday Ruminations (5-13-12)

14 05 2012

Hope it was a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you moms out there.  As I said in church, not only are you often the primary care givers for our children, but many of you are the primary caregivers for us husbands who often ACT like children.  That is NOT easy!  HA!  To my AMAZING wife & mother of my children “I LOVE YOU!”  Our kids are BLESSED to call you mom.  To my mom, there is NO ON ELSE I’d rather call “mom.”  You’re the best.  I love you.  UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous weather on this Mother’s Day!  God did some work in people’s hearts at Element.  Here are my ruminations on the day.

—  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


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Categories : Element Church, Sunday Rumination

DAD, your words carry weight!

10 05 2012

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

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


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Categories : Discipleship, Element Church, kids, Parenting, Personal

What EVERY husband needs!

9 05 2012

And NO men…what you’re thinking of is NOT a need.  You will not die if you go without IT.  I’ve never read an obituary that cited THAT as a cause of death.  Air?  That’s a need!  Water?  Yep!  Food?  Pretty much!  THAT?  Sorry.  (typing this with a grin)

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


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Categories : Discipleship, Element Church, Family, Husbands, Personal, Wives

Gifted but NOT eager

8 05 2012

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

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


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Categories : Core Values, Discipleship, Element Church, Leadership, Volunteers

Sunday Ruminations (5-6-12)

7 05 2012

I think I say this every month, so may as well keep it up…I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S MAY ALREADY!  Crazy!  Of course the weather has been nothing short of near summer like recently, so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.  Another great day at Element today, here are my ruminations.

—  15 people acknowledged to us they accepted Jesus as Savior and found new life in HIM!  WOO HOO!  If only for the ONE!

—  Heard a cool story today of a guy that invited his EX wife to Element.  She came and LOVED it!  Said she had never experienced anything like it.  LOVE THAT!  So cool to hear of men inviting their EX’S to church.

—  A brand new community season at Element is coming up in June.  The whole month of May we are promoting community opportunities.  For more info on community go HERE.

—  Got a really cool serving opportunity for families coming up through e:kidz.  It’s called “Plant a seed in the park”.  You can check out the details and sign up HERE.  If you have kids in e:kidz they should have brought home some information.

—  Element 5k will be here before we know it.  Sign up HERE to participate.  Cost is $20, but 15 of those dollars will go straight to the Comea Homeless Shelter and Life Choice Pregnancy Care Center here in town.

—  ALSO, coming up on Monday night, May 14th is our Volunteer Leadership Summit!  If you are currently a volunteer or are interested in volunteering we’d LOVE to have you at this event.  Pastor Adam and the band will lead us in worship, and I’ll be sharing with our volunteers some vision and message from God’s Word.  It’s a great time of celebration as a team.  Childcare is provided and it begins at 6:30 PM.

—  We continued our series today called “This is how we change the world” and talked about Core Value #5: It Matters…  Preached from Matthew 10:5-42.  Here are some excerpts on the day:

  • It Matters… = No matter what you do IN the church, it matters just the same FOR the church.
  • Anytime you can mention Rob Base in a sermon it’s good!  HA!
  • “I’m just…” is a phrase that needs to be REMOVED from our churches language.  “I’m JUST a greeter.”  “I JUST serve in hospitality.”  “I’m JUST on the parking team.”  When people SAY it, most likely they BELIEVE it, and if you BELIEVE it you won’t thank that what you do MATTERS!
  • You are just as important as ANYONE when you do ANYTHING in God’s Kingdom for Jesus.
  • We have elevated the position of the pulpit at the expense of the places like the parking team.
  • The moment I lose sight of who gave me this position, is the moment I miss the importance of it.  And the same is true for EVERY place in the church.
  • Serving in God’s Kingdom, serving in God’s church is NOT an obligation, it is an opportunity.  An opportunity to be involved in something bigger than ourselves.  Something that makes an IMPACT!
  • Because we have placed a higher value on the platform than any other positions, we start to see certain gifts instead of seeking the GIVER who gives them.  If we are seeking out GIFTS, we will end up missing the GIVER.
  • So many people never get to do what God’s chosen them to do because they won’t trust God to do what only HE can do…PROVIDE!
  • If you’re looking for anything more than Jesus you’re going to be disappointed.  If you give SO you’ll receive you’ll eventually stop giving, but if you give BECAUSE you’ve received you can’t stop giving.  If you serve SO you’ll be rewarded you’ll eventually stop serving, but if you serve because JESUS is your reward you can’t stop serving.
  • We can get so busy doing things FOR Jesus that we fail to connect WITH Jesus.
  • When we focus on what we DO we can lose sight of Who’s we ARE.  When we focus on who’s we ARE we accomplish everything He’s asked us to DO.
  • It’s not about WHAT we do, but WHO’S we are.  It’s not about the GIFTS it’s about the GIVER.  It’s not about REWARDS but about what we’ve already RECEIVED.

—  I challenged anyone who is a Christian but is yet to get plugged into their church through volunteering to do that.  You can sign up to serve God through Element Church HERE.

— Don’t forget that Sunday, May 20th, is a big VISION SUNDAY here at Element.  I hope you’ll make it a priority to be there.  I’m going to be unveiling some new directions God’s asking us to go INSIDE of the vision He’s given us.  It’s an “If God doesn’t come through WE’RE through” kind of vision.  I CAN’T wait to share it with you.  I am SCARED TO GOD of what’s next for Element Church.  “If God is for us…”

—  Also, continue praying for FAVOR with financing when it comes to our remodel.  I hope to have some sort of update for you on May 20th.  Hoping for a POSITIVE one!

—  That’s gonna be it.  Thanks to all of you who call Element Church your HOME.  I LOVE you guys!  See ya Sunday.

Till the end,

Jeff


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Categories : Element Church, Sunday Rumination

Influence vs. Influential

3 05 2012

In leadership you should IGNORE the criticism of those with INFLUENCE but INVITE the critique of the INFLUENTIAL. 

EVERYONE has influence but NOT everyone is influential.  There are times in leadership you have to ignore people of influence so you can invite the critique of the influential.  A quick for instance, Starbucks shouldn’t listen to the voice of my wife.  She HATES coffee.  Hates!  Hates the smell.  Hates the taste.  HATES!  (not sure that word is strong enough for her feelings)  Now, she has influence.  She has friends.  Family.  Customers of her home based business.  But she HATES coffee.  No matter what Starbucks does, she will NEVER drink their coffee.  Or ANY coffee.  She has influence but she is NOT influential.

An influential person is invested.  They too have family, friends, co-workers, etc.  The difference is, they are bought in.  They purchase the product.  They support the cause.  They volunteer in the event.  They encourage, support, invest, love, care, and the list goes on.  And this even bleeds into the church.

I have seen TOO MANY CHURCHES crippled by people of influence.  People who LOVE to offer their criticism without investing into the cause.  They don’t give.  They don’t serve.  They don’t encourage, invest, support or care.  They just criticize.  As one person put it, “The loudest critics usually come from the cheapest seats.”  Leader…IGNORE THEM!

Seth Godin put it this way:  If we’re going to do great work, it means that some people aren’t going to like it. And if the people who don’t like it don’t have an impact on what happens to the work after it’s complete, the only recourse of someone doing GREAT work is to IGNORE their opinion.

Dave Ramsey said this in his book EntreLeadershp:  “You can count on criticism if you do anything of scale that matters.  You can’t be afraid of criticism.  It comes with the territory.”  “Instead you should just count on someone not liking the call you make.”  “…fear of gripes from do-nothing people or the opposition isn’t going to keep the EntreLeader from making the call.”  “The more you do, the more someone will have something negative to say.”   

And if you think this isn’t Biblical, here is what Nehemiah said, when people of influence were opposing him.  Nehemiah 6:2b-3  But I realized they were plotting to harm me, 3 so I replied by sending this message to them: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?”

If they are influential?  If they’ve shown that they care?  That they’re invested?  That they’re bought in?  That they have the best interest of the CAUSE in mind and not just their CRITICISM?  If they’ve been an encouragement?  Then talk.  Invite their critique.  By all means allow the influential their input.  But if all they’re going to do is criticize? IGNORE THEM!


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Categories : Element Church, Leadership

I’m Pregnant Again

2 05 2012

NO Sabrina and I are NOT expecting (knock on wood).  I love my kids but I think that would drive me into depression and despair.  HOWEVER, I am preaching again this Sunday and that is likened to being pregnant.  Let me explain…

I don’t remember where I read this or who said it, but it is so true.  They talked about how preaching is like delivering a baby then waking up the next day only to find out your pregnant again.  (Please moms, understand I am in NO WAY saying I understand the physical pain and intensity that you have faced.  I’ve watched my wife carry FOUR children, been in the delivery room FOUR times and I do NOT wish that upon ANYONE!)

When a preacher has delivered a sermon, at least this is the way it happens for me, it didn’t just pop into their mind that morning or even on Saturday night.  Many times the sermon that is given on Sunday has been growing for weeks, if not months at a time.  Maybe it was  “conceived” in a moment of inspiration as God revealed something to them in Scripture and AT the time it seemed insignificant, but OVER time it begins to grow and develop and mature into a burden on the heart of the preacher SO INTENSE they HAVE to get it out.

Preaching is a laborious process.  It is spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even physically taxing.  By the time Sunday morning rolls around a preacher has (or should have) prayed hard, studied hard, practiced hard and fallen in love with what they are about to deliver.  They anticipate the response of the people.  “Will they listen?”  “Will they understand?”  They seek the counsel of God.  “Is this YOUR word for THESE people?”  Then Sunday morning rolls around.  It’s the day they’ve been waiting for.  DELIVERY.

One, two, three, sometimes four or more times in a weekend the pastor pours his heart out to the people he leads and loves.  The words coming out of his mouth have been pent up in his heart, growing, maturing, developing into a full on 35 – 40 minute message (give or take).  Hours, days, weeks, months of anticipation building up to this ONE moment.  Then BAM.  It’s all over.  The people leave and the pastor again pleads for the Holy Spirit to do what we CANNOT do…connect those words to their hearts.  They go home, they crash in exhaustion, they wake up Monday morning…and they are PREGNANT.

As pastors we LIVE Jeremiah 20:9  But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’m pregnant again, and I CAN’T WAIT TILL SUNDAY!

BRING IT,

Jeff


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Categories : Element Church, Leadership, Personal, Sermon Series

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