Monday Morning
It was nice to take a blogging break…actually a break from work in general.
- I went over 48 hours without touching or looking at a computer…that was nice. But I had to help my dad set-up his new iPod…so the streak ended.
- We had a real nice family Christmas this year…just can’t believe the school break is almost over!
- Church was great yesterday. Jamie did a great job of preaching. Josh did great with leading us in worship. It was a nice treat to drive to church with my family and not have any major responsibility. I’ll have to do this again sometime
- Well, I can’t help but mention the Skins. Yes, I know Dallas had nothing to play for…but they kept Romo in for 3 quarters and they looked pretty bad. I’d be slightly nervous if I were a Cowboy fan. Anyway, I can’t wait to see how the Redskins do this week against Seattle. Gotta give Joe props for turning it around!
- Annual sickness…seems like 3 or 4 consecutive years, I’ve come down with the flu on New Year’s Eve…my wife will verify this…well, this year I’ve got a bad head cold, but as I type she’s in bed with a BAD stomach bug…definitely trumps my cold.
- I’m dreading getting out the ladder and getting down and packing away all the Christmas lights…not fun and nobody really wants to help.
- I’m excited about our new series starting next Sunday…In The Beginning
- We got Season 6 of 24 for Christmas and we are just over halfway through…it’s got to be our favorite show. This writer’s strike really stinks!
- We just completed our highest average attendance month at LCC. What’s really cool is that since June, our attendance average has gone up every month. Mostly modest gains, but going in the right direction. We praying for this trend to continue in 2008.
- Our 1 of 100 campaign is doing great. We have raised over 50% of our goal! God is good!
Merry Christmas!
We had 2 great services at LCC…Sunday and Monday. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy the holiday with family. Looking forward to a great rest of the week.
To all who read…MERRY CHRISTMAS!
A Few of My Favorite things…
about this time of year:
- Kids & my wife off school - Christmas vacation!
- Lots of sweets…without guilt
- Christmas cookies (that’s different than the last one)
- Christmas music…most of it…I did hear a song on WMZQ today “All I Want for Christmas is a Tan” - not sure how I feel about that one.
- Christmas movies…we may just watch one tonight.
- Playing games…it’s a great way to have family time.
- Surprises. I love all the surprises that come with Christmas. I love to see the kids faces.
- Wassail…my wife and my mom make a great hot cider drink by this name.
- Being a little lazy!
- All the Football games on TV
- Sleeping in (except for Christmas morning!)
- All of course -celebrating Jesus at church and with our family.
HGH or CGH
HGH (human growth hormone) and illegal steroids have rocked the baseball world. It’s big news. And I do feel sorry for or sympathize with some of the guys listed in the Mitchell Report. Guys like Brian Roberts who says that he only used steroids one time in 2004 and he decided immediately to never do it again. Guys like Andy Pettit who used HGH only a few times when recovering from a major injury. These guys and others admitted that these shortcuts were wrong and they regretted them.
I guess the reason I sympathize is that I think I’ve been guilty of taking CGH (church growth hormone). If there is such a thing…I’ve done it. This church steroid is something that comes in various forms and many church planters and pastors desperate for church growth take the pill or order the injection. Here are some of the forms of CGH that I’ve tried:
- 20,000 piece direct mailers to the community
- hanging door hangers every Friday
- copying an Ed Young message series
- doing the latest, greatest 40 day campaign
- spending a big chunk of change on a community carnival
- a complete redo of the website
- implement everything I learned at the latest conference
- skating parties and cookouts and movie nights
Here’s the deal…none of those things are absolutely wrong or sinful. They are not even on the “banned substance” list. But so often we are looking for something to give us the jolt of growth…only to come up later regretting the time and money spent. At Life, we are truly experiencing our best season/year of growth, now in the 6th year of our church. Here’s what is actually working…
- Focused prayer on God-honoring objectives (our 2007 prayer card)
- More preaching series based on passages/books of the Bible (less based on random topics)
- Improved worship experience (better music, setting, flow)
- Emphasis on small groups
- Keeping it simple…saying no to CGH
Sometimes we have the learn the hard way. If there were a Mitchell Report listing pastors guilty of trying CGH, I know my name would be there…most names would. Here’s my conclusions:
- avoid the church steroids
- promote the Gospel and talk about Jesus
- be consistent and excellent in what we do
- keep it simple
- and let God bring the growth
Christmas Services
Josh and I have been working most of today on planning our services for Dec 23 & 24. As we determine the videos, the music, and some other surprises we have in store…man I tell you…I’m getting pumped about this coming weekend! We’re going to have a great time. Just in case you didn’t catch it on our church website…
- Sunday morning, Dec 23rd - Worship @ 10:30 am (preschool & nursery provided, no core classes)
- Monday evening, Dec 24th - Christmas Eve @ 5:00 pm (nursery provided for 2 & under)
Our Christmas Eve service is going to be 45 minutes long and very family friendly. Sherri is going to help me share the message. We have a gift for all the kids at the end of the service. Invite your family, friends and neighbors!
Monday Morning
What a great weekend!
- The winter storm shifted and we didn’t get the frozen precip…so God answered that prayer.
- Our worship service was awesome. The band is doing an incredible job and I love the way they are doing the Christmas songs each week. Great job Josh and band!
- Another great crowd yesterday…the cold nasty rain seemed to have little effect.
- Our 1 of 100 number is down to 56!
- Had a great time with our church leadership team last night. God has blessed me with a great group of willing servants who are passionate for Him.
- Among other things, I have 2 messages to prepare this week…for Dec 23 & 24…really looking forward to our Christmas weekend!
- This week is going to be off the chain with activity 5 out of 6 nights. Our family calendar is a little scary.
- We still have a little shopping left…gift cards are looking better and better…
- And the Redskins won again…and are still alive for the playoffs…it’s a Christmas miracle
Church Services are a GO
December 16, 2007, 6:39 am
Filed under:
Church Just in case you had any doubts…hope to see you this morning for worship at LCC!
Forecast in our Favor
December 15, 2007, 10:09 am
Filed under:
Church The latest forecast shows this will be a cold rain event for our area up in the low 40’s by Sunday morning. No frozen precip…so we should be good to go for church tomorrow!
We kick off our Deck the Halls series tomorrow morning! Don’t miss it.
This & That
- Nothing great on regular TV these days…but last night caught a little of:
- Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia…great message.
- Hannity & Combes…this election is really up for grabs…getting interesting. I’m starting to like Huckabee, but he’s got some issues…but they all do…
- O’Reilly Factor…he had a great segment about permissive parenting and Dennis Miller (to my suprise) had a great rant about this when Bill interviewed him. You can find that on Foxnews: top videos.
- Dave Ramsey Show…on the new Fox Business Channel. It’s a call in show for financial advice…filled the time during the commercials on O’Reily.
- Major League Baseball already has an image problem with the younger generation…now this big news today about all these great stars using steroids…not a good day for baseball.
- The weather forecast for this weekend is not looking great. It sounds like the winter weather is coming at the worst possible time in relation to Sunday morning church…I hate having to make the call when it’s not obvious. It’s a lot easier when you are not a portable church…but we have to decide by 6:30 am. I’m praying that it passes or is late arriving…but if it does hit us…about 10 inches of snow would be nice!
- Deck the Halls, our Christmas series at LCC kicks off this weekend. Can’t wait. Love the Christmas story and preaching on it from a different angle each year. This Sunday we look at Matthew 1:18-25 and I’m going to share 4 Tips for Surviving Christmas.
- My annoying book reading habit…I made this post a few weeks ago about books I bought. Instead of finishing 1 at a time, I’ve started 4 and about 50% through one, 30% through 2nd, 10% through 3rd, and read the intro on the 4th. Anybody else have this problem? I just need to finish all 4 by the end of 07…
