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08 Was Great, but 09 Will Be Big Time!

As I think about ‘08, I’m grateful for all that God’s done. This year was much better than ‘07 or ‘06. Those two years I was at war, but in ‘08 I’ve gotten to live what seeing God win that war looks like. As I anticipate all the things God will do in ‘09, I’m wrapping up this year having learned so many things - a few are:

The greatest blessings in life are not things, they are the people who make life richer and more meaningful.
My bride and kids mean more to me than ever. I pray God helps me become the husband and Dad they deserve.
The difference in sustaining an institution and building a movement.
Unity comes with a price. Many churches are unified in their attempts at nothing, in their satisfaction of stagnancy, and in their “dislike” of others who are really doing something. ‘08 is the greatest year of ministry I’ve ever lived. I’m grateful that I lead a growing church that is passionate and unified about loving God and loving others and actually doing something to impact lives. I’m grateful that our church is unified about reaching “others” not about trying to re-live a re-written past.
I’m learning that when you really love people, and sacrifice to show them, they are open to knowing the God who changed you to be that way.
For the church, a struggling economy doesn’t have to be a deficiency, it can be a huge opportunity.
When you begin to live what you were born to do and pursue Christ hard, those who aren’t will try to stop you… but they can only stop you if you let them.
I’ve see God change more lives and develop more people in ‘08 than I’ve ever seen in ministry… with no permanent buildings, tons to set up each week, and less financial resources than when we were an “established church.“ We’re seeing more with less b/c we’re not distracted by churchy mess.
I believe God has big plans for those who believe in a big God. To think that almost a year ago we had half the people we had last Sunday really humbles me. Growing a church is not hard but it is difficult.

There’s so much more - maybe I’ll hit this again after the 1st of the year. For now, this is enough. This was a year that God moved, God blessed and lives were changed and I’m so much more than grateful. I love Jesus and what he’s asked me to do, and we’re going to see more in ‘09 than can be imagined. In this one life I get to relentlessly pursue Jesus and him making a difference - the best is yet to come.

Published

Byron Bledsoe

on December 31, 2008

in C3 Church, Church, Faith, Family, Friends, Future, Leadership, Life, Past, Random, Thankful, Thoughts, Vision, bride, church leadership, finances, questions and transitioning church

. 0 Comments

Pleaze Brotha!

After a number of conversations with pastors lately, I’m wrestling with some things I’m noticing. Here are just a few thoughts.

Pastor, your primary job is to please God. That’s done by serving him, passionately reaching people, and relentlessly pursuing the vision he’s given you for your life/church/ministry. I’m over pastors who work so hard to impress other pastors. Rather than “networking” to build a resume, what if we spent our time loving God and loving others - what if we bragged on Jesus more than on ourselves, our numbers, and our plans.

If you’re considering being a pastor - please understand there’s nothing like it in the world. You’ll have the privilege of stepping into peoples lives to help them by pointing them to Christ. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Make sure this is what you were born to do, not just something you think would be cool.
Let God define your vision - don’t just take one from somebody else. Seriously, I think so many churches are in trouble b/c so many pastors are either lazy or impatient. Laziness means I don’t want to do the hard work of finding out what God wants from me/my church. Impatient means I want to “arrive” so others will notice me, so I don’t want to take the time to search God and his plan, I’ll just jump on another train and pretend it’s mine. If you’re “lazy” or “impatient” (as defined above) - do us all a favor and don’t become a pastor.
No matter what you do now, you can’t fully understand the role of, pressure of, joy of, or burden of a Senior Pastor until you are one. Just b/c you’ve run a business doesn’t mean you have a clue about how to run a church. Just b/c you sit at the table on a staff, doesn’t mean you have any idea what it is to sit in “that” chair. I’ve been a Student Pastor, Senior Associate Pastor and Interim Pastor and guess what - none of them are the Senior Pastor… not even close. The temptation is to look at that role and think “I could do that“ - maybe… but only if God’s called you, not if you think you’ve got “what it takes“. If your pastor makes it look easy it’s b/c he’s either passionately following God and has a confidence in Christ from which he leads, or he’s lazy and doing nothing. You’ll never know in a month what he lives in a moment.
Finally, this one’s huge - listen and be teachable. It blows my mind the guys who want to talk to me who really just want to talk at me. Recently I talked with two guys - they were worlds apart. One pastors a church in FL and drove over to check out C3 - this guy is the real deal. He’s older and wiser than I am and leading a church with record growth, but he wanted to learn whatever little bit he could learn from C3. We’re not growing as much as he has, he has much more experience in effective leadership and yet he’s still hungry to learn. I was blessed just to talk with him. The other guy I talked with… well really he hasn’t done much but try hard to make others think he’s got it all figured out. In our discussion I didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. He is phenom at one thing - self promotion… and it wore me out. Please, no matter how big and bad you get, please always be hungry to learn and more passionate about the movement you lead than impressing us.

I think I feel better… for now. Seriously, I communicate with tons of pastors each month. Many want to know how we transitioned a church or what it’s like to be portable, or why we sold a 20 acre campus to become portable - I love these discussions. If you want to connect and talk through these and other issues - I would absolutely love it. Just know two things - I’m probably going to ask you more questions than you ask me (I have a deep hunger to learn from you) and… if you already have all the answers and you just want to impress me… I’m busy getting my hair done.

Published

Byron Bledsoe

on December 10, 2008

in C3 Church, Church, Faith, Future, Leadership, Life, Life Lessons, Random, Thoughts, Vision, church leadership, pastors, questions and transitioning church

. 5 Comments

It’s Just A Love/Hate Relationship

My mind is fried today. It was just an intense week last week. Tomorrow should be interesting (Monday’s usually are…). Just a few things are rolling around in my head as I’m winding down:

I love Sundays, but hate when it’s over.
I love when the Cowboys win, but hate watching them play (but I can’t help myself).
I love this time of year as it begins to cool off, but hate that the days end earlier.
I love chillin with my bride watching tv, but …”love a little less” watching British comedies.
I love my kids, but hate that I have to get up so bloomin early to get them ready for the day.
I love the Longhorns, but I hate that Pete Wilson doesn’t (I still pray for him )

Seriously, there are so many things I love. I’m so grateful for all that God’s doing in the movement that is C3.

C3 - pray for me this week. We’ve got some significant meetings as we finalize some next steps in our strategy. There are some huge things coming that I’ll be sharing with our volunteers on November 7, then with the entire church shortly after. God is setting the stage for us to make an even greater difference in lives.

Also, I’ll be connecting with a church staff from out of town this week. I love spending time with guys who are leading churches to make a difference. Their coming to O-Town to connect and I’m really pumped about the opportunity.

Finally, please pray that God will use next Sunday big time in people’s lives. Remember, compassion and condemnation never exist in the same moment - let’s be compassionate this week - invest and invite like crazy! Every person God has place in your life who doesn’t know Christ needs to be at C3 next Sunday. I can’t wait. Let’s purpose to invite someone each day this week!

Oh yeah, Ladies, don’t forget the Girls Night Out. Angie is hosting it - click the logo for for info:

Published

Byron Bledsoe

on October 12, 2008

in C3 Church, Church, Faith, Future, Life, Random, Sunday, Thankful, Vision, church leadership, love, pastors, prayer, transitioning church and women

. 1 Comment

Defining Moments

This week as I’ve been preparing for next Sunday, there’ve been the usual (and some unusual) distractions. I’ve been forced this week to think of things I’ve not thought about in some time. I’m not talking major things, I’m talking about some of the little details that fade with time. Things we remember sporadically.

Sunday will be the 1st anniversary of the day we signed the contract and sold the old campus. I’ve thought this week about all that I was feeling a year ago. I’ve remembered everything that led up to it. We made some strategic decisions for C3 that launched us right into the community to become the church “right where YOU are.”

It’s funny the things that come to mind on anniversaries. I actually remember every detail of that day. I remember what was said. I remember the conversation Pastor Green (Eastland Baptist Church) and I had after signing the papers for them to purchase the property. I remember being so pumped that a church would occupy that campus - we took 1/2 million less than our highest offer and agreed to hold a second mortgage just to be able to sell it to them. Every time I hear how well Eastland is doing I rejoice!

The reality is that we didn’t really become C3 until we relocated. That day, October 5, 2007 will forever be one of the most important days in my life. It’s interesting, there’s not been one second in the past year that I’ve regretted or second guessed that decision. I still have something from that day that I’ll be bringing with me to the platform this Sunday.

One of the things I’ve thought about is the vision that is C3. There were so many times that things shouldn’t have worked out (and a small disgruntled group was plotting to do everything they could to stop it, but you just can’t stop God). That vision that is burned deep within me has been worth fighting for every moment. More lives have been changed in the last year than many see in a lifetime. I’m fully aware that only God can do that.

As we’ve pursued Christ and his plan for our movement, we’ve paid a high price. Dark days have been walked through and deep pain and betrayal have been experienced. Any time you give birth to life there must be labor pains.

Out of all the thoughts I’ve had this week, one of the primary ones is this: “The vision that God initiated, that we passionately pursued, that was birthed through prayer and sacrifice, that vision that now is changing lives from death to life weekly, that vision will be relentlessly protected and unswervingly followed no matter what.“ In the journey, there will always be choices. We will never coast in our purpose or retreat from our passion. While there have been many defining moments in the journey, there will be many more to come. In each of those moments… in every choice that’s made it will always be for the advancement of C3 no matter the cost. When you’re pursuing a vision most decisions are already made for you!

Almost one year ago papers were signed. In that year God has signed many names to the book of life because of the people of C3 who’ve invested and invited. And, it’s only the beginning.

To the people of C3 - Sunday… BRING IT!!!

Published

Byron Bledsoe

on October 1, 2008

in C3 Church, Church, Faith, Future, Leadership, Life, Life Lessons, Past, Random, Sunday, Thankful, Thoughts, Vision, church leadership, love, pastors, prayer, timeless and transitioning church

. 1 Comment

Overheard In A Coffee Shop…

Recently, one of the guys on my team overheard a conversation at a local coffee shop. Two pastors were talking about church. One asked, “so what is our win?” to which the other replied, “seeing people come to Christ.“ Then the response. The response floors me, but honestly it’s reality for many churches. The response was, “of course that’s not going to happen every week!”

WHAT?! Hold up. What does it say if we as leaders have that philosophy? What does it say about the state of our churches if that statement is true? Why do we think in terms of what we know is a win being impossible?

At C3, not only is people coming to Christ our main win, it does in fact happen just about every Sunday. In fact it’s extremely rare if we don’t have some people make decisions for Christ. And I know of many other churches that are seeing people come to Christ almost every week as well.

Pastors, we have to dream bigger. If we buy into reaching people being occasional rather than continual, our people will believe the same thing. We don’t have to accept that our passion and mission are dead before they’re even launched. We don’t have to think small and redefine what a real win is because we think the main win is unattainable. It’s not. The life-changing message of Christ is just as real and powerful and has just as much traction in this culture as ever. So, if you’re not seeing people come to Christ continually, perhaps it’s not the message, but the way in which it’s packaged - or a lack of our people delivering that package throughout the week.

There is no greater win, or more achievable goal, than people experiencing life-change through Christ weekly. Dream big, then make sure all the systems are in place to achieve the dream. Don’t settle. Create a culture of investing in relationships and inviting people to a life-changing experience on the weekends - keep the truth simple and applicable and watch God do what he does daily… win people!

Published

Byron Bledsoe

on September 25, 2008