As we begin ‘09, C3 Church will be kicking off a brand new series called “Mosaic.” Starting a new year causes us to think about our lives. We all have areas we want to improve. We all have areas we’ve messed up - we’re in some ways… broken, and we know it we just don’t know what to do about it. God has this incredible way of taking our brokenness and creating something incredible, and yes, even better. You can only experience the beauty and healing of brokenness when you take this one step. What is that one step? How do we bring it all together to create something better? Are you tired of beginning year after year with great intentions, only to so often end them with too many disappointments?
As we explore and become part of “Mosaic,” it will not only change our lives, it will also make 2009 the greatest year we’ve ever lived!
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.
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.
This Sunday @ C3 Church we launch a new series called, “Christmas Vacation.” We’re going to journey through Christmas in a fresh way. What if this year we could take a vacation from all the “stuff” of Christmas and experience the season in a new way. This year “what if” could become “what is” as we begin Christmas Vacation!
Experience C3 Sunday with those you care about… invest and invite and get people there!
(PS - the issue with the C3 website is resolved and it should be back online soon)
