Much to be thankful about

There is a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I am blessed that all my family is doing well. I am blessed to have been given new opportunities this years is so many areas. I am thankful for a future that seems to have so many possibilities. I wanted to thank the Lord for all He has done in my life.

I wanted to thank my wife for all she has done for me. I wanted to thank my children for all there great support. I wanted to thank my church families for seeing the vision God has for us.

A billion thanks to Jesus my Lord and Savior.

really good stuff from Andy Stanley

3 COMPONENTS OF SUSTAINED MOMENTUM: NEW, IMPROVED & IMPROVING

1. NEW
New triggers momentum
Anything new by definition, generates some kind of momentum
The momentum can be positive or negative.

Organizational momentum is often triggered by one of three things:
new leadership
new direction
new product

Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old. It is triggered by introducing something new!

2. IMPROVED
The new must be a noticeable improvement over the old.
Ask, "is this a significant improvement over what we had before?"
If you are in a situation where there is not enough money to do something new and improved, you are doing too many things.

3. IMPROVING
Momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement requires systematic evaluation.
Continuous improvement requires unfiltered evaluation.
Evaluation must be rigorous and on-going and done by the people who helped create it.

APPLYING NEW & IMPROVED & IMPROVING
NEW: personnel, programming, season, series, look, venues.
Look for ways to upgrade your presentation
Visit other organizations
Attend other churches

MOMENTUM STOPPERS
Disengaged leaders
Overactive management
Complacency
Complexity
A breach of trust

Moving Forward

As we inch closer to a new year questions of where we have been and where we are going start to take center stage. What are some of the key things we should be asking? Here is my list.

The Past
1. Am I being honest in my assessment of the facts? Fantasy verses reality.
2. What worked and what did not.
3. Do I still believe in what I am doing?
4. Has anybody been impacted with what we have done?
5. What have I learned in the process or am I on auto pilot?

The Future
1. Do we know where we are headed?
2. Are we willing to work our plan?
3. Is the vision fresh?
4. Do we have a committed core?
5. Are we excited about tomorrow?

Death is a Part of Life

On November 15th two of my family members had birthday's. On November 15th a brother in the Lord died. Death for the Christian is moving from the temporal to the eternal. Celebrating a birthday is part of the temporal and death for the Christian is a celebration to the eternal. The day of ones birth and the day of ones death are worthy of celebration.

Paul said "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain". From the perspective of advantage, death has a greater return in terms of what we gain. We should live this life to the fullest as we prepare to graduate to what life really was mean't to be.

To My brother Bill I write, you really are in a better place and one day we who believe in Jesus will be with you as we celebrate our eternity with the Savior.

Brown Cow or Purple Cow

Mark Batterson really gets down to the bottom line when it comes to how to make and impact.
It seems to me that if we follow through on this chain of thought we could really see some results. Brown churches stay the same. Purple churches find ways to change things up.

1)Brown churches sit on the sideline and invite the community to come to them. Purple churches are always going and compelling. They are making such a big difference that they become a highly visible part of their community. And people drive by the brown churches--the churches that are invisible--to go to the purple church.
2) The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing. I know that marketing is a dirty word in some church circles, but does it get anybody else riled up that Madison Avenue is far better at pedaling its worthless wares than the church is at preaching the good news? I have a problem with that. We need sanctified competitive streaks.
3) The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. Too many churches look too much alike. We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people.

Every church has a unique churchprint and ought to be a unique expression of the gospel in their kingdom niche.So how do we paint ourselves purple? For starters, dare to be different. You might offend some Pharisees, but that isn't who you're trying to reach. Secondly, disrupt the routine. I think it starts with your personal routine. Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective.

You need to get out of your routine so you can have some purple thoughts. As a leader, you need to cause confusion. Jesus didn't do orientations. He did disorientations. You need to find new ways of saying old things (see the Parables). You need to find new wineskins. You need to sing a new song. Neurological studies have found that familiarity stimulates the left-brain. Novelty stimulates the right-brain. We need some Spirit-inspired, right-brained ideas that capture the imagination of the church and the world. the good news ought to make the news.

The Seeker's from the East

The story of the Wise Men has to be more than just a story that we connect with the Christmas Manger. The seeker's from the East were involved in a serious search for the truth concerning the Messiah. These were serious seeker's. Truth seeking is critical because at the root of the search is the difference between life and death.

Things to consider:

Seeker's ask questions - where is the King of the Jews?
Seeker's are given signs - They were given a star to follow
Seeker's have enemies - Herod wanted to use the Wise Men for evil
Seeker's bring gifts - They brought there gifts and worshiped Jesus
Seeker's receive experiences - They received great joy

God Is In Control

The election is over, the people have spoken, but more important we are reminded, God is in control. We have our convictions and our political persuasion's and those don't change but we are called to do the following:

Pray for our leaders.
Respect those in authority.
Follow the law of the land (except when it forces us to go against God's Word)
Remind ourselves that the only real hope for people is found in Jesus.
Remember that the heart of the king is in the hands of God.
Work to build the Kingdom of God.
Take courage for God is still on His throne.