Archive for July, 2008

- Played golf on Friday. After 2 weeks of playing bad, I finally had one of my best rounds of the summer which adds to my love-hate relationship with the sport.

- Hung out with some friends on Friday night and watched a semi-scary, semi-stupid movie.

- Took my oldest daughter Kayleigh to get her first cell phone on Saturday. She was so excited. She already knows more about her features than I know about any phone I have ever owned. Can’t believe she is old enough for a cell!

- Kayleigh also had her first official babysitting job on Saturday evening. She made $30. It was a great day for my K-girl.

- We finished our Blockbuster series on Sunday. I talked about Satan and how to guard against his attacks. The movie we used was The Dark Knight. I had a Joker tee someone gave me. It was a bit frightening and edgy.

- The a/c went out AGAIN about 10:00. First service survived. Second service was an oven.

- Sunday afternoons make for some great naps – especially when there are no legitimate sports on tv right now.

- Heard this week that 2 different well-known personalities in church plant circles are planning to start churches on The Strip. Way cool! Check it out here and here. There is The Strip Vegas and there is the rest of Vegas. Planting in Vegas #1 presents some unique challenges that we do not face in Vegas #2. I pray both of these guys make a huge impact.

- Leaving for vacation on Friday! Water park, beach, pool, golf, relaxing … all the ingredients for a relaxing vacation are there.

- Busy week before leaving on Friday.

Out…

So after weeks of struggling with a hurting back, I finally made it to the chiropractor yesterday. I am a big fan of chiropractors and am glad to have found one that I think is going to be great. Yesterday was evaluation/x-ray day for me. I return today to find out what needs to happen. One thing is clear from my x-rays – I have a jacked up back.

I do get amused at some of the questions you have to answer during the interview stage. One of my favorites: on a scale of 1-10, how bad does it hurt? I hate this question. How are you supposed to scale pain? What is a 10-level pain? Is it having your leg sawed off with a butter knife? What is a 1-level pain? Is it someone stepping on your toe? I have no idea where my pain falls on the 1-10 scale because I have no perspective on how the scale operates! Besides I am a man so I am always going to rate my pain low because well I am a man.

Here’s what I know: my back hurts constantly. There is a huge knot sticking out of my back. I don’t want my back to hurt. I don’t want a knot sticking out of my back. I want you to do whatever is necessary for a) the knot to be gone & b) my back to stop hurting. That’s about it for me. I don’t have any idea where my pain rates on the 1-10 scale. To be honest, I don’t care. I just know my back hurts and I don’t want it to hurt.

And yes these are the type things that go through the mind of a person like me when asked to sit still and answer questions. Good luck Doc!

When the list of stores that Starbucks is closing came out last week, this one was on the list: Store # 9884 ~ CENTENNIAL & SIMMONS ~ 6360 N SIMMONS ST ~ N LAS VEGAS NV.

This particular store is where Grace Point held its staff meetings for over a year. In this particular Bux, we have laughed, shared dreams, cast vision, laughed, had some tough talks, made tons of plans, laughed, watched some staff and interns come and go, brainstormed, developed creative ideas, laughed, drank tons of caffeine, sampled every known product Starbucks makes, developed friendships, invited employees and customers to Grace Point, laughed, and experienced the full range of emotions that a church plant staff goes through. I even accidentally flushed a pair of $150 Ray-Bans down the toilet here (another story in itself).

We have tried to keep this store in business by continuing to buy our Bux from this location but I guess GP business is not enough. So we are saying good-bye to a small part of our story – GP offices before there were official GP offices!

Store #9884: I will drink a Venti Chai Latte (the most caffeinated drink the Bux produces) in your honor!

another purge…

- My wife’s birthday is today. Happy Birthday Starla. You can still say you are in your 30s!

- As part of her birthday, my wife spent the night at a local spa resort – a night away from the kids and me! Extra special treat.

- We joined my wife at the J.W. Marriott on Friday and hung out at the pool with the kids Friday and Saturday. Nice resort. Fun time.

- I received my first official “deep tissue” massage at the resort. Relaxing and grueling at the same time. She would not even mess with the place on my back that is so bad. She simply said “your back is jacked up.” Chiropractor time!

- Saw The Dark Knight. Wow. Great movie. Heath Ledger as the Joker was definitely my favorite villain of all time. I was hoping it would be tame enough for Zac to see but no way. The Joker is one sadistic dude.

- We had no a/c at the school on Sunday until about 9:30 (set-up starts at 6 – first service at 9:30). Then it came on until about noon and cut off (half way through second service). Huge issue when you are in a climate where it is 110 degrees. Evidently there was a chiller out at the school. Frustrating considering I have had multiple conversations with the school this week about making sure the air was running properly & the fact we pay out the nose for air-conditioning in the summer. We even had one girl pass out! It was unbelievably hot. Thankfully our people were patient (more patient than me).

- I spoke from 1 Corinthians 13 on love yesterday. Trying to teach a single message on love is quite a task. It seemed to go well and the people responded positively in spite of the sweat.

- We had flash flood warnings in Vegas yesterday. Total rainfall at my house: zero.

- One of the advantages of portable church in the desert: in almost three years we have never had to set-up in the rain!

- Played sand volleyball for 3 hours last night. Great exercise.

- We have 3 extra kids at our house for the next 2 nights – the Nowag kids who are the same ages and gender as my kids. Thankfully I don’t work at home!

- Fantasy football season is approaching.

- Planning to golf this week.

- 2 weeks until vacation!

later…

Grace Point is going to be featured in a couple of different publications in the next few months. One of the magazines is Worship Facilities. They also have video interviews with the churches they feature. You can check out the first Grace Point video here. We are under the media page. The interview is obviously when we were still meeting at the middle school. We have since moved to a high school where everything is a little different. Overall it is a good piece.

The Purge…

- Took Zac to see Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D on Friday night. Great movie in 3-D. Probably not so great w/o the 3-D effects.

- Kayleigh got home Friday night from camp. She had a blast and talked about is solid for several hours.

- Saturday morning I played golf at Nellis AFB.  I play consistently with the same group of guys. We have this constant competition where the highest score has to take home “the pink ball”. I have not had it for over a year but I came home with it on Saturday. Not a great round for me but a fun time.  The weather actually dropped which was nice.

- Zac and Ragan went swimming at the home of Kenny & Tina Thomas Saturday. The Thomas family has been at GP since our previews. They have 3 kids and are in the process of adopting 5 more!  All the kids were there on Saturday.  Great kids. Great family.  Kenny looks like a MMA fighter with tons of tats and muscles the size of Mt Charleston but his look does not show his kind and gentle heart. We love the Thomas family!

- Saturday evening/night we just hung at the house. Everyone was a bit tired so it was good to just relax.

- Sunday was our second weekend at Legacy High School.  We are still working out some tweaks but everything went well considering how new we are to the facility.

- We continued our Blockbusters series as I taught on “Unleashing your God-given Potential” from the movie Hancock.  I focused on one of my favorite stories in the Bible – the calling of Moses.  I identify with Moses in many ways. I appreciate his authenticity and apprehension amidst this incredible call to leadership.

- Played volleyball last night.

- My back is KILLING me! I think I have something out of place (which would not be the first time). Of course it does not prevent me from playing sports, which if probably part of the problem.  Need to go to the chiropractor.

- Five20 might be back on the horizon. We had a great meeting with a potential bar that would be an awesome location. We’ll see.

- I’m ready for a much needed vacation in a few weeks.

That’s all for now…

The search is over. I finally found a practical and usable gift for me.

Introducing the iWipe…

I am talking Sunday about unleashing our God-given potential. I think most of us live with what I once heard John Ortberg describe as the Popeye syndrome: “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.” Most Christians feel like they don’t measure up (including yours truly). Most feel inadequate and unspiritual. Most feel a distance between their human frailty and God. Most feel like we are not truly “living up” to what God calls us to be.

What I discover in the Bible is that we are in good company. Moses, Gideon, David, Paul, Peter, Noah, Abraham … and a host of other “super-spiritual” people struggled with the same reality. In some weird way, I think this attitude is almost necessary to allow God to work effectively through us. I am not talking about living in spiritual defeat. But I am talking about a sense of humility that lets God be God and do His thing and that reminds me that I am a finite sinner.

At the same time, I think God does not call us to live life in Popeye land. I think our story should be more: “I yam what I yam but I yam not what I was and I yam not what I will be” (sorry for all the sweet potato references). We should constantly be growing into who God created us to become and not be content to live with this attitude of inadequacy.

We serve a big God who is capable of doing some big things through some cracked vessels. That truth reminds me a) He can do His work without me if He chooses, b) He can do His work through me if He chooses (in spite of me), and c) it is all about Him and not about me.

It is unexplainable why God allows some pastors to become Christian rock stars and others to serve with no or little recognition. It is unexplainable why some churches grow while others that do the same things do not or some who do the exact opposite grow. It is unexplainable why God blesses some and not others. I really believe that some of the most “spiritual” people in the world (whatever that term means) get the least amount of attention while some of the least spiritual people are applauded as successful. I can’t explain that reality.

I yam what I yam but I hope I yam not all that I ever will be. I hope God is shaping me to be more like Him as my journey progresses. Some days I am unsure. Some days I love sin more than I love God. Some days I feel unworthy, inadequate, and depraved. Some days I have a nagging sense that I am not what God wants me to be. And guess what? I want to maintain a level of that attitude because it reminds me that I serve the only One who can truly say “I am what I am” and there is nothing left to say.

I am an extremely sarcastic person.  Being sarcastic, I really appreciate good sarcasm.  There are certain comedians I love to watch because of their sarcasm.  I admit that my sarcasm can get me in trouble and that sarcastic people like me do not always have the proper discernment on when to be sarcastic and when to abstain from sarcasm.  I came across this article and thought it was hilarious.  If you are sarcastic, you will appreciate it as well.  Remember the article is SATIRICAL. It is not for real.

Busy, busy weekend. Some of the highlights…

- Spent the 4th with the fam. We took the kids swimming at the Y and then we hung out with a group at the Duncans that night and shot fireworks.  Total swim time for Zac on Friday: over 8 hours (half of that at 108 degrees).

- I am thankful for the freedom we enjoy as Americans. We have a lot of military in our church and I appreciate their willingness to serve our country for my sake.

- On Saturday, we were able to get in the high school and do a trial run for set-up. We ended up staying most of the day to work out details. Long day.

- I did try and watch Rush Hour 3 on Saturday night. If you have seen either of the first two, don’t waste your time with this one.

- Sunday was our first Sunday at Legacy High School. I have to say overall it was a great day. It helped having everything set-up on Saturday. Next week will be the true test on set-up.

- The high school layout is awesome. The theater gives us a vibe that we have been missing in the cafeteria. I love it.

- Our band sounds awesome in a theater designed for performance.

- I like teaching in this new venue.  The stage is incredible.

- Our staff and volunteers have worked so hard for this transition. They deserve major props.

- You always have a few issues with a new transition but overall I feel like we were well prepared.

- Our attendance was back up on Sunday – especially considering it was a holiday weekend.

- Our community service event on the 3rd was a huge success. Over 25k people came out and we gave out thousands of pinwheels, temporary tats, and face painting. It is cool to touch so many people.

- I think our transition to Legacy will really help us in our next season.

- My oldest daughter Kayleigh is gone to camp this week. We miss her when she is gone.

- My other two kids are STILL in school – the joy of year-round schools.

- There are no sports on TV right now. Sorry mid-season baseball, Wimbeldon, Tigerless golf, and the Olympic trials are just not doing it for me.  Can’t wait for football season to get here.

- The heat is on (over 110 this week) … and who cares if it is dry?

Staying in the a/c …