Archive for August, 2009

Tim Hawkins makes me laugh … hilarious.

I usually take a few minutes each Monday morning to think about the previous day and kind of bring it to a close before the eternal clock toward Sunday begins to tick in my head again. This morning I was thinking about the David series and what we have learned these past 5 weeks from this incredible story of divine grace and human depravity. Here are a few of the God thoughts that stand out to me:

- God is far more concerned with my heart than He is with the external matters upon which we tend to focus.
- God is far bigger than any obstacle I face – the real question concerns my faith in that type of God.
- God brings kings out of caves.
- God’s grace is more scandalous than any sin saga.
- God’s desire for me? Know Him. Serve Him. Pursue Him.
- God uses very real people to accomplish His purposes on earth.
- God’s plan is bigger than and more important than my own agenda.
- God knows all and sees all.
- God pursues sinful humans for relationship.

Thank you David for reminding us of how awesome God is.

Here are a few pics from our set. All of the paintings were rendered by GPer Alexandra Kahr:

- Is it really still 110 in Vegas? Wow – ready for some 90s!
- Good friends are a blessing
- Went golfing with the Elders on Saturday morning – awesome group of guys
- Took a long slobbery nap on Saturday afternoon
- Good friends who will take your wife to a country concert without you are an extra special blessing from God
- Another awesome day at GP
- Servolution is buzzing
- I can’t say enough about the GP band. 3 different people led worship songs today and each one brought it.
- Finished our David series today. Thank you David for allowing us to learn from your life during this series.
- Some of my favorite quotes from today’s message:

“God has a generational purpose for your you in your lifetime and it may be bigger than OR less than your own dreams or plans.”
“God’s primary calling is for us to know, serve, and pursue Him.”
“The legacy we are to pass on to our kids: know Him, serve Him, pursue Him”
“What does my life say to my kids are the most important things in life?”
“Only when we have modeled and lived a life of genuine faith can we tell our children to be strong and courageous because God will never fail or forsake them.”
“Are we building our kingdom or God’s kingdom?”
“David’s final act: WORSHIP”
“David was a great king but He was not the King of kings.”
“David died and his body decayed. Jesus died and His body did not see decay.”

- We ended our David series the way David ended his life: How Awesome is the Lord our God
- Our people let it rip during the last song … gave me chill bumps
- I have had multiple people tell me the last two weeks how they were struggling with the exact thing I taught on that day. It is so awesome to know God is at work in individual lives.
- We have passed the 150 people mark for Servolution.
- Next weekend GPers will serve over 3600 total hours! Are you ready to experience God’s love Northtown?
- There is a high energy level at GP right now. I think we are the verge of something unique and fresh.
- I am privileged to be able to lead GP – totally a God thing
- Sunday afternoons are made for naps
- Busy week ahead. This time next week – Servolution will be on!
- Also coming soon – Baptisms
- And I can’t forget – football starts soon!

just on the journey…

Yesterday our Community Service Director Ashley Criswell and I had a meeting with James Allen – an employee of the City of North Las Vegas with whom we work closely. James is also an incredible rap artist known as SpodieMac who just won BMA Rap Artist of the Year in Vegas! Our meeting was to talk about our partnership in 2010. To be honest, the City of NLV has been one of the hardest hit cities in America during the economic breakdown. It has hurt our community drastically. From leading the nation in foreclosures to entire planned communities and developments going bankrupt to commercial properties sitting empty to the anticipated development of businesses and restaurants and shopping malls coming to a halt, this area has taken a hard hit. Obviously this type of economic blow affects everything. The City of North Las Vegas is no exception.  The City has had to make some major plan adjustments.  One of the areas that has suffered is the Parks and Recreation Department with which we work closely.  This department pulls off close to 20 events a year for our community.  They have had to cancel two of their biggest events because of the economy and have lost tons of sponsorships in the process.

Since Grace Point is one of the City’s primary partners, we also have felt the weight of the canceled events.  We are heavily invested in our community through this partnership and so their struggles affect us as well.  So at our meeting yesterday, we talked through a number of these issues and how we can help the City during this time.  Here is what God reminded me of yesterday …

Serving is essential in impacting a community.  For almost 4 years now, we have served our City.  We served them when this community was booming and they had more sponsors than they needed and now we get to serve them during this crisis time when they are struggling to find any sponsors.  Here’s the deal: we serve because we believe God wants us to be Jesus in our community and serve it.  We serve to make our community a better place. We serve because we want both those who attend GP and those who will never step foot in our doors to know that we care about the community to which God has called us.  And we believe God blesses that mindset.

I had the opportunity to cast our vision again to my friend James, with whom we have worked at different levels now for 4 years, that we will stand by them because at the end of the day God has called us here to serve our community.  What is more important to us than brand recognition or corporate sponsorship or our name on a tee shirt is representing God in our community through serving.  It was awesome to sit and hear James talk about how GP is the real deal and how unique our attitude is when it comes to this issue. It is awesome to see how his opinion of GP and our relationship has evolved through the years.

Let me get on my soap box for a minute – way too many churches are simply sponges in their community.  They have no credibility with the community leaders because they seem to be in it only for what they can get out of it.  Community leaders can’t trust them because there always seems to be some hidden agenda.  It is time for the church to serve its community simply because it is what we are called to do. Being salt and light means investing in a community to allow God’s love to shine through us in a way that impacts the very community in which we live.  The church is not called to simply gather on Sunday and isolate themselves from the very community they are called to reach.  The church is called to be missionaries within their culture – to represent Jesus to the communities where God has placed us.  Here’s a little secret: I am able to share Jesus more effectively with those to whom I have been Jesus!  I am able to share Jesus more effectively with those whom I have served like Jesus!

I believe the gospel transforms lives.  Helium balloons do not transform lives. Face Painting does not transform lives. Neither do bottles of water or Guitar Hero booths or serving food or pumping someone’s gas or free ice cream in the park. None of these service acts change a single life. But here’s the deal: all of them can be used by God to connect people to the gospel!  How big is your God? How big is the gospel? I believe God uses simple acts of service to connect people to the gospel and that changes lives!

Community service is a part of our DNA.  And as long as I lead Grace Point Church, we will serve our community for no other reason but to be Jesus to the community where God has placed us. We want to make our community a better place to live.

Now whose ready for some SERVOLUTION 09???

Have you ever thought about your epitaph? What would be written on your tombstone to define your life? Most tombstones now have only the name and date and maybe a Scripture verse and some cheesy flower or angel. But back in the day, they knew how to write some epitaphs. Here are a few of the funny ones I have read:

“Here lies a man named Zeke. Second fastest draw in Cripple Creek.”
“He called Bill Smith A Liar”
“I would rather be here than in Texas”
On the tomb of a hanged sheep stealer: “Here lies the body of Thomas Kemp. Who lived by wool and died by hemp.”
“She drank good ale, good punch and wine, And lived to the age of 99.”
On the tomb of Ezekiel Pease: “Pease is not here, Only his pod, He shelled out his Peas, And went to his God.”
Jedediah Goodwin, an auctioneer: “Going, Going, Gone!”

Acts 13:36 provides us David’s epitaph: “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.” David served God’s purpose in his own generation! That is an awesome epitaph. God had a purpose for David for his time and his people and David fulfilled that purpose.

David’s legacy could be recorded in a number of ways: shepherd, giant slayer, warrior, king, adulterer, liar, murderer, father, friend, husband (a few times over), harp player (not sure this would be at the top of his list), musician, poet, fugitive, actor (remember his Academy Award winning performance before the king of Gath), but in the end David’s legacy was not about David. It was about God and his purpose for David’s life. David was faithful to follow God’s call in his time.

God has strategically placed us on earth in this place in this generation for a divine purpose. The question is: are we fulfilling God’s purpose for our generation? Every generation is influenced by the one that precedes it and shapes the one that follows it. Every generation alters the course of history. I want to be what God wants me to be for this generation. Many churches are still trying to do ministry to a previous generation or as a previous generation. But God has called us at this time and place for his purpose – to shape this generation.

David has some real issues. He committed some Top Ten List sins. He had some real ups and downs. One of his own children tried to sway the loyalty and trust of David’s own people. One of his own sons tried to overthrow David’s kingship and was eventually murdered. David’s family was filled with death, incest, murder, deception, and betrayal. And yet through his trials, he was able to fulfill God’s purpose.

Fulfilling God’s purpose does not equal perfection. We are human. We sin. We make mistakes. But what it does mean is that our life is marked by knowing, serving, and pursuing God (as demonstrated by David’s final words to his son Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28-29). And that is the question which we must ask: am I seeking to know, serve, and pursue God? If so, we will fulfill God’s purpose in our generation.

Few lives leave a mark that alters human history. David was one of those men whose life changed the story. Very few of us will make that type of mark in our generation but regardless of the extent of our influence, we can be people who fulfill God’s purpose for our lives by knowing, serving, and pursuing God.

Think social media is a passing fad? Check out this video. And why are you are not a member of Facebook or Twitter?

Here it is – the infamous what NOT to do video … by the way, Heidi Duncan, our Creative Arts Director, made my Random Person shirt. I did not buy it anywhere. I have had LOTS of people asking where they could get one.

- Saturday was lazy day for me.
- Love the fact Spike TV plays endless hours of MMA. Watched some great fights I had missed last year.
- MMA is a HUGE part of Vegas culture. Many of the fighters live here.
- Hung with friends on Saturday night.
- Ate Cafe Rio twice last week. Love Cafe Rio but both times last week it wrecked my system.
- Awesome day at GP yesterday
- We had one big service which means HIGH energy.
- Band was great. We are having different people lead and it has brought a great mix.
- We showed our “What NOT to do in Servolution” video. GREAT response. I will post it later.
- I taught way too long yesterday – sorry kids workers.
- Taught on David & Bathsheba
- Some of my favorite quotes from the message…

“Great Leaders have issues and make mistakes”
“The David & Bathsheba scandal has Nancy Grace written all over it”
“Prosperity often leads to a place of vulnerability”
“Stay away from your danger zone”
“Sins of omission often lead to sins of commission”
“Not doing what you need to do usually precedes doing what you should not do”
“Sin causes you to cross lines you never thought you would cross”
“The root of David’s sin was idolatry – in that moment God became non-existent and he became his own god”
“Grace is bigger than sin”
“Forgiveness erases eternal debt but does not always eliminate temporal scars and consequences”
“We are all capable of falling”
“The story of a slaughtered lamb exposed the immensity of David’s sin. The story of the slaughtered Lamb of God exposes the immensity of my sin and God’s grace.”
“The real scandal in this story is not sex or murder. The real scandal is why God extends grace and forgiveness to sinners.”

- We had another GP Grill-Out after the service. Good time and great connection.
- You know it is a great day at GP when it ends with 4 fire trucks and one highly irritated police officer – another story for another day.
- Being portable has its moments!
- The GP volunteers are AWESOME
- Played some volleyball last night
- Kids are geared up for school
- I am so proud of my kids. God gave me 3 awesome ones.
- Servolution 09 quickly approaches

Busy days