Archive for March, 2010

Here is the overview video of Egg Drop that we showed at GP on Sunday…

Egg Drop 2010 from Grace Point Church on Vimeo.

This past weekend Grace Point Church sponsored an Easter event that attracted somewhere around 15,000 people. Borrowing the basic idea from some other churches, we dropped several thousand empty Easter eggs onto four soccer fields where thousands of eggs were already placed. Thousands of kids swarmed the field and gathered eggs and then exchanged them for candy. The event also included 12 community sponsors and tons of free family-centered activities: live music, good food, bounce houses, an obstacle course, face painting, balloon animals, crafts, and a raffle. We even had a real robot on the field entertaining the kids. It was an unbelievable event and surpassed anything we had planned or dreamed.

We learned a lot in this process and plan to do a bigger and better event next year. Considering it was the first time we have ever attempted this size event, I believe it was extremely successful. The more problematic areas were the ones we knew would be problems: the registration process, too many kids and too few eggs, competitive parents, and a few dozen misplaced kids (or parents). We tried our best to be prepared in these areas but definitely had the opportunity to learn how to do it better next year. I am not sure we could have planned any better. But now that we have executed the event, we simply know how to plan a little different to make it more effective and efficient.

Let me share a bit how an event like this fits within our overall vision as a church.

A large part of our church’s vision is driven by the concept that if our church was removed from our community that it would be missed by people other than the one’s who attend there. We are intentional to serve our community in a way that impacts people in a positive way – to share God’s love with them through serving. Tim Keller refers to this type vision as helping to restore the shalom (the Hebrew word for peace & wholeness) to a community. From day one, we have been committed to restoring our community’s shalom. We are intentional in our community service to be Jesus to people. We believe that by being Jesus we are given the platform to talk about Jesus at strategic times. We believe God is big and sovereign enough within this vision to draw people to Jesus through serving.

With this vision in mind, we have worked hard for 4 years to develop key partnerships in our community that help us make our community a better place. We have worked hand-in-hand with the City of North Las Vegas and established a great relationship with them. It has taken us years to build a trust with the City that allows us to work with them toward the common goal of making our community a better place. We have served under their umbrella and have been privileged to do so.

In the past few years, our community has been DEVASTATED by the economic downturn. Las Vegas is one of the hardest hit areas in the entire country. Our particular community is one of the hardest hit areas of Vegas so we have really felt the impact. Thousands of people have left our community. We went from one of the fastest growing communities in the nation to the one of the fastest declining ones in just over a year. New growth came to a sudden stop. Most of our people have been impacted by job loss, foreclosures, and financial insecurity. One of the ways our community has felt the impact is that our City has had to cancel many of their city-wide events. In the past, the City of North Las Vegas has provided several great community events that provided free, family-fun entertainment. Once the economy collapsed, budget numbers would not allow for the bigger events to continue. But we did not want to just stand back and watch this happen. Our vision compelled us to do otherwise.

So we began a process several months ago to plan a Spring event that would provide a unique and fun event for our community. We began to build on the relationships we had established over a four year window of time and to make a long story short – we put together what will be the second largest event of the entire year for our community. After serving under the umbrella of our key partnerships for the last several years, we stepped out and led the charge. Thankfully the City of North Las Vegas and other key organizations came alongside us and served. It was awesome to see them join forces with us. It was the vision coming full circle. Our even was supported by the Mayor, the City Council (both our Mayor and Ward Councilman were at the event and spoke from the main stage), the Police Department, the Fire Department, Medic West, Republic Services (garbage collection), and other key organizations in our community. It was unbelievable to see so many different organizations come together to help restore the shalom.

As a leader you have those momentous moments where you see a vision come to life. Saturday was one of those days for us. Saturday was not just about a cool event or Easter eggs falling from a helicopter or 15,000 people crammed into a park. Saturday was about a vision that God birthed in my heart that has been poured into the people of Grace Point and people outside of our church – a vision to make a difference in a community by restoring the wholeness – to borrow a term: a Servolution. By providing a moment in time where people come together and have fun, a moment where people can lay aside their problems, pains, and troubles for a few hours and celebrate life, happiness, and peace. Easter eggs and a helicopter were just a means to an end. They were opportunities to serve – to restore the shalom.

God is big. Lives will be transformed through this event. People will be connected to the gospel because they decided to take their kids to hunt eggs dropped from a helicopter. God will work through this effort to draw men, women, boys, and girls to Himself. But in the end, if not a single person steps foot in our church because of Egg Drop 2010, we still believe God calls us to serve our community – to be Jesus to people who live around us. And that’s how eggs and a helicopter fit in a God-sized vision!

I am exhausted from the weekend and plan to detail our Egg Drop event tomorrow. For now, I will just say it was so much bigger than we ever anticipated. Estimates are over 15,000 people came. Hopefully I can take some time tomorrow to put it in perspective of our vision at GP to be Jesus to our community.

Egg Drop dominated my weekend in every way so not a lot to talk about. We did finish our Modern Family series today at GP and obviously we had several new families from Egg Drop. I enjoyed this series and talked today about what to do when your modern family falls apart. One of the creative elements we used throughout this series is that we interviewed four modern families at GP of various dynamics. The interviews took place in their home and centered around the specifics of the message that week. They were very insightful and allowed GPers to hear from a variety of families. It was one of my favorite elements we have used in a family series.

This week will be focused on debriefing the event and making notes for next year and prepping for our 3 Easter services this weekend.

A couple of weeks ago, I was part of an online Leadership Network conference entitled Aha! I was able to share one of the most important “aha” moments in my ministry (along with about 40 other guys). The video is now available here if you would like to check it out. Just look for my video.

We usually do some goofy video for our big events (to help offset the previous weeks of recruiting, etc). Here is our “What Not to do at Egg Drop” video. Warning: there are a few inside jokes for GPers.

Egg Drop 2010 Promo from Grace Point Church on Vimeo.

I plan to post a blog after Egg Drop and “full circle” this event in light of our vision but for now let me just fill you in on the basics:

- Egg Drop 2010 will be the largest Easter event in N Las Vegas
- Egg Drop 2010 is expected to be the second largest community event this year in N Las Vegas
- We are on pace to pre-register over 6500 people
- We do not know how many people will show up without pre-registering but we are anticipating between 8-10k
- We will have City of NLV representatives including the mayor, our local councilman, the fire department, the police department, and parks & rec. The mayor and councilman of our district will be speaking from the main stage.
- We closed the event to 12 community sponsors. We have had multiple others inquire about getting in but we shut it down.
- People are registering from all over the Las Vegas valley.
- GP will be providing close to 150 volunteers for this event
- This event will be by far the largest community service project in our 4-year history
- We will be dropping thousands of Easter eggs from a helicopter along with thousands of other pre-placed eggs
- We will have 4 designated, age-specific egg hunt zones
- We will provide FREE face painting, bounce houses, obstacle course, crafts, games, and giveaways along with live music, food, and a family-friendly fun time.

Check out eggdropvegas.com for more info.

It has been awesome to see GPers step up for this event. We have some incredible team leaders and our Community Service Director Ashley Criswell is knocking it out of the park. I can’t wait to see what happens this week and at the actual event. We are living with an eager anticipation and overwhelming nervousness at the same time. We trust God while working hard. We know there will be unexpected details that arise but we have spent some serious time and effort detailing this constantly growing event.

Like I said, I will be detailing the event in light of our vision after it is all over. We do pray God uses this event to connect people in our community to the gospel and to help restore the shalom (wholeness/peace) to our city.

I am living on no sleep right now so hopefully this randomness will make sense.

- Friday night was Cheesecake Factory and King Putt with the family. Fun time.
- I took my two girls to serve at City Mission on Saturday morning. It was Ragan’s first time. I love serving with my kids. We were all blessed.
- Spent about 3 hours in the park with the kids on Saturday waiting for a test-run with the helicopter for Egg Drop. Let’s just say it was a wasted afternoon in terms of the helicopter test run. The kids enjoyed playing in the park though.
- We went out Saturday night with Ed & Sabrina Richards to see a Vegas comedian who has hit it big and who Sabrina knew back in the day. It was a fun time but late night.
- I am functioning on very little sleep right now. I want to sleep but it is just not happening. Hopefully the zzz’s will come after Easter.
- Egg Drop is getting HUGE. It is much bigger already than we anticipated. I’ll post some details below.
- Really good Sunday at GP. We had a lot of first-time guests.
- I taught on parenting.
- Two primary thoughts: love your children unconditionally & correct them properly and consistently.
- A few highlights:

“Parenting is the most rewarding and frustrating task on earth”
“Children must know that their parents love them regardless of their actions”
“Allow children to make mistakes”
“Demonstrate God’s unconditional love”
“Conditional love results in efforts to earn love which has devastating consequences”
“Discipline is never done to the child but for the child”
“The purpose of discipline: instructional reconciliation”
“Your children should learn about God’s forgiveness through your forgiveness”
“Discipline helps a child be a blessing and helps create a peaceful home”
“Your child’s opinion of God will be primarily based on how you represent God to them”

- Parenting is another one of those areas where I often feel inadequate to teach.
- We had a huge Egg Drop volunteer meeting after both services to hammer out details.
- Watched some basketball and tried to nap Sunday afternoon to no avail.
- This week will be CRAZY!
- Excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

Egg Drop details to come…

Parenting is the most rewarding and frustrating task on earth. I love being a dad but I have to admit that there are days when I just want to scream “I didn’t sign up for this.” Well actually I did. When our kids entered the world, we were automatically placed in charge of their upbringing. Good or bad parenting – prepared or unprepared – willing or unwilling – we were placed in charge.

There are a million books, seminars, classes, lectures, and people out there who want to tell you how to be a good parent. Some of it helps. Some of it doesn’t. I know for me most of my parenting skills have been developed with time and experience. I tell my oldest daughter Kayleigh regularly: “You are the first _____ year old that we have ever parented. Give us some space and time to learn.” With all the insights and suggestions out there, here are a couple of essentials that would make the top of my list.

1. Love your children unconditionally.

Here’s what I want my children to know: there is nothing they can do to make me love them any less. I’m not sure this is a principle you can learn. You can really only experience it. As often as my kids frustrate me, my love for them never diminishes. They really don’t even begin to comprehend how deeply I love them. As a matter of fact, they will most likely not understand it until they experience it themselves!

Unconditional love allows freedom and responsibility. Free to be who they are and take risks. Responsibility to know that because I love them I want what is absolutely best for them and that includes boundaries (for their own reward).

2. Correct your children consistently and lovingly.

DISCIPLINE: what a scary word! Discipline is perhaps the most difficult part of parenting. It is probably the one area where I question my own consistency. It is so TOUGH to be consistent in this area. We have developed some incredible plans and charts through the years when it comes to chores, responsibilities, consequences to choices, and other discipline-related issues. Most of these plans and charts are in the trash. Our discipline, as inconsistent as it is, has this primary goal: instructional reconciliation. We want our children to “learn” and to “be forgiven.”

Discipline stems from God Himself and his purpose is the same: He disciplines his children so that they might grow, develop, and learn. In the process, we learn to make right choices and become more like Jesus. That’s hopefully what discipline for our children does as well (notice I said for and not to): it teaches them to make right choices and in the process hopefully leads them toward becoming more solid Jesus followers and better people.

I am not a parenting expert. I make plenty of mistakes. But I have learned that if we can learn to love our children unconditionally and discipline them consistently and properly, then just maybe I have helped do my part of making them more dependent on God and less dependent on us as they grow.

After a busy, busy week, here are a few highlights from the weekend…

- The Egg Drop event is getting much bigger than we anticipated. I will try and post a blog with more details later.
- After a busy week, I enjoyed getting out on Friday and playing a little golf.
- Watched most of Old Dogs on Friday night (slept through a little). Actually a funny movie in parts.
- Finished the winter of season of girls volleyball on Saturday. A few weeks off before we start again.
- I actually attended the Mountain West championship game on Saturday evening. UNLV was in it but lost.
- March Madness is less maddening when your team is watching instead of playing.
- Big event season has me sleeping less and thinking more.
- Not sure “missing” the hour of sleep mattered.
- The winds in Vegas have been crazy the last few days. We were not even able to put out any road signs today.
- Time change and 50 mph winds affected our attendance some today.
- Some Sundays you are just not at your A-game. Today was one of those days.
- We have been interviewing different GP families for our Modern Family series. The interviews have been a great addition to the series.
- Ty Neal and I did a tag-team teach today. I thought it worked well.
- Our new Servolution shirts are in for our 2010 serving opps. They look great.
- Really liking The Desert Song that our band has led the last 2 weeks.
- We taught on the oneness principle today and how to guard the oneness element once kids enter the picture.
- Highlights from the message:

As a couple, you are either growing closer together or further apart. There is no middle ground.
In dating opposites attract. In marriage, opposites attack.
“Satan wants to use what God intended for completion to create division”
“Are you completing each other or competing against each other?”
“Satan will use good things to create division”
“Unity celebrates differences. Uniformity destroys uniqueness”
“The two extremes that destroy oneness and harm children: the child-centered marriage & the couples only marriage”
“Our goal as parents is to transfer the dependence of our kids from us to God”
“The church is to sing “back-up” in the raising of your children”
“Marriages tend to go through three stages: The Ideal (everything is perfect), The Ordeal (marriage is tough), and The New Deal (when an out seems to be the only answer). Oneness guards against the last stage”

- Egg Drop hits warp speed this week.
- Easter Weekend at GP this year: Saturday – 5:00 pm, Sunday – 9:30 am & 11:15 am
- It is sad that I am watching the NIT selection show to see if UNC even makes it – national champions to a bubble team in the NIT!

Hopefully I can take some time this week to tell you what is happening with Egg Drop.

We continue our Modern Family series this Sunday talking about the concept of oneness – how do a husband and wife seek to be one when so many things push us toward division?  God’s initial mandate for married couples is that they were to become “one flesh.”  This instruction not only includes physical intimacy but also a oneness of life – same agenda, goals, heart, etc.  Oneness is a process and does not happen instantaneously.  But it is also something a couple must work to obtain.

The truth is you are either growing closer or further apart from your spouse. There is no middle ground on this one. And we all know that oneness does not just happen – particularly the longer you are married.

What we will also discover this weekend at GP is that it is good things that normally threaten the oneness, particularly children.  When a child or children enter the scene, everything naturally changes. Married life is simply never the same.  Two threats emerge when children arrive: a child-centered home or a couples-only home.

The child-centered home makes the children the central part of the family. This common and natural shift is probably the highest threat to the oneness of the marriage. It is a code red threat.

A couples-only home creates an environment where children are not nurtured and loved in a way that shifts their dependence from their parents to God. The most important aspects of raising a child are neglected and the child often seeks what they should receive from their parents in other places. Again – this faulty approach threatens the oneness of the marriage and the stability of the home and even the health of the child.

A healthy home begins with a healthy marriage. Can children be raised properly in an environment where oneness is not a reality? Absolutely. Can children grow up and love God from single-parent homes or divorce situations or unhealthy marriages? Absolutely.  Is it God’s ideal? Absolutely not. Protect the oneness.