hangin' with worth dying for

Sunday was one of the weirdest days. After much anticipation, we were all set to have Worth Dying For lead worship for us at NewPointe. I showed up at the church at 7 a.m. Sunday...and found...that there was no electricity in the building. And the power company was telling us that we wouldn't get it back anytime soon. So we made the call at about 7:30 to cancel both services. The band was rolling in right about them...so we broke the news to them. Major bummer.

We did, however, head over the Daryl and Lee Ann Miller's house with the band for the most amazing breakfast experience ever.

Here's a shot (thank you Danny) of me with the band.


Here's a pic of Micah and Nathan going at it (playing Guitar Hero).


And here's how Sean Loche decided to spend a portion of his morning...

It was a blast just hangin' with the band. They told us it was great to have some time off to just chill. Before they left, we gathered together to pray with them...and then we got a brief (but good) acoustic worship set out of them (including the soon-to-be-famous Deodorant Song...written by Josh O'Haire).

You can read more about it and see more pics at Danny's blog. And you can see the rest of the Guitar Hero pics at my Facebook page.

the monkey boy's birthday

Saturday was Andrew's sixth birthday. His big gift: a trip to Cleveland for the Reds/Indians game. If you don't already know, we're Reds fans (Jenny and I grew up in Cincy). So Andrew, by default, is also a Reds fan.

We got to the game early in hopes of catching some BP and perhaps an autograph or two.

Andrew took this sign with him. I bet he had 100 people wish him happy birthday at the ballpark...including Reds first baseman, Joey Votto. Joey saw Andrew's sign, came over to the railing, wished him happy birthday, chatted for a moment and then signed a mini-helmet and his ball cap. And get this, Andrew was the only dude in the ballpark that got an autograph that night. There was no BP due to rain...and NOBODY was signing...except one guy...for Andrew.

I couldn't get my camera phone out in time to catch Joey Votto with Andrew...figures. But here's proof of the encounter:

Mommy and Monkey Boy enjoying the game:
In the third inning Andrew was bugging me to use my phone to take a picture. So what does he take a picture of? Me. Here's his handiwork:

A great time, as they say, was had by all. And the icing on the cake? The Reds won 5-0. Happy birthday AJ!

okay...so i had to add this one too...

Here's another photo from Harry and Liz's wedding. Liz tells me that this was taken right after the cremony began and I "cracked the first joke." Classic.

you may kiss the bride

A couple weeks ago I blogged about Harry and Liz's wedding. Today Liz sent me a photo that was taken right after I uttered the phrase, "You may kiss the bride."

Like I said, they know how to have fun. Priceless.

uncovering the truth

I hear things from time to time that people are convinced is absolute truth (because they heard it from a "reliable" source). I like to check things out. Here are a few things I've heard recently that I thought I'd give you, my blog readers, the low-down on:

1. It's illegal to drive without shoes on. Not true. I've heard this literally dozens of times. A quick Google search is all you need to dispel this myth. Currently, according to my research, there are no U.S. states that require footwear while driving a car.

2. The average person eats eight spiders a year while sleeping. Not true. Experts tell us that spiders are smart enough to avoid a humid hole which is breathing. They are trying to get their food, they tend to go to the light at night, where insects gather, not to dark wet breathing places such as a mouth. You can all sleep more comfortably now.

3. It's impossible to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon. From what I have seen online (and from my kids experimenting with it themselves), this one seems to be TRUE. Try it for yourself sometime.

4. If you stare at the sun, you could go blind. How many times did you hear that one from your mother? Well, she was right. Direct sunlight can damage the retina--light-sensitive nerve endings in the back of the eye, causing impaired vision or blindness.

5. If you go swimming less than an hour after eating, you could get cramps and drown. Not true. Not once has a drowning death been attributed to "swimming with a full stomach."

6. Eating turkey will make you sleepy. This one is popular around Thanksgiving. It's said that because of the amino acid, tryptophan, you'll likely become very sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal. It's not true. See, turkey also contains protein, which negates the effects of tryptophan, but we generally don't ingest enough at one sitting to feel it.

Just trying to keep you informed!

tuesday's aqua...simply amazing

We had an absolutely amazing time of worship at Aqua on Tuesday. I mean AMAZING. As I told the Aqua crowd Tuesday night, to see them worship so freely and intensly like that fuels my faith. What an excellent time of just loving on God. I stood toward the back of the room, and "snuck" a few photos with my camera phone.
Props to Dave D, Benjamin and the band, and all the volunteers who make Aqua great. Unbelievable night. Can't wait for the next one (July 8, 7 p.m., The Warehouse).

we did it!

Jenny and I enrolled in Financial Peace University a little over three years ago. The 13-week course helped to forever change our finances. One of the goals established during FPU was to get out of debt as quickly as we could.

Well, it's taken three and a half years. And it's meant saying "no" to some things we would have really liked to have purchased. And it's meant getting rid of some stuff, too. But the good news is...as of yesterday with the exception of our mortgage, WE ARE DEBT FREE!

We paid off our last car loan...and IT FEELS GREAT!

You can do it too. Follow this link to find out more about NewPointe's FPU classes.

the new and improved starting pointe

Man, the new NewPointe-written and produced Starting Pointe material is SCHWEEET! I can't wait till we roll it out church-wide. In the meantime, I'm enjoying going through the material by myself.
The new and improved Starting Pointe is a 10-week conversational environment where you can get your faith informed in a small group setting that meets Sunday mornings on campus. Wanna learn more about Starting Pointe at NewPointe? Click here.

If your church is interested in purchasing the new SP material, contact grouplife@newpointe.org.

seven in six

Sunday Dwight shared seven things to pray about over the next six months:

1. The GO '08 food drive (July). Our goal is to fill 1, 500 boxes of food for our local food pantries.
2. Service Sunday (August 3). We'll shut down "church" and go out into our communities to BE the church by serving people.
3. Sports Ministry. Looking to launch this new foyer environment this Fall.
4. Small Groups push. We're doing a special groups-geared message series in September. Our goal...everybody at NewPointe in a small group for the duration of the six-week series.
5. Stewardship Campaign...we're already thinking about expansion and future ministry opportunities. Stewardship campaign begins in November.
6. Satellite Churches. We're exploring the possibilities of launching two satellite churches (Sugarcreek and Canton?) within the next six months.
7. Mission trips. Next month we're sending another team to Egypt. Our work overseas will continue throughout the year (and coming years).

sunday's scuds (june 22, 2008)

It was an incredible morning of vision casting and scud firing at NewPointe yesterday. Dwight laid out some key goals and some big-time vision. Here are some of the scuds:

• I believe people are more interested in hearing about Christ than we are willing to share about Christ.
• People have always been ready to receive Christ. That's not the issue. The problem is that we've thought for too long that we can lecture people to Christ. People don't want to be lectured.
• We can't lecture people to Christ but we can love them to Christ (see this post from last fall).
• Get your eyes off yourself.
• One of the lies we believe is that people are not interested in Christ. We think that because they're not interested in church, then they must not be interested in Jesus. The reason they're not interested in church is because for too long we've lectured them instead of loved them.
• When we begin to pray, God begins to work and move.
• My prayer is that God would kick some of you out of here. We've got too many pew potatoes and spiritual porkers.
• God had not given us what he's given us so we could sit around be comfortable in it.
• I don't want to something and ask God bless it. I want to do what God is already blessing.
• Your life, right now, is either influencing people toward God, or it's influencing people away from God. It's either one or the other.
• We can whine and complain about how things are...or we can do something about it.
• I'm willing to be misunderstood, misrepresented, and talked poorly about for the kingdom's sake.

Scud-a-licious.

alive!

The Bunn fam invaded the Alive Festival last night. Here are a few pics and highlights...

Ran into Lee Ann Miller's kid, Joey. I said, "Hey Joey, where's your mom? He smiled and showed me his shirt...

If you know Lee Ann, this doesn't surprise you. The truth is...we knew were Lee Ann was. She was there with Brandon Bunnelle shooting video for NewPointe. The Sunday morning announcement segment at church should be VERY interesting tomorrow.

Naomi and her friend were really getting into Thousand Foot Krutch. Yeah, TFK's soothing sounds could put anybody to sleep. NOT!
The highlight of the evening came when TobyMac hit the stage. Toby always puts on a fun show. Here's a pic (from afar):

The highlight for our kids was when they actually got to meet TobyMac (and get autographs). Lee Ann and Brandon got to meet TobyMac, too. Don't miss the announcements tomorrow! :)

speaking of untypical...

...someone emailed me this quote from Francis Chan today:

It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe, the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor...love us with a radical, unconditional, self sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church , sing songs, and try not to cuss.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at the list of do's and don'ts, it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as the Bible describes, you will never be the same.

the meeting i'm sitting in right now

I just snapped this pic with my camera phone...literally seconds ago. We're sitting around the conference table talking about the UnTypical series and Go '08. Go '08 is going to be awesome. We're shooting for filling 1,500 boxes of food for area food pantries. Last year our goal was 1,000 boxes and we filled 1,300. This year, we want to bless the people of our communities...and STUFF the local pantries with even more!

New this year: we're shutting down church on August 3. That's right--no church. Instead, we're going out into our communities to SERVE! I love it! Rather than "having" church on August 3, we're going to go out and "be" the church.

There will be tons of great opportunities for you and your family to get involved. Sign-ups for serving projects will begin June 13.

It's going to be a great summer at NewPointe!

untypical

I know it's going to be difficult to follow the What Lies Beneath series. We spent an awesome six weeks learning what it takes to be emotionally healthy so we can live spiritually healthy lives. What a great, much-needed series.

So what's next? On July 6 NewPointe begins a new summer series: UnTypical (I know that untypical is not really a word...but it works. It's, well, untypical).

I gotta tell ya. I'm pumped. It's going to be an incredible, challenging, thought-provoking series. It's designed to shake us all from living typical lives--into an adventurous, ambitious, dangerous, and Spirit-led UNtypical life.

NewPointe's weekend design team has been working on this one for weeks. And believe me, you will not want to miss a single one in the series (and I'm not just saying that).

Here's the lineup:

• July 6: an Untypical Encounter
• July 13: Untypical Faith
• July 20: Untypical Courage
• July 27: Untypical Ambition

Whatever you do...make sure you're not running late for any of these services. Amazing stuff is going to happen early...and I don't want you to miss what everyone's going to be talking about.

worth dying for

It's official. WORTH DYING FOR will be doing the music and leading worship at NewPointe on June 29. How cool is that? Worth Dying For will be playing at the Alive Festival this week. If you're going, make sure you check them out. Want to know more about them? Here are a few quotes from the band's lead singer:

“Jesus Christ and music are the two things that consume the thoughts and lives of this band,” says 21-year-old Sean Loche, lead singer of Worth Dying For. “Combine the two, and you get what we love to do: worship. We are ordinary people that have a desire to show others how to fall in love with God in a deeper, more passionate way. The music scene today is heavily impacting our youth culture. The music that God has used us to write has changed our youth ministry and our city. Now, God has put it on our hearts to let these songs resonate in the hearts of the young people across this nation.”

“Our dream is to see lives changed,” Sean continues, “to ignite and empower them to go out and do big things… It’s not just about us playing songs, it’s about helping them connect, letting a revolution begin with them….”

“Our message is: The revolution is you… one person standing up for Christ,” Sean continues. “We have a different sense of Christianity than some do. We talk about duty, the forces of darkness and spiritual warfare, and we try to empower our kids, not to sit back but to engage, to stand up and realize that when they do that, they are empowered by the king of kings to fight the darkness. With Jesus on their side, nothing can stand against them…”

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 in both services. Don't miss it!

when harry met...liz

Last evening I had the privilege of officiating the wedding ceremony of my friends Harry and Liz. Harry, in case you don't know, plays bass guitar in the NewPointe band. They got married in downtown Canton on a rooftop. It was a very cool wedding and we had beautiful weather.

Harry and Liz are a great couple who love to have fun. And we had fun with the wedding. They gave me a lot of rope (and plenty of time) to share. I shared a lot about what it means to have Christ at the center of a marriage. We also had plenty of opportunities to laugh and just enjoy the occasion.

After the wedding, I had literally dozens of people approach me, telling me how much they enjoyed the ceremony. Several of them commented on how much they appreciated being able to laugh at a wedding. One lady told me that she'd never laughed at a wedding before. I said, "Well we ought to be able to, shouldn't we?" After all, Jesus is the joy-bringer. And I'm convinced he knew how to have a good time at a wedding.

I shared from Matthew 2, the wedding at Cana...Jesus' first miracle. I shared how Jesus can be the miracle of their marriage when 1. you invite him in, 2. you take your needs to him, and 3. allow him to take what you have and make it even better.

It was a great day. And a very cool reception. Congrats, Liz and Harry!

bubba jr.

What my girls do to their little brother when they get bored...

fastpitch natalie

Natalie is on the 7th grade softball team at Garaway. Her first game was a couple weeks ago so this post is a bit over-due. The league they're in is for girls 14 and under. Natalie, because of when her birthday is, could have still played in the 12 and under league this year but instead, she's playing "up."

At the first game the other team had a pitcher who was flat bringin' it. Natalie was batting lead-off. And I'm thinking, oh man, how's she gonna catch up to that heat? Well I'll tell ya how she caught up to it...she spanked the first pitch of the game over the first baseman's head for a solid base hit.

On her second at-bat she grounded out hard to the shortstop. The third time up, well, Leslie Yoder got a nice shot of what happened the third time up:

Yep. She got plunked by the flame-thrower. You can see the ball on its way to the ground after it drilled her in the side of her butt. Yeah...it left a mark...but she scored later...and had to slide at home, leaving a matching mark on her other butt cheek.

They lost the game...but they've picked up the pace recently, winning each of their last two contests.

And just for good measure, here's a pic of Natalie pitching in the same game:

It's so much fun to watch her play.

last night's aqua

Awesome. We had a great, incredible time of worship with Benjamin Payne and the Aqua band. Here are a couple pics I took with my cell phone:

We had a great crowd show up. Aqua's really gaining momentum. I love the Aqua crowd (18-30's singles). We're in the middle of a series where we're talking about biblical principles that help us navigate life when life gets interrupted. It's so cool to see God at work in so many lives through Aqua.

If you want to come check it out sometime, click here for the details.

sunday's scuds (june 8, 2008)

Awesome, awesome, awesome service today. The band kicked things off in high gear with DecembeRadio's Can't Hide. Strong. The worship was off the hook. Dwight nailed it with his message on grieving properly. It was an awesome continuation of the What Lies Beneath series. Here are the scuds:

• There is no greater danger to your emotional and spiritual health than to not face reality.
• If we don't deal with our grief properly it will destroy us.
• To be spiritually mature is to embrace a commitment to reality.
• The heart of the Gospel is this: there has to be death before there's a resurrection. There is always a loss before a gain.
• There are times in life when God seems to be silent but his silence should never be mistaken as absence. God is always there.
• Truth and time don't always run hand-in-hand.
• You can't do and be whatever you want to do and be. That's new-age thinking. You and I have limitations. You can do and be whatever God wants you to do and be...but not whatever you want to do and be (see Job 14:5).
• Job emerged from his suffering transformed as a humble man.
• Sometimes we focus so much on what we've lost that we forget about what we still have.

newpointer headed to long-drive national championship

Ryan Kirkbride is one of the guys I meet with on a regular basis. We get together and download life. We talk about how to be better husbands, better dads, and better followers of Christ. It's really cool to see God at work in Ryan's life. He's growing spiritually. He's growing as a leader. And check this out: he's growing as a golfer.

Back in April Ryan won (easily) a regional long drive qualifer and now he's headed to Nevada to compete in the nationals. Dude can just absolutely smash the ball.

Ryan recently asked me if I could get him a NewPointe golf shirt (he wants to wear it in the nationals).

The Times-Reporter did a story on Ryan that's in today's paper. You can read it here: Area golfer headed to driving competition.

Go get 'em Ryan! And remember: If God is for you, who can be against you? You can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens you!

By the way, I had lunch with Ryan yesterday. The question he's wrestling with right now is: How am I going to get that big cardboard check onto the airplane? I asked him if he has to endorse the backside of it with a giant magic marker. I guess he'll just have to cross that bridge when he comes to it. :)

first wednesday

God is really at work in people’s lives big-time at NewPointe right now. If you were unable to make it to First Wednesday last night, let me give you a quick update:

We had a tremendous time of worship and prayer. Our prayer team was able to pray for/with dozens and dozens of people as they came forward at the end to receive healing, to pray for hurts, to deal with sin issues…it was an incredible time. And that's not all: At least 20 people raised their hands saying, “I’m ready to receive Christ. I want to make him the leader of my life and the forgiver of my sins.” How cool is that? More than 20 people are now members of the family of God because they were courageous enough to raise their hands and pray the sinner’s prayer last night.

Hope you got to be in on that. It was a night I won't soon forget.

andrew meets trent edwards (part 2)

Part two takes place at my cousin's wedding reception. The hour was approaching ten o'clock. The family and I were ready to head back to the hotel. I asked Andrew if he wanted to say goodbye to Trent before we left.

I didn't have to ask twice. Andrew rushed over to where Trent was standing. Trent bent down, held out his hand for a high-five from the monkey-boy and said, "Hey Andrew, what's up?" (he remembered his name...very cool).

Andrew says, "See you at the picnic tomorrow!"

Trent replied, "Aw, buddy, I'm not going to be at the picnic."

Andrew shot back, "Where you gotta be?" As if to say, "Hey, you're the quarterback of the Bills, you can do whatever you want. And what's more important than a wedding party picnic?...Duh!"

Trent informed Andrew that he had to fly to California for another wedding. Andrew seemed cool with that. Especially after arriving to the picnic to have this waiting for him:

Yes, it's signed by Trent Edwards. Yes, Andrew is now the world's biggest Bills fan. Yes, it looks like I'm going to have to take him to a Bills game this fall (as if I'm complaining).

The hard part was trying to convince Andrew to leave the mini helmet in the display case instead of taking it out and letting his teddy bear wear it (that's really what he wanted to do).

you have GOT to be at first wednesday!

I'm sitting at Wall House Coffee right now, shoring up what I'm going to be sharing at First Wednesday tomorrow. And man, it's really speaking to me.

The WHAT LIES BENEATH series has imacted so many people in profound ways. It's uncovering hurts and habit patterns that people are starting to really deal with in their lives. At First Wednesday we're going to look at the story of the man who'd been an invalid for 38 years (John 5). 38 years! And then he encountered Jesus.

I believe that tomorrow at First Wednesday, there's going to be a Jesus-encounter. I believe with all my heart that God wants to set people free from their addictions, lifestyles, and habits. None of it is too big for God.

I hope to see you there. 7 p.m. in the main auditorium.

andrew meets trent edwards (part 1)

Last week we went to my cousin's wedding in Buffalo, NY. The guy she married works for the Buffalo Bills. He's good friends with the Bills' starting quarterback, Trent Edwards. In fact, Trent was one of the groomsmen in the wedding.

Andrew has GOT to be the biggest five-year-old football freak on the planet. He LOVES football. He knows all the NFL teams, and he has things pretty much figured out like: love the Bengals, hate the Steelers, and the Browns stink (that's my boy!). He also would tell you he's a fan of the Eagles, Dolphins, Falcons, and Packers (he can't pick ONE favorite). Anyway, you can now add the Bills to the top of that list.

He couldn't wait to meet the Bills' QB...talked about it for weeks. So finally, after the wedding, I say to Andrew, "Do you want to go meet Trent Edwards?" Duh. So we went over and introduced ourselves. Trent was super-cool. Andrew was diggin' it. Here's a pic of Trent, Andrew and me...

Shortly into our conversation, Andrew informed Trent that he had a question for him.

"What do you want to know," asked Trent.

Andrew's question: "DO YOU KNOW BRETT FAVRE?"

Classic.

sunday's scuds (june 1, 2008)

Today Dwight continued the very powerful and mind-stretching WHAT LIES BENEATH series. Today: Loving Well. Here are the scuds:

Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40

• We think love is a feeling. Love is not a feeling...it's a choice.
• Unresolved conflict is the greatest tension in the Christian life.
• The definition of sin: focusing on yourself. Sin is trying to meet legitimate needs in illegitimate ways.
• Growing up in love is hard. Love in dreams is easy. Living it out is hard work.
• We all would say we love peace...very few of us understand peace.
• The reality is, we're not all that interested in peace...we're more interested in quiet.
• When it's "quiet," stuff just gets swept under the rug. It's not dealt with...and there's no true peace.
• Respect is not a feeling...it's not the way I feel about somebody...it's the way I treat them. Respect is not "earned," it's GIVEN.
• Jesus was constantly in conflict because Jesus lived in and dealt with reality.