a barrel of fun

Just ask Todd Colucy. It's fun to cut up credit cards. Above is a plastic barrel full of plastic. Inside this barrel there are literally hundreds of credit cards that my friend Todd has had the privilege of cutting up. Todd leads NewPointe's Financial Peace University program. He's passionate about helping people get out of debt. And a great step to getting out of debt is to quit charging things!

There are a couple of cut-up credit cards at the bottom of that barrel that used to belong to Jenny and I.

You may have heard Dwight say that you can't be a fully devoted follower of Christ and be confused bout your personal finances. When your personal finances are in order, it honors God.

Thanks, Todd, for helping people tackle debt. Thanks for leading the FPU efforts at NPCC. When we have our personal finances in order, it honors God.

You can learn more about FPU at NPCC by clicking here.

what would you do if you only had one month to live?

Sunday at NewPointe we offered an interactive feature to the service: Live text messaging. We put the question, "What would you do if you only had one month to live?" on the screens with instructions on how to text in your answer. The coolest part is that everything was live and in real time. As people replied to the question via texting, their answers would pop onto the screens instantly. Very cool...and a little risky...but it worked. We kept taking responses throughout the service and then used them on the center screen during the closing song (see pic):

It was very cool to allow those in attendance to participate in that way. The responses we received varied from the ridiculous to the profound. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy reading some of my favorite responses that got texted in (the way they came to us):

• say all the things i've been to afraid to say
• I would eat more of Lee Ann's homemade bread and chocolate cake without guilt and give Dave D more bear hugs.
• lick my elbow
• Rub Dwight's belly!
• eat 7000000 pancakes
• travel the world w my family
• I would buy kevin west and danny bunnelle some toupee's...seriously...
• Kiss my husband more!
• i would beg my dr to induce labor
• go skydiving
• meet with friends and renew our relationships
• Hit the sushi bar once a day.
• drive every highway I could as fast as I could
• spend more time with my family and less time working.
• Kiss a japanese guy!
• Quit my job
• do something absolutely crazy!
• go to golden corral and stuff myself silly
• get all my family together more often.
• Stop exercising
• eat sleep and party
• i would run a marathon spend time with fam:-)
• try to mend broken relationships& b their friend

So what would YOU do if you only had one month to live?

the final countdown

A NewPointer approached me after the Swiss Festival parade today and told me that "after this conversation, I'm never talking to you again."

"What'd I do?," I asked.

He said, "I went to the Death Clock thing you showed us on Sunday and it said that I'm going to die THIS JANUARY!" (and this was a relatively young dude I was talking to).

So how'd I handle this situation?

I told him to go Google some other death calculators and maybe he'd find one that's gonna let him live a little longer. But in the meantime, take this recommendation from The Shawshank Redemption: Either get busy livin' or get busy dyin'.

I also told him that we'd keep things a "little brighter" at church tomorrow. See you there!

innovate '08 (day two, part two)

The second half of day two included breakout sessions (I attended one by the Lifechurch.tv guys on leveraging new technology), and Tim Stevens. Here are a few of the notes I took:

Session Three, Breakout session, (Lifechurch.tv Directional Leadership team):

• Video production at Lifechurch.tv; as a general rule, if a video is going to take more than 2-3 days from concept to finished product, then it's probably not worth doing.
• Their team is working on a new web app called ChurchMetrics.com. It gives church leaders the ability to track trends within the church. And here's something else cool: it's FREE! Thanks Lifechurch.tv!

Session Four, Pop Goes the Church (Tim Stevens, Executive Pastor, Granger Community Church):

• Reality #1 – Most churches are not impacting their communities.
• Reality #2 – Spiritual interest of people is increasing in America.
• Paul leveraged culture so he could tell people about Jesus. If we don’t do that…we risk being irrelevant.

Why use pop culture in church?

• to package a topic and attract a crowd
• to get people thinking or laughing
• to provide a new interpretation for a pop culture element
• to honor the people who are serving….people who are making ministry happen.

Find this subject interesting? Check out Tim's book Pop Goes the Church.

innovate '08 conference (day two)

Day one, for me, was a pre-conference workshop. Day two was the beginning of the actual Innovate '08 conference at Granger. The conference's theme was Stop Talking, Start Doing. Here are a few of the notes I took on Thursday:

Session One; Stop Talking (Mark Beeson, senior pastor @ Granger):

• We are in a culture that wants something to happen.
• The best way to relate to our culture? Stories and media.
• Our culture says to us, "Boil the truth down so I can see it immediately and clearly."

Session Two; Brand Schizophrenia (Shawn Wood, experiences pastor @ Seacoast):

• Have we begun loving stuff more than we love Jesus?
• Our brand is JESUS!
• Don't become more obsessed with excellence than you are with effectiveness.
• Definition the word brand: the aftertaste left by an emotional experience.
• The DNA of Seacoast:
  Spirit Filled.
  Practical. (not a lot of talk without action)
  Non-spooky (we're not going to do weird things)
  Yet mystical (candles, experiential, etc). Our services last as long as they last.
  In multiple locations.
  On the cheap.
• We are the ones who shape what Jesus looks like to the world.

Want a couple pictures? Here you go...

the death clock

Several people asked me for the name of the web site I used Sunday morning on the center screen. It's called The Death Clock.

Click on the picture on the left to go there.

sunday's scuds (september 21, 2008)

What an amazing start to the new series, One Month To Live. The band kicked things off with Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying. They nailed it. And most of the people in the room were singing right along with it. Dwight's first message in this series was titled Living the Dash. It was an overview to where we're heading over the next six weeks. And it was full of scuds. Here are a few:

• None of us know how old we are. If you're 23 but you're going to die when you're 28, you're an old person. If you're 70 and you're going to die when you're 95, you're young. The reality is that none of us know how much time we have left.
• What God would say to each of us, in light of the fact that we're all going to die, is, "You need to prepare for that."
• You can't change the past but you can do something about your future.
• Everybody dies but not everybody lives.
• God calls us to live lives that are full of passion. What are you passionate about? Are you passionate about anything significant?
• We're more concerned with counting our years than we are with making our years count.
• When you have a purpose bigger than your problems it enables you to live passionately.
• My wife is a righteous fox. (Yes, he really said that!!)
• You don't have what it takes to love your spouse...because it requires a supernatural kind of love.
• Jesus learned obedience through suffering.
• Too many of us, when we suffer, we don't learn anything from it. Instead we end up being rebellious, or bitter, or both.

If you want to live life to the fullest, there are four things we must give God:

1. The first day of the week.
2. The first part of my day.
3. The first portion of my income.
4. The first consideration of every decision.

innovate '08 recap (day one)

Danny, Mike, Todd, and myself attended Granger Community Church's Innovate '08 conference in Granger, IN.

I left a day early for a pre-conference workshop on First Impressions (one of the areas I lead at NewPointe is First Impressions--parking, ushers, host teams, info, etc.).

I honestly felt like the First Impressions workshop alone was worth the trip. Here are a few of the "nuggets" I'm bringing back with me:

• One of the Granger First Impressions team's most repeated quotes is, "We don't care why they come, we just want them to come back."
• We must define the experience before the experience. In other words, what do we want guests at NewPointe to experience? What do we want them talking about at the water cooler on Monday morning?
• The Granger team's mission statement: "Creating an atmosphere of warmth and personal acceptance in a safe environment where people can know and follow Christ."
• We must identify the distractions before our guests are distracted. In other words, we need to identify them so we can remove them in order for people to fully experience the love of God at NewPointe.
• Our church has competition. It's not other churches. It's any place our guests have been and experienced high value as a guest.
• We don't recruit. We invite.
• The message we want conveyed to our guests? Because you matter to God, you matter to us.

And that, my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg. I came back with a whole bunch of helpful material that I'm excited to share with the awesome people involved with First Impressions at NewPointe.

touchdown jesus

After participating in the Innovate Conference at Granger today, we hit up the Legends Bar and Grill right next to the football stadium at Notre Dame. Of course, no visit to ND is complete without visiting Touchdown Jesus.

I'm not a Notre Dame fan--AT ALL...but I certainly respect their program and it's tradition.

But in the meantime...GO BUCKS!

first impressions training at granger community church

I've spent the entire day so far sitting in a workshop at Granger Community Church, learning about church First Impressions and how to increase the "WOW!" factor. Very helpful. Very informative.

Midway through the morning session, Granger's senior pastor, Mark Beeson, stepped into the room and snapped some photos. And then he posted the photos on his blog.

I figure if Mark can blog during the workshop, so can I. :)

Here's a link to Mark's blog with some of the photos.

I'll share more about the workshop (and tomorrow's Innovate conference) in future posts.

"how 'bout the two of you joining us at married life live?"

Someone stopped me at church on Sunday and told me that she and her husband brought some friends to Married Life Live on Saturday. She told me that the couple is currently separated but they agreed to come to MLL. She went on to tell me that the couple had a great time, enjoyed MLL thoroughly and by the end of the evening they were actually "gettin' cozy" with each other. Isn't that cool?

I love the fact that there are people at NewPointe who are investing in others and inviting them to events like Married Life Live. Who knows the ultimate impact the simple question of, "Hey, how 'bout the two of you joining us at Married Life Live...we'll buy your tickets" will have on that couple's relationship?

Stuff like that fires me up!

sunday's scuds (september 14, 2008)

Sunday we wrapped up the two part series called FISHIN'. Great two-parter on becoming the "fishers of men" Jesus calls us to be. Here are the scuds Dwight fired:

• God wants you to leverage your influence in order to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Though we know we're supposed to be fishers of men, we don't do it. The reason? Fear.
• Courage is not a lack of fear--courage is doing what you need to do in spite of your fear.
• Ask God to give you the courage to say the right thing at the right time in the right way.
• We think people reject us because we stand for truth. No...they probably reject us because we're obnoxious.

And then he fired the scud of all scuds:

• If you're not planning in investing in people and inviting them to church...and if you're not planning on serving at NewPointe, then I'd encourage you to find another church. Because if we get too many of you around here, we'll end up becoming the kind of church you didn't want to attend in the first place.

Let that one sink in.

married life live pics

MLL was AWESOME, baby! Hope you were able to be there!

praying for mll at chili's

Jenny and Natalie are at the Revolve Tour in Columbus this weekend. It's just me, Andrew, and Naomi tonight. So when Naomi got home from school, we headed to Canton to do dinner and a movie.

We caught Space Chimps at the dollar theater and then we hit Chili's for a bite. While we were at Chili's, I told the kids that I was speaking at Married Life Live Saturday night. I asked them if they would remember to pray for me.

Andrew spoke up, "Daddy, I'll pray for you right now."

And he did. The three of us bowed our heads at Chili's, in the middle of our dinner, and Andrew asked God, among other things, to help me do a good job at MLL...and to help me be nice to people.

What more could I ask for?

sneak peek

If you've been wondering what's been going on in what used to be the NewPointe bookstore...here's what's new.

Over the past couple weeks specialists have been in to construct an amazing, totally themed-out jungle play-land!

Here are a few "sneak-peek" pics.

It's an amazing place that now a part of the ReignForest! You'll be able to see the rest of it in the near future.

"we should do this on sunday morning..."

So Dave Mast emails me this today with a note that says, "We should do this on Sunday morning...just a thought."

Check it out...


Nice. Want more? Visit Danny.

a good reminder

I'm re-reading Andy Stanley's book, The Next Generation Leader. Section three blew my doors off (again). It's about clarity and how vital it is to leading well. Here are a few nuggets from section three that I needed to be reminded of:

• I need to be clear even when I'm not certain. The only thing I can be certain of is the past--everything from this moment on is a guess. Once I acknowledge that, I'll be free to make decisions with limited information.
• I must recognize that clarity of vision is more important than certainty of outcome. Every great accomplishment began as an idea that stood in contrast to someone's current reality. In the beginning there is always enough uncertainty to shut down a vision...that's why leadership is needed.
• Clarity is perceived as leadership. Clarity creates its own influence and its own momentum. The person that paints the clearest picture will ultimately be viewed as the leader.
• One of the worst things I can do as a leader is to pretend I have all the answers.
• Flexibility is key. Uncertainty, no doubt, will wreak havoc with our plans but I can't allow it to derail our vision. As Andy puts it: Pencil in your plans...etch the vision in stone.

What have you learned about leadership lately?

fishin' (a letter to my parents)

Sunday Dwight started a two-part series called Fishin'. It's basically about how Christ-followers are called to be 'fishers of men.' It's about investing in others' lives by sharing about what Jesus has done in your life.

At the end of his message he challenged everyone to take some time this week to sit down and write a note to the person(s) who was most influential in helping you become a follower of Christ. In other words, who fished for you? Write them a note thanking them this week.

I took up the challenge. I wrote a letter to my parents. And I've decided to share it here, on my blog.

Before you read it, here's a little background: my parents divorced when I was 15. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to deal with. And they no doubt have regrets and questions and uncertainties about how they parented my sister and I (as parents, we all do). But I want them to know that there were some things they got right. Here is my letter to my mom and dad:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I don’t know how many times you’ve thought about whether or not you did a good job raising me. I know that, as a parent, I question myself all the time (Did I handle that situation properly? Should I have said something differently? Am I leading my kids well?). I just seems so hard at times to get things right.

Mom and Dad, I want you to know, that no matter how much you may question yourselves as parents, you handled the most important thing well. You gave me the most incredible gift I could ever hope to receive from my parents, the gift of pointing me in the direction of Jesus Christ and helping me begin to build my life on the foundation of a personal relationship with Him.

I’m so glad that you chose to put going to church ahead of every other possible opportunity on Sundays. Because you chose to make God and church such a huge priority for our family, I can honestly say that I’m a follower of Jesus to this day. I know I haven’t always done exactly what I should…and my relation with Christ has not always been first in my life (think college days). But sometime when I was about five years old, and I don’t even really remember when or where, but I prayed a prayer at church, asking Jesus to come into my heart. And here’s what’s so cool…he’s still in my heart!

Mom and Dad, without that influence in my life, who knows where I’d be today or what I’d be doing. Instead, the direction you pointed me has given birth to a passion to share what I’ve found with others. Now I’m using the gifts and talents God has given me to build relationships with as many people as I can in order to plant that seed of faith in them, just like you did for me.

So if you ever wonder about whether or not you got things right as parents, I just wanted to let you know, you got the most important thing right. I can honestly say that I’m a follower of Christ today because you made knowing Jesus such a huge priority for our family.

For that I am forever grateful.

Love,

Johnny

NewPointers, I would encourage you to not blow-off the homework assignment Dwight gave on Sunday. It'll help your perspective on why fishing is so important. It did mine.

sunday's scuds (september 7, 2008)

Dwight kicked off a two-part series called Fishin' today. It's about, you guessed it, becoming fishers of men (the church word for it is evangelism). Dwight did a terrific job reminding us all of our responsibility to share the good news of Jesus with the world.

• Most of us did not become Christ followers so we could become "fishers of men." We became Christians, most likely, so we could avoid going to hell.
• But Jesus calls us to be "fishers of men." True followers of Christ don't just follow him. They fish.
• Some people in this room used to fish but you've stopped. And today I'm calling you back to fishing.
• Most of us are more interested in having God make us happy, healthy, have better marriages, help us live longer lives, make us wealthy...than we are in becoming fishers of men.
• Our tendency when we fish is we compare religions. And we come across with an obnoxious, superior attitude--"our religion is better than yours." It's not about that. It's about history...sharing something that's taken place that has changed you.
• Unfortunately we get in the way of the message of God. We get hung up on beliefs and stuff that's inconsequential. What matters is what we know about Jesus Christ.
• I'm with the guy who died and rose again. So whatever he says, I believe. What ever he asks me to do, I'm gonna do.
• The message of salvation is not intuitive. People aren't going to figure it out on their own.
• Fishing is not about proving that Christianity is better than other religions. It's about sharing who Jesus is.
• I have more questions about God than I have answers. But I've got the answer to the most important thing: Salvation is found through Jesus Christ alone.

Dwight concluded by asking each of us to take the time this week to write a letter to the person who "fished for us." He asked us to take some time to consider what it means to us that someone was willing to invest in us and lead us to Christ. Take him up on that challenge this week. It'll help you refocus on why fishing is so important.

living with tv stars

Yes, there are two TV stars now residing at the Bunn residence. A couple of weeks ago Natalie and Naomi made their "cable television debut" on Lee Ann Miller's new show: Amish Country Living.

The girls did a great job helping Lee Ann bake and decorate a "big cookie" while explaining what they were up to. And Lee Ann even plugged this blog! You go Lee Ann!

You can watch the full episode by clicking here: Cuties in the Kitchen

ring of hope

My small group had the privilege of partnering with two other small groups as a part of NewPointe's Big Give to buy and build a boxing ring for a kids' boxing program in Coshocton. It's been an amazing thing to be a part of. Two Sundays ago we drove down to Coshocton to build the ring.

The Coshocton Tribune did a story on it. Here's an excerpt from the article:

COSHOCTON - Students of the Coshocton Boxing Club have always been full of heart, determination and will, but they have been lacking until now a key asset for success - a real boxing ring.

Members of the Newpointe Community Church in Dover donated time, labor and funds to construct a boxing ring for the club last weekend.

"It's amazing, no words can describe it," said club owner Dallas Brewer. "It's been our goal for two and a half years to get a USA-approved ring so we can hold our own events."

You can read the full article by clicking here: Ring of Hope

sunday's scuds (august 31, 2008)

What a great Sunday to be at NewPointe! Baptisms, excellent worship, and a strong stand-alone message from Dwight about spiritual growth. Here are the scuds:

• People who are growing in their relationship with Christ are intentional about sitting under practical teaching.
• Information alone will not change your life.
• Knowledge alone will make you prideful.
• People aren't concerned with how much you know. They're concerned with how you live.
• You'll never grow in your faith without people in your life who have permission to speak the truth to you.
• Be intentional about being hospitable.
• I cleaned out the garage yesterday. I didn't want to, but it sure paid off in my relationship with my wife. It's the same way with God.
• Many of us depend more on our money than we do our Heavenly Father. How can I tell? By your giving.
• Obedience alone will make you judgmental.
• God builds our trust and deepens our faith by calling us to personal ministry.
• What are you doing that if God were to die, you 'd have to quit doing?
• Sitting in this room won't change you. You'll just get more information. Putting it into practice will change you.