spotted in a newpointe men’s room this week

A circus ringmaster? What could that possibly be about? Guess you’ll have to come to NewPointe on Sunday to find out.

an old father’s day card

I was looking through some of my files and found an old Father’s day card given to me by Natalie when she was about 6 or 7 years old.

I don’t save ALL my Father’s day cards but this one was definitely worth saving. It is one of the those priceless homemade cards with multiple pages. Here’s the front of the card:

Why I Love My Daddy, by Natalie Bunn.

On the inside she devotes one page each to the top five reasons she loves her daddy…

1. You love the Buckeyes and so do I.

2. You are the best daddy in the whole world.

3. You are very funny.

4. You work hard to take care of our family.

5. You love Jesus and so do I.

and then my favorite part at the end…

That’s right, Go Bucks, Go Jesus! :)

another bubba video

This one is from April 5, 2009. I’ve had many requests to get this one online. If you were in KidStuf for this one, you’ll remember it as Kevin the bride. I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again. Kevin is the best straight-man ever. Bubba would not be nearly as funny as he is without the comedic genius of K-West.

NewPointe Kidstuf April 5, 2009 from NewPointe Community Church on Vimeo.

sunday's scuds (june 21, 2009)

What a great day at NewPointe Sunday! First of all, Worth Dying For led worship and they flat-out delivered the goods. Stong. Powerful. Wow.

Dwight finished up the two-part series called "Dare You To Move." Strong. Powerful. Wow. Here are the scuds:

• I want to change the world...I want to be a part of a group of people that want to change the world.
• Our vision is to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• I believe that EVERY person is looking for Jesus...they just don't know it yet.
• Most people come to Christ in order to avoid going to hell. If that's you, you only know Christ as a rescuer--and he's that, but he's so much more.
• Jesus wants to be your best friend so you'll never be alone again.
• When we view Christ as a rescuer only, we end up being "religious."
• Because I'm in love with Christ, it's my desire to share Him with as many people as possible.
• I'm challenging you to go where you've never gone before and do what you've never done before.
• Jesus always dared people to move. Today he's going to dare you to move.
• Jesus dared the rich young ruler to move. He didn't. We never hear another thing about him.
• We're daring 300 of you to move to Millersburg and 300 of you to move to Louisville and help us launch new campuses.
• When we embrace God's dares, we end up making a difference.
• The local church is the hope of the world.
• The answer to the world's problems is Jesus Christ.
• I dare you to move from fear to faith.
• Fear will rob you of all your ambition and all your dreams.
• What are you doing by faith? What are you doing that you don't have all the answers for--you're completely trusting God?
• I dare you to move from being served to serving.
• There comes a time when you need to say, "You know what, I've been served at this church for long enough, it's time for me to serve."
• It's possible to "serve" a church for a lifetime but never be a servant.
• A servant shows up and says, "How can I help? What can I do?"
• We all want to be considered a servant but none of us want to be treated as a servant.
• I dare you to move from being a follower to being a leader.
• A follower participates. A leader takes responsibility.
• I dare you to move from being self-focused to being others-focused.
• God's not asking you to think less of yourself, he's asking you to think of yourself less.
• I dare you to move from an earthly view to an eternal view.
• What are you sacrificing for the Kingdom?

ice cream and tomatoes

Made at stop at Walnut Creek Cheese with DD a few days ago. Snapped this picture while in the check-out line:

Let’s see…ice cream cone, tomatoes, cheese, and more ice cream. Interesting.

dwight and bubba joe

This clip is from the KidStuf season finale (May 31, 2009). Dwight made a special appearance. Bubba had his freak on. If you didn’t get to see it live, here it is…

NewPointe Kidstuf May 31, 2009 from NewPointe Community Church on Vimeo.

That’s funny right there.

“i don’t want to be a closet christian…”

I love baptism Sundays at NewPointe. Love to hear stories of life-change. Sometimes people ask, “Why do you do it that way? Do I have to do a video to be baptized? Can’t I just get baptized somewhere quietly?”

Here’s what I’d say to that: Sure there are other ways to be baptized. You don’t HAVE to be baptized on the stage at NewPointe in front of hundreds of people. You don’t HAVE to do a video that gets shown in the big room on Sunday morning. BUT…if you want to get baptized at NewPointe you do.

It’s just the way we do it. We strongly believe in going public with your faith. We want to give you an opportunity to share your story with others. In fact, I’ve said this many times, the whole rest of your life, you may never have a better opportunity to share your story and impacts more lives than you do when you get baptized at NewPointe.

Your story is probably more powerful and compelling than a thousand sermons. There’s just something about having a person on the screens who says basically, “This is me, my face, my words, my story…and I’m not ashamed of it.”

Do you have any idea how powerful that is? Do you know what that does for you? It helps you break through a barrier that maybe you’ve resisted and it frees you up to live and love boldy and passionately for Christ.

You don’t HAVE to do it that way. But we sure think it’s a good idea.

Take a look at this baptism video from my friend Jimmy Miller. Love his story. And I know it’s real because I know Jimmy and I’ve seen Christ transform his life:

Baptism 2009 James Miller from NewPointe Community Church on Vimeo.

I love when he says, “I don’t want to be a closet Christian.” That’s really what baptism is all about.

If you’d like to watch more NewPointe baptism videos, follow this link: NPCC Baptisms.

sunday’s scuds (june 14, 2009)

Sunday Dwight kicked off a two part series called “Dare You To Move.” The main idea behind the series is that in September we’re launching two new NewPointe campuses (Millersburg and Louisville)…and we’re daring people to move—get on board, adjust your sails to God’s wind. Exciting times. Here are the scuds:

• The reason we haven’t had your funeral yet is because God still has a plan and a purpose for your life.
• There are two things you can do here on earth that you can’t do in heaven: 1. sin; 2. share the good news about Jesus Christ with others.
• NewPointe’s passion is leading people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• There’s a difference between good ideas and God ideas: A good idea is when you have all the answers, a God idea means, “God, we’re waiting for you to move.”
• When you get a God idea, God first speaks to your heart and then he waits for a yes or a no. When he gets a yes, then he will speak to your mind.
• Most of us settle for good ideas rather than God ideas.
• How do you get a vision? Become concerned with the things that concern God.
• Your best plans are basically a shot in the dark. That’s why you have to have a vision from God.
• How flexible are you with God? If you’re not very flexible, then you limit what God can do through you.
• The Great Commission MUST be a part of my dreams. I am not my own. I’ve been bought with a price.
• If you would say, “God I need you to do something in my life that you’ve never done before,” God says, “then I want you to do something you’ve never done before.”

Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish… Proverbs 29:18

louisville and millersburg

So here’s the scoop: This fall we’re launching two new NewPointe campuses—at the same time! Crazy? Maybe. But we’re dreaming big dreams. In fact, I don’t know of any other churches that have ever launched their FIRST TWO multi-site campuses simultaneously. It’s a huge challenge but we really feel like it’s what God would have us do. We’re absolutely driven to reach people for Jesus Christ.

We’re launching the two new campuses in Louisville and Millersburg. And I gotta tell you, we’re stoked! It is so much fun to be a part of an amazingly big move of God.

You may be asking, why Louisville and Millersburg? I would answer that question a couple ways; first, why not Louisville and Millersburg? Secondly, we’re convinced that those two locations are primed for the “NewPointe experience.”

I talked with several people Sunday who told me they were so excited about having NewPointe open campuses in their areas. They told me that the people they live near and/or work with would benefit so much by attending NewPointe. And they told me that they’ve invited folks to come with them but the standard response is, “I’d like to, but it’s just too far.” And we understand that. It’s really hard to invest in your neighbors, friends, and coworkers, and then invite them to a church that you drive 40 minutes to get to. So…we’re bringing NewPointe to them.

Over the next two weeks, Dwight’s going to share the details. Why we’re launching the campuses, how we’re going to go about it, and how you can get involved. In the meantime, just for my blog readers, here are some of the details:

• The Louisville campus will meet at the Louisville Middle School. The Millersburg campus will meet at West Holmes High School.
• It looks like both campuses’ services will start at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday.
• The music will be live. The experience will be very much like the Dover experience, the main difference will be that the message will be delivered via video on a huge screen.
• Launch date for both campuses is September 13.
• A bi-weekly Bible study has been meeting on Sunday evenings in Louisville for several months with about 70 people attending. A weekly Bible study will begin in Millersburg on June 21.
• There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved with the new campuses. You’ll get more details each of the next two Sundays.

I can’t wait to rock Louisville and Millersburg with the love of Jesus Christ and the NewPointe experience. It’s gonna be an amazing ride. Hope you’re planning on joining us.

danny bunnelle, newpointe’s version of dick clark

An interesting photo of Danny surfaced at the NewPointe offices recently. Here it it is:

Yep. That’s him. Nice.

Someone commented that he kinda looked like Dick Clark (or at least some kind of game show host). So, there’s no way I could leave that one alone.

So…enjoy… Danny Bunnelle, the Dick Clark of NewPointe…

 

 

 

sunday reflections

• Sunday was a great day at NewPointe. I absolutely love it when God shows up.
• This morning in staff meeting we got to share stories of people’s lives being changed at NewPointe. Thrilling.
• A little while ago Chad and I chatted about the response cards we got Sunday. We’re going to be sending out a bunch of letters to new believers this week. Love it.
• I thought Dwight did a fantastic job “acting” in the video that preceded the message.
• Speaking of the video. Great job of shooting and editing by Dan Knight and Keith Joki. How great was the musical score on that bad boy?
• The opening song flat-out rocked! (Did you know that Davey W. was going to sing it but came down with a case of laryngitis on Saturday? Danny had to learn the song on Saturday night. Wow.)
• April NAILED the closing song. What a moment. Powerful.
• Sunday absolutely wiped me out. Went straight from preaching in two services to watch Natalie play in a fastpitch double-header. (She got called up to majors yesterday—jumped up from the 14 and under league to the 21 and under league—and she played well!)
• Went to a pool party after the double-header.
• Went to bed early. Couldn’t sleep because the dog decided last night would be a GREAT night to bark (all night long). She never does that. Why last night?
• How ‘bout Tiger coming back to win the Memorial? Amazing. Jenny and I got to go to the Memorial last Friday (Tiger was tied for 26th after Friday’s round). Big-time fun.
• I’m VERY excited about the next two Sundays at NewPointe. Dare You To Move!
• Got to pray with and encourage a bunch of people after each service on Sunday. I love doing that.
• I’m starting to hear a buzz from NewPointers about the two new satellite locations. People are excited about the possibility of being able to invite friends to a NewPointe location that’s not so far away (Millersburg and Canton).
• My favorite day of the week, without a doubt, is Sunday (though Friday is a not-so-distant second).

someone like nancy

The video team (Brad Yoder, Cindy Colucy, Dan Knight, Jeff Conn) did a fantastic job with last Sunday’s video about a small group leader named Nancy. Dwight used this video in his message to illustrate the importance of kids having an adult in their lives who says the same thing their parents are saying.

Here’s another look at it. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

Someone Like Nancy from NewPointe Community Church on Vimeo.

I’m so thankful for a church like NewPointe that is so intentional about group life and creating opportunities for our kids to be a part of great groups with great leaders who care about their lives.