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?

america's most innovative churches

Outreach Magazine released their list of America's 25 Most Innovative Churches of 2008:

1. LifeChurch.tv, Edmond, OK, Craig Groeschel
2. Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA, Mark Driscoll
3. Granger Community Church, Granger, IN, Mark Beeson
4. Flamingo Road Church, Cooper City, FL, Troy Gramling
5. Seacoast Church, Mount Pleasant, SC, Greg Surratt
6. Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA, Rick Warren
7. Mosaic Church, Los Angeles, CA, Erwin McManus
8. Fellowship Church, Grapevine, TX, Ed Young
9. North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, GA, Andy Stanley
10. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL, Bill Hybels
11. National Community Church, Washington, DC, Mark Batterson
12. NewSpring Church, Anderson, SC, Perry Noble
13. Community Christian Church, Naperville, IL, Dave Ferguson
14. Elevation Church, Charlotte, SC, Steven Furtick
15. Healing Place Church, Baton Rouge, LA, Dino Rizzo
16. North Coast Church, Vista, CA, Larry Osborne
17. NorthWood Church, Keller, TX, Bob Roberts
18. NewSong Church, Irvine, CA, Dave Gibbons
19. New Hope Christian Fellowship, Honolulu, HI, Wayne Cordeiro
20. Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York, NY, Tim Keller
21. Crossover Church, Tampa, FL, Tommy Kyllonen
22. Perimeter Church, Duluth, GA, Randy Pope
23. Mars Hill, Grandville, MI, Rob Bell
24. The Orchard Church Community, Aurora, IL, Scott Hodge
25. The Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN, Efrem Smith
26. NewPointe Community Church, Dover, OH, Dwight Mason*

No, NewPointe did not make the top 25 this year. We were nominated, but not in the top 25. (*I don't know if we were #26...maybe we were...who knows?).

The list, obviously, is subjective. Just somebody's opinion. We're actually more concerned with being relevant in our community than we are being innovative. If there were a top 25 most-relevant-to-everday-life list, I'd like NewPointe's chances.

Here's some more info on the top 25 if you're intereested: Outreach Magazine.

wanted: your stories

We had a creative team meeting tonight. Ten people sitting around the conference room table tossing out crazy and creative ideas to help bring practicality and relevance to an upcoming series: The Reel NewPointe. Fun.

During the series, Dwight is going to hammer relational evangelism--one of our core values. We often refer to it as invest and invite.

Another Sunday will focus community (small groups).

Heard a great NewPointe story? Are you a great story? Did someone invest in you and invite you to NewPointe and as a result your life is different? Has being in a small group rocked your world? We'd love to share your stories of invest and invite and small group participation via video during the series. Email me at jbunn@newpointe.org and we'll get right on it!

"jim and casper are full of crap"

That's the way it was put to me recently as I got into a conversation with a friend about this book:
I read this book a few weeks ago because I was interested in the premise: Jim, a pastor, takes his atheist friend, Matt Casper, to visit a bunch of churches and critique them (Matt Casper, by the way has visited my blog and commented). The book offered food for thought but the further I got in to it, the less interested I became. At times the two come off as the grumpy old guys from the Muppet Show...

They visit a church one time and then draw a bunch of conclusions based on a small sample size--a one-time experience. The interesting thing that my friend pointed out is that few churches, if any, operate under the premise that atheists are visiting our churches unaccompanied by a friend. That's the lens through which they seem to want to view these churches. The reality is that most of the churches they visited, along with NewPointe, aren't catering to or programming for a lone atheist that wanders into their buildings on Sunday. Most of us subscribe to the invest and invite strategy. Meaning, if you're visiting a church, you're likely coming with someone who's investing in you (because they care about you) and then they've invited you to come with them to church. The investor/inviter is the one who's responsible to help their guest navigate the experience. Yes, the church has some responsibility but it's mainly the one who's invited the friend that's going to be able to help that person (even if they're an atheist) feel welcome and comfortable at your church.

Casper writes about how, for instance, at Saddleback, he gained more insight and understanding from his conversation with Jim following the church service than anything that happened at church that day. EXACTLY! That's how it's supposed to work. It's called invest and invite.

Now, I won't go so far as to say that Jim and Casper are full of crap. They do offer some helpful insights and food for thought. I just think they need to remember that their approach and the lens through which they view our churches is very atypical. And obviously my friend does too.

Have you read the book? Your thougths? Am I full of crap?

erwin mcmanus spells it out

Check out this clip. Strong.


"Relevant means someone else got there first, and now I'm trying to connect."

red hot sex

Did that post title grab your attention? No telling what it'll do to my google ads. I'll have to keep an eye on that. Anyway, Red Hot Sex is the title of the current sermon series at The Gathering, a church near the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. CNN did a piece about the mailer they sent out. Link to the video here. HT MMI.

I've been to this church. I've met the pastor seen on the CNN video. I know a couple of folks there. When I visited this church, I was very impressed. My initial reaction was that they seemed to have a good thing going.

But here's my question: Did they take things too far by mailing out the Red Hot Sex flyer? On one hand, Pastor Gene would say it worked (their website reports 87 salvations last Sunday). He also says that if he had it to do over again he would. In the meantime, some from the community are put-off by the mailing. They found it offensive and over-the-top.

What do you think? Can churches sometimes go too far in their efforts to grab attention and/or be relevant? Did The Gathering go too far? If NewPointe sent out a flyer like that one, what would you think?

what not to wear

Part 1
I've been asked to preach at a Mennonite church in Millersburg. After asking to be clued in on a few of the details, I finally asked, "What would be appropriate for me to wear when I preach at your church?"

Here's the response: "Oh, you can just wear whatever you wear when you preach at your church."

Jenny was with me. She felt compelled to intercept that one. "I don't really think you want to tell him that."

"Really?"

"Well," I replied, "I wore jeans and a t-shirt to church last Sunday."

Click here to see the response I got from the Mennonites.

"Well, our pastors wear ties."

"That's cool," I said. "I can dig up a tie."


Part 2
Natalie (my 7th-grader) has her first home volleyball game tonight. The coach asked the team to dress up for school today. So the question arose, "What exactly does 'dress up' mean?"

The coach says, "Just wear whatever you'd wear to church."

Natalie's going, "Sweet!" Because, of course, what she wears to school is pretty much the same thing she wears to church on Sundays. But of course, she stepped it up a notch this morning.


So, what about the way people dress at NewPointe? Well it really gets back to the message Dwight shared two Sundays ago. Remember the bridge and the planks? The idea is that we don't want to make it difficult for people to come to church. And believe it or not, there is an I-don't-have-anything-to-wear mentality for some people.

I love the fact that we can say to people who ask the What should I wear question: Jeans are cool. You could wear what you're wearing right now and fit in fine at NewPointe. See, we want to make it easy for people to come to church. We want to eliminate obstacles to coming to Christ. So the whole wardrobe objection...is not in play.

Come as you are. Isn't that the message of the Gospel?

...we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Acts 15:19

why NewPointe doesn't do biker sundays

A question I sometimes get asked by my biker friends is, "Why doesn't NewPointe have a biker Sunday?"

Biker Sundays have become all the rage...all over the country. Typically, a church will decide to do one as an outreach event, inviting all the bikers to ride their motorcycles to church for a special service, usually followed by free lunch and a big ride or parade. They're very fun. Very cool. My good friend Steve Combs is one of the biker Sunday pioneers. He's been doing biker Sundays for about 10 years.

I think they're fun, and there's no denying that many bikers have been impacted and forever changed through biker Sunday events. Shoot, we've even ridden from NewPointe to a couple Biker Sundays recently.

So why don't we do biker Sunday at NewPointe? Well, it's because we believe every Sunday is Biker Sunday at NewPointe. Really. See, we've worked extremely hard to create an environment where all people, including bikers, can come to church and not be weirded-out. My biggest hang-up with many biker Sunday events at churches is that for one Sunday (Biker Sunday) the church decides they're going to try and be relevant and connect with real people...bikers. So they do rock and roll music, they wear jeans and t-shirts, they bring a special speaker who can "relate" to the bikers...they basically roll out the red carpet one day a year for bikers.

My question is: why just one day a year? Because here's the reality: even if Biker Sunday is great...and even if a biker really connects with it...even if a biker "gets saved," then what? He's going to come back next week and experience church music, church people, in some cases a choir (wearing choir robes) and usually it's just nothing like the biker Sunday he experienced a week ago.

So what we try to do at NewPointe is create an environment that's going to connect with a biker (or a banker, or a baker, or a broker) every Sunday. We want to be relevant and real next Sunday to. So that's what we do. We want you to be comfortable inviting your biker friends this Sunday, or the next Sunday, or any Sunday. And we're confident that they're going to have a good (and unusual) church experience.

My opinion is that most bikers have negative preconceptions about church. So we get them to come to a Biker Sunday, we do things differently, and then the next week we confirm those negative preconceptions. If a church wants to reach bikers, then why not do those "different" things every week? See, that's what we're all about.

At NewPointe, we love bikers. We love them so much that we've just gone ahead and made every Sunday "Biker Sunday." Wanna invite your biker friend? This Sunday works. Or...how 'bout September 23? We've got a great ride planned for after the second service on that day.

some creative stuff from other churches:

Check out what some of my online friends from other churches are doing. Cool stuff...

Granger Community Church is doing a series called The Office...and they created a website to go with it: My Office Secrets

The folks at Lifechurch.tv are doing a series right now called 30 Days to Live. Incredibly creative, incredibly compelling. Check it out here: 30 Days to Live. Make sure you check out the real-life stories. Amazing.

Oasis Church in Florida does church seven days a week at 7 p.m. each night. Each service features a different theme, approach, and leadership. Check out what they're doing at: Seven Nights of Worship

Vineyard of Greater Boston is doing a YouTube contest for it's fall kick-off. Attenders are invited to submit videos that promote the church. Cash prizes will be awarded. Very cool idea. Here's the link: Vineyard Video Contest

And finally, as I was bumping around the 'Net, I came across this Lifechurch.tv video (it's a year old but I thought it was worth sharing):

NewPointe has been nominated...

In doing some recent web surfing, I discovered that NewPointe has been nominated as one of America's most innovative churches. Here's the list of nominees so far:

Click through to see the plexo

Here's the link: Innovative Churches 2008

local churches unite...to oppose something!?!

I read this story in the paper yesterday. Here are some excerpts:

CHARLESTON -- The opposition to table games in Kanawha County took on an ecumenical cast Sunday, as worshippers from across the spectrum of Christian belief gathered to kickoff what they hope will be a successful campaign against casino-style gambling.

Members of churches from the United Methodists to the Southern Baptists -- gathered under the auspices of the West Virginia Council of Churches -- planned a rally to signal a month of intense campaigning against the expansion of gambling at Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming in Nitro.

Churches from a variety of Christian denominations have found common ground in opposition to the addition of casino-style games like poker and blackjack to the Nitro racetrack. They warn about the dangers of addiction to gambling and the negative impacts it can have on individuals and families.

As I read it, I thought, Are you serious? This is what causes Christians to unite? Because they want to oppose something? Once again, to the community at large, there go more Christians rallying against something.

I'm not saying it's wrong to do so. I'm just saying, why this one? Why unite against table games? How 'bout uniting because of the fact that people are dying and spending eternity apart from God? How 'bout the bigger issue? It's called sin. Why don't we, as churches, unite and rally together to deal with the root issue. That is that people are lost and hurting and they need a Savior. They don't need less or no gaming tables. They need Jesus! Let's rally around that!

What if our churches got serious about that one?

Here's the thing: before there will ever be change on the outside (gaming tables), there has to be change on the inside.

The Great Commission doesn't call us to be the morality police for our communities…it tells us to go and make disciples. What we need to do is focus more on Jesus and less on social issues. I think if we do that, the rest will be taken care of (Matt. 6:33).

See, gaming tables are not the problem. Gambling is the problem. Blake spoke this morning about how Bartimaeus was willing to deal with his root problem.

Instead of, as Christians, always being AGAINST something, why not show our communities what we are FOR! We're for helping people. We're for second chances...and third chances, and fourth chances... We're for the hurting, the helpless, the down-and-out, the spiritually poor. We're for our communities. We're for ending poverty. We're for forgiveness. We're for each other. We're for the family. We're for sinners. We're for those who think church is boring and irrelevant. We're for loving the unlovable.

Now, before you misunderstand me...I'm not FOR gambling. I'm for JESUS. Because he is the solution.

Let's rally around that.

miracles

Unbelievable services today. We kicked off the MIRACLES series by talking about Jesus calming the storm.

I have heard tons...TONS of incredible feedback. One guy told me, in between services that this was "the best church service I've been in in 10 years." Can you believe that? I talked to two couples in between services who told me that the service impacted them so much that they were staying for the second service so they could experience it again. Man, I hope you didn't miss it. The best part: I know that God showed up in a big-time way and he's changing lives! Many people told after today's services that God used what happened in the big room today to help them-big time.

Here's a recap:

Incredible opening worship set including Let God Arise and Everlasting God.

Dave D. did an amazing job with the boxes. He summed it up like this: "Your impossibilities becoming possibilities is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Maybe it's about time you and I stop putting God in a box and allow him to push our horizons to the beyond." Powerful.


April and the band followed that up with Ayiesha Woods' Big Enough. Check out the lyrics from the chorus:

I don't wanna box you in
You've been doing big things since the world began
Sometimes I just don't understand that you're big enough
But you're big enough Jesus!

Danny and the band followed the message with an unbelievably powerful song by MercyMe: Bring the Rain.

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus,
bring the rain

What a God moment.

It's my distinct honor to serve at NewPointe. God is doing incredible things. For those of you I got to talk with and pray with today...I appreciate the opportunity. I love you. God loves you. And with his help, YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT!

"this church is too big"

A guy approached me after one of the morning services last Sunday and told me that he'd been bumping around to different churches for a while, looking for a place to land. He said that he's been hesitant to land at NewPointe because, get this, "it's too big." He said, "I don't like big churches."

Interesting. "I don't like big churches." What?! Instead of me writing a response to this, let me share with you how one of my heroes, Andy Stanley responded to a blog that criticized his church for being too big:

I’m writing to aplogize for the size of North Point Community Church. When six of us gathered to think through the idea of beginning a church we had no idea that it would become so large. For this growth I am truely sorry. I realize that the size is intimidating.

I have read the comments on this site and have decided to make some changes. To begin with I am going to spend time with each and every parisioner so that they can get to know me personally. Like many of you, I wouldn’t want to attend a church where I could not connect personally with the pastor. I’ve shared this with my wife and three kids. They are in complete agreement. So beginning next Sunday I will be at the back door to shake hands.

Secondly, I am going to suggest to our elders that we sell our three campuses, consolidate, and move the church into a much smaller building. Smaller space will mean smaller crowds. And aparently large crowds are unbiblical. I agree, the church should be no larger than 40 to 50 people. Most of whom are believers.

Regarding my shallow, simplistic preaching…for this I am truley sorry. I am doing the best I can. I know deeper is better. I’m just not deep. I’m not really sure what to do about that. These changes will take some time. Please be patient. If you have any helpful suggestions as to how I can transition North Point Community Church into a church made up of a handful of believers who enjoy deep preaching please let me know.

On a positive note, the 8,000 adults who meet in groups of 8 to 12 in homes throughout our community can continue to meet in spite of the fact that they will no longer be able to worship together.

Thank you for your valuable insights. And please accept my apology.

Andy Stanley

Pastor, North Point Community Church

You can read the original blog posting and all the discussion that led to Andy's response here.

Now, when you're in a conversation with a dude that's telling you that he doesn't know if he likes your church because it's too big, it's not like you can just tell him to go read what Andy Stanley has to say about that. So you know what I said to him?

I said, "Too big? Too big? How could it be too big? Hell's too big!"

He snickered (a little uncomfortably), but I think he got the point(e).

quiet reverence vs. joyful noise

Sometimes we get asked why we do the kind of music we do at NewPointe. Sometimes people ask, "Could you throw in a hymn every once in a while for those of us who prefer to worship that way?"

The truth is, if we all had our personal preferences, the Sunday morning services at NewPointe would probably look very different from the way they look right now. We all have preferences. We all have things we wish the church would do differently. What we have to ask ourselves is: Am I on board with the mission and vision of the church? If you attend NewPointe, you ask: Am I on board with the mission and vision of NewPointe?

What is the mission? It's simply this: To lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through relevant environments designed to encourage intimacy with God, involvement in community, and influence in the world.

So what's that have to do with preferences? Well, maybe my personal preferences are not the best possible means by which to accomplish our mission. And at NewPointe, we've decided that we're not going to sacrifice the next generation on the altar of our preferences.

On Sunday mornings, we aim to create a relevant environment that will connect with people who view church as having nothing meaningful or worthwhile to say to them. So we design our services to speak the language of the generation we're trying to reach. In many cases, this includes your kids and grand kids.

As for the music...well, we could debate that from now until the cows come home, but as a church, we've decided to take the "joyful noise" approach over the "quiet reverence" approach.

We've found that our current generation is attracted to high-energy, exciting, colorful, multi-sensory things. Concerts, ballgames, amusement parks... Now, we're not trying to be a theme park or "put on a show" but we are trying to speak the language that our generation speaks.

Let me bring this back to the music theme I began with: I was doing some reading the other day and I read this verse (Isaiah 6:4): "At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook..." And I got to thinking, it's hard to shake doorposts and thresholds with organ music and traditional hymns. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

We, as church leadership, have decided that we're going to land on the "shaking doorposts and thresholds" side of things. And it has more to do with being relevant and connecting with a generation than it does anything else.

Do I wish we did some things differently at NewPointe? Sure. But I'm more concerned about reaching people for Jesus Christ. So my preferences will lose out to that every time.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I saw hope...

By now you know that we had an absolutely incredible day at NewPointe yesterday. Man, I love Easter. There's an extra buzz--an excitement, an energy that is unique to Easter.

Here's what happened as I roamed the hallways of NewPointe yesterday: every few steps, someone would stop me and introduce me to someone they brought to church with them. I met dozens of precious people that God loves so very much. I met one guy's dad who hasn't been to church in a long, long time. I met a lady's husband who never comes to church with her...she got him to come yesterday! I met another guy's niece who's new to the whole "church thing." I met people's neighbors, parents, kids...all these are people who are not typically in church. And do you know what I saw?

I saw hope.

I saw the eyes of that person whose dad finally came. I saw the eyes of the lady who can't usually get her husband out of bed on Sunday morning. I saw the eyes of the couple who finally got their grown kids to come to church with them...and I saw love...and hope.

Their hope is this: "God, please let something connect today. God, please let them have a good experience. God, please speak to their hearts today. God, please let them meet someone cool today. God, I hope church is extra awesome today."

I saw hope.

I love hope! And as I look into those eyes, and talk with these precious people, I'm reminded of how high the stakes really are. It's exciting...and scary at the same time.

I'm reminded that as a staff, as volunteers, we have to bring our "A" game every Sunday...because every Sunday is somebody's first Sunday at NewPointe--and it may be our one shot at reaching them--at connecting with them.

The stakes are high. The task is big. Eternity weighs in the balance.

I'm proud of our staff and volunteers at NewPointe who work so hard ever week to create relevant environments that are designed to connect with those people we bring that we care so much about.

And I'm so proud of everyone who invested in and invited other to come be a part of a very special Easter at NewPointe. I know that God was there...and you all have plenty of reasons to hope.

As a staff, we're more committed than ever to helping your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers experience God's forgiveness.

Man, I'm fired up! And I can't wait to see what God's gonna do!

i got saved!

A couple of nights ago, Jenny and I watched the movie Saved! Ordinarily, Saved! would not be at the top of my Netflix queue but I've always been curious about this one. Many Christians have bashed it saying that it's disrespectful, irreverent, and sacrilegious. So, naturally, I wanted to see it.

The movie is about a group of teenagers who attend a Christian high school. Each of the kids has issues (the main character gets pregnant after sleeping with her boyfriend because 'Jesus told her to,'...she did this because he thinks he's gay and she wanted to cure him from his gay-ness. Another kid who attends the school is a smoking, cussing, Jewish rebel. One character is stereotyped in the film as the holier-than-thou, goody-two-shoed, judgmental Christian. The school's principal is a pastor whose marriage is on the rocks and ends up having an affair with the pregnant girl's mom...I could go on). I know what you're thinking...John, why in the world would you watch this kind of junk? The short answer: I wanted to see what Hollywood is saying about Christianity...and I want to do my best to stay connected to culture. And I guess it was pretty much what I expected.

It's disappointing that Christianity gets such a bad rap. In the movie, the "Christians" are the villains and the rebellious kids end up being the heroes. The movie's goal, in my opinion, was to make Christians look like foolish hypocrites. Sadly, the 'bad kids' displayed more of the true essence of Christianity than the 'Christian' kids did.

So why the stereotyping by Hollywood? I think it's because we, as Christians, have made it easy for them to do it. I think there are many Christians, including myself sometimes, who are hypocritical, judgmental, and unloving. And it makes me sad. I'm sad that we haven't done a good enough job of being Christ-like to the world. What we've done is we've settled for the off-brand: Christian-like-ness instead of the real thing: Christ-like-ness. When we're Christian-like, we settle in to our own little Christian "clubs" and do our own little Christian things. And we tell the world that if you're not like us, if you don't agree with us, if you don't worship like us, if you don't talk like us, if you don't know the Christian lingo, if you don't know our songs, if you don't dress like us, then to hell with you. Yeah, I just said that. Because that's what we say to the world sometimes because we're so dang exclusive.

Here, let me break it down some more for you:

It's unfortunate that our culture is so turned off by the word Christian. And we've done it to ourselves because we haven't loved the way that Jesus loves. We haven't sacrificed the Jesus sacrificed. We haven't been generous the way Jesus is generous. Heck, most the time we don't even care. We just assume that someone else will feed the hungry, care for the sick, comfort the hurting.

The word Christian literally means little Christ. What if we, as Christians, got serious about that? What if we decided to "bring Christian back?"

Know what I think could happen? I think we could rock Hollywood with the love of Jesus Christ. I think we could rock the world with the love of Jesus Christ!

Saved? Not a very good movie. But it fired me up. And it makes me wonder if the ones who really need saved are those of us who call ourselves Christians.

history, prophecy, worship, and the book of revelation

If you like that kind of stuff, tomorrow's First Wednesday will be right up your alley. We're diving deep...but we're also going to keep it relevant. Does the Book of Revelation have relevance to our lives...right now? Or is it just a bunch of stuff that may happen in the future? Can we even begin to make sense of it? Is there anything we can learn from Roman history that applies to our lives in 2007?

Prepare murmur things like, "I never knew knew that," and, "That's amazing," and, "Whoa! That's deep," at First Wednesday. And then prepare yourself for some introspection. Warning: if you don't like having your toes stepped on, you may want to stay away from this one. But if, on the other hand, you're interested in being FULL ON for Jesus Christ, then DO NOT MISS THIS FIRST WEDNESDAY.

We're going to look at one of the Roman Caesars named Domitian. And we're going to look at what was going on in Ephesus in the 1st Century. Then we're going to look at why it all matters to us 2,000 years later.

If you want to do some advance reading, check out Revelation chapters 3 and 4. It'll give you a head start on where we'll going. Also, you may just want to bring your Bible with you. There may be some stuff you want to look up, write down, or highlight.

One more thing...and I don't want to give too much away...but be prepared to WORSHIP WITH INTENSITY! See you there.

Thanks, Rob, for the idea.

married life live! is coming

Chances are, if you're a NewPointe attender, you've already heard mention of Married Live LIVE! It's something brand new coming your way April 28.

If you haven't heard anything about it yet, here's the scoop:

Four times a year we design a totally new event for you and your spouse to be with other couples for a night out. Think of it as a date night--NewPointe style. At MLL you'll experience incredible music, creative programming, and a message that's very relevant to your marriage. It's all specially designed to encourage and empower you as a couple.

Included in MLL is:

• A fabulous dinner (including mouth-watering desserts)


• Unbelievable live music


• Hilarious shenanigans and comedy


• An encouraging engaging message that will be very relevant to your marriage


• And a whole lot more!
  

You just gotta trust me on this one...you don't want to miss it.

At each one of the MLL events, we'll theme the entire night around one of our six marriage essentials:

• TRUST GOD:: If having a healthy marriage seems impossible, it's because it is. But we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to make it possible. We believe the number one essential to having a healthy marriage is to allow God to control our lives. Our number one goal for your marriage is for you to TRUST GOD.


• HURRY HOME:: If you want a healthy marriage then your time together has to be a priority. For marriages to thrive, schedules must reflect the huge priority of home. In other words, cheat at work if you must, but do not cheat your marriage. In fact, we think it's extremely important for you to HURRY HOME.


• CULTIVATE COMMUNICATION:: Is there anything worse than feeling misunderstood? And maybe, there is just nothing better than feeling understood...being known. Good communication is paramount to a good marriage. We want you to have great communication with your spouse. So we think it's absolutely essential for you to CULTIVATE COMMUNICATION.


• NURTURE ROMANCE:: The power of romance, sex, and intimacy can be a marriage's biggest ally...or it's biggest enemy. We all want our spouses to remember that we have certain needs. Married Life Live believes the goal should be to remember first that our spouses have certain needs. We think it's the best way to NURTURE ROMANCE.


• CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES:: By God's design, men and women are very different. As couples we can use those differences to complement and serve each other or they can be used to drive us apart. A lot of times we try to change our spouses in the name of love. MLL thinks a better option is to love our spouses even if they never change. We think it's crucial for couples to seek to understand and accept each other's differences. So we think married couples should CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES.


• FINISH TOGETHER:: More and more people are putting divorce on the table as an option. One essential thing every healthy marriage needs is security. People need to know that together as a couple, they can work out anything. MLL wants couples to FINISH TOGETHER.

So, does all this sound like something your marriage could benefit from? You bet! Here's the deal: tickets for Married Life LIVE! go on sale THIS SUNDAY in the bookstore at NewPointe (you can also buy tickets online beginning next week). The cost is $30 per couple.

At this very first MLL event we'll nail the TRUST GOD essential for you. The theme is "A Night at the Movies." Dress is casual but the event will be first-class.

It all starts on Saturday, April 28. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner is served at 6. Oh my goodness...you DO NOT want to miss this. Hey, here's a great idea: bring your neighbors! Make it a double date. Invest and invite! MLL is an event you can be proud to bring people to.

Oh yeah, one more thing...seating is, in fact limited. We only have room for about 250 couples so buy your tickets early to make sure you have a spot.

top ten reasons to be at NewPointe on Easter Sunday

As I typed the title line I was struck with this thought: Why do we refer to Easter as "Easter Sunday?" Isn't that a bit redundant? Are we trying to avoid confusing it with "Easter Thursday?" We say "Easter Sunday," don't we? It just hit me today as strange that we do that.

Okay, that was a rabbit trail. Sorry. Back to the top ten reasons to come to NewPointe on Easter:

10. No cantata. No choir. No organ music. (Actually that's three reasons...you always get more for your money at www.johnbunn.net).

9. This will be our first Easter in the new building. You don't want to be the only dork in your neighborhood who missed it, do you?

8. You don't have to worry about buying a new suit or a fancy new dress in order to go to church on Easter. At NewPointe we think the most important thing is just that you're there. There won't be a fashion show. Will there be new suits and fancy dresses? No doubt. Will there be people wearing jeans and flip-flops? No doubt (I'll probably be one of them).

7. I heard, through the grapevine, that the band will be doing a Toby Mac song. Sweet!

6. You don't have to get up at 5 a.m. in order to get ready for a sunrise service.

5. Your Momma really, really wants you in church on Easter...and if you gotta be in church, I can't think of a better place than NewPointe.

4. It will be the beginning of at brand new message series called "No Strings Attached." And trust me, you will not want to miss week one (or any week) of this unbelievable series.

3. I was talking to Danny about some of the creative elements that will be included. Jeepers! I can't disclose too much information at this point but...bottom line...it will be phenomenal.

2. People are going to be introduced to Jesus Christ. I know you don't want to miss that. And you can get in on that...all you have to do is bring someone with you! Invite them now so they can plan for it!

1. As always our worship and the entire experience will be all about Jesus. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive than at NewPointe with NewPointe people.

Easter services are at regular service times: 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. No KidStuf (but we'll have two KidStufs the following week!).

notes from NewSpring's Unleash conference...as promised

About a week ago I promisedt that I would blog some of my notes from the Unleash conference we attended at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.

In the first session, senior pastor Perry Noble challenged us to "Go For It!" His text was Matthew 17 (the Transfiguration).

He kicked things off this this little nugget: "The problem with most churches is this. They say, 'If you don't know the rules, to hell with you.'"

Then he talked to us about the four things the church needs:

1. We need Creative Environments (vv. 1-3)

"Christianity is the most important, exciting thing to happen to the world...it took the church 2,000 years to make it boring."

"The sermon begins in the parking lot."

"Every week is somebody's first week at our church."

2. We need to look beyond ourselves. (v. 4) ...because we are selfish people.

"What type of people do we want in our church? We want people who need Jesus. Some people in our church will not be okay with the type people we want to reach and the methods we use to reach them."

3. We need to pay attention. (vv. 5-7)

"Get up (take some steps) and don't be afraid (you will make some people mad)."

"When you take steps to honor God, people will criticize you. When you begin to do what God wants you to do, you're going to piss some people off." (direct quote).

4. We need to focus on what matters (v. 8)

"People's behavior won't change until their perspective changes. Jesus changes perspectives."

"Focus on Jesus!" ("When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus" Mt: 17:8. )

"What we do matters for eternity."

I'll blog my notes from session two tomorrow.