Looking Back

It’s monday night at about 10:50pm and my brain is racing with a million different thoughts. What a crazy year!! For those of you that don’t know, it was right about this time last year that we “officially” left our old church to start WinterLake. Obviously we didn’t get very far because we found RPC and plugged in there. Here are just a few of the things that i’ve learned over the past year, and some of which I will probably talk about later. . .

1. No amount of money/job offers will satisfy you when God is calling.
2. Starting a church is hard work. The understatement of the year!!
3. Our position at a church can’t define who we are. Rather, who we are defines what that church becomes.
4. Commitment to tithing happens best when the people(congregation) are %100 in tune with the organization. Which begs the question. . . how do we tune them in?
5. Volunteers are just as if not more important than paid staff and should be treated that way!
6. God cares more about the journey that you are taking through life than just the destination.
7. There is not one department of a church that is more important than the other. If you don’t believe that then bring all the infants into the main service while the band is playing a mellow tune.
8. Watching a couple of middle schoolers lead worship for a bunch of 4-year-olds is a lot more impressive than having the best band with the best sound and lights on the best stage in the world.
9. Membership at a church is and should always be synonymous with being in leadership. Being a member IS NOT something you do just so you can wear the t-shirt.
10. Leaders who are afraid to find people that are better than them are also afraid of seeing lives being changed.

Changing things up a bit . . .

Hey everyone so i’m trying this out just to see how it goes. I’m not at my best and i sound like i have a cold but i really don’t care so check this vid out and let me know what you think. Oh, and try to let it load a bit first before you hit play.

Thanks for bearing through it. Hopefully i didn’t make too many dogs bark. God Bless!!

The A-Team!

Yes, here we are live at RPC.  Here’s James and Ryan behind me.  Timm’s speaking right now, and Emily is running around trying to find something to do.

By the way, if anyone has ever been interested in putting your creativity to use, get ahold of Emily and we can use you to join the A-Team!!

Redemption at last. . .

Here’s where it went down. . .

At last, redemption! We finally found a local brewery that has rootbeer!!!
And thus we drank and were fully satisfied.

BJ’s Brewhouse in Orlando. . . we will be seeing you again real soon.

When monotony attacks. . .

I have been involved in the arena of creativity since I was little in one way or another. Most recently in the professional field of entertainment. I have been on stage, backstage, and in front of the stage. I am even involved in a church where there is a push to be creative in engaging people. So what is my point?

Monotony kills creativity.

I have seen monotony kill creativity in places ranging from Disney to even churches that I have attended. The scary thing about monotony is that it creeps up even when you are seeing the results you want to see. Unfortunately, the only way to kill monotony is to take risks. That may mean stepping outside of your comfort zone and engaging others to get involved. It may mean listening to people that you normally wouldn’t listen to because they are not “in your area of expertise.” Or, it may even mean that you have to stop doing everything yourself and let someone else take on the responsibilities that you so carefully guard.

When it comes to the local church we have to be open to change. Nothing will hinder progress like monotony within the body of Christ. If we truly want to cultivate an environment of creativity, we must be willing to never settle, but always be thinking ahead. The fact is that other churches are not our competition. Our competition is anywhere people would rather be. With that in mind, we have no choice but to look ahead, take risks, and explore the unknown. The alternative is to lose the attention of those whom we have the responsibility of communicating God’s word to. I don’t know about you, but that to me is not much of an alternative.