It has been a long time since I posted something original to this blog. I have been hitting most of my updates through Twitter. It's quicker and easier - I usually do it through my phone, occasionally through TweetDeck.

The last month I have seen the very best of the church. I have had people come around me and support me with love that I never expected. I preached a sermon series with the deepest and broadest amount of reliance on God in my ministry. The series ended today with Communion. I love it when God's people repent together, receive forgiveness, and celebrate new life found in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the last month I have also experienced some of the most hurtful and painful encounters with people I consider my brothers and sisters in Christ. Words cannot even begin to describe what has been thrown at me. Obedience to God is not easy. The enemy's attacks have been sure and certain. Ephesians 6 has been an important chapter for me.

My wife Kelli has been my constant support and encouragement - I love you. The Senior Management Team and staff have been incredible. A group of men have come forward to pray with me and sit with me during each worship service - wow! Powerful stuff, sitting with godly men like that. And there have also been Twitters from Perry Noble and Steven Furtick that came at just the right time. Thank you. Thank you all.

I now have six weeks off from preaching and the rigor of that preparation. I am going to be using that time for getting away with Kelli this week to Lake Erie for a couple of days. Then later in the month we are doing a family gathering at Deep Creek, MD. During that time I am going to be looking back over this last month to see what I can learn and looking forward to what God wants to say through me next.

I am excited about the new hires we are going to be doing. We will be bringing in two student ministry pastors and an office administrator. I am pumped about what God is going to do next.

This past week we made the decision to pray for every person and family connected to Charter Oak Church over the next six weeks. I will let you in on a little secret since you read all the way to the end of this very long post - something is on the horizon when it comes to prayer at Charter Oak Church. Those who were in worship caught a little glimpse of it this weekend. God is up to something and I want to be a part of it. I will come to a crisis of belief, but I know what I believe about my heavenly Father.

“Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”
~ Roger Staubach

I love this blog post from Pastor Steven. It goes right along with this weekend's message.


Faith is substance
I like the old King James translation of Hebrews 11:1:Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is not an abstract theoretical proposition. It’s not wishful thinking. It’s substance. It’s action.

Most of my life I imagined faith as some kind of force field. And the way we talk about faith dematerializes it. By most definitions, faith is synonymous with hope.

The more I study Scripture, the more I detect a sharp distinction between hope and faith. Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Hope wants it to happen. Faith causes it to happen and acts as if it’s already done.

Faith is not content to want it really, really bad. Faith consults the drawings and gets busy building. Hope is the blueprint. Faith is the contractor.

Some of the things we’re believing God for will never happen in our lives because we stand in hope instead of walking in faith.

From the blog of Jim Johnson: "We believe that in the expressions of our culture—music, film, books, TV—we can hear the heart cry of people asking the deep questions of life. When we acknowledge these sentiments and let them be heard in our weekend services, we create connection points with seekers that enable us then to speak God’s words of truth into their lives."

I just read this and I had to share it...


EVERYONE'S FAVORITE VIRTUE...
Posted by Isaac Hunter
Most people don’t make bad decisions because they are intellectually deficient; they make bad decisions because they are impatient; they are impatient because they are afraid. They’re afraid God won’t really come through, either because He can’t or doesn’t care to… neither of which are true. Patience is a virtue rarely killed by vice—it is eroded by fear.Don’t settle. Have faith in the One who loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

Psa. 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Click here for the link.

This past weekend Pastor Dave finished his Lifetime series and his active ministry from the main stage at Charter Oak Church. I say once a preacher, always a preacher. It won't be the last time we see PD on the main stage.

This weekend we will be celebrating the 40 years of faithful ministry of Pastor Dave. We will only have three worship services this weekend. Saturday night at 6:00pm and Sunday at 9:00am and 11:00am. I hope that you will do everything you can to be here. It is going to be a fun weekend.

Today the staff is taking Pastor Dave out to lunch. The wonderful servants of this staff want to come around "poppa bear" and love on him today. Almost all of us are here because of Pastor Dave. We all have our favorite stories that I am sure will get shared.

I hope you will continue to be in prayer for Pastor Dave and Judy during this transition period. They will be on vacation for most of the month of June, but will be back in the area in July. If you have missed the opportunity to say good bye or take Pastor Dave out to lunch or play golf with him, he is not leaving the area. He will still be around. I, for one, am thankful that he will be. His friendship is precious to me.

While I was on vacation I also read John Maxwell's book - 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization. This is an older book, I think it was published in 2006, but I found it in a store for $4. I couldn't pass it up!

As with all of Maxwell's books there is so much information in every chapter.

He teaches on how to lead from the middle - to have influence with those the person leads, those who are on the same level, and those to whom the person directly reports. It was very helpful to see the different perspectives and how to be influential for each group.

I learned a great deal for myself, but also about those who report to me on our leadership team. It gave me a fresh perspective and challenged me in the way I lead and serve our staff.

I would definitely recommend reading this book. If you live in this area, go to Ollie's. They have for $4. You can't beat getting a $26 book at that price.

While on vacation last week I read Michael Franzese's business book - I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse. The book was sent to me free by either Willow Creek Association or Outreach. I really appreciate that they sent me the book, I love to get free books. Franzese is hitting the mega church and conference circuit.

The book is essentially the story of Franzese leaving the mob and going legit. Then he takes the principles of the mob and sprinkles in some wisdom from Solomon and produces a new frame work built on the old frame work of the mob for business.

It was a quick and easy read. I'm not sure that I would necessarily recommend it. I learned some things about the mob I didn't know which was kind of fun. I am glad that Franzese is legit now and working for God. But I can't say - go out and buy this book, but if someone sends it to you for free like they did for me, then read it.

Here is the link to watch all of the sessions from the Innovate Church Conference. I posted all of my notes (finally!!), but I don't think they really capture what was happening and being said. I would highly recommend that you watch the sessions for yourself.

Jonathan Fallwell was by far the speaker who I resonated with the most. He talked a bit about the transition following his dad's death and what it meant for him to become the lead pastor of his church.

Ed Stetzer and Francis Chan were great on Day one. Chris Hodges and Billy Hornsby were incredible on Day two.

I think Thomas Road Church did a great job hosting the event and I believe we received more in resources given to us than what we paid in registration fees. I don't know anyone who is doing that!

This conference wasn't about information as much as it was about inspiration and revelation. Our entire senior management team agrees that this was a very different conference but one in which we needed at this time in the life of our team.

Chris Witt
What does it look like to lead from a healthy place?
What does spiritual leadership look like?

Your greatest leadership challenge – Ambition
James 3:16
Love ministry more than Jesus
Proverbs 27:21

3 side affects
1. Acceleration
What drives me to be so busy?
Speed and intimacy don’t go together

2. Validation
Image management

3. De-personalization
View people for what they can do

When shepherd isn’t healthy, the sheep aren’t far behind

Do the people who know you the best, respect you the most?

Chris Hodges
Roundtable discussions – “up close”

What’s going on in the inside is more important than what’s going on on the outside
This is the gospel
We must ask for a transformation to occur in our preaching

Don’t teach people to be faithful but preach the way to become faithful

Not just what they did but what they were becoming through church planting

We would rather deal with religion than the transformation of the inner-man
Hebrews 8
Matthew 23:27

I must maintain a healthy inside
3 things to focus on for inside (3 internal motivations)
1. Loving life
Today – live it, love it (2 Corinthians 6:10)
Do I love life today?

2. Loving people
We need to get it back – you can’t fake it
1 Thessalonians 2
Do you love people?

3. Loving God
Are you in love with God (passion)
Fiddler on the Roof (Do you love me?)
Do you love God?

Billy Hornsby
Mark 1 – Fishers of men
2 Samuel 22

Causes of loss of zeal
1. Ineffectiveness in fulfilling your mission
Loss of interest in what you are doing – flow of ideas stop
Distracted by trivia

2. Rejection by society
You may love your city, but your city doesn’t love you

3. Insignificance
Mark 4:35-37

No matter what, we are called to be fishers of men – go back to your original call

2 ways to fish for men
1. Revitalize your church
Ask God to do it
Rediscover your community
Reach out daily
Decide to do it – decisions create your future

2. Plant churches
John 21:4-6

Gregg Surratt
Seacoast went through a Gideon revival when it first started from 340 down to 150

It’s ok to sit on pity potty as long as you don’t stay there long enough to get ring around the hinny!!

Innovation is the product of desperation

1 Corinthians 15:58
1. Base your preaching on the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1)
2. Base your confidence on the fact that God has chosen you (Acts 17:26-27)3. Base your hope on the fact that you’re part of the winning team (1 Corinthians 15:24-25 & 57)

Perry Noble
God is sounding the alarm to the church – Acts 2 is the starting place

3 Questions
1. What is it that God wants to do with my church?
Older brother sitting in the seat of leadership
Time – Brother working for the father in field – no time for communion with the father
You have to spend time with the father to know the heart of the father
Effort – party (not a funeral)
Put effort into reaching the world
Pray and work
God’s will = God’s bill

2. What are barriers that stand in our way?
You know you have a vision from God because you will tick people off
Refusal to change
Jealousy
Lack of understanding

3. What do we want to celebrate?
Not condemn
Just want to see people meet Jesus

Mark DeYmaz
Healthy multi-ethic church

The church should inform the culture not the other way around

Jesus prays 3 times that we would be made one in John 17 so that…
World would know that you sent me
World would know that you love them

God has to persecute the church to get her to obey

7 Core Commitments
1. Embrace dependence
2. Take intentional steps
3. Empower diverse leadership
4. Develop cross-cultural relationships
5. Pursue cross-cultural competence
6. Promote a spirit of inclusion
7. Mobilize for impact

Missions isn’t a program, it is who we are

Ed Stetzer

Sin in your church impacts the gospel.

Galatians 5:19-21 vs. 5:22-23
List of sins – sin is sin before God
Sin kills the spiritual power of me and the church

Compromise is Satan’s desire

If Satan cannot compromise your beliefs he’s happy to settle with compromising your character.

Gospel centered and repentance filled lives (key point of talk)

4 Principles
1. Secret sins are only that way for a short time
Your sin will catch up with you if you don’t repent
If you wont come to repentance God will bring you to repentance
I have become too comfortable with my sin

2. Private sin can deliver the community into defeat
My sin saps my church’s spiritual power
Get broken or God will break you

3. The church’s sin distracts your from the mission
Corinthians were proud of their tolerance
Not knowing what is going on in people’s lives in naive not loving
1 Corinthians 5:9

4. Return to God’s mission begins with a repentance to God’s standard
1 Corinthians 10:1ff
Everyday die to self and live for Christ
Sin is crouching at the door
James 1:15 (sin grows)
Sin is not a pet but a beast that needs to be slain!!

A repentant people is the most powerful force on earth for God

Francis Chan
2 Timothy 4

We need to run toward word of God

Book of Acts – oh no, oh no!
Why can’t we see the move of God like that now?
Acts 4:13

People are scared today – educated people
Looking for others to do it
Courage of Joshua and Caleb

God needs us to be courageous
More we know the less boldness we have
Insecurities kick in

Peter and John were common men who just went after it

Start with Word of God and surrender to it
Come back to the obvious truth

Church
What are the things that are commanded?
Love seen so clearly so others can see love of Jesus

Holy Spirit
I need the Holy Spirit – this is all that matters
An unstoppable force
Churches today are a stoppable force

Are we after the supernatural as a church?

Pray for boldness
Have others pray for my boldness

Jonathan Falwell

Make sure the vision doesn’t become a victim

“To the ends of the earth” isn’t in our churches

No vision – the church will die
Discouragement
Punch clock, check to do list off

Saturation evangelism
“Lord, I can’t do it, but you can, do it now.”
Be pregnant with new churches

Daniel 10

God gives the vision to one person
Vision can become victim of pride
Drive to be considered a success = pride
Leads to failure
Vision is given to lift up God, not me

Vision can become a victim of jealousy
People leave
We compare to other churches
God called us to build the church not build a mega church
We are in it to win people to Jesus!!

Vision can become a victim of being stagnant
We have to grow if we expect our people to grow
Get fed – study the word - bear much fruit
My #1 priority is my relationship with Jesus

Vision can become a victim of worrying about what people think
When you discover your purpose you will discover you have enemies
Audience of One takes the pressure off

Vision can become a victim of being insecure
Have to have total dependence on God
God will give you all you need

Believe God can do the impossible in you

Here are my notes from Kerry Shook

2 Questions
1. What would you do if you knew you had one month to live?
Brings clarity, peace, intentionality

2. What would you do if you knew your church had one month to live?

Psalm 90:12

Someday syndrome
Someday when…then…

4 Principles
1. Live passionately
Believers and churches coming alive
Not made to be safe or comfortable

2. Love completely
It all comes down to relationships
Say it now
Share it now
Show it now

3. Learn humbly

4. Lead boldly

No sandcastles - Do something that will last

Here are my notes from Eric Geiger

Starbucks shut down for a day to get back to their "core"
- Retrain how to make coffee
- Realized they had drifted

The Church has drifted from the Gospel
- Adding a bunch of stuff drowns out our "core" - Jesus

Drift never self-corrects

2 Common Drifts
1. Drift toward complexity
- Joshua Bell (violin player in Washington DC)
- We are rushing past the formation of the Kingdom of God
- Pharisees got caught up in complexity
- They tried to pull Jesus into their complexity

Coping with complexity
- multi tasking (counter effectiveness)
smoking pot lowers your IQ less than multi-tasking
- out source
Some things are too important to give away from the church
We (church) are out-sourcing the mission of God

2. Drift off mission
Matthew 13:31-32 - so that those outside the church will benefit
We are a church for those far from God


Addressing the Drift
1. Clarify the discipleship process
Blueprint vs. brochure
- View discipleship as the whole process
- Be careful not to over program early in the discipleship process
- Ensure mission is deeply embedded in your discipleship process

2. Live your process
Is the staff doing the process?
Does the staff know their neighbors?

3. Align people/departments around the same process

4. Remove the clutter
5 Guys Burgers and Fries
Tool for worship became object of worship

We will never offer the best if we are multi-tasking

Read the Peanut Manifesto