30 Days to Live - Final Part

This weekend will be the final part of our 30 Days to Live series. We are going to finish with a very important topic - bringing reconciliation to our relationships. Because we are human, we do things and say things that we regret. We just do it. We need to bring healing to those broken relationships so that we can be in right relationship with God. If you know someone who is struggling right now with a broken relationship, invite them to join you in worship at Charter Oak Church this weekend.

Titus 3

As I was studying Titus 3 today I was struck by how emphatic Paul was in writing about the importance of our actions. Verse 8 says, "I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good." If we are followers of Jesus we must be careful (attentive, purposeful, intentional) about devoting ourselves to doing what is good. Devoting doesn't mean we just do it when we feel like it or when we get around to it, but doing it now - as if we have 30 days to live.

Then Paul finishes the letter to Titus with these words, "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good." We must learn this. The people of Charter Oak Church must learn to devote ourselves to doing what is good. It will be a learning process. What is doing good for you today, will change over time. You may not see the good that God wants to do in and through you right now because of where you are spiritually. As you grow, then you will see the new places that God wants you to join Him where He is already at work. This isn't about checking something off of a to do list, this is about an ongoing partnership with God to live beyond yourself.

If you have a chance today, read Titus and ask God what is the good thing you need to devote yourself to doing.

Book #3 - Leading with the Heart

The Chair of our Church Council handed me a book the other day that he thought I might enjoy reading - Leading with the Heart by Mike Krzyzewski, the head basketball coach at Duke University. He thought I would like it because I went to Duke and because it contained so many of the things he and I have been talking about the last few weeks in the development of Charter Oak Church's staff as a team. Stan, you were right.

I really enjoyed this book and it will stay on my shelf for a very long time. I think I really enjoyed the chapter called "Celebrate Tradition" the most. It's probably not what most people think it is, as I hope to have a very long tenure at Charter Oak Church I want to set us up for long term success, while I am here and long after I am gone. Coach K has done that at Duke in a very unique way. I really learned a lot from this book on leadership and basketball.

30 Days to Live at Work

The filter we are putting on our lives at Charter Oak Church is - How would I live my life differently if I knew I only had 30 Days to Live? Today I want to write about how I would answer that question in regards to my life at work. Here's what I have been processing...

• I would continue to work at least for the first two weeks because I spend more time with the staff of Charter Oak Church than anyone else in my life besides my family. The staff here is a very important part of my family.
• I would tell people the truth more clearly - I wouldn't play games and worry about whether or not they would be angry at me over what I said and leave the church. I would speak the truth in love.
• I would preach one more time and just share why I am looking forward to going home to spend eternity with Jesus. I would ask every person who is connected to Charter Oak Church and my circle of friends to bring at least one person who doesn't know Jesus to be there so I could have one last chance to help people find their way back to God.
• I would preach in jeans and a t-shirt.
• I would make sure that whoever was going to follow me as one of the pastors at Charter Oak Church was set up to succeed.
• I would hug everyone.

What about you? If you knew you had 30 Days to Live, how would that be manifested at your job?

30 Days to Live with My Family

The filter we are putting on our lives at Charter Oak Church is - How would I live my life differently if I knew I only had 30 Days to Live? Today I want to write about how I would answer that question in regards to my life with my family. Here's what I have been processing...

• I would speak Kelli's love language all the time we are together.
• I would not hurry through dinner - it would be an event worth staying at the table for. Plus I would be in the kitchen with Kelli preparing dinner.
• I would read more to my kids. I am reading the Little House series with Abby and the Narnia series with Caleb. I would read every night and longer.
• I would be fully engaged when I am with them, not half listening while watching tv.
• I would make sure that they knew how much God loves them and I love them.

What about you? If you knew you had 30 Days to Live, how would that be manifested in your relationship with your family?

30 Days to Live with Jesus

The filter we are putting on our lives at Charter Oak Church is - How would I live my life differently if I knew I only had 30 Days to Live? Today I want to write about how I would answer that question in regards to my life with Jesus. Here's what I have been processing...

• I would start my day the same as I do now - in prayer, but I would be more open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to talk to God throughout the day, especially at work.
• I would drink more deeply of the Bible. I wouldn't try to read through the whole Bible in those 30 days, instead I would go deeper with specific scripture passages.
• I would worship daily - I would turn up the music, I would sing loud, I would pour my heart fully into the praise of God.
• I wouldn't let the things that don't matter get to me. I would seek first the Kingdom of God.
• I wouldn't take my relationship with Jesus for granted - I know I am going to heaven and I don't have to "do" anything more, but I would be more open to where I see God at work and I would listen more openly to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I know I miss many opportunities everyday to abide in God's presence.

What about you? If you knew you had 30 Days to Live, how would that be manifested in your relationship with God through Jesus?

Titus 1:10-14

As I was studying Titus this morning I was struck by Paul's strong words against people who teach wrong doctrines and lead people into error. The note in my Study Bible really spoke to me about keeping my eyes and ears open to what people in leadership are doing. Here's what it says...

You can recognize false teachers because they will

1. focus more attention on themselves than on Christ
2. ask you to do something that will compromise or dilute your faith
3. de-emphasize the divine nature of Christ or the inspiration of the Bible
4. urge believers to make decisions based more on human judgment than on prayer and Biblical guidelines.

That's a pretty good filter to put on leaders - how we live our lives points to what we believe.

The Rigor of an Ordinary Week

Today is January 20th, but I feel like this month has slipped by. I haven't had a "normal" week yet. I am looking forward to the rigor of an ordinary week. Every week so far this year has been shortened in some way. Last week our Senior Management Team was on a retreat together. The week before it was something else. Why is it that life goes by so fast?

Right now I am teaching on the weekends a series called "30 Days to Live." We are putting a filter on our lives because of the busyness of our lives - we are asking what would we do differently if we knew we only had 30 days to live? It is giving me some great perspective - eternal perspective and I hope it is helping the people of Charter Oak Church as well. So this week, I am looking forward to the rigor of an ordinary week and I am going to try to blog each day on some thoughts about the filter of 30 days to live.

Post #300

Since this is a monumental moment in my blogging - post #300, I thought I would share a post from Jon Ferguson that I read this morning that was really great. It's called "You Know You're Not Leading When..."
You know you are not leading when . . .

• You wait for someone to tell you what to do rather than taking the initiative yourself
• You spend too much time talking about how things should be different
• You blame the context, surroundings, or other people for your current situation
• You choose not to speak the truth in love
• You are more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing
• You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future
• You aren't taking any significant risks
• You accept status quo as the way it's always been and always will be
• You start protecting your reputation instead of opening yourself up to opposition
• You sleep a little too sound
• You procrastinate to avoid making a tough call
• You talk to others about the problem rather than taking it to the person responsible
• You don't feel like your butt is on the line for anything significant
• You think what you say doesn't matter
• You ask for way too many opinions before taking action

This is a great leadership filter that Jon gives to us. This is definitely going to be a part of my leadership development process.

Leaving for Retreat

Our Senior Management Team is leaving for retreat in 15 minutes. It is snowing outside and we are headed for the mountains! This is going to be great. If you have a few moments, would you please pray for our team and for God's anointing to be upon us. Thank you.

Book #2 - The Church Enslaved

In order to be faithful to my decision to do more reading on racial and justice issues, I just read The Church Enslaved: A Spirituality of Racial Reconciliation by Tony Campolo and Michael Battle. I read this book with a small group of pastors. We spent a few hours yesterday discussing the book and what it means for us to live into racial reconciliation. The discussion was much better than the book. It was obviously written for seminary students. It was interesting that the African American pastors in my group thought that what the authors were recommending was pretty watered down. The value for me was the questions I asked myself through reading the book and then discussing it with fellow pastors. Community is good!

Worship Stats for December 2007

Here are the statistics for Worship and Sunday School in December 2007:

December 1/2 (I preached)
697 in worship (2.8% increase from 2006)
283 in Sunday school (1.1% increase from 2006)

December 8/9 (I preached)
1123 in worship (1.9% increase from 2006) [Cantata]
165 in Sunday school (23.6% decrease from 2006)

December 15/16 (I preached)
661 in worship (2.7 decrease from 2006)
269 in Sunday school (3.9% decrease from 2006)

December 22/23 (I preached)
709 in worship (4.4% increase from 2006)
165 in Sunday school (no Sunday school in 2006)

December 24 (Dave & I split preaching)
1244 in worship (10.4% increase from 2006)

December 29/30 (Dave preached)
660 in worship (2% increase from 2006)
165 in Sunday school (7% increase from 2006)

We finished the year with an average attendance of 724 (19.1% increase from 2006). In the last two years that means we have grown 39.9%.

Book #1 - The Starbucks Experience

I am starting 2008 in the right way - by reading about one of my favorite companies. The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary by Joseph A. Michelli is a great book for pastors and church leaders to read.

Starbucks took a very simple, ordinary product - coffee and turned it into an extraordinary drink and experience that has changed the way people think about coffee and the customer connection.

I think of the value of this lesson for the church today. Most people see the church as a very ordinary option in the vast array of things to do and be a part of. What would happen if we decided that we would get back to the Acts 2 model of the church and we saw the Bride of Christ fully revealed in the world today? I think it is possible and it must be done.

Guest Blogger

Here is the latest post from the blog our Pastor to Student Ministries - Mark McMahon...

70 minutes at Charter Oak Church
There is a student in our ministry whose parents attend a different church in our community...No big deal, it's actually somewhat common considering the fact that our church is one of the few in our community that has an active student ministry. That being said, this student's parents decided to come check out one of our Christmas eve services because the times of our services were better suited to their holiday plans than their "home church's" services.

That being said, I got a phone call from the mother of that student earlier today. She thanked me for the hospitality that was extended to her while she and her family were worshipping with us. And then...THE BEST PART...she thanked me for introducing her to Jesus! She said to me, "I've spent 53 years at that other church, and all it took was 70 minutes at Charter Oak Church to really find Jesus."

Please note that I am not trying to make Charter Oak Church sound superior to any other church out there. I am merely quoting something that was said to me that I've known for a long time...and that is the fact that Charter Oak is a place where people from all walks of life can come to find their Savior. I believe that is what a church is supposed to be, by the way. Call it a hospital for sinners, the bride of Christ, a gathering of the faithful. Regardless of the titles you use, God's church has, at its core, a call which defies denominationalism and exceeds the expectations of institutionalized religion. God's church, at its core, has a call to love...no matter what...and love with Christ's love.

So say what you want about my church. I'll be the first to admit that we haven't got it all figured yet. But for at least one person last weekend God chose to attend a divine appointment that was hosted by Charter Oak Church, and that, my friends, is why we do what we do.
Praise God!