Holy Thursday

We welcome you to Charter Oak Church during this Holy season.

Thursday, April1, 7:30 p.m.

Christian Life Center

A special service celebrating The Last Supper.

Communion will be served around a table in groups of twelve.

PD's New Role

We welcome Pastor Dave back at Charter Oak Church as the new Pastor Emeritus. This is a great way to honor PD and recognize his faithful service to the people of Charter Oak Church and this region. Pastor Emeritus is an honorary title and is not given out very often. For us, it means he will be preaching periodically, which we all know is one of his gifts from God. He will not have an office in the church or office hours. He is still retired, but getting to do what he loves - care for the people of this church and share the love of Jesus with us. It's a pretty good deal for him and us. Below is what was read on March 13/14 when he officially became the Pastor Emeritus of Charter Oak Church.

“Recognizing your pastoral leadership of this congregation since the year 1992, we bestow upon you the honor of being known to us and to others as Pastor Emeritus of Charter Oak Church.”

“We remember with regard your spiritual leadership, biblical preaching, heartfelt teaching, and incredible pastoral care.

“In conferring this honor, we join with you in a continued appreciation for the pastoral office. And though you will no longer actively serve as pastor, your integrity, commitment to Jesus, and a heart for this church help us to regard you and the pastoral office you held in our midst.”

In conferring this honor, we pledge ourselves to continued concern for your health and happiness. We will hold you in our prayers and cherish the contributions you have made.”

If you promise to uphold Pastor Dave with your prayers, encourage him with your words, and support him with your actions, please stand up. If you really mean it say “we will!”

A Cabin in the Woods

Mark Batterson wrote...

Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective

I'm going on study leave Sunday evening. The leadership of Charter Oak Church holds such a high value on my spiritual health that I am able to take two weeks a year to change my pace and change my place so that I can change my perspective. My pace becomes God's pace, my place becomes the feet of Jesus, and that leads to a whole new perspective.

Easter is on the horizon. The series we are creating to follow the resurrection of our Savior is going to be incredible. This is my opportunity to get away to a cabin in the woods to be on the same page as God. God's vision for the people of Charter Oak Church and this region is so huge we cannot accomplish it apart from God.

Book #7 - The Imperfect Board Member

For the third or fourth time I have read Jim Brown's book, The Imperfect Board Member: Discovering the Seven Disciplines of Governance Excellence. This time I am reading this book with our Church Council. The leadership of this church is too important not to work at it and have a clearly defined path and expectations to achieve what it is that God is leading us to do.

Over the next seven months we are going to study the disciplines of governance excellence. I want our Church Council to be smart and healthy.

If you are on a board of directors, if you lead a board, or if you want to understand in greater depth how a healthy board operates, I highly recommend this book to you. I also challenge you to read it with your board, struggle through it to become the very best board of directors you can. God is counting on us to lead well.

Book #6 - The Prodigal God

This is the first book I have read by Tim Keller. I am preparing to talk about grace starting in May and I want to use the story of the Prodigal Son as the launch point of that discussion. As I read The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, I quickly realized how superficial I have been taught about this parable of Jesus.

Keller states that he wrote this book for the seeker or the new believer to help explain the foundational truth of the grace of God. I have a better understanding of grace because I read this book. No matter where you are on the spiritual spectrum, I highly recommend this book.

When I preach the series on grace in May, I will suggest to our congregation that they get this book, read it, then pass it on to someone in their circle of influence.

Listen Carefully

I was reading Numbers 20 yesterday and I can't shake it from my brain. The Israelites are in the Desert of Zin. It's hot. It's the desert! The people complain against God that they should have stayed in Egypt because they are now going to die in the desert. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and water will come out of it for the whole community to drink. Moses and Aaron gather the people, Moses uses his staff to strike the rock, and the water comes gushing out. Problem solved. People happy.

God is now hot. God is angry with Moses and Aaron. Why? Moses used the staff and did not speak to the rock. It is so easy to miss this. For this reason, both Moses and Aaron will not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land. As a matter of fact Aaron will die before the end of the chapter.

Do you see what is going on here? When God speaks, when God tells us His will, His expectation is that we will listen carefully and follow perfectly. I cannot tell you how many times I listened to God, fast forwarded to the end result, and then made my own plans on how to get there. That's what Moses did. The voices of the Israelites were ringing in his ears as God spoke with the solution to the problem. He didn't follow God's exact command. The fallout was not good.

I wonder how many times do we hear from God, understand what God wants, but we make decisions on how we think it should be done instead of continuing to listen for how God wants it done. This challenges me to be all the more sure I am listening carefully, that I am developing my relationship with God more intentionally, and not hurrying off to do things my way.

Book #5 - Linchpin

When Seth Godin writes a book, I buy it. As soon as I heard Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? was released I went to the book store to buy it. I'm telling you, I was not disappointed. It was what I expected and more.

We really are in a new day and what you bring to your day, whether it is at work, home, school, wherever - you can add tremendous value. A linchpin is someone who invents, leads, connects to and with others, they just plain make things happen. The speed that a Linchpin lives is very different from everyone else around them. They are truly indispensable.

This book inspired me, it convicted me, it reminded me of dreams I once had about how I wanted to contribute to making everyone around me better. I asked myself time and time again, what if we had more Linchpins in our church, in our conference, in our country, in our world - what would be the result?

I know I want to be a Linchpin - I am called and gifted to be one. Are you?

Forgiveness

I have been thinking about forgiveness a lot lately. Pastor Dave preached an incredible message this past weekend about it. Tiger Woods stood before the world and for about 13 minutes asked for forgiveness. Because Friday is my day off I was able to watch and listen to the TV announcers talk about what they thought would happen and should happen in Tiger's statement.

As I listened to people on a variety of stations, from ESPN to CNN to Fox News, I was surprised at how much they wanted to define repentance and forgiveness. It was as if they were chained up to the belief that Tiger was perfect and he really hurt them by his actions. They wanted him to say to them exactly what they wanted to hear.

As I listened, I began to ask myself, is saying, "I'm sorry" and genuinely meaning it no longer sufficient? Is the act of repentance no longer adequate in the eyes of today's society?

I realize that when someone asks for forgiveness, we have the power to grant it or not. I wonder if the pull of that power is greater than the act of releasing the person.

I listened to Tiger's speech. I thought it was good. I didn't think he owed me an apology, but I appreciated the act as a recognition of what he did was wrong. He does have influence over millions of people.

As I listened I heard the still, small voice of God remind me that I am a forgiven sinner. I am able to forgive because I have been forgiven of so much by my heavenly Father. I am a receiver of grace, more than I can even imagine.

Then later as the news casters of all of those stations re-capped the Tiger Woods' story, I began to hear something that totally blew me away. People started saying that he didn't do enough. He didn't show enough emotion. He didn't say the right words. He didn't apologize to all the different groups of people he needed to apologize to. It was at that moment I decided not to watch any more. I couldn't take it any more.

I know I am not perfect - far from it. I hope and pray that when I wrong someone and ask for forgiveness they will grant it. I hope and pray that when someone wrongs me and asks for forgiveness that I will grant it - no strings attached. And as Pastor Dave reminded us this past weekend, I hope and pray that I will give forgiveness before it is even asked of me because then I am truly free.

As I listened to the reporting of the Tiger Woods' story, I wonder, how many of them are truly free? Are you?

Haiti - Getting Skin in the Game

If you were not in worship this past weekend you missed seeing an incredibly large pile of health kits on the stage at Charter Oak Church. By the end of the day, we boxed up 2,104 health kits to be shipped to Haiti. I can't believe I only challenged our congregation to bring in one per person! I guess I showed my lack of faith. God really showed me a thing or two about what He can do through His people! By taking the time to put these health kits together, you were able to get skin in the game. I believe it is all to easy to just send money, which of course we are doing. But I don't ever want us to pay, pray, and get out of the way.

When you and your family went shopping and driving all over Westmoreland County to find the items, it took time. It gave you the opportunity to talk with your family about why you were doing what you were doing. The Old Testament started as an oral tradition - they told stories about their faith. They told stories about God. They told stories of faithfulness and disobedience to remind them that what they did and said mattered to God. As you talked about purchasing the health kit items you were walking in the footprints of our historical roots.

Here's something else that happened, you were given the opportunity to tell others why you were doing what you were doing. Some people have shared stories of telling store employees and managers why we were doing this. Others have told stories of people who don't attend our church, but as you told them what you were doing, they wanted to get involved.

I love the story of the St. Vincent College swim team putting over 200 health kits together. I love the story of the Mt. View Elementary School 3rd graders putting together over 100. I am blown away by the boys' correctional unit that put together over 50 kits and prayed over each one of them before bringing them over to the church on Sunday afternoon. I love the story of a business man who invited the people he worked with to join him in this work and they put together 20 health kits. I know there are so many, many more of these stories that you personally experienced as you got involved in the work of God to bring hope to the people of Haiti.

I pray that this will not just be a one and done deal for you. I hope that you will realize that God wants to work in you and through you in very real and tangible ways - sometimes in Haiti and other times in your Circle of Influence. As you lean into the power of the Holy Spirit you will get to know His voice and promptings and will see God at work in more and more ways all around you everyday.

What a great start to the New Year! Keep praying, keep looking to God for direction, and I will see you in worship this weekend!

Book #4 - The Dip

I am inspired and challenged by Seth Godin. I try to read something by him everyday - his blog or blogs, or one of his books. His books are always short and to the point. He doesn't play games, and more often than not, kicks you in the teeth because most people know what he is saying to be true, but aren't willing to pay the price themselves.

This is so true about The Dip:A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick). Most people give up too soon. They quit when they are going through the tough times - the Dip. If they would persevere through that Dip knowing that they will be the very best, then the payoff would be huge. The flip side to that is that many people, perhaps more than those who quit too soon, just stay in the Dip because it is just easier to do so than to quit and focus on something they can be the best at. They are stuck in the Dip and will never get through it because they won't ever be the best at what they are working on.

Seth Godin helps to sift through those decisions. He asks hard hitting questions about quitting too soon and staying too long. Do you really believe you can be the absolute best at something? Will you pay the price? Will you stop doing everything else in order to work through the Dip and be the best?

If you have a Barnes and Noble Nook, let me know and I will be happy to "share" this book with you.

Book #3 - Training Camp

I recently ordered a bunch of books using gift cards from Christmas. One of the books I picked up was Jon Gordon's latest fable about excellence - Training Camp: What the Best Do Better than Everyone Else. It was a very easy read, but was able to teach 11 great principals of excellence in the context of a story.

Most people and in my opinion, most churches, don't want to be great. It is just easier to settle. It takes great effort and intentionality to be great. I believe the church is God's and He will build His church. But I also know there are tons of ways to prevent that from happening.

Training Camp is a great book to make sure that leaders and pastors are doing what is their responsibility in developing themselves, their people, and God's church. Don't go for mediocrity, God deserves so much better and so do His people and the people who need Him.

Book #2 - Making Vision Stick

My staff gave me the Barnes and Noble e-reader - Nook for Christmas. The first book I downloaded on it was Andy Stanley's Making Vision Stick. I wanted to read it because I was putting together my vision message for 2010 and beyond for the people of Charter Oak Church. It was a huge help!

I love this line from Andy, "When it comes to making your vision stick, here is the most important thing to remember: you are responsible." As I was reading this book this point really hit home and I began to look at all of the different places and times that I could be and should be casting vision. It's true for all of us in leadership positions.

After getting this idea that we are responsible for making the vision stick then you can drill down into the five main points of the book:

1. State the vision simply.
2. Cast the vision convincingly.
3. Repeat the vision regularly.
4. Celebrate the vision systematically.
5. Embrace the vision personally.

This was a great book. It is very short so it can be read quickly and often. I am guessing that I will read through this book on a monthly basis.

Book #1 - The Starfish and the Spider

It's time to start posting the books I am reading again. My in-laws gave me a book that has been on my reading list for quite some time now - The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom.

We have been talking a lot about small groups and empowering small group leaders to be the front line facilitators of spiritual growth at Charter Oak Church. This means that authority and responsibility are taken out of the hands of the paid staff and into the called and trained leaders. Reading this book was obviously God's timing because that really is at the heart of this book.

I really appreciated the use of real examples of what it means to be a leaderless organization. This isn't something new. The more diffused the power the more likely and organization is able to survive. The harder an organization tries to preserve it's hierarchy and power, the more likely it is going to fail over the long haul.

If we have given the authority to the small group leaders and they continue to multiply, then if the church burns down or if something happened to me or our staff, the church would continue to be the church because we won't be completely centralized in one location or in one person. I realized we do have some centralization, that is why I really appreciated the chapter on the hybrid organization.

If you are a leader in an organization that you want to see succeed and survive, even thrive beyond you, I would highly recommend reading this book.

Working Out

I have started a new work out program called P90x. Yes, I am trying to capitalize on the start of the New Year and making some healthy decisions - both in exercise and in eating.

One of the reasons I picked P90x is because it lasts for 90 days. If I can be disciplined to do this for three months, I am hoping that it will become a lifestyle decision instead of just an opportunity to fail on another New Year's resolution. Another reason I picked P90x is because it is intense. I need to jump start my routine, not with something that is just going to fill some time but not really do anything - I want results. Soccer season is coming and so is the possibility of going to the beach this summer. How awesome it would be to go to the beach without a shirt on for the first time since like high school!

As I think about the discipline of working out physically I also think about it spiritually. I know lots of people start new things in the New Year when it comes to their faith. Our church - Charter Oak Church is kicking off an all church study for small groups to jump start the New Year. What if you started praying every day for the next 90 days - a different kind of P90x? What if you started reading and studying the Bible everyday for the next 90 days - B90x? Instead of prayer and Bible study being something that you just do everyone once in a while or in fits and starts, perhaps it would become a lifestyle. Just think about the difference that would make in your relationship with God. It's not about summer coming, maybe it's about Jesus coming.

Back from a Break

Many years ago I heard Bill Hybels say, "Doing the work of God was killing the work of God in me." Then at the Leadership Summit in August 2009, I heard him say it again. About the same time my assistant gave me the book Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro. I think God was trying to get my attention.

I went away for a week of study leave and began to realize that I had too much information coming into my life. I was reading about 50 blogs a day. I had about the same number of people I was following on Twitter. I was subscribed to a number of podcast that I listened to each week. I was reading about one book every week or two. I joined Facebook and have over 700 friends. I was posting to my own blog, Twitter, and Facebook. It was all too much while also trying to deepen my relationship with God and lead a growing church. Something had to give.

I walked away from all of the influx of information. I turned off Twitter. I unsubscribed to all of the blogs I was reading. I stopped posting to my blog and to Twitter. I only checked Facebook once a day. I only read the books that I was committed to reading with others. When I made this decision, it gave me more time to spend in prayer and Bible study. That's what I really needed more than anything else.

I have concluded my fast from information, but not completely. I am not going to be a slave to it anymore, at least that is my hope and plan. I want information to serve me and add value to me and to the people around me, not kill the work of God in me.

So I hope to post to my blog again on a consistent basis. I have a plan of what I want all of this ability to communicate to accomplish. I am looking forward to a renewed, healthy interest in all of the social media that is available.

In Our Time, In Our Day

Habakkuk 3:2, “Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.”

The fulfillment of the God’s vision for the people of Charter Oak Church starts in your heart. Do you really believe that God wants to do great things once again in our time, in our day? What you believe will determine what you do.

You Never Let Go

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go

When clouds brought rain
And disaster came
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills hope
Perfect love that never lets go
Oh, what love, oh what love
Oh, what love, oh what love

In joy and pain
In sun and rain
You’re the same
Oh, You never let go

God's Word

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
John 14:27

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to the faithful.
For the Lord knows our frame, and remembers that we are dust.
The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon the faithful,
and the righteousness of the Lord to children's children.
Psalms 103:8, 13-14, 17

Jesus, You wept at the grave of Your friend Lazarus, You know all our sorrows. Behold our tears, and bind up the wounds of our hearts. Through the mystery of pain, bring us into closer communion with You and with one another. Raise us from death to life. And grant, in Your mercy, that with Joe, who has passed within the veil, we may come to live, with You and with all whom we love, in our heavenly Father's home. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Book #18 - Crazy Love

After seeing Francis Chan live this past spring, I knew I wanted to read Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. Then when someone gave me a copy of his book that was just released I knew I had to make it a priority to read it. This past weekend I did.

This book is not for someone who is satisfied with where they are in the faith journey. This book will stretch you, challenge you, and make you wrestle with what you really believe about God. I was talking to a student about this book last week. She said she had to stop reading it half way through because there was just too much she needed to work on before she went on to the next chapter. That's the potential this book has for the reader. I highly recommend this book for all students and adults.

After I finish this post I am going to subscribe to Francis Chan's podcast on iTunes.

The Sacrament of Living

"Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine; I would exalt Thee above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee. I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing presence and to hear Thy speaking voice. I long to live in the restful sincerity of heart. I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thoughts may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship. Therefore I pray in the words of The great servant of old, 'I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.' And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen."

A. W. Tozer
The Pursuit of God