Ken

Last Sunday, three of our directional signs turned up missing. Not simply misplaced but missing. Stolen. Removed. Evaporated. Three signs, three different intersections. So ... keep an eye out on Ebay for something that looks like this:

It's true -- The Gooses are returning to LifePoint for the next LifePoint Cafe on July 30 at 7 PM. They will be our first repeat artist to perform at a LifePoint Cafe. Why? Because I like them! I liken them to an acoustic version of the Barenaked Ladies. OK, they're not as good but getting there.

Summer is an interesting time for churches, even more so for new churches. Churches experience what is often referred to as the "summer slump," meaning that attendance dips during the summer. My coach says it's even worse for new churches. We've experienced a bit of the summer slump at LifePoint but with many positive signs as well.We continue to have first time guests at our worship gatherings. We've had guests at our last two events -- beach day and the 4th of July outing. As a church community, we thrive on relationships more than raw numbers. It's about making personal connections.We're making positive strides towards our next direct mail campaign. We have been blessed by the generosity of individuals and churches (way to go Santee Christian Church!) alike. It's humbling to see so many different people support the LifePoint vision.We had Steve Denney come out last Sunday and share with…

Did you know they have boot camps for people who start new churches? It’s true – Tonya and I attended one in Sacramento in January of 2005.Granted, there are no drill instructors insulting your mother or having you drop and do push-ups. From what I can gather, the food at our boot camp was a bit better than the “other” boot camps you hear about.At our boot camp, we learned the fundamentals of how to start new churches. During the first session, I can still remember our coach telling us, “We are not sending you out to start a church but churches.” “It’s not about one church but many churches.” Since everyone in the room was a first-time church planter, it was a bit overwhelming just to think of getting one church off the ground! And here this guy was telling us to expand our vision even more.I’m glad he…

I've always enjoyed the Fourth of July. As a child, we spent nearly every 4th of July at Fondulac Park in East Peoria. The land in between softball field was transformed into a patriotic celebration. Funded mostly by the Jaycees and Knights of Columbus, this event drew most of East Peoria -- or at least it seemed that way to a young kid.Once during my high school years, we went to Pekin rather than Fondulac Park. To this day, I'm not sure why. It's not that Pekin was very far away; it was less than 15 minutes away. But it wasn't East Peoria or Fondulac Park. They didn't have the dunk tank or vendors selling hot dogs.Yesterday we spent the morning hours hitting the free museums at Balboa Park -- the Natural History Museum and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. It's truly a gift that different museums are free…