I was asked recently whether or not LifePoint would be a seeker-driven church. Great question. In church parlance, being seeker-driven means designing everything about your worship service around non-Christians. The idea is to make non-Christians feel comfortable and non-threatened. It also involves making the service understandable and even enjoyable (imagine that -- a church service being enjoyable!).In some cases, however, being seeker-driven means removing any hint of Christian spirituality from the environment or experience. In other words, some seeker-driven churches do not have any visible crosses on display. The idea is to create an environment much like you would find at the local movie theater, minus the popcorn. The audience is not expected to participate but to observe. The goal is for the seeker to remain anonymous.I guess I draw a distinction between being seeker-driven and seeker-sensitive. To me, a church experience should be understandable and even enjoyable. We should…

As many of you know, LifePoint is planning an 80,000 piece direct mail campaign to start next week. We contracted with a marketing firm from Chicago that mainly works with for-profit companies like Sony, ReMax, etc. We're about to go to press!Here's a link to our final proofs.

A little background will help you appreciate this even more. We (LifePoint) applied for a non-profit mailing permit in early July, told it would only take about two weeks to receive approval. We have 80,000 direct mail pieces in the process of being printed for delivery next week.Two weeks came and went and I decided to stop by to check on the status. Local post office says it has no way of checking; everything is handled in Memphis. So ... I leave for Atlanta and return to local post office again today hoping the regular clerk is back from vacation. No such luck. So ... I call Memphis.And ... THEY HAVE NO RECORD OF OUR APPLICATION. None. Not even a whiff. I'm told to overnight another application, with supporting documentation, and hope that the supervisor can do a quick approval. My credit card was charged $300 back in July but…

Actually it's an older blog than mine but new to me. A few weeks ago I rambled onto a blog called "The Evangelical Ecologist: A Christian EcoBlog" by a local San Diego fellow (Don Bosch). It's a virtual treasure chest of information, including a link on how to brew beer in your coffee pots. Ironically, I've just switched to a french press ...For quite a while, evangelical Christians have been silent when it came to matters of the environment. That was considered the turf of liberals and radicals. Much of the evangelical concern was over the temptation to worship the creation rather than the Creator -- a very real temptation that many of the extreme groups gave in to. But if you love the Creator, doesn't it make sense that you would love the creation, too? The Biblical concept of stewardship includes more than how we handle our money.Check out…

I'm sitting safe and mostly sound at a friend's house in Covington, surfing a wireless connection. Yesterday's travel was largely uneventful, which is what you always want on a plane ride. I connected through Phoenix and enjoyed a wonderful salad and bottled water.One piece of interesting trivia: as I changing terminals in Phoenix, who do I happen to walk up behind but none other than Will Edwards! Will is a San Diego-based musician who plays at Cosmos' open mic on Tuesday. Just a week or so ago I went to one of his shows ... and he has agreed to be the first local artist featured at LifePoint. LifePoint will have a local artist showcase during our Sunday morning gatherings where we will feature the work of local artists (musicians, painters, etc). Will has graciously agreed to perform a few songs at our grand opening September 11 (9:00 and 10:45).So…