I grew up in a single income family. My mother never worked outside the home and dad was in middle management for Caterpillar. Most of my friends were from blue collar families. In the 1970's and 80's, we were right in the middle of the middle class. I grew up aware of two things: we weren’t wealthy and we weren’t poor. But that was in comparison to people who lived in our area. I realize now that we were better off than most people in the world – even better off than many people in other parts of our own country. If you’re like most people, when you hear “What would Jesus say to Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg?” you immediately feel off the hook. After all, Bill Gates sits on top of Forbes 2016 list of wealthiest people, worth an estimated $75 billion. Mark Zuckerberg is # 6 on the list,…
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I have been a fan of Google since the days when it was "only" a search engine. In fact, google.com is still the default home page on my browser. Over the years, I've added Gmail, YouTube, Google Apps, and a host of other things to my favorite list. I've used AdWords, AdSense, and Analytics. Up until two years ago when I finally succumbed to the iPhone tsunami, I was an Android user. One of the reasons I have been a fan of Google is their constant pursuit of innovation. If something doesn't work, no big deal -- learn from it and stop doing it. Back in 2011, Susan Wojcicki (employee #16 at Google) wrote a fascinating article describing what she calls the pillars of Google's success. Although it's five years-old, it's still a great article and I would encourage anyone in leadership to read it (especially church planters!). The first…
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As I write this post, it's sunny and beautiful outside. By this weekend, there's a good chance of rain and more snow. That's one of the reasons we love Colorado (if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes). There's also many reasons to love our church. If you attend Mountainview, you often me hear say "one of the reasons I love our church" -- because it's true. We have many reasons to love our church. I thought I'd take a moment and share a few of those with you. We are almost on pace to baptize one person a week this year. We have doubled the number of Stephen Ministers who provide Christ-centered care. We have doubled the number of teenagers going to CIY this summer. We have doubled the number of middle school students going to Camp Como this summer. Our newest church planting partner has been…
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Citigroup was formed a few years ago when Citicorp and Travelers Group merged, forming one of the world's largest financial institutions. Before the merger, Citicorp came up with a great advertising campaign entitled, "Live Richly." As part of the campaign, the company placed messages on billboards across the country. Apart from being funny, they also offered a new perspective on what it means to be rich. Here are a few pictures ... Not surprisingly, God has his own perspective on money and wealth. From his vantage point, you can be considered “well off” and still have a poverty of spirit. Likewise, you can be considered poor by the world's standards and be rich in God's eyes. It's all about perspective.
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On September 11, 2001, I was having coffee with the worship pastor at our church to plan our weekend services when the planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City. Like many of you, I spent the next several hours glued to our television, watching horrific scenes unfold. As you probably remember, 3,000 people were killed that day. Did you know that on Sept 12, 2001, 4,000 additional lives were lost? On September 13, 2001, another 4,000 lives ended. Again on September 14, 15, and every day since -- nearly 4,000 lives are aborted every day. Since Roe vs. Wade became the law of the land in 1973, 58 million abortions have been performed in the United States. Worldwide since 1980? 1.4 billion. Abortion is not primarily a political issue. Nor is it primarily a social issue or a women’s issue. For the person of faith, abortion is…
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