Church

I had the chance to attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit this past Thursday and Friday with about 30 of my fellow teammates from Mountainview.  Over the years, I've had the chance to hear several of the speakers in person (It's been said and Tim Keller) and was introduced to several new thinkers and leaders.  I always enjoy Hybels when he gets teary-eyed speaking about the purpose of the church -- the passion he has for reaching new people for Jesus is obvious and inspiring.  Keller gave a great talk based on the story of the Prodigal Son, only looking at it from the perspective of the older brother.  The warning was to not become an older brother, obsessed with "doing things right" and missing God as we do. Dave Gibbons spoke on "Third Culture Leadership" and raised some challenging points about obedience.  Dave pastors a church up in Irvine,…

We're kicking off a new teaching series at Mountainview called "Hope Lives."  Here's a quick blurb about it: "The sheer enormity of the problem pins Christians to their couches. What can we do? Where should we start? And didn’t Jesus himself say the poor would always be with us? Beginning August 1 and 2, Mountainview is embarking on a one month journey in weekend services, LifeGroups, youth, childrens ministries, and in our personal lives to nudge us beyond the horizons of our 401ks. Not just to save the world… but also to restore our souls." (read more). This is a church-wide emphasis on how we can better engage the poor and disadvantaged.  I'll be starting the series this weekend by talking about how God has designed every believer to be an impact-player.  As Christ-followers, we all have the ability to make a difference.  I'll be sharing one of my favorite…

As usual, I was up early this morning.  In our new house, all the bedrooms are upstairs and the kitchen is downstairs ... which means I get to putter around and not disturb anyone.  I made my coffee, opened a Bible, and read the last chapter of Hosea.  Here are the first three verses: 1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.  2 Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.  Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.  3 Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses.  Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’  No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy" (Hosea 14:1-3, NLT). A few things struck me about these words.  First of all, the prophet reminds us that…

We held LifePoint's last worship service yesterday and it was amazing to hear people tell stories of how our church had impacted their lives.  As a pastor, you're usually aware of life situations and struggles.  What you may not always be aware of is how you are influencing lives.  After our opening set of music and communion, we had an open mic time of sharing.  Nearly a dozen people got up and talked about the difference our church community had made in their lives.  One lady spoke of the "ripples" of influence that LifePoint would have for years to come.  I thought that was an appropriate image.  By some measures, our time was short (only four years).  But by God's measures, the ripples will extend throughout eternity. It was humbling to hear how God orchestrated events to allow our paths to cross at critical junctions.  One lady spoke about finding…