Tag Archives: opportunity

Posted on

Our Limits Reveal our Greatest Opportunities…

by

It’s ALL about the Signs

A year or so ago when we were forced to remove our signs from our church building and property (during the week), we began to set more yard signs out in the community.  These can only be put out on the weekend now and the city has made it perfectly clear we cannot make people aware (through signs) about our building that sits on Brookway Dr.

Two weeks ago, all of signs we put out on the weekend were taken by the city of Cornelius.  We were informed we could not put them out at ANY TIME in Cornelius.  We thought the weekend was okay, but they said no yard signs, ever.

Posted on

The Early Lessons of Adopting “Better Experiments”

by

“The future of the church is not going to be built on implementing Best Practices, but on our willingness to attempt Better Experiments” – Will Mancini

I love this quote and it has stuck with me for over the past 2 years.  As a matter of fact, I even added “Better Experiments” to a list of CORE VALUES we have in our church organization.  It’s not printed on the wall or stuck on the back of any bulletin – it’s just a core value that guides the WHY WE DO decisions of our organization.  I encourage our staff to step out into new directions and take risks as we move ministry forward.

However, this blog post is about the early lessons of adopting this value as an organization. I’ve spoken many times to our church about the freedom of being able to say “We don’t know” and walking into the unknown future with God leading the way – but it takes a certain mindset to be okay with tripping, falling, or even being launched into something bigger than you could possibly imagine with nothing but faith that God knows what He’s doing. For most folks, the loss of control (good or bad) is the loss of stability in an organization.  If we live by fear and make decisions that limit our risk in life – then we are not really living. 

Posted on

“The Best Day Ever” – the essential attitude of LIFE!

by

BestDayEver_Photo copy

I am a father of two.  A 7 year old little girl and a 4 year old boy.  For the past 2 years I have heard a phrase repeated several times in my house, or in the car, or at bed time that I’ve commented about, smiled at, and laughed out lout at.  The phrase… “This is the best day ever!”

What a simple set of words that describe a profound attitude.  Was it really the best day?  Probably not to us…  Did we do something so spectacular to deserve such a proud praise? Probably not….  So why the big deal?  Why the exaggeration?  Why the praise!

The answer lies in attitude. 

Posted on

Freedom vs. Grave-Tending

by

9TzrLLjTEStrange title?  Maybe…  or maybe not!

I was reading in a small men’s (men of all sizes actually) S.O.A.P bible study this morning Romans 8: 1-17.  I recently purchased this amazing parallel bible that gives me the NIV on the left hand and the message paraphrase on the right of the same verses.

I have always loved this passage because of the freedom in the spirit of Christ that it reveals.  However, some new words and thoughts occurred to me this morning as we read it together.

The first part is a great contrast between choosing to “live in” the Spirit or “live in” the desires of the flesh.  It then quickly sets us free that we are not “controlled by” by the flesh if we have the Spirit within us.  However verses 12 – 15 jumped out at me today as I looked at both the NIV version and the Message paraphrase.