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Weekly Mind Dump 8.28.11 (Special Hurricane Edition)

• God gave me a great message to share, and after 4 weeks out of the pulpit, I was so excited to teach yesterday!
• I also have some good friends in town for the weekend that live in the Middle East, and I couldn't wait to introduce them to our church.
• Who could imagine that after moving from South Florida to CT, we would have to cancel our church service yesterday due to a hurricane?!?
• Fortunately, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and didn't do much in our area (we never even lost power, though some surrounding us did and had basements flooded, etc.).
• Hurricane TV watching yesterday included such gems as my first viewing of Dog the Bounty Hunter and a rewatch of Josie and the Pussycats (the movie). -Remember Matthew 7:1!
• This past week I accepted an invitation to serve on the board of directors at my daughters' school. It is an honor and an irony considering I was sent to the principal's office so frequently when I was in school!
• It struck me this week that when a catastrophic event occurred people went through massive preparation so they would be alright with whatever happend and yet many of these same people have gone through zero preparation to be ready for eternity even though we all  face a certain and deadly personal storm someday.

Casting the Vision to your church's accounting department

(This post is an excerpt from "The Top 3 Accounting Mistakes Churches Make." Pastors and church leaders who work with the finances can get the full report for FREE here.)

I know this may seem weird. We tend to think of casting the vision as something we need to do to raise money, not to help those who manage the money we already have! But pastors, you must understand the heart and mind of your accountants here. They have been wired and trained to manage the resources they are entrusted with as efficiently as possible This means they have an eye to sniff out waste and trim the fat that they perceive in an organization. You want that!

My wife Rebecca has been called a pit-­‐bull with lipstick for her tenacity in areas like this! However, sometimes they will see things they have identified as wasteful and it creates a burden for them. Then when they do the right thing and share that with their pastor or manager, they find their concerns are simply dismissed. Often frustration is then amplified instead of buy­‐in being generated because a pastor or leader didn’t take the opportunity to cast vision.

For example let’s say money is tight and the accountant is upset because the church spent a substantial amount of money on muffins, bagels and coffee last year. A wise pastor would then point out how those hospitality items created opportunities for first-­time guests to stay and get connected and for regular attenders to stick around and experience fellowship opportunities with other believers after service, which resulted in numeric and relational growth in the church. Accountants need to bring you into their world, but you need to bring them into your world too.

(Get the rest of this report here.)

Weekly Mind Dump 8.14.11

• My staycation began on Friday...woo hoo!
• On Friday I watched the movie "Rio" with my girls. It is one of the most fun, not to mention gorgeously animated, kids' movies I have seen in awhile!
• This was a sad week of goodbyes.
• Some good friends and a core family at Calvary, the Leonards, are moving to Florida this week; we'll miss you guys tremendously!
• There were some even more bittersweet goodbyes as 2 friends graduated from earth to Heaven this week.
• Dr. Bob Beatty was one of my bible college instructors. He even made classes like hermeneutics and church history fun!
• Ray Ramos was a friend that was a great example and encouragement to me in my early Christian years. On Thursday afternoon I read a quote on Facebook he posted by Bono. Three hours later I learned he died of a heart attack. 
• I found myself thanking God more this week and hugging my family a little tighter and a littler longer.
• Since I had the Sunday off I visited my friend Michael Larkin's church, Catalyst in Middletown. They do an excellent job, and my family and I had a great time worshipping God with them today. (In keeping with the theme of the week; the message was about Heaven.)
• Michael went out of his way to welcome, honor, and thank us. We were very moved and excited that we could play a small in helping him and this great church get off the ground.
• I'm looking forward to hearing the message Nicholas taught at Calvary this morning. Even though I had a great time visiting another church, I really missed our church family!
• This week I am working on a top secret writing project this week...shhh. :)

Why you should bring in the specialist to your church

Teachers of God's words have the incredible privilege and responsibility to teach congregations we pastor about God and His word. The influnece we have in shaping many people's theology is very high and thus it demands that we steward the responsibility very carefully and prayerfully.

Fortunately, we have been given the gift of teaching (hopefully, if we teach!) to help us. However, we all have a different gift, different passions, and different experiences. That means we are going to be incredible in some areas and deficient in others. Our temptation will be to constantly stay in our areas of competence and avoid the areas of deficiency. However, the wise and humble pastor will employ the strategic use of the specialist to minister to his church in the areas he isn't as strong.

For the record, I am not saying we should outsource areas uncomfortable to us (like giving, sex, etc.) just so we can avoid them; that's weak. I am saying that there are some people that God has given a unique and powerful voice, and we would be wise to bring them in strategically to teach on issues we would never do as good a job on ourselves.

For example, at Calvary Fellowship this past weekend we brought in John Rankin. John is a brilliant theologian with an amazing gift for apologetics teaching and debate. He taught a message called "I Have Never Met a Real Atheist" and then engaged in debate with some atheists/agnostics in the crowd. He helped build the intellectual faith of our church in a way I never could.

"I Have Never Met a Real Atheist" from Calvary Fellowship on Vimeo.

Another example, is Dr. Bob Barnes who we are are bringing in the fall to teach a parenting seminar and a message about parenting at our Sunday morning service. Bob writes books about parenting, teaches conferences, runs a parenting organization. etc. Not to mention he has grown kids that are doing pretty well! Bob will help speak to families and encourage parents in a way I never could.

Every preacher needs a break. Why not think through your own deficiencies, the needs/concerns of those in your church, and bring in the specialist the next time you take a Sunday off?

Weekly Mind Dump 8.7.11

• What a difference a week can make! This time last week my wife had been in bed for a week knocked out on meds and this week she is up and at 'em pushing through the pain with physical therapy. (I detailed the turnaround in this post.)
• LIFE LESSON: The wrong advice will have you checkout out of life on the sidelines and the right advice will push you to get back in the game and press on!
• One of my favorite songs right now is "Rise Above" from the Spider-Man broadway show.
• I was thrilled to have John Rankin back at Calvary this morning to share a message with us called "I Have Never Met a Real Atheist." LISTEN HERE.
• I was really happy that a group of atheists/agnostics came out to service today after seeing this event promoted on Facebook (ad pictured). They were good to talk to and they asked some great questions (so be sure to listen to the end if you check out the audio).
• While I love to teach, I also love to have a break from it for a few weeks. It helps keep me fresh and helps keep things fresh at our church as we are all exposed to different voices with different gifts/talents/passions.
• My girls asked me to see Cars 2 today, I agreed and it was sold out! Didn't that come out a month ago?
• As a consolation, I took them to Dairy Queen. TIP: The Blizzard of the month is Nutter Butter...you should obtain one ASAP!

Don't be a pushover!

I am currently involved in a small group at our church right now that is going through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Last night was the discussion on negotiating and getting the best deal. If you haven’t checked it out, you should!

While Dave was talking about searching for and negotiating over the best possible deal on a personal level, it got me thinking about searching for deals and negotiating for our churches. After all, what church doesn’t need more money. Too often we turn right to raising more money, but an important part of being a good steward is also cutting down the bottom line expenses wherever possible.

For example, not long ago I asked a staff member to source some prices on recurring supplies. He came back and told me their “best prices”, and I told him “that’s not good enough” (thanks, Ramsey!). I instructed him to go back and tell them we were also checking into their top competitor (which we mentioned by name) and that they should sharpen their pencil and get back to us with their best prices before we make a final decision. Amazingly, their best prices became way better!

A lot of time people think churches (and even Christians for that matter) are easy targets. We shouldn’t be if we want to be good stewards. I’m not saying you should be a bully, I’m just saying don’t be a pushover! Ask for the best deal and  get the best price for whatever you buy. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Speaking of best prices, between now and August 8^th, Sharp Churches is offering 20% off our “Turnkey Accounting Kit.” This will help your church save money and manage your money better at the same time! Just click here and then use coupon code Turnkey20 to save 20% until August 8th! Not good enough? Why not try practicing your negotiation skills on me?

It's All Good (Reflections on my wife's injury)

The last week of my life went incredibly different than I had imagined and planned.

One week ago today, My Mom and her husband were in town and the whole family was going to spend the day in Newport, RI celebrating my 40th birthday. Instead, I spent the entire day in the ER with my wife in extreme pain. But, I should back up a day. Last Monday, we were supposed to do a thorough home inspection on the house we're buying and maybe do a little dreaming about our future. Instead my wife Rebecca slipped and slid on her back down 5-6 steps on the back deck of the new place. She got up and walked around, but the pain grew increasingly more severe. It worsened to the point that my wife, who has a very high pain tolerance (she delivered our three children naturally), had to be taken by ambulence to the ER last Tuesday morning.

The X-Ray at the ER gave us good new because it revealed that she did not have any breaks or fractures. However, Rebecca was told to wait a week, stay in bed, take some medicine to manage the pain, and if the pain continues come back in a week for an MRI to detect herniated discs (yikes). Rebecca spent a week in bed on some very potent pain medication in a painful fog.

The pain was obviously hard for Rebecca, but so was just laying around. This is not her speed! It was also hard on the kids (7, 5 & 3) who are used to seeing Mommy up and at 'em, full of energy and drive. It was also hard on me as my schedule was in disarray as I tried to manage my responsibilities, but also take on many of hers and keep everything under control (basically I played whack-a-mole for a week). One of the hardest things for the entire family was the uncertainty. Was this indeed a herniated disc that would take surgery, therapy and possibly involve chronic pain, or was it simply a bad back strain as we hoped? It was a long, hazy, challenging week.

Yesterday, we got some great news. A family friend got us in to see one of the best orthopedic specialists in our state. No hernia! It is indeed a back strain! My wife was ordered out of bed, given new meds (making her less loopy), and today she begins physical therapy. Bottom line: In a few weeks, she should be fully recovered. This was incredibly good news that obviously delighted us and made us extremely grateful to God. But as I look back, it wasn't the only good that happened.

In the Spirit of Romans 8:28, I'd like to share with you some other good things that came out of this stressful, disappointing, challenging and painful week for our family:

• We were reminded of how blessed we are. -Last week was a whirlwind, but a blip on the radar for us. Many families live long-term with severe calamaties. It is just as easy for me as anyone else to take what I have been given for granted. This week I have inventoried how blessed I am and I can tell you I have become a lot more grateful than I already was.
• We got to see our church family be a family to us. -One of the hardest things about starting Calvary Fellowship was leaving behind our families and some great friends. It is very hard raising a young family without the support of your extended family. However, this week our church family blew us away with their love, encouragement, prayer and support. People watched our kids, brought us meals (they're still coming) and went above and beyond to help us manage. We are blown away!
• We became closer to God. -Our family prayed more, reflected more and were dependant on God more than ever last week. It reminded me that that we are always dependent upon God, but situations like this strip away our facade of control and confront us with how much we truly need God every minute of every single day.
• God spoke in unexpected ways. I was supposed to teach this past Sunday, but on the way home from the ER I knew that wouldn't be possible. So I called Dave Swanson, our worship leader, and told him he was up on Sunday. He was originally going to deliver a short presentation on the Haiti trip before my message. Instead the whole service was now his (he had never preached before). It was a very powerful presentation, and if you watch it, I know you will be as blessed as I was on Sunday watching from the crowd.

There is more of course, but I've gone on too much already. Thank you for persisting this far, and may God help you to see the good in whatever dificult situation you might be going through even now. Remember, Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible, so it's all good my friend!

Weekly Mind Dump 7.24.11 (The geriatric edition)

• I turn 40 this week...I am freaking out a little bit! Just don't let me do anything too weird during my midlife crisis, OK?!?
• Rebecca and I rolled our anniversary and my birthday celebration into a 2-day trip to NYC. (Thanks to my Mom coming to watch the kids, it was just the 2 of us!)
• New York was HOT! 104 degrees. Needles to say we did a lot more indoor activities than usual this time.
• We packed a lot of fun things into a couple days, but the highlight for me was the broadway production, "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark." Spider-Man, music by U2, -it HAD to be good! And it was amazing; truly exceeded all expectations!
• This morning the A/C didn't come on at church on time so I was sweating like crazy throughout the message.
• I continued in Esther (2:1-18)with a message entitled "It's Complicated."
• Today was a non-holiday attendance record for us at Calvary. Even without all the guests for the baptism, we were way up. Odd for July; but no complaints!
• The baptism was awesome this morning! What a privilege to be able to come alongside people during such a special moment in their lives
• Sad to hear about Amy Wineouse dying. Addiction is such an awful, destructive thing. Jesus really got a hold of me when I was just a couple years younger than her; otherwise I would have ended up just like her (without the fame and fortune).
• I know the fact that I am turning 40 is a gift from God, and so grateful to Him for changing my storyline. Thank you, Jesus!

Keeping the 10 Commandments & Words From the Fire

I recently concluded a teaching series through the 10 Commandments at our church. I really enjoyed teaching it and the feedback I've heard from people about it has been very positive.

In addition to my regular commentaries, I read 2 books in preparation that I found to be very helpful. If you are going to teach through the 10 Commandments or just want to understand them better, these books will be helpful to you:

"Words from the Fire" -Albert Mohler. -This book is fairly detailed, and gives good background information and some thoughtful analysis of modern day application. Some chapters felt a bit too long to me, but all were very good.

"Keeping the 10 Commandments" -J.I. Packer. -This is a very short book with very short chapters. But don't let size fool you, it is a potent concentrated blend that is very powerful. Funny enough, some chapters seemed too short to me, but nonetheless the entire book is jam packed with numerous gems to be mined and enjoyed.

Reading these books together expanded my insights and gave me a more in-depth understanding of the 10 Commandments. I am certain they also helped me provide a richer experience for those in our church learning about this valuable section of scripture.

 

Weekly Mind Dump 7.17.11 (The anniversary, Anvil & owling edition)

• Visited the Submarine Force Museum this week with some friends from out of town. If you are in CT, you need to go! You can learn a lot of history, see torpedoes and even walk through an actual sub docked outside) -and it is FREE!
• Not sure why I can't lure the Berggren's to move here from Atlanta. With the cold winters, high taxes, the lack of Chick Filas...CT has a lot to offer!
• Had lunch with Jared C this week and had my first taste of Colombian feed. Delicioso!
• On Friday Rebecca and I celebrated 11 years of marriage -my life was radically upgraded when she became my bride!
• 13 people from our church left on Friday for Jacmel, Haiti (the 1st of 2 teams). I am excited for what God will do in and through them, and I'm excited that our church is now at the place where we can do things like this.
• Dave (our worship leader) is leading the Haiti trip, so a band called "The U.N.I.T.E.D." led worship for us this morning. They were great! You should check them out.
• I kicked off a new series this morning called Agents of Change (the book of Esther) with a message entitle, "God Are you There?"
• One person gave their life to Jesus this morning even though we didn't offer an invitation. Thank you, Jesus!
• I watched "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" this week. The documentary was a fascinating and depressing look at at what happens when a dream stays just out of reach via a Heavy Metal band that never quite made it. I never really liked the band, but I couldn't but root for them while watching this!
• If you missed planking, you can still be an early adapter to the next stupid craze; owling.