Radiant Life and Leadership

Excellence or Extravagance

2009-10-16T10:57:00.004-04:00

This first part is a Guest Post by Tim Briggs.

Tim:

'Being in ministry for 5 years, I’ve heard the term “excellence in ministry” thrown around frequently, especially in regards to technology. I’ve been disappointed to learn though that the term for many is translated to mean “extravagance in ministry.” In other words, people really mean they want the best, most expensive, and most luxurious. Is that what excellence really means though?

Certainly, this term is polarizing and has different meanings for different people but what does the Bible say about the topic?

At the end of 1 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks about the “most excellent way.” He says, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.”

What is the most excellent way? Love.

“If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” The next few verses echo this same sentiment.

In Colossians 3:23, Paul says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for me…” I’m not a Biblical scholar by any means but meditating on these verses leads me to believe that doing something with excellence refers to how we do things. It does not mean perfection. It does not mean the best. Rather, it refers to our effort.

Me:
Are we striving for excellence (as in "the most excellent way: Love) or are we striving for extravagance (as in "bigger, faster, louder, easier, finer: Flash)?

Actually both of these paths come with a high price tag. As a church, if we only have enough resources to purchase one... either excellence=Love or extravagance=Flash which would we buy? or a better question might be, which one have we already bought?

I'm bankrupt without LOVE.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. Love never dies.

I hope to see you Sunday @ Radiant Life. Mike's going to help us explore this theme of Love Always Wins.

Personal Pronouns and the Church

2009-10-07T07:53:00.003-04:00

When I'm talking with people, after church, on Sundays...they often tell me more with their words than they realize.

They almost always say one of two things:

“I go to your church” or "It was great to visit your church"
“I love our church” or "My church is doing some great things"

When they say, “I go to your church,” I know this person is not likely very engaged in the life of the church. In most cases, they aren’t serving, participating, or giving. They are casual observers...outsiders (only because they see themselves as outsiders). The "I go to your church" or "I am just checking out your church" people use that sort of phrase to communicate that there is still a distance between where they are in relation to the church. They are not ready or wiling to call it "my' church yet. They are simply attending a church that is not yet “theirs.”

When they say, “I love our church” or "We have a great church" they are usually very involved. The church doesn’t belong to someone else. It is “their” church. They know that there is a place for them...HERE at their church. They are ALL in. Invested. It's personal.

This Sunday WE are going to be challenged to consider our place in this church. Hopefully everyone will move from a "your church" stance to a "my church" posture.

I’m asking God to empower me to move people from “going to church” to “being the church.” When they stop going and start being, the church goes from "yours" to "mine".

(some of these concepts are from Lifechurch.tv)

Good News Huntersville

2009-09-30T08:16:00.002-04:00

Have you ever WONDERED...
If God is always 'WITH' us, then why is He so hard to find?

If the Lord says His sheep know His VOICE, why doesn't He talk to you?

If God is as RELATIONAL as the Bible says He is, where's the intimacy?

If the universe is THAT big (and assuming there is a God) what am I to Him?

You want to believe that having a 'personal relationship with God' is more than just words. You long to really know Him. But you don't have a relationship with someone who doesn't show up. Where is God?

He's CLOSER than you THINK. He's more EAGER to connect with you than you can imagine. But amid the relentless crush of daily living, discerning God can be a lot like spotting Waldo in the popular kids books. He's in every picture, but you've got to train yourself to recognize him amid the clutter and noise.

There is a fundamental/basic desire (embedding in every human who's ever lived) for connection and fulfillment in a relationship with the living God. He gives each of us an invitation to "taste and see that the Lord is GOOD" and is ENOUGH to satisfy you.

This Sunday, @ Radiant Life Fellowship, we will explore how to find God where you least expect Him. We'll talk about how you can make your mind God's dwelling place. We'll get a sense for how to draw closer to God when He seems absent.

The most frequent promise in the Bible is "I will be with you". God IS with you (Closer then you think) and within easy reaching distance. He is closer--much closer--than you think.

See you @ Blythe Elementary this Sunday @ 10am.

Looking forward to the Weekend

2009-09-22T09:10:00.004-04:00

Make plans this weekend to CONNECT with other Radiant Lifers.

This Saturday, September 26, 7-9 PM we've discovered some FREE and FUN entertainment! Come hang out with us while listening to Blues Express, a blues/rock 'n roll band performing as part of Birkdale Village's Mingling on the Green Concert Series.

If you feel like learning some new dance moves, you can join the Havana Social Club Dancers for free dance lessons during their "Dancing Under the Stars" event in the fountain area. Blues and dance moves right here in Huntersville---we hope you'll come with friends.

Please also bring a blanket or chair to sit on. Neil and Brooke will arrive early to stake out a space near the front so we can all find each other. See either of them with questions (765.244.0294).

Spread the word. See you there.
Chris

Sunday Night Mind Dump

2009-09-20T21:47:00.003-04:00

I'm adding a new feature to the blog. It's my initial thoughts, ideas, wishes, high fives that come on Sunday some time after church. It's kind of like my own debrief...added to this blog. So I'm debriefing with you. Ideally, I'd like your feedback too.

So here it goes in bullet-point form.

A lot of hours went into this weekend. I want us to work smarter, not harder. My hope and goal for this week will be to streamline and refine our set-up and take-down process. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I hope to have at least 2 point leaders for this area by this Sunday. Set up and Take down is work, no doubt. But I believe we can do it much easier and faster and simpler.
I like seeing lots of people come to Radiant Life today that I did not know. I think that ought to be our expectation. That every week we add new faces to the new faces we meet the week before. That will only happen if you get as passionate about inviting people as I am.
I think we forgot to give people a planned chance to greet each other during worship. I also think I forgot to prompt people to watch the communion video before they took communion. That was my fault.
I should have given the kids more time to get into the auditorium before communion. The more kids we have (Jenny counted 30-something altogether) the longer it takes to get them from point A to point B.
I called, and talked with, every person who filled out a connection card today. Great conversations. Everyone really enjoyed the service and felt welcome. We will be sending them a follow up email tomorrow.
The Grove had lots of kids today. They had a blast. I'm sure their leaders are processing how to make it even better next week. This is such a critical area of our church. I am their biggest fan and willing to do whatever it takes to help our leaders succeed and feel valued.
The Connection Cards, Life Group brochures and About RLF brochures all were well done. Thank you Mike and Katy.
Josh was a beast this weekend. Tons of hours. Assembled a band. Trouble shot lots of sticky scenarios and did it with grace and leadership.
I got LOTS of VERY positive feedback from the video clips that Jacob created. Well done.
You techie guys (Brian, Tom, Gary) were spot on today. I lot could have gone flippin wrong (and might have behind the scenes) but you all pulled it off. We'll work on a solution to our electrical issues this week. I also hope to get the projector mounted (per Josh' suggestion) this week.
It was great to have my brothers (Andy and Mark) and their families...my parents and Jenny's parents here today. Of course they wanted to be a part of significant events in our lives. My guess is that this coming Sunday, we'll begin to see who our most potential RLF-ers will be.
I'm getting used to the stage. It's a different environment than the clubhouse or the house, that's for sure. I hope I didn't come off to stiff or nervous. I don't want to be a distraction from the message. I do have real insecurities (believe it or not) and I pray real hard that God would use my in spite of my insecurities and imperfections. I pray that God would allow me to be at peace and speak with confidence the message He wants us to hear.
I'm meeting with Mike, Josh and Jacob tomorrow @ 8am (Dunkin Donuts) to debrief and plan for next Sunday. Pray for us.
I am open to your thoughts and ideas. I'm a life-long learner.
I do appreciate and continue to need your prayers for me...for my family...for this Church. My hope is that God would show us His favor and entrust us with His God-Sized vision for our community and our world.

I will have more thoughts and ideas this week.

I'm very pumped about THIS coming Sunday's message: "God Saves the Day"

We'll explore these questions:
"What if Jesus was living in Huntersville today?"
"Who would He hang out with?"
"What would He do?"
"What would He say...And to whom would He say it?"
"How would you respond to Jesus living in Huntersville today?"

Love God. Love People. Love Wins. Prove it.
Chris

Whatever it takes

2009-09-17T08:14:00.001-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts THIS Sunday, September 20th (10AM) @ Blythe Elementary School.

Do WHATEVER you need to do to make sure you and OTHERS get to Radiant Life Fellowship this Sunday @ 10am. {video clip}

40 Days of Prayer (day 37)

2009-09-17T07:49:00.003-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts THIS Sunday, September 20th (10AM) @ Blythe Elementary School.

Who is going to be at Radiant Life Fellowship this Sunday?

I'm sure there will be extended family members (I think even my parents, my brothers and their families and Jenny's parents and her sister are coming).

I'm sure there will be people from other churches coming to check us out.

I'm certain there will be people who have been hurt by the church (at some point in their life) and they will be there with critical eyes looking for love.

People who have given up on church...but not given up on God.

I'm pretty sure there will be some who come that were compelled (forced) by their spouse. So they are reluctant.

There will be some skeptics.

And any 1st Timers (We call them VIP) WILL be given the VIP treatment.

How are all these people hearing about Radiant Life? From YOU!!!

Be sure and pick up a green Radiant Life coffee mug. Use it in the Cafe (which is located in the auditorium-can't miss it).

Please pray for all these people God will send to us over the next 6 weeks.

I'm stoked.

40 Days of Prayer (day 34)

2009-09-14T17:49:00.002-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts THIS Sunday, September 20th (10AM) @ Blythe Elementary School.

10 Ways God has Saved the Day for Radiant Life Fellowship
1) The custodian @ Blythe (Freddy Rauda) is a Jesus follower
2) The principal at Blythe (Patty Johanson) is a Jesus follower
3) We are able to set up for Sunday services on either Friday afternoon or Saturday
4) We are able to store all our sound system/cafe/pipe and drape/lighting/etc @ Blythe
5) A local church allows us to park our trailer in their parking lot for free
6) Connection Church provided us with all their equipment @ a good cost
7) We have a few people who have trucks that can pull a 24' trailer
8) We have an incredibly motivated staff
9) We had a great "practice run" last weekend
10) God has bless us with money to afford to start a church in Huntersville

This is my short list from the past couple weeks.

How has God saved the day for you, recently?

40 Days of Prayer (day 33)

2009-09-13T22:39:00.002-04:00

Here's an opportunity for you. Fill a row of seats at the Grand Opening season of Radiant Life Fellowship starting THIS Sunday @ 10am. BIG opening you won't want to miss. Your kids are going to love it.

YOU are going to love it.

The people you are inviting this week ARE going to love it.

THIS SUNDAY.
Blythe Elementary School (corner of Hambright and Old Statesville)
10-11:15AM

Thank you for praying. God is good.

40 Days of Prayer (day 32)

2009-09-12T15:48:00.005-04:00

I’m looking for God to do great things in our day...and I really, really, want to be a part of it. I'll take a job sweeping the floors among a people who are also looking for God to do great things in our day.

God usually does his great work through people who are totally yielded to Him. This is a daily deal for me.

So what about you? Are you and your tribe looking for God to do great things in our day? Would you consider your life totally yielded to Him?

How about checking out the Radiant Life tribe of people I hang out with? This is the kind of life we are striving to live...and there's room for you.

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th (10AM) @ Blythe Elementary School.

40 Days of Prayer (day 24)

2009-09-03T15:34:00.006-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th (10AM) @ Blythe Elementary School.

Why does Huntersville need a new church?

NEW CHURCHES REACH NEW PEOPLE

Why do new churches reach new people? I don’t have a clue, but they do. When we launch Radiant Life Fellowship in a few weeks there will be people in North Charlotte, Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and even Mooresville who will try church for the first time ever, or the first time in a long time. Why? Because there aren’t already good churches in the area? NOPE. There are some great ones. It’s just that new churches reach new people.

Would you join me in praying for all the Jesus following churches in the area?

IT’S A FRACTION OF THE COST

A few weeks ago a church moved into their $25+ million dollar facility. Is there anything wrong with spending 25 million on a building? Nope. Could we raise $25 million for a building? Not sure. I have all the faith in the world if that’s what God called us to do that we could raise that kind of money. The problem is we don’t feel God’s called us to do that.

We’re committed to keeping our facility costs to a minimum so we can maximize our resources for ministry in the community.

AN INCREASED OPPORTUNITY FOR LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY

On a human level, we believe our number one resource is people.

Starting our first campus @ Blythe Elementary School requires a new group of people to step up and trust God like never before. It requires a group of people to step up and lead. It requires a group of people to partner together with their different gifts and abilities to form the body of Christ.

These are exciting days for Radiant Life Fellowship. I’m so proud to be a part of a church community that’s willing to take some risk to help people discover an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.

40 Days of Prayer (day 23)

2009-09-02T22:12:00.003-04:00

For the last week or so, our family has had lots of fun playing the game "telephone" around the dinner table.

Noah will start by whispering a phrase, a word or a sentence into Sara's ear. She will then whisper what she heard into Jake's ear (who always says 'I forgot what she said' and then Sara has to tell him again). Then Jake whispers what he heard into my ear (along with crumbs from his dinner) and I then whisper what I heard into Jenny's ear and she then into Cole's ear who announces to us all what the final phrase was.

That's the "telephone game" in our family.

It's interesting how upset Sara gets when her brothers try to purposefully twist the message before it gets to the end. She puts her hands on her hips. Wrinkles her eye brows and squints her eyes and says "Hey. That's not what I said."

We have laughed and laughed playing that game.

Over the next month or so we will get the opportunity, as a church, to do something similar to the "Telephone Game" in our community. We get to take the idea of Radiant Life Fellowship and invite others to come check us out during our Grand Opening Season.

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

It's a BIG risk, of sorts, on my part. I worked with a church planter friend of mine (Jonathan) to create a really nice postcard (front / back) that points to our new website and invites them to our Grand Opening Season. Now I'm trusting that our Core Team passes the cards out with personal invitations to come check us out.

Will they do it?

Will their invitation be genuine and clear?

Will people in Huntersville get the message we intended or will they be like Jake and say: "What? I didn't get it."

I know it's a risk. But I also know that part of being a disciple of Jesus includes taking risks. My friend, Jonathan, says (as Jesus followers) we ought to be taking 'repeated risks in the right direction'.

Would you join me in praying that God would prompt you and I to take repeated risks in the right direction this week? And the next week?...

PS -- thanks to those of you all who are passing out the postcards and inviting people to our Grand Opening Season.

40 Days of Prayer (day 23)

2009-09-01T15:30:00.014-04:00

There is a lot of NEED around the Huntersville, Cornelius, North Charlotte area. After spending 13 plus years here in Huntersville, I've noticed that the NEEDS have a way of staying hidden...if you are not looking for them.

One need, everyone has, is for food.

Here's a question for you.

Are there people in Huntersville who are hungry day after day and can't afford to eat properly?

Sandy Tilly believed that there was a real need to feed people for free in Huntersville. So about a year ago she opened Angels and Sparrows Soup Kitchen. They serve a delicious (free) meal to about 100 residents of Huntersville Monday through Friday.

At least once a month, volunteers from Radiant Life Fellowship go and help Sandy prepare and serve the meal to the people who come...in NEED.

My hope is that the people of Radiant Life Fellowship will search out the needy amongst us and take initiative to help alleviate those burdens.

Needs in our area include (but are not limited to): food, water, friendship, yard work, house work, mentors for high risk kids, school supplies, healing from addictions, encouragement, broken families, abuse, furniture, a job, a place for families to connect, JESUS.

Would you join me in praying that God would choose to use you and me to notice NEEDS in our community...and BE the answer to those NEEDS.

So what kind of NEEDS did you notice around you today?

40 Days of Prayer (day 22)

2009-08-31T20:14:00.003-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

Exodus 10:2 "You will be able to tell wonderful stories to your children and grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing among the Egyptians to prove that I am the Lord."

Deuteronomy 4:9 tells us: "Do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and (be sure that) they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. "

In these sections of the Bible, there was a strong sense that God was doing some incredible stuff for His people. It was obvious to everyone around.

God knows that we tend to forget. So in these passages, He's telling them NOT to forget how He has provided for, and rescued, His people.

God is still providing for us. God is still rescuing you and me from all sorts of destructive, addictive patterns. God has ultimately rescued us from the consequences of our sin, through Jesus.

Maybe for you...it's remembering way back to a time when it was clear to you that God was near. Maybe it was as recent as earlier today you sensed His work. God is already here, now, working in, through and around you.

Have you taken any time today just to quietly reflect and notice?

God is actually closer than you think. Join me, today, by spending a few moments practicing the presence of God in your life. When you do this...soon you too will be able to 'tell wonderful stories...about all the marvelous things God is doing...to prove He is the Lord.'

40 Days of Prayer (day 20)

2009-08-29T22:00:00.006-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

This next week; Jacob, Josh, Mike and I will be putting the details of our "Good News Huntersville" series together. This will be the 'opener' series throughout the Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship, Huntersville.

Would you join me in praying that...
Jesus would be made famous throughout Huntersville and beyond
the creative juices in our heads to flow out into this series
God would send lots of people to experience Radiant Life's birth
Each sermon would attract people to Jesus
God would use our parking team, greeters, coffee cafe, band, environment to break down barriers to the Gospel.
Our authenticity would be evident
We would bear much "fruit" throughout our Grand Opening Season

Thank you for your prayers. You rock.

40 Days of Prayer (day 19)

2009-08-28T13:52:00.003-04:00

Have you ever watched a parade through a hole in a really tall wooden fence?

If you have, then you know something about the "law of perspective" that is at work.

Looking through the hole in the wooden fence gives you a very limited perspective of the parade that's passing by in front of you. In fact, from that perspective you only get to see what is immediately in front of you. You have no idea what's coming. You have no idea of any sort of order or plan or how what's happening right in front of you fits into a bigger picture.

If you watch a parade on TV, you have one of the best perspectives. With 100's of cameras placed along the parade route as well as blimps and helicopter views...you get to experience and see the bigger picture.

This is the framework for the "law of perspective".

Everyone of us is affected by this law.

Lori Hine's mom (who's battled cancer for years) is back in the hospital, poised to hear news about her fragile health.

Courtenay Nixon's aunt has a critical doctor's visit today that has created lots of anxiety in the family

My great friend from college (Paul) has a niece who's husband was killed in a motorcycle accident earlier this week. I got a chance to talk (and pray) with her over the phone about 30 minutes before she was going home to tell their 5 kids that their daddy died.

Tom Paullins is still looking for employment after losing his job a couple months ago.

Brooke Seufert is still looking for employment locally, so she won't have to keep her job in Asheville and she can be home with her husband in Davidson.

We pray and plan for Movies in the Park and there's a high probability that it could get rained out.

WHY?

Part of it has to do with the "law of perspectives". We only see a very small piece of the story.

But our God knows the story from beginning to end. He is mighty to save. He is with (and strengthening) those of us who grieve loss. He is the father to the fatherless. He is our Great Physician. He is our all in all.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Join me in praying a prayer that acknowledges our limited perspective and declares our trust in our all knowing and all powerful God.

40 Days of Prayer (day 18)

2009-08-26T22:28:00.007-04:00

"Many hands make light work." - Chinese Proverb

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

This is a BIG deal. Starting a church is no small task.
I've made lots of mistakes.
I've had to do a lot of learning on the job.

I've had to endure devastating blows to the stomach (so to speak...I wish it was just someone punching/kicking me in the stomach or head. I can take that much better than having good friends jump ship).

I need your prayers.
And so does the staff of people who God has put together for such a time as this. Most of them are volunteers. Only two are part time. I'm the only full-timer (and old timer). They give a lot of themselves. They are a group of huumble, caring, sensitive, passionate, risk-takers who are proving daily that they love God, love people and that love actually wins.

Christine - Her clarifying questions and careful attention to details and communication are such a huge gift to Radiant Life. That's not even close to the gift she has given of herself, personally. She loves families to the point that she has probably only been able to participate in adult worship a handful of times. Why? Because she humbly serves you and me in the infant room or teaching the grade schoolers so you and I can benefit from worship while our kids benefit from her teaching and example of love.

Jacob - His thoughtful reflection of intentionally leading us into worship week after week...since day one...has been such a huge blessing to us all. He has a way of making you think "mmmm" as you sing familiar as well as not so familiar songs. I love how Jacob takes on the challenge of introducing new songs into our mix without flinching. As we gear-up for our Grand Opening, Jacob will be transitioning into a new critical role in our church and on our staff within the next few weeks. More to come.

Courtenay - On a search for an internship, she chose Radiant Life to find her place to serve, lead, learn and grow. She is doing all of them well. She has a heart for our teenagers (which makes this dad of a 6th grader happy to know). She's thoughtful. Wise. Willing to risk. I am proud of the way she handled the Art Walks we hosted this summer. She learned some valuable leadership lessons as well as gave several local artists a chance to show and sell their prized masterpieces.

Mike - After meeting Mike through the Church Planters' Coaching Group I'm in (called Cypress Project), I knew we were going to hit it off great. Mike's call and desire is to plant a church one day. He and his family (Katy, Emily and Ike) came to us from Journey Church after serving on their advisory board since about 6 months after Charlotte North's beginning. Mike brings lots of experience, packaged in a very encouraging and loving person. He's a part of my teaching team. He's creating an inviting "front door" experience for our guests. He's working with me to develop our Discipleship systems and he's fun to be around.

Jenny - My soulmate. Best friend. Wisest one in our family. Now that all 4 of our kids are in school, I invited her to join our staff. She's in a season of discovering her newest role that happens to not include the title of "mom". Can't wait for you all to see her shine in her ministry groove.

Josh - Our newest staff member. I've known Josh since he was in high school and have watched him grow and mature as a worship leader @ Independence Hill Baptist Church and then @ Connection Church. We will benefit from the years Josh has experienced at those 2 great churches. As we gear up for our launch, Josh will be transitioning into the worship leader role in our church and on our staff within the next few weeks. More to come. Can't wait for you to meet Josh.

Would you join me in praying for this team? If you belong to another church, by all means pray for the staff/pastors at your church. They need your prayers too.

40 Days of Prayer (day 17)

2009-08-26T09:17:00.002-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

Would you join me today in praying for all the teachers who, in many cases, are carrying a heavier load this year as a result of economic realities. I'm especially praying for the teachers and staff @ Blythe. Since that's where our Grand Opening location (for Radiant Life) will be, I think we ought to be praying for and investing in the people who go to that school.

Remember, we are working to gain credibility and influence in order to earn the right to be heard and be given opportunities to share the Good News.

Today, on behalf of all of you @ Radiant Life, I woke @ the crack of dark and arrived at Dunkin Donuts as they opened. I picked up a couple of Box O Joe's and some bagels and some munchkins. These weren't for me or my family (although my kids would have been freakin excited and jumped out of bed). I took these and gave them to the office staff @ Blythe. They were excited and very grateful.

I took several of our newest postcards (the ones we'll hand out @ Movies in the Park this Friday) and gave them out with a note that said "We're praying for you. Thank you for all you do. - Radiant Life Fellowship".

I wanted you to know that you are being represented well to the people @ Blythe even before we actually start there.

Let's take some time today to pray for teachers and for the people of Blythe.

40 Days of Prayer (day 16)

2009-08-25T08:29:00.003-04:00

1st Day of school today for CMS students.

This year, Jenny and I have 4 of the over 100,000 CMS students filled with anxiety, excitement and nerves. Our kids talked, last night and this morning, about the fears they had of going to a new class, with a new teacher and not knowing who would be in their class and not wanting to get lost.

Can you remember times when you were nervous about showing up at a new place for a new thing for the 1st time? What were your feelings?
Fear?
Anxiety?
Excitement?
Nervous?
Confident?

Those feelings could be some of the same feelings people have about going to church. Especially a new church. If they've never been to church before, or even if they used to go to church, the thought of showing up for the fist time can be intimidating.

For some people, that's what keeps them from coming to church, period. The intimidation factor. The fear factor. The perception that church-is-boring-outdated-and-irrelevant factor. All of these are barriers that keep the yet-to-follow-Jesus people from hanging out with His family @ church.

How can you and I help alleviate this barrier?
1) acknowledge that the barrier exists
2) pray that God would help us eliminate all barriers to the Gospel
3) describe our church in a way that helps relieve fears and intimidation factors
4) allow God to transform your own life...that's the most attractive and compelling commercial for Jesus (and for Radiant Life)

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

Oh. Check out our new website: Good News Huntersville
Let me know what you think.

40 Days of Prayer (day 15)

2009-08-24T20:28:00.004-04:00

Did you know that once you start to feel thirsty, you are already on the way to becoming dehydrated? Some doctors say you should drink 8 cups of water per day. That's what your body needs in order to be healthy.

Thirst is your body's way of saying to you "I need something or I'll start malfunctioning."
Hunger is your body's way of saying to you "I need something critical to our survival."
Hunger and Thirst reveal a critical need.
When your body is really thirsty, your "liquid radar" kicks in and you go in a desperate search for something that will quench your thirst and satisfy your thirst. And once you find it... ahhhhh!

Mysteriously God has embedded a hunger and thirst in all people for Him. At various points of our lives we have stronger hunger/thirst for God than at other times. So every person you meet, has some level of hunger and thirst for a God who really does know them and love them deeply.

In a few days, we will get a chance (God willing) to host our last Movies in the Park this Friday. If it doesn't rain, we could have over 1000 people show up. Many of them have a thirst (although they could not articulate it) to have a real relationship with our God who created them, loves them and desires a relationship with them.

Would you join me in praying that God sends us very hungry and thirsty people? I want nothing more than to introduce scores of people to my God who gives us living water so we will never thirst again. (reference to the story about the woman at the well).

40 Days of Prayer (day 14)

2009-08-23T15:32:00.004-04:00

I know we need the rain. You can look at the grass in my yard and it's obvious. But I'm asking you to join me and others in praying that from this Friday (around lunchtime on) the skies remain clear enough for us to host our last Movies in the Park for the season.

While we're on the subject of Movies in the Park... let me run through a few details for you.

We need all of you.
Set up begins at 4:30pm
Wear your orange t-shirt
Make an extra effort to interact more with the individuals and families in the crowd in the time leading up to the movie.
Strike up conversations using the tools we're providing you (ie. bug spray, registration cards, sun screen and the Radiant Life Postcards).
Make a point to make sure everyone at the park gets a Radiant Life postcard.
Also make it a point to give a verbal personal invitation to everyone in the park to Radiant Life's Grand Opening season starting September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School (10am)
Would you consider bringing at least 1 or 2 gift cards to give away?

Thank you for all the investment of time, money, sweat and prayer you've put into these events. Most importantly, would you pray with me that God would bless us with a harvest of people (that you've connected with and invited) that will come to Radiant Life and meet Jesus.

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

40DaysofPrayer (day 12)

2009-08-21T18:06:00.004-04:00

Let's say you just purchased some new technical gadget (a new lawn mower, a home theater system or a new ceiling fan) and on the box it indicated some assembly required. How many of you actually read through the instructions before trying to assemble all the pieces? Be honest.

I'll admit, I am a "look at the picture of the fully assembled product on the box and figure out how all the pieces fit together" type of guy. My approach is much like putting a puzzle together. The instruction manual is for when I'm stuck.

Now I know lots of you would carefully read the manual first. And you'd be much wiser than I. Once I stayed up all night trying to install a ceiling fan in Cole and Noah's room. The end result was a 4 speed remote-controlled fan with a light that now operates at only the highest speed with no possibility of ever being remote controlled. Good Times.

I mention this, because I totally understand how technical glitches can mess up well laid plans.

Radiant Life Fellowship is purchasing all the equipment (large sound system, video projectors, screens, helium tank, laptop, speakers, wireless mics, lighting, etc) from Connection Church. Our Sunday mornings are getting ready to change radically. It's going to rock. But "Murphy's Law" has a way of kicking in to big plans. Murphy's Law states that "if something can go wrong...it will".

So my request from you is that you begin adding this area of planting a church to your prayer times. Join me in praying that God would protect us from technical failure and glitches. That we would be able to have a smooth transition from where we are (technically) to where God wants us to be (spiritually). That God would be who we rely upon to grow Radiant Life...and not a video projector. After all, it's His church anyway.

I'm grateful for the new equipment we're acquiring and how it will enhance our ability to do more in Huntersville. It's a tool to help us do what God is calling us to do here in Huntersville -- make disciples of Jesus who make disciple of Jesus.

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

40DaysofPrayer (day 10)

2009-08-19T16:12:00.001-04:00

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

I want to take today's post and leverage it to ask all of you to join me in praying specifically for the following:
1) For Tom Paullins to get some great job offers.
2) For Brooke Seufert to get a job in Davidson (or a lot closer to their home in Davidson). She's been commuting to Asheville to keep her job (with benefits) until she or Neil can get a job locally that would support them.
3) For Neil Seufert and Courtenay Nixon and Jacob Collins as they begin this semester of seminary.
4) For Rafael Hernandez to have just the right job offered and for clarity and wisdom to know what that job might be.

Please pray. These are real people who love and follow Jesus...and they have real tangible needs. I know for a fact that they would get giddy excited to know that all of YOU were praying specifically for THEM.

Thank you for praying.

40DaysofPrayer (day 9)

2009-08-18T23:20:00.003-04:00

You probably remember the occasion when Gamaliel told the Sanhedrin to leave the disciples alone because:
“If their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39

If you are doing the work of God for the purposes of God in the power of God, you’re unstoppable too. Just like the early church. Just like Jesus Christ.
When I want what God wants for the reasons God wants it I’m unbeatable and unstoppable. - author unknown

Receive that today. Breathe it in. Then live it out.

Maybe it might seem like the odds are stacked against you. Maybe you have lost your confidence and courage. Maybe it's been awhile since you've taken a risk on behalf of God. Maybe you've felt stagnant and stuck in life.

Stay on the wall, Nehemiah. That person / situation /fear can’t stop you. God is fighting for you! Dream, implement, preach, evangelize, cast vision, reach out, risk...
It will come to pass.

Maybe you’re a parent trying to instill godly values into your child, and they’re putting up a hell of a fight every step of the way. Remember, your child isn’t fighting against you. According to Gamaliel, they’re fighting against God!

And whether they know it or not, they’ve met their match. It’s just a matter of time ‘til He lands the knockout blow.

Maybe you need God to fan what is now a tiny ember into an internal blazing flame that passionately pursues God's agenda for this city. Maybe you need a kick in the pants to get you off the couch and into this exciting game God's got planned for your life.

Keep training, encouraging, correcting, disciplining, praising, mentoring, sowing. It will produce a harvest. But you've got to get off the couch and get in the field.

If God is for you, who can be against you?
As long as you keep moving forward, you’re unstoppable!

Will you join me in praying that the assuring 'breath' of God will blow on the people of Radiant Life as we pursue God's plan for this city...which will be unstoppable if God is leading it.

The Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship starts Sunday, September 20th @ Blythe Elementary School.

You don't want to miss out.

40DaysofPrayer (day 8)

2009-08-17T16:50:00.003-04:00

Today I went by Blythe Elementary School and met with the new principal Mrs Johanson. She is really excited about Radiant Life using the facility, starting September 20th.

As we were talking, I thought I'd offer to bring coffee and bagels and such for her staff as they get ready for school starting. She was thrilled.

I even got a chance to talk with Freddy. He's the friendly custodian at Blythe who will be unlocking the doors for us each Sunday...starting September 20th. It was good to catch up with him and find out how his week was going so far.

It's the little things that mean so much in a relationship like this.

The little thoughtful things matter.

As we prepare for the Grand Opening Season of Radiant Life Fellowship, there are 1000's of little thoughtful things we could be thinking to encourage, invite, attract and compel the people of Huntersville to come check out Radiant Life Fellowship.

Can you think of some little details that would help us attract and welcome people well?

My prayer today is that God would give us the ability to pay close attention to the little details (like opportunities) as we prepare for September 20th.

40DaysofPrayer (day 7)

2009-08-16T23:09:00.003-04:00

"I hate Radiant Life Fellowship." -- Satan

Prayer is one of the tools (gifts) God has given us to acknowledge that we need help. There is a battle going on all around us. It's not against people. Most of the time, we aren't even aware...but you and I (as Jesus followers) have a real enemy (Satan) who does not want any church that puts Jesus on display to succeed...much less a new church.

But God is faithful...

Would you join me in praying that God would protect us from the evil one who means to steal kill and destroy? Pray that God would use the people of Radiant Life Fellowship (and other churches in this community) to make Jesus famous by making disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus...

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

Love God. Love People. Love Wins. Prove it.

40DaysofPrayer (day 6)

2009-08-15T14:27:00.004-04:00

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

I love to laugh.
I love making other people laugh even more.

When my kids laugh...it warms my heart. Sometimes I don't even get what they are laughing at...it's just their laughter that makes me laugh.

I remember one time laughing so hard with my kids that I spit milk out of my nose. When someone came in to see what was so funny...I honestly didn't know. I just got so tickled at how funny it was to hear Sara and Jake laughing at something that it became contagious. Laughter, at the right time, is contagious like yawning. (But yawning is not a high values @ Radiant Life)

{video clip inserted here}

Laughter is a high value around me and within my family. Hopefully you can tell I like to laugh and have fun.

I think laughter ought to be a high value around the church. After all, it's good medicine to laugh. Do you agree?

Somehow a good sense of humor tends to break down barriers. Humor makes people feel at ease. I especially am attracted to people who are not only funny...but their humor is not used at someone else's expense. I'm not attracted to people who think they are funny by making fun of someone else who's vulnerable. That's not funny at all to me.

If I can, in some way, create some laughter around some of the silly mistakes or quirkiness that make me who I am, then in some mysterious way I can create a connection with people who might be afraid to admit the same things that are true about them. Humor, used wisely, can open all sorts of relational doors. Laughter is laughter in any language or culture. It transcends.

Would you join me in praying that Radiant Life Fellowship would be a place and a people who can enjoy laughter and good humor...even if it means laughing at ourselves?

40DaysofPrayer (day 5)

2009-08-14T21:03:00.004-04:00

40DaysofPrayer
Day 5

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

Ok. I'm going to say it. I know it's risky but if I don't dream big about the Grand Opening season of Radiant Life, then the alternative is dreaming too small and not trusting that God can do the impossible. So here it is.

I am praying and trusting that God will send us people, from the Huntersville area, who are yet to be Jesus followers. After just a few weeks of hearing and seeing the Gospel preached and lived out among RLF-ers...I am banking that we'll have to Baptize a slew of new believing peeps. In other words, I'm going to go ahead and call it. We'll have baptism Sunday by mid October. And that's just the beginning of the transformed lives we're expecting as a result of God's work through the obedient people of Radiant Life.

I hope this sort of specific dreaming, praying and trusting from me gives YOU a sense of the direction we're headed and what's important along the way. We are putting a high value on transformed lives.
We want lots of yet-to-be Jesus followers to be attracted to us.
We will share the Gospel message each week and give people a chance to respond.
We will not hold back or water it down.
We will have a clear and compelling process for making disciples who make disciples of Jesus
We will pray often for the lost people in Huntersville
We will orient our lives toward lost people
We will do our very best (each Sunday) to engage the people of Huntersville in a way that softens their heart and breaks downs walls of fear, hurt, doubt and confusion in order to give them a chance to clearly experience God.
We will be authentic with our own lives and stories, understanding that Sundays are not a show or a performance but a gathering of seekers, doubters and followers.
We will filter everything through Love God. Love People. Love Wins. Prove It.
We will invest ourselves in all of this so God has a chance to use us for His greater purpose.

That's my big dream. Would you join me in praying to God about this?

40DaysofPrayer (day 4)

2009-08-13T13:00:00.003-04:00

40DaysofPrayer
Day 4

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

Short and simple.
Anyone who shows up to Radiant Life, on a Sunday morning, is considered a FRIEND of ours. We will never refer to anyone as a "visitor". When we use the term "visitor" we imply that they are a stranger who is just stopping in for a brief stay. Like when you are on a long trip that crosses stateline borders and you need to use the bathroom. So you pull into the "visitor" center to relieve yourself. (Probably not the best illustration).
So...everyone who comes to Radiant Life is our FRIEND.
Friends know each other's names.
Friends spend time together.
Friend make a point to invest in their friendship.
Friends invite each other over.
Friend go do stuff together.
Friends share.
Friends laugh.
Friends love.
Friends forgive.
Friends stick around through good times and rough times.
Friends play together.
Friends are there when you need a, well, friend.

You get the point?
Thanks for being one of my friends.
Chris

40DaysofPrayer (day 3)

2009-08-12T22:51:00.002-04:00

40DaysofPrayer
Day 3

Today, I was so busy I hit the ground running and just got a chance to pause and create the day 3 of our 40 Days of Prayer leading up to the Grand Opening season of Radiant Life Fellowship in Huntersville.

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

SCRIPTURE (1 Corinthians 12)
4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.

Something Specific I Want You To Pray For (related to our Grand Opening)
Please pray about what part of the body (here at Radiant Life) you will invest yourself in. There is a place for everyone. There is a place for you. God wired you and has given you a story for such a time as this.

Something Specific I Want You To Do to Prepare Yourself (and Your Family) for our Grand Opening
Take the initiative to let me (or any of our other staff members): Jacob, Christine, Courtenay and Mike know that you're willing to help.

A Prayer I Prayed Today
Dear God,
Here I am...send me. Use me.
In Jesus name, Amen.

40DaysofPrayer for Radiant Life

2009-08-11T13:16:00.003-04:00

40DaysofPrayer for Radiant Life
Day 2

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season-opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

Scripture
After this the Lord (Jesus) appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He (Jesus) told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Something Specific I Want You To Pray For (related to our Grand Opening)
We need high relational-connector Jesus followers willing to build relationships with those yet-to-be Jesus followers and spend the time to make disciples of Jesus out of them.

Essentially, this would be people who are willing to be intentional about their life. People willing to invest their life in making followers of Jesus who would then make other followers of Jesus. If you are that kind of person...WE NEED YOU!!! If you want to be that kind of person WE NEED YOU!!!

There are enough high maintenance Christian pew-sitting church attenders in this city. I'm asking the Lord of the Harvest to send us people who would see themselves as "missionaries" with a mission.

Would you please join me today, praying that God would answer this specific prayer? Let’s all pray together today, expecting God to answer our prayers.

Something Specific I Want You To Do to Prepare Yourself (and Your Family) for our Grand Opening
Would you do a quick assessment?
Are you in love with the mission of making disciples of Jesus enough to actually be making disciples OR are you more in love with the idea...but not willing to actually adjust your own life to really make even one disciple of Jesus?
I'm just saying...The harvest (those who are yet to be Jesus followers) is plentiful but the workers (disciple makers) are few. Would you consider being a disciple maker if you knew how? Then let's talk.

A Prayer I Prayed Today
Father. There are so many people, even here in Huntersville, who are facing an unimaginable eternity apart from You. It's overwhelming. We need more disciple makers. I am asking you to send Radiant Life just the right disciple-making people that you think we need to help the yet to be Jesus followers of Huntersville give their life to You. We would be honored if You chose to use each of us (@ Radiant Life) to grow Your kingdom. Show favor on us. We look forward to seeing first-hand Your mighty hand at work in and through us over these next 40 days.
It’s in Jesus name that I come to You, Amen.

40DaysofPrayer (Day 1)

2009-08-10T08:33:00.006-04:00

40 Days of Prayer
Day 1

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye. That's the season opener of our campus @ Blythe Elementary School for Radiant Life Fellowship.

Scripture
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Something Specific I Want You To Pray For (related to our Grand Opening)
We need equipment:
a trailer
sound system
large portable screen
video projector
flat- screen TV’s
carpet rolls
portable curtains for make-shift rooms in the school hallways
a cool coffee bar kiosk
a cool check-in kiosk

We also need people to serve:
parking
greeters
coffee hosts
ushers
nursery leaders

Would you please join me today, praying that our God will supply ALL our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus? Ask God to provide. We need God to come through for us on this. Let’s all pray together today, expecting God to answer our prayers.

Something Specific I Want You To Do to Prepare Yourself (and Your Family) for our Grand Opening
Are you tithing to Radiant Life? Are you investing in Radiant Life. Maybe part of the answer to our prayer above is you. Maybe you're not at a place where you can give $ generously, but you are getting there. Maybe you are resourceful and can help us find ways to aquire the equipment we need.

If you are tithing (with your resources) thank you. You are investing in a kingdom movement that will outlast and outlive you. Your sacrifice will not go unnoticed.

A Prayer I Prayed Today
Father. You are so good. I want you’re your plans for today to be accomplished. I submit myself to You completely. I realize that today you have some opportunities in store for me. I ask that you allow me to be fully present and aware of the ways You want to shape and use me for Your purposes. Today I join with lots of other Radiant Lifers in asking you to provide critical items and people we need to launch a church. I know You already know our needs. I also know You desire that we come to You and ask. You are our God. Without You we have nothing and we are nothing. We depend on You to come through. Please provide as You see fit. We would be honored if You chose to use each of us (@ Radiant Life) to grow Your kingdom. Show favor on us. We look forward to seeing first-hand Your mighty hand at work in and through us over these next 40 days.
It’s in Jesus name that I come to You, Amen.

40 Days of Prayer

2009-08-08T23:48:00.006-04:00

September 20th will be here in the blink of an eye.

That dates is not just any Sunday. It's the Sunday we are telling the (unchurched, lost, broken, messy, hurting, confused, disillusioned, weary) people of Hunteresville to show up at Blythe Elementary School for the Grand Opening season of Radiant Life Fellowship.

And we are going all out to make sure everyone comes and experiences something fresh from God.

We're going to need a lot of help. Our biggest need is for all of you to PRAY. If God does not move with us...we do not go -- PERIOD. I'm asking each of you to commit the next 40 days to PRAY for God to move in a BIG and POWERFUL way in our community. I'm asking you to PRAY that God would use us (YOU) over the next 40 days.

This is too big for us. We need for God to come through and show His favor on Radiant Life by choosing to use us to reach this whole community for Jesus. It's that simple.

You and I need to take the next 40 days to prepare ourselves to be used by God if He so chooses. Each day, over the next 40, I will post a blog entry that will include:
1) A Scripture. 2) Something Specific I Want You To Pray For (related to our Grand Opening) 3) Something Specific I Want You To Do to Prepare Yourself (and Your Family) for our Grand Opening 4) A Prayer I Prayed

Please feel free to add comments or prayers or stories to this blog at anytime. Also, sign up (on this right side of this blog) to receive these in your email inbox.

Thank you for joining me, and others, as we commit the next 40 days to prayer and watching/expecting great things from God for our city.

Chris

The Countdown to Preview Radiant Life Fellowship

2009-07-25T13:18:00.001-04:00

Starting Sunday, September 20th Radiant Life Fellowship will be launching preview services @ Blythe Elementary School.

Come join us at 10:30am.

Our Parking Team will guide and welcome you onto the campus.
Check in for the family will be just inside the school lobby.
All the kids have a place to belong in "The Grove"
Coffee, Juice and Pastries will draw you inside the auditorium.
Our live band will spice things up for you.
The experience will include: friends, laughter, encouragement, challenge and wow!
We are looking forward to your arrival.

What is the service like? Instead of an organ and choir, we have a band playing music that sounds like stuff you'll hear on the radio. You might want to sing along, clap your hands, raise a fist or tap your foot. Chris, our lead pastor, teaches a practical lesson based on the Bible. We tackle tough issues head on with practical advice straight from the Bible. And we'll do it in a language that you can understand.

What do I wear? Come comfortable. We believe that God cares more about the condition of our hearts than the shirts on our backs. Feel free to dress up if you like, or come in jeans. There’s no dress code.

What about my kids? We have great programming for children from birth to 5th grade called The Grove. Each of these environments is led by caring and trained adults. Each area has its own unique theme and atmosphere. Your kids will have a better experience and learn about God in a more appropriate manner in The Grove and you can then concentrate on what God has in store for you. Check-in begins 20 minutes before each service. If you'd like a tour, just let one of our volunteers know, and we'll be happy to arrange it.

Love God. Love People. Love Wins. Prove it!

10 Mistakes I've Made So Far...and the list is growing

2009-07-23T10:31:00.003-04:00

10 Mistakes I’ve Made (so far) as a Church Planter
by Chris Thompson

Every once in a while, I get people to ask me for secrets and tips and pointers for things that I’ve done well as a church planter and pastor of Radiant Life Fellowship. The truth is, I usually feel like a bumbling, idiotic amateur most of the time! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve done some things well and the grace of God has really been on us during this first season, but I’ve made a ton of mistakes! A TON!

I think church planters are notorious for having to learn from mistakes they were warned against (and for reinventing the wheel).

10. I completely, totally, absolutely (did I say completely) overestimated how much money we would be raising from week to week. We started with a small core of 7 families, including my own. A few months later one of the families had to move to Singapore. 1 family was in debt over their heads...therefore had nothing to give to church. Several months later a couple more families were left unemployed. A huge percentage of the employed adults that attend are either in a financial crisis or are a bit skeptical about giving to churches. We do have some very faithful givers. But they are in the minority. We’re working on solutions for all of these things, but I made many decisions based on these estimates and soon found myself in a bit of a leadership crisis without the financial resources to support the decisions I made.

9. I had this dream of starting a church with a strong core of healthy believers who were ready to reach out to the lost, hurting, broken, messy people in our community and in our world. I overestimated. I didn't realize that the very core that willing to plant Radiant Life WERE actually, themselves, the hurting, broken and messy people. I've had to be "pastor/counselor" a lot more than "church planter" which ultimately sidetracks the mission of a church plant and produces a lot slower growth/conversion rate. I was told by a few gazillion people that launching and pastoring this church would be like working two full-time jobs. I thought that was stupid. Turns out I was a bit stupid! I did not properly plan for just how much time and effort it would take to plant and lead this awesome community.

8. I underestimated how much effort it would take, for a church plant, to build influence and credibility in a city before people would be able to trust us enough to even check us out.

7. It's been a bit tricky leaving a 100+ year old church that I served for 12 years on staff...and planting a church in the same city. I had to take, essentially, a 1 year (Moses-like wilderness-wanderings experience)outside the city (with the core) before returning to the city to launch. That hurt us. But it helped us determine who was really in it to win for the long haul. It also did help us recognize our real values. But I'm not sure I would do that again, in that way...if I had to do it all over.

6. I underestimated the need for office space. I have heard a lot of different opinions on this and regularly read that it is not advisable to jump right into having an office, but we need it. With a family of 6, my home is a terrible makeshift office space. We will still make use of public space, our house, other homes, etc., but a dedicated office space is pretty essential in my opinion. As of now, we still don't have a dedicated office space.

5. I really regret not having a very clear, well conceived definition of what it means to be a member/partner of our church. Some of this really stems from my own personal hangups on the idea of membership. However, I am thinking that I don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater on this and we are now working hard to define what this means in our context.

4. I have been jaded by people who lie and don't come through and promise more than they actually deliver. So it's been hard for me to release projects, ministry, leadership, etc to people because I've been burned too many times and I end up holding the ball wondering what just happened. This is not a good spot to be in as the lead pastor. My leadership learning curve has been huge. I'm still not there, but I'm working on it.

3. We don't have a functional assimilation system that would really channel excited attenders into committed volunteers. We are just now starting to get this together, but I think we burned out a few volunteers in the process. As a very strong relational connector, I realize that is both an asset and a liability for the church. As a liability, unless the people coming begin to connect with each other and other connectors in the church...everyone will be connected to Radiant Life only through me. That's not good and I'm trying to rectify that in our systems.

2. We haven't been courageous enough and being courageous is essential to who we are as a community. Huntersville really doesn’t need another church doing the same old stuff that reach old people. Our core has very small relational networks that they are comfortable in. And those networks tend to be churched people. It's taken my own family the better part of a year to re-orient our lives around relationships with lost people. As a church, we're still working on this one too.

1. I did not paint a clear enough picture to our core, early on, of what it's gonna take to launch a church well. If we were on this wilderness wandering season, with the plan to launch one day in Huntersville, then I should have kept that at the forefront of our vision. I think I lost several "sprinters" who were surprised that planting a church is a marathon and it's difficult, rewarding, life-changing work.
Bonus Mistake. I did not realize how difficult (gut wrenching) it would be for me and my family when some of our close friends, who started on this journey to plant a church...opted out and left to go to another church that was already established. That hurts and sucks. But God is faithful. God knows who we need for this journey and this calling. Ultimately He IS enough.

God is still working in and through me. Mostly in me these days. I need lots of prayer for me and my family and for the people of Radiant Life. I've actually made more mistakes than these 10 and I know I will make lots more mistakes in the future. The key is not to make the same mistakes over and over again. I look over these mistakes and others and realize that I would never have learned the lessons I've learned or become the person God is shaping me to be without experiencing these mistakes.

The view from our porch on Vacation

2009-07-13T18:11:00.003-04:00

I'm just saying....

This is the view from the back porch of our beach condo. Actually it's Jenny's parents place. They are down here with us this week on vacation.

Time with the family at the beach is so life-giving. I am grateful for these moments. Every night is Family Fun Night this week. whoot!

The Hines family is staying just a couple blocks down the road so we meet up and spend the day at the beach together.

I've talked with Debbie Eaker who is also staying several blocks away. It seems the beach has lured all of us here to recoup, relax, enjoy for the purpose of giving us life...

What about our Doubts (part 1)

2009-07-06T16:10:00.002-04:00

What do you do with your doubts?

Everybody has doubts about something or someone including doubts related to their faith. After all, what is faith? Doesn't having faith in something or someone imply that there's a possibility for doubt?

As I was growing up, I found the church was NOT the place where I felt comfortable expressing my doubts.
Doubters were not welcome.
Doubting was not a shared value.
Doubt was discouraged and therefore doubters were left wondering what to do with their skepticism.

Nobody's perfect. Everyone has doubts...especially about:
God
Jesus
the Bible
faith
religion
spirituality
Christianity and more.

Do our doubts disqualify us from God's love?
What do we do with our doubts?
Is this a place where even doubters are welcome?
How do we overcome (explore until there's enough confidence) our doubts?

These are some of the questions I hope to explore this Sunday as we gather @ Radiant Life Fellowship.

Bring your doubts and your doubting friends.
Remember: No Perfect People Allowed...there's always room for more.

No Need to Pretend (part 2)

2009-06-27T13:59:00.003-04:00

I know a lot of people, in the church, who want to have the reputation of (be known for) being a Christian without having the real life transformational work actually happen in their life.

They want to be KNOWN for being generous without having a heart that's just generous.

They want to be KNOWN for being something they are actually not. They pretend.

Here's the irony:
Pretending, in the church, leads to death.
Transformation (which includes dying to your self) actually brings life.

Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost.

Mark 9 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Into every life, there comes moments of truth when we get the gift of facing the truth about who we are before God, others and ourselves.

When was the last time you courageously faced the truth about yourself?
Are you a slave to what other people think about you?

Freedom can only come when we stop pretending (when we stop managing our reputations) and when we allow Jesus to transform our hearts and lives.

Choose life, now, and be free.

No Need To Pretend

2009-06-24T22:39:00.004-04:00

Lately I have been “trying” to be “real.

I would never go so far as saying that normally I am fake, but sometimes when situations are tough, sometimes when relationships are frustrating, sometimes when life isn’t fair, I can be fake-ish. (I know, I know, that really isn’t a word, but why don’t you just give me a break?)

But honestly, I can gloss those situations over with a joke or a laugh or a comment/question to distract from the difficult or awkward. I tend to avoid difficult and awkward.

And lately in the midst of trouble, frustration, and uncertainty, when I might have glossed over what I really think, what I really mean, or what I typically hold back, I am trying to stand firm, get my point across, and be “real.”

And it feels great.

Yes, I have had some awkward moments, some tough conversations, and some reality checks but there is one thing I have not had. Regrets. Yes. I need lots more practice at this being "real" craft before I feel totally free from the fear of man (i.e. what other people think of me).

And so I am going to keep pressing on in my search for “real.”

So tell me, have you forced yourself into any tough conversations lately? Any regrets?

This Sunday, @ Radiant Life Fellowship, we'll discover why "There's No Need To Pretend" and why that's good news.

Irresistible Marriage (part 5)

2009-06-23T23:01:00.004-04:00

Last Sunday, we talked about:
the movement toward godliness,
the movement toward servanthood,
the movement toward honor and enjoyment.

What does it look like when all of those are connected, all the cylinders are pumping, when you're moving in those directions with your marriage?

What will happen is...
you'll communicate openly and regularly about matters of the heart.
You'll encourage one another.
You'll act thoughtfully towards one another.
You'll be affectionate with one another.
You'll celebrate each other's uniqueness
and compliment each other's strengths.
You'll accept and tolerate each other's weaknesses.
You'll resolve conflict constructively.
You'll make decisions mutually.
You’ll pray together.
You'll face pressures courageously.
You'll serve each other joyfully.
You'll tease each other playfully.
You'll reveal failure to each other graciously
That's the kind of oneness, the kind of marriage God designed.

I think that's God's design for how to stay in love.

I think that’s God rescue plan for your marriage and mine.

What direction is your marriage moving?

Irresistible Marriages (part 4)

2009-06-23T22:56:00.006-04:00

Some of you have marriages that are pretty good, and they could be great — God wants them to be great— if you just gave them the gift of time and energy.

It’s ironic to me that I will talk to people who are amazingly intentional about other areas of their lives – they have mission statements and purpose statements for their careers and core values for their companies – but they have never given thought to having a vision for their marriage.

And for some of you, maybe your goal for your marriage or another relationship or friendship is to move it from good to great just by being intentional about time.

There are so many reasons to fight for your marriage.
So many reasons to say, “One more time, I will forgive. I will love. I will have a conversation.”

And I pray that you do it today and this week.

One of the things I want our church to be known for...is the simple fact that we are working on our marriages.

Irresistible Marriages (part 3)

2009-06-18T10:34:00.003-04:00

The third one I want to look at is expectations. We all have expectations about almost everything. You walk into a restaurant; you expect there will be food there and plates.

When our expectations are met, we just don’t think about them. When they are exceeded, we are thrilled.

It’s when our expectations are not met that it causes this disequilibrium in us, and sometimes it’s even very subconscious. You don’t even know that you had an expectation at a certain level and that it didn’t get met.

But one of the symptoms is you find yourself living with a chronic disappointment and dissatisfaction.

You find yourself talking bad about your spouse, often to other people.

You always feel disappointed. That’s a sign to you that expectations aren’t being met. And this is where the hard work comes in of figuring out,

“Are my expectations unrealistic?"

"Have I been giving up all my expectations just to keep the peace?"

"How do I navigate what it is that I need and what it is that my spouse needs?”

Expectations happen in all categories of our relationships.

Dietrich Bonhoffer writes in his book Living Together how "...the disillusionment of each other is the starting place of community – the realization that you are married to a broken person and that you are a broken person."

Henry Cloud writes that marriage, “…while it is an utterly unique relationship, was never intended to be the place where someone gets all of their needs met.”

Jesus is the only all-sufficient relationship we could have that will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

“An unresolved dependency on another person for my completeness and happiness is death to my marriage, and I need to stop looking for the spouse that I want and start loving the spouse that I have…to give my marriage a chance to be great.”

And to realize every time I have sensed Jenny has disappointed me, I have had to live in the reality that she has had that same experience from me. And it is humbling.

Another good thing this week, during your date time, if you are writing down differences might be to turn that piece of paper over and talk about (in your marriage) what are some expectations you had going in that have been wildly exceeded, and what are some expectations that you are still living with that you feel haven’t been met. And talk about those.

Instead of allowing your expectations to be an exit to your marriage, allow them to be a point of connection. Bringing you toward oneness.

Irresistible Marriages (part 2)

2009-06-17T10:23:00.003-04:00

The first threat to oneness in a marriage, that I mentioned yesterday, was our DIFFERENCES. The second threat to oneness in our marriages is what I would call WITHDRAW.

Withdrawal is one of my favorite exits because you can do it and still look spiritual at the same time. When I withdraw, I don’t say nasty words; I don’t make an obvious attack. I just fly under the radar screen. And after you’ve been married long enough, you can gauge this kind of thing with such exquisite precision.

Every one of us understands how the mechanism of withdrawal works in relationship. And it sounds like such a tiny event, but you multiply that a few thousand times over - day after day, week after week, year after year - and you end up one day with two strangers living under the same roof, and they don’t even know how they got that way.

They just mastered the art of withdrawal.

I’ll tell you about a character in one of Jesus’ most famous stories who I think was a master of the art of withdrawal. Do you remember the story about the Prodigal Son who leaves home, leaves his dad?

There were two characters in that story who really wished the Prodigal Son had never come home. One of them was the fatted calf (ha! ha!). The other one was the elder brother.

Jesus’ understanding of human nature is so profoundly deep.

Jesus says, “He was angry.” He didn’t get into a fight. He didn’t get violent. He didn’t start yelling and throwing stuff or kicking things. He was angry, and he wouldn’t go in to celebrate that his runaway brother was now home. He just withdrew. He just refused to be part of the party.

And his father came out and pleaded with him (which is what withdrawers always want – somebody to beg them).

And the son says, “No, you go ahead. Have the party. I’m fine. I’ll just keep working out here. It’s all I ever do anyhow, not that anybody notices. You go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

And that little phrase right there, “I’m fine,” that’s the dead giveaway that someone in the relationship is withdrawing which is damaging oneness.

There are a lot of ways to take the exit of withdrawal:

*watch TV every night to avoid intimacy,

*retreat into romance novels or the internet,

*immerse yourself in a hobby or career,

*learn how to use silence or body language to inflict pain.

The capacity of withdrawal to inflict pain is unbelievable.

James 4:17 says this: Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

That’s a great statement for any of us who wrestle with withdrawal to memorize.

It is possible, with God’s help, to change. And maybe for some of you, God’s calling you to say, “I’m not going to withdraw anymore. I will engage. I will talk even when it’s awkward or hard."

Is withdraw damaging the oneness in your marriage? Are you willing to do the difficult investment in your marriage to protect and strengthen the oneness factor in your marriage? What's stopping you?

Irresistible Marriages

2009-06-16T10:38:00.004-04:00

Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

Two becoming One. Oneness is the dream God has for your marriage. Oneness is a gift from God. You can't create oneness. You can only maintain that gift of oneness that God has already given you in your marriage.

Aaron Beck, an author who writes a lot about relationships, talks about two different ways in which marriages can be damaged...and this is true for all relationships in general. He says that "People can take big exits, or people can take little exits.”

"Big exits” would be highly dramatic, very visible, often permanent ways to leave a marriage.

Divorce would be the most obvious one.

On a side note: Divorce is not the unforgivable sin.

"Little exits” are much more subtle, quiet, underground, barely noticeable ways in which I move away from oneness. When you take a “little exit,” the result is that you find yourself feeling…a little more distant, a little more separate, a little disengaged.

And all day long, Beck says, in dozens of ways, by the words that we speak, by our tone of voice, by our body language, by our activities…we are constantly either building oneness or eroding oneness.

One of the greatest threats to oneness in your marriage is in our DIFFERENCES. Little or big differences (between two dysfunctional, broken, imperfect people like you and me) can damage and drive a wedge between you and your spouse. Our differences, left unchecked, can (and will) damage oneness.

So how do you keep your differences from damaging the oneness in your marriage?

Irresistible Movement

2009-06-10T07:37:00.003-04:00

We're in a series, at Radiant Life Fellowship called IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION. Seth Godin writes, in his blog, about MOVEMENT: My favorite part happens just before the first minute mark. That's when guy #3 joins the group. Before him, it was just a crazy dancing guy and then maybe one other crazy guy. But it's guy #3 who made it a movement.

Initiators are rare indeed, but it's scary to be the leader. Guy #3 is rare too, but it's a lot less scary and just as important. Guy #49 is irrelevant. No bravery points for being part of the mob.

We need more guy #3s.

Irresistible Opportunities

2009-06-04T08:01:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago, I met with the new principal at Blythe Elementary School (the school my kids attend about a 1/4 mi from my house). I asked her if she would be supportive of having a church meet at the school on Sunday's. She is very supportive and I believe we would get an opportunity to adopt that school and see some tangible results from that partnership.

I sent in the application to CMS requesting the use of Blythe Elementary School this Fall. I will let you know what I find out.

I'm praying, listening and taking action towards securing a great Launch location for Radiant Life Fellowship for this Fall.

Sunday, September 20th looks like it could be a potential Launch Large date. If that's the case...I was thinking we could do a Preview to the Launch service on the Sunday before-Sunday, September 13th- (which would also give us practice in the new location before the official launch).

I can't predict the future and confidently say all these things are just going to fall into place. I do know that God is in control. He's our senior pastor, Savior, leader and Lord. I just want to invite you to pray. Pray that God's will be done. Pray that He would show us favor in Huntersville. Pray that we all could hear and see clearly the leading of God in this. Pray that God would trust us and bless us with lots of people we can introduce to Jesus.

I hope this help keep you informed. As we find out our options, we will keep you informed and eventually you (Radiant Life) will decide on this matter.

I welcome and invite your questions and your prayers.

In my next post, I'll talk about how we can possibly launch a 2nd Radiant Life campus, in Huntersville, almost simultaneous with the launch of our 1st Radiant Life campus this Fall. Good times!!!

Irresistible Teams (part 2)

2009-06-03T23:03:00.003-04:00

We had an incredible time tonight as a Life Group. We did a big team building activity in our living room. It was fun. We laughed, cried and genuinely encouraged each other.

What if we were to think of church as a team sport. It takes all of us. I need each of you on this team if we are going to make any sort of dent in the Kingdom. You are valuable and you are a part of a movement in the area.

As a sort of coach, I want to let you know of some key positions, on the team, that are up for grabs. I'm not looking for experts or even someone with experience in these areas. I'm looking for some of you to just be willing to risk a little and get in the game somewhere. Here are some possibilities for you to consider. If one of these areas looks interesting to you...let's talk.

1) create the wow-factor experience for all newbies. (example: make sure our 1st time guests get the royal welcome treatment from giving them a free gift to treating them to lunch-on Radiant Life).

2) expand our band (talk with Jacob)

3) chief graphic artist (someone to help create graphics for future sermon series as well as fliers and our website)

4) point person to create a 2nd Radiant Life campus @ Angels and Sparrows Soup Kitchen (oversee the distribution of free groceries, coordinate volunteers, etc.)

5) chief CEO of the set-up and take-down teams for Sundays (this will get bigger as we grow and launch in our new Fall location)

6) chief texter, phone caller, emailer for to follow up with those who missed this Sunday (create a system where no one falls through the cracks and everyone feels cared for)

7) marketers and advertisers to help us create buzz and momentum in Huntersville for a large sustainable launch in mid September at our new campus.

8) life group leaders: Courtenay will be training and equipping anyone who's interested in hosting a life group that could start this Fall.

I know there are more positions available. This is just a start. As a team, we want everyone to get a chance to get in the game. Again, we're not looking for superstars or franchise players. YOU are exactly who we need...and YOU are exactly who God sent us. So get ready to suit up and get in the game.

This Sunday, we will take a look at what makes an "Irresistible Pace". I really look forward to Sundays. Who are you bringing?

Irresistible Teams

2009-06-02T07:55:00.002-04:00

I love being picked to be on a team. I've also enjoyed watching the NBA finals with my two oldest kids: Cole and Noah.
Even though the Bobcats narrowly missed being in the finals, there have been two occasions Jenny and I have had to go to the Bobcats Arena and sit in what’s called the Luxury Box

It’s called the Luxury Box because they never want you to want to leave it.
It has wonderful food, beverages. You can watch TV; Comfortable seats.
A luxury box is a really nice place; it’s a very safe place.
No one ever boos you in the luxury box.
You never brick a shot or miss a slam dunk when you’re in the luxury box.
You never triple bogey a hole, lose a race, strike out or fumble the ball
when you’re in the Luxury Box.

There’s only one problem with the luxury box:

The game is not actually in the luxury box. The teams are not in the Luxury Box.
The actual players, the teams and the game are down on the field/court.
And God did not make you for a luxury box.
God made you to be on a team and get in the game.
So, I want to talk to you about leaving the bleachers—about getting out of the spectator business and getting into the team business.

I’m inviting you to join a team and get in the game.

When Jesus taught on this subject, He would get right into people’s faces.
He was building a team. Inviting people to get out of the stands and get in the game.

Jesus would approach people and say: "Follow me." People would have to decide, Do I really want to follow this man, or do I not? Am I really ready to suit up and get in the game?

One of the most common reasons that people give for not suiting up for the team and getting in the game include:
"I’m not qualified."
"I don’t think there’s anything special I can do."
"I’m not a spiritual giant."
"I don’t know much in the Bible."
"I've done some things that disqualify me"

Think about this…God has a team. Some of the former (retired) players include…
These are actual people God used on His team in the Bible:
• Abraham was on Medicare.
• Moses had a speech impediment.
• Joseph was an ex-con.
• Rahab had a history of sexual misbehavior.
• David was a homicidal adulterer.
• Elijah was bi-polar. He outran a chariot for miles one day, and he was suicidal the next day.
• John the Baptist ate bugs.
• Thomas doubted.
• Gideon panicked.
• Martha obsessed over housekeeping and food preparation. (That’s Martha in the Bible, not Martha Stewart.)
• Jonah was directionally challenged.
• Samson was relationally challenged.
• Zacchaeus was vertically challenged and integrity challenged and worked for the IRS, so nobody really liked him.
• Jeremiah said he was too young.
• Sarah said she was too old.
• Paul was not exactly Dale Carnegie in the tact department.
• And Peter was a poster boy for spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder.

These are the people through whom God changed the world.

So here’s the question: "What is your excuse?" Anybody in the Bible could have said “No” to suiting up for God’s team, because they felt inadequate.

Think what they would have missed!

The Truth is: There are no spiritual giants. We’re just a community of broken, unqualified, mess-ups

The Truth is: There are just people in the stands and people in the game on the team.

If this motivates you at all to get suited up and in the game...I'm picking you to be on the Radiant Life Fellowship Team. We need you! I'll follow up this post with more specifics about what the win looks like. Who our enemy is. The cost involved in playing on this team. What specific roles need to be filled...and more.

Irresistible Revolution (part 5)

2009-05-25T17:19:00.002-04:00

Seth Godin wrote in his blog recently on a topic that's crucial for the church to consider...

It's focus was on becoming a household name

The guidance office at the high school has a big poster for Wellesley College hanging by the door. It's just a picture of a building, no features, no benefits, no text at all.

Kids apply to schools (a quarter of a million dollar investment) for crazy reasons. A big one: "Well, I've heard of it."

Gonzaga University features basketball players on their home page. No doubt a few people attend to play basketball, but my guess is that the school believes that the fame of their school will somehow get someone who doesn't play to attend.

It's completely irrational and it's also what your customers do every day.

Being a familiar name takes you miles closer to closing a sale. People like to buy from companies they've heard of.

This summer, our WIN is to begin to become a household name in the Huntersville area. We'll do this by partnering with lots of good organizations in ways that end up blessing the community. In the process, we WILL attract people to Radiant Life Fellowship because of what attracts us. By this Fall, we should be ready to Launch Large in Huntersville because we've begun to build credibility and influence in Huntersville.

We hope to soon be a household name and possibly change the way some people think about church.

What are some ways you can come up with that will help Radiant Life Fellowship become a household name in a way that attracts them to us and will help us launch large this Fall?

Irresistible Revolution (part 4)

2009-05-24T20:25:00.003-04:00

I am so excited about this series we are in. Today, Doug Smith stretched our imaginations and primed us with some incredible, irresistible opportunities for intersecting the Gospel in our culture. I heard lots of great comments about how some of you might be putting your ideas into action.

One of the ways we can come together, as a church, and accomplish something huge is our involvement in Movies In The Park this Summer. This is a big part of our Launch Large this Fall Strategy.

About two months ago, I sat down with The Town of Huntersville Parks and Rec. leaders. I introduced myself and asked them what their biggest needs were. They had happened to take a survey, back in December, that said people wanted "Movies In The Park". The economic landscape made it impossible for the Town Of Huntersville to buy/rent that sort of equipment. At the same time, I met David Henderson - pastor of University City Fellowship. They have at least 2-3 years of experience with Movies In The Park. Debbie Eaker and I met with their team and got all the details. In fact, they offered to let us use their equipment to do our own Movies in the Park.

Here's what's happened in the last couple of weeks:
*I jumped through all the legal/process Town of Huntersville hoops and got approved to officially partner with them on this event in our city.
*As a result, the Town of Huntersville will create a banner (advertising the event with our logo) and hang it over Gilead Rd. They will also help us advertise in other ways too.
*I met with the owner of the Huntersville Chick-Fil-A. He offered to gives us coupons, gift cards and staple our flier on all their bagged meals for at least the week prior to each event.
*I met with the district manager of Cici's Pizza. He jumped on board right away and is also willing to put our flier on all their boxes at least a week prior to the event.
*We were not able to get our fliers into the CMS school system. The deadline was back in April.
*Debbie Eaker and I are meeting with the leader of Angels and Sparrows this week to begin a partnership with them.
*The Donna Downey (our famous neighbor) volunteered to create a flier for this event.
*Christine Allen has ordered special T-Shirts for all of the volunteers. The T-Shirts will be re-usable and will have our church name and logo on them.
*We ordered for-sale-like signs, to strategically place around Huntersville, advertising the event.
*We will also take the flier into neighborhoods.
*Lots of Radiant Lifers signed up today to pull of various parts of the Movies in the Park.
*We're creating a few short movie clips (introducing Huntersville to Radiant Life and advertising our Fall launch date and location). These clips will be creative and will play before each movie.
*You staff is mobilized and leading this effort by building teams around specific tasks.

This is all part of our Launch Large in Huntersville strategy. In a way, we're hoping to change the way Huntersville thinks about church. And we need all of you to actually pull this off well.

We need you to:
1) spread the word (big time) about the movies in the park.
2) help us get fliers into your neighborhood
3) put it on your facebook page...linking to the website.
4) sign up to serve on at least one of the teams
5) financially sponsor something for the event: popcorn, gift cards, drinks, etc.
6) PRAY that it does not rain on those specific dates and that God shows favor on us by sending tons of Huntersville-ites out to this free event.

This Sunday, I'll be addressing the TEAMS piece of our strategy and our church DNA. I need all hands on deck. This is one Sunday you don't want to miss. Our target: Irresistible Revolution: Irresistible Teams

Irresistible Revolution (Part 3

2009-05-20T11:44:00.004-04:00

We are in a series called: Irresistible Revolution @ Radiant Life. We all desire to make our lives count for more. We don't just want to give our lives for a fad or a cause. We want to live and give our lives for a revolution. And a revolution that's irresistible. One that attracts others and kind of snowballs out of our control.

Last Sunday, our strategy for being irresistible friends all boiled down to three statements:
1) Everyone's Welcome
2) Nobody's Perfect
3) Anything Can Happen

Relationships tend to be messy and difficult. This particular video clip seems to capture the longing and the joy and pain of two brothers...remember the story in Genesis about Cain and Abel.

It's the human condition.

"I trusted Charlie. I made myself vulnerable with Charlie. I stick my finger in that little circle of connectedness and Charlie bit me." It's got pain and hope and joy and anger and longing all wrapped up in a relationship. That's us.

The Bible has a saying "How good and pleasant it is when the people of God live together in unity" ...but often times we don't -- "Charlie bit me."

We get rejected. We get hurt. "O that hurt" and we withdraw. And the story of the human race is that when we get hurt, we attack. Hurt people hurt people. Or we withdraw, Either way, our problem is lovelessness. It might be aggressive -- we attack. It might be passive -- we withdraw. Either way, it's the same problem underneath it...which is lovelessness.

How good and pleasant it is when God's people (called brother and sisters because we are a part of the family of God) live together in unity. But we don't.

One day, God said to Abraham "I'm going to start a new family. Only this is going to be a family for dysfunctional, broken, messed up, sinful people. This will be a family for people like Charlie and his brother. And God offers this new family life and wholeness through Jesus. He calls this family the church.

It works like this. If anyone would come to Jesus...acknowledge the truth about our sin and that Jesus died on the cross for us as a gift. If you repent of my sins and ask God for the power to become a new kind of person, then you can be a part of this new family that's spreading all around the world.

Jesus says: "A new command I give you. Love one another. All people will know you are my followers if you have love for one another."

This Sunday, Doug Smith will be with us leading us in a conversation about Irresistible Opportunities that are all around us. Should be captivating.

Irresistible Revolution (part 2)

2009-05-13T12:57:00.005-04:00

Jenny and I were married on Saturday, May 29th 1993 in Rutherford County, NC. This coming May 29th will total...

16 years

192 months

5,840 days

140,160 hours

of our life as a married couple.

When we started out, we were going to live on love.

4 years into it…we had Cole.

Job

Bills

Expectations

Relationship/Marriage Pitfalls

Diapers

Little sleep and even less money

There were times when this "living on love" wasn’t what we thought it would look like.

Here is the problem that I’ve discovered—No matter how hard I try, it seems so easy for love to fade.

There's this place in the Bible where God writes a letter to some churches. One of the letters is to a church in Ephesus. He congratulates them on a lot of good stuff they are doing.

But then He says something to them that stings. God said the main thing I have against you is this: "You've lost your first love". God saw this church that was very busy doing good things, but they weren't doing them out of love. This church honestly couldn't even remember why they were doing all that stuff. Their motivation for good actions wasn't as a result of their understanding and experiencing God's love.

You see, none of us has any capacity at all to really love someone in our own ability. We're too self centered, wounded, warped, jaded, and so on, to really love. Love looks like this:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. I can't do that. The only way I can even come close to doing that kind of love is as a result of God loving me first. The Bible says "We love, because God first loved us."

The ONLY way I can love is because God loved me first...when I am most unlovable.

Try loving someone who's extremely unlovable, using the standard listed above in blue. If we were totally honest with ourselves, we would realize that we are that extremely unlovable person that God loves to love.

When I recognize that sort of love God has for me, I am then able to love others better.

What about you?

Would you say that you have some idea that God really loves you in your most unlovable moments? What does that look like for you?

Irresistible Revolution: Part 1

2009-05-12T16:35:00.004-04:00

Here's where we are headed this summer. Radiant Life Fellowship is moving to become an irresistible revolution in Huntersville. So over the next several weeks, our sermon series is called IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION.

Last Sunday we kicked it off @ the Birkdale Residential Clubhouse from 10:30-11:30am.

Each week, we are hoping that new guests come check us out and stick. Our hope is to officially launch with a large public launch (in a new location in Huntersville) this Fall.

I'd like to focus on this theme of Irresistible Revolution. Last Sunday I proposed that in order to be an irresistible revolution (as a church and as an individual) we have to first tap into our 1st Love.

Here's the deal... It is impossible for you to love anyone well until you first come to understand, experience and appreciate the love God has for you. 1 John 4:19 says we love because He (God) first loved us. It's the power of God's love that enables and compels us to love anyone.

Question: Can you say for sure that you understand and have experienced the fresh, irrational, irresisitible love of Jesus recently?

Next, I'll look at some possible symptoms that might appear when our love for God begins to fade.

Radiant Life Staff Download

2009-05-09T00:49:00.003-04:00

Here's some stuff your staff is up to:
1) We will be reading, together, Andy Stanley's new book The Principle of the Path
2) We meet weekly for our staff meetings. Cerrently they are on Friday mornings.
3) Your staff includes:

Jacob Collins - Lead Worshiper (responsible for the whole worship experience)
Christine Allen -- Family Ministry Administrator (responsible for all our families)
Debbie Eaker -- Lead Missionary (responsible for focusing us outward)
Courtenay Nixon -- Lead Life Group Initiator (responsible for reproducing Life Group Leaders)
Chris Thompson -- Lead Pastor (responsible for planting a healthy, reproducing, missional church that owns the lostness of the people in Huntersville and beyond.)

4) We seriously pray for each of you.
5) We took a field trip, today, around the city of Huntersville. It was more of a Prayer Walk in the van.
6) We discussed the tension waiting and listening for God's call before we move...and moving in faith that God is calling and already at work in Huntersville.
7) We each got a printed map of the city of Huntersville. We have drawn a circle around all of Huntersville and claimed it as our Circle of Responsibility. We are now responsible for every man, woman and child, within our circle, to have repeated opportunities to hear and respond to the Gospel. That's our mission.
8) We desperately need each of you to own this mission with us. We are inviting you to join us as we join God already at work here in Huntersville.

The New Traditional Church: Music

2009-05-07T22:26:00.002-04:00

Here's a post that makes you say "hmmm"
It's by Tony Morgan and it's got me wondering...

A couple of months ago, I wrote about “The New Traditional Church.” That particular post focused on the discipleship strategy. I thought I’d pick up where I left off and share a few more characteristics of the new traditional church. Today, I’m going to focus on music.

Remember the days when the only worship music was hymns? We were stuck there because that was clearly the “sacred” style of worship music. Then the 80s hit and Willow Creek made it possible for us to use current music styles in worship services to connect with the unchurched.

Only it’s as if we got stuck in the 80s. While the church still leans on a mix of rock and pop music as the preferred worship genre, our culture has shifted once again. Now, according to iTunes, 1 in 3 of the top 100 songs in the country is either hip-hop/rap or R&B/soul. My guess, though, is that you can’t name a church in the country that’s using these genres of music for worship. Why is that?

Now, before you let your “it’s-not-our-culture” bias set in, consider this. Most of the hip-hop and R&B music has been recorded by black artists. 14% of the U.S. population is black. But, remember, nearly one-third of the music purchased on iTunes is one of these two genres. You do the math. White people like hip-hop.

What’s amazing, though, is that exactly 0% of the churches that responded to this survey indicated that they’re using hip-hop music in their worship services. I’m guessing there are several reasons for this:

The people making decisions about music choices in services don’t prefer this style of music. And, don’t we all know, preferences drive decisions in churches.
Churches are not hiring worship leaders (or raising up volunteers) who can authentically lead worship with these genres of music.
Christian artists aren’t recording music that reflects what our culture is listening to.
Churches don’t know the culture they’re trying to reach. If a third of the country is buying hip-hop or R&B music, you’d think at least one church would be trying to use that style of music to reach those people for Jesus.

Aside from all of that, I think the number one reason why rock and pop is the predominant genre of music in churches is this: our worship music has become the new “hymns” of the new traditional church. In other words, we grew up listening to that kind of worship music. Frankly, we’d rather play our “hymns” in our services than consider what style of music might more effectively connect with people who need Jesus.

So, the bottom line is this. Playing hip-hop or R&B music in our services would make us uncomfortable, and that’s another reason why we are “the new traditional church.”

What are your thoughts?

Read more: "The New Traditional Church: Music | TonyMorganLive.com" - http://tonymorganlive.com/2009/05/06/the-new-traditional-church-music/#ixzz0EsVgF6ck&A

Focus on Uganda

2009-05-04T23:44:00.003-04:00

I know these people. They are my friends and my heroes. Debbie is using her voice to rally our attention to focus on those who have no voice. Video put together by Dave Eaker. Nice job.

How Do You Preach The Gospel In This Kind Of World

2009-05-03T15:25:00.001-04:00

Video Clip:

That's My King

2009-05-02T23:52:00.001-04:00

Check out this cool clip.

That's My King!

Building up Immunity

2009-05-01T16:44:00.001-04:00

Like A Child

2009-05-01T07:48:00.003-04:00

Remember when you were a kid?

When you ran… you were fast.

When you lifted something… you were strong.

When you could reach the sink… you were tall.

When you would race your dad...you would win.

But pretty soon, you grew up and realized that someone was always faster, someone was always stronger, and someone was always taller and better than you.

When did we stop believing in ourselves? Was it when we started comparing? Or was it when we heard and believed, for the first time, the two little words that control a lot of our thinking: I can’t.

Children don’t have to wait until everything is in order to go after something. They don’t care what others think, and failure is not even a thought.

So, is there a goal that seems out of reach? A dream you’ve put off because it overwhelms you? Is there a vision for your church, family or ministry that scares you into procrastination?

God believes in you, but do you believe in yourself?

“I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17 NLT

This Sunday, May 3rd, our Orange Team will be sharing some exciting stuff with us. Remember it's our last Sunday at the Davidson campus. We're excited to be moving to Huntersville on Sunday, May 10th. Like a child, we have lots of exciting dreams that are still to be unleashed.

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The Party

2009-04-30T08:05:00.005-04:00

"We don't have much to say to the world until we can throw a better party."

Otherwise, what are we really inviting people to? If the party they're going to in the world is more fun, and they are laughing more, and they feel more accepted, and loved and more at peace and more fulfilled at the end of the night... if we don't have that same joy, what do we have to offer? Really? Our party should be the best because of Jesus...who offers real satisfying, peace-filled, joy-filled love and life to all. Now that's a party worth joining.

This summer and Fall, we want to demonstrate to Huntersville some ways we can throw a better party. We need all of you to help us plan those parties. We'll be putting together the details in the next 2 weeks. Good Times are here...because the Kingdom of God is here, now!

What I Don't Like About Starbucks

2009-04-28T20:45:00.003-04:00

Everything except their house blend coffee, with an enormous amount of sugar and cream.

Other beverages - too expensive.

Internet - you have to pay. (unless you know the secret trick)

Outlets - where are they?

Me: do you mind if I plug this in here?
Old guy reading the paper: Uh. No.
Me: do you mind if I run this cord across your lap?
Old guy: Um…
Me: Do you mind if I share your chair?

Furniture - not comfortable or available. If I am lucky enough to find an empty seat AND be near an outlet, then I’m most likely stuck at a round table so small that my computer completely covers it up. This is ONLY okay because I already have four kids and not interested in having more children. Otherwise storing a cup of 1000 degree coffee between my legs would be unacceptable.

Milk Frothing Machine - a sound that people somehow don’t mind when they are reading. I know all coffee shops have these, but come on.

We're Moving

2009-04-28T14:13:00.005-04:00

Starting Sunday, May 10th, Radiant Life Fellowship will be gathering @ The Birkdale Residence Clubhouse in Huntersville.
Sunday's from 10:30-11:30AM

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Orange

2009-04-27T08:13:00.002-04:00

What does Radiant Life Fellowship and the color Orange have in common? They both believe the family is worth our investment.

Orange is a color that symbolizes INTEGRATION. It's the brilliant result of a merger between two more traditional influences - red and yellow. Just like something radically new happens when red and yellow come together, there is a different kind of culture that is established when the Church understands the value of a true partnership with the family. There is a different kind of culture that is established in a church that really values a compreshensive and integrated strategy. When church staff members step out of their silo-style departmental thinking and start playing together, it creates synergy. Your team must be intentional about alignment. You can never get on the same page if you don't spend quality time in the same room discussing the things that really matter.

Orange is a color that suggests CHANGE. It's the primary color for autumn, a season of transition. You might be thinking, "Don't things turn orange right before they turn brown and die?" Actually, smart leaders realize there's a life-cycle to any organizational model. Every innovative idea and creative program will ultimately grow old. Styles and methods need to change more frequently than we are willing to allow. That's because the idea of change makes comfortable Christian leaders nervous, and it keeps the Church lagging behind culture. As a result, we give a generation the perception that the Church and maybe even God are irrelevant. Churches are notorious for feuding over what is already dying while they lose focus on the timeless principles that really matter. Just remember, even the most ground-breaking version of today's Church will ultimately have to be redesigned and reborn.

It’s really quite simple. It’s three simple statements that are incredibly convincing.

Nothing is more important than a person relationship with God.
No one has more influence on a child than a parent.
No one has more potential to influence a parent than the church.

At Radiant Life Fellowship, we are simply laying the groundwork for:
..creating a plan for handing off kids from preschool ministry to children's ministry; from children's ministry to student ministry; from student ministry into college ministry - a plan that works among these age groups to build a strong foundation of faith, grow it, challenge it and mature it before students leave your ministry to become independent adults in this world.

...equipping parents with kids at every age level to become the primary spiritual leader for their kids - to partner with them so that the one hour the church has with kids each week is multiplied at home.

...creating opportunities for families to invite their neighbors to a relevant and engaging environment at your church - to see what happens to their own faith when they begin investing in those around them.

This week, we have 7 of our leaders headed to Atlanta, GA for the Orange Conference. They are going to have a blast. This Sunday, they will overflow their contagious enthusiasm and new ideas onto us @ church. Looking forward to an orange Sunday, May 3rd.

Technology

2009-04-27T08:02:00.002-04:00

Check out this handy-dandy piece of equipment. Our Radiant Life operators are standing by to take your orders. (check out the video clip commercial)

Good to be Surprised

2009-04-21T21:40:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it's just good to be surprised.
Enjoy this video clip!

Don't Waste Your Life

2009-04-18T13:02:00.007-04:00

Thought I'd throw in a cool video. Hope you're enjoying the incredible Spring day. God bless. (video enclosed)

Thoughts About Communication

2009-04-16T15:43:00.003-04:00

I’m writing down some things I’m learning about leadership. Today, here’s some thoughts on communication. How many times have you said that the reason that something didn’t work right was due to a “breakdown in communication?” Yep…communication is one of the keys to good leadership.

First, seek to understand. I heard Will Mancini say that Einstein was once asked what he would do if he found out the world would be destroyed in 60 minutes. How would he solve the problem? He said he’d take 55 minutes to understand the nature of the problem, and then he’d solve it in five minutes.
When communicating big changes, it’s helpful to describe your thought processes, and then give relevant facts and figures. Sometimes, people need to know the WHY before they can understand the WHAT.
The more complicated the information, that's communicated, the smaller the group needs to be.
Good meetings are full of discussion, from all points of view. I want to have the culture where people can say anything.
But if you keep pushing on something, then you’ll eventually alienate the leader who shares the risk. When the decision has been made, it’s time to get on board and stop communicating your reservations. And I’ve NEVER been in a situation where an “I told you so” was helpful.
The most common assumption (and therefore mistake) I usually make about communication...is that it actually happened.
No last minute surprises. As a leader, I can make better decisions when I get information in advance. If I’ve only got a couple of days to solve a huge problem, then that’s not good. Keeping a pulse on things, and spotting trends, is helpful to leaders.
Get the facts, and then communicate those facts clearly.
Proverbs says that one word ahead of time is better than two words after the fact.
Use mottos, slogans, rallying cries, and phrases. People need memorable statements, not just bland facts.
Andy Stanley says that we can afford to sometimes be wrong, but we can’t be unclear. Sometimes, when I’m meeting with people, I like to say “so to be clear” or “so we’re on the same page here…” and then summarize what we talked about or decided.
Don’t say no for people. People might say “no thanks” when you invite them to church, but if you never invite them out of fear, then you’ve basically said no for them. Same goes for leaders who are thinking about making a “big ask.”

That's The Point

2009-04-16T09:58:00.002-04:00

Watch this. It’s a guy named Matt Chandler speaking at a conference. Not only is there a great truth, it will help you understand the kind of people we desire to be why we do what we do at Radiant Life Fellowship.

At the Beach this week

2009-04-07T17:45:00.003-04:00

It's time for the Thompson family to get away for a while. And we consider Cherry Grove, SC a little piece of heaven.

So this week, we'll play, laugh, take pictures, make sand castles, throw football, laugh more, jump in the cold pool water, go fishing, make cookies, laugh more and recover, renew and refresh.

This is a view from where we stay, thanks to Jenny's parents.

What do you do to recover, renew and refresh?

Where Should we spend our Time?

2009-04-02T16:43:00.004-04:00

As a church plant, how should we spend our Time, Resources, Efforts, in order to plant a church with a high conversion rate?

I had the assumption that it should look like this:
70% -- working on the front door (website, band, children, signs, logo, teaching...all for the Sunday service)
20% -- leadership development
10% -- connecting in the harvest (increasing our influence in the community)

After lots of meetings with my coach Neal McGlohon, from the Cypress Project, I now realize a not so slight correction needs to be made in my thinking, and actions. (not surprising!)

This represents our shift.
70% -- connecting in the harvest (increasing our influence in the community)
20% -- leadership development
10% -- working on the front door (the Sunday service)

That's a lot to absorb. Now, we're going to make it happen.

Focused Prayer for New Location

2009-04-02T15:49:00.003-04:00

As a church, we are praying.

Prayer is central to our relationship with God and with each other. Prayer is talking to God. It's also listening to God. Paul says we should be able to pray all the time.

So, as a church, we are praying.

One of the prayer focus areas for us, this week, has been centered around identifying a new location for our church through the summer.

a place suitable for all RLF-ers and those yet to be RLF-ers
a place that breathes new life into us
a place closer to where most of of live
a place that's economical

We've been tracking a potential location as we pray. The residential clubhouse @ Birkdale seems to be one of our possibilities. All the pieces seem to be coming together.

$400 refundable deposit.
$125 a week.
We could start here Sunday, May 10th (Mother's Day)
We have a family who owns a house in Birkdale (Phillips) who are willing to vouch for us.
It's easy to get to.
Lots of outside amenities (bball, volleyball, playground, swimming pool for baptisms)
Set in the middle of a development with almost 900 homes.

As a church, we'll take a vote on this issue Sunday, April 19th.

So, we invite you to continue to pray together.
Next week, we'll present another prayer focus for us. Thank you for praying.

A Purpose in Every Season

2009-03-27T13:25:00.003-04:00

Here's a post from Craig Groeschel's blog.

God determines when a season begins and ends. Scripture says, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them…” (Dan 2:20-21 NIV)

Jesus seemed very aware of God controlling the times. He said in John 2:4, “…My time has not yet come.” Later in John 17:1, he prayed confidently, “…Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

It is helpful to remember that there is a purpose in every season.

Paul waited for months before God opened the door for ministry.
Elisha followed Elijah for years hoping to get what Elijah had.
Joseph spent years in prison before being promoted to the palace.

I try to remind myself that I can’t skip a season and every season is important.

If you seem stuck in a non-ending season, find comfort in these verses:

This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place… Habakkuk 2:3

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal 6:9

What are some of the most important seasons you’ve experienced?

Sara is now our newest Whistler

2009-03-25T09:23:00.003-04:00

St Patrick's Day @ The Thompson's

2009-03-25T09:12:00.005-04:00

We love making memories. Jenny had the idea of turning our dinner into a green way to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Lots of fun. Jake kept telling us "These green eggs and green pancakes taste just like real eggs and real pancakes"

By the end of the meal, we all had green tongues and teeth.

Embrace the Seaon We Are In

2009-03-25T08:39:00.005-04:00

Craig Groeschel posted an article I found to be encouraging. I would say, as a church plant, we are still in the plowing the ground season of our life as a church. My hope is that we will stick around (as farmers) long enough to sow lots of seeds together and reap what we've sown. We can't be lazy now. There's too much at stake.

Proverbs 20:4 says, “If you are too lazy to plow in the right season, you will have no food at the harvest.”

In ministry it is so important to work with God’s seasons. Instead of always wishing for the next season, we should embrace the season we’re in.

Here are a few examples of how to work with the seasons:

If you’re a church planter, you won’t be any more of a real church when you have a real building. Enjoy the ride in portable facilities. You’re in a special season.
If you’re 50 years old and not naturally a cool person, you’ll look silly trying to act and dress 28. Embrace your season and be a mentor instead of a buddy to the next generation.
If your church is debt free and strong, don’t pretend like everything you have is for you. During this season, your greatest calling might be to fund the next generation’s vision.
If you had a singles ministry that worked for 9 years, but is no longer effective, celebrate the 9 years of success. Close it down and do something different. Don’t keep something on life support once its season has passed.

Because I was 28 years old when I started Life Church, I always felt like I was the young guy with everything in front of me. I’m not the young guy any more. (It happened so fast.) Now rather than just building our church, I embrace this season of lifting the next generation to do more than I’m able to do.

How can you better embrace this season?

The Valley of Eshcol

2009-03-24T12:46:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd pass this along from Mark Batterson.

In my daily Bible I came across this passage in Numbers 32: "They went as far as the valley of Eshcol." I think that is where many of our dreams die. It is the place where we lose heart or lose sight or lose focus. That is as far as the spies got. The promise was about to be fulfilled. It was at their fingertips, but instead they let it slip through their hands.

The valley of Eshcol is the place where we stop trying or stop believing. It is the place where we turn back. But here is what God put in my heart: turning your back on a God-given dream is turning your back on God himself. Obviously, the operative phrase is "God-given." You need to keep going after that dream. Why? Not so you can accomplishment something. Please! You need to go after that God-sized dream because it is the thing that will keep you on your knees living in raw dependence upon God. That is how we grow. And that is how we glorify God.

For those in the valley of Eshcol, here's one verse and one story.

Psalm 37 says, "Wait passionately for God." Most of us wait passively. The Psalmist says wait passionately. How do we wait passionately? One word: prayer.

I just got an email from Randall Brown, founder of Fusion Warehouse in Anderson, SC. I've never met him, but his story inspired me. He read the story in In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day about how we prayed for eight years for Ebenezers Coffeehouse and God miraculously gave us that piece of property. His story is so similar. Randall started doing prayer walks around an empty 70,000 sf Wal-Mart building. He prayed around it every day for three-and-a-half years until one day the Lord said today is the day to call them. They had 47 cents in their bank account. Today that building is home to an incredibly creative student center that is impacting its community!

I hope that encourages those who are in the valley of Eshcol. You may only have 47 cents in your account. You may have been praying for something for three-and-a-half years.

Don't lose heart. Don't lose sight. Don't lose focus.

9 Ways to Keep Morale and Momentum Up During Tough Times

2009-03-23T08:12:00.002-04:00

9 Ways to Keep Morale and Momentum up During Tough Times
Check out this article from Mark Driscoll

The Parable of the Sea

2009-03-23T07:40:00.003-04:00

Check out this simple parable video clip called "The Parable of the Sea" about the mission of the church. Click here. This video clip illustrates the sad story of how the church (that's us) can forget about our mission. Jesus came for mission. The resurrection was about mission.

It's only 3 weeks away from Easter. Are you on mission?

entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders

2009-03-22T11:31:00.002-04:00

Some more leadership stuff to consider from Shawn Lovejoy.
The differences between, entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the differences between an entrepreneur, a manager, and a leader. Here are a few of my thoughts. Obviously, they don't fall into neat little categories. I actually see myself wearing all three hats. However, I do think there are general characteristics of each one.

An Entrepreneur is tends to be a great starter, thinker, strategizer, and is financially savvy; He/she considers organizational success as their primary metric.

A Manager tends to be more task oriented and enjoys problem solving. He/she tends to consider tranquility and the lack of problems, noise, conflict, and fires that need to be put out, as success.

A Leader is more people oriented; Tends to put others before themselves; Tends to be able to deal with lots of personalities; encourages and resolves conflict well; and in the long run, considers others' successes his/her biggest success.

Any idea which one I want to be?

What about you?

Gaining Credibility

2009-03-21T23:54:00.002-04:00

An article I read from Brad Lomenick (a Catalyst leader) about gaining credibility. I thought it was useful for us. Please soak this in. It's so important for us, leaders, to understand.

A young friend of mine in his early twenties asked me the other day how I had gained credibility and a platform over the last 10-15 years. The first thing that is important to know about my answers and my perspective: this is a work still in progress. I have not arrived.

But after giving him some thoughts on this, I thought it might be helpful to the community here on the blog. So here you go- my thoughts on gaining credibility:

1. Be Self Aware- first, you have to have an accurate understanding of who you are and where you are in life. A very clear and realistic picture of your self identity and current reality. If you are 24, you have to understand that life experiences and job experience probably aren’t something you can hang your hat on.

2. Listen, Listen, Listen. Ask great questions of those around you, and then LISTEN to the answer. Don’t talk until you have something to say. But learn to ask great questions and learn from them. This is especially true in a team environment.

3. Experience creates expertise- this is obvious, but sometimes we forget. Credibility comes with action- doing, not just thinking or talking. Jump in and get involved.

4. A platform takes time- it’s just a reality. Most of us aren’t patient enough to spend adequate TIME at DOING something until we gain a platform or credibility. We usually lose interest, get bored, or just simply move on to something else. The key- stick with it.

5. Connect with leading organizations, networks and individuals- connect with companies, teams or individuals who are highly respected, and you’ll gain respect. But the key on this- connect with them and ask how you can HELP them, not how you can gain from them.

Out of Nowhere

2009-03-20T23:04:00.002-04:00

Jenny, my wife, has been following the life of Moses as a member of a local BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). We've had some great conversations about Moses and have come to love him. We seem to be able to identify with him on so many levels.

I wanted you to read something a guy named Mark Batterson wrote that really summarizes something significant...not only about Moses, but also about God.

Out of Nowhere.

That is the thought that dropped into my mind yesterday as I was reading the story about the Israelites complaining in the wilderness. Which one right? In this instance, they are complaining about not having meat to eat.

Moses is at the end of himself. He says, "I've seen enough. I've heard enough." He had no answers, no reserves, no plan.

Ever been there?

God says He is going to give them meat, but this is one of those miracles that Moses cannot even imagine. He says, "So where's it coming from? Even if all the flocks and herds were butchered, would that be enough? Even if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough?"

Moses has no idea how this is going to happen.

Ever been there?

But here is what I love about Moses. Even when he was at the end of himself. Even when he couldn't imagine how this could happen. It says, "So Moses went out and told the people what God had said." That took guts! Even when he had a hard time believing it himself, he went out on a faith limb.

So what did God do?

This is one of my favorite answers to prayer because it is so random. God answers out of nowhere.

"A wind set in motion by God swept quails in from the sea. They piled to a depth of three feet in the camp and as far out as a day's walk in every direction."

Out of nowhere!

We Have A Purpose

2009-03-18T08:37:00.002-04:00

Chew on this for a day.

“We have a purpose…and it’s not to be a country club with a steeple on top that gives our community the middle finger and tells them to go to hell because reaching them would make us uncomfortable!”

If we, as leaders, really are going to pursue this purpose, then it's going to make our churched people uncomfortable. They are going to push back. They're going to blame, bite and possibly withdraw from the mission.

The fear of letting people down, especially in spiritual matters, can often cause us to feel obligated or pressured into meeting unrealistic expectations, or worse, spending more time doing things for God instead of being what God wants us to be.

Bill Hybels says: "There are a lot of Christ-followers who haven’t taken the time to figure out what their holy discontent is, and so they’re doing a gradual slide into apathy and complacency—and that is unconscionable in a broken and lost world.”

There are no perfect churches to serve in, no perfect pastors to work for, and no perfect environments. I am committed to (and have covenanted with) the people of Radiant Life Fellowship. It's a commitment that I will forever be grateful I made, invested in, gave my life for...and kept.

Cutting Edge Innovation

2009-03-17T16:13:00.003-04:00

I recently read/scanned parts of a book by R.T. Kendall titled The Anointing. I memorized something he said because it's so true: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I do reconnaissance at other churches. That's why I am in a coaching relationship with a group of church planters called The Cypress Project. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!

Did some research this week on what is commonly referred to as the experience pit. On one level, experience is important. We need a deep knowledge of our domain. But if we aren't careful, old methods can blind us to new possibilities. It is the tendency to think the way we've always thought and do it the way we've always done it. Another way of saying it is this: at some point, most of us stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.
"Our current reality can hinder our future reality" This was a quote from someone in our Cypress Project group. Part of our role, as leaders, is to define reality.

I have a core conviction: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We also have a core value: everything is an experiment. But in order to maintain a culture of innovation, you have to believe that there might be a better way. We need a culture where it is safe to occasionally put everything on the table. We don't want any sacred cows. If a service isn't working, we'll kill it. If we need to shift sermon strategy, so be it. If we need to radically change our small group structure, we'll do it.

I really think it comes down to this: stay humble and stay on your knees. Thank God for experience! It fuels wisdom. But let's not let it blind us to new possibilities!

I love the church. I bleed the church. And I believe our best days are in front of us. But old wineskins won't cut it. I'm praying that God would continue to raise up a generation of right-brain leaders who dare to be different.

Taught or Caught?

2009-03-12T14:51:00.003-04:00

I was reading something from Mark Batterson, recently, where he reminded me that more stuff gets caught than taught. There are some things that cannot be taught. They can only be caught. I wanted to share an example of this in my family.

My oldest son, Cole (11), wrote me a note and left it on the kitchen table Monday night. I was at a meeting, for church when he went to bed. He wanted me to know he needed to talk. So he wrote me a note, describing a little of the situation, and asking if we can talk about it.

The meeting I was at, while he was getting in bed, had some pretty brutal parts to it and I left feeling like I had throw-up on my clothes. So when I got home and noticed Cole's note, I was moved to tears. It touched deep in my heart. Not just that he left a note for me and wanted to talk...but it was the content of his need to talk.

You see, there's a person in a couple of his classes that gets picked on daily. The kids call him "gay". They laugh at him. They exclude him from friendships. They've thrown food at him during lunch.

Cole said this guy does act weird sometimes and does tend to get on everyone's nerves.
And Cole was bothered by they way this guy was being treated.
Cole wanted to know how he could communicate to this guy that he was willing to be his friend. Cole worried a little about how others might treat him, if he chose to be this guys friend.

We talked through some possible strategies of how to communicate that Cole would be this guy's friend without it being too awkward. Cole actually came up with a great plan.

I'm so proud of how God is shaping his little (I mean BIG) heart.
AND that kind of prompting, that happened in His heart, came more from what he's caught in his mom, dad, Life Group leaders and the mentors found in the Bible than from what he's been taught.

I wonder what people (young and old) are catching from your life?

Failure & Growth

2009-03-11T07:13:00.000-04:00

Here's a post from a pastor @ Life Church TV

Here are some things to remember when something you attempt fails.

Failure is an event, not a person.
Failure isn’t final.
Failure is often the first step toward success.
A ministry that has stopped failing has stopped growing.
Failure is not an option, it is a necessity.
If you fail and don’t learn from it, you’ve failed twice. Don’t waste a failure.
The antidote to the fear of failure isn’t success, but small doses of failure. (Credit to Mark Batterson for a similar quote.)

Can you share a failure that shaped your ministry? What did you learn from it?

Leviticus (part 1)

2009-03-09T08:12:00.003-04:00

This Sunday, we start a new sermon series...and I'm so excited. It's our first attempt to take on a book of the Bible: chapter by chapter. And not just any book. We're diving into Leviticus.

I challenge all our Radiant Life peeps to do the following as we engage the text together:
1) Read Leviticus 1 before this Sunday.

2) Pick out a fresh notebook (or buy a Life journal) and practice the S.O.A.P. plan. See my Life Journal online for an example. Also check out these helpful hints for starting a Life Journal. Click here to access Leviticus online.

3) Use your Life Group to discuss chapter 1 of Leviticus this week. Raise questions together.

4) Pray and ask God to speak to you and us through this difficult book of the Bible.

5) Invite a friend to come check out Radiant Life.

Don't forget about our Saturday gathering @ the Eakers' house 6:30pm for dinner and connection. Directions are posted on the website.

See you Sunday. Here's a link to the sermon series.
Chris

Shema Yisrael (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

2009-03-08T20:53:00.003-04:00

Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I am memorizing this piece of scripture for one of my exams. It humbles me greatly to realize that while I am struggling to remember five meager verses it is not uncommon for most orthodox Jews to memorize the first five books of the Old Testament as children.

In Jewish culture this passage is of particular importance because it not only speaks of God as being one, but also points very practically at how His followers are supposed to revere Him. It talks about God's word as being something we talk about when we sit down, walk around, get ready for bed and rise to face the day. We're supposed to dwell on God's word ALL THE TIME!

I am humbled at these words, and I pray that God will help me live into the fulness of this commandment. God is good.

Spring...love it!

2009-03-06T23:06:00.007-05:00

So on Monday, we had just over 4" of snow and school was canceled. Tuesday and Wednesday we hit record overnight lows in temperature. And today, Friday, were out on the back deck reading, enjoying the Spring-like air with temperatures right @ 70 degrees.

I love Spring. It's my favorite season. I get a new burst of energy that propels me to tackle tasks I've neglected throughout the winter like: exercise, cleaning out the garage, landscaping, painting, repairing and getting connected with more of our neighbors.
How about you? What does Spring do for you?

Blessed to be a Blessing

2009-03-03T23:48:00.005-05:00

Recently, the people of Radiant Life Fellowship sent $25,215.88 to causes, outside of us, that we feel strongly about. This is what we do and who we are. We are part of an enormous movement hell-bent on the healing and restoration of the world. We do not exist to prop ourselves up or for our own comfort. We sacrifice and give, with great joy, so that those outside of ourselves can be blessed.

All our church members got a chance to choose (out of 5 options) how they wanted to spend their portion of the money we were giving away. It was a project we called "Blessed to be a Blessing". I thought I'd update you on where the money ended up going.

Haiti – This $ would go to purchase seeds and food to supply the Grainery of Joseph
TOTAL INVESTED: $4077.84 (Plus we are taking a dental convoy to Bayonnais, Haiti in April.)

Peter & Comfort Bawah – This $ would help support a pastor’s family serving in Ghana, Africa. Comfort is a nurse, serving alongside her husband, Peter. They have 3 teenage children.
TOTAL WIRED: $6266.52

Compassion International – This $ would go to sponsor a child (or more) for 2009. It costs about $32 a month to sponsor a child.
TOTAL INVESTED: $6766.42 (several families have already chosen their children they are sponsoring, and communicating with, over the next 4 years)

Urban Restoration (in Charlotte) – This $ would go to purchase food to fill the grocery bags and any supplies that could be used for us to teach courses @ Urban that would enable people to get back on their feet.
TOTAL INVESTED IN GROCERIES: $5054.58 (and we get to go on Tuesday's and pack grocery bags and actually hand them to the people who most need it...what a joy!)

Living Water International – This $ would go to provide fresh, clean, drinking water to places around the world where there is currently not any. Check it out.
TOTAL INVESTED: $3050.62 (This is money that will help build lots of wells around the world so fresh drinking water can be accessible to those who need it the most)

Your Definition of God Blessing A Church

2009-03-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

Favorite line from Andy that I heard about from someone who attended a recent Catalyst One Day:

"God can't 'just be blessin' churches that have momentum, or else that means God must not be blessing that church, or that church, or that church, or that church..."

I'm convinced there are sociological factors that affect whether a church grows or not. I recently met a church planter who struggled for years in a community, until finally moving back to his hometown, where he launched a church with 600 people - he had to go to two services immediately.

Struggling churches are sometimes led by devoted men of God who are relevant and pray and work hard and lead well. And if success can be explained away by "God's just blessin'," then what for them?

That's my question: What for them? What's your definition of God blessin a church?