Blue-sky

I spent the past two days in a strategic gathering with the RiverTree staff team.

We spent several hours "blue-skying" the question: What would the church really be like if it were sold out to following Jesus today?

*It would be heavily involved in discipleship/equipping people to live like Jesus and as Jesus in the world.

*It would share "crappy" community (community that is authentic enough to share life's "crap" with one another.

*It would lead people to Jesus as Life Transformer.

*It would be a blessing to those outside of the church (we are blessed to be a blessing).

Some other thoughts . . .

*The face of the American church is changing and MUST change like never before in order to be effective.

*The church in America is facing great challenges accompanied by great opportunities.

*Consumerism in America is one of the deadliest enemies of the follower of Jesus.

*American Christianity looks very little like the Christianity of the Bible.

At the close of our time together we were more excited than ever as servant leaders of God's people. Excited to be part of a movement of people incarnating the DNA of Jesus in every nook and cranny of society and culture!

I remember

Well, we're headed into Memorial Day weekend . . . A time to remember.

In 1868, Commander in Chief, John A. Logan, inaugurated the observance of Memorial Day in honor of fallen soldiers from the Civil War. Over the years it has come to serve as a day we remember all U.S. men and women killed or missing in action in all wars.

For most of us, Memorial Day has become a time to remember not only those lost in military action but all of those we love who have passed from this life.

So, today I remember:

Grandma Nettle who prayed for me every night on her knees until the day she died. She prayed from the time that I was 10 that I would grow up to be a Pastor.

Earl Skinner who was like a Grandparent to me. He did woodworking projects with me, gave me my first hunting gun and and taught me that it was okay for men to cook.

My Mammau who was the living incarnation of spunk.

Grandma Rex (On Julie's side), a devout Catholic who was proud to pronounce that she was the first ecumenical.

Terry Everhart who was an Elder at RiverTree. Terry helped us through some very challenging transitional times as a church.

Rich Mullins who was the first person to teach me to think outside of the box as a follower of Jesus.

Who do you remember?

Destination Destin

I'm in Destin, Florida with the Stinklings.

The Stinklings are my Pastor buddies who I've committed to "do life" with. We do our best to sharpen one another, help each other stay out of trouble, encourage one another and simply have fun together. I wish everyone would experience what we enjoy together.

We've been through some "stuff." There are always challenges in ministry, we make mistakes and life can be just plain hard. But it's good to know that a voice of wisdom is just a phone call away and that if something serious were going on someone would be jumping on a plane to join in the battle.

Sooo, I'm off to plan sermons and play a little golf!

You are what you eat

This coming weekend's teaching is You are what you eat. The Scripture we will be applying to our lives comes from 1 Peter 2:2-3: Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.

The reality is that if we feed the spiritual person inside of us--the spiritual person will grow. On the other hand, if we feed the fleshly person inside of us--the fleshly person will grow. You are what you eat.

Just for fun . . . I've been thinking in the purest physical sense about what I love to eat. I have always loved Ho Hos and Kraft macaroni and cheese. However, most recently, my food vice of choice has been Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream--really amazing right before you go to bed!

What's your current food favorite?

Blessing single moms

This past weekend I had the privilege to be part of something that was very close to the heart of God.

In all of our weekend services at RiverTree we blessed single moms. We prayed for them. We told them how wonderful it is to be able to partner with them. We gave them Mother's Day cards . . . each of which contained a gift card.

500 single moms were blessed!

One of the things that I loved was that in addition to the moms who were present at our services, we encouraged our church family partners to bless single moms they knew outside of the church. 200 cards and gift cards were taken to pass on to others.

One man, in between services, shared with me, "I wish my mom could have been part of a church like this. My mom passed her faith on to me. She was a single mom and the church we were part of growing up made us feel like second class citizens." There are no second class citizens in God's Kingdom!!!

Another mom sent me the following e-mail:

Pastor Greg--I just want to let RiverTree know how greatly appreciated it is. What an amazing way to honor moms--single moms. There are numerous times when I feel so unrecognized, so alone and so tired. I was uplifted to our God by the many hands and hearts who prayed for me at the weekend services. Thank you for partnering with me to raise my daughter as a princess to the King and helping me to remember that I am the same.

That's why we do what we do . . .

Kingdom Synergy Partnerships

I spent the day yesterday with 55 other leaders from all across the state of Ohio who are involved with Kingdom Synergy Partnerships. KSP is all about exponentially expanding God's Kingdom through synergy partnerships relentlessly committed to multiplying healthy growing churches.

It was an amazing day.

Scott Pugh, the Lead Planter for Velocity Christian Church, in Cleveland, Ohio, reported that since their launch on Palm Sunday they have been averaging nearly 200 people in attendance!

A new synergy group was formed that will plant our third church to date in Cleveland.

New studies show that on any given weekend only 18% of the people in Ohio attend church.

The single most effective way of reaching people for Jesus is to plant new churches. We currently have 8 new church plants in process.

That's why we do what we do.

Guess what day it is?

Yesterday, Julie and I celebrated "Magic Vacation Day" with our ten year old daughter, Tabitha.

Now I know before I tell you more about this that some of you are going to disapprove of what we do. All I can say is that I wish my parents had done this for me when I was growing up!

Every school year we have a "Magic Vacation Day." Tabs never knows when it's going to be. On the surprise day, Julie and I wake her up together by asking, "Guess what day it is?" "Magic Vacation Day!" The look on Tabitha's face is priceless.

Next, Julie calls Tabs off school. The office worker asked Julie if Tabs was ill (swine flu thing you know). And no, Julie didn't tell her that Tabs was sick--she simply said we were having a Magic Vacation Day. No problem.

My mom came over to watch our little boy Elijah for the day (This is very important, this is Tab's special day).

After having breakfast together we went and saw Monsters Vs Aliens 3D at the theater. Next was a picnic lunch in the park. The afternoon was spent making pottery at Glazed And Amused. After dinner at Tab's favorite restaurant--Carabbas--we ended the day with a pontoon boat ride on Willowdale Lake.

The day rocked!!!

Our prayer is that Tabitha will grow up with amazing memories of days when mom and dad awakened her with the question, "Guess what day it is?"

Swine errr "Mexican" flu

The swine flu is rapidly becoming a world-wide problem. Most countries are dealing with the specific dangers of illness, and in some cases, death. Other countries have other aspects of the flu to deal with.

"We will use the term 'Mexican flu' in order not to have to pronounce the word 'swine,'" declared Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism party.

Yes, better to attach the name to a country or ethnic group than call it what it is!