NHCC Exec Pastor Thoughts

State of Flux

2008-09-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

Kids are back in school. Teachers are back to work. Evenings are becoming cool. Leaves are starting to fall. -- But these are all changes that happen every year and we grow to expect them. Although these present challenges, we have learned to deal with them.

But what about those changes that are not "usual" or "expected." We are dealing with new people coming into the church family and others leaving the family. We are dealing with the deaths and accidents of those in our church family. We are thinking of building a new building. We are interviewing potential new staff members from different states. What do we do with these changes?

It seems trite to simply say, "embrace them" especially when some of them had some level of control associated with them. So, what then do we do with change?

My immediate family is going through even more change than what the church family is going through -- my wife has a different job, my role at one of my jobs changed, all three kids are going to different buildings for school. In the midst of changing circumstances, I lean on my core beliefs and vision like never before. I ask if the changes are impacting my foundational beliefs and passions or if they are merely impacting the circumstances in which I go after my foundational passions aligned iwth my foundational beliefts. My core value is to make transformational impact and my beliefs include "all means all" and "the term 'we' is universal". I can expand if you really want.

The purpose of New Hope is to make passionate followers of Christ. Our core value is transformation. We do ministry going after the captives, lost, poor, and broken-hearted as described in Isaiah 61:1-3. Every thing we do desires to be done in alignment with these passions and values in mind. I am so encouraged by those in the church family who have persevered through the transition - I believe simply because they (you) are so passionate about seeing lost people get found, seeing found people become passionate, and seeing passionate people reproduce their passion in others. God is on the move in tremendous ways at New Hope and it fires me up every week to see how the people of New Hope avail themselves to partnership with God as He redeems indivdiuals and the community.

May God richly bless you today. May God have mercy on us and bless this ministry to live to its full redemptive potential even during this state of flux. I'm proud to serve along side of each of you - you all inspire me to become a better man and follower.

What Would We Do For Our Children?

2008-07-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a month since the last blog entry... ugh. Anyway, this entry relates back to about a week or 10 days ago when my eldest son (OK, he's eldest by 20 minutes) and I went and fished off the landing to a small lake (it's a secret). We were catching a ton of sunnies and several bass and then it happened... he laid in to something huge... we could see it swirling in the water. My son had never been trying to reel up something this big. I was coaching him, "Rod tip up, rod tip up, keep the line taut, etc" - he was yelling, "It hurts" as he tried to hang on to the rod while turning the reel. When the fish got to within 10 feet of us, I could see it... a large northern. Of course we didn't have a net with us so I was just trying to get him to back up and get it close enough so I could grab it and throw it on shore. Then, in a flash of light, I could see his body curl, straighten, and snap the line. Without thinking, I ran in after it in hopes I could grab the broken line and pull it in by hand... but it was gone leaving just a slip bobber in its wake. I was so disappointed for my son; he handled it well but we were both bummed. It would have been so awesome to have landed that beast.

Shortly after that, the mosquitos came out and we headed home. On the 10 minute drive home (clue to where the lake is), we were reflecting on what happened. My son had asked me what I would have done if I could have grabbed the fish... I said I would have grabbed whatever I could of and pulled it out of the water where we could handle it. He said, "but I thought northern have sharp teeth". I said, "They do... very sharp. But I would have put my hand in its mouth and let him clamp down on my arm if that's what it took to get you that fish!" He didn't believe me...but it was true. I may have sacrificed a finger to get him that fish and put it on his wall.

It sounds ludicrous now... sacrificing a finger or a deep cut to get a kid a fish? But I think there is truth that we are created in the image of God and, with that, we would do just about anything for our kids. The Bible says that the Father's love for His children (us) is so great and lavish that He sent Jesus to live as a mortal and die in our place as the sacrifice for all we have done wrong. God was willing to send His Son to die and His Son was willing to bear that burden. My willingness to sacrifice for my son does not seem all that amazing any more.

Aaah, flying (or not)...

2008-06-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

I flew to Chicago on Wednesday... my flight was delayed 45 minutes and then we had to wait on the plane 45 minutes before we took off. It was a bit frustrating, but I would find only 2 days later that it was no big deal! Today my flight was delayed 30 minutes before we boarded.... we were locked on the plane, in our seatbelts for over 4 hours before we took off! Not in the airport... on the airplane! Planes were not allowed to depart for Minneapolis and by the time they were, planes weren't allowed to depart to the north from Chicago. It was a back and forth journey of "pretty soon", "oops not yet", "OK, pretty soon."

I rarely fly to Chicago because I figure driving takes about as long. Its 6.5 hours from my house... when I fly, it's 1.5 hours to the airport, get there 1 hour early, 1 hour to fly, then 30-60 minutes to leave the airport and get where I'm going. Plus, when I drive I'm in control of the radio, bathroom, leg room, etc. But this time I chose to fly.... I chose poorly.

In life we all choose poorly from time to time. Sometimes its more obvious and we knew we were choosing poorly at the beginning. Sometimes the choice seems OK at the time, but only in hindsight becomes the wrong choice. As we go through life, we are promised that we have the Holy Spirit to help lead and guide us - we all need to figure that out a bit more for those decisions where there is no clearcut answer. What I want to make sure I don't mess up is those choices where the decision is obvious and I still choose poorly. How can I worry about the unobvious decisions when I'm still struggling with making the right obvious choices?

May we be bold enough to make the right choices when we know what they are and diligent enough to seek the Holy Spirit for those decisions that aren't so obvious.

Shedding from the Son

2008-06-04T14:12:00.001-07:00

About a week and a half ago, I went fishing (big surprise) for about 3 hours. Since I was in the back channels, it was safe to go shirtless and not scare anyone. I didn't realize I was burning until I got home and my kids made some comments. A few days later I started molting like a snake; I thought it was kind of cool; my kids thought it was gross although enjoyed pulling skin off me; my wife was angry I let it happen.

What came to mind is how our sinful nature is crucified with Christ. Through the glory of the Son, our junk gets burned and removed like the skin off my body. Peeling the skin or watching it fall off of me gave me a picture of how we become transformed through the renewing of our mind to the things of God (Hebrews 12). As we are exposed to the power of the Son, we are forced to change. Sometimes the end result is painful (sunburn, etc) and sometimes the result is the beauty of bronze. Sometimes there is visible evidence of exposure to the Son (peeling, burn, tan) while sometimes there is just a warming of the heart and a lifting of the spirits.

I'm not sure sure the analogy is holding together, but anything that reminds me of how good it is to take the time to be exposed to the Son is worth getting excited about. God bless you all in great and might ways. May we all take the time to let the Son soak in and renew our minds, transform our hearts, and get passionate about sharing His glory with others. Be strong & courageous you adopted children of God!

What do my keys & a northern pike have in common?

2008-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

They both spent about 6 hours in my trunk this afternoon!

I'm not sure why all my great stories revolve around fishing; perhaps it is because I relax my mind when I'm fishing to the point of losing it! I am up in Brainerd for my MBA residency weekend (every 6-7 weeks). We had an extended lunch break so I thought I would quick run and wet a line (since today is the fishing opener). I had found out this week that there is a dam on the Gull river where I could fish from shore so I ran up there to do just that, even though it was raining pretty good. I had about 30 minutes to spend and about 10 minutes into it I nailed a nice northern (about 28 inches). When time was up I headed back to the car with my rod, tackle box, & fish. I pulled the keys out of my pocket and opened the trunk and then set the stuff in and shut the trunk.

The plan was to go buy a cheap styrofoam cooler & ice for the northern (which was still alive and flopping around the back of the trunk), then grab some lunch to go, and head back to class. Well, that turned out to be more difficult as I couldn't find the keys - the only explanation could be that I locked them in the trunk. Ugh! Since one of our windows doesn't stay up (it is held there by duct tape) this made it easy to break into the car, but there is no trunk release inside the car either. OK, so at this point let me recap: 1) raining so I'm soaking wet in my jeans & t-shirt, 2) live flopping northern in the trunk, 3) soon-to-be dead northern rotting in my trunk, 4) keys locked in the trunk with the northern, 5) need to get back to where class is, 6) no way to get into trunk.

Longer story less long: I hitched a ride back to where class was, got the name of a locksmith (who went above and beyond to help me out), after class got a ride back to my car, and then fished another 2 hours in 40 degree pouring rain. It's good to be warm and dry.

When I called Tracy about the whole ordeal, she said... "That'll preach" -- we'll see.

Loving our enemies

2008-05-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful message Pastor Bill delivered this morning; and what a challenge to love our enemies... we are able to love those who love us; but can we love those who don't love us? We are supposed to.

Later in the morning, we had our Biblical Growth Class where we were discussing the epistles (letters) of Paul to the churches that we starting throughout the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea. There was a lot of info to cover, but some of that involved Paul's charge to the churches in the region of Galatia (NE corner of Mediterranean) to be "crucified with Christ" - that our sinful ways / our sinful being was nailed to the cross and was crucified with Christ. The life that we live is no longer the sinful, law-code guilt life that we were subject to before Christ - but freedom! Because we shared in the crucifixion / death of Christ, we also share in His resurrection - in new life!!!! Paul summarized this by stating that we are new creatures; the old has gone the new is come!

If we are to live lives of loving our enemies, we must be crucified with Christ and live life by the spirit (which Paul also talked about). It all comes back to the cross. Loving our enemies is not about trying harder, or reading books, or holding each other accountable - those might help as we try self-improvement -- but the answer to loving our enemies lies not in self-improvement, but in Christ-improvement -- the answer to loving our enemies is death; death of ourself; sharing in the death of Christ so that we might also share in His life. "For I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live!"

God bless you richly, abundantly, and extravagantly with the fruit of the Spirit that is living inside of those who are adopted as his children.

Reproducing Transformation

2008-04-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

I just finished day 2 of a 4 day conference in Orlando centered around reproducing churches. It has been a whirlwind of great information and great networking. I'm hanging out right now with 3 other church planters and have met a ton of people over the past couple of days. There are about 3,000 people from across the world attending this Exponential Church conference.

Over the past few years we have refined the purpose of New Hope, "To honor God by making passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit" and our core value as "Transformation through Grace, Growth, and Generosity." This has really allowed us to focus what we are about and how we make ministry decisions. However, as we have been challenged to refine our vision to the point of making it portable, Andy Stanley challenged us. He asked, what is the vision of the "One" campaign that Bono is leading -- "To make poverty history" - sure, there are more details with that, but it is memorable and everyone knows what it is about. He asked, what the vision of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barak Obama were... the only one people knew was Obama's "Change" - everyone shouted it out. The point is that vision must be simple to remember and portable.

As Pastor Bill and I have chatted about our already refined purpose and vision, we started dialoguing about a perhaps even more refined vision. We toyed with "Reproducing Transformation". The idea here is that we want to be transformed and to reproduce that transformation in other individuals (through mentoring), through small groups, and churches. We are about transformation and we are about reproducing that transformation in others. Perhaps this does not discuss all of the theological elements of it, but we need to be able to clearly articulate what we are about. "Hey, what is New Hope all about?"... "Reproducing Transformation."

What is small groups about? Reproducing transformation
What is mentoring about? Reproducing transformation
What is children's ministry about? Reproducing transformation
What is Sunday morning services about? Reproducing transformation
Why do we have adult sunday school? Reproducing transformation
What is mens, womens, seniors, young adults about? Reproducing transformation
Why do we plant churches? Reproducing transformation

What d'ya think?

The Body

2008-04-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

This morning, pastor Bill dug into the issue of the different parts of the body working together for the good of the entire body. As we were doing the drama and being interviewed, it occurred to me how much of my past willingness to serve was related to my own sense of self-worth. I do not want to serve when I am not feeling good about myself or I'm lacking confidence. But as I thought more about this I realized how closely this is tied to having our identity in Christ. The more I am assured in my identity as an adopted child of God, the more I am willing to put myself out there. Like any relationship, starting to serve is sort of like going on a first date: what if they don't like me? what if they think I'm weird? what if I don't like them? how could I end it if I know its not working?

Any time we step out into something new, it is a risk. But as each one of us are transformed, we start to understand that growth comes from risk. Risk to serve in an area with no expertise. Risk to ask a question about God that no one else dares ask. Risk to say we don't have it all together. Risk or being transparent. Risk of seeing the transparency of others.

But we are the body. We are brothers and sisters. Perhaps there exists a truly functional family and, in that hypothetical family, I think there is transparency and trust. Conversely, it seems one of the traits of the "most" dysfunctional families is there lacks the ability to be real. I strongly desire the family of New Hope to be healthy; we may not be fully functional (although that's the goal), but we must be healthy. This means we share what is on our mind, including the truth in love. It means we need to accept hearing the truth in love. It means we are patient with each other and realize each person is uniquely wired by God.

It's exciting to be part of a larger body. I'm so honored to be part of the family of God and even more specifically of the family of New Hope. Like brothers and sisters, we'll walk through disagreements and conflict, but at the end of the day, like Sister Sledge sang, "We are family!"

Merry Christmas

2008-03-31T19:04:00.001-07:00

I was sitting in my recliner working on my laptop while Tracy was grading papers on the couch and it felt like the middle of winter. The snow was coming down; the trees were thick with the fluffy stuff. Lucky for us we never took down our Christmas lights. I found the extension cord and plugged them in and it took our evening to a new level of coziness. Funny how little things like that can boost the spirit. Here's to wishing our hearts are covered white as snow and the Christmas lights are always turned on.

Greetings from Brainerd

2008-03-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Brainerd, Minnesota. Every 6-7 weeks I am up here as I work through my MBA program at Bethel. Today we ran class from 8:30am - 9:30pm and I'm just now back at my hotel room. Long days, but great learning. Just thought I'd send out a quick note to let you all know that I miss you all. Every week, month, and day that goes by I seem to fall more in love with the church and the church family. I'm saddened every time I need to be away for schooling or any other reason. I'm still working off the buzz from last Sunday with 21 people making either first time decisions to surrender their lives to Christ or to recommit to a decision they had made earlier. I'm praying and believing for great things to happen again this weekend as God keeps showing up and doing His thing. Want an honor to have a front row seat to the power of His grace and the activity of His Holy Spirit.

I'd best go.. just wanted to say hey. Hey.

Easter

2008-03-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

What a blast on Easter Sunday! To see so many people going forward to ask God to pick up the broken pieces of their life and start putting the masterpiece back together. What a picture of the grace and love of God for each of us. As I hang out here at the airport waiting for a east-bound plane, I was just reminded of the picture of what happened yesterday. As I told a few people after the service, "We had us some church!" Man that was fun to be in the house of the Lord.

Well, I better keep rollin' on other stuff; I'm paying for internet time, but I thought it was worth it to throw a shout out to my family at New Hope. Love ya...

Chameleon

2008-03-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible (I Corinthians 9:19)." - Paul was clear on his mission, "To win as many as possible" and he determined that one way he would do that would be be to consider himself a slave, a servant, to everyone even though he was free and not required to do so.

"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I becamse like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some (I Corinthians 9:19-22)." - Paul was a chameleon, changing as he felt he needed to change. But unlike the chameleon, he did not change to hide (for some would say that is the purpose of the chameleon), but instead he changed to accomplish his mission, "To win as many as possible."

What is our individual mission or purpose? Is everything we do consistent with that mission or purpose? How about New Hope Community Church? Our purpose is "To honor God by making passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit." Our purpose lies in making passionate followers... is everything we do aligned with that purpose. Are we what we need to be to those following Christ to make them passionate? For those brand new to their faith are we helping them become followers of Christ? For those starting to seek are we there to answer their questions and help them see who Christ is? For those far from God are we being Christ?

God has given a tremendous purpose and calling to New Hope Community Church. There is a broad spectrum of people that we engage with. There may be times where we must become all things to all people for the sake of winning as many as possible. The danger is the appearance of inconsistency... but the inconsistencies are in the strategies, but there is tremendous consistency in the purpose. We must never confuse strategy for purpose. God bless you....

Psalm 27

2008-03-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

"The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27:1

As believers in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside each of us. That same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead! This Easter, may we recognize again the power that it took to raise a man 3-days dead from the grave... how massive that power must be... and this it lives inside each of us. How could we not be bubbling out the light of God? How could we not love our neighbors? How could be be in fear? Why should be be afraid?

Because we are human.

But may we also be reminded that what is impossible for us, is possible with God. Allow God's power to reign in our lives.... let's tap into that power, die to ourself, and LIVE LARGE. Easter blessings to you all.

Love & Rejection

2008-03-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Our small group is working through a video series by Beth Moore called "Living Beyond Yourself" which focuses on the fruit of the spirit. This past week, the topic was Love. I found it interesting that the focus of the week's study, however, was on rejection. For about 40 of the 60 minutes, she talked about rejection. She discussed three pictures of rejection from the different definitions from the original Greek and Hebrew: 1) To disapprove or refuce, 2) Vacant, and 3) To be spit out. She discussed the wounds of rejection and how we typically look to repair the rejection in one of two erroneous ways: 1) To get back what was rejected or 2) To seek revenge.

As we moved past the realities of our rejection, we studied how the Lord receives us regardless of whoever rejects us, but we tend to focus more on the rejection of others than the acceptance of Christ. Through accepting God's acceptance, we start the process of divine healing. I Peter 2:4-10 talks directly about how we are rejected by men, but chosen by God; that we are precious to him. We often lose sign of the two main sources of divine healing the SOVEREIGNTY of God and the SUPREMACY of God.

As each of us struggles from the wounds of rejection, may we each grab firmly to the truth that Jesus offers us "True" love and that "True love never fails (I Corinthians 13:8)." God's love for us will never fail us and the love that we offer others in the name of Christ will never drop away or fall. The "greatest of these is love" and that comes from the ability to allow God's love to fill the vacancy of rejection that many of us carry.

Although different, I felt God connecting some dots for me this week between this and the Sunday service where Pastor Bill spoke on a life of peace. He many clear that peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God. Like the fruit of the Spirit and like love, our peace is dependent on our ability to allow the presence of God to pervade our hearts. Life in the Spirit is about battling for our heart.... let's fight the battle and actively guard our hearts for it is the well-spring of life.

May the Lord bless you with His Love that overcomes rejection. Have a great week!

Men's Retreat

2008-03-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a fantastic weekend of being challenged to live with Reckless Abandon to the things of God and to live life in Reckless Obedience to the one who makes life possible. After each large group worship & teaching we would break into small groups. These groups were pre-arranged by Roby and the first few comments after getting into the groups were things like, "What was Roby on when he made this group?" or "What, did Roby think we needed a baby-sitter?". But after, I know I was so grateful that I had time to get to know these guys, their hearts, and their passion on a level I probably never would have been able to without being locked in a room together for hours at a time. My experience with Mr. Johnson, Mr. Pasch, Mr. Zortman, Mr. Fritchie, and Mr. McFarlane was life-changing. As I shared with the large group on Saturday night, I was inspired by these men... inspired to take me own passion for lost people to an even greater level; inspirted to let my past by part of my story but my present & future be my testimony - that my testimony is what it is today, but my final testimony will be how I choose to live my future. If you know these guys and see them around, thank them again as they have helped me in ways they will never fully appreciate.

I was then excited to be able to return late Saturday night and re-join my family and be at New Hope for an incredible time of worship led by our interim worship director Caitlyn. What a fabulous weekend of inspiration, worship, and greater death of myself to the heart of God. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness, victory, and power!

OK, fine... Dentist

2008-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I fainted at the dentist office... OK, fine, there it is. I made the mistake of telling a couple of people and now I'm getting sent pictures of needles & dental work. Thank you for your support.

Last week I took my son to get two wisdom teeth pulled. When the first novicaine (sp?) shots were given to him (with the 80" needle), I felt a little light headed. After they were done with that round, I went to the lobby to sit down and had some water. OK, things were cool... I went back in while he waited for the novicaine to settle in.

When doc came back, he said he would do more shots and then wait a bit until starting the tooth removal. He gave the shots and that part went fine; but then, unexpectedly, he started digging the teeth out. Oh, oh.... trouble in river city. I start sweating big time and let them know I gotta go sit down... so I start walking down the hallway to the lobby and the world starts closing in on me. In my mind I'm saying, "10 more steps.... 9 more steps... 8 more steps" -- and I made it to the chairs! Praise God I didn't faint!

Then the receptionist & the hygenist come out to help me (now I'm really embarassed!). They throw a cold towel on the back of my neck - that's better. Then they say, "you are sweating right through your shirt." OK, now that's lovely! True, but not exactly what I'm looking to hear at that point. I tip my head back to enjoy the towel on the back of my neck... and then I'm out. I think it was just a brief time, but I came to when a cold towel was put on my forehead. Then I was fine. It was like throwing up -- you just do it and then you are fine.

It was a very humbling experience. My 11 year old is getting two teeth "extracated" and dear-old-dad can't even stay on his feet. Well, it's good to be humbled from time to time I guess... and it's fun to have stories. I'm not looking forward to my next visit to the dentist; before I went out the second time the dentist told me only two people had fainted - and both were women. Again, confidence & joy!

Oh well... just a fun story that maybe someday will preach.

White as snow

2008-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Prior to today's snowfall, I had been thinking about how the snowpiles around town and our house had become pretty ugly. You know what I mean... snow gets plowed a few times and the piles turn dirty. But then the new snow came today and whitened everything up again.

My thoughts moved to my heart and my need for constant snow to make me clean. As we confess our junk, ask God for forgiveness, and commit to turning from our ways, we are forgiven and our sins become as far as the East is from the West and are sent to the ocean floor. The blood of Christ becomes the snow in our lives, making us white as snow... glorious grace! But our repentance can give way to the pressures of life and the wiles of an enemy that prowls around like a roaring lion. Like Paul, we find two laws at work within us - the law that wants to do good and the law that does evil. Over time, our sinful nature, leads to our snowpiles becoming dirtied once again. Praise God for fresh snow.

Financial Freedom

2008-01-28T21:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past four years, we have been teaching through a series on Financial Freedom. This is such a difficult subject to talk about in church because the knock on church is that "they are always asking for our money." Let me take this opportunity to be clear... I believe that Jesus taught a lot about giving; about how finances are tied so closely to our heart. I believe that Jesus commanded his followers (us) in how to treat finances; how to make monetary decisions; what to do with those in need; how to be generous.

When the church instructs on giving, it is not to somehow manipulate people into giving for the sake of the church. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He said to "make disciples of all nations" but He also said to "teach them to obey everything I have commanded you to." The church has the responsibility to teach what Jesus taught -- including finances. When the church teaches on financies, it is out of a heart of being obedient to Jesus teaching to His disciples.

If anyone decided to give financially to New Hope, our desire is that they be motivated by Jesus instructions, God's principles, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. There should not be compulsion from man -- only instruction on what Jesus had to say.

As funds are received, the church (like each of us individually) carries the responsibility to steward its resources well. New Hope has a purpose, "To honor God by making passionate follwers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit." Everything the church does must move individuals toward that purpose... hardened hearts become softened, hopeless find hope, prisoners be set free, doubters become seekers, seekers become followers, and followers become passionate. Whether New Hope received $10,000/year or $10,000,000/year, the responsibility and commitment of the leadership is to pray, seek the leading of the Holy Spirit, and make decisions that can best advance that purpose.

Our job as individuals: read the Bible, listend to Jesus teaching, be obedient to God's instructions, and lean into the Holy Spirit on what we should give and where we should give it.

Our job as a church: pass on the teaching of Jesus and steward whatever resources come in based on the purpose of the church, Biblical instruction, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

HIV/AIDS

2008-01-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

There are several area pastors that are interested in joining forces together to make a significant impact in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Some churches have already taken some steps while others are waiting for the right opportunity. My desire is to see the churches lead a community-wide effort; to see Isanti County as an expanded community partner with a region in an area affected by HIV/AIDS to help turn the tide of poverty and lack of education which are underpinnings of the AIDS issue. To that end there I have attended a seminar at Bethel University attended by pastors from First Baptist and River of Life as well as other lay leaders from the area; this led to a discussion and presentation by World Vision at the ministerial meeting last week; this led to another one-on-one meeting with a lay leader from Cambridge Lutheran (who is already taken leadership on this issue). Over the next few months, my desire is that church leaders will meet to articulate a unified vision for what this could look like and then, over time, gain momentum by getting other community leaders on board ultimately resulting in the creation, announcement, and execution of a transformational impact program in the area of HIV/AIDS. Jesus calls us to care for the widows and orphans. The widows & orphans created by the greatest global medical crisis in history is absolutely staggering. Jesus calls us to the utter ends of the world to share the gospel. If you have a passion around this issue, I would love to hear from you as we start to move forward on this. May the Lord bless you in great & mighty ways. Your servant.... Steve

Preaching, presents, & popeye

2007-12-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hey gang... I didn't realize it has been 12 days since my last entry on this blog. I guess Christmas had a way of getting my focus elsewhere. We did the Christmas play on the weekends of 12/9 and 12/16 and then I attended the Christmas play at Evergreen Community Church in Pine City on 12/23. This was the church that we were involved with helping start which is transforming lives up in Pine County and baptizing another 11 people this Sunday. Today I had the honor of speaking at New Hope and we went "In search of..." a hope that does not disappoint.

Preparing for this Sunday was grueling. I went through about 9 re-writes of the message. It felt like the Holy Spirit just kept saying..."No; not quite" and I would do down a different path. This hope that becomes an anchor for us is soemthing I needed a big dose of so, perhaps, this was God's way of having me look at the issue from multiple perspectives so that I would deepen my own understanding of it. Finally, on Friday night he solidified what I would share and then had me do some fine tuning Saturday.

Typically preparing to deliver a message is much easier, but for whatever reason this was a much more demanding challenge. I do feel, however, that God said what he wanted to say. I think we were all challenged to search out the deeper things of God and live our life according to them.

Without much of a break over Christmas, I'm planning to take the rest of the day off today (perhaps watch the Vikings slip out of the playoff race) and hopefully have New Years Day off (I know you all really wanted to know my schedule!).

I don't get a ton for Christmas, but it was probably the least expensive thing I received that mean the most to me. My brother put a can of spinach in my stocking. It is not uncommon for us to put goofy things in each others stockings.... I put hot dog buns, bread, macaroni, and butt paste in peoples stockings this year. Honestly, there is such a thing as "butt paste" and it makes a great stocking stuffer. Anyway, the reason the spinach was so meaningful is that he said he knows I am on the verge of a "Popeye" moment. These are the moments I've talked about before where people reach the point of "That's all I can stands and I can stands no more" and then act on it. It's no secret that there are some social justice issues burning in me, that are holy discontents, that are bubbling into popeye moments. This meant a lot to me.

Later...

Follower infusion

2007-12-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Hey crew! What a blast it is to be part of a community of faith that welcomes everyone to the foot of the cross. This past weekend was great as we saw many new faces come and hear the story of Christmas... "from the beginning." So often we get excited about telling the story to people who have never heard it (or at least never heard it clearly), but I found myself also very excited to share this re-enactment with those who have heard the story many times. Based on feedback I received, this production was a blessing to those long-time followers as much as it was to the newbies, seekers, or those drug there by the ear. I'm thrilled to be part of the "seeker" movement in making church accessible and relevant to all, but the downside can come in the form of providing what long-time followers need. In the "seeker" model, we try to move long-time followers toward a personal ownership of their growth while encouraging them through the Sunday morning programs to own their growth, to show radical grace toward others, and to give themselves to complete surrender to God. Sometimes, however, we are able to provide the followers with a real shot in the arm for their walk - my prayer is that this happened over the past couple of weeks.

I'm so honored to call y'all family and to be serving you in any way I can. Merry Christmas!

The rest of the story

2007-12-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

This Sunday we had an opportunity to tell the "story of Christmas" through a musical troupe of story tellers. For many people, the story is just some unrealistic fable about a virgin giving birth to a guy who would later die and be raised from the dead. Unrealistic and, even if true, irrelevant.

Seeing God's creative gifts embedded in musicians, singers, writers, and directors in such a way that the "rest of the story" comes through is what blows my mind. It is amazing to me that God can use his people to share, in 35 minutes, the outline of His story. Starting with creation ("in the beginning") to the human condition (sin) to the sending of His son to satisfy our need and longing (Christmas) to the ultimate death and new life (Easter).

God was at work this past Sunday as individuals in the service and in the children's ministry made 1st time decisions to accept Christ as savior and to follow him as their Lord. Although not always a stroll in the hay, what a joy to be serving God and advancing His kingdom on earth as we prepare the bride (church) for His return.

Devotion

2007-12-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today, Pastor Bill talked about devotion. What does it mean for us to be fully devoted; to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ? The more I become entrenched in the Old Testament, the more I am convinced that our devotion and Christ-followership must start with our fear, honor, and worship of a holy, all-powerful God.

It is easy to be devoted to a trend or a current cause or even an new and cool church. But that devotion only lasts as long as the trend it trendy, the cause is current, or the church stays new and cool. But if I want to be a fully devoted passionate follower of Christ, I must be fully devoted to our God of Wonders who does not change.

What does it mean to be devoted? To be set apart? To be fully surrended to the work of God in my life? For me, I need to continue to deepen my understanding of who God is.... I must understand the story of which I am a part of... I must acquire a deep appreciation for what God demands of me. Only then will I be able to understand how unworthy I am to be able to stand in the presence of God; only then will I be fully able to grasp the awesomeness of God; only then will I be filled the the fear of God and His awesome power. And then, and only then, will I be fully able to grasp what the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus really accomplished for me and us.

I long to have my legacy include being a passionate follower of Christ; I want to be regarded as one devoted to God and to the teachings of Christ; I want to be led by the Holy Spirit to live the life that God has called me to (good, bad or ugly). I am going to miss it plenty - as a leader I will make poor decisions; as a friend I will not always be as friendly as I should be - the examples are plenty... but my heart yearns to desire righteousness so as to honor the God of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I desire to lean in to worship God and His Son who stood in the gap for me; I desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit to give me peace, patience, kindness, gentleness as well as power and confidence.

I desire to be devoted.... 'hopelessly devoted'..... to God.

Gratitude

2007-11-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

Many days I feel like a citizen of the nation of Israel. I lived my life for 20+ years in service to myself and my sinful desires - I was in bondage to myself and to the ways of the world (my Egypt). God sent people into myself to teach me about who God was and who could deliver me from my Egypt (my Exodus). For a while I enjoyed my freedom, but pretty soon I found myself complaining about areas of my life; I found myself longing for my previous life of selfishness - I was no different than the Israelites grumbling to Moses about the lack of water, or food, or being sick of bread, or being sick of qual, or whatever. As God works to transform my life I still find myself at times grumbling to God rather than clinging to his faithfulness of the past and promises of the future. It's easy to rip on the Israelites, but I wonder how different I would have been. It's easy to rip on Adam and Eve, but I wonder if I would have been covered with fruit. It's easy to think about how good things were back in Egypt, forgetting about the slavery and bondage - but the truth is, we (I) were slaves and have no found freedom in our (my) deliverance. As we paint pictures of Egypt (copyright Sara Groves), let's make sure we remember the full picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T19:58:00.001-08:00

I am so thankful to be serving God at "such a time as this" in His kingdom history as He is on the move calling people to himself in Isanti County and beyond. I am so thankful for a church that is like family to me - for people that love unconditionally and serve intentionally. I am so thankful to be surrounded by people that continually make me want to be a better man; to be more Christ-like. I am so thankful that God's mercies are new every morning. I am so thankful that the God who made the universe and who is perfectly Holy would allow me into His presence.

I am very thankful this Thanksgiving.

Holy of Holies

2007-11-18T20:06:00.001-08:00

God instructed the nation of Israel to build a tabernacle which was split into two pieces... the "Holy Place" and the "Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies)." These two parts were separated by a thick veil. God's presence resided between the cherubim on the ark of the covenant which was located in the Holy of Holies and only the High Priest was allowed to enter that area and only once per year.

What Jesus did through his coming and subsequent death was to open the door to the Holy of Holies to each of us... in fact, when He died, the veil was torn in two (from top to bottom). We have access to God and through the work of the Holy Spirit in each of us, God lives inside of us. I think we often take this for granted as a "nice" thing. The Bible says that God doesn't change - he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. What significance does that have? God was so Holy that no one could be in His presence without His permission or they would die. God sent plagues on Egypt to let the Israelites go. God parted the red sea. God came in fire, smoke, and earthquake on Mount Sinai. God flooded the earth, but saved humankind through Noah. God is a God of wonders, power, and awe! This is the God we serve and worship; this is the God that is still alive and working; this is the God that lives in each of us through the Holy Spirit. God deserves to be honored, worshipped, and yes, even feared.

"Take me in to the Holy of Holies; take me in by the blood of the Lamb. Take me in to the Holy of Holies; take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am!"

What-if-a-cation?

2007-11-12T05:51:00.001-08:00

We had a great class yesterday at church where we discussed the 10 commandments that God gave to the nation of Israel through Moses. We didn't even talk about the 10 specifically as we focused on the need for the law... why did/does God give us "laws"? Why do we have laws in our culture? Is God punishing us or protecting us? Does this create captivity or freedom? If the law defines our sin, then what is the importance of recognizing that we are sinners? How does recognizing our sin help us understand the nature of God?... or what Jesus did for us?

Obviously, there was some riveting conversation. Through it all, we talked about how God "consecrated" Moses, and then Aaron, setting them apart for meeting with God on Mt. Sinai. We talked about what consecration means which led to wondering what the difference was between consecration and sanctification. Is consecration a state of being set apart whereas sanctification is the process of being consecrated? Are they tied that tightly together? Are they much different?

I took it upon myself to "ask the experts" and committed to bringing some insight back to the class next Sunday. I will also ask the experts to post their comments on this blog as well. If you have thoughts on this, please share with the rest of us.

Heart & Soul

2007-11-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

As Pastor Bill taught on Sunday, Jonathan's armor bearer was with him "heart and soul" no matter what the situation; no matter what the odds. He was passionately sold out to Jonathan and his mission. What are we sold out to? God calls us to live lives that are passionately sold out to Him... to understand that the purposes God created us for included being "crucified with Christ" so that it is no longer us living, but Christ living through us. What then, does it mean, to have Christ living through us? Well, how did Christ teach us to live? It is better to love than hate; to forgive than hold bitterness; to help than to walk away --- I believe Christ calls us to a radically inclusive kind of love. When we live our lives walking in love (not mushy gooshy words over action, but the kind of love that transforms lives) then we are showing that we are with God "heart and soul."

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul." - 1 Samuel 14:7

Longing thirst

2007-10-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1-2)"

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2)."

We serve and awesome God. The nation of Israel was set apart and as a people endured a lot (captivity in and Exodus from Egypt, entering into Canaan, etc.). So much of the story of Israel (the people) is the story of waiting, expectation, & longing for the one who would ultimately ransom them, Jesus.

Israel's story is our story. We are a continuation of the story that started with Adam & Eve and continued through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. The redeemer that they longed for came and redeemed us all. "Come thou long expected Jesus" is a song about the longing of the nation of Israel, of us, for the messiah. We think, "I didn't need to wait very long" because we don't have the mindset of the collective "we" as in human kind... but "we" waited a long time, thousands of years for the one who would redeem the world. As individuals, we don't need to wait any longer for the messiah to come, but now we wait for the messiah to return. However, as we wait, are we longing for His return? And are we longing for the presence of God in our lives? Our we longing that the spirit of truth would infiltrate our hearts & minds?

I believe this generation is designed to long for God - perhaps not for the entrance of the Messiah, but for the reality of God in our midst (the kingdom of God on earth). Are we deer panting for the water of God or are we just hangin' out by the stream? May our souls thirst for God.

Job

2007-10-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

This week the Biblical Growth Class I was teaching was centered around the life of Job from the Bible. Job went through unbelievable trials with the loss of his entire family, livestock, and possessions. Then he went through the loss of his health and the support of his wife. Ultimately Job had many discussions with his friends and with God that created in him a transformed, contrite, humble heart before God... he came to the point where he realized he had been living a holy and upright life for the sake of obtaining protection and blessings from God, rather than living that life as simply a way to honor and give praise to his creator. It was through Job's repentance that God opened the avenues of blessing and he was able to live long life and God doubled all that he originally had.

The theme of "we" that I talked about last week carries over into the lesson of Job. Job had to go through more than most of us feel we could ever handle, but ultimately his suffering was for the glory of God. But let's not also forget that God allowed Satan to kill other humans as part of this whole story. There was tremendous suffering by many individuals, but the glory God brought about was for all of creation.... when we consider our own suffering and how God might bring glory in and through us, I wonder if that might be a little short-sighted.... perhaps we need to consider how God might bring glory in and through others because of the sufferings in us. If we can somehow wrap our minds and hearts around this, then we can perhaps gain insight into what community is and how "we" are going through life's journey together.

We

2007-10-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

During the Biblical Growth Class, we have started putting the pieces of the Bible together starting with Genesis and moving forward in God's story for us. I was sitting in on the first part of both classes and shared during the second one that I have had this overwhelming sense of "We" throughout God's chosen people. As Joseph struggled in captivity and ultimately understood his purpose, he spoke of how his purpose related to all of Israel. So many times, the people of Israel used a universal "we" when speaking of their struggles, victories, etc. This seems so different from our personal view of struggles, victories, etc. We discuss God and his will in terms of his will for our individual life, rather than his will for humanity. We talk about our own struggles and victories rather than the struggles and victories of "us" as God's chosen people.

Perhaps this feeling is why I get so excited about doing life and experiencing life together in community. Perhaps that is why I get moved by taking communion together (as we did today) or saying the Lord's prayer and singing "Amazing Grace" together (as we did last week). Perhaps that is why I desire a strong small group where we truly do life together. I think God does have direction he gives to each of us, but I think the story of redemption is about redemption of an entire people... each of us write a chapter and continue the story, but I don't know if any of us are the central theme of the story.

Amazing Grace

2007-10-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today at church we finished up a 5-week teaching series on the book of James. James is very passionate about teaching how to live the life we are called to live. At the end of the service, we took time out to recognize the greatness of Gods's grace when we miss it. We sang together the traditional and acoustic version of Amazing Grace. It was a sweet time of unified worship as we recognized how God's grace turned us from the blind lost wretches into the seeing found saved.

As we prayed with people after the services, I found myself once again in awe of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. What a humbling experience to have people I've never met pour out their heart as they try to get a handle on the fact that God can forgive even them; or that God has a plan for them; or that an enemy exists that we have authority over. These experiences drive me to continue our intentionality about the church being a family.

The psalms end with "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." Sometimes there is nothing left to say, except, "praise the Lord".... so, "Praise the Lord."

THINK & Noah

2007-09-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

Today during the church service, Pastor Bill pulled out the cow tongue again to make his point about how the Bible warns about the power of a tongue to either build up or tear down. Over the past few days I've been on the receiving end of some significant tearing down by the use of the tongue - I call this "sniper fire" because it feels like someone is up in the tree taking shots. But, unfortunately, the story doesn't stop there. I, like most of us, am also susceptable to giving into the temptation to tear down with the use of my tongue. Bill used Psalm 141:3, "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." He also used T.H.I.N.K. as an acrostic as we consider what we say... it needs to be Truthful, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. This does not mean we don't speak the truth in love, but we make sure it is in love!

I also taught/facilitated the Biblical Growth Class during 2nd service and we talked about the fall of man, the expansion of the fall, God's intercession of the flood, and then our relapse into sin with the Tower of Babel. Interestingly, during the class I thought about our (humanity's) legacy of sin and how this relates to our temptation to gossip and use our tongue to tear others down. I would like to be like Noah in my faith - being righteous and doing what God has called me to do despite what the world might say. And I want to be righteous in my tongue - build others up (Ephesians 4:29) despite what the world is saying and despite what bullets I'm taking from snipers.

God, give us the courage to stand like Noah stood and to use our tongue for spurring each other on to love & good deeds! Amen.

Non-producing faith

2007-09-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday y'all. It was quite the weekend for our family - Saturday alone included two different kid-based parties with a total of 10 kids over (4 of them overnight), campfire, ghosts in the graveyard, soccer, painting, game cube, etc. Saturday also included my trying to do an on-line conference call at perhaps the worst possible time... as the girl party was ending at 4, the boy party was starting at 4, and my conference call was at 4.... it was quite interesting (especially for the parents who saw me tucked away in the corner of the kitchen talking into a headset while staring at a computer trying to ignore the sugar-induced screams and balloon popping). Very interesting day.

On Sunday, Pastor Bill really brought home that our faith, if kept personal, is dead. James 2:14-26 talks about this - that faith without works is dead. The word "dead" does not mean that faith doesn't exist, but what it means is that faith is "barren, useless, idle, non-producing."

The last verse of that section says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." If dead means the same thing in each case, then our body without the Holy Spirit is also "barren, useless, idle, non-producing. Is that true? I know people that haven't accepted Christ that are very productive. Perhaps what James is getting at is productivity in the kingdom of God?

James says, "What good is it...if people claim to have faith but no deeds? (v.14)" I think we would argue that the "good" is for our personal salvation.... however, if we are talking about our productivity in the kingdom of God, the rhetorical question hits home: it's no good.

Interesting topic to dig into further. You all have an AWESOME week! Let's be people that walk across the room and show our faith through our actions; let's put the needs of others before the desires of ourselves.

Life blood

2007-09-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

I just blogged on this in my personal daily blog today (stevefredlund.blogspot.com), but I felt it was appropriate for this weekly blog as well. Normally I wouldn't duplicate, but I thought it was an insight that could be beneficial to the two different audiences.

I spent the weekend in Brainerd for my MBA program - about 19 hours of lecture and work studying managerial finance & decision-making. One of the key elements from the discussion was how important cash flow is to any organization. Even if turning a significant profit, if an organization is not realizing positive operating cash flow, it could be in trouble.

What about our personal lives? Sometimes we do so many good things which creates a net profit for us in terms of our current good deeds and our future (volunteering, working, studying, etc). The question is,: do we have positive cash flow, which is the life blood of any organization. I think positive cash flow for our lives are those things the give us energy (relationships or fishing or retreating or soccer or whatever) and negative cash flow for our lives are those things that drain us of energy (lack of sleep or relationships or fishing or retreating or soccer or whatever). I think we need to make sure we are experiencing not just profit (good things > bad things) but also positive cash flow (energy givers > energy drainers).

I could get into a discussion on the parallels between this and "working capital" versus "shareholder equity" but then I might annoy all of you (negative cash flow for ya).

May we be Colossians 3:23 people that in whatever we do, we do it as if we are working for God and not for man. But may we also be wise in knowing what it is we are to put our hands to based on our current personal "cash flow" and an understanding of the sources of cash flow.

3-launch weekend

2007-09-09T19:53:00.001-07:00

What a great weekend!

On Saturday night we held our annual meeting / vision night where we had a chance to share stories of what God is doing, recap the past year, look forward to the future, and share communion. The membership overwhelming affirmed the strategic plan, the budget, and the four recommended new elders.

Then Sunday where we opened the next chapter in the history of New Hope by moving to three services. There was a buzz among the staff and volunteers that was not unlike when New Hope launched officially on September 12, 2004 or when Evergreen Community Church publicly launched on September 26, 2006.

Change is always difficult and the process had its challenging moments, but God was faithful in getting us to this point and making the day a success. I have not yet received final numbers, but we had about 140 people at the first service, which is very exciting. I'm also thrilled about the launch of Guest Central as a "one-stop-shop" for ministry information, questions about New Hope, sign-ups, etc. By all accounts, this is off to a great start and will be an important lynch pin in our ability to provide a connection point for all those who come through the doors.

The staff and volunteers continually go "above and beyond", but this weekend they went
"beyond above and beyond." I wouldn't possibly try to list them all as I would undoubtedly miss people - but you know who you are. What a blast to be on this great adventure with such a skilled and passionate group of people... of fellow church-goers... of extended family... of friends.

Chippin' Away

2007-09-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at church, the service was focused on restoration. Worship, the Lifetalk, and the interviews were all focused on how God is in the business of restoration, not demolition. One of the interviews was with a man named Billy who I have talked with several times before through his involvement with the Fish House - a community of addicts and recovering addicts seeking God's truth for their lives. Billy said something I found incredibly profound and relevant for my life - he talked about how he tries to let God take the crowbar to his life and pry away those pieces that are not what God intended for him. I love thinking of my life in the same way...

God, please chip away at those aspects of my life that are not submitted to or honoring you. Shape me and mold me into the man you've intended me to be. Help me not add new stuff to the sculpture of my life that will later need to be chipped away. Amen.

Something else about what Billy shared really struck me and I've been processing it ever since. It wasn't what he said, but how he said it. As Billy was talking about how God has been chipping away at the junk in his life, he wasn't talking about it with an overly agressive sense of urgency. Obviously God has been working in Billy and he desires God to continue the work in him, but Billy seems very much at peace to allow the process of complete restoration to take place over time. Sometimes I think we (I) are in such a hurry for things to happen that we don't adequately allow the necessary process to occur. I praise God for the restoration work He is doing in Billy, me, and all of us who are desiring to be transformed into Christ-likeness. I also pray that each of us will be open to the restoration process God desires us to go though.

Evergreen Baptism

2007-08-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day in Pine City! This morning, 11 people were baptized at Evergreen Community Church. On a personal note, I had the unbelievably great honor of baptizing my mom as the first ever Evergreen baptism.

For those of you who may not be aware, New Hope Community Church in Cambridge helped start Evergreen which officially launched in September 2006. My family and I were commissioned from New Hope to help lead the new church; we worked with Pastor Seth Hinrichs from December 2005 through May 2007 helping prepare for launch and then working through the first school year.

For about 6 months, I got up at 5:00am, drove to Braham to pick-up drums, then to Rock Creek to pick up a trailer, then to Pine City by 6:30am to start the process of unloading and setting up for the portable church; this process was reversed in the afternoon - typically getting home by 1:30pm in the afternoon. Starting a new church is an unbelievably grueling process, requiring motivation through the potential of transformed lives. All of the time, money, energy, and sweat was made so worth it through the testimonies of those 11 lives who have been transformed in powerful ways.

I'm reminded of the "faith chapter", Hebrews 11, which talks about many of the great people of faith throughout history culminating in the beginning of Hebrews 12 which talks about these great people of faith being our "great cloud of witnesses" who are now cheering us on in what we are doing. It helps me to think of the many, many people who, in faith, started churches before us and are now cheering us on in our efforts. It's easy to forget that we are not just talking about New Hope and Evergreen. Instead, Evergreen is a 4th generation church. It started with the creating of North Isanti Baptist Church which eventually birthed First Baptist Church of Cambridge which parented New Hope Community Church and now Evergreen.

Today was a very emotional day for our immediate family and for the larger church family. The day reminded me of why we do what we do. Stay encouraged - lives are being radically impacted through what God is doing through us! Thanks for your partnership!

3 Services

2007-08-21T17:21:00.001-07:00

Last night (Monday, 8/20) we had a Leadership Council meeting in which we had excellent dialogue around the decision to move to 3 services this fall. The decision itself has pros and cons, but the heart of the dialogue revolved around the desire to create a culture of open & candid communication throughout the church. Overall the issue is around appropriate process for decision-making (creating ownership through process) as well as honest feedback around what people are struggling with. Much of our communication and gatherings focus on how God is moving through New Hope and centering on the great stories of transformation that we all enjoy.

God is moving and people are being transformed; however, there is a feeling among some that we don't create an environment for enough candid conversation around what things we are struggling with. For whatever reason there can be a tendency for individuals to be struggling with issues or certain decisions, but these items do not get communicated to higher levels of leadership. The crux of the issue is uncertain: is leadership unapproachable? are people afraid of not having faith for questioning decisions? There are a number of potential reasons, but as leaders we need to make sure that we are welcoming concerns and issues; it might not be enough to say we have an "open-door policy", but instead we might need to create other welcoming opportunities.

There is a lot to digest with this; but leadership is commited to having these conversations because ultimately they result in better decisions, greater ownership, and deeper trust in relationships. Romans 12:8 calls those with the gift of leadership to lead with all diligence; this means we are willing to continue improving our leadership including allowing people to hold up mirrors so we can see our blind spots.

As a staff today, we continued the conversation including all new information & perspectives we have received and the decision was made to continue pursuing three services on 9/9. In addition, the staff recognizes the need for volunteers in certain ministry areas (specifically the technical area) and will each work to provide leads for potential volunteers or alternative solutions. Finally, as a staff we will commit to pray that God will expand our tentpoles and that the lord of the harvest will bring in laborers.

Thank you to all who continue investing in New Hope. Conflict on the process is welcome as long as we stay unified in the purpose. Based on the discussion last night and those involved, I know we are all focused on the same purpose: To honor God by making passionate followers of Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must embrace conflict as long as the motivation stays on living out our purpose. I'm honored to serve along side each of you. For what it's worth, my door is always open.

Welcome

2007-08-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome! I have been blogging my personal journey for over a month and if you are interested in that, feel free to check out stevefredlund.blogspot.com. Posts to this blog will likely be about 2 times per week to give updates and insights as the Executive Pastor of New Hope Community Church in Cambridge, MN. The more personal blog is not intended to reflect the views of NHCC, but instead share my personal journey with those interested. Thanks for taking the time to check it out... comments are always welcome; off-line comments can be directed to steve@newhopecambridge.org. Blessings...