Mother's Day

I trust all of you moms had a great Mother's Day yesterday. My family sure had a good time. After church we went home and I grilled some steaks. We had a great meal and were actually able to eat outside on our deck. After lunch we decided to pack up our golf clubs and go to the driving range. My family almost took up the whole length of the driving range. Darla is going to be in the ladies golf league this year so we thought she should get some practicing in. I am so proud of her. Darla's gifts have always been in the music arena. Sports like golf is something that she didn't start until a few years ago. When she puts it all together she can really hit the ball. I still haven't figured out how to have everything working together to consistently hit that great shot.

One of the gifts I gave Darla for mother's day was an ipod. Since a big part of her life is music I felt it was time for her to catch up with the times. It's amazing how many cd's you can fit on that thing. What's nice is the background accompaniment songs that she can now have wherever she goes. If we are ever in Nashville, she can be a part of the Grand Ole' Opry on the spur of the moment. Perhaps if we run into Simon, she could end up as the next American Idol. At the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre she may get the leading part. (Well, you get the idea)

Again, I hope that all of you moms had a great day yesterday. There is no way that you can ever be appreciated enough for all that you do. Thank you!

YouVersion.com

Check out www.YouVersion.com. It's a revolutionary online community! Whether you've been studying the Bible for years or are simply curious about its claims, YouVersion will allow you to read, share, ask questions, and learn from others in an exciting and interactive new way. The neat thing is that if you have a cell phone with web access, you can access 14 different translations of the Bible.

Here are some areas of YouVersion you'll want to check out.

Discover
Easily find a passage in one of many translations. Search by reference or use the Table of Contents to locate a specific scripture.

Contribute
Share what God's Spirit is showing you, and read how He is moving in the lives of others. Contribute images, video, text or links to passages, or email something meaningful to a friend.

Reflect
You can journal about what you're reading, as you're reading it. And even better, what you write is linked directly to what you are reading so you can easily reference back to those special passages.

Remember
Mark references with tags that make sense to you, and find what you want, when you want. It's like your own personal concordance. Or you can star anything you'd like to remember.

Church Managment Software

I am looking for some recommendations on church management software. Let me know if you have some suggestions.

Facebook

It's been a few days since I have updated my blog. I apologize. Last Friday I decided to create my facebook page. I have to admit that I thought I might be a little old for this. After all, my kids and their friends are into it. I also have to admit a fear. I wondered if I would have anyone be my friend. :)

I was pleasantly surprised to find many of MY FRIENDS also had a presence on facebook. I found missionaries that my church supports, high school classmates, my college room mate, my former Youth Pastor, several ministry colleagues, and lots of kids from Living Hope Church.

Technology is wonderful and it really can be a great help in life, but I also realize that it takes a lot of time to keep up with everything. I have this blog site, my podomatic sight where I put the audio of my sermons, www.livinghope.podomatic.com and the church website to keep up. I almost forgot, I have been editing the video of our Sunday morning services so that we can put a good video on our local access channel. Fortunately I have some people that are ready to be trained. If you have an interest, let me know.

A big reason why I do this is because of the opportunity to touch peoples lives who will not always be at a Sunday morning service. I believe that Christians need to use every opportunity to share the wonderful message of Jesus' love.

If you have facebook, will you be my friend? :)

Exponential 08

Pastor Bobby and I returned last night from the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida. The weather was incredible (sunny and 85) and the conference was even better.

The focus of Exponential is on church planting. The conference really reaffirmed the importance of what Living Hope Church did a year and a half ago. Living Hope went multi-site, extending into the community of Rice.

I learned that churches of 200 or less are four times more likely to plant a church than churches of 1,000.

God really challenged me in the area of intentional investment in the lives of others, growing mature Christians who reproduce the process of discipleship in someone else.

Focus on building people, not the church. God will build the church.

I realize that it is time to develop a systematic process that allows attenders of Living Hope to progress in their walk with God, enabling them to become more like Jesus.

I have pages and pages of notes but I will not put them all here. I will however leak them out from time to time as I refocus my ministry and my call.

Andy Stanley

I am at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida, where more than 2,000 have gathered to learn about church planting. This afternoon Andy Stanley shared on the topic, "Making Vision Stick".

Here are a few notes from Andy.
Mental Picture of what could be fueled by passion of what should be
-it begins with a burden
-the challenge for those of us in leadership is what is clear in your head has to be clear to everyone else
- they have to know what the win looks like
- they have to know what success looks like in your vision
1. State it simply
- can you state it quickly and memorable
What is the one sentence job description that explains your church
2. Cast it convincingly (nehemiah 2)
define the problem
offer a solution
and explain why now
(if people don't feel the weight of the problem they will never buy into the solution)
What would go undone if your church ceased to exist?
3. Repeat it regularly
Find out what the rhythm of your church (when do the most people come) and tell them the vision of your church ALL THE TIME (Vision doesn't stick, it leaks)
4. Celebrate it systematically
- put people in front of the congregation that demonstrate and embody that vision (testimonies)
5. Embrace it personally and publicly

Snow Days

I love snow days, I just prefer that they not be in April. I woke up to a foot of snow and another 4-6 inches on the way. The positive-my family desperately needs a fun day together. Life has been a little busy lately. The negative-golf is on hold, at least for a little while.

This day actually reminds me of the snow storm Little Falls experienced on October 31, 1991. At the time, I was the Youth Pastor at Living Hope and we were taking the youth to the Whiteheart concert in St. Cloud. As we drove down in the church van, we passed several vehicles in the ditch. By the time we arrived in St. Cloud, we found ourselves to be among a small handful of people who made it. Whiteheart sang a couple of songs and then said. "We're out of here". As I look back on that night I wonder, "What was I thinking". It was a scary ride home. The really stupid thing about it is that Darla was only two weeks away from giving birth to our first child. Hey, she really liked Whiteheart. The reason this storm reminds me of that is because last night my daughter Kelsey went to St. Cloud to hear the Newsboys in concert. She made it back to Little Falls but spent the night at her friends. It sounds like it was a tough ride back.

Well, I need to go. Time to play!