BASEBALL AND POLITICS

Got to watch the first three innings of my grandson's baseball game tonight - he was batting .500 when I left. Then it was over to Farmingville for a meeting of the Executive of Brookhaven Conservative Party.

This was the evening we voted on who would get the Conservative line for the Town Board elections in November and I was very happy overall with the outcome.

1. I like the look of Robert DiCarlo as the Republican/Conservative challenger to Supervisor Brian Foley. He's not part of the corrupt good old boys club and he gave me his assurance that when elected he will repeal anti-church legislation introduced two years ago to stop us building.

2. Jane Bonner is an excellent candidate for the 2nd District, fighting for the seat on the Town Board being vacated by Kevin McCarrick who will not be standing for re-election. She's a Conservative who has been given the Republican line. Great lady.

3. Kathy Walsh in the 3rd District has proven her worth already - not your average politician, a genuine person who cares about the community.

4. I love the fact that Roberta Owens has been adopted by the party for the 4th District. The Democrats promised two years ago they would promote minorities, but have not. Roberta is an African American, a woman of course, an unashamed Christian and above all an excellent candidate.

5. The Executive really did not want to endorse Tim Mazzei as his introduction of anti-church legislation two years ago has put him at odds with Conservative values. He got the line, but only just and with reluctance. The reasoning was that he is more likely (and will be required) to reverse that decision than a Democrat would be and Mazzei would lose to one without the Conservative line. I have no time for him. He is of limited principles and is totally untrustworthy. I'd rather have a monkey on the Town Board, but in the end this being a democracy, the majority on our Executive prevailed.

All in all, there is a lot for Christians to be happy about, not the least of which is that every Town Board candidate with the support of the Conservative Party is pro-life.

NEW SERIES STARTS SUNDAY

At last!

It seems like for ever since we sat down at the start of the year and decided that we should do a summer series looking at the church through the book of Acts.

With five months of collecting ideas, making mental and physical notes, I'm all ready to go and we'll hit the ground running Sunday morning with the series whose time has finally come - Keepin' It Real.

SAY IT AIN'T SO RICK

Several centuries before even I was born, the great Methodist preacher George Whitfield wrote these words in his journal one Sunday -

Went to church this morning and was not too depressed.

I've been to that church too. I've also spent more time than I care to recount in the one where you go and are suicidal when you exit.

I'm not sure if Whitfield was part of the congregation on the day in question or was their visiting preacher, but truth is he knew what it was to be thoroughly downcast after a church service and this particular one wasn't as bad as he feared.

Thank God I don't deal with that any more - I love our church!

But talking about depression, I listened to Rick Warren a couple of days ago and found some of his comments a little deflating.

RW, for whom it is no secret I have a great respect, has probably done more to shape the church of Christ over the past ten years than any living leader. No wonder he is decribed as America's Pastor.

I was interested to hear him say that 15% of Americans move every year and disappointed that he followed that by saying if you take the church members who relocate, add in those who die and those who decide this church which was once the best thing since sliced bread is not where they want to be any more and in five years you can be preaching to a totally diferent crowd.

He compared pastoring in 2007 to walking down a guard of honor and saying, Hello how are you? to a constantly changing stream of faces.

There's no way that's how it's meant to be.

I refuse to accept that is the way things are.

I may be an ostrich or even a dinosaur, but I still look for commitment, loyalty and longevity.

Anything less is simply depressing!

JOHN WAYNE

This may well be the bargain of the year - was in Wal-Mart today and found a great DVD in their bargain bin. For a mere $5.50, I have a four disc set of 20 digitally enhaced John Wayne movies, most of which I have never heard of and are short, but whatever they are I'm looking forward to watching this larger-than-life hero.

The world needs another John Wayne!

HERE THEY ARE ...

This is a shot of us with our friends Basil and Cathy D'Souza, when we were with them in Goa, South India, earlier this year.

MEMORIAL DAY

It's a good job I spent some time at The Wall on Friday and also took the time to personally thank a number of veterans at church yesterday, because the day itself has left me with little time for contemplation.

Our friends return to India in the morning, so there was a lot to be done for them today as they secured essential supplies that are not available or are incredibly expensive for them back home. Like pepperoni, PAM spray, computer memory sticks, etc., etc. So there has been a lot of shopping!

We also opened the pool, put air conditioners in the windows - no, we don't have central air - and I sorted out a bunch of small group materials, sermon CD's etc for Basil to take with him.

I guess we're downright spoiled here when it comes to resources. It's hard to conceive of living in a country where there is virtually nothing available to help pastors and churches. You know how dire it is when I'm getting requests for my notes from overseas - this country too for that matter!

But, getting back to Memorial Day, some of the finest men and women ever born have put their lives on the line to make and maintain this as the greatest country on earth. I am supremely grateful for their commitment.

STUFFED

No, not me - haven't been perfect with my diet or exercise while we were away in DC, but having returned this afternoon, I can hardly believe how much we have going on in tomorrow morning's service.

Guest speakers, both from 8,000 miles away - Basil and Kathy Von Staden; a Memorial Day tribute and then I plan to preach a bit myself.

I guess the obvious question is why I need to add my own 2c and the answer is easy, while our guests will share a little about their ministries in India and South Africa respectively, casting and recasting vision is up to me.

Guests don't cast vision, friends don't cast vision, it's for leaders to give clarity about where a church is going.

So I'll say my bit on this second weekend of out Xtend series, albeit I will be considerably briefer than is my norm.

WASHINGTON D.C.

We asked our friends from India who are visiting us, if they would like to take a brief roadtrip to DC and so here we are - home tomorrow.

Today was the sight-seeing day and trust me, we fitted in everything we could and more besides. There were a few things that impressed me here in the nation's capital -

This is a beautiful city - well planned, clean and with some amazing architecture.

I love the fact that so much here is free - like the National Air & Space Museum we spent a fascinating couple of hours touring this afternoon.

I think Abe Lincoln would love his Memorial, not that I make that judgement based on personal knowledge of the gentleman. There are a couple of good speeches of his on the walls. I wonder if he wrote his own - I'm guessing he did and wonder how any of the more recent Presidents would have fared if they had to pen their own stuff. Now there's a scarey thought!

The Metro is really clean.

You could take a whole week here and still have missed some interesting locations.

Since it's Memorial Day weekend, there seem to be a lot of veterans around the place.

Visited the Vietnam Memorial this afternoon for the first time. What a sobering place.

Negative adjectives abound about the war itself, but whatever the politics, it was a privilege to stand at the central point where the 58,148 killed during service are now honored. They deserve the utmost respect.

I don't know all the ins and outs about Iraq either. I have no idea what's going on behind what the mostly liberal press wants me to believe. But I do know that this Memorial Day it might be good to take a break from talking about the war and focus instead on the men and women who are defending liberty there and in other nations by laying their own lives on the line.

This has been a good city to be in at this time of year - it really has made me even more proud to be an American.

REFLECTING

I'm sitting in a hotel room in D.C. right now and thinking about last night's missions banquet. Here are some random thoughts -

1. It was amazing to be able to spend an evening with so many outward focused people.

2. I can't believe the guest band came in, set up and played and all for nothing. Why didn't they rip us off like most bands do???

3. Pity they ran out of Penne a la vodka. The food was outstanding, but the tail end of the buffet line got jipped on one of my favorites!

4. Marie DiCola did a superb job putting all this together, backed up all the way by Charlotte Engel of course.

5. The videos of some of our missions projects brought it home to me that we have been part of some remarkable stuff and continue to be.

6. We acknowledge over 30 people who have been on short term missions trips - and that's only around half of them!

7. We had special guests there from South Africa and India, both of who expressed tremendous gratitude for our support - their tears were genuine and so were ours. What a privilege to partner with real people doing a real job of sharing God's love.

8. That was our first banquet, but we should do it again. We can build on last night.

9. Around $6,000 came in to jump start our special project of getting a new van for our Grace Care food pantry and soup kitchen and for bringing our friends from the rooming houses to church on Sundays.

10. I appreciated Kathy Von Staden saying that our church demonstrates Christianity as far more than a philosophy - hey folks, it's a life to be lived!

LEADERSHIP IS LONELY

In the course of my morning workout today, I listened to another of Mark Driscoll's marathon sermons. I love the guy's preaching and there was a whole lot of good stuff in that message.

I took particular note of this statement -

It's lonely being a leader

- and I agree with it.

Please don't think I'm in the middle of some pity party or on the slippery slope to black depression because I'm not. I have a lot of friends, an outstanding pastoral team around me and the best church folks you'll find anywhere in this world.

So why do I agree with that concept?

Because, as Driscoll said, real leaders live in the future. They're ahead of everyone else. They're contemplating and scoping out unknown territory. They're encouraging followers, inspiring vision and dealing with opposition.

Some days I'm so much into the future I find it difficult to focus on here and now. I can't share all that's in my mind and on my heart because it might blow some people away - in fact it would.

Folks, it's true - what people have said and thought about me for years is undeniably right on the money - I really am way out there!

It may be lonely at times, but it's where I choose to be - living on the edge and pushing the limits. And thankfully, there are a whole lot of people enjoying the journey too!

GENERALISTS OR SPECIALISTS?

When I started in ministry those many, many years ago in a depressed former coal mining community in the north east of England, I was under the impression that I had to be a multi-talented, all achieving superhero style of pastor.

So I lived with an ongoing sense of failure that threatened to bury me or at best send me back to school so I could get a real job.

It was several years into this escapade that has now spanned almost 37 years that I came to the gut-wrenching realization that God did not intend for me to either save the world or build a church single-handed. Rather he wanted me to do what I am wired to do and then enlist, equip and encourage others to get plugged in where their particular passions and skills fit best. That has made a whole lot more sense.

So when people visit us and wonder at the amount of folks who are involved in ministry, I let them know it's because the pastor has very limited talents! They're essential.

The kingdom of God needs specialists not a bunch of jack-of-all-trades who are master of none.

We specialize as a church too. We don't do a zillion things. We do three things and endeavor to do them exceedingly well.

1. Sunday services.

2. Small groups.

3. Missions / outreach.

I've heard a bunch of pastors say their missionfield is everyone around them and I agree with that statement. But where do you draw the line? If it's your own town's limits, you're missing the point.

We're focusing on our missions programs this week and it's exciting to be connecting with people that are making a major impact in the lives of others because of our support. People like Kathy Von Staden from South Africa who will be sharing at our missions banquet tomorrow night and Basil D'Souza from India who will also be there.

We do missions well - and plan to do it even better!!!

When it comes to that we are specialists who are always endeavoring to improve.

AWAY?

Wow, enough already!!!
A guy has a very full few days and suddenly it becomes apparent that there are definitetly more than a handful of bored individuals who read his rambling thoughts.

What happened to my blog?

My apologies to the faithful - things just got really busy since our friends from India came into town. Good, but busy.

Basil and Cathy have visited us several times before, but this trip is special because they have been able to bring their two children with them. So we are showing Liz (16) and Jeremy (12) as much as we can of New York during this, their first ever venture outside of India.

Of course that included a visit to the sacred ground of Shea Stadium on Thursday, where we saw the Mets mount a great comeback to beat the Cubs by scoring five runs in the bottom of the 9th.

The plan for Friday was a family outing to see Shrek 3, but at great personal sacrifice Basil and I withdrew from that adventure to accept an invitation to go and see the Mets beat up on the Yankees (surely the sweetest sight in all of baseball!!!). It was freezing in our superb seats, but the place was jumping - what an atmosphere!

So no, I haven't been away as such, just making sure these kids have a trip to remember and being a good tour guide!

Tomorrow it's the Big Apple for the day.

There's something special about sharing good things with friends!

GIVE YOUR OSCAR BACK AL

Looks like there is an increasing number of people who actually know what they're talking about who think Al Gore's global warming piece of fiction is just that.

Here are some -

Geophysicist Dr. Claude Allegre,, a top geophysicist and French Socialist who has authored more than 100 scientific articles and written 11 books and received numerous scientific awards including the Goldschmidt Medal from the Geochemical Society of the United States, converted from climate alarmist to skeptic in 2006.

Geologist Bruno Wiskel, of the University of Alberta recently reversed his view of man-made climate change and instead became a global warming skeptic.

Astrophysicist Dr. Nir Shaviv, one of Israel's top young award winning scientists, recanted his belief that manmade emissions were driving climate change.

Mathematician & engineer Dr. David Evans, who did carbon accounting for the Australian Government, recently detailed his conversion to a skeptic.

Climate researcher Dr. Tad Murty, former Senior Research Scientist for Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, also reversed himself from believer in man-made climate change to a skeptic.

Botanist Dr. David Bellamy, a famed UK environmental campaigner, former lecturer at Durham University and host of a popular UK TV series on wildlife, recently converted into a skeptic after reviewing the science and now calls global warming fears "poppycock."

Climate scientist Dr. Chris de Freitas of The University of Auckland, N.Z., also converted from a believer in man-made global warming to a skeptic.

Meteorologist Dr. Reid Bryson, the founding chairman of the Department of Meteorology at University of Wisconsin (now the Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, was pivotal in promoting the coming ice age scare of the 1970’s ( See Time Magazine’s 1974 article “Another Ice Age” citing Bryson: & see Newsweek’s 1975 article “The Cooling World” citing Bryson) has now converted into a leading global warming skeptic.

Global warming author and economist Hans H.J. Labohm started out as a man-made global warming believer but he later switched his view after conducting climate research.

Paleoclimatologist Tim Patterson, of Carlton University in Ottawa converted from believer in C02 driving the climate change to a skeptic.

Physicist Dr. Zbigniew Jaworowski, chairman of the Central Laboratory for the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Radiological Protection in Warsaw, took a scientific journey from a believer of man-made climate change in the form of global cooling in the 1970’s all the way to converting to a skeptic of current predictions of catastrophic man-made global warming.

Paleoclimatologist Dr. Ian D. Clark, professor of the Department of Earth Sciences at University of Ottawa, reversed his views on man-made climate change after further examining the evidence.

Poor old Al. Despite his earlier statements, everyone knows he didn't invent the internet and now it's becoming clear he's making up stories again!

SPEAKING OF SEX

What an insane day! Seems to have been non-stop from morning to night, but had a great evening with our new for-men-only small group who are working through the book Every Man's Battle.

The makeup of the group, ages from 19 to 60+ serves to emphasize the fact that the fight for sexual purity really is every man's battle.

I think that alone was a real plus from tonight, together with the foundation of grace laid by the verses from Romans 8 we looked at, reminding us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

We spent some time talking about the differences between sexual attraction and sexual addiction that turned out to be very helpful.

This is a very promising series and I'm really looking forward to the weeks ahead.

But for now, I'm shot, the Mets lost and our friends from India arrive tomorrow.

DO YOU MANAGE OR LEAD?

I appreciated this article I was given this morning. It's a checklist from Larry Johnson, President of Johnson Training Group, who sums it up by saying -

The world has lots of good managers. The world needs more good leaders.

Management is the science if directing the present.

Leadership is the art of envisioning the future.

Managers maintain the status quo.

Leaders bring about change.

Managers ensure that things run smoothly.

Leaders see that things get stirred up.

Managers count things made.

Leaders make things count.

Managers push people to produce.

Leaders inspire others to excel.

Managers make short-term profits.

Leaders pursue long-term goals.

Managers impose rules.

Leaders provide examples.

Managers think about realities.

Leaders are obsessed with possibilities.

Now that explains why I'm a lousy manager!!!

THE ARROGANCE ISSUE

It seems I grossly underestimated the extent of my blog's readership and am therefore happy to reveal that I can now state with confidence that five people read my rambling thoughts from time to time and not two as I intimated a few days ago.

I have received messages from Canada, England and Deer Park, NY on the issue of whether or not I am arrogant.

You might recall that the first two respondents stated that in their estimation arrogance is not one of my major flaws. I also got a "No" from Canada and Deer Park.

Word from the U.K. was that the jury is still out on this topic and that my head does look substantially longer since my substantial weight loss!

What do Brits know anyway????

NO MORE SEX

Tomorrow is the last day of our Desperate Sex Lives series and I have had one or two people ask me if it was a suitable theme for Mother's Day. Well, we're going to be having a Straight Talk For Men & Women and I guarantee that just about every woman in the place tomorrow will appreciate what I have to say - they may even carry me shoulder high from the theater!

To be honest. more than any of the past five Sundays, I'm going to run the risk of offending some people in the morning - in fact I predict that not everyone will be happy.

As the title suggests, I'm going to be talking real straight and let me say in advance that I make no apology whatever for anything I plan to say. After all, the best place to learn about sex is to see what the One who created us has to say, not send an email to Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil or an agony aunt at the New York Times!

COACHES

I was at my grandson's baseball game last night. He's a first grader and to be honest, the whole team did amazingly better than the last time I watched them ten days ago - this time some of them actually knew which way up to hold the bat!

Their coach wasn't around for that initial excursion, but I got to see him in action yesterday and I was tremendously impressed with him.

Here's what I mean - this tiny kids steps up to the plate, all head and helmet, swings wildly at three pitches and to his utter disbelief is called out on strikes. His father was offering him advice from the sidelines and telling him what he had done wrong, but from somewhere south of third base, the coach roared - Good job! Three great swings!

He was right, they were three great swings. The timing wasn't anywhere near where it should have been and the bat was light years away from connecting with the ball, but he swung with all he had in his less than 50lb frame and gave it the best he knew how.

The kid was not embarassed, humiliated or discouraged and next time he was on deck, he was ready to go. This guy will definitely make some of his squad into players and he'll build some character into all of them.

I learned a lot shivering on the sidelines and was reminded how important it is to pick people up, guide them, be patient with them and encourage them towards whatever success means for them individually.

Critics are a dime a dozen. Real coaches are a rare breed.

THE VERDICT IS IN

Okay, it's official, the votes are finally in and counted from both of my blog readers and two out of two - that's 100% of readers - confirm that I am not arrogant!

I liked this email from my friend Michael who's an attorney in Scotland -

Arrogance-no, focused thinking and forthright style-yes. And greatly appreciated by those others of us who follow the blog.

There you have it, America - and beyond - has spoken!

CHECKING US OUT

It seems that a computer somewhere in distant Albany randomly selected us for the exhilarating experience of an audit by New York State Department of Labor.

They called Friday and informed us they planned to send an auditor in first thing this morning to take a look at some of our financial records.

He was certainly very thorough. Nice guy - and he concluded that we're squeaky clean.

Great job Charlotte, taking care of all our book-keeping.

ARROGANCE

I got an email a couple of days ago from someone I have never met in my life who had been reading my blog. Turns out he had been able to find out a lot about me from reading a few of my entries and the most popular word in his vocabulary seems to be arrogant.

I learned years ago that it is never smart to simply brush off criticism. It's good to examine it and see if there are any grounds for the originator's complaints.

So let's start by checking out a dictionary definition of the word -

Arrogant - Exaggerating or disposed to exaggerate one's own worth or importance often by an overbearing manner.

Then, I guess I should ask whether I do in fact exaggerate my own worth or importance. Good question! Far be it for me to disagree with someone I have never even had a brief conversation with, but I humbly suggest the answer is that I am not guilty here. In fact I like to think that people who have known me for more than five minutes would agree with that assessment too.

Maybe there is a simple misunderstanding here, linked to the words overbearing manner in the dictionary definition.

I can see how someone perusing these pages might occasionally mistake my focused thinking and forthright style for something other than what it is.

I do say what I think and must confess that I did totally fail the political correctness class.

On this blog I say what I want about whatever I choose to pontificate on. What I write is one man's view of any subject under the sun. I may be right and I may not.

When it comes to issues of church planting, church growth and reaching people for Jesus, I write from the perspective of 38 years experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly in ministry and with the urgency of someone who has committed whatever years are left for me to making as much of an impact for Jesus as I can.

I know what's important to me and I know exactly where our church is focused.

My new friend may confuse that with arrogance, but I'm simply a man on a mission.

THAT'S IT!

Okay, I'm doing nothing tonight. I was going to do some cooking, but the truth is I'm tired. I just called all the guys who signed up for my small group that starts on Wednesday and now I'm going to call it a day.

It was the usual Monday routine for this morning - gym, WW and little else. It was tough going at the gym though I did listen to a great teaching by Mark Driscoll while I was sweating like a Scandinavian in a rain forest.

Down with my old friends at Weight Watchers, I was relieved to see I had dropped 0.2 lb. This is my fifth week of maintainence - just seven days to go and I'll officially be a lifetime member which means above all, I won't be paying them any more money.

There was a lot of paperwork to do in the office this afternoon, so I got on with that and promised myself that I'll take tomorrow afternoon off so I can attack the spare bedroom that Gill wants to be painted before our friends from India arrive next week.

So that's it - the fascinating day off of an aging pastor who refuses to grow up.

CHRISTIAN RADIO

I mentioned in passing this morning that I was happy there was a Christian radio station on Long Island again - WLIX resurfaced again Easter weekend on 104.5FM in central Suffolk and several other bands elsewhere in the county. The full info is at www.wlixradio.com

It's not exactly a resurrection of the old WLIX. I guess the old name is being used for its instant recognition by the person who runs this new station, Rich Anderson who pastors Holding Out Hope Church in Middle Island.

The music is generally a bit dated and some of the preaching is a little over the top, but overall I'm happy to have instant access to some Christian stuff while I'm driving.

This weekend several people suggested I should take a teaching slot on WLIX, but once I started to explain why that was not going to happen, they instantly understood.

Whatever its proponents say, Christian radio is overwhelmingly listened to by Christians. I know people who run stations say they're getting the gospel out through Christian radio, but that's not really the case. They're catering to people who know Jesus - and that's all good.

Already-Christians are not our target - the unchurched are.

Preparing programs takes time, effort and money and if we're going to use those valuable resources to minister to believers, we're going to have that much less of each of them to dedicate to our mission - to seek and save those that are lost.

That's why I don't plan to do Christian radio. It's Rich Anderson's mission and he's doing a good job of it.

But mine is different.

THANKS SPIDEY

We got to share our theater with Spiderman this morning - he had four screens and we had three! I can't for the life of me figure out why people would be going to the movies before 9.00 on a Sunday morning, but then again there are a number of things in this world that I have yet to be able to get my brain around.

Here were whole families with buckets of popcorn and giant sodas heading off to see the latest of this comic book hero's adventures while for most weekenders it wasn't even breakfast-time.

We had to be a little flexible while sharing the building with the general public, but it didn't cause us any major problem and above all, it gave a whole new group of people an insight into what goes on at Patchogue UA on Sundays.

Maybe next time they feel the need to get up and get out early, they'll come back and visit us for church! Who knows?

At least now they know we're there - thanks to Spiderman!

JULIO

I'm watching a bit of the Mets game against the Diamondbacks, though I don't honestly think I'll make it for much longer as I'm falling asleep as I sit here and tomorrow is a very full day.

At 48 years, 8 months and twelve days, Julio Franco just became the oldest player in major league baseball to ever hit a home run - a beautiful two run homer to put the Mets up 3-0!

Any idea who held the record before tonight?

Julio Franco!

The man is ageless and when he scored each of last season's two homers he was the oldest man to have ever done it too. So he continues to break his own records as he puts everything he's got into every game he plays in.

I hope I'm as dedicated to what I'm doing as he is and enjoying it just as much when I get to his age!

RICK SPIELBERG

You will not want to miss the hilarious video Rick Mueller has just finished for the next part of our Desperate Sex Lives series on Sunday. There have been some heavy moments this past few weeks as we've hit some sensitive issues, but we'll start the teaching this week with something lighter you won't want to miss.

It'll be on Youtube soon, but the premier will be Sunday 9.30am (not midnight like certain lesser productions!).

THEATER CHURCH PROMOS

Stole this from John Laeger's blog - www.johnlaeger.typepad.com
it's an interesting email he got recently, plus his comments on it. As one theater church pastor reading about another theater church pastor, I appreciated it -

Okay...this email that came in today just has me totally rolling on the floor!

"Yesterday while visiting in your community I happened upon the church notices in the local newspaper. In the course of my reading I came upon the ad placed there by your church. I read the three criteria that were listed (No perfect people allowed; No offering plate passed; And no making out in the back row). The last condition absolutely floored me. This is a statement in a church notice???!!! I consider this to be incredibly tasteless, inappropriate, and highly questionable. Were I looking for a church home, I would not for a minute consider one with such a blatant and outrageous message in its advertising. You would do your congregation a favor by removing the "no making out in the back row"; sentence from your ad."

So...whoever you are, we will make one exception... You, and only you CAN make out in the back row. We will even reserve a section just for you and you can makeout all you want. (Just keep the sounds of swapping spit down so the others who aren't making out can listen to the great music and the relevant message!)

Maybe if churches and "church people" would lighten up a bit, smile, have some fun, and really live out the joy that comes with a grace relationship with Jesus - there would be more people in church, hearing the message, enjoying the experience, and knowing a refreshing (not stuffy) relationship with Jesus!

Sheesh!

JOSH

Had breakfast with my buddy Josh Bonventre this morning. He has done an amazing job of turning around the once ailing Christian Assembly - now known as The Journey - in East Patchogue.

Talking of ailing, Josh is nearing the end of this phase of his bone cancer treatment and is heading for a very demanding couple of months with major chemo, bone marrow transplant and a few other proceedures he'd rather do without, but that will ultimately set him back on the road to health.

He could be out of action for seven or eight weeks, so we were discussing a plan that would help him out on Sundays he's not around. Some of those weeks I'll go straight from our service to his - they start at 10.45 and we finish at 11.00 - and do the same teaching I do with our folks (Josh is probably glad the sex series will be done by then!).

So, as you read this, whether you know him or not, please say a prayer for Josh as he faces a tough several weeks. He's a good guy!

GARY ON DISNEY - PART 2

Here's a bit more on lessons learned from Disney by my church-planting buddy Gary Lamb -

2.) Disney assumes everyone walking through the doors is walking through for the first time – THIS IS HUGE! They know they have one chance to make a first impression. They don’t know if you have been there 1,000 times or if you are there for the first time. Therefore they treat you like it is your first time.

They pull out the stops and do everything with excellence. Disney paints the ENTIRE Main Street EVERY NIGHT after closing. Why? Because as you walk through the doors they want everything perfect. Disney cleans every bathroom every 30 minutes. There were tens of thousands of people there and yet the bathrooms were spotless. Disney actually has an entire replacement castle in case something happens to the current one. They can have a new one set up in 24 hours. Why? Because the castle is part of the magic of Disney and they want you to remember your time there.

They know that people have given their hard earned money to come and experience the Disney magic and they want to make sure they get to experience that.

In the same way, we as the church NEVER know who is going to walk through those doors on Sunday for the first time. It could be someone at the end of their rope, it could be someone whose spouse just left them, it could be someone our people have been inviting for months and we have ONE chance to make a first impression. Eternity hangs in the balance for us and we can’t afford to have an off Sunday or a Sunday where we coast.

We need to act like everyone walking through the doors is coming for the first time and we have one chance to make a first impression. There can be no “off” Sundays because sometimes one Sunday is the only shot we get.

IF I HAD ANY SENSE

I'd be sleeping right now if I was in my right mind, but since I have never been accused of that, I'm sitting here blogging with half an eye on American Idol while I unwind after a long day.

We left our hotel in North Carolina around 6.15 this morning and I have been pretty much on the move since then (wait a second, why are they showing a clip from last week of Annie Lennox murdering my favorite song? - this show is nonsense!).

Anyway, the small group leaders' meeting tonight has got me fired up. We're going to be offering quite an array of groups for folks to choose from on Sunday and they'll be getting under way next week.

From time to time I am asked if we will start a mid-week service once we have our own building, as if small groups are a temporary fix for our current homeless condition. The questioner is generally shocked when I point out that I am totally commited to small groups and we will not be having the traditional Wednesday night service that is part of church life right across America once the day comes that we have a building in which to base all we do.

I believe in small groups because -

1. Relationships can be developed in them.

2. They provide scope for leaders to function.

3. They generally have great snacks.

4. People can share with one another in a way that doesn't happen on a Sunday.

5. They can offer sufficient variety that most people can find a group that strikes a cord with where they are at.

6. Some groups serve cheesecake.

7. As people get to know each other, they look out for one another, so the body begins to take care of the body which is the way it's meant to be.

8. Sometimes you can draw people into a small group who are not ready to attend a Sunday service.

9. There are always brownies at good groups.

So we're all set to go for our late spring/early summer cycle and I'm pumped!

LESSONS FROM DISNEY

Here's part of a post from my friend Gary Lamb's blog, on lessons he learned from a recent visit to Orlando. When Gary gets fired up about something he tends to burble on for ever, so I'll probably post some more of it tomorrow!

Here it is -

I learned so much that applies to the church that I could share but instead of talking about the common sense things like their branding, signage, etc. I just thought I would share a few things that really stood out to me in our context.

1.) Going to a place the first time is intimidating – It might have just been me, but the first day we went to the park, it was very intimidating. It wasn’t because they made it that way, but I simply didn’t know where I was supposed to be, where I was supposed to go, which bus I was supposed to ride, was I supposed to ride the Ferry or the Train? Trying to figure it out sort of had me stressed out.

I’m not sure there was anything they could have done different to make it easier but nevertheless it was intimidating.

This was a great reminder to me of how people feel the first time they walk in the doors of our church. Whether they are churched or unchurched, there is something intimidating about walking in a place the first time and not knowing where to take your children, not knowing where the bathrooms are, no knowing where you are supposed to go for worship. There is something intimidating about walking into a unknown building the first time.

I want us to do whatever it takes to calm that fear as best as we can. That means more greeters, more signage, whatever little things it takes to alleviate the nervousness of people coming the first time.

Good stuff Gary. If you can't wait, the complete thing is here - http://www.garylamb.org

LAST EVENING

Leaving OBX early tomorrow and will be home by lunchtime. It has been good to be around our good friends this past few days.

Looking forward to tomorrow evening's briefing for small group hosts. The next cycle will be a good one and although I was tempted to simply participate in a group as I did last time around (thanks again Ken & Lenore!), I'm going to host a group for guys that springs from our Desperate Sex Lives series.

We'll do six Wednesdays working through and chatting about the book Every Man's Battle. I'm going to limit the group to a total of ten of us, so when sign-ups open on Sunday morning, it's first come, first served.