The REAL Solution
In John 5 Jesus comes to the pool where people are waiting for the waters to be stirred. The first one into the pool once the waters were stirred was supposed to be healed. Superstitious if you ask me but oh well.
So Jesus asks the guy that’s been there the longest, “Do you want to get well?” What does the man do? He goes back to the superstition. ”I have no one to help me into the pool…” And all along the answer was starring him in the face. Do we do that? Do we look past Jesus to the fad of the moment and place hope in that?
Let’s be sure as we lead our churches not to set up superstitions/fads/programs that claim to be the answer. We must always remind ourselves that Jesus is the ONLY answer. Pretty simple. But simple is difficult.
Secret Sins
Yesterday I heard the sad news that a Pastor I keep up with lost his position at his church due to a moral failure…an affair. Let’s just say it. Last Sunday I heard of another Pastor that is an acquaintance that lost his position for the same reason. I walked in from church yesterday siked by the day, but saddened by the news I had recieved. My wife asked if their was an affair epedemic going around. Sad that is a legitimate question.
My prayers go out to both of those pastors. Both are good people with great churches. And both, using the systems of authority around them, have resigned from their lead pastor position (both of churches they planted) and are going through a healing process. Pray for the churches. Pray for the families. God’s grace is evident, but sin still has consequences.
Someone quipped yesterday that pastors shouldn’t have women personal assistances. Don’t think that would’ve helped Ted Haggard, who had a homosexual affair. My wife said they should be old ugly grandma’s. Hmmm. Maybe that would work. But honestly I think it is a failure of personal accountability and systems in place to prevent things like that from happening. Which brings me to the point of the whole blog post to begin with.
I’m sure there are some Pastors out there who are having affairs and getting away with it. Not many, but odds are it’s happening. But that isn’t the overwhelming problem in ministry. Let me ask a different question. How many Pastors are out there who, if they put their private life up on a screen, would be asked to resign their Pastorship? Now we’re getting somewhere.
Just throwing out random numbers, but I’d bet for every 1 Pastor who has a public moral failure, there are 2, maybe 3 who are having a private moral failure. Porn? Verbal abuse? Physical abuse? Neglecting their wife? Non-existent prayer life? Neglecting their kids? Lust? Emotional affairs? Filthy language? These issues are killing the church from the inside out and we need to hit them head on.
I think the only way to do this is to hold each other accountable. Have the guts to call out what you see. And if your a Pastor, for God’s sake put someone around you that you can say ANYTHING to without fear – someone who could tell you like it is and get you help before it’s too late. Open yourself up. Have some humility Know you aren’t superhuman.
And don’t think that just because your sin isn’t being shouted from the rooftop your not hurting anybody. If their is sin in the camp it is hurting EVERYBODY. It is hurting your ability to hear from God. It is hurting your ability to cast vision. It is hurting your ability to communicate the Gospel. And it is hurting yours and your church’s ability to reach people who need Christ. So your sin is causing people to end up in hell. Repent. Get some accountability. Be a man. And let’s fight satan’s plan to make the church impotent.
Unleash
Awesome. Amazing. I think a pivotal point in our church history. Our volunteers are pumped!
Now that I’ve slept and have had a chance to digest everything I took in, I have one big take away: Do we really want to do this without God? Do we ever get on our face and beg God to show up? Of course we want God to be there, but does it translate into prayer? We need systems. Have to have them. But be careful not to allow the systems to overshadow the work of God.
Perry Noble commented on how all of the sudden a lot of people began to show up. He was asked what were they doing. He honestly couldn’t come up with an answer. “Nothing. We were doing nothing special. No flyers, no mailers, no attendance push. They just showed up!”
We say the phrase alot, “Work like it depends on us, pray like it depends on God.” Problem is most tend to do the first part really well. Now let’s pray because it DOES depend on God.
Lifepointer’s, let’s pray that God begins to rock our world! Let’s pray that he just messes us up so much that we have to look at what God is doing and say….had to be God.
Surpise!
If you miss Sunday, you’ll be kicking yourself in the pants. Powerful, moving, fun, and a surprise to boot! And I’m excited about leading worship, so the energy is going to be off the charts! Buckle up! And make sure you invite 2 people with you. Let’s see how many people we can get there to hear God’s word!
Lifepoint Gives Bak
I think this is the best thing Lifepoint has ever done.
Ministry
Rick Warren has a saying that I think may get overlooked – “Every member is a minister.” Sure it sounds good, but maybe we don’t take too much stock in it.
There is a member of our parking team who’s father is gravely ill. Doctors are only giving him 24 hours to live. They’ve stopped treatments and are simply making him comfortable. Kristen (Guest Services) filled me in on the details and let me know that Tom was keeping in touch with the family and making sure they had what they needed.
I lost it. I couldn’t help but weep. Strangely I wasn’t crying about the situation. I knew God would take care of the family. He IS taking care of them. I was crying because of the journey God has brought Tom through. I was so proud I couldn’t handle it. I remembered when Tom first came to Lifepoint. I’ve seen his struggles. I’ve watched how he’s bought into the vision. I’ve seen how God has transformed him. I knew I was witnessing what we value at Lifepoint – life-change. And that is what makes this job so rewarding. Watching people like Tom get it and become a minister in their own rite.
This job rocks.
Volunteer Banquet
Friday I was blessed to take part in something I’ve never seen before…. a church pulling out all of the stops to say thank you to its volunteers. What an incredible night! If you are a church, you need to do this! It was a great night to cast vision, celebrate victories, actually dress up for a change, and just plain have fun. (I’m kicking myself right now for forgetting my camera at home. Have a great pic I’ll share with you tomorrow.)
Some of the responses I’ve gotten:
“Thank you for such an amazing night! Lifepoint Style!!!!”
“I think it will be a long time before my heart is back to it’s normal size.”
Thank you to Carrabba’s for giving us such a great deal on the food. Amazing grub!
And thank you again volunteers! We could not do this without you. (And we learned what it’s like to do it without you. The entire event was done by staff and staff families. Long couple of weeks!)
Lifepoint Job Posting
KIDSPOINT DIRECTOR
Part-time salaried position directing the Lifepoint Church childrens program for approximately 100 children from birth to fifth grade. The director role is focused on identifying, equipping, and developing leaders in the three key segments of our Kidspoint ministry (nursery, pre-school, K-5). Ideal candidates will have experience in education and ministry leadership. Compensation will be salary equivalent to two days of work per week. Candidates will be expected to grow with the ministry which has been expanding by over 50% per year. Interviews will begin the week of December 8th with a hiring decision expected prior to Christmas.
QUALIFICATIONS:
* A love for Jesus and a sold out passion for the vision of Lifepoint Church
* Great organizational skills including time management
* A strong attention to details
* A great leader with proven experience in leading adults
* Very encouraging personality
* A Great Team Builder
Please download the application for employment below and email it to jweatherton@visitlifepoint.org
Change
It is amazing to see the changes in Lifepoint over three years. From Pastor Daniel and I driving up on the weekends, to the single screen setup and mint green walls of the Marshall center – nasty.
What really excites me is the ability of the leadership to change with the times. Just recently we made some leadership changes to better set us up for future growth. This involved me moving from Worship Arts Pastor, over Creative, Worship, Tech, and Setup/Teardown, to a full-time Administrative position, taking the Setup/Teardown with me. I'll now help keep the business side of the church running like it should and lead worship in a rotational schedule along with 3 other worship leaders.
Josh Lazar is now our Worship Arts Pastor and we know he is going to do a great job! It is exciting to see Josh be able to work within his giftedness. He has an amazing creative mind!
Looking forward to what the future holds!
