newchurchplanting.com

i’m about a month and a half into my new ministry…i am enjoying the challenges of being a senior pastor again…obviously some things more than others…i forgot how challenging it is to have to teach each week a vibrant, holy spirit anointed, interesting, and challenging message…that’s a lot of work…

one of the greatest challenges is managing the expectations of an older church and congregation…two things i’ve heard this week…

one, “we expected you to”…(the issue is really not important)…every ministry comes with expectations…i know there are probably some things that i expect from a pastor that some of my brothers do not live up to…i understand that, and i try to have grace toward them…when the comment was made i tried to be gracious and simply replied, “i didn’t know that…” and I didn’t…i had actually considered the issue and made a decision on my part that i didn’t think the issue would be important…and honestly will probably make the same decision next time…

here’s my response to expectations…you called me to be the pastor…you didn’t call a pastor from the past…i know he loved and cared for you and you enjoyed his ministry among you…and i hope we learn to love and care for each other, but it will be different…God has called me and gifted me and i intend to follow His lead…i hope we can manage your expectations but i have to first answer to God and on that day i didn’t feel called to meet expectations…sorry

second, i preached on values that are important to me and i feel should be important to the church…one of them was unity…just after preaching that message later in the day i got another question that went something like this, “someone asked me to ask why you don’t ______________” … truthfully i appreciate this man’s willingness to ask the hard questions, i really do… after preaching on unity and discussing that one of my pet peeves is the “meeting after the meeting, or people attending a meeting and then calling others to discuss the topic after a decision is made and questioning leadership” … i was a little disappointed that the individual did not come to me to ask the question… in a very real sense i feel this was gossip… if you are talking to someone about me or complaining about me and don’t come to me, you have gossiped and gossip is a sin… gossip has killed more churches than bad theology, bad preaching, or bad pastoral leadership… and i realize that pastors are just as guilty some times… now, i would confess that sometimes my wife may hear about someone, but rarely have i ever talked about someone behind their back, particularly pastoral leadership…i’ve spoken my mind several times…something my former pastor will attest to…i’m not very good at hiding my opinions…but they were always spoken to him not behind his back… that is my expectation… unity is important… let’s live it out, not just talk about it…

reading Luke this morning and ran across a passage of scripture that i guess i just never paid much attention to…

Luke 11: 24 and following, “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

that is a very clear picture of addictions, habits, hang-ups, however you want to pretty it up…if when we struggle with any addiction, sin, habit, we seek to rid ourselves of the habit if the habit is not replaced by something positive, healing, healthy then the old behavior returns and its even worse than before… here is the picture Luke paints

Addiction (evil spirit)
Addiction gone
The house is swept clean and in order (but not full)
The Addiction returns worse than before because it has no where else to go

if you are struggling with a sin, habit, hang-up…get clean, fill the house with positive things…spiritual life, friendships, worship, etc, etc. when you fill the house it’s hard for the old to come back…praying for folks with hang-ups this morning…

this past weekend my wife and i were at a local department store looking at some dress slacks for me…i do dress a little differently nowadays…anyway i’ve confessed before that i am not a small man…i was looking at pants my size and i almost bought this pair of pants and then i read the tag…i am not kidding…the tag said…”42 slim” designed to be worn under the waistline”

first there is nothing “slim” about size 42 unless you are 6’10 or better…secondly pants are not designed to be worn under the waist…what they really meant was your waist is a 46, but let us sell you a 42 so you can feel better about yourself…it’s all a matter of perspective and the perspective doesn’t look great…

i think sometimes we do this in church work…we look at things and to make ourselves look better we change the perspective…we lower the standards…redefine the problem to fit what makes us look good…it’s like saying that we are growing the church through “discipleship” and the people are growing in their faith…that’s a good thing but it’s a cop out…i believe wholeheartedly that Matt 28: 19 – 20 is about evangelism and discipleship…Jesus said “make disciples” and “teach them”…i’m all for growing and maturing…but if you aren’t making new disciples you have missed the point…

praying that we at GracePointe “make disciples” this year…then we’ll commit to making sure they get the tools they need to mature…that, i believe is the right perspective on Matthew 28:19 – 20… challenges? look forward to your comments…

yesterday i talked a little about resolutions…50% of you make them…12% of you keep them…the top ten…we all have resolved one time or another…the top 10 surprise, surprise are the most broken…the number one surprised me…the number 1 resolve each year is to get more organized, also the most broken resolution…i would have thought that would have been lose weight…it probably should be considering the number of overweight and obese people in America, of which i am guilty…

i challenged GracePointe Church yesterday to consider these resolutions…pray…study your bible…serve…give… fellowship…those sound like they should be pretty easy for a believer but statistically you would be wrong…

prayer is probably the most honored…but most of those are prayers like, “i pray that cop didn’t see me run the red light.” or “i pray i get a raise,” or “i pray my spouse doesn’t find how much money i spent on _____”… few of us really get serious about prayer… this year i’m gonna pray more…corporately and individually…i’m gonna pray that God breaks the churches heart for the community…for us that is south Marietta…i’m gonna pray that God adds “daily to our number”…i’m gonna pray for the salvation of at least 50 people this year through the ministry of GracePointe…i’m gonna pray that God meets our financial needs…and to prove i’m not that spiritual…i’m gonna pray that GA has a decent football team next year and doesn’t lose their bowl game…

i’m not sure about the least… i would say it’s giving… but i’m not sure that fits… when looking at the surveys of natural church development when i consulted for the GBC… i found that most churches struggled with fellowship… most of us are pretty good at hugging necks while at the church…but most of us never talk to, pray for, call, care for, or even think about other church members outside of Sunday morning… in natural church development they called that “loving relationships”… sad isn’t it… in Acts the people in the street said about the church…”see how they love one another”… the people in the street didn’t get that from attending bible studies and worship services… they noticed how the church members cared for one another, met the needs of one another, in other words they had great fellowship… i pray we can do better at that this year…

so, which of these is your challenge… i know mine is fellowship… too comfortable in my own lifestyle and habits… praying God changes me in fellowship this year…

i also resolve to be more active blogging this year…

i asked the ladies (men too) to bake me some cookies or provide some cookies and i would use these Christmas cookies to meet some neighbors…i went to businesses in the area and left cookies for them…plumbing, auto detailing, assisted living, ministry, counseling, ac, lots of different folks…

interesting reaction…some acted like i was a little crazy, some showed some interest like, “wow, what is a pastor doing this for.”, some offered to partner with ministry ops (Salvation Army and Assisted living facility nearby.), some with fear (really scared a lady at one business, she was the only one present, look of relief when i told her i was a pastor)…

it was fun to see the reaction…should have worn my coat and tie maybe they would have recognized me then…did have one guy say he’d come and see me…hope so…i’ll do it again tomorrow, still have some cookies…broaden my influence…

it’s been really challenging the last two weeks…trying to get started and trying to teach and trying to lead and learning what the expectations are and…and…and

i am loving the challenge though…i’ve had some good introductory meetings with various teams…i mentioned to the mission/outreach team that i would love to have some cookies to take to our business neighbors this week as an introduction and they had about 20 bins of cookies here Sunday…so this week i get to meet some new friends…

most challenging…making sure i get study time…being a pleaser is difficult…when someone calls i hate to say no or i’ll talk later…so i’ve got to get a calendar down and stick to it…

communication has been another challenge…i hate computers…learning how to work with a new computer is the pits…why can’t they leave things alone…uh…i love computers it makes communication so much easier…but i’ve got to get connected to the things that GracePointe people are connected to…so i have to get up to speed on gracepointe twitter and facebook…i also must get the people of gracepointe connected to me and learning that i will communicate most often throught the internet…

i’ve also had a little “fun” with technology in the worship service the last two weeks…may i say i hate the ipad…just saying…

we also want to start streaming the services…i understand that is coming in the next few weeks…working on something and Alan tries to explain it but it simply goes over my head…but he assures me it’s coming…

also learning procedures and protocol of how GPC has operated the last couple of years is fun… don’t want to step on toes… but got to get the job done also… so far so good… the honeymoon continues…

i walked into my local starbucks this morning…guy behind the counter sees me raises a venti cup…i nod my head…he fills the cup…he swipes my debit card…we say, “how ya doing and I walk out…” starting next week i have to train an entirely new starbucks (or in Marietta it might be a lot of time at Cool Beans) crew what my preferences are…

West Ridge Church honored me with the coolest gift yesterday…in case you didn’t see it on facebook…an official GA helmet signed by Herschel Walker…i now have a tray with the 1980 National Championship logo with Vince Dooley’s personal signature and the MVP from the 1980 championship game signed helmet…i hope i can find my tickets to show that i was there for GA’s last national championship…the 10 yard pass completion from Buck Belue to Lindsey Scott to ice the game against Notre Dame happened right in front of us (well i was in the second deck, but it still happened on my side of the field in our section) the only GA pass completed the entire game will forever be in my memory…thanks Brian, you did great my friend!

another change…i’ll have to hit the road earlier than in the past few years…the office is 11 miles further than my old commute…so i may have to set some early meetings between Dallas and Marietta…hope the folks at GPC like Waffle House, Starbucks, or IHOP…

new structure…already wrote about this but teaching every week i can tell already is going to be a challenge…planning ahead…teaching schedule, at least topics and scripture are set through Easter…i’ll get with the other pastoral staff soon and look at April – August…

not just being a staff member but leading a staff is going to be different…i’ve got a lot of ideas but finding the ones that are needed today is my challenge…don’t want to overwhelm anyone but we do want to challenge and move forward in the vision that i am beginning to see from God…they are great guys also and they’ve got ideas…look forward to becoming a team that is headed in the same direction…

lot of folks saying nice things…the well-wishers have been numerous and Tanya and i are so thankful…had people approach us in wallyworld, grocery stores, and of course at church…so thankful for these years of ministry, look forward to a few more…blessings.

it’s been a really busy last couple of weeks…i’ve been on call for emergencies over the holiday weekend, but no major issues…of course the holidays, family gatherings, eating too much…i’m helping the organization of the Hope for Christmas event at the West Campus of WRC that occurs on Dec 10…just finished up Sunday with the last pre-marital meeting with a couple…church planting class is this week…there is a LAUNCH retreat this week…and then it hit me really hard…

I HAVE TO TEACH NEXT WEEK! NOT ONLY THAT I HAVE TO TEACH THE WEEK AFTER THAT! OH MY GOODNESS!

i haven’t taught on a regular basis (weekly) since an interim pastorate back in 2004…i spoke an average of 2 weeks out of a month while at the GBC…but confession time…almost always a mission sermon and almost always the same or reworked message…give me a break, it was missions, it was a different church each time, it was a really good message….

i sent a sermon series title and sermon titles (it was Christmas, how hard could it be?) to the worship guy about three weeks ago…he was so efficient that he immediately created a bumper and video for advertising and promotion…titles, scripture, promos, that’s easy now i have to develop and put some meat on those bones…now it’s coming back to me…this wasn’t as easy pastors make it look…

oh well, back to writing…

kind of in a melancholy mood the last few days…find myself thinking this is the last time to ___ …

i have had a great run at West Ridge Church… i think that WRC is one of the great churches in this community and state…not just because i have been a part and in some cases in spite of my part…

i happened to be in the associational office when Brian appeared with 17 guys that were thinking about joining him to start a church in Paulding County…i was invited into the meeting…got to tell them a little about Paulding County and got to hear their plans for PC…i went home that night and told the wife, “wife, God is about to do an amazing work in Paulding…”

when i left the church i planted and went to work at the Georgia Baptist Convention it took me some time to warm up to WRC, not because i didn’t like Brian or WRC but because of some of their connections (unmentioned here ) … about 1 year later on a Saturday night after attending another church for some time my wife says to me, “husband, i don’t know where you’re going to church tomorrow, but i’m going to WRC…” and we’ve been here ever since… got a friend, Tim, says, “sometimes the voice of the Holy Spirit sounds a lot like my wife.” ditto…

about a year after that Brian asked me to serve as an elder…i’ve been a journey group leader…served on various outreach projects and teams…and then joined the staff on March 1, 2005…traveled to Israel, Jamaica, (yes my name does remind me of jamaicans), and Cuba…helped church plants from Utah to New Jersey and Cleveland to Orlando in some small ways… saw some ministries start in the area of Life Care that my friend Jeff has improved upon and made a lot better…

one of the things that most people know about me is that i am not mister huggy bear… so i’m sure there are some people i’ve rubbed the wrong way…sorry…but i’ve been encouraged by a few people that have related to me about something that i did or said that helped build or rebuild their faith, marriage, person…

ultimately that is what church is about…seeing lives transformed through sharing the gospel…the good news of God active in our lives and hearts… i am excited about the next step in the journey, i believe God has provided me an opportunity to not only teach what i love but to practice what i teach…

thank you WRC for allowing me to come to work each day and know that in some small way i made a difference…thank you GracePointe for allowing me to take a new journey of faith…

yes folks, it is true…i am leaving West Ridge Church…after 13 years as a member, 6+ years as elder, 6+ years as a staff member God is calling me away…i want to emphasize this…not pushed, shoved, encouraged, or terminated…as I told the folks at WRC yesterday I would be a fool to leave WRC without feeling that God was totally in this…Brian ended a sermon a few weeks ago, just two days before my last meeting with the search team with these words, “sometimes God’s will doesn’t make sense…”

and yet…it does…
GracePointe Church of Marietta is my new calling…I will be the Senior Pastor…the history of GracePointe is the reason it makes sense…two historic old Baptist churches were struggling to exist, faithful, concerned people who saw their histories being changed by the neighborhoods that changed around them, the changing of the generations, etc…these two congregations merged to form one church with enough people and resources to maintain ministry and a presence near historic Marietta…in a sense they became a church plant…
reason number 1 it makes sense…i’ve been doing church planting for a long time…
reason number 2…they are a somewhat older congregation (sorry GPer’s) but also a contemporary music church and I’m a somewhat older guy…but i’ve said for a long time that working with church planters for the last twenty years has kept me thinking young…so although i’m older, i think a lot like some of the younger guys (that is when i can remember what i’m thinking about ).
reason number 3…they are in Marietta…interesting…they are located 3+ miles from where I spent my elementary and jr hi years and 4+ miles from where i spent my sr hi years… in other words this is a lot like home for me…
reason number 4…GP has not developed a lot of business practices and organization…think church planting again…i’ve coached a lot of guys through this aspect of ministry, ran a rather large ministry for a few years, so i’m pretty comfortable with admin…
reason number 5…i had begun to think a lot about teaching in the last couple of years…this has been one area that i’ve missed…it provides me with the opportunity to teach on a regular basis…
reason number 6…the church realizes they have to reach this community if they are to survive for the future…one of my favorite aspects of church planting has been researching communities and helping church planters strategize on how to reach their communities with the gospel…i am so excited that i’m going home to reach a community that i would not have recognized 40 (gulp) years ago when I graduated from high school…
seven is the perfect number so here is my last…
reason number seven…simply i feel called by God…Tanya and I have talked, prayed, researched, sought counsel, read scripture, listened to sermons, and in the end…God called…I answered…a few years ago i started a file that i call “my next church” …if you want to know the truth…GP is different from all i recorded in that file, i thought i’d go with just Tanya and I, they obviously have a membership already, i thought i’d start with a small group, they already have worship, i thought i’d seek out some “lost” people to start with next time, most of these folks have been believers a long time…my life verse for the last several years has been Man makes his plans, God directs his steps…i’ve made my plans, God has directed my steps…

let me say this, strongly…I love West Ridge Church…I love Pastor Brian Bloye and the rest of the staff…i will retire in a few years and i imagine i will be back at WRC…

hello, GracePointe Church, this is your new Pastor…i hope we’re going have some fun reaching South Marietta…let’s do this!