Invasion

Just wanted to remind you to tune in to Lifechurch.tv this weekend for the "Invasion" series. It's a closer look at some of the people who attend our church. When you see these amazing individuals, you will want to say "I love my church!".

This weekend, there are 2 stories dear to our hearts. The Byer's family is invaded.They are a family that just picked up and moved to London because they felt called to be missionaries there.They have hosted local events and also completely lead an experience online every weekend. They are a big part of the Internet campus!

The 2nd story that we are looking forward to viewing is our friends, the Campbell's. This family lost their little boy back in July of this year. They had prayed and believed and saw many milestones with him for several months before God brought him home. Their story of faith is truly inspiring (and tear jerking). You will not want to miss it. Brandon said they have some incredible video footage of them. While I know their story is hard to re-live, they continue to be open and honest. Jace's short little life has brought so many people closer to God. Makes me tear up just writing about it.

Tune in at these experience times:
January 10th:
Sat 6:30 PM Central (7:30PM Eastern, 4:30 Pacific)

January 11th:
Sunday 10:00AM GMT (4:00AM Central, 5:00AM Eastern, 2:00 AM Pacific)

Sunday 10:00AM Central time (11:00AM Eastern, 8:00 AM Pacific)

Sunday 11:30 AM Central time (12:30 PM Eastern, 9:30 AM Pacific)

Sunday 1:00 PM Central time (2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific)

January 13th:
Tuesday 12:00 PM Central time (1:00 PM Eastern, 10:00 AM Pacific)

Tuesday 8:00 PM Central time (9:00 PM Eastern, 6:00 PM Pacific)

http://live.lifechurch.tv/

Watch the Internet Campus BIG SHOW in 90 seconds

Here is a quick look at the BIG SHOW event we had on the Internet campus this past Friday. Each year, our church acknowledges those who serve at the church by hosting a "BIG SHOW" which is basically a BIG party in their honor.



THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO SERVE THROUGH MISSIONS, LIFEGROUPS, BEHIND THE SCENES, or EXPERIENCES. YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

Brandon as an actor......what a scoundrel!

Check out Brandon starring as "Wild Bill Hiccup" in the Toon Town series "Scoundrels" HERE! I think his part is actually highlighted in this weekend's Toon Town session so you might wait until week 2 to see him :)

I'm pretty excited because Lifekids has just started writing their own curriculum and now YOU can view it online. Toon Town is our Kindergarten-4th Grade "class. They have updated it with memory verses, music, etc.

Check out some of the other series' at www.lifekids.tv!!

Way to go LIFEKIDS! I'm so thankful that our boys get to be a part of a ministry like this!

Did you all grow up in church? What was your "children's church" experience like? Do you have good memories of your childhood in church or bad ones? What are the most important things our kids can learn from church?

One Body (part 2 of 2)

Diversity in Unity

One thing that can quickly become twisted in this concept of being One Body of Christ is the individual aspect. Uniformity is not the goal of unity. Sometimes when the church takes on programs described as "discipleship" we consciously or unconsciously have the incorrect goal of uniformity. The analogy of the church being the Body of Christ tells us the opposite of this is true. We are encouraged in our uniqueness. We have EACH been given gifts (have been designed differently) by the Spirit of God. It is our uniqueness that unifies that allows us to "fit" together and work as ONE body. Uniformity creates more of the same. Our diversity is what should be celebrated not feared. We have too many believers trying to be just like other believers and too many local churches trying to copy every detail of other local churches, and we are reaping the benefits....a dis-functional body.

So how do we grow in unity while discovering our diversities? A.W. Tozer in one of my favorite books, The Pursuit of God, paints a great picture to illustrate this. He writes, "One-hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other. They are one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard." If you try to tune each piano to each other, you will drift away from the original tuning. You have to have the one original that all are tuned too. I love that. When tuned to him, we are able to live out our individual uniqueness in order to promote growth in the ONE Body! The consequence of "tuning" to Jesus is that we are all tuned to each other...like a great orchestra that has been tuned to one standard is only great when they each play their unique parts in unison.

Any thoughts, personal application, or church application from this idea?

One Body (part 1 of 2)

This has continually come up in my reading lately,that as Christians we are uniquely individual in order to promote unity in ONE body (Eph. 4:11-12). To be the ONE Body of Christ is the reason we are all unique. In the church, we have been guilty of pushing the uniqueness of believers to an individual faith. In the Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, "It is impossible to become a new man as a solitary individual." Have you ever thought about that? The fullness of Christ is expressed in his Body, the church, not in me individually (Eph. 1:22-23). By myself, I miss being a part of the fullness of Christ expressed to the world. It only happens through the ONE body. Bonhoeffer states, "The Church is one man, it is the Body of Christ. But it is also many, a fellowship of members (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12)." We need each other. We need to discover, maintain, and celebrate our uniqueness, for the goal of growing our unity in the body.

Where do you feel the Body of Christ is concerning the issue of being One Body? What can we do differently to realize and live out this wonderful truth?

The Organization as part of the Organism?

I posted this on our campus blog as well, but I thought it was a good discussion here.

I have been reading a bit more about House Churches, and how this church movement is affecting our current world. Many say it is the church going back to its original DNA. Some even say it is more "organic" than current structures the church organization has created. Regardless of the opinions, it is the real deal. Although at first glance, this seems totally different than LifeChurch.tv (the church I work). It is the one thing that keeps me up at night...thinking of the great possibilities. The Internet Campus (the campus I pastor) changes things for this "organization" we call LifeChurch.tv. It allows us to be in any home. It allows us to be there with those God has given a heart to become a House Church. It has the potential to pull us (the big "C" church) all together. It allows the "organization" to be a part of the "organism."

What do you think about the House Church movment? Do you think the church structure we have today will be gone in 5/10 years? What does it look like and how do the best principles of both come together?

Killing Curiousity? (3 of 3)

First, we opened the question "is the church killing curiosity?". Second, we saw how curiosity was a major reason for the explosion of the ancient church, which was a heavily persecuted and private group. I thought I would end with some of my personal thoughts about being salt (see part 1).

As I have thought and written these posts, I have asked myself "how am I not being salt?" and "what does it mean to be salt?". Since I am all about embracing the friction, here is a personal confession. I am more comfortable telling people about the hope found in Jesus, His truth, His love, the need they have deep inside; than I am living it out. In fact, I actually believe that my ability to bridge their need to Jesus, to give the answer, to explain the gospel is more effective than me living that truth out. I have this strong tendency to help them understand their need as if they would not know it without my help. I feel like I have to explain the answer to them clearly. I feel like I have to convince them. Oh, it is not always conscious, but my actions prove this to be true.

But salt is not about being the answer. It is about living in the answer. It is the catalyst to bring thirst. Jesus is the answer, the water of life. Don't get me wrong we are called to know the reason for the hope that is within us, but we are also reminded that we are to be set a apart, a peculiar people, aliens. And to be honest, there is not much difference between my life and the non-believer down the street. What is it that sets me apart? What is it about my life (the way I live) that creates an insatiable curiosity in those around me? I am thinking that we do not have a problem of people hearing the answer. We have a problem of people seeing the answer.

Killing Curiousity? (2 of 3)

Here is the context around the first post (from Houses that Change the World). Curiosity is one of the major reasons many historians give for the great amount of people becoming Christians in the ancient church. Why is this amazing? The ancient church had an incredibly different context than our churches today. In fact, the differences would seem to me to decrease the amount of people coming to faith.

Picture of the New Testament Church (up to AD 312)

1. Persecution could break out anytime. This was a time that always had this possibility. Joining this sect was clearly not the easy life.
2. There was no public evangelism. You would not see many public speaking engagements. It was too dangerous.
3. No "attractive" worship services. Generally, people outside the Christian circles were not invited or even allowed to Christian meetings. After Nero's persecution, many closed their doors completely to outsiders.
4. Not mainstream religion. This was the counter-culture that was very secret and private.
   

Isn't that crazy? This is the context of the church when it experienced some of its greatest growth! Here are a few ideas why such an insatiable curiosity was built in this context:

1. The incredible community these Christians had. Their lives were wrapped around their Christian community
   
2. The love and peace that flowed within this community as well as towards others, even as they faced death.
3. The extreme faithfulness to their beliefs and their king.

What other ideas do you have on why this curiosity was built in outsiders? How do we fit these principles into our present (almost opposite) church context? What have we lost as the church? How do we get it back in our church age? What do we change? get rid of? add?

Killing Curiousity? (1 of 3)

Here is an interesting quote from Wolfgang Simson's book Houses that Change the World :

Today we are sometimes in danger of pressing home answers to people who have not even asked the right questions, and preventing people from becoming truly curious.

Is the church killing curiosity? It seems the consumerist mindset around American churches has the danger of doing just that. Wolfgang continues...

Jesus described himself as the water of life, and the disciples as the salt of the earth. If people eat salt, it will make them thirsty, even if they have not been thirsty before. If people are not yet thirsty for the water of life, feed them salt. Then they will become thirsty, and then they will drink.

What do you think about curiosity being a part of evangelism? What are your thoughts?
(Here is Seth Godin's thoughts on curiosity in the business context)

Drummer boy RETURNS

LifeChurch.tv does a few things well. One thing you cannot miss this Christmas season is the song drummer boy. Trent Austin, the worship pastor at the LifeChurch.tv Edmond Campus, brings this song every Christmas season. Well, it is back. You can catch it on the Edmond Campus or on the Internet Campus (Channel 2). Here is just a little taste!

Lifechurch.tv December event

We just finished a 4 day "December event" with the staff at Lifechurch.tv. It was exhausting and amazing at the same time. We kicked it off on Tuesday with all the campus pastors and the team leaders dinner. It was very humbling to be in the room with some incredible leaders! On Wednesday we split up from our spouses and the women talked about our strengths from strengths finder while the men talked about leadership and brainstormed ideas. Then we met back up to have a marriage seminar with Kim Kimberling. It was REALLY good!

Wednesday night kicked off our all staff event. We had dinner and then heard from Perry Noble. It was SO refreshing hearing from someone outside of our church. He was hilarious too so that helped us all just relax and take in what he was saying. he is the Senior pastor of NewSpring church in Anderson, South Carolina.

Thursday, we had spouses look at spiritual gifts while the staff met with their teams. The spouses also had an opportunity to hear from some veteran spouses. It was really neat hearing all the things they have learned. We then had heard from Craig and he brought it home (as usual). After lunch, things digressed (ha ha) and we had the talent show. We truly do have amazing talent at lifechurch!! Then we heard from all the DLT (directional leadership team) members. It was interesting seeing how they are so very different men but all with the same focus and vision. I love being able to trust and believe in the leadership of our church!!!

That night we went to the Coca cola center and had a delicious meal. We were surprised to have Aranda play for us. It was a blast just cutting loose and dancing to our hearts content! The pics on here are from this.

Friday morning kicked off several workshops. I took Brandon's quickshop first which was "Mastering the Bible". It was really good (and I'm not just saying that since I'm his wife!). I then went to Terry and Robin Storch's quickshop about blogging.

We met back up with the staff and heard a message from Craig about the year to come and then had another delicious lunch. The whole weekend we were re-connecting with old faces and meeting new ones as well. The staff is up to 235 which is so crazy because I remember meeting at Craig's house the first year we were on staff. The next year we had a back room at a steak house. Man, times have changed!

We feel so blessed that God has placed us at Lifechurch.tv! We are enjoying the ride. Check out the pics here. They will continue to be updated throughout the weekend!

Traditions vs obedience

Mark 7:9 -And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

We hold so hard to our traditions that we confuse them with the commands of God. I have been leading an Internet Campus at LifeChurch.tv for the last 1 1/2 years. It has forced me to define what is the true church and what is just our traditions. I don't want to dishonor God, and at the same time I never want to limit how we spread His gospel to the world. I have found that our man-made traditions can be a powerful thing, and they can so easily be labeled as God's design. Being clear on the distinction between God's commands and our traditions is a worthy goal.

Want to help a child in need?

It's Thanksgiving week, can you believe it? I have so much to be thankful for! I have a relationship with the Lord Jesus . I love my family to pieces. I have incredible friends. And, although we have been struggling a bit with finances- we have met ALL of our bills on time. You know, I don't think that we really know what "struggling" is! To me that means that we don't get to eat out (gasp) or buy things that we really don't need!

We are going to use this holiday season to GIVE any way we can to those that are REALLY struggling. Our church is collecting "lifepacks" to give to kids in need. There are so many parents out there that are trying to make ends meet. They want to give their children the world just like we do. We want to stand beside them and help them reach the needs of the kids in our communities.

So, if you want to help make a Lifepack, just click here. You won't regret it!

Most lifepacks will cost about $20-$25 to fill. Make a difference in a child's life! Do you REALLY need that CD or that I-pod this year???

'Live' Church on the web

I just read a post from Seth Godin called "What is the 'live' web?" With the increasing audience on the web and the increasing bandwith more "live" web opportunities are happening. We have had a 'live' church experience on the web at LifeChurch.tv for over a year now, and although you can catch the messages anytime after the live experience, there are many aspects of the 'live' experience you can only catch during one of our live broadcasts (Saturday 7pm CDT and Sunday 10 and 11:30am CDT). If you haven't tried out a 'live' experience, try it out this weekend to fully experience the Internet Campus.

I love my job

This last week Christi and I went to a marriage retreat with some other pastor couples. Most of the other couples were a part of the LifeChurch.tv Network. These are churches that are using the resources and messages from LifeChurch.tv. The cool thing is LifeChurch.tv puts this stuff out there for FREE! I know it is hard to believe but completely true. It is really a cool deal, and after this weekend, I cant' wait to see where God will take this.

Johnny and his wife Allison have started a church called TheBod.tv. It was launched in September in Roland, OK and is now close to 200 people. TheBod.tv is a LifeChurch.tv Network church. They are using live satellite feed from Lifechurch.tv each week. Well, this week Johnny and I talked about the church, the next steps of leadership, and how incredible God was moving. It is amazing to see. Incredible leaders are all over the place. Trust me, Johnny is one of those leaders, and now with some resources available and a kingdom mindset, Roland, OK and the surrounding region will never be the same.

Now on a personal level, Christi and I have truly made some new friends that inspire us with their passion and commitment to their community. They invited us down, but I don't think they realize that some fly fishing on the Illinois river, a Sunday at TheBod.tv, and some good cooking has now made it in the top of our to-do list.

Ready or not, Johnny and Allison, here we come :)!