Will You Be Radical?

Okay, so I've been reading this book, "Holy Fools" and I told you I would update you on what God is saying to me. Let me warn you now: YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS! If you don't want to hear it, stop reading and have a nice day. If, however, you want to hear something that will rock your world and cause you to look at others in a way you never have before, read on!

We have been called to a radical lifestyle - period. We were NEVER called to a safe, cozy, country club style of Christianity. For the part I've taken in the past in promoting that lifestyle, I am sorry. I don't want to ever do that again. That means that our time on Sunday really has to be about those who are searching for God, and less about you.

• This radical lifestyle calls us to love the unlovely: the dirty, the sick, the lonely, the depressed and all the 'others' that Jesus refers to over and over in Scripture. Matthew Woodley, author of "Holy Fools" calls it radical acceptance. Are you willing to have a church full of people who don't look like us? Are you willing to have a church full of people with tattoos, piercings, weird hair and maybe even some with pretty bad body odor? They're out there in our community, will we let them in?

• Radical lifestyle also means that we will pursue others for Christ. Jesus' style of ministry was just that, pursuing the lost. He WENT to where the sinners were (Matthew, Zaccheus for example). He didn't make them come to church. He WAS the church. Who are you willing to pursue for Christ? Right now I've got 2 people in my life that I MUST pursue, and I know that number will increase. Who do you need to reestablish your pursuit with?
  

• Radical hospitality is the third radical step Woodley calls us to. When you invite people over for dinner, who do you normally invite? Friends, family, people you know and are comfortable with. Who did Jesus invite? Tax collectors, 'sinners' of the day. NOT his companions. What will it take for us to do this both in our homes and as a church? We've talked on and off about serving a meal at/around Thanksgiving. But that's all we ever do is talk. Let me be frank with you - if all you are going to do is talk and not serve, keep it to yourself. We don't need talkers - we need DO-ERS. It's the proverbially 'put up or shut up' moment, isn't it?!
  

First Baptist (Pocatello), I love you with all I am. You have blessed me and my family. You have blessed God by giving of yourselves in our worship time as a family and that puts a smile on my face (and His too!). But I want more. I want us ALL to experience a revival the likes that no church in Pocatello has ever seen. I want each of us to be WRECKED by God to the point that we let go of our comfortable church lifestyle and radically pursue the people in our lives who don't know Jesus - NO MATTER WHAT THE COST! Friends, family, success, prosperity - what's it all worth on an eternal scale? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. 0. But our friends, family and neighbors in heaven with us - WOW!
Rick Warren puts it the best way I've heard, "Who will be in heaven because of you?"

Join me in becoming a radical. Accept them as they are, pursue them for Christ, and welcome them into our homes - all so they can come to know our Father.

We have a great opportunity right now for you to invite people to pursue God and His Word. We are just 6 days away from "I Saw The Lord", the church-wide Bible study campaign that we will all go through together. This is a great introduction for a person who is searching/seeking to learn how to dig into the Bible and find what God has for them. Invite them to your connection group and invite them to come with you to church (preferably at the 9 am service). The books are only $8.00. If that's a problem, just let me know and we'll make sure they get one, I promise!

I'm looking forward to what God is going to in my life and in yours!

See ya in church...

Sunday Reflection

Another good day with God! Even in our weaker moments, God is bigger than anything we can ever face. Pastor Bill gave a great message that WE ALL need to hear and begin working on NOW!

• Unity is not an option. It is God's requirement that we reconcile with others in our lives. Then the watching world will know that we are one...but we have to want it!
• Unity is also messy business. As I sat and listened, I looked around the room and could see people processing. I wonder, do we really want to live as one, or is it too much hard work? My prayer for all of us is that we will work at it with all we have. Not because we have to, but because we want to for Christ and His Kingdom work. Is there any other better reason?
• As a leader, I need to make sure that my teams are all working on this same principal. It's one thing to be united as a team, but are we all united as a BIGGER team?
  

It's time to get our hands dirty. We will have to have some 'tough' conversations with people who we have been keeping at arms length. (Hey, I'm right there with you all!) It will take us having to admit that we may have been wrong, or that we hurt someones feelings. Go find those people you need to have these conversations with, listen with God's ears, and then love the relationship back to where it needs to be. It's kind of like a shot - it will only hurt for a little bit, but once it's done, the pain subsides. Trust me, it's worth it to bring unity back into your relationships and back into your life.

If you need help or just someone to bounce stuff off of, get in touch with one of us on staff and we'd be glad to help you.

See ya in church...

Creativity and THE LORD!

We are about to undergo an incredible Bible study campaign at First Baptist - and I need your help!

Beginning October 5th, our entire church - connection groups, youth group and the worship services - will all be participating in the Anne Graham Lotz study, "I Saw The Lord". This will take all involved through the same Bible study of 7 different characters in scripture. It will involve group study (with DVD), individual study on your own (participants guide $8.00), and a 'wrap up' on Sunday from Pastor Bill on the passage you studied during the week. This will begin with the first Sunday (Oct. 5th) with Pastor Bill teaching on the method that Anne Graham Lotz uses for studying the Bible, and will be used for the remainder of the 7 weeks. This will be a different study 'technique' than most of us have done, but please indulge us for this time. It is effective and really helps to draw out some great insights from God's Word!

Here's what I would like from you:

• Pray. I know, duh! Seriously, take time to pray for this study to impact YOUR life in a very special way. Pray that God would draw you closer to Him.
• Listen. What is God telling you during this time? Write it down and share it with others. And listen to what God is telling those in your group and others around you. Again, write it down and share WHAT YOU CAN with others.
• DO something with what HE tells you. "Do not merely listen to the word. DO what it says." James 1:22

There are a couple of reasons for me wanting to know what God is up to. First, I am hoping to capture some of what God does here and put it into words we can give back to Him in praise. New songs for a new time in our life. We can also capture this in various other art mediums. A visual 'praise' is just as impactful as a spoken or sung praise. Second, the folks at Angel Ministries (Anne Graham Lotzs' group) are EXTREMELY interested in hearing how God speaks to and challenges people. They would love to hear some of our stories. What an honor!

What will this do for our church? For one thing it gets us into God's Word regularly, both as individuals and as a church. Satan's gonna love that, huh? It also introduces those that don't have a relationship with Chris to a way to explore and study His Word. For some it will help to affirm their belief and faith in God. Did I mention that Satan is really gonna love this? So be prepared for him to be stupid and show up in really stupid ways. (Go ahead, tell him where he can go. I'm sure he knows the way.)

I cannot tell you how JACKED I am for this to get under way! Right now I have over a half dozen boxes of I Saw The Lord material in my living room (had it sent to the wrong address!). But it is kind of a rush in a weird sort of way...the anticipation, the excitement. It's like Christmas Eve when I was 12! I believe that God is going to wreck our worlds over these next several weeks and make Himself very evident to many of us. I look forward to hearing about your wrecks in the weeks to come. You can post stuff here if you like, or you can email me at karl@fbcpoky.com

See ya in church...

What's The Deal With The Voice?

In every church I've served in and visited, the issue of good, quality voice coaching has always been an issue. It doesn't matter what 'style' of worship music you do, it's always the same type of questions that come up:

• How can I teach good technique for my vocalists?
  
• My vocalists' don't have a high enough range, so I'm having to rewrite stuff in lower keys. Isn't there any way to increase their range?
• How do I get that natural, solid tone out of my vocals?

I deal with this in ministry here. And I'm always looking for good, safe options to help my vocal team burst through in that natural tone with a good high range. I'll share some of the resources here in a minute.

In almost every case, vocalists' use about 2 octaves when they sing. They can move into a falsetto and increase a little, but it holds true that 2 is the magic number, even for those trained in a college/university. The human voice was actually designed to cover 3 octaves comfortably, with proper transitions from head to chest. This is one of the most important and key areas that we, in churches, should be focusing on in developing our teams.

So where do you go for some tips on developing the depth of range, the comfortable depth? I've found a resource that I'm still learning about that I've tried and I like. I'll be sharing this with my team in a couple of weeks to see how it works. We've already tried one technique for loosening and stretching that produces a clear, warm sound in ALL of them. It cracked me up too, cause I learned this in my vocal training at Idaho State! It's a silly technique that works:

• You can do a scale exercise or use a mid-range song to do this.
• Relax your face and sing the word 'nay' instead of scale or song words. But when you sing nay, sound it out like this - NYAAY. The n-y connection should like the letter 'n' in words like nino, with a tilde over the 'n'.
• Let the sound be nasally.
  
• Attack the note. Don't slide, bend, etc. Just land ON each note.
• Sing through an entire scale or song.
• Now, repeat using the words.

It may not seem like much, but you are training your voice to capture that true sound and 'free up' that natural, cool tone inside. It takes a little repetition to really feel it, but it is way cool! As I said, my team had a completely different, warm, round tone.

Check out Brett Manning and his resources. It's a little pricey for some, but I'm finding it to be rather interesting and encouraging. I'll share the other sites and sources here soon.

In the meantime, keep it real for Jesus, and have fun serving Him!

Culture of Crucial: Recruiting People, Not Musicians or Singers

Ministry Team Leaders - this is a great reminder as we look at the openings we have in our areas. This is NOT just for the Praise Team leaders, as you will read. It covers all leaders in any ministry area. Just some good reminders. Share your thoughts as you get a chance to process it. And let me know who the recruiting goes, both the positive and the negative. We'll work through it all and get this process down to a fun science!

Love serving with you all! Keep up the FANTASTIC work!
Karl

Culture of Crucial: Recruiting People, Not Musicians or Singers

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So..What Are YOU Going To Do?

Thought Sunday was a GOOD day for all of us to hear from God.

• I needed to be reminded that God's plan is ALWAYS bigger than I think. I have plans to do this or do that in ministry and in my personal life. But I have to admit that I don't dream/plan as big as God does. Time for that to change!
• We don't have anything on our own. DUH! But how often we forget this, huh? What would it be like if we REALLY LIVED THIS OUT IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES?
• I don't know why, but God takes what I have and turns it into something that He can use. Folks, please hear me, I am NOTHING without Christ. My talent, my 'skill', my drive is motivated SOLELY by my pursuit of Him. Take that away, and I suck pond water!
• I need to serve with what I have from where I am. But I can't stop there! I need to be chasing after those things that God has put in my path and see how they can bring glory to Him. In short, I need to be serving, not just 'doing my job'.
  

So, to follow up on Pastor Bill's challenge, what are YOU going to do with those things that God has given you? Will you be selfish and make excuses as to why you just can't fit serving into your schedule? Go ahead and do that, but know that you're doing that to God, not to the church. You're saying, "God, I don't have time for you. I have time for all the things I WANT TO DO, but you'll just have to wait." I'm sure He'll understand. (You can tell I'm tired of being nice and dancing around how I really feel!)

AHH!!!!!!! People - STOP LIVING THE LIE! Stop telling yourself you can't serve EVEN JUST ONE SERVICE A MONTH! Put your faith in Him and trust Him with your busy lives and schedules. Go ahead and risk for HIM! I can tell you - from personal experience - that when you DO THIS, He will bless you in ways you never thought possible. When I realized I needed to give Him more time, while still working full time in retail, my whole world was turned RIGHT-SIDE UP! My relationship with God grew, my family life improved, we never went without anything, ministry opportunities began to increase and the list goes on and on. It wasn't until I put GOD FIRST that any of this happened.

If you love God - and I know you do - step up. Today...this week...no more putting it off. Find that passion that He put in your heart and find out how to use that to point people to Christ. This Sunday, following both services, we will have the Service Opportunities information available on the patio (weather permitting). Come and get information...come ask questions...get plugged in to serving on the team and be blessed. That's one promise I can make!

See ya in church...

Are We Ready?

Just a couple of quick notes before Sunday. If you don't remember some of these 'challenges' go back and read "What Is God Up To?" and "Gloves Off". It'll clear things right up (snicker, snicker).

• Sundays comin...are you ready to make the shift to the 9 am service, where all the cool kids hang out?
• Are you ready for God to bless your socks off as you sacrifice for Him and for those who He wants to be here?
• Don't forget...look for the service opportunities on the patio (weather permitting) following BOTH SERVICES. You can find some great ways to get plugged in to serving.
• If you're a musician (vocal or instrumental) both Aaron and I will be out there to answer your questions as well.
• Had a great visit with First Baptist in New Plymouth on Wednesday this week. A little town of 7-8000 people and they have 300 PEOPLE in church and 150 IN SUNDAY SCHOOL! AND...they are trying to figure out where to put the rest of the people who are doing harvest stuff now that AREN'T part of this 300! God is WORKIN IT in New Plymouth. Pray for them to continue what it is that God is calling them to do and how they're doing it.
• Heads up for future blogs...I'm reading a book called "Holy Fools" and it's kickin' my trash all over the place. I'll be sure to 'share' with you as I go.
• "I Saw The Lord" will be an awesome time of connecting people to God individually and as a church body. This is the church wide bible study campaign that all of our groups, including our youth, will be doing at the same time. I can't wait to see what God is going to do in this. Be sure to get into a Connection Group if you're aren't in one yet. (There will be a 'Quick Connect' time on the 28th for those not in groups. This is a time to meet to connect people to a group. You will leave IN A GROUP!) Then pick up a copy of the participant's guide on September 28th ($8.00 per). God is going to ROCK OUR WORLD!

See ya'll in church...

What Is God Up To?

I had a great conversation with one of our vocalists tonight after rehearsal. We were talking about how there is a feeling in the air of anticipation, that something big is about to happen. Week after week we see new faces in both our services. And many of them are coming broken, with problems, addictions, baggage and all kinds of stuff. Praise God they're coming here! They sense that something is going on and they feel like God may be able to do something with their lives and help them.

We see it every week from the platform. As a pastor, I know more than I should. I konw many of the hurts, pains and stuggles that people are dealing with. But that in itself is a blessing for me. Now, I don't tailor a service for anyone person except the person of Jesus Christ. Yet week after week we hear people say, "I don't know why anyone else was here today. The music and the message were just what I needed. It was awesome!" My response...it WAS OUR AWESOME GOD!

Any pastor who 'tailors' a service to one person or group of people would be nuts. I am simply trying to hear what God wants to do each week. And we don't always get it. But the times that we do are increasing at an alarming rate. That tells me that He has something in store for us.

For all you FBC people, let me ask you a direct question. If God is up to something and about to do something amazing, are you ready to step in and be a part? Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort zone to make room for those not yet here? Are you willing to see what God has in store for us, and specifically for you? What will you do to make it happen?

Here's what needs to be happening NOW:

1. If you attend the 11 am service, STOP! Move to the 9 am service to make room. If someone is going to check out church, studies show they will overwhelmingly come to a service that starts around 10 or 11 am. Anything else is too early. Set your clock and make the move. What's it going to cost you, really? Stop making excuses.
If we don't start making room, we will need some volunteers to stand at the door at the 11 am service and offer this greeting:
"Thank you for coming to MY 11 am service. We're full now, and I don't want to change for you, so go home and go to hell! Have a nice day!"
Just being real...

2. When God blesses us with these people, we'll need some more people to accommodate them in many, many areas. Where are you serving? Notice I didn't say LEADING? Just serve. You can find some opportunities THIS SUNDAY AND NEXT SUNDAY following both services on the patio next to the Worship Center. There will be several 'service opportunity' postings available for you to look at, and people to answer your questions. SECRET: Most service opportunities don't require more than one service time a month! Some even just 1 HOUR A MONTH!

3. Pray for your leaders, all of them! We need to hear CLEARLY what God is up to and what He wants to do with us and all the folks He wants to send our way. We are being bombarded left and right with attacks and 'challenges' of all kinds. Pray especially for Pastor Bill as He listens for what God wants communicated to this crowd.

Thank God for what HE is doing, and how He is doing it! Lift up a song of praise and shout HIS name! He is in control and He is gearing up for something KING LIKE!

I'll see you in church, worshipping Him and serving Him!

Sunday - From the BACK!

I took today 'off' so that I could worship without leading, for one thing, but also so I could see things from the perspective of those I'm tasked with ministering too each week. Here's what I saw:

1. Aaron and the team did a great job getting us to a place where we could connect with God, hear God and obey God. Good job, folks!
I made a comment a while ago about how I need to 'replace myself' in the near future. One of the ways that I will do this is to put Aaron, and others, in front of the the 'crowd' as often as I can. This helps keep it about the music of worship instead of the music of Karl leading worship. Get the difference?

2. Our Greeters team, thank you Gary and Letty for leading this, do a good job of taking care of business. It's way more than handing out bulletins and shaking hands. Noise was becoming a factor from our Children's ministry area, and before I could do anything, they were already closing doors and making sure that distractions were kept to a minimum. They were even showing folks seats once the service got started - YEAH!!!

3. Music is always going to be a challenge in church until we all get to go home. Sorry, I just think 'church people' are too selfish to care about what we need to do in order to communicate to those who don't know Christ yet. Our church has done a GREAT JOB in letting the music NOT be an issue, to the point of 'letting go' of much of the old to make room for the new. THANK YOU FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH and thank you to Becky M. for blazing the way before I got here.

4. Our guests' are NOT getting the chance to get to the Guest Services area at the end of the service. We're going to work on fixing this PRONTO!

If you want church to be a place for those who are seeking Christ, those who are in need of hope, and those who are hurting, you have to apply what Pastor Bill reminded us of today:

"Let go of the illusion that you are in control and admit that God is in control."

Are you willing to let go of 'church' as you have always known it in order that 'the lost may be found'? Are you willing to be the 'spark' that starts the massive move to take over the Portneuf Valley for the Kingdom? I'm not saying give up everything you've ever known. I'm asking you to make a sacrifice, much like one that was made for you, so that someone may come to know Christ. We have a group of people in our church who made a huge sacrifice for the good of those not yet here.
Our seniors class, called the Lamplighters, used to meet in the back of the worship center. The room used to be a parlor, with couches, comfy chairs, a fireplace and two way glass that looked into the worship center. This was their Sunday School class meeting room. At the end of each service, they could stay in the room if they weren't feeling well and still hear the service.
A few years ago, our Children's pastor cast some vision about our need for a place for moms with infants to go and still hear/be a part of the worship service. The logical place was this room. After casting some vision (from our Children's pastor), and after much prayer, they sacrificed their comfort and their 'place' for those not yet here. They made a huge sacrifice! And to this day, we hear from moms with infants how incredible this room is and how wonderful it is to be able to take their babies away from the crowd and still be able to hear the message and connect.

Something that was 'sacred' to us has become a spark for showing how much we are willing to let go of our control and let God have complete control.

Have I said lately how much I LOVE MY JOB? TOTALLY DO!

See ya in church...

Voice Coaches

I wanted to post a video that had some good instruction for Praise/Worship Team vocalists'. I'm still waiting for 'permission' from the one I want to use, so hang in there. I know a lot of people may get frustrated that we don't just use 'whoever' seems to be good. Here's what I deal with in trying to find quality, healthy/safe, relevant-for-our-ministry material:

• Vocal 'coaches' are a dime a dozen, especially in the secular market. While they exist in the Christian market, there just aren't that many that are good.
• In the Christian arena, most of what we get is how to sing with the 'choral' sound as opposed to how to lead with strength, power and clarity with the true natural voice.
• I look for instruction, not just from the Christian market, that will help our vocalists to have healthy habits as well as good practice technique.
• Our end goal with Praise Team is to be able to communicate Gods story through music. That needs to be clear, in tune, in harmony, and compelling to the point that you can't help but join in and sing along.
• Too many churches 'settle' for just Christian produced material. Sorry to say that some of it really sucks pond water! Poor technique, even to the point of dangerous on one I saw, poor quality, and so on. I don't know how that honors God!

Before we get all crazy, I'm not saying that singing with choral technique is bad. I majored in music (I.S.U.) and was in a choir or two myself. I even took voice lessons while there to hone my 'craft' and my skill. But answer me this: how many songs do you listen to in a given week that FEATURE choirs over group vocals? Not too many choir stations on the radio these days. So why do we focus so much on that when we're trying to reach a culture that doesn't even give a rip?

Okay, I'm off my high horse for now.
If you're in a church where you've found some stuff from folks such as Tim Carson (Vocal Artistry) and Steve Bowersox, you have found the resources that I think are proving to be of great value to the local church. If you've got someone you've found that's helped you and/or your team, please share it. I believe one of the 'habits' that churches have fallen out of is sharing resources, ideas, and information with other churches. I want to give away as much as I can when I learn something or find something that works. If it helps grow the Kingdom, then why not?

See ya in church!

Gloves Off!

Okay, enough with the kind, gentle approach.

I want to talk to those of you who have musical abilities. We have heard over and over again that people don't want to come to Tuesday rehearsals or feel they can't be a part of the team because we are too professional for where they are.

Hold on....HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!
I had to pick myself up off the floor cause I was LAUGHING MY BUTT OFF! Okay, I'm back now. Let me fill you in on something.

Do you know why we get labeled that way? Because the people playing and singing love God with all their heart, soul and mind and serve from that place...and then God blesses US! {If you would come on Tuesday at 6 pm you would see for yourself just how REAL we are.} We make mistakes. We don't get the music learned on time. We mess up lyrics (were you there last Sunday?). We play the wrong notes and even sometimes in a different key (that's mostly me). We are not studio musicians nor do we want to be. We just love God and worship Him through our gifts of music.

If God has gifted you, STOP THINKING YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH! You were given the ability to draw attention to HIM through those gifts. So, get off your seat, stop making excuses and being selfish, and get here on Tuesday, 6 pm in the worship center. Bring your instrument if you play. JUST COME AND SEE WHAT GOD DOES!

It ticks me off when we allow the deceiver to lull us into thinking we aren't 'good enough' to share! Tell him to go back where he came from and chase after God with your gifts. You wanna see God do something amazing in His church? Step up and serve and watch what happens.

Give me a shout if you have questions or if I just ticked you off. I'd love to hear from you.

See ya at rehearsal...Karl. Did I mention it's at 6 pm in the worship center, on Tuesday?

Disturbed!

Loved this past Sunday for a couple of reasons:

• I love it when Bill gets fired up about his passion for the lost and what our job as the church really is. To use his words, "...what disturbs me is when the church won't change the way it does things. What worked for great, great, great, great, great grandpa won't work for us today. We need to do a heart check and see what it is that God is calling us, the church, to do in order to reach a lost and dying world."
• Dude got PASSIONATE and EXCITED about Jesus and sharing Him with the community! That will get me fired up!
• The band clicked and worshiped from a great place. Love it when Jon lets go and worships through his guitar.
• The set seemed to connect both the message and communion. People seemed to be in a place where God could speak and perhaps even get a word in edge-wise! Some very humble, moving moments.

I have a passion to see God's people connect with Him in worship, using music, media, the spoken word, art - just about whatever. When that happens, there is a fire that burns so hot and bright that it is at times overwhelming! As the day wears on, it gets to be exhausting, but in a really good way.

Have you discovered that passion in your walk with God yet? Is there something that God has put on your heart that just gets your pulse racing? Have you found a way to connect that to serving God? Remember, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. If He is our model, we better get on with following His example! Whether you're at First Baptist, Pocatello, or in a church in Ashburn, Virginia, God expects that you will be SERVING in some capacity. What gets you 'disturbed' to the point of excitement, what gets you passionate? Find a way to plug into that NOW and see what God has for you. One things for sure - it will be filled with blessings! (Read Psalm 112)

See ya in church...

The 'After Party!'

We just wrapped up our prayer series with a night of prayer, praise and thanks. So why has it taken me this long to blog about it? I think part of it is that it all is just sinking in.
Pastor Bill provided opportunity for people to respond to the greatness and goodness of God by sharing their praises with us. There is some INCREDIBLE stuff happening in the lives of the people of First Baptist Church. Everything from financial freedom to healthy marriages and more. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Why don't you take some time, right now, to stop and do this right where you are:

1. Who are you thankful for in your life today? Say the persons name out loud and thank God for the blessing they have been to you.
2. What are you praising God for today? Has he blessed you? Saved you from something? Healed you? Say it out loud to the Creator!
3. What group of people are you thankful for? Who is it that you are glad are in your life today? Take time to say their names out loud and thank Him for them.

I'll tell you what, when you get God's people together and they start sharing what it is that He has done in their lives, you can't hold back. You want to do something! You gotta DANCE or something! (You won't catch me dancing - it'd be UGLY!) But I will get excited and I'll be up for hours because I know what that feeling is like. And I want EVERYONE to experience it. And there are a lot of people that do experience after events like this. It's what I call the "After Party". Once our service(s) is done, I watch the people who hang back and visit, catch up, share, and so on. This happened at our prayer night at a whole different level. The past two, people just said hello and left. Not this time! The majority - and I do mean the majority - of people stayed and shared, caught up, PRAYED - in a church? - it was AWESOME! We're supposed to share what God is doing in our lives with other people. When we're called to be a light, it's more than just sharing Jesus. It's sharing what He has done in us and through us. That's what it means to share. People need hope - and to many people in your circles, you are it! So let them know what He's been up to. Let them know if they are one of those people you thanked Him for. It'll make their day, as well as yours!

When we have people 'hanging out' after services and events, that tells me that God is up to something, and I believe it's something BIG! I hope you're all ready for whatever is coming. I know I am, and I'm starting to get 'happy feet'!

Join us Sunday and see what I mean. I believe God will be at the After Party!

See ya in church...

WOW!

We wrap up our prayer series this Wednesday night with our final Night of Prayer, 6:30 in the Worship Center. And I'm getting excited for it because it will be an overflow - we pray - from this past Sunday's focus, the WOW! part of prayer.
Paul (Austin) did a great job of pointing us to the incredible opportunity that is there for us when we enter into God's presence in our prayer life. The fact that we CAN is in itself a WOW! We don't need a priest or someone to approach God on our behalf. We can have open, honest and direct communication with the Creator Himself and experience His great love, compassion, discipline and grace first hand! I don't know about you, but if I didn't have that, I would not be here today. I know that I need to have that access in order to connect and communicate with Him.
And I have to say I really appreciate Paul's honesty and transparency. It's not easy to get up in front of people and 'confess' your struggles with God and with the stuff in your life. But Paul did it, and I believe he was being sincere and honest. That is an encouragement for many, me included.

Here's a couple of quick observations from Sunday:
* There was a definite desire to want to sing worship to God. And it showed in the participation and excitement in many of you!
* It was the first time we have heard applause after the video announcements! Not sure what
that was all about, but it got the energy going in the room. Thanks Terry for doing those.
* We introduced a new song, Take Time To Pray by Rick Muchow, that seemed to settle well
with both crowds. A great reminder as we wrap up the series to DO what we've been talking
about for almost a month!
* Again, Paul really drove the point home and folks got it. I know of one conversation that took
place after second service where Paul was approached by someone who doesn't really agree
with or like 'church'. Yet he took time to tell Paul that he liked what he had to say and it was making him think a little differently about God and his life. Praise God!
* The 'after service party' is cracking me up! What I mean by this is the amount of people that
stick around and visit in the Worship Center. Week after week this crowd is growing in number and staying longer. To me, that's a sign of a welcoming, comfortable church.

God is up to something around here. Would you do me a favor? Would you continue to pray for me in this time of excitement and opportunity? I don't have any idea what God is up to, as I don't think anyone really does. But for me, it's a tough time because I'm phasing myself out of the out-front-lead guy (over the next 3-4 years) and not sure what the next phase looks like. I AM NOT LEAVING THE CHURCH OR QUITTING! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not getting any younger. In order for us to connect better with a culture that is younger, I think we need someone who is closer to that age demographic to lead. I have to figure out what that looks like and who that needs to be. I am just trying to plan ahead. (In case you didn't know it, this has been in the works for the past two years.) What I'm doing is looking for that next WOW moment in ministry that God has already planned for me. I believe I need to do this work now so that I can be ready for the next chapter, whatever that may be. I appreciate and count on your prayers.

Let's pray together for the next WOW! moment for First Baptist and for the Creative Arts and Worship Ministry.

See ya in church...