Great Word

Hey folks!

I’m on vacation/church plant scouting, but decided to take a few minutes to read a blog or two before heading out this morning.

Vince had a great word this morning about tradition, contemporary, and compromise.  Read it here.

’nuff said.

Reading Blogs . . .

As I the vision for planting a church grows, so is the list of blogs I read.

I have been spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME clicking from blog to blog to see new content.

I finally broke down . . . I am using Google Reader.  In the process, I changed my home page from Google.com to iGoogle.  This means that I can put a little widget on my Google search page that tells me when there’s new content on any of the blogs I subcribe to. You could even click on the little picture below and have it add my blog to your Google search page if you want.

And, IT’S FREE!

I’m hoping this little exercise massively streamlines my blog reading.  If you read a lot of blogs, you need a reader.  There are tons out there.  I’m just a fan of Google. Google is the king of doing things efficiently, simple, and free.  If you use another reader, use the link below to subscribe to APK’s Attic.

Subscribe in a Reader

Way behind . . .

I sat down 2 hours ago to get caught up on blogs, Auburn Football, news, and other stuff.  Yes, 2 hours ago.  I really didn’t think I would be sitting at my computer at 12:30am tonight . . . but here I am.

I have been very busy this week.  Projects at work that have been mulling along for 2 years are buzzing a little bit . . . there’s new work . . . there’s just a lot going on . . .

I actually got an email from Baltimore . . . they have hired somebody to help things start moving . . . They told me to wait until he gets on board, and he’ll contact me soon.  Incidentally, I heard the same news from the state convention on the same day.  I guess that means it must be true.

In the mean-time . . . In the midst of the busyness at work, I was wondering if the vision would get lost in the shuffle.  I spent a good bit of time praying last week that God would reconfirm the vision by giving me some new ideas, insights, and other encouragements to keep moving forward. Be careful what you pray for.

In addition to the contacts I mentioned above . . . God gave me some really neat “marketing” ideas that will help establish trust and recognition in the community.  He also gave me an idea for an opening message series, and some thoughts about how that series might fit in to a first-year teaching goal.  I’m not usually much of a long-range planner . . . so to say I am planning a year of messages over a year before the first one gets delivered is a pretty big confirmation.

I’m really itching to Transform Baltimore.

It’s reflecting in my work here at Journey, too.  I am so excited to see Emily investing in so many people right now.  I am blessed to have a “helpmeet” like her by my side.  She’s just as excited about the future as I am, and equally equipped to play her role as a part of it.  I am praying for more and more opportunities to touch the lives of disconnected people.  That’s why Journey Church exists, and that’s why God is giving us this vision to go beyond Auburn.  The ALL IN series we are doing right now is awesome.  It’s all about getting folks to lay it all on the line to help reach disconnected people.  Not so we can grow a bigger church or notch salvations on our belt . . . but because we have the greatest message ever — a message of hope — a message of joy — a message that can save you out of whatever pit you’re in and deliver an abundant life — the message of salvation through the death of Jesus Christ for the salvation of sins.

Awesome!  It’s almost 1am, and I’m pumped.  Maybe I’ll sleep . . . someday.

Deep . . .

Just a great reminder, Perry slapped out a good one on those that want to be deep:

“You’re not deep enough”

My 2 cents:

Being and Doing what you Know is far more important than Knowing more.  Knowing more needs to result in Being and Doing Bigger and Better.

Perry Noble . . .

Hey folks . . . I finally added Perry Noble to my blogroll.

For those that don’t know, Perry is a really big name in fast growing church plants.  He’s one of the benchmarks other planters strive for.  He has a lot of good stuff to say, and has influenced a lot of influential folks.  I have read his blog off and on for some time . . . But sometimes he’s been a little more bullheaded than I wanted to have listed on my blogroll.  However, THIS POST lets me know that Perry is listening to God and doing the right thing . . . so I thought it was time to add him to my blogroll.

Shawn Lovejoy, “Success,” and influence

I kinda feel I need to do a follow-up post to my “Networking and Planting” post from last week.  You see, I mentioned “success” in relation to a lot of the big-wigs in church planting.  One of those guys is Shawn Lovejoy.  Well, Shawn must have done a Technorati search on his blog or something, because he found my post and left me a comment.

I want to make it very clear that I put the word “successful” in quotation marks for a very real reason.

Emily and I are very early on the road . . . learning from these “big guns.”  We are learning a lot about leadership, patience, connecting with the disconnected, keeping church “simple,” and so much more. By having a variety of influences, we have discovered a lot about ourselves and who thinks more the way we do and who can stretch us beyond ourselves. When God releases the gates and we’re off to the races, we’ll be applying a bunch of what we learn in a specific context (probably near Baltimore.)  Some of it will work out-of-the-box.  Some of it will need to be adjusted.  Some of it may need to be tossed altogether.

Will we be as “successful” as some of these guys? . . . We’ll enjoy the success God gives us.  My prayer is that we can enjoy INFLUENCE more than SUCCESS.  I would rather influence an entire town Monday-Saturday with the truth about Jesus than gather a crowd on Sunday. I would rather pastor a small church that mentors 20 other churches to influence their towns in a big way than pastor a huge church that can’t reach beyond its walls.  Of course, I’d rather pastor a big church that turns its town upside down and teaches 100 other pastors to do the same . . . but the issue is simply INFLUENCE – letting God influence me to influence others.

Blogroll - Church Planter, Maryland

I just wanted to highlight another new addition to my blogroll on the sidebar of this site:

Darren Plummer is the pastor of Mosaic Community Church in College Park, MD.  I honestly have not read much of his blog yet, but I got the contact through another church planter friend, Dave Anderson (who is currently recovering from surgery).

I look forward to developing a relationship with him as Emily and I look forward to relocating up to his neck of the woods in the coming years.