I am so late in writing this but that is not because I am not excited. In fact I am more excited than I have been in a long time. Thats not to say that I haven’t been excited throughout this journey of starting LifePoint but that I believe we are on the verge of something really great.
I am going to say something that some might not really understand…I feel the Holy Spirit stirring something within LifePoint as a whole but also deeply within many of us as individuals. Over the past couple weeks God has been prodding, poking and stirring something fierce (can I say fierce) inside me. Cleveland…lookout!
Now on to the weekend.
Saturday morning (tomorrow) we are giving out water at the Cleveland Greenway. It will be good, free, and cold. Come out and say hello. We will be there from 9am until we run out of water. It should be a lot of fun.
Sunday Guest Speaker: Pastor Steven Furtick
Some of you may have been like me and felt a little ashamed when Pastor Ed Young said the phrase “Off the Chain”. Not that there is anything wrong with that phrase other than a man of Pastor Ed’s age shouldn’t use phrases like that (I mean no disrespect). That is probably another post in and of itself.
Now if there were a pastor that I thought could use that phrase it is our guest speaker this Sunday. He is the Senior Pastor of Elevation Church and his message is Lord, Make Us Audacious. You do not want to miss it.
Goodbye
On a sad note, we will be saying goodbye to an awesome couple who have served God and LifePoint well in Cleveland, Tennessee. Please join us Sunday as we pray for them and send them off to the next phase of their journey.
This week we are continuing our series One Prayer with guest speaker, Pastor Ed Young. If you missed Pastor Craig Groeschel last week you do not want to miss the next two. Pastor Ed Young is the senior pastor of Fellowship Church located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Don’t miss this Sunday at LifePoint where Pastor Ed Young will share his one prayer, Lord, Make Us Wake Up.
A Revolutionary Opportunity.
This Sunday we will also be taking up a special offering for a most amazing missions initiative. Instead of me telling you about it, hear Pastor Craig to give you the 411.
Today almost a million Christ followers are fasting and praying for miracles in the lives of their friends, family, churches and the communities. How about you? Do you or someone you know need a miracle of God in their lives. Join us in this One Prayer today.
It wasn’t the crowds. We were missing a lot of our regular people, although we did have a several visitors.
It wasn’t the music. We didn’t have a full band but I think my wife and I did a pretty good job. More her than me.
It wasn’t the message. Don’t get me wrong, the message Pastor Craig preached was simply tremendous. It stirred me and I believe it stirred all those who were attending. But that wasn’t it.
It was the Holy Spirit. He was there impacting each of us in a very profound way. All the way from the lobby to the theater. All the way through the music, message and my closing remarks. The Holy Spirit was active and I think people were more aware of it than they may have been before.
I believe the Holy Spirit is there at every service at LifePoint but there are times when you sense his active presence more than usual. This Sunday was one of those times.
You do not want to miss this coming Sunday because I believe we are going to experience it again. Maybe it’s the One Prayer series, maybe it’s the unity of over 1400 churches, maybe it’s just that God is getting ready to do something huge at LifePoint and in Cleveland, TN. Whatever it is…I want in.
There are so many church signs that I hate. They use bad puns and sometimes just bad messages. Most of the time a churches sign doesn’t really tell you about what kind of church it is. Instead they say things like “contemporary worship” or “relevant messages”. Both of these phrases actually tell you nothing about the church. What do they even really mean anyway.
I feel the same way about our sign at times. Now, it’s not an official church sign. It’s just a banner that we put out each Sunday morning to let people know where we are. But it’s the message on the banner that I am referring to.
On our sign we proudly say that we are a “church for people who don’t like church.” But are we really? I mean, if someone who truly didn’t like anything about church in anyway came to a Sunday morning service, would they actually like it. If I were to be honest with myself I would have to shout “no” from the roof tops. That’s not to say that we aren’t a church that doesn’t reach people. It just means that we are church that reaches people who want to be reached or are at least curious.
Today, however, I finally found a church that doesn’t pretend to be something that they are not. In a world where many churches pander to a younger, post-modern generation by using irresistible phrases like, contemporary worship and relevant messages there is a church that will not compromise. While we say that we are a church for people who don’t like church when we actually mean we are a non-traditional church, this church says exactly what they are. A traditional church with traditional services for traditional people. Honesty…I like it.
It is such an extreme honor to have Pastor Craig Groeschel speak to LifePoint this Sunday. I have been following his ministry ever since I started pastoring back in 2002. His passion for God, the Church, and the lost is inspiring to me. If I wasn’t called to be a pastor I would move and attend his church. Well, his or Andy Stanley’s. It would be a tough decision.
Seriously, his message this Sunday will stir you to stop “doing” church and actually “be” the church. My prayer for this Sunday is that his message will cause all of us to be the answer to Jesus’ prayer. If you want to know what I mean by that, you will just have to come and hear his message this Sunday.
For more information on why Pastor Craig is speaking at LifePoint this Sunday click on One Prayer.
Luckily, few people ever see me angry. Of course that really isn’t the purpose of this post. The only real reason for this post is to say that I am looking forward to seeing the new Incredible Hulk movie. The last one was way to artsy. Plus, I love Edward Norton as an actor. All in all it looks like it might be a lot closer to the comic than all the rest.
I know some people are sick of comic book movies so I have a word of advice for them. DEAL WITH IT! I grew up on comic books and remember dreaming about how these characters could be portrayed on the big screen. That was over 17 years ago and technology has come a log way. I am even more stoked about these movies now. Call it nostalgia or whatever. I love comic book movies. That is until I see them and see how they ruined the original stories, but I digress.
Incredible Hulk movie - tonight - with Kevin. Can’t wait.
As anyone who reads this blog knows we have just started our current series called One Prayer. In this series we have joined with, I don’t know, a whole lot of other churches who are all answering the question, “If God was going to answer one prayer for the church at large, what would you play.”
This past Sunday I came prepared to share my “one prayer” with LifePoint. More on that in a moment. When the Kleinmanns arrived at church I found out that Tabitha had hurt her wrist the day before while roller skating. It was really swollen and they had plans to get it x-rayed. It looked like a sprain but it makes sense to get it checked out.
Well, earlier this week they got it x-rayed and it turns out that she did not sprain her wrist. She broke it.
Flash backwards to my message this past Sunday…Lord, Make us Broken.
My problem with prayer seems to be that I’m never specific enough. Someday I will learn.
I guess it all really started in May. I haven’t been blogging a lot lately because I have been so busy at work as well as with LifePoint. I’ll give you a small list of what has been happening at LIfePoint and what is coming.
Church attendance has been on the increase. We have been seeing a 50% to 75% increase this month versus last month. Granted with our size that sounds bigger than it is, but when you think in averages, that is pretty awesome.
Weekend giving has been increasing as well. We have a lot of people who are financially tight right now so that is huge.
We joined with over 1,300 other churches (I have no idea how many are involved anymore) in the launch of a revolutionary series called One Prayer. I shared my one prayer for the church…Lord, make us broken. I will blog more about that later. This is an awesome time in God’s family. If you would like to know more about One Prayer or join the dailt discussion with the church at large please visit oneprayer.com.
This past Monday we had our first Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland house dedication. It was a lot of fun. We presented the Blackwell family with a gift basket of household supplies and a gift card to get her settled into her new home. You can check out some of the pictures if you would like.
On June 28th, I am setting the date right here and now because if I don’t it will never happen, we are going to be on the Cleveland Greenway giving out free water to all of the health enthusiasts doing there morning walking. It will be a great way to just be out in the community without any real agenda but to be a blessing.
Well there you have it. A lot of things are happening and I am so excited for what’s next.
I am really excited about this Sunday at LifePoint. We will fumble with our technology, we may or may not have a full band, and we definitely have something go wrong. This will not always be the case but for now, due to resources like money and time, this is what we have. in the end we get what we put in. More time, more money, and more attention will fix most of our Sunday morning struggles.
Here is something else that will happen Sunday. I will teach from my heart what God has been revealing to me. In fact I will be looking at the same concepts in the previous paragraph and apply them to our relationships. The only thing we can hope to get out of our relationships is what we put into them. Chew on that for a bit and if your want to know where I am going with this then I guess I will see you on Sunday. You can also check out LifePoint’s current message series page if Cleveland, TN is to far to travel.
As anyone who reads this blog knows we have just started our current series called 
I guess it all really started in May. I haven’t been blogging a lot lately because I have been so busy at work as well as with 
I am really excited about this Sunday at 
