Sunday on Monday (12.12.2010)

Thoughts from yesterday...

• Preached on "peace" from Luke 2. Talked about the PATH OF PEACE being 1 - peace with God, 2 - the peace of God, and 3 - becoming a peace-maker. Challenged everyone to move along the path of peace towards God.
• Had a couple join The Quest at the early service. Loved the words shared when they joined. They talked about finding God through community. That's what it's all about!!
• Great worship design meeting. Stoked about some upcoming series at Quest!
• Belize Celebration last night was pretty incredible. Hearing people share stories about God's work in them through this experience was amazing. So thankful for this partnership!
• Went home very tired. Long day of great ministry!

Sunday Thoughts

Noticed that several pastors/leaders blog about random thoughts on Sunday afternoons. Kind of free flow thinking. I like that and am getting in on the action! So here are some thoughts about the past day ...

• Was great to be back in my regular routine today. Haven't preached to my Quest community in 2 Sundays in a row! Love Forrest Page and Mike Freace and so thankful they brought incredible messages in my absence. But man, good to be back today!

• I need to practice what I'm preaching! Slowing down and "rethinking Christmas" is way easier said than done. I'm working hard on creating space in this season for what God wants to do in my life.

• I love our staff at Quest. They are amazing people. They love God and they truly love people and being in ministry with people. Quest is what it is because of amazing visionary leaders who want to see God do even more!

• I'm excited about Christmas Eve. Going with a whole different spin on the Christmas story that a friend shared with me the other day. Blew me away, and hope to blows you away as well! Bring a friend!!! Christmas Eve is the one day - more than any other - that people outside the church are most open to invitations to come be a part of a church community. We need to take this opportunity to truly love and care about the people around us!
  

• Leadership requires vision. I'm learning this more in the past year than ever. And that vision can only come from God. My conjuring up vision is worthless. I need God's vision. We all do. And along with this - leadership can be lonely. Sometimes we feel like we're out on the front lines and like no one is following. It is those times that we must trust in God and surround ourselves with accountability and people who will continue to walk the journey with us. We cannot do it alone.

Hoping you have a great week!!!

John

Upcoming Series at The Quest

Beginning a new series at The Quest this Sunday, Sept. 19. Join us at 9 am or 10:30 am as we explore how to have healthy relationships by establishing "boundaries" in our lives.

New Series

QC begins a new series this Sunday - April 25 - "The Simple life / live for what matters most." Join us at 9 or 10:30 am!

Mediocrity

Recently I've been struggling with mediocrity as it relates to my own personal life, church life, and even denominational structures. It seems that so often I am willing to settle for less than God's best for me personally, in my church, and even in the Church at large.

Mediocrity keeps us from the things of the Kingdom. In our personal relationships with God, our marriages, our families, our churches, etc. God is not a God of mediocrity, but of passion and vision and advancement and growth of His Kingdom. His Spirit is ready and willing to move in our lives and churches if we will but wake up to Him.

May we be people who do not settle for mediocrity. May we be people who are ignited with a passion to see God's Kingdom on earth.

Belize

Spent about 5 days in Belize just over a week ago. My church was exploring long-term missional relationships that we can set up. Planning to take teams to Belize twice a year beginning this Fall.

The picture above is me with guy named German Garraldo. Very excited about the potential relationship we are setting up with him and his ministry in Belmopan (the capital city of Belize). German owns a garage/road repair business. He is turning his business facility into a church facility, where he can hold worship gatherings, community events, as well as house young people with no other place to go. He literally taking "church" to the people in his city. Pray for him and for his ministry. Pray for our church as we explore the potential relationship we might have with his church.

Very excited about the next steps of this endeavor!

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

Drink Coffee. Do Good. Really? Yes - it's true. "Land of a Thousand Hills" coffee is Rwandan coffee where a good bit of the money used to purchase the coffee goes right back to Rwandan coffee growers to help them and their communities. Rwanda is a country that just a decade ago was torn apart by genocide. This coffee company is doing what they can to help bring financial stability and even reconciliation to the people groups of Rwanda. And you and I can help .... all the over here in America ... by just buying and drinking this coffee. Check out more about it at www.drinkcoffeedogood.com.

My church just started using this coffee last week. Good cause. Good coffee.

Father Daugther Meetings

My 10 year old, Morgan, and I have been have "father daughter dates (or meetings)" every Friday for about 2 years now. Time is spent reading the Bible, discussing it, praying, etc. This past week we added a new dimension to our times together. I'm seeking to help her establish a regular and consistent "devotional time" with God every day. So now one of her goals is to read the Bible and pray every night before bed. She only got 2 of 7 days last week ... but it's a start! Very excited about this. Can't think of anything more important I can do as a father than to love my daughter and to help her learn to love and be loved by God by spending time with Him consistently.

We're going to say it

Starting a new series this Sunday @ The Quest. We're going to SAY the things that many of us are THINKING, but for whatever reason we're just not saying. For example - "I'm not the person you think I am" or "I need help" or "I'm mad at God for (fill in the blank)."

The church has created a culture where we're just not permitted to say some things that really need to be said/addressed.

I love addressing controversial things!