actionkidz

So how do you do church for kids in a nightclub? ...from preschool to 4th grade on a dance floor? We're about to find out on December 9th. Here's the 411 on actionkidz...

• We want it to be fun! Seriously, if it's not fun it doesn't matter how much "Bible trivia" you teach...kids are going to check out.
• Parents are welcome. We recognize that some parents will have questions about how we do children's ministry...our invitation: stay and "play along".
• Teaching will be done on video. That's the way kids primarily learn now...white boards and lectures don't cut it... (this also frees up the actionkidz crew from being "teacher" to being able to interact and facilitate fun instead.)
• Pick great people who love kids! I am so grateful God sent Jeff and Chrissy to lead our actionkidz start up but we still need more volunteers who love kids (and can pass a background check!)
• Make sure they have the proper resources! Truth-be-told we will spend more between now and launch on set supplies and equipment for the actionkidz area of actionchurch than the "main service". Why? Because kids are not the "church of tomorrow" they are the church of today! Studies show that you are more likely to begin following Jesus before the age of 12 than any other time in your life... Children's ministry is not "babysitting" or an afterthought...it is IMPORTANT!
• Did I mention fun? Example: Jeff and Chrissy have picked a curriculum for the first 8 weeks of actionkidz called "Driving force" that teaches biblical principles through racing. It looks like later in the series we will be able to have Bob bring the "actionkidz" race car for the kids to meet the driver and take pictures in the car... That's nothing like the "Sunday School" I remember.

Thanks to Yvonne for the new artwork and logo...I think the new "crew" member is named Spike.

Live on stage...Clean Slate

...yet another reason to mark your calenders and set your alarm clocks for Sunday December

9th, 11am. Clean Slate will be rocking our first "test drive" service and I personally can not wait to hear them. They will be kicking off with one of my favorite Daughtry songs ever (hint) and also laying down some of their originals and a little "high octane" worship... If you want to check them out before next week here's a link to their website. (link)

This is an un-advertised "sneak preview" so be sure to invite your friends.

"right" and "wrong"

Lately I've been having an "ongoing discussion" with our four year old fairy princess, Reagan. It seems she likes to "be right"...a lot! Once she is convinced she "is right" about something, nothing can change her mind (I wonder who she inherited that from?)...she can even get pretty belligerent about it. The funny thing is, many time she is "right". She remembers movie characters better than me, she remembers what mommy says better than me, sometimes she even remembers what I said better than me... She's often "right". What I'm trying to teach her through all of this is that you can be absolutely "right" in your position, but still be "wrong" because of your attitude and poor treatment of others.

I find this to be a hard lesson to learn for adults as well as four year olds. I've struggled with it much of my life. It is a hard thing to be passionately sure of the "rightness" of your position, and still remain humble and gracious toward those you disagree with. Lately this process is becoming easier for me...not necessarily because I have "grown"...I am just much more aware of all the areas I have been passionately wrong about in the past. That realization tends to humble you...

I want to make sure that humility and graciousness are ingrained in the DNA of actionchurch. I want to be "right" in our attitude toward others who may disagree with our vision of what a church can be/do in York County. I want to be a church willing to be "misunderstood" in order to share the good news of Jesus with people disenfranchised by religion. I want to be a church not deterred by criticism or swayed by praise. Most of all, I want to be a church more concerned with doing the right thing than merely "being right"!

As Seen on TV...

Michele and I went yesterday to purchase the plasma TV's we will be using as video monitors at Fat Daddy's. (I can't believe we are less that two weeks away from our first "test drive" service on Sunday morning). A couple of things:

• The "sales dudes" at our local "Buy More" definitely are NOT on commission...he seemed like someone asking to purchase (3) 50" plasmas was sort of a hassle to him?!?!


• The reason why we are using plasmas instead of projector/screens at this point is because our good friend Matt over at Unity Pro Audio and Video suggested that we would be better off purchasing flat panels locally than purchasing projectors and screens from his company at this point! Matt is a supporter of actionchurch, a follower of Jesus, and a business owner that puts integrity before profit so if you need any gear...check with them first. (They even have a new online store opening up.)


• ...although they are not "cheap", it's certainly a good time to buy a flat panel. We are able to purchase (3) 50" (two for the main service and one for actionkidz) Vizio monitors for less that $4000.00. That's about what a single 42" cost just three years ago!


• This is the single biggest purchase we have made for equipment for Sunday Mornings. That is possible because Fat Daddy's already has all the other sound and lighting equipment we need. Yeah God!


• Since most adults and all children have been raised watching television, I believe the visual component of communicating the Good News of Jesus is now more important than ever. In many cases the visual image and words projected on the screen have a better chance of "registering" with the listener than the spoken word. If you would like to be part of communicating this life changing truth please consider donating to help cover the cost of our video system. Tax Deductible donations can be made online or contact me @ info@actionchurch.com.

Stop kicking trees...

I was annoyed at first by the "red pig-tail wig" Wendy's commercials. (link for email subscribers) The more I think about it though...the more I think that we need more people who will "stop kicking trees" just because everyone else is doing it...and speak out what they really are passionate about. Is there anything in your life that feels as pointless as "kicking trees"? Anything you are passionate about but were afraid to express because of what others might say? Strap on the red wig and yell it out...trust me, it's a very "freeing" experience!

Parable of Harley Davidson

Imagine that someone at Harley would offer you a job... Those of you who live in York County know it's almost impossible to "get in" to Harley without being related to someone or some other connection . You have nothing on your resume that makes you "qualified" to build Harleys...the job is truly a gift. Truthfully, you can't even remember "applying"...but here is someone offering you a career, a new lifestyle, even a great retirement. What an amazing free gift!

Now imagine that the plant manager calls and asks you to start work immediately. Would you:

1. Tell him that you have"no interest in actually "working" at Harley...you just took the job for the great retirement plan...." How do you think that will turn out?

2. Tell him that you have " no interest in actually "working" at Harley...but you do love to come to the staff meetings and read the employee handbook..."

3. Tell him that you are "too busy working at your old job at the "Quikee Mart" to actually show up for work...but you would like to come by and pick up the Harley uniform and paycheck each week to impress your friends...

Sound ridiculous? It is! Those statements would only be "acceptable" in organized religion...definitely not in the workplace. Sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer...



21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Mathew 7:21

I'm not sure why...

...every year I untangle these.

...and I climb up here...

...nobody makes me do it. (Michele said maybe
I should take the year off because we are so busy.)

I know it has nothing to do with "Christmas", the Baby Jesus, or "letting your light shine"... but nothing says Christmas to me more than when all those lights come on and our electric meter starts spinning wildly. Ho HO HO

Quote of the week:

"We were a handful of people with a dream of starting a church for people who didn’t go to church. Looking back it was a crazy dream. It ranks up there with starting a steakhouse for vegetarians." -Jeff Kapusta

Crazy dream indeed...but it is happening all over this country. (The "handful of people" at Lifepoint Church are now hundreds and are a great example of what God can do with a "crazy" dream.)

Two things are very clear to me.

1. God has a sense of humor

2. I need to stop posting food pictures during thanks giving week...it's like I'm obsessed with food or something...

Thanksgiving moment.

It's early Thanksgiving morning. Reagan, the cat, and I are (sorta) awake and watching cartoons in my office. I can hear Michele on the treadmill in our home gym below me...and grandpa is asleep upstairs. Reagan just convinced me to give her twizzlers "because she had already taken her vitamins and it was OK" (It made sense to me when she "explained" it.)... Just another ordinary moment...but somehow it makes me want to stop and just be grateful for how blessed we are!

I am so thankful that I serve a God who blesses ordinary, broken, slobs like me with so very much!

I am so thankful for my "girls"...they are truly my biggest blessing!

I am thankful to have enough to share with others.

I am thankful that I am free in America to pursue my God-given dreams and passions...even if something as crazy as starting a church in a nightclub.

I am thankful for friends old and new who God has sent to share the journey.

Happy thanksgiving...I hope you take some time to enjoy a "thanksgiving moment" with the ones you love!

Inspired again...

I posted Monday about being inspired by all the stuff LCBC was doing for "others" over the holidays... I know it's easy to think " Of course they can make a difference, they have thousands attending and have been established for over twenty years." What can a newly launched church that doesn't have thousands of members do to show their love for their community? I'm glad you asked....

My friend Mike Silliman and the amazing crew at Elk Creek Church just delivered 139 turkey dinners to their community even though their first service was September 23rd! To make this even more inspiring, they took up a special offering barely one month after launching and people generously gave $2000.00 to buy the food and "fixin's". It just shows what a newly launched church can do if their focus is to serve and share the love of Jesus with their community. Check out the full story on Mikes Blog. (link)

Signs

I've been working on finishing up the sign order for our "Test Drive" service on December 9th.
In order to make people as comfortable and informed as possible there will be a lot of simple signs. I know how ill-at-ease I feel when I go someplace new and there is not clear signage to guide me where I am going. My goal would be that everyone is welcomed and greeted by our hospitality team...(wanna help greet/serve people?)but even if no one spoke to a guest I want them to be able to easily navigate where ever they want to go just by following the signs.

Speaking of signs...above is Fat Daddy's dress code sign. Ours says

actionchurch

Sunday mornings 11-12

No Dress Code

No Cover Charge

No Joke!

I love it!

Inspiring...

I don't think it's any real mystery why God has allowed us to spend a year at LCBC
it's simply always inspiring... I walked into the lobby yesterday and saw piles of over 2000 boxes people had prepared for Operation Christmas Child. Michele and Reagan had a blast preparing a shoe box for "a girl from far away" as Reagan (4yrs) called her. It struck me that that this one "act" of one single church that would change everything for thousands of needy children... (They also have "giving trees" for local families) Just another example of what a church can do when it looks "outward."

Behind the Music-Sermon Planning

I'm looking forward to the fact that in just three weeks (12.9.07) I will be preaching in our first test drive service! I can't wait. With that on my mind I'm posting seven questions I ask myself as I prepare to speak. Bear in mind that this is not the "right" way to do it, since I've never been (or plan to attend) seminary. Most of these questions come from stuff I've picked up as a singer/songwriter...

1. Is it inspired? This is the most important and hard to quantify part of writing either song's or sermons...you can write a technically perfect song about a toaster or a well researched sermon about something that you aren't inspired to talk about...both will be hard to listen to. I struggle with this question until I am absolutely sure that I have "heard" something in God's word that the listeners need for their lives before proceeding to any of the next "questions".


2. Does it have an interesting title? I think sermon and song titles are very important because they can generate questions and interest initially. Our first two "test drive" sermons are titled "BB guns and Bunny Suits" and "Stoned"...wanna know what I will be talking about???


3. Does it have ONE consistent thought? I want sermons at actionchurch to be like a good pop song...something you will remember after the first time you hear it...The only way I know to do that is to take ONE biblical concept, not a list, not an acrostic, not five points, not a "chapter"...but ONE biblical principle and try to make it as memorable and practical as possible. The only thing that counts in preaching is what you remember after you leave the parking lot. (That's the main reason I don't read from notes as I speak...If it's not memorable enough for me to "know the words"...there's no chance anyone else will remember it.)


4. Is it as short as possible? I have thousands of songs in my music library and only G-n-R's "November Rain" is over four minutes long. I think
   "memorable" long songs and long sermons are an exception...definitely not the rule. Usually they are the result of not taking the time and effort to properly "edit" out all the "extra" thoughts and points... Sermons at actionchurch will be around 30 minutes long.


5. Does it have a "hook"? There are no new song or sermon "topics". There is no "new" truth! The concept of a "love song" or a "Biblical Sermon" are thousands of years old... There are however countless "new ways to say old things". Ways to surprise...twists and turns that can be used if you are willing to do the "work" of song and sermon writing. There is no written exam to get into heaven so "conveying information" is not enough!


6. Will it "move" the listener? A good song should evoke some movement-break dancing, head banging, line-dancing, finger snapping, at least toe tapping or nodding. My hope is that no one (including myself) will ever preach a sermon at actionchurch where the response is "that's good to know". I believe the only reason people should go to the effort and expense of gathering on a Sunday morning is if they will in some way moved to a better way of living. The whole concept of actionchurch is that each week we will attempt to put the teachings of Jesus into action...


7. Is it authentic? I don't "buy it" when Clay Aiken sings "When a man loves a woman" and people don't believe when preachers pretend to be something they are not on Sunday mornings. I don't think you have to be "perfect" to be a preacher (or I certainly wouldn't be one!!!). I do think you have to be (as Perry Noble says )"smokin' what you're selling" and be brutally transparent and honest about your struggles with God's plan for living...

Things that make me want to "bash myself in the head with a shovel"...

Just when I had hope that cheesy, crappy, dirivitive "christian" t-shirts would be come extinct...Walmart starts selling them for $6.82. When I saw this I "threw up in my mouth a little bit"...

"Almost" doesn't count!

You've probably heard people say "almost doesn't count". Almost winning the game doesn't count. Almost getting that job... Almost getting the date with your high school's prom queen. Almost making the team... It just doesn't count.

Here's the good news. "Almost" doesn't count in the negative way either! Thankfully "almost" driving off a cliff may scare you...but it won't kill you. Almost giving in to temptation... Almost quitting...Almost giving up on your dreams... Almost giving into fear... The awesome news is...almost doesn't count.

If you don't like honest words from a preacher you might want to stop reading, but I cannot tell you how many times I have "almost" given up on the dream of actionchurch. I can't tell you how many times I have told God this is "too big", "too crazy", or "you should find someone else "more qualified" to do this" etc...Some days I almost quit- but I don't...and I won't because I cannot deny the amazing things that have already happened to make this dream for York county possible. I cannot deny that there are thousands of people in York County who will never hear about Jesus (at least in a positive way) if we do not provide a place that they feel "safe" "invited" and accepted.

So... If you're almost ready to run from your fears instead of facing them...almost ready to give up on your marriage...almost ready to give in to temptation...almost ready to give up on your dreams... Don't do it... Thankfully, almost doesn't count!

actionchurch in York Daily Record

Just found out that the York Daily Record is running a story about our church (among others) who meet in bars. Here's the online (link). I think the reporter Mellisa Nann Burke did a really "fair and balanced" story and I couldn't be happier with it. I am really glad that Bob was in there with his race car,since they have been so over-the-top good to us, and also that there was a lot of stuff from other churches that already have ministries in clubs and bars. Here are a couple funny (behind the scenes) things about the story though:

1. I was just linking to a news clip about Forefront Church in Virginia this morning their Pastor Vince Antonucci was actually interviewed for this article and had some great quotes.
2. Speaking of Forefront Church there is a brief reference to me being fired from York Christian Church for "leadership differences" and then lots of mentions of Forefront Church of Christ (same "non"denomination) who have lead the charge on focusing outward instead of inward for years. It just shows churches today are far more influenced by the vision of the local leadership than denominations or associations.
3. The guy in the background of the York Fair picture with the hat on is Pastor Dennis Hall from Friendship Community Church...what a great guy and what a great encouragement their whole staff is to us!
4. That's not my toe in the picture above....it's Reagan's and you should know that by the size and the fact that I never wear pink toenail polish...only purple.

Another news story on Forefront Church

Here's another news clip about Forefront Church. (link for email subscribers) I have been following their new campus in White Horse Pub for a while and I just love their heart to reach "people who don't like church". The cool thing about this clip is that the reporter seems to "get it". Thanks Jason for the link.

I'm the idiot...

I was painting a kitchen in a townhouse last week when I noticed a big "blob" of paint on a kitchen cabinet. There are basically two rules to follow if you want to make it as a painting contractor: (1.)Put paint on the stuff that is supposed to get painted, and (2.) Keep paint off of the stuff that isn't supposed to be painted (not exactly brain surgery) ... The paint drip definitely violated ruled number two so I whipped out my trusty rag to wipe it off. Oops!


Here's where I learned something... As I tried to wipe the spatter off the cabinet I realized that it was dry-"not my fault", I thought. Immediately I went from "oops!" to thinking "I wonder who the idiot painter was who did this?" You can blame it on the paint fumes if you want, but as soon as I thought "I wonder who the idiot painter was who did this?" I had an epiphany- I was the "idiot"! I had been painting this particular rental townhouse property for nearly ten years. (Many different paint jobs...not one extremely slow one) Chances are very good that I was the "idiot" who made the mess during some past job. I realized that even if by some chance I had not left that particular "paint blob", there are doubtless many other messes left by me during my painting career that had to be cleaned up or "overlooked" by others. I realized that even though I pride myself on becoming "better" and "neater" as the years have passed, it is impossible to go back and clean up all the "messes and misses" I have made over the years.


I want to remember that "paint blob epiphany". I want to remember it every time I feel superior because someone else gets caught doing a sin that I no longer struggle with. I want to remember that "I am the idiot" whenever I think that I have a sinful area of my life "under control"...it certainly wasn't always that way. I want to remember that blob of paint whenever I am tempted to compare just how "spatter free" my life is in comparison to someone else... I hope I never forget that "I'm the idiot" when I find myself thinking that my particular sins are somehow less offensive than someone else's. I hope it always reminds me to follow the example of Jesus and chose mercy and forgiveness instead of judgement and condemnation...It's pretty easy when I remember that "I'm the idiot".

Quote of the week:

"Whenever we "rationalize" we are simply telling ourselves "rational" lies..." -Ed Young

So simple and so true...I've certainly done it...how about you?

A "simple" plan...

We are about 90 days away from launch and just one month away from our first public church service at Fat Daddy's nightclub. Here's a little snapshot update on where we "are" at this point.

I'm writing this as kind of a "duel purpose" post...it keeps you all updated and will allow me to look back and remember the "story" of actionchurch... like when I read this, or this, or this.

Amazing-

• We have a great venue like Fat Daddy's nightclub...it's "just a building" but I think it exactly the right building to launch our Sunday mornings. I am really grateful to the staff and crew at the club for taking a chance and allowing some "crazy followers of Jesus" to invade their building!
• We have sound and lighting covered! Great sound and lighting are so important (and expensive) and we actually have a pro willing to get up early on Sunday morning and make sure we rock...amazing (Thanks Jake!)
• Our children's ministry area (actionkidz) is becoming reality! Yvonne is designing our "crew" character artwork, Jeff and Chrissie actually "see" how to make children's ministry happen on a dance floor, and Bob and Joan are actually painting up two of their race cars with our actionkidz logo and characters to bring to community events and promote actionkidz....Simply amazing.
• It's amazing the people who have "bought into" the dream of actionchurch with their time and money without ever "seeing" anything like what God is about to do in York County...
• ...that a bunch of "non-professionals" from the "island of misfit toys" can bring a message of eternal hope to the ten's of thousands of our neighbors "disenfranchised" by the local church. Simply amazing.

In progress-

• We still need more people to help clean, set up, and welcome our guests on Sunday morning(s).
• We need quite a few items for our children's area. We will be posting a "Baby Shower" link for Walmart or Target later in the week.
• We are still need (3) 50' monitors, cables, and a new laptop for video (2 for the main gathering and one for actionkidz.) I will post a list of equipment we still need later in the week also.
• Still looking for the "right" actionchurch "House Band"...I think we are getting closer (I think).
• Looking for more opportunities and volunteers to serve our community before launch.
  

The good news...

I could go on and on with all the things that "should" be accomplished/purchased before launch...and quite frankly...the list is overwhelming. At the heart of this whole dream of being a church for the disenfranchised, the broken, and the "outsiders" is a very simple plan. "Doing" actionchurch is as simple as planning a "party" on Sunday mornings and inviting all of our friends and neighbors that would perhaps never consider attending a "normal" church. Just like in the verses below I believe if we carry out that simple plan, the religious experts may well complain, but Jesus will show up and miracles will happen... It may never be "easy" but it is simple.

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” 12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Mathew 9:9-12

Website update

I updated the actionchurch website. (link) We desparately need a "pro designed" site, but at least it has the information about the December 9th "Test Drive" service and looks slightly better than it did... Do we have any web designers in the "house"?

Veterans Day (If you're reading this)

If you're reading this... thank someone who served, or hug a family member of someone who is giving(or has given) their life to serve us all. (link for email subscribers)

Humility

I'm beginning to understand that true humility isn't putting yourself down when someone compliments you on something good you might have done- It's realizing how very insignificant your accomplishments are at their very best.

Imagine complimenting a Farmer for working so hard at producing food, and him replying, "Don't thank me, It's "the Lord" out there driving that tractor every day". That would sound (and be) ridiculous. I think a truly humble farmer would probably say "Thanks!, but remember that for all my work, I can't make one drop of rain fall or one single plant grow. I just prepare my fields so God can work the miracle of growth that we all take for granted"... I think that's true humility.

Scam or Ministry?

There's a story in the news about a Senator investigating the lavish lives of Televangelists. (Link to Story) It made me think of the questions used to determine if a marketing organization is a legitimate business or a scam. Here's some of them:

• Is there a legitimate product? (Are they selling something useful)
• Does the organization benefit it's end users or just its leadership?
• Is a significant part or the organization made up of attracting new "recruits" due to constant attrition of distributors? (Do they constantly have to attract new people because there is a "revolving door" of disgruntled people leaving the organization.)
• Is guilt and pressure used to encourage distributors to recruit their family and friends?
• Is the primary business of the organization to sell literature and information about the "business", but no one seems to actually be in the "business"? (Common in Real Estate scams.)

The list goes on and on but one thing is very clear to me... If we aren't offering grace and mercy, if lives aren't truly being radically changed to be more like Jesus, if people aren't spontaneously telling their friends about how their lives are made better by applying our "product", if there is even a hint that the only people who benefit from the church is the leadership...people can smell a scam...from a mile away! If we want to stop being investigated by "outsiders" the answer is to start asking some hard questions of ourselves...

Baby Showers for Strippers... (or how to be more like Jesus)

Wow, I think that is both the longest post title ever, and the first time I have used "Baby Shower" and "Stripper" in the same sentence. (Not that either are a big part of my vocabulary or life, but I digress...)

Please hit the link over to Vince's blog and read this story. I have mentioned Forefront and their church service in a local pub before, but this is exactly the kind of church I want actionchurch to be become! (Link to story)

Prototype

I am amazed at the people that are already giving their time and money to help launch a church that no one has "seen" anything like in this area! (Thanks!) It's been so exciting to dream and plan how to share the Good news of Jesus with people of all ages with a completely blank sheet of paper...driven by a biblical vision but unfettered by the traditions and limitations of the industry we call church. It reminds me of what it must be like to design a new automobile-a team of people following a basic "vision" but dreaming and imagining new features that meet the ever changing needs of the driving public.

It's now time to make a "prototype" or concept car... On Sunday Morning December 9th (11-12) we will "roll out" an actual actionchurch service. Like a new concept car we won't yet be "road ready." There will undoubtedly be "features" that don't completely work yet, tweaks will need to be made. Finally though, we will be able to show our friends and neighbors what actionchurch "looks like" on Sunday Morning. We still need volunteers to help out in several areas so there are still opportunities to not only attend but be part of the first service at Fat Daddy's Nightclub. Mark your calenders!

Sunday morning 11-12

December 9th

at Fat Daddy's Nightclub

2510 E Market street

York PA

info@actionchurch.com

"Employee" Entrance?!

I've been thinking about our "working relationship" with the Creator after reading this (link). Here's what I've come up with:

1. None of us can work our way into Heaven. It would be like a minimum wage employee trying to "work off" a debt they had incurred by embezzling millions of dollars from their company.

2. Without the forgiveness of Jesus, we don't qualify to "work for" God.

3. God does expect us to work hard and be "profitable" with what he gives us to work with.

4. God rewards faithful service with greater responsibility...

With all those facts in mind maybe we should stop working and "hoping" to get through the "pearly gates". Maybe instead we should try to become so involved with God's kingdom plan here on earth that when we die we walk right up to the "employee entrance" of heaven...looking forward to the new responsibilities and rewards God has for us.

That's my "eternity plan"...What's yours?

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! Mattew 25:21 nlt

The "Secret" of LCBC

It was just announced last week that the church we have been attending for the last year (LCBC) is on the Outreach Magazine's "Fastest Growing Churches in America" list this year. (Link to List) They are also listed as the largest church in PA and one of the largest in the Northeast and are launching a new campus in Harrisburg today!

"Disclaimer"-First of all I am so thankful for the time we have spent at LCBC. Even though we can't wait for actionchurch to launch, we will be genuinely sad to leave! Secondly I am in no way connected to LCBC (other than attending) so I do not speak for them...I have just had the privilege of "watching" them for the past year and I think I have discovered their "secret". (I don't think they will mind me blogging about it because if more churches had this "secret" there would be a whole lot more people in church on Sunday mornings)

What it's NOT:

Great Music: Matt Goss and company are truly one of the best "worship bands" I have seen/heard- but in a world where I have 500 or my favorite songs on my phone, thousands more in my computer, and on demand live music channels on TV ... I just don't think a great worship band is enough to "draw" 7000+ people to church on Sunday morning.

Great Children's Programming: LCBC has one of the best Children's ministries I have ever witnessed. They are HUGE but still friendly and personal. In spite of how good they are they have to compete with Chuck E Cheese, Hands on House,Nickelodeon, and Playhouse Disney children's programing every week.

Being "Big": I have heard people say that LCBC is growing because it is already "big"... I think that kind of "defies logic" because at some point in the not too distant past they were "not big"... I think LCBC is growing in spite of being "big"...If you've ever waited to get out of the parking lot on Sunday morning you understand what I mean.

Great Preaching: Pastor David and team are truly great communicators! I am really sensitive to this area because I believe that the God who says we will give account someday for "every careless word" (link) does not exempt preachers! I think that Pastor David exemplifies loving God enough to hear from him each week, and loving his listeners enough to "translate" God's word into a understandable and interesting message! In spite of the great job the teaching team does at LCBC I think that still does not account for 7000+ people showing up each week. Preaching at it's finest is hard pressed to compete with sitting on the couch eating Cheetos' in your underwear (try to get that picture out of your mind) and watching 75 channels of Nascar and the NFL...Sorry, as "entertainment" goes-It's just never going to measure up....

and the "secret" is....

I think the "secret" of LCBC is in their name. Some time ago they changed what "LCBC" stood for from Lancaster County Bible Church to "Lives Changed by Christ". That's their Secret! Every message, every song, every volunteer, every visual, is designed to guide people to experience a Life changed by Christ! ...It works...my life has been changed by Christ in the year we have attended...thousands of others have too! In the words of one of my favorite songs we sing on Sunday mornings-

everyone needs compassion,

And love that's never failing,

Let mercy fall on me

Well everyone needs forgiveness,

Kindness of the Saviour

The Hope of the nation

(Hillsong United- Mighty to save)

That's why LCBC continues to grow-They focus on offering the one thing everyone needs and is not "available" anywhere else in our culture- Redemption. I think there's something for every church to learn from LCBC...I know we have!

What's your policy?

Michele and I have always loved this commercial (link for email subscribers) and they actually showed it a couple of weeks ago at church. Liberty Mutual uses the commercial to show "responsibility"...I think it is a great picture of what the Kingdom that Jesus preached about should look like. We should know people who follow Jesus because they are a little kinder, a little more generous, a little more loving and accepting, quicker to forgive, easier to work with, etc. Every time someone becomes a follower of Jesus the world should be a little better place. Christians should be known for setting off "chain reactions" of goodness instead of by what book they read or the meeting they go to on Sunday morning. That's my dream for my life. That's my dream for actionchurch. What's your "policy"?

43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (pharisees)and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Matthew 21:43 Niv

Successful?

• One of the most common questions people ask me about starting a Church in a Nightclub right after "What were you smoking?" is "What makes you think this will be successful?"

Here's the big answer... I don't know. There are no guarantees or warranties when you are operating in the realm of faith and "following God".

Here's what I do know:

• This is exactly the kind of the thing that Jesus did...reach out to the disenfranchised, and anger the religious "experts".
• The story of the Bible is repeatedly made up of "nobodies" doing great things when they followed their creator. (We're all volunteers at actionchurch")
• If this whole thing doesn't "succeed" I will be the "biggest idiot" in York county...
• If this whole thing "does succeed" I will still be the "biggest idiot" in York county...I just had the courage to listen to God and put it into action. (and of course picked a great team to actually pull this "long shot" off.)
• Right now people that never imagined themselves as church goers are questioning whether Jesus is who they thought he was, and if church has to be the irrelevant activity they think it is...that's kind of the point. Isn't it?