Sunday Worship through the eyes of another

I love to hear stories from others about how they experience newhope. Sometimes leaders can be so "in" the ministry that we wonder what it is like to see it with fresh eyes. I was blessed by the Blog of a good friend this week, Heather Doss.

Heather was in our third service on Sunday and journaled for the world to see, what she experienced in those powerful moments of the Word, music, Holy Communion and God's people. Cool stuff for Christ.

Thanks Heather...

I LOVE OUR STAFF AND PASTORAL TEAM

The picture above is one we took while hanging out a few Sundays ago. As you can tell, we love to laugh and act goofy!

As some of you know, October is Pastor Appreciation Month. (You still have a few days to let them know how much you appreciate their ministry :>) Here me clearly, I can’t believe I get to do ministry with a team like this.

Several times this month, I have pulled the team away just to show them how much I love them and how valuable they are to the Kingdom and ministry of newhope. Today, I want to share that with any and everyone. These guys rock for Christ! Here are just some quick thoughts about what I LOVE ABOUT EACH PERSON ON THIS TEAM:

Kelly Calegar – you are the front door personality of our church and I love your presence. You have no idea how great it has been to see your spirit soar lately to even higher heights. Your smile alone is a gift and your heart for God and your competency in the office is a blessing to our church.

Natalie Blake – I thank God for you and the way in which you help us in the office. Your joy and gracious spirit always lift me up when you come to the office. Thanks for being on the journey and helping newhope serve Christ.

Curtis Mulder – Nothing like a crazy Canadian on the team! I have never regretted, even for a second, going after you, brother. You are not only one of the most gifted Worship Arts Pastors I know, you are now legal! :>) Thanks for coming to America and newhope.

Matt Smith – A church planter in the making. As I said a few weeks ago to our church, I believe in you. You are a man of God and gifted to start and lead a new church. Keep your heart up and your head down and the best is yet to come. Thanks for serving our church in the area of Discipleship and Outreach.

Karen Federman – It has been a joy having you lead our first ever hopekids preschool. You are so fun to be around. Thanks for your crazy joy and new ministry to hopekids. You are a wonderful woman of God and we are blessed to have you on this team.

Theresa Johnson – Thanks for being one of the most caring persons I know. You not only care for me and my ministry needs, you care for my wife and kids. You will never no how much that means to me. I thank you for all you do to help me serve in ministry. We love you.

Ed Hanigan and Jeff Bourn – Though you guys are not in the photo and your ministry is bi-vocational, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. You both have given so much to the life and ministry of this church for years now. Thanks for your friendship and ministry.

Amy Lynn – I guess you could say I saved the best for last. Amy Lynn, you are my love and the best wife and mother on the face of planet earth. The longer I live, the more I love you in ways that words can articulate. You are an amazing Children’s Pastor and I praise God for such a life/ministry partner. Thanks for being you.

If you read this Blog - here is an idea! Respond back with your comments about what you appreciate about one of more of these pastors. I promise to share it with them.

Pastors and staff team, you guys are amazing! I repeat - I can’t believe God lets me work with such a group of people. I love each of you and your spouses and your children more than I could ever adequately articulate. Thanks for being on the pastoral/staff team. You enrich my life and the lives of so many newhopers more than you will ever know on this side of eternity! THANK YOU.

Because of Jesus,
Benji

From Talking About Rain to Fire...

At the Catalyst Conference a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear some great worship music led by Steve Fee. The guys was an amazing worship leader!

One of the songs on his latest CD is called "Burn For You." This song puts into words something that I have been feeling and experiencing in my own life. Check out the words:

There's a stirring in my heart, unexplainable
There's a calling on my days, undeniable
There's a fire in my bones, uncontainable
And it's causing me to burn, causing me to burn
It's causing me to burn for you!

I'll go anywhere
I'll do anything
At any cost for You my king

There's a passion in my heart for the world to see
Revival fires burning, great awakening
And there's a raging fire inside this soul of mine
And it's causing me to burn, causing me to burn
It's causing me to burn for you!

I pray that God, if He hasn't already, will put a passion in your heart to see the world come to know and love Him. That's what it's all about. I hope the fire never dies in my own heart and I pray that God spreads that fire throughout newhope.

See you Sunday and as you come, pray that God will ingnite a fire inside your bones...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Rain

I don't think I have ever loved the sound of rain so much in my life. I am home and it is really cloudy and thundery (Yes, I just made up a word :>) and the rain is coming down hard. I just came in from outside where I just stood and soaked myself in the rain. I know that is crazy but don't knock it until you try it! :>)

Father, thank you so much for the rain this morning. Thank you for your provision and blessings in our lives. Nourish our parched land and souls for we need YOU. Rain down your anointing and favor and blessings on creation.

We ask a special blessing on over 500,000 people in California who are evacuating and over 1000’s of people who are watching their homes burn to the ground. Use the church, Lord God, to be instruments of grace and compassion and hope. Thank you for Your Word, Father God, that tells us:

“He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.” (Job 5:10)

“He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.” (Psalm 72:6)

Refresh us Lord God, with your rain and Spirit. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Adding Value to People

Well, let’s start the week off together talking about leadership. (Tuesday is the start to our week since we take Sabbath on Mondays) Regardless of whether or not you see yourself as a leader, I think this post will apply to everyone. But the content is a mark of every great leader.

John Maxwell, a leadership guru in our country, is approaching the later years of his life and is kind of "passing the baton," if you will, to other younger leaders. In his talk at the Catalyst Conference earlier this month, he did this once again.

As always, I felt like John was saying the same thing. Even after I have heard it so many times, though, I still walk away reminded of the significance of adding value to people. In John’s talk, he said the following:

"The older I’ve gotten the more things I’m less certain of. But the few things that have remained certain, the one ones I am more certain of than ever, are:

~God is very trustworthy and I’m very human.
~Intentionally add value to people every day. (Jesus added value to people everywhere He went)
~The greatest sin of a leader is to put yourself first.
~Leaders naturally see more than others see.
~Don’t worry about reaping, just sow. Help people. Add value. (People who add do so intentionally. Why? Because we are naturally selfish. We are by nature subtractors.)

John Maxwell then went on to flesh out 4 ways to add value to people.

1. Value people. You can’t add value if you don’t value people.
2. Grow. Make yourself more valuable. A leader has to be able to give what he has… and you don’t have anything to give if you’re not growing
3. Know and relate to what other people value.
4. Do the things that God values. The things that God values have eternal consequence. See people as Jesus sees them. Lead them as Jesus leads them.



Those are great words to live by today, friends. Those are great words to live your life by. Jesus put it like this:

“I have come not be served, but to serve.” (Mark 10:45) As we become servants of Christ, we learn to lay down our lives for people. In doing so, we add value to people everywhere we go.

My prayer is that as we follow Him this day, we might add value to everyone we meet along the way.

Peace...

Happy Birthday to Amy Lynn!

It is my wife's birthday today and because I am running a little behind this week, the Lord woke me up at 3:21 am. I love it - God always has our back! Amy Lynn loves a birthday cake! She doesn't want much, but she wants her cake from the fam. I messed up and forgot one year - not good! :>) So, this is the one time of the year when I actually bake a cake. Can't be good but she loves it!

If everything works out this morning, I can get some stuff done early and be there when the little ones get up early so Amy Lynn can sleep in! Joshua is a 4:30 am dude these days - what is up with that fella?

Pray for us today. We will celebrate Amy Lynn this morning. A final regular season football game is at noon (If we win we go to the playoffs - if we lose we go home) And I have a wedding to officiate at 4 pm. Can you say CRAZY?! Oh yea - and my sermon is not done yet. :>)

It is times like these that I can't do anything but claim the Word of the Lord:

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight."
(Proverbs 3:5 - 6)


Have a good one - you don't want to miss Worship tomorrow. We have this cool feature song and we continue the series, "Confronting the Confrontational Issues."

Peace...

Unchristian

As some of you know, I am sharing “recaps” from the Catalyst Conference I attended a few weeks ago in Atlanta, Georgia. It helps me process the talks and I hope helps you develop your own leadership. I have often said, the moment a leader stops learning, he/she stops leading! I love leadership and always want to learn more. I am hopeful this Blog can help us grow in leadership together.

This talk was titled, “Unchristian.” The point was, unfortunately, that Christians are sometimes known far more for what we are against than what we are for. Statistics have shown that people who are far from God perceive Christians as people who are anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. YIKES – does that bother you as much as it bothers me.

It is interesting – we are not hated for righteousness but for self-righteousness. In the book of James, the Bible encourages us to exude pure religion, caring for widows and orphans. (Read the whole book – it is only 5 chapters :>)

If we (Christians) were hated for what James prescribes, this would be a good thing. But we’re not hated for this. Instead of being dislike for righteousness, we are often disliked for self-righteousness.

The good news is there are churches and pastors and Christians who are turning the tide, if you will. There are many of us who want to redeem our image in secular culture. But keep this in mind - before we can change a culture, we need to change our own hearts. When dealing with moral issues, focusing on morality issues is counter intuitive. Instead, focus on Christlikeness!

In becoming like Jesus Christ, the world can’t help but stop and take notice, just as it did 2000 years ago. The reason we are called Christians is because we are supposed to become like Christ. It is high time we start embodying what it means to be a true Christian and stop acting like we are unchristian.

I hope to see you at Encounter tonight – it will help us tremendously in this journey of becoming like Christ! CU at 7 pm.

Sunday Evening Reflections

I love newhope. This is one of the best churches on the planet! I can’t believe I get to do this with my life. I am so tired from the 3 services but there is no way I can go to sleep now. Here is why I am so stoked this Sunday evening:

1. I saw tons of new people at church this morning. In fact, we have been having record numbers of guests lately and they love newhope and are sticking around!

2. I love that our church shows up ready to worship Jesus in spirit and hear His truth!

3. I can’t believe the racial diversity that continues to grow at our church. Praise God.

4. I am in awe of the socio-economic diversity. Can you believe we have CEO’s and homeless people worshipping side by side?

5. I can’t believe God is growing the kind of church where pastors show up on Sundays interested in possibly becoming a part of the Pastoral Team. Forget staff searches – they are coming to us! :>)

6. Praise God for the other pastors of this church! This is pastoral appreciation month and I hope you guys know how awesome and loved you are within this community. Rock on pastors of newhope.

7. Thanks be to God for moving mightily among our kiddos every Sunday. Caleb came home today showing me the book he made in hopetown about the way in which God made him, loves him, and wants to be his very best friend. Enough to break a dad down.

8. I love the fact that newhopers are so engaged in this series and really want to wrestle and engage the relevant subjects of our day. Your intellect encourages me.

9. I sat in awe as 8 – 10 people put me in the "hot seat" today after the 3rd service just to lay hands on me and pray for God’s anointing, favor, protection and blessings my life, in the life of my family and over my ministry.

10. I am still stoked that God saved me, a wretch, some 19 years ago. I am in awe of His grace and love in my life and I can’t believe He is using us to grow something as beautiful as the newhope.

11. Lastly, I jazzed because the best is yet to come. God is only getting started.

Rest well and good night. I am going for a walk on a great fall night :>). Peace.

Homosexuality

This Sunday our focus shifts to one of the most controversial issues in the series. It seems like we have been saying that each week because all of these topics are sizzling hot button issues.

This one is slightly different because it involves our sexuality and there are very few things more personal than that. Particularly, this Sunday we discuss Homosexuality. What does the bible have to say? What is a faithful response from the church?

I have been gripped by John 8 the last few weeks. Take a moment and read the chapter before Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, you don’t want to miss it - it is going to be a great day of worship and Word!

Oh yea, remember we now have THREE Sunday morning worship services. (8:45am, 10:15am and 11:45am) If at all possible, I encourage you to sleep in, read the paper, enjoy brunch and then join us at the 11:45 am service if at all possible.

Power...

You might have noticed that my Blog name is Life, Leadership and Lattes. Most of my postings will usually fall into one of those three categories. Today, I want to share what God has been teaching/reminding me about leadership.

Last week, Pastor Curtis and I flew into Atlanta for the Catalyst 2008 conference. Simply put – one of the most moving and powerful leadership conferences I have ever attended. The worship was unbelievable. If you were in church this past Sunday, you learned our new favorite song, “Glorious One.”

On Thursday of last week, Pastor Andy Stanley started the conference off with a solid teaching on leadership in general and power in particular. His premise was that we have unfortunately shied away from any notion of power because of its abuses in the past. So true. But Andy went on to say that a better approach would be for those of us in leadership to not necessarily shy away from the word “Power,” but instead understand it more deeply from the example of Jesus. Here are my notes – if you lead anything, I pray this will be food for your soul and practical insight for you and the people you lead:

Andy Stanley’s Teaching on Power...

There is a 4 letter word in leadership called POWER. For reasons of abuse, we tend to shy away from this word. In doing so, we deny a reality that is evident in most leadership circles. There is always one person who has the power in the room. There is always one person who has the authority, whether we like it or not. We can’t shy away from this reality - instead we have to figure out how to use Power in a way that honors God.

Key Question: If you are leading a church, business, a family, or whatever - what do you do when it dawns on you that you are the most powerful person in the room?

In John 13 we find Jesus giving us a shining example of power in the Christian realm.

Vs 1 – He showed them the FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE
Vs 2 – Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power! What is your first move when you realize you have the power? (Or authority)
Vs 4 – So, he got up from the meal, and wrapped a towel and served! They were stunned by His humility.
Vs 7 – Jesus said, “You do not understand but later you will.”

Key Point - Jesus moves from the from highest to lowest and then back to the highest! It is clear here that Jesus has set for us an example to follow! When it dawns on you that you are the most powerful person in the room, shed your leverage and serve. Follow His example.

I truly believe that most of us in leadership have no idea how much God wants to use us. Ponder this - you may be the choice candidate in the room to have God use you beyond imagination.

So newhopers, lead well! So pastors, lead well! So, leaders of leaders, lead well! And as you do, never forget that Godly leadership always means serving those you lead. I encourage you to take a moment today and read John 13 in its entirety.

Renewed Life

If you were in church yesterday, you know that I taught through the Scriptures regarding life as opposed to death. If you have talked to me lately, you know I have been exhausted from a very busy season and the weightiness of this sermon series.

Yesterday at newhope, we went to three Sunday celebrations. (8:45, 10:15, and 11:45 am) To be frank, I was a little concerned about a few things. One, how would all of the newhopers break out into the different services? You just never know. Secondly, how would this body and stamina break out, as well? :>)

On both fronts, God showed up once again and rocked our world Sunday. I am more refreshed and pumped up about worship at newhope than I have been in a few weeks. It is weird, I went from preaching twice to three times and I am more energized today than I have been in a quite a few Mondays. Can you say, “GOD?”

Maybe it has to do with the fact that as I am teaching on life and you are receiving God’s Word on life, our God is giving us more and more life?!?! Not quite sure but I love the fact that this Monday Sabbath, for me, finds me energized enough to enjoy the day and not wiped out with exhaustion. Praise God!

It’s time to get offline and enjoy the day. As I do, I want to leave you with a verse of Scripture and a prayer. Enjoy our God of life today. Peace...

Power Verse – “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Power Prayer - "Lord, I love you and I need you in my life today. Come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, my finances, and all of my friends. God be glorified in all that I say and do today. I want to live my life for you and your fame. I make this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen."

I need an Encounter! (Tonight at 7 pm)

I am sitting here in my study preparing for Encounter tonight. The Spirit of God has been moving in the life of our church like I can’t remember in a long time! The spiritual intensity is rising around newhope. I love it and I can't contain myself. So, you’re just going to have to accept that I cannot be casual these days. I believe God has so much in store for each of us and all of us, my anticipation of His prevailing presence is peaking and I can’t be calm.

And while I have enjoyed an Encounter with God this morning in my message prep time, there is something more profound and powerful when I Encounter God with you. That is why I can’t wait for 7 pm to roll around. Encounter is our mid-week worship for believers. The intensity and passion are "off the chart."

Until then, here is a verse to ponder this afternoon:

I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King." This is what the LORD says — He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:15 – 21)

Bring it on, Lord God. We are ready for the new things you have in store for us!

I can’t talk...

 Seriously, I can’t talk. Well, maybe I can whisper but I don’t want to talk. After a very intense football game on Saturday and then preaching my heart out yesterday I find myself mute. I am glad I can communicate with you without talking. Technology is a beautiful thing! :>)

 I can’t remember a Sunday in the life of our church that was more pressing and powerful in the spirit of God than yesterday. These topics are so emotional – I have never been so tired in all my life. If you don’t speak regularly to large crowds of people, I know you can’t understand this reality but trust me. It is weird, I find myself completely and utterly exhausted but unable to sleep because of the adrenaline and thrill of watching God show up and rock our worlds on Sunday. I wish I had the time or energy to share with you the stories coming my way.

 I am tucked away in the corner of one of my favorite Monday morning coffee shops. I am surrounded by people, but my heart is still with you, newhope, and what God did among us yesterday. The only thing I can do is thank God.

 I thank God for a place where we can talk about the tough subjects with grace and compassion and truth.
 I am thankful we have to go to three services of Worship Sunday. (8:45, 10:15 and 11:45 AM)
 I am thankful I can’t speak – that is a good thing. :>)
 I am thankful for the band, Creed, that is jamming in my I-tunes right now. Those cats never get old. I listen to this stuff way too loud – can’t be good for my ears.
 I am thankful for a children’s ministry leading kids to faith in Christ and watching those kids jump into a pool to get baptized. Does it get any better than that?!
 I am thankful for all the adult baptisms and baby dedications. God bless those who boldly stepped into the waters of baptism.
 I am thankful for my wife and kiddos – I am “head over heels” in the love with you guys. (I just used the word, "Heels" in a sentence without referring to UNC)
 Speaking of kids, I am thankful we are growing a church community that truly embraces one another and helps one another raise children to the glory of God.
 I am thankful we are a church that does NOT shoot its wounded.
 I am thankful we are becoming a place that values life in every possible situation.
 I am thankful to get the opportunity to serve Christ and you - I can’t believe I get to do this for the rest of my life!
 I am thankful for Jesus – 19 years of following Christ has me more in love with Him and His Kingdom than I have ever been before.
 I am thankful that Encounter is Wednesday night!
 I am thankful for Blogging – it allows me to communicate with you without saying a single word. :>)