A Church FOR the community…

There are two types of churches: churches that operate IN a community; and churches that operate FOR their community. They make the community a better place to live because they exist! They are meeting the needs of their community!

At Mountain Lake, we decided several years ago, that we were not just going to invite the community to our one week service, but love our community and meet needs! Every year, our investment into the community grows!

This month, through our annual Greater Impact Offering, our church purchased, packaged, and provided 60,000 meals for needy families in our communities and distribute these meals to area food pantries (including our own).  343 Volunteers showed up this past week to prepare and package the meals and get ready to send them out!

 

 

 

The above picture is of my son Paul, who’s 8. I’m so pumped when I think about the fact that my kids will grow up not viewing church as a one hour production, but the living, breathing, body of Christ, that exists to love our community, and meet their needs in the name of Jesus Christ!

Church Planting in the former Soviet Union…

I just got back from a trip to Belarus, in Eastern Europe, part of the former Soviet Union, with one of our World Care Teams. I was honored to be asked to speak to church planters and their teams on our “Best Practices” of church planting. We had a team from our church that went with me to support the conference, as well as share their life change stories! They all did such a great job! Dre held two rap concerts for their churches while we were there! Belarussians love rap!  I was so proud of our team!

We’ve been working with an awesome church planting ministry that has planted 21 churches in 5 years in the former Soviet Union, called “New Churches Now.” Joe Wilson, the CEO, has become a great friend. He’s also a great church planting strategist!

I spoke to about 75 church planting leaders for two days. One of the churches represented was “Reconciliation Church” in Babruvsk. Check out what they’re up to:

This is not the only church or the only country we are working in within the former Soviet Union. Last month, we partnered financially to launch a new church in Siberia! I pray this is only the beginning! God is using our church all over the world to give church planters permission to be what God has called them to be and do what God has called them to do! I love my job! I love my church!

Weekend Reflex 5-12-13…

Great. Great. Weekend at Mountain Lake Church! It was a packed house, packed with moving parts, and packed with the activity of God! Here are a few reflex from the weekend: 

* Historically, Mother’s Day Weekend is one of our largest crowds of the year. This year did not disappoint! Capacity crowds and TONS of new faces! 

* We saw 48 families dedicate their children in our  Annual Parent/Child Dedication Ceremony. This ceremony is one of the most evangelistic things we do! They all invite their unchurches friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We gave them invitations to do so! 

* Kicked off our new series HEROES. I loved that we kicked this series off on Mothers Day Weekend because Moms are the true heroes in our society! 

* Love the new set design for the series!

 

* Confession: I still love superheroes! My favorite? Spiderman! I love the suit! 

* “Evil is not a new phenomenon in our society. It goes back thousands of years to the days of the Old Testament….but so do heroes! Whenever God’s people would become surrounded or entangled by evil, God would raise up a hero: A judge, prophet, or king to deliver his people from evil!” 

* This series is all about gaining the power we need from God to defeat evil in our lives and in our world. 

* This weekend I talked about Deborah. The only woman in our “Hero’s Handbook” to serve as both prophet and judge over Israel. Never taught on her before, but I love her story! Check out Judges 4-5. 

* Step #1 this week in the Hero’s Handbook is to “Stand Up For Truth.” God’s Word is always the TRUTH of the situation, so we’ve got to know the Truth. Share The Truth, and Claim the Truth for our lives, families, and our world. 

* The message can be found online here Monday. The podcast is here. 

* Next hero up: Samson!

The filter for every hire at at our church…

Right now, our church is interviewing a couple of candidates for new positions on our Ministry Team. We didn’t invent all of these, but we utilize these 5 C’s as filters for a potential hire at Mountain Lake.

1. Calling

Are they called? Are they willing to sacrifice to be here? Do they believe in the power of the local church? Will they quit when it gets hard? Have they exhibited God’s hand being on their service and ministry?

2. Chemistry

Can we do life consistently with each other? Will we get along easily? Do we already like each other? If I look up and see this person standing at my door will I be happy to see them? For us to work together, we must not only love each other. We have to LIKE each other! We’re going to be together a TON! We need chemistry!

3. Character

Does this person walk with God and does his/her character show it? Does this person have healthy past relationships with authority? Does this person have anger issues? (Just let them drive on your way out to lunch, and you’ll find out). Does this person have integrity? Does this person handle conflict well? Is this person’s character solid? Ask for examples. Past behavior, by the way, is a great predictor of future behavior.

4.  Competence

Has this person ever done what we’re needing done? Has this person ever worked for a large organization? Can this person move at a fast pace? Is this person relationally savvy and emotionally hardy? Can this person think strategically? Is this person a problem solver. At the end of the day, even if I LIKE this person, we still can’t hire them if we don’t think they can get the job done. If they can’t do the job, we won’t like each other when the music stops.

5. Culture.

Does this person fit our culture? Do they love teamwork? Are they loyal? Do they prize relationships? Do they love Jesus but hate religion? Does this person connect easily with people disconnected from Christ and the church? Have they ever been a part of a church like Mountain Lake? Have they been at our church long enough to really understand what we’re really all about? These are just a few things that define our culture. We’ve learned the hard way that the most brilliant person can be an ill fit culturally.

Our interview process is usually atleast a couple months long. In general we hire slowly and fire quickly. Yes, we fire, too. The mission of the church and the person that works for us are both too important to us to rock along in an ill fitted situation. On the other hand, when all 5 C’s are present, new team members seem to be instant fits in our culture! An incredible Kingdom synergy exists, and the church is impacted in the most profound ways! That’s the goal!

Discovering The Hero Within…

Countless cartoons,  comic books, and Hollywood Blockbusters all prove it. Our world is infatuated with heroes. We are all somehow supernaturally drawn toward the idea of becoming a hero. The story of a hero is simple: A simple, flawed, ordinary person is endowed with supernatural powers, often times from another world. Each hero’s power is unique, but every super power serves the same purposes: To defeat evil. That’s what we’re talking about in our new series starting this weekend called “HEROES.” Here’s the teaser and promo. Spread the word!

 

 

Weekend Reflex 5.5.13…

Once a year, our church celebrates what we call GREATER IMPACT WEEKEND. We celebrate all that God has done over the last year, and we GIVE BIG to help our church have even a greater impact. As always, the podcast is HERE. Here are a few reflex from the weekend:

* We celebrated our 34 baptisms in the last two weekends!

* We celebrated our 304 baptisms this past year!

* “This may be the end of the ‘Life in Bold’ Series. However, I’m praying it’s only the beginning of the ‘Life In Bold’ movement!”

* I shared the Gospel plainly and clearly: “Good News is always something to be shared; and always something to be celebrated.”

* “For too many of us, the Good News has become OLD News.”

* We celebrated the silent auction of my neon Church Taylor Converse’s. They ended up being sold for $1000! All proceeds went toward our Greater Impact Offering.

* Our Greater Impact Offering Goals this year:

1. Provide 60,000 meals for needy families in our community.

2. Bring in our newest Church Planting Resident, and start another new church!

3. Continue the increased investments we’ve made into our Children’s and Student Ministries this year.
4. Continue the nextGen Internship program we launched last summer
5. Provide up to 20 scholarships for our MLC Student Camp: “Momentum.”
6. Continue to be a light in our community, nation, and world!

* If you missed this past weekend,, you can still give online HERE.  You want to be a part of this!

* It was powerful to come and participate in communion, celebrating boldly what Jesus has done for us; and to give boldly in light of Jesus’ surrender for us!

* We sponsored 42 more children through Compassion International during this series!

* Closing Song: “We raise our white flag; We surrender all to you; our all for you!”

* Another great day @mtnlakchurch, that will have even a GREATER Impact!