Three Ways Churches Grow

Churches typically grow in size one of three ways.

1. Babies are born into it.

2. People come from another church.

3. Conversions*...people who place their faith in Christ and begin attending. (*Thanks to my mother-in-law for catching my spelling mistakes.)

There are other means of growth - for example, marriage, foster children, adding staff, etc.

I wonder what area most churches grow in? And why?

Check out a list of Outreach.com's top 25 multiplying church in America for 2007. Also, read an article by Ed Stetzer about it called Church Squared here.

A Real Snake

For those of you who keep asking, YES it was a real snake in the water. Check the picture out. Click on it for a large version. Look to the water on the left side.

Time for Creativity

Contrary to what some believe, creativity it rarely happens spontaneously. The best song writers will tell you that they may get a spark of an idea, but then take gobs of time to refine it. Professional brainstormers will tell you that the first hour of a brainstorming session is simply regurgitating old ideas...the new ideas come after the old ones are explored and tweaked.

Creativity takes time. So don't rush it.

Want to be creative? Block out time in your schedule for it. If you are frustrated with your amount of creativity, take time to work on it.

Rodeo Round Up

I'm proud of the team at Grace Church (Lititz, PA) for pulling off one great outreach event today. They had between 6k and 7k people at their, first ever, Rodeo.

The Rodeo event was designed as a community outreach. The event took 350+ volunteers, an incredible leadership team, and one great leader. They had everything from bull riding and roping to kids games and food vendors.

The event was spearheaded and led by Doug Kegarise, a good friend of mine and an up-and-coming clay pot that God will use in incredible ways. Way to go Doug! Thanks for being a great example of behind-the-scenes leadership on this one. You and Renee catch some needed down time together after this.

I'm very sure God will use the Rodeo and Grace Church to move people closer to where He wants them to be as a result of this first touch. May God's kingdom expand as a result!

You can read more about the Rodeo from the perspective of Andrew Norton, Business Manager and Scott Distler, Senior Pastor.

Outdoor Baptism Highlights

1. Snakes in the water. Had to throw rocks at them as people got baptized. Who's next?!

2 Our son, Joshua, pulled the power plug to the outdoor sound system while I was leading worship for the 300+ crowd gathered on the lakefront.

3. Lisa saying, "Crap!" and replugging the sound system back in.

4. Our daughter, Kayla, peed on Lisa's shirt. Nice big ol' wet spot for everyone to see. Lisa, I didn't know you got in the lake too...oh wait.

5. My Taylor fell out of the stroller without its case. Who's the dummy who put it in there?

6. Watching 12 people take their next step by following Christ's command in baptism.

Here are some picture highlights:

The crowed begins to gather on the hillside at the lake.

Our son, Joshua, takes an audio lesson from Nat.

Reggae Today, 80's Next Week

Just got done with the 3rd worship gathering at TBC. Big thumbs up to the techs and musicians for pulling off the click-track! I especially appreciated the willingness of the musicians to transition from the Lord's Prayer in the the reggae tune. Great job!

Looking forward to next Sunday with everyone. Up next Sunday, 80's music. Axel F, Jump, Power of Love, Africa, and more.

Can't wait to see who wears a mullet. Don't forget to roll up your jeans.

A Friendly Reminder

4-Way Stop Intersections

In the United States and Canada, there are many 4-way intersections with a stop sign at every entrance. In this case, the default rule is:

1. Whichever vehicle stops first has priority.
2. If two vehicles stop at the same time, priority is given to the vehicle on the right.
3. If three vehicles stop at the same time, priority is given to the two vehicles going in opposite directions.
4. If four vehicles stop, drivers usually use gestures and other communication to establish right-of-way. In some areas, the custom is for the north-south or the more-trafficked road to have priority, although this is rare.

Got my info here.

What's Next in Computers

Wow! If you are a computer moderately or are a power user, check out this video of a coming computer user interface.

Thanks to John Bowes for sharing the link with me.

Check out Engaget's article here. And the article about the demo here.

$20,000 Microphone

Talk about expensive microphones...check this one out. Bob Barker microphone as used on "The Price is Right"

Exceptional Church Websites

Here's a great list of exceptional church websites. Thanks to Kent Shaffer for compiling the list for us.

Interesting observations about the church names...

> only 2 of 75 have the word "Bible" in the church name
> 15 of 75 omit the word "Church" from their name
> only 4 of 75 have the word "Christian" in their name
> 14 of 75 have the word "Community" in their name

See also Kent's list of churches to watch.

Does God Lie?

Next Sunday is Father's Day, so it's appropriate to post about my dad. It's not very often in life we tell family members that we love them and are proud of them. Maybe we show it, maybe we hint at it, but we rarely say "love you" or "I'm proud of you." This is one of those moments that I'm proud of my dad.

My dad just published a book entitled "Does God Lie?" Check it out on Amazon. Here's a quick summery of what the book is about.

Book Summary:
Could Calvinists and Arminians both be wrong? C. Hanson wrote in Christianity Today (September, 2006) that the debate about “free will” in salvation may never be settled. The author here takes a fresh look at God’s Word from outside the two traditional views and finds a few surprises. Both sides of the debate ignore a fundamental truth which could revise how we see God’s elect. His proposal changes how we commonly understand some of the tougher texts in the Scriptures, but the interpretation could be more accurate. The author asks these questions to those in the debate: 1) If God’s elect, whom He foreknew, are those with faith in Christ then who were the elect in the Old Testament? 2) How would people know they need a Savior before faith in Christ? 3) Who would hear Christ’s voice and follow Him, such that this would always happen without fail?

Way to go dad. I love you. I'm proud of you.

Love,

Bryan

You shall not covet

... your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Dear Lord, help me make You the One I spend my time, thoughts, and money on. Help me ignore the THINGS that compete with You.