People volunteer to serve in churches for all kinds of reasons. Some are looking for recognition for others to see how great they are or maybe for God to notice their hard work. Others serve in hopes to receive something more by contributing to God’s kingdom. I’ve met others who serve simply for social connections. I’d like to suggest that … Read More
Us & Them
A few weeks ago, my wife popped into a ministry here at our church and began talking to a man who had been here for a couple years. They started talking about how he and his wife had begun to volunteer in a church ministry recently. He made the comment that he felt like the church had moved away from an … Read More
Moving to the Center
If you attend First Assembly of God here in Lafayette, you probably have noticed an increase in attendance over the past several months. For those of you who are interested, here is a quick overview–our average Sunday morning attendance has seen an adult increase of 244 people on average per Sunday in 2011 over the same period in 2010! That … Read More
You Go First
Been waiting for a reason to positive, happy, full of faith? You go first. You take the step out there where joy and gratitude lie. Are you waiting for your spouse to be brighter or more optimistic or more loving? You go first–make the move to be the one who lifts the mood in your marriage. Are you waiting for … Read More
“Shake a Little Hand, Shake a Hand Next to Ya”
Those are the words to a pre-schoolers’ church song that I learned back in the United Methodist Church in Albany, Indiana when I was about 3 years old. I’m putting them up today because of what a woman said to me yesterday after our 9AM service at First Assembly. This lady, new to Lafayette, said she loves our church, the … Read More
Just to be Clear
Often people come up to me and ask me if I was talking about them in my Sunday morning message. Sometimes, people wonder if I am looking at them or if I am talking about situations in their family life when I’m speaking. Sometimes people imagine that I am speaking on the topics that I am speaking on just because … Read More
What’s a Pastor Do, Anyway?
I’ve been asked the question a thousand times in a thousand different ways, from the person who knows little about church and thinks I just stand up and talk on Sundays to the person who imagines I simply pray all day long in my office, read the Bible, and have spiritual thoughts. It’s a question that deserves some exploration. You … Read More
An Approach to Accountability
I recently finished a book that I had started and stopped over the last several months called Mojo: How to Get it, How to Keep it, How to Get it Back if you Lose it by Marshall Goldsmith. Goldsmith is a UCLA PhD in Organizational Behavior who is a consultant to some of the country’s leading executives who get off track. … Read More
Making Introductions
These are some thoughts about how our amazing church can become more and more effective at bringing people from the edge of our community in the core of the highly committed people who make First Assembly thrive as it does. Getting to know more people through introducing yourself to people you don’t know and through introducing them to your social … Read More
Visioneering Process Update
For the seven months, our church has been involved in a Strategic Planning Process. It started in January with a 21 day fast, involving a personal retreat I took to try to hear from God more on the issue of the overall vision, direction and plan for First Assembly. In February, the pastoral staff, the deacons and a few from … Read More