Things That Have Been Keeping Me Busy

You might have noticed, or might not :-) That I have been gone from the blogging world. I wish I could tell you some kind of big fancy "I was taking a blogging and twitter break" because that seems to be in vogue these days, but really I have just been stinkin' busy. So here are a few of the things keeping me busy:

Volunteer Christmas Dinner

Rita and Crystal did all the work here so I can't really blame this, but dang I had to share about it. Every year we throw our awesome volunteers a "Thank You" Christmas dinner and this year Rita and Crystal knocked it out of the park! The room looked amazing! They transformed out warehouse into an amazing environment and I know every one's first impression was a "Wow!" I am so thankful for them and all our awesome volunteers that make this place go week in and week out.

Christmas Eve, 5pm @ Rushe Middle

Getting ready for Christmas Eve is always a busy time. With video to shoot, stages to build, a service to plan, volunteers to organize it is a lot. Plus we always take the Sunday after Christmas off, like the church doesn't meet off, so planning for this Sunday, Christmas Eve, then being gone, and having the first Sunday in January in the can takes its toll on my blogging.

So that is where I have been... here is a sneak at what you AND ALL THE PEOPLE YOU ARE BRINGING can expect on Christmas Eve, 5pm @ Rushe Middle:

This Is Our God (New Series)

How we perceive someone impacts the way we relate to them. If we think someone is angry or out to get us then we will never trust them. If we see someone as loving and caring then we will naturally be drawn to them. So how do you view God? What are your perceptions of Him? Could you have some misconceptions about who God really is? Discover again, or for the first time, who God is Sundays in December at the Suncoast. Bring someone who is kicking the tires on faith for this series as we lead up to Christmas Eve guys!

See ya Sunday, 10:30am :-)

This Is Our God (Promo) from Church of the Suncoast on Vimeo.

Praying for those that came forward...

On Sunday at the Suncoast we had an old fashioned invitation where I invited people who were ready to stop running / resisting God to come forward and pray at the front of the stage. It was incredible to see the people respond and take such a step of vulnerability and humility. To step out and say, "God I am not going to run anymore, I surrender."

For all of you who obeyed like Jonah did I have been praying for you this week that God would make himself real to you in tangible ways. That He would make His presence felt and His love known. I was proud of you on Sunday and you gained the respect of your friends and family and your pastor!

God is smiling :-) See you Sunday as we wrap up the story of Jonah and the "White Flag" series.

Perspective in Leading

Our staff at the Suncoast is reading the book "Leading on Empty" by Wayne Cordeiro right now. At our last staff meeting I shared a quote that jumped out at me,

"The way we view our problem oftentimes is our problem"

You could apply that to almost anything in life and leadership but here was my realization for our staff. I am by nature a negative person. I have the painful gift of being able to walk into a room and tell you everything that is wrong in a matter of seconds. I see the problems. AND, many times at our staff meetings and conversations I spend all my time talking about the problems and not enough time talking about all the amazing things God is doing in the life of our church. Instead of celebrating with them I drag up any and every problem and talk about what we are going to do about it.

Here is what I realized. Obviously, the staff at the Suncoast thinks for themselves, but as the leader I have to walk that line in how I present things. Yes, I want to be real and when something bad happens it hurts, and I get frustrated, and it is OK for people to see that and for us to walk through the bad things together. We are all in this as a team. Stuff is not always going to go right at the church and that needs to be addressed. But, on the flip side if I don't do a better job at showing off the positive then I run the risk of ruining the perspective of the people around me. Because it is so easy for me to point out all the problems I have to be intentional about this!

So, that is where I am at right now. Trying to do a better job at walking that line. I would be curious to know your perspective and what you have learned as a church planter / leader / pastor on walking the line between dealing with the problems but not letting that ruin your perspective on the church...

White Flag Starts Sunday!

This is the perfect series to bring someone to!!! Check out the promo:

Did you ever run away from home as a kid? It all seems silly now, but at the time you had plans. But your plans always fell apart, didn't they? You were so focused on what you were running from, not what you were running to, that you found yourself faced with the question, "Now what?" You had to raise the white flag and give up. In this three-part series, we'll explore the lessons we can all learn when the only option left is to surrender.

Join us at Rushe Middle from 10:15-10:30 at the NEW Coastal Cafe for breakfast under a $1.