I have a goatee (actually a Van Dyke) and I still think this is sort of disturbing and slightly creepy.  Enjoy!  :)

I’ll probably send out a calling post call about this later in the week but I just wanted to remind all you guys that Daylight Savings ends this weekend. Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour this Saturday night.

This PSA brought to you by the fine folks at Fusion Church.  Watch and learn.

Fresh Promo from Fusion Church on Vimeo.

Don’t let this be you.  Come to Fusion this weekend!

Nobody wants stale faith.  A faith that is stale is boring, tedious and ineffective.  Unfortunately, we all go through times when our faith is, well, less than fresh.

That’s why I’m so pumped about this weekend.  I’m going to be starting a brand new series called, “Fresh:  Reviving Stale Faith.”  It’s going to awesome!  We’re going to explore the Biblical secrets to reviving a faith that is stale. I can’t wait to share some tweaks and some tools that can make big changes in a spiritually stale life!

Come get FRESH!

We’ve offered these before but I wanted to make sure that you pastors know that these are available. 

Here’s the Prison Break series that we did a long time ago.  (Right-click and select “save as…” to save these files.)

SLIDES

• PB Series Title Slide
• PB Verses Slide
• Rejected Slide 1
• Rejected Slide 2
• Rejected Slide 3

GRAPHICS

• PB Program Shell Cover
• PB Email Logo (Small)

VIDEO/POWERPOINT 

• PB 25 Minute Countdown
• PB 5 Minute Countdown
• PB Bumper (Open)

I thought it might be interesting to look at some key verses together from Philippians here on the TMC blog.  Check this out…

This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. It is written to all of God’s people in Philippi, who believe in Christ Jesus, and to the elders and deacons.  Philip. 1:1 (NLT)

Paul and his son in the Lord, Timothy, could have chosen any number of titles for themselves but they chose “slaves of Jesus Christ.”  This is most telling.  Paul was clearly an apostle and a man of great significance in the early church but on his business card he decided to put slave of Jesus.

People generally try to put forth the title that reflects their biggest accomplishment in life.  Paul saw his greatest accomplishment as being a servant of his great master and Lord.

The simple truth of the matter is that the greatest thing you’ve ever done (or will do) is connect with Jesus and, beyond that, the greatest thing you can continue to do is serve Him in whatever fashion He calls you to do so.

What’s you title?

I finished reading It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It last night.  It was an excellent book.  I like Craig Groeschel’s writing style and, more importantly, his honesty.

In the book, Groeschel defines having “it” as experiencing God moving.  For instance, some churches seem to have “it” while others don’t.  He goes to great lengths to say that having “it” isn’t about having a certain theology, facility, methodology, program or philosophy of ministry.  In fact, he busts through a few myths about why God seems to be moving in some churches and not in others.

As I said, I appreciate the honesty of the book, as well as the humor!  (I laughed out loud a few times.) Groeschel hits the nail on the head about how easy it is to drift off of passion for God into other things and lose focus…and “it.”

After defining what “it” is and what “it” isn’t, he talks about some common characteristics of churches that seem to have it working for them.  Specifically, he says that churches with “it” tend to have:

• A clear vision
• A divine focus
• A staff with unmistakable camaraderie
• An innovative attitude set on doing whatever it takes
• A willingness to fail and take risks (to eventually succeed)
• Outwardly focused hearts
• Kingdom-mindedness

I wholeheartedly agree with everything he listed.  I simply can’t imagine God NOT blessing any church that had all these dynamic elements in place!

As good as the book is, I would recommend it solely based on the last two chapters if forced to.  These chapters deal with how to regain “it” and how to guard “it” in your life.  They seem like some sort of compelling sermon being shared by Groeschel.  He also shares his own story of coming back to loving God and putting Him first, even over church.  It all really moved me.

Pastors, check this little book out.  I’m sure you’ll get a lot of out IT.

I’ve been reading It by Craig Groeschel and I’m enjoying the book.  I’ll write a full review later but I hit this little nugget last night and it’s really sticking with me.

By the Pharisee’s standards, Jesus failed daily.  – Craig Groeschel.

That’s so good!  I’m going to put that one in my quick quotes section right here on the tmc blog!

This just reminds me that I’ve got to live for an audience of One.  I can’t live by all the other “standards” out there.  I must strive to please the Father first and foremost or I might truly fail.