shawnlovejoy.com

My most important job...

       

My most important job is NOT teaching. It's not shepherding our church. It's not visiting the sick. It's not leading our staff. It's not counseling. My most important job is loving God and loving my family. Period.  To these two tasks, I must devote the greatest amount of energy, wisdom, and skill. This morning, I'll spend some time with God (I'm reading through 1 Timothy and Joel); and then for the rest of the day will be spent loving my family. My most important task today?  "Doughnuts with Dad" at Madison's Kindergarten class. I'll eat one for you.
        I'll spend the day "nurturing vitality": caring for and feeding my own spiritual and relational strength and energy.  Nurturing Vitality is the foundational practice of spiritual leaders. Without a healthy relationship with God and our families, we have NOTHING to offer. NOTHING! BTW, my good friend Bob Roberts will be talking about this at our upcoming churchplanters.com conference next month! Pastors and Ministry Leaders, get here! Mountain Lakers, you'll have opportunity to sign up to volunteer to work at the conference this Sunday!

New Me IV...

       

Can't wait to be back teaching this Sunday, and I'm more fired up about this message than any other in this series! I'm praying God would move in a way like He never has this Sunday! I believe we'll be unpacking THE key to long term change this Sunday! The end of the service will be especially impactful! So don't miss the closing of "The New Me" series this Sunday!

Visionary Giving...

        I believe that one of the marks of a growing disciple of Jesus Christ is becoming a "Visionary Giver" of my financial resources. Visionary Giving is giving, not out of obligation or guilt, or even giving to a need. Visionary giving, however, is not giving our of our leftovers or out of convenience. Visionary giving is about giving of my financial resources out of a vision for life change. Visionary giving is about recognizing that God changes me and changes the lives of other through my giving, and allowing THAT to be the motivation in my giving and the level of my giving.  I am personally giving a larger percentage of my income to God through His church, than ever before.                 However, I'm not ultimately giving "because I'm supposed to," or because it's commanded in the Bible. I'm giving because I know what God does IN ME when I give, in breaking me loose of greed and forming in me a heart of gratitude; and I know what God does THROUGH ME when I give: God is using my giving to change so many lives right now at Mountain Lake Church! I'm honored to give my resource to God and trust Him to use these resources to change lives! THAT'S VISIONARY GIVING! THAT ALLOWS ME TO GIVE EVEN WHEN IT'S DIFFICULT. THAT ALLOWS ME TO GIVE EVEN WHEN IT DOESN'T ADD UP. THAT ALLOWS ME TO GIVE  GENEROUSLY, AND NOT GRUDGINGLY. WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU A VISIONARY GIVER?

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 (NLT) 7You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. 8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV) 7But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us£—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Malachi 3:10 (NLT) 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!

Mychurch's launch video...

Congrats to mychurch...

  

  No...not my church!  mychurch! Mountain Lake's latest church plant, in Columbus, GA hosted 625 people for their launch yesterday! Congratulations to Jeff and Christy Murphy and the mychurch team! You guys rock! We praise God for you and are honored to be a part of what God is doing through you!

Building crowds or building the church?

        Every Sunday at Mountain Lake these days, we're having HUGE CROWDS of people. It's exhilarating to see packed parking lots, auditoriums, and children's classrooms. Pastors love that! However, can I just tell you that I'm more convinced than ever before that a church can build HUGE CROWDS and NOT BE building a church! I really do believe that every church has a choice: Building crowds or building the church. What's the difference? Well, first of all, a crowd is not a church.  You can have a crowd at a football game, a Nascar Race, at a concert, and at Wal-Mart. A crowd does not constitute a church. However, a crowd can become a church!
        As Pastors and ministry leaders, I believe it's our job to turn crowds into a church!  For a crowd to become a church, two things must be present ABOVE all others: People loving and serving  God; and people loving  and serving each other. Notice I didn't say anything about preaching, programming, or music. Did you know we can have a church without any of those? All we need is God and each other!
        After nine years of ministry at Mountain Lake, I think I'm finally figuring out the difference between building crowds and building the church. We're  loving God and loving each other better than we ever have. We're investing into our spiritual leadership better than ever before. We're pursuing God's presence in our services and small groups like never before. We're challenging our crowd to become a church like never before. And it's happening., I see it. I feel it. God is at work. He's changing lives. Because we're becoming a church!
        See, I think God is looking for groups of people today that understand who they are and what they're on earth for: To love Him and love each other and display Him to a watching world! Mountain Lake, I see God doing this in and through us and I'm honored to lead the charge!

An Awesome Lord's Day...

        Did you know that's what Sundays are called? The Lords' Day? It's true. It's going to be an awesome and jam packed day, with lots of room for God to do some cool stuff! First of all, I can't wait for part three of of "New Me" series today! It's going to rock! We're going to be talking about "changing the way we think". Wow, that has a ring to it!
        We begin VOLUNTEER sign-up's today for our churchplanters.com conference next month. I hope you'll sign-up and serve! You'll be amazed at the influence God is giving our church! THEN we have Newcomer's Lunch today after  the 11:30 service. Even if you HAVEN'T RSVP'D, you can still join us today! THEN, this afternoon, at 4PM, we're launching "Leadership Community" a monthly gathering of all of the elite leaders here at MLC, in one room!  I can not WAIT to hang out with you guys! I confess: you are my favorite people in the world! Suffice to say: It;s going to be an awesome Lord's Day! See you there!

The importance of a sabbath...

        Today and tomorrow will be days off for me. I can not tell you what it means for me to be able to shut down for at least ONE FULL DAY every week. Once again, God's command to work six days and rest one shows Him to be the Genius He is!To be honest with you, a Sabbath rest was not something I have always understood or obeyed.

For years, even in ministry,  felt I like it was a sin to allow a full day when:
1. I do not share my faith or invite someone to church.
2. I make myself TOTALLY unavailable to church members.
3. I don't think about our church much.
4. I do not not return phone calls or emails.
5. I do nothing but hang out with my family and play PLAYSTATION.

        For years, I did not realize that the very effort (seven days a week) I was giving to my ministry was depleting me of the ability to be used more mightily for God! When I am able to disengage from my work for one full day, when I return to work, I am more revitalized, refreshed, renewed, and ready to tackle the next hill with a sharper mind and spirit! So over the years, God has challenged me and given me permission to make a sabbath a rest in my life one of the most important aspects of my life. My life, my family, and my ministry are more effective because I rest. Period. That's WHY God commanded it! Do you have a sabbath rest in your life? If so, when?

Where I stand on our new president...

       

        I've had a lot of people ask me in the last few days: "Well, what do you think about our next President?" so I  would love to let everyone know at one time how I feel about President Barack Obama. Here it is: I didn't vote for him. However, it might surprise you to hear that a big part of me wishes I would have, though! I DO respect him. Alot. I didn't say I agree with him on every issue. In fact, there are some big issues on which he and I disagree. But the same is true with my wife, and I don't love her any less! President Obama is a great leader. It's obvious. He's a great communicator. He's a man of faith. More importantly, according to his own testimony, He believes Jesus died for his sins. I didn't say I think his theology is perfect. Is yours? Is mine? Not.
        He seems to love his wife and kids really well. I respect that alot, too. I loved watching him dance with his wife. We need to vote for people who not only do their jobs well, but are faithful to their spouses and love their families well.
        Suffice to say, I believe President Obama could be, perhaps, what this country REALLY needs at this time and place.  Do I have concerns? Yes. Do I have hopes for his leadership? Yes! So if you want to know where I stand with President Obama, I am behind our president. I am praying for our president. I am rooting for our president. I hope he knocks it out of the park. I pray God uses him to inspire confidence in every American. I pray that God gives him wisdom from above as he seeks to lead our country, and you are not going to hear me say ANYTHING negative about him. I pray that his relationship with God would grow over the next four years and that he would lead our country in a way that honors God. "President Obama, I'm with you. You are my leader. My president. Of my country. The greatest country in the world."

The Leadership Factor...

         John Maxwell was right (and he didn't invent the idea): Everything rises and falls on leadership. More than ever before, this truth is so transparent to me. As God prepares our church for the future, and all that He wants to do through us, the amount of investment we place in our leadership MUST GROW!
         Many of you know that one of the reasons we've moved from two Sunday Morning and Two Sunday NIGHT services, to three CRAZY Sunday morning services, is so we can take the next few months before moving into our new worship auditorium at the North Forsyth campus, and pour spiritually into the volunteer leadership of our church. This Sunday Night, we'll assemble ALL of our Small Group Leaders and Volunteer coaches to invest into them collectively from both a spiritual and practical ministry leadership standpoint.
         So this Sunday Night, we launch "Leadership Community" at Mountain Lake, and I can't wait! Here's what we'll do: first, we'll eat together. Then, I'll share my heart with the leaders: "some inside scoop stuff"; then I'll invest spiritually into the leaders through some teaching. THEN our leaders will break out into their specific ministry areas: Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, Small Groups, Creative Arts, and World Care for some more practical ministry leadership investment time, led by our other pastors.
         I can't wait to see what God is going to do! I KNOW that God is going to use this investment into our leaders to make a GREATER IMPACT in and through their lives; and therefore, our families, our community, our nation, and our world! So let's go, leaders! Let's have Leadership Community!