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Velocity Reflex…

• Sold out.  33 states and 4 countries represented!
• Worship was amazing.
• God used Todd & Jenee Nichols, Anthony Evans, and  our band to absolutely rock our faces off!
• Great times with tons of friends.
• Made lots of new ones.
• Got to share from my heart.
• Got to see my church BE the church to the church.
• Had Pastors tell me that had made a decision to quit, that they had made a decision to stick it out AT this conference.
• Every main session speaker had been with God and brought a message from God.
• My wife is the best ministry partner I could ever ask for.
• David Putman is the second best. Love you dude.
• Saw our Ministry Team lay it on the line for the Kingdom. Great will be your reward in Heaven.
• My 7th Grade Student Pastor showed up and surprised me at the conference. He’s planting a church in his 50’s! Go, Tom! God has greatly in my life.
• My family and even our campus experienced spiritual attack this week, so I knew it was going to be good. I underestimated HOW good it was going to be.
• The breakouts at the conference were some of the most practical we have ever had, led by some of the most amazing leaders we’ve ever had.
• Our ministry partners and vendors made the conference even MORE practical and encouraging to young and growing churches. I hope you guys worshipped, too!
• Rick Warren has always been my hero; but I’m even more honored to call him friend and partner these days.  I’ll blog on him later (too much to say HERE).
• God was here. God changed people here. God changed churches and pastors and ministry leaders here. God changed ME here.
• Thx to everyone. Honored to be a fellow traveler with you!

Welcome to VELOCITY!

Sunday Reflex 2-21-10…

• Week Three of our “LOVERS” Series
• Honored to have EMI Recording Artist and worship leader Anthony Evans leading worship alongside Todd! 
• One of the best worship times we’ve had in a while!
• Parent/Child Dedication ceremony! I love it when these families bring their children to be dedicated AND when they invite all their unchurched family and friends to come!  Way to go, guys!
• I was introduced to speak by Robert Palmer’s “Addicted To Love.” I loved that song in the 80’s. Heck, I still love it!
• Yesterday I taught on “How To Have An Affair” once again out of the book of Song of Solomon.
• I gave FOUR steps toward having an affair:
• Suppress sexual intimacy in our marriage.
• Establish our standard of attraction & beauty outside of our marriage.
• Form close friendships with the opposite sex outside of marriage.
• Keep God out of our lives and relationships.
• I shared very directly about things like flirting, facebook, friendships, foreplay, and other touchy subjects. I know I was up in a lot of people’s grills yesterday!
• There was nervous laughter; then quiet;  then tears all over the room yesterday as I described the brokenness I have witnessed in may marriages around me this past year, including one of my close friends in ministry.
• Thanks for letting me give it to you straight yesterday, Mountain Lakers!
• So many people told me their only regret was that they had not heard this message years ago. That’s why we must keep talking about this!
• If you missed the message or SAW it and want to pass it on, it will be uploaded here by mid morning Monday. 
• Over 100 volunteers stayed yesterday to help us set up for churchplanters.com conference! We have the best church in the world! Can’t wait to show YOU off to ministry leaders from all over the world!

The biggest lies of Satan (pt. 2)…

“No one will ever know”

This lie has been called the lie of the SECRECY of sin. With this lie, Satan tries to convince us that we can sin and no one will ever know. However, just ask Tiger Woods: this one is indeed a lie! Here’s what the truth of God’s WORD says about this lie of Satan:

GOD sees all that we do.

Job 34:21-22 (NLT) “For God carefully watches the way people live; he sees everything they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes.

Job 11:11 (NLT) 11For he knows those who are false, and he takes note of all their sins.

Sin always has consequences.

Ezek. 23:49 (NIV) You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”

Num. 32:23 (NIV) “…and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

We will all give an account for our private, as well as our public lives.

Rom. 14:12 (NLT) Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God.

Yes, God is a God of grace and  love! However, He still HATES sin! Sin cost Him the death of His only Son! When we take God’s mercy for granted, it bothers Him. When we use His grace as a license to live however we want, it angers Him and we can be sure that we will give an account for it. If your private life is different from your public life, turn away from it today and call on God’s grace for the forgiveness we need and the grace to change and become the person He wants us to be! 

Strong word today…Just felt like someone might need to hear it straight.

Sunday Reflex: 2-14-10

Valentine’s Day  on a Sunday!  Can’t remember that happening for a while! What a GREAT day to be talking about love and sexual intimacy! Here are a few reflex from yesterday:

• Can’t believe we had the crowd we had yesterday, considering the 5 day weekend created by our school system and snow and ice on the ground!
• I have LOVED  jamming to the mainstream LOVE songs in our worship services. Yesterday we rocked it with a country song: “Somebody Like You.”
• We had a banjo on stage. It was PERFECT! Great job, Casey!
• For those of you uncomfortable with singing love sings in church: HELLO! God is the author of love!
• Baptized 4 more people. I can NOT believe all the people that are going public w/ their faith right now! EVERY WEEK!
• Week two of our LOVERS series. The msg: “Sex OUTSIDE the BEDROOM.”
• The best sex begins OUTSIDE the bedroom with:

CONVERSATION: “Your love is like…”

“If we want to build intimacy, we’ve got to learn how to do so, not just through touching, but thru talking! With conversation!”

“Look back at how these two talk to each other! What are they talking about? What they LOVE about each other; Their deeps hopes & desires; how much they love each other!”

“Now the other side of that is that our sarcasm; our threats; and our cutting comments can build up walls in the bedroom & everywhere else!”

CONSIDERATION: “How fragrant your cologne…”

“ Husbands…be considerate as you live with your wives…” 1 Pet. 3:7

“We all  need to be careful that we’re sending the signal to our spouses that THEIR opinion matters MORE than anyone else’s!”

“ Am I making a sincere effort to be attractive to my spouse?”

Highlight of the day for the crowd? I put on a “Snuggie” & called it sexual sin!

CHARACTER: “How pleasing your NAME!”

“In Hebrew culture, your name represented your character! Who you were; so when this woman says: ‘I love your name’ she’s saying: ‘I love who you are! I love your character’”.

“If we want to be attractive in the long run to our spouse, it’s what’s on the inside, not the outside that will matter most! Our character! Who we REALLY are!

• Highlight of my day? 3 more couples signed up to get married on Sun, Mar 7!  These commitments have been some of the most fulfilling of my ministry!

The biggest lie of Satan…

The biggest lie of Satan is simple: “THIS is better.” In his temptation of Eve, Satan convinced her that HER thinking was better; that her knowledge could be better; that her relationships would be better…if she gave in to her own way of thinking. Satan was in so many words saying: “THIS is better.” It’s important we realize that when we give in to sin, the main reason it’s such a  big deal is because in that moment, we’ve believed a lie of Satan that says SIN is better than GOD.” Every time we sin, we’re CHOOSING our way over God’s way, because somewhere deep down, we have believed the lie that says that our ways is BETTER than God’s way!”. WOW. Think that one through.

The word “repent” actually means to “re-think”. To change the way we sin, we must change the way we think. We must BELIEVE deep down that God’s way truly IS better. If we REALLY believe God’s way is better, we’ll choose His way OVER our way! We’ll cling to HIS Truth, rather than the lies of Satan!  So my question for you today is: What are YOU thinking? Is Sin better? Or is God  better? Your life is giving the answer.

How our church is throwing a free mass wedding…

Sunday, a portion of my message I spoke directly to those who have been:

• Dating FOREVER;
• Thinking about getting engaged FOREVER;
• Engage FOREVER;
• Living together but not married.

We discussed the fact that the tendency during this phase of our relationship is to be “opening our gifts”  to each other, but NOT be married in God’s eyes! So I said” You know what YOU need to do if you’re in this category?  Get married! Give in! Step out! Make the commitment with your heart and mind! You’ve already made it with the rest of your body!”

“There are lots of reasons you may have had about why now or ever is not the time to get married: haven’t had enough money; it’s a hassle; It’s risky; or you’re afraid. You might’ve had good intentions; time’s gotten away; you messed up; now you’re just too embarrassed to go back . But I am challenging you today to give in to God’s design!  Invite God into your relationship. Ask Him to bless it!  He can’t and won’t fully bless your relationship until you’re opening the gift according to His design! Don’t you want God’s blessing on your relationship?! What I’m calling for today from you is the courage and faith to trust God. Give in. And step out!!!”

I WAS SCARED TO DEATH TO SAY THE NEXT PHRASE. I DID NOT KNOW HOW WHAT I WAS ABOUT TO SAY WOULD BE RECEIVED BY PEOPLE IN OUR CHURCH. BUT HERE’S WHAT I SAID:

“Here’s the big surprise for you: what we want to do for you is eliminate all the barriers (cost; convenience; complacency) that might keep some of you from getting married!  Here’s what our church wants to do for you: We want to throw you a free wedding on Sunday Mar 7 in our worship services!”

Here’s what we have worked to secure for potential bride and grooms:

• Free invitations.
• Free wedding gowns.
• Free tuxedo rentals.
• Free flowers for bride and groom.
• Wedding decorations for  the church auditorium.
• Free photographs.
• Free hair and makeup artists for the brides on the day of the wedding.
• Free pre0marital counseling for each couple at our church.

As of right now we have eight couples interested in getting married next month and the calls and emails are still coming in!

We’ve had so many people step forward in our church and offer gifts, their own wedding gowns, and other various donations in kind. Our church is FIRED UP about this and it’s going to be one of the best days in the history of our church!  Do YOU need to get married? You’re out of excuses!  Care more about what God thinks than anyone else thinks! Give in to His design…and GET MARRIED! 

If you missed the message form Sunday, check it here.

Sunday Reflex 2-7-10…

Just when I think that things can’t get any better around here, they do! I am not even sure I can put into words my reflections from yesterday and all that God did in my heart and the hearts of others, but I’ll try by reflecting on the day and what happened, as well as offering a few challenges to you guys along the way:

• We had the largest non-holiday Sunday crowd in the history of our church!
• We’re going to need to start having discussions about adding worship services at some point soon! 
• If you can move to the 9:30 service for worship, that will help! We have a little more space in that service than we do at 11.
• I thought Todd, Jenee, and the Worship Team led one of the most authentic worship sets we’ve ever led. People were connecting with God and it was evident.
• Kecia Garland rocked the house with “Feels just like a LOVE SONG”. For those wondering, YES, Kecia is a professional country music singer who calls our church home!
• I loved having a fiddle on stage! You?
• We kicked off our new series: “LOVERS: Go ahead. Give in.” NOT just give in to sex.; but give in to God’s design for sex!
• The series is based on the Song of Solomon, but references Scripture as a whole and what God says about sex and human relationships.
• “Yes, we’re talking a lot about sex; but it’s bigger than that. We're talking about love. Men, women, and we're talking a lot about God and how we can honor Him with the desires He’s given us!”
• “As long as the church remains silent about what God has to say about sex, our culture will continue to uncover more and more Tiger Woods stories.”
• “Sex is not a sin. It’s a gift; a gift FROM God! And I say Yea, God!”
• I sang lyrics from the SPICE GIRLS. If you missed it, you’ve just gotta’ watch the msg here (posted Mon AM sometime).
• “As married couples we honor him by SHARING the gift! Prizing it! Opening it and giving it TO each other. A LOT! MORE than Valentine’s Day and  anniversaries!”
• “If we’re NOT married, we honor HIM by SAVING the gift. If we’re not married, it’s not Christmas yet, we can not open our presents yet!”
• If we’re not married and we are living together, you know how WE need to give in to God’s design? GET MARRIED! Ask God to SANCTIFY the gift!”
• Yesterday I offered a special gift to every couple that NEEDED to get married to allow God to sanctify their relationship: we offered to marry them on our stage in our worship services next month!
• I’ll blog more on how we did this tomorrow.
• We have worked to secure wedding gowns, tuxedos, flowers, hair and makeup artists, decorations, invitations, photographers all lined up for a mass wedding at no cost to the participants!
• So far, we have had SIX couples express interest in getting married in our worship services on Sun, March 7!  Two have made definite commitments!
• We will offer the opportunity to sign up for this ONE MORE TIME this Sunday.
• If you held back, commit RIGHT NOW to care more about what God thinks than what everyone else thinks; give in; step out; and get married!
• Ended the services with a simple prayer: “Father, help me honor YOU by honoring the gift and honoring YOU with my heart, soul mind, and body.
• WOW. What a day. God was here. Did you feel it? God spoke. Did you feel it?

Why we’re talking about SEX in church…

This Sunday we kick off our controversial (and potentially life changing) series called LOVERS.  People have asked, so here are just a few reasons WHY we’re talking about this:

• Sex is NOT a sin! It’s not dirty; or gross! It’s a gift from God!
• We must talk from God’s perspective. The world’s not ashamed to share THEIR perspective! The longer sex remains a taboo subject in church, the longer people will misunderstand the desires God has given them.
• Not having a place to talk about our desires forces us to express them underground and inappropriately. We must talk about this!
• The average Middle school boy is could be already addicted to porn.
• Porn is a 12 Billion a year business in America. That’s more than what Americans spend on professional football, basketball, and baseball combined. Want to know what America’s REAL favorite pastime is?
• 1/3 of all children in America are now born outside of marriage.
• Sex is more dysfunctional IN marriages than ever before because of the sexual dysfunction in one or both spouses’ pasts. We need healing from our pasts so it doesn’t affect our futures!
• Sexual abuse is more common in children these days  because of sexual dysfunction in marriage. 
• Married couples are not enjoying sexual intimacy and romance the way God desires!  Just one reason why divorce rates are so high!
• Sexual intimacy in a marriage is the best way to affair proof our marriage!
• God made sex and gave it to us!! We just need to know how to express our desires according to His design! That’s what we’ll be learning to do!
• This is NOT a marriage series; but a series about men; women; and how to meet the needs of each other in a way that honors God. SO this series is ultimately about worshipping and obeying God! Think we ought to talk about THAT in church?

Prepare yourselves: We are calling for one of the greatest, but  most  radical spiritual commitments we’ve ever called for this Sunday.  Get here! Spread the word!

Sunday Reflex 1-31-10…

Yesterday we finished up our Rhythm series at Mountain Lake. Here are a few reflections on the day:

• Great to have Austin Sisk leading worship yesterday. Did a great job. He’s so talented to be so young! Keep growing in your skill and love for the LORD, Austin!
• Rodney Anderson taught yesterday. Knocked it out of the park AGAIN!
• Todd Nichols, our Worship Pastor, and I were both THERE, but did not teach or lead worship…and it was awesome! I think that reveals a healthy church culture!
• Rodney discussed having a PRIME in our life: allowing Jesus’ command to love God and love people to be the primary driving force in our lives.
• “When many things are driving our lives, it brings frustration.  When the one thing, the most important thing is driving our lives, it brings fulfillment.”
• We announced our upcoming series “LOVERS: Go ahead. Give in.” I know it’s going to be good, because the hate mail and phone calls have started!
• I reminded everyone Sunday that our adult Worship Service is designed for those in High School and up.  I’m not pulling any punches on this subject, guys. I promise!
• We have ANOTHER huge surprise coming in this week’s services, unlike any we’ve ever had. Don’t miss this!
• Newcomer’s Lunch yesterday. Nearly 100 new people there! 32 turned in Membership agreements! Several of them wanting to go public with their faith thru baptism! 
• Another one of the largest crowds we’ve ever had at Mountain Lake!
• Jesus is building His church! To Him be the glory!