Category Archives: leadership

The main thing…

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We load (and unload) the actionchurch truck often.  Every service.  Every event.  It’s sort of like a 4000 lb game of Jenga…in an oven. :-)  ( I’m super thankful EVERY week for all the help we have making it happen!)

Even though there is a “place for everything, and everything in it’s place” in the truck, sometimes things load better than others.  A few weeks ago, after a particularly good load-in, one of the guys joked that maybe we “should cancel church next week, so we don’t mess up the truck.  We’ll never get it loaded that well again.!”   Everyone laughed, but no one actually considered canceling church just to keep the truck neat.  It’s important, but its simply not the “main thing”.

It’s important to remember what the “main thing” is at actionchurch.  It’s the one thing we can do that NO ONE ELSE can.  We are pretty great at carrying heavy stuff, but there are moving companies that can do the same thing.  We have a great crew that makes great live music possible at the theater each week, but there are nightclubs, bars, and other live music venues that can do the same.   We give away lots of delicious donuts on Sundays, but there are numerous Maple Donut shops where people could get the same yummy fried goodness.  I could go on…and on…but there is only ONE thing that we can do that NO ONE ELSE can.  It’s our “main thing”.   It’s the most important thing we do.

The main thing at actionchurch is changing people’s minds about Jesus.  EVERYTHING we do leads up to that ONE THING.  actionkidz, music, donuts, every sermon, signage, actiongroups, and yes even loading heavy things into “Black Betty the truck” all lead up to that ONE thing.  Jesus.  He’s why we exist. We want people who don’t consider him to be an important part of their lives to change their mind! We want them to consider following Jesus…and placing him in control of their lives.  It’s what makes the hard work worth it every week.  It’s what happens when we “Love God, Love People, and Take action”.

It’s the most important thing.  It’s the main thing.

Fun

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I love this picture that someone snapped this weekend.  Yes, Steve, Bill, Josiah, and I have devastatingly handsome legs.  (Beauty tip:  The trick is to keep them pasty white- and we’ve been keeping them OUT of the sun for years).  Yes, we all are wearing some really great looking actionchurch t-shirts.  But don’t be distracted by our catalog-model good looks. (or the glare off of our legs).  I love this picture because all of us are obviously still having FUN.

I think fun is holy.  It was created by God.  It’s listed first among the core values of actionchurch.   I believe that one of the reasons that we can look forward to heaven is that we will serve God together with people we love.   It will be FUN.

I’m thankful for the people I serve with at actionchurch.  I’m thankful to serve with  a leadership team that has not forgotten what it is to have FUN.  I’m thankful for a church full of people who work hard and laugh lots!  Most of all all I’m thankful for a God who created us to serve others not purely out of obligation or religious guilt…but joyfully…yes…having FUN.

What we Value

Fun! Brevity. Cultural Relevance. Authenticity. “A little less talk and a lot more action!” Transformation over information. Doing nothing Half way! Kindness and generosity…with no strings attached. “Making Jesus Famous!” Creativity. Originality. Ambiance. Art. Family.

                                                                         -from the actionchurch manifesto (2007)


 

 

 

Why we serve…

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I am so grateful for all of the actionchurch folks who will be serving this weekend…and every weekend.   Whether it’s making a delicious shaved ice cup for someone, picking up trash, serving coffee…or breakfast…or serving someones kid by providing a great and safe area to play.  Whether you load heavy things, or twist tiny knobs, or teach tiny toddlers, EVERYTHING we do at actionchurch should point to one thing…one person.

Jesus said it this way:

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. ”   -Jesus   (Matthew 5:16 NIV) 

We “shine our lights” so that people can see Jesus. It should work sort of like a properly focused stage light.   Our acts of service should make it easier to see the one we focus on…Jesus.   If people notice the stage light…and not the person it’s supposed to be focused on…it’s distracting instead of being helpful.

Thank you all for letting your lights shine.  I pray that EVERY THING we do points people to our kind and generous heavenly father.

Generosity in action

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This week we dropped the actionchurch truck off at Impressive Signs to get the  graphics applied.  I can’t wait for you all to see the results on Sunday.  As we talked about pricing, I had a conversation about how we “do business” as a church that I think would be valuable to share with everyone.

It’s a subject that comes up quite often whenever we  purchase or give away things: The question people often ask me is:  Why don’t we ask local businesses and corporations to “sponsor” our efforts?  We are a church after all.    Why don’t we ask businesses who provide goods or services to give us some sort of “church discount”? Why do we in fact tell folks who ask NOT to ask local businesses for donations or discounts for actionchurch?   Wouldn’t it be good stewardship to try to get lower prices and donations for the ministry?

As a church, actionchurch of course accepts donations.  It’s the only way we exist.  If people did not chose to generously share their money, we would not be able to meet each week at Frank Theaters.   We also except gifts of equipment, goods etc.  Much of our sound equipment was donated to us.   Like anyone, we are also quite happy to accept a really good deal on something.  The guys at Maaco York painted the actionchurch truck for a fraction of what it should have cost.  We REALLY appreciate that!  They offered.  We accepted…and thanked them thoroughly!!!

However, one of our core values at actionchurch is generosity.  We want all actionchurch people to be generous people.  The best way to teach generosity is to model it in the way we do business.   When we give things away as a church…from the donuts on Sunday morning…to 500 coats for York City students…to all our efforts and expense at Relay for Life in the upcoming weeks, we do so with no strings attached. We want the gift to be from “us”.   We don’t expect for others in the community to pay for it, discount it, or donate it.  Like any good gift…we expect the things we give away to cost us something.  Generosity is not generosity if you are using someone else’s money.

Does it “cost” something to do business in a generous manner as a church?  Definitely.  (It took us over a year to gather and save the funds to paint and logo our truck.)   Is it worth it?  Definitely.   Whenever our church…or our church people…come into a business situation, I want others to EXPECT that they will be treated fairly, paid generously and promptly, and generally be pleased to do business with “Church”  people.  That’s priceless…and too rare.   It is, I believe, generosity in action.

Choose a good reputation over great riches;
    being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.  

-Proverbs 22:1

Use only as directed

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Here are the directions I gave Sunday as we began studying the book of James as a church.   It’s important to remember that James states that he was writing to believers…Jesus Followers…in his letter.  Because of that, I believe the following “directions” apply:

 

Take only the “Medicine” given to you!    There is so much practical (and often painfully convicting) direction found in the book of James.  There’s no need to feel guilty if you are actually doing OK in an area that James mentioned in his letter.  In fact, Sunday I’m going to mention one area in James 2 that I think actionchurch folks are actually doing rather well!  No need to be a “spiritual hypochondriac”.  If it’s not for you…move on.  There’s plenty of other stuff in the book that ALL of us need to deal with…

Don’t give your “Medicine” to others!    I know it’s tempting.  I know we ALL want to do it sometimes.  But, it’s never a good Idea to give your “medicine” out to others.  “Re-preaching” something you learned from the book of James to your husband, wife, or that jerk at work probably won’t be very helpful. :-)  Besides,  true life-changes happen when we take the “prescription” James gave us in 1:22-25.  (Look in the “mirror” of Scripture, See the things that need to be changed in OUR lives,  and then do what the Bible says)  

Take ALL of your “Medicine”!  It’s tempting to do what so many people do with antibiotics when it comes to scripture.  It’s so easy to begin to apply what the Bible says to sin-sick area of our life…and then…as we begin to feel better…stop doing what is right and fall right back into the same sickness as before-often worse!   When you follow that pattern with antibiotics, it leads to drug-resistant diseases.  I believe it can also lead to “antidote-resistant” sin…sin that destroys our lives…but sin that we no longer even feel bad about.  It’s really important to take all of your medicine…

You now have the “use as directed” fine-print.  Hope you’ll read along with us in the book of James.  I’ll be talking about Chapter 2 on Sunday.