Category Archives: vision

Being Wrong

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wright brothers

It’s a little ironic that I was so wrong about a property called “Wright Brothers Lincoln Mercury”. Three years ago we attempted to buy the property. We attempted to borrow for the property. We talked to bankers and lawyers.  We even asked Ford Motor Company to donate the property to actionchurch. We even considered teaming up with a  denomination, in order to get the funding and support necessary to make the property our church home.  ALL of those things are actions I’m TOTALLY not comfortable with to this day. But, I attempted all of them in order to purchase or lease the property for actionchurch.   I’ve still got the floor plans and the mock-ups of what the exterior would look like as an actionchurch..it was awesome…and I was wrong about all of it.  That was VERY clear Sunday as we drove past the excavators tearing the building down to make way for a new hotel.

It would be very easy…and a little tempting…as a leader to totally “forget” that happened.   Not that many people know that story any more.  We are blessed to have a great home at Frank Theaters that looks like it was built for us.  We have EVERYTHING we need to reach WAY MORE people than we are reaching now…no excuses.  I’d like to just forget about it personally.  It’s embarrassing.

However, as I study the Gospels and the Book of Acts for the “AFTERWORDS” series, the writers recorded the failures and faithless moments of the apostles, again and again.  They could have sanitized the story.  The could have made every Apostle look infallible…but they didn’t.  Instead, they recorded the truth and let GOD be the hero of the story instead of men.

I want the story of actionchurch to be like that.  I want the power of God to be evident to everyone.  I want the story to include the many times I’ve been wrong.   I want people to know that I’ve been wrong in the past…and besides when it comes to attempting things that are destined to fail unless God is in them to reach more people…as the country song says:

“I ain’t sorry, and I’m probably gonna do it again.” :-)

 

 

Focus

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LittleBigBook
One of the exciting things about being part of a growing church like actionchurch…a place with new faces, new talents, and new resources each week…is that many possibilities are open to us as a church.  Each week there are more GOOD things that we can do as we grow.   I’m as excited about those opportunities as anyone,  but here’s why our focus as a church is so important to our future.

If we focus on being noticed in the community, (build stuff, protest stuff, sponsor stuff) we could make a name for ourselves as a church.

If we focus solely on the sermon…on teaching the Bible, on making sure that actionchurch people are ready at any moment to win a Bible trivia contest, we can make students who will return to church each week to learn more.

If we focus on entertaining people and providing them with ministries that meet their personal needs we can make customers…maybe even repeat customers…that will come back whenever we have something new and exciting to offer.

If we turn our focus inward…put community with our friends at actionchurch above all else, we can form a really enjoyable social club. (And feel really “Holy” for spending so much time at “church”.)

If we make our primary focus on providing consumable goods…food, shelter, counseling, “help”…we can make dependents that need us each day to provide for and guide them.

BUT, if we focus EVERYTHING we do (Sunday Morning services, actiongroups, acts of Service and generosity in our community) on inspiring, supporting, and teaching individuals to obediently follow Jesus “BY FAITH”…we can make disciples.  THEY can then do things that we as a church could never accomplish corporately. Together, what we would then make is A REAL DIFFERENCE in our communities for Jesus.

Old School…but it just might work. :-)

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)

Fighting Normal

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PowerUP

This coming Sunday will be the crescendo of the POWERDOWN sermon series, and the beginning of the POWERDOWN initiative for actionchurch.  If you’re wondering what the “big deal” is…why this isn’t just ANOTHER monthly sermon series…why we believe this will matter over the next five years and beyond…it’s because what we are attempting as a church is NOT normal.

It’s normal for church organizations to become more complex and bureaucratic as they grow.

It’s normal to move from aggressive, to passive and “safe”, as an organization ages.

It’s normal to move from empowering new leaders,  to gathering power and resources for those at the “top” of an organization.

It’s also normal for leaders who started out inexperienced and unqualified, to want to make sure that only “qualified and experienced” people do ministry.

It’s also completely normal for a church that started out with the single goal of introducing people to the Good News of Jesus, to over time become completely absorbed in building and maintaining  the “church” instead of continuing to spread that good news.

It’s normal to turn from looking out…to looking in.

The POWERDOWN initiative is an effort to NEVER BE NORMAL.  Ever.

Whether you’ve been with actionchurch since the beginning, or if Sunday is your first day, I  can’t wait to share how YOU can help us fight normal.

 

Sunday @ actionchurch

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crewtagevolution

For once I feel a bit lacking for words to describe what will be beginning Sunday at actionchurch. The “PowerDown Initiative” is something we’ve been working toward over the last six+ months…but in a larger sense…for the last five years. If you consider actionchurch to be your “home” church…I ask that you do not miss this series. “PowerDown” will lay out the direction and path that actionchurch will be heading for the next five years, and  beyond. If have been considering taking actionchurch for a “test drive” or you’ve only attended a few times and aren’t really sure what actionchurch is all about, February would also be a GREAT month to attend as we “tell all” during the PowerDown series.

We’ve got some great tunes planned for this month, starting with “Brethren” on Sunday.  actionkidz has a Super Bowl party planned, and we’ll all try to contain our excitement Sunday as the hours wind down to Puppy Bowl IX!  As always there will also be loads of yummy Maple Donuts, Muffins, Bagels, Hot Coffee, water, and great actionchurch people to hang with.   It all starts at 10:30 am at Frank Theaters Queensgate (Directions).

Thanksgiving “instructions”

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I’m so proud and excited about our team leaving thanksgiving evening to serve alongside other churches in the SandyThanksgiving relief efforts for our neighbors in New Jersey!  I hope you will pray for them as they travel and work. Thank you for donating funds for the effort. Thanks to you we were able to send $5300.00 to Liquid Church who is gathering the funds and volunteers. Thank you also for supporting actionchurch every week financially.  It is because of your faithful giving that we were prepared to fund the travel and  supplies needed for our team.

I want to share a paragraph from Kenna’s final instruction email for her team:

“I would  like to remind all of you that actionchurch always goes above and beyond.  If they ask us to spray two houses, lets try for three.  If they ask us to spray 20 houses – do it with a smile.  If someone like’s your action t-shirt – give it to them.  Clean our work areas, be polite and courteous to everyone (even if they aren’t nice to you),  you get the picture…. Let’s just go way overboard with showing God’s love this weekend in a really big way.”

I can’t tell you how happy I was to read those words…and not just because they sound like they came directly from our core values written in the original actionchurch “Manifesto”.  They reminded me of MUCH older words.  They reminded me of things Jesus said to his followers.  “If someone slaps you, turn the other cheek.”  “Go the Second mile.”  “You are the light of the world”. “The Kingdom of Heaven is in you”   I can’t think of better instructions for ALL of us…as a church…and much more importantly…as followers of Jesus.

So, whether you are looking forward to a few days off work, or if you are preparing to work harder than you ever have…whether you are spending time with family, or working a double shift at the plant…Thanksgiving is a great opportunity not only to be grateful, but to show our gratitude to our Savior by showing his love to everyone around us.  Invite someone who is lonely to share in your meal.  Forgive someone who has wronged you.  Listen to someone at your table who has lost a job, or a marriage, or a dream.  Love the unlovely.  Be Polite.  Be courteous. Do it with a smile.  Let’s go way overboard with showing God’s love this weekend.  The kingdom of heaven is in YOU.