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Archive for March, 2008|Monthly archive page

This weekend, New Staff Needed and our CHINA CAMPUS LAUNCH!!!!

In china campus, Church Staffing, New Hope News, re:source on March 31, 2008 at 12:18 am

Hey all! I pray that the services this weekend were a BREATH of fresh air as we prepare for an amazing series…HOW? It will change all of us! And yes, I am feeling better. I truly BELIEVE I was SICK this weekend to allow the Nooma Teaching to prepare our hearts. Thanks for praying for me! Still need a day or 2 for full strength.

Our CHINA campus launched this weekend. Read Mom’s letter HERE about their first launch meeting. (Please don’t post or write about locations or use people’s names for obvious reasons). All I can say is WOW. Only God. All the way from little ‘ol Loudonville!!!!!!!!! Don’t ever let anyone say that a small town cannot have a MAJOR IMPACT on the world. We just need to keep practicing OBEDIENCE and let HIM do the rest. The pic is some, not all of the people @ the first gathering. (Picture Blurred for Security).

Other news…We are now the proud owners of the property next door to the Loudonville campus. YES! STORAGE!!! Jim and others will be VERY HAPPY!

Our Ashland Launch Team is killing it…we have so many of the positions filled! BUT YES, we still need you if you feel GOD calling you that way. E-mail me. We are also beginning to interview for the Campus Pastor position @ Ashland, Creative Arts/Worship @ Ashland AND @ the Wooster Campus. 3 positions opening up…any referrals? Send them our way!

Lastly, I have an only God thing again that has happened at NEW HOPE. And you thought the Catalyst Road Trip was huge…wait until we make this HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT on Thursday, April 10th, right here on the GURGE. Be the first to hear the huge news before the weekend service right here, and once again I can say…ONLY GOD!

And our conference this Fall has maybe been officially named: “re:SOURCE.” I think we owe KEVIN RUSH some money or something. I am sure he will remind me if it sticks. I love it.

blessings and peace this week.

i let out a yell and scared my daughter.

In catalyst road trip on March 27, 2008 at 2:04 am

I have to say a HUGE THANKS to all of you who helped New Hope out last week…cause out of all the cities in the WORLD…we flippin’ won the CATALYST ROAD TRIP SWEEPSTAKES VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD!!!!!!

Beating out cities like Portland, Oregon and Washington D.C. Sissies…

One million dollars and a stack of Andy Stanley CD’s are the spoils. Well…maybe the second one and if we are good maybe we could bribe some free CATALYST tix this year. When I saw we had won, I let out a yell and scared the little farting daughter. (Sorry…would have had to have been @ Easter ’08 to get that one).

Thanks to all of you who annoyed the SNOT out of LV Hanson (might be some relation to Aaron & Heidi who were one of the annoyers he said)…and, he has a bone to pick with some of the rest of y’all he said…but ain’t no messin’ with the Yanks up north! He better back that V dub up.

Anyway…they will be here in MAY and we will treat them to a real HOG ROAST like they have never seen before…if they don’t get stopped by the cops for that HOOPTIE they are driving. THANKS ALL…NEW HOPE ROCKS! Country folk can surviveeeeeeeee.

READ the STORY HERE.

re:gurging a great one…

In Church Leadership, Family on March 25, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Had a great family day yesterday…Panera Bread (Taco Bell is so much more economical), and then off to Horton Hears a Who, (all in WooTown) and then my daughter Grace’s 7th Birthday party (her “family” party…she has had 3 so far). Man, I was 1 and done as a kid. [She has had a friend party, one side of the family party, the other side of the family party...you know how it goes when family is spread out...] Great time though all day with the fam. I really love my clan.

For my fellow Pastor friends and those who desire to see some insight into a Pastor’s life…here is a great short post from SWERVE. Please take the time…it is revealing. If you don’t read Swerve and are in ministry…you are missing out on some big time stuff.

blessings and peace.

back, back, back gone!!!!!!!!!!

In New Hope Stuff on March 24, 2008 at 1:58 pm

Easter hangover. Ouch. Most of us are off on Monday’s, and I closed the office Tuesday for some extra rest for all the staff. They deserve it and we really need it. We have an amazing staff…as if you didn’t know that. Half the staff compared to most churches our size, yet they are knocking it deep all the time. NO EXCUSES.

Here is the scoop: A TON of people TRUSTED CHRIST this weekend. It made it all worthwhile. That’s why we do what we do. Our teams knocked it out of the park at all our campuses! Our staff, volunteers and the spirit of our people was off the chain…big time! If anyone every accused us of being ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS, they are RIGHT! We are all about these numbers…THEY CHANGE ETERNITY and we make no flipping excuses for that one!

Pastor Tim @ Wooster talked to a young man struggling with homosexuality that has been booted out of 2 churches (just for asking for help)…a Muslim man visiting the USA from Egypt has been mesmerized by our services…a whole row of people I have been trying to reach who have struggled in the past with drugs, alcohol and other crazy stuff…the whole row with them and THEIR people they got there…and on and on…ONLY GOD! ANY STORIES YOU HAVE TO SHARE?

Oh…those other numbers you ask? Not sure on how many people showed yet, but probably between 1,500-1,600 people who heard the dangerous message of Christ. I pray that lives were changed and it wasn’t a typical Easter weekend where tons of new people come out and few there be that sticketh.

I am so proud of our staff, and especially proud of our people who did INVEST and INVITE people with the prayer we would changes some eternities in Jesus name! Way to go NEW HOPE! Now…let’s get them ALL back NEXT WEEKEND! Our new series on WALKING THE JOURNEY OF GROWTH will rock us to the core.

Pop some aspirin…shake off the hang-over and let’s get back at it. HEAVEN came down…let’s keep it rollin’. Love you all. This is an AMAZING church! And we serve an AMAZING SAVIOR…who deserves our praise and honor every day! No spiritual hang-overs allowed.

blessings.

pic: http://flickr.com/photos/48784910@N00/217402107/

help us pick the next sermon topic…HOW? see below.

In Sermon Series on March 20, 2008 at 1:38 am

Hey all! I love when we do this…so here we go:

We are starting a series after Easter that will help us answer the question: HOW do we GROW SPIRITUALLY and LIVE the JOURNEY of FAITH? Here are the topics that we are kicking around so far, and we need your help for some more ideas and/or to change the path we are on by God’s divine guidance. Here’s some ideas we have so far:

1. How to Grow (My Job or God’s Job?)
2. How to Walk the Journey of Faith
3. How to Have Daily Time With God
4. How to Have an Effective Prayer Life
5. How to Hear God’s Voice
6. ????

This series is going to rock my world, I pray it does yours as well. We all are commanded to continue to GROW and MATURE in our faith and look @ GOD’S WORD for HOW we are to accomplish this. The graphic above is the starting product for this series…

PLEASE HELP! Also…don’t forget to sign up for blog updates via e-mail on the side bar or via a RSS reader…for all the latest news. To suggest a sermon topic for this series on SPIRITUAL GROWTH, just click on the “comments” below and leave the suggestion…THANKS!!!!

And of course…are you still WORKING on your 3? I have a few nailed down (with my neighbor who has been coming for the last 3 weeks, who was on my list the past 2 years…who is now helping invite others…only GOD!).

Don’t forget to go to our website…6 services in 2 locations and ALL of them have DIFFERENT times for Easter only and will be back to normal times after Easter…but how cool if we didn’t have to cut back services after Easter? HUH????? Only God. See the SITE for full details.

SPECIAL NOTE: At the Loudonville Campus don’t forget the week after Easter we will be moving the SATURDAY NIGHT SERVICE TIME TO 6:30pm. Our team needs to get home earlier and for a year we have been kicking this around…after our survey last year, this was the best solution for now.

LAST NOTE: This Friday from 4-8pm we will be having an AMAZING, INTERACTIVE Good Friday walk-through service. Come when you can…leave when you need too. This is something that you will not want to miss as we experience CHRIST is a radically new and PERSONAL, EXPERIENTIAL way. No experience necessary. It will be very out of the box and touch your soul in new and fresh ways. See ya there.

blessings and peace.

why numbers send people to hell.

In Church Leadership, evangelism, wake up on March 18, 2008 at 12:22 pm

This is not surprising at all…our research into our church and how people end up at New Hope reflect this trend. While marketing does bring in many new families (who hopefully in return bring in their family/friends) and helped us draw LARGE opening days in Loudonville and Wooster, teaching our congregations to be out there on the front lines at all times will radically change our communities. Looking for a step-off point? Check out this MESSAGE (Why.4) we did last weekend.

Here are the NUMBERS:

Greatest Influence in Coming to Church according to Research by the Barna Group: >>42% said a family member >> 35% said their wife >> 18% said their child >> 16% said other >> 9% said parents >> 3% said siblings >> 2% said parents-in-law >> Husbands had a minimal influence. They ranked below wives, children, and parents. >>25% said no one >>17% said other >>8% said coworker >>6% said neighbor >>2% said merchant

So…who are YOUR 3 for this WEEK AND BEYOND?

Who needs to kick it up a notch? MEN, Neighbors, Co-workers…let’s all go out this week with the feet, eyes, ears, touch, heart and passion of Jesus and to always have a seeker on our ARM or in our HEART. Let’s INVEST and INVITE. I truly believe we will have 2,000 people this weekend. Would that number impress me?

Yes. The more people to hear the GOSPEL of JESUS, not to just allow us to BRAG about how many were at our Easter Services. Contrary to those who make EXCUSES, those NUMBERS are IMPORTANT. They have ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.

blessings and peace.

cf: http://churchrelevance.com/americans-most-important-relationship/
pic: http://flickr.com/photos/tochis/1169807846/

my final 4…

In big push, Church Leadership on March 17, 2008 at 12:31 am

drew…pat…joe…dan.

And you thought I was talking about March Madness? I am.

Next weekend is Easter and this weekend we challenged people to list 3 friends (yeah…4…I never liked rules anyway) who they will be inviting next weekend AND BEYOND. (We aren’t just asking people to come 1 week, but for several to develop true followers of Christ and not just a one big day hoo-rah…the BIG PUSH methodology).

That’s the most important final 4 all month. Eternal champions.

I do like North Carolina in the other thing in case you were wondering…and Bobby Knight just picked Pittsburg to win it all on ESPN.

blessings and peace.

leadership thoughts from Unleash

In Church Leadership, Unleash Conference on March 15, 2008 at 8:30 pm

One of the things that I have always observed about leaders is this one simple principle: Leaders have a dream and they do it. No matter the obstacles. THEY FLAT GET IT DONE. No excuses.

I was reminded of this truth this week at Unleash. Wow. See all the notes from Tony Morgan HERE and HERE. I was going to blog them, but bandwidth hogs stole the show. And, Tony did a really great job keeping them brief. He was also a really great guy to meet. Humble and genuine…

Another principle that I needed re-inforced was that leaders MUST learn from other leaders and need REFRESHED as the toll of getting it done is immense. I needed to be fed and refreshed…and of course the weather was in the 70′s…don’t worry weary Ohioans…Spring is coming, it’s just several hours south right now.

Perry wanted to light our butts on fire. (Should I have taken more than that away?) Anyway, he did that. Thanks Perry and NewSpring.

blessings and peace.

ready to get UNLEASHED

In Big Church-Small Town Church Leadership, Church Leadership on March 12, 2008 at 12:46 am

As a leader, you should never stop learning. Learning means: soaking it up, engaging, living out a truth, stealing…yes stealing, and that is what we will be doing tomorrow. From snow to sun…nice huh? Come on, we’re just stealing ideas…mainly.

Heading to NewSpring Church in Anderson, S.C. (they think ANDERSON is a small town…come on…) for the UNLEASH Conference. We will learn, engage, soak it up and of course steal. (And yes, KEZ…we will try to legally purchase a Lee McDerment CD for you, unless of course we can heist one.)

As a Pastor in a small town, or any town for that matter…you MUST continue to be stretched and steal…I mean learn, well you get the point. Stop building your Kingdom higher and higher and be humble and get out there and GROW, be stretched, LEARN WELL…in whatever God is asking you to grow in.

And yes, I did the WALL @ Holiday Valley, or well, it did me. Video to come soon.

blessings and peace.

weekend news…

In My Life, New Hope News on March 7, 2008 at 8:53 pm

You all know I’m already crazy. So yes, when a major snow storm hits and I don’t have to teach that weekend, of course, I’m dumb by most people’s standards, but insanely smart to the rest of you who are extreme risk takers like me; so, of course, we’re driving to Holiday Valley to ski. What else would you expect? Besides broken bones, and whole bunch of crashed cars already and we’re only 2 hours into the trip (no we haven’t broken any bones)…yet. But that sounds like a lot of fun…

Because of the magic of technology, I will still be preaching at all campuses and all services this weekend. Trust me, it’s a weekend you won’t soon forget as we continue our series looking at the WHY behind God’s big crazy dreams, and how I’m supposed to be a part of making His dreams a reality.

And the best part is, I promise my sermon is around 30 minutes or less, guaranteed, at all services in all locations. And you know that hasn’t happened in 1, or 2…well actually it’s never happened. So enjoy!

I know the weather is tricky, so watch our website, listen to the radio, look on TV, we’ll try to have at least most of our services up and running. But I promise you this is a weekend worth venturing out for.

blessings, peace, and pray for bones to stay intact.

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