Had a great trip to NC for an assessment center for church planters. My wife and I went through one before we launched The Bridge. This trip was to take our first potential church planters down to see if they were right for church planting. The whole experience was great - the first time we were at one we were the assessed and learned a lot about ourselves. This time I was their to help with assessing and again learned a lot about myself. It is a very thorough process! I am excited about the future of church planting as I see the people coming through looking at getting into planting. Our candidates got a recommend for planting with some conditions to be met. They are now in training. Very excited about the next church we are starting!

Doing a Relationship series now - looked at what relationships are and why we need them to start with. It was interesting researching this and taking it all the way back to the beginning. Realized in this process that we were designed as relational creatures, in the image of God, because God is a relational being. The Trinity is a revelation of God as a relational being, complete in all ways. The relationship that is described as a Father, Son and Spirit reveals a 3 person God that is eternally in relationship with Himself and is not in need of any other being for relationship. Some have said that God created man because He needed someone else to love, but this thought process is describing a deficient God. The Trinity is just one more revelation of a God that is complete unto Himself with no other needs yet still created man out of love, not need.

Anyway...I gained a better understanding of why relationships are so important and compelling for all of us. The need for relationships is designed into us and to meet that need we will often accept unhealthy relationships rather than no relationships. Any relationship in the human realm has to be between two people - a two part relationship. Looking at our model for healthy relationships we see a 3 part relationship, the Trinity. To bring health to our human relationships we need the 3rd part and that is inviting our Creator into the relationship. With God in our relationships we will start to find health and joy.

I could go on, but those are my thoughts on this for today.

We are up to 3 services on Sundays now - 11 am, 4 pm and 6 pm. Developing new bands for worship, training workers for all areas, finding and growing new leaders and planning our next church launch. God is bigger has been our motto recently - many difficulties, but God overcomes them all! Excited about all the growth - growth in the number of people attending, spiritual growth and leadership growth!

Been a very busy summer - lot of good stuff accomplished and plenty of troubles to wade through. God is good! The Bridge has been steadily growing and impacting lives in positive ways. New leaders are growing. Lives are being healed. Families reunited. New families begun. Marriages and funerals. The Word is going out and connecting people to their Creator. Finances are starting to get fixed. Chains of bondage are being broken. Plans for the next church launch are in process. People in the community are being loved. God's hand is being revealed. It has been a very busy summer!

Salvation according to John MacArthur

I have been reading stuff by John MacArthur for a couple years now and I find it interesting that he is so condemning of people like Rick Warren and spends so much time telling everyone how to properly evangelize yet he completely disregards Jesus method of evangelism. He condemns Rick Warren for not mentioning repentance in the prayer for salvation - he only mentioned believe and receive, but left out repentance. John 1, Acts 10 and 1Timothy 1 are just a few of the many scriptures that teach the concept of believe and receive with no reference to repentance. On the cross Jesus told the criminal that today he would be in heaven with Him with no reference to repentance or, the much touted by John MacArthur, fear of God and crushing weight of sin. I guess according to John MacArthur Jesus did not tell people the correct way of salvation....

Just a little bit more!

I read about a 15% principle on Seth Godin's blog - lose 15% of your business and you may have to close the doors, gain 15% and you may double your profits. Once you have reached the breakeven point the hard work is done - it took 100% to get there, but a 15% change can make or break you. Just do 15% more and find the success you desire!

I have seen so many people work hard to get to the point of breakeven then give up - whether in business or relationships. Most couples go through hell together then divorce when things begin to improve. Many people go through the hardest times then give up shortly after the worst is over. In business building the foundation is very difficult to establish and feels very unrewarding, but once it is established the rest is just following the pattern and growing the other 15%.

If things seem hopeless in any area just remember - all you need is a 15% improvement to drastically change the picture! Run after the last 15% like you did the first!

2 services

We did our 2 service test drive - really looks like people will want a later service rather than an earlier service. The transitions went well. Need to get more volunteers overall, but we did have some crossover where a volunteer worked one service and attended another. It was a good experience. Pretty sure we will have to go to 2 services in the fall just to fit in the existing chairs.

Update

It has been nearly a year since my last post! The past year has been full and exciting. Last year at this time we were just getting The Bridge going and in many ways I still feel like we are just getting going. I have been disappointed that we have not grown as fast I would have liked to, but I do recognize that God has grown us at the maximum rate we can handle - faster growth would probably have caused a serious implosion. God has been pruning the people that work at The Bridge and bringing the right ones in. I really see that there are people that have tremendous difficulty working in a functioning church, but may be great supporters for starting a church.

It seems we are on the edge of something great - about to explode with growth! Our people attending are great - very humble, down to earth, loving and accepting! I am humbled to serve here. Over the past year God has revealed to me so many ways I have been a hypocrite in leading church ministries. We now have several smokers in leadership positions - a few years ago I would probably have said I would never allow that. Now I see that we all have places in our lives that are strongholds - weight issues, gossip, meanness, lying, slander, smoking, drinking, sexual issues etc. Where do I draw the line? I guess for now as I am trying to figure it out the line would probably have to do with how hurtful that stronghold is to others, how it affects their ability to function and how that person is growing spiritually. Smoking is not a sin issue, it is a health issue - do we condemn the diabetic that eats wrong and exclude them from leadership? Gossip is a sin issue that destroys others. Being fat is a health issue. Lying could be a bad habit that affects few beyond the liar or destroys others.

Having a black and white rule book would sure be nice! I try my best to let love by my guide - Jesus said to love God and love others and all the rules and laws are hung on those 2 principles. I am thankful to God for bringing me into this church planting role and the humbling it has brought to my life. God is stretching and growing me in huge ways! I really do love the people He has put in my life through the Bridge!