The Mondays – I AM Week 5

What a great weekend. On Sunday, Rock City celebrated with a ton of people who took their next step in faith. Seeing person after person step into the water as a symbol of their transformation in Christ is something that never gets old. Each time we do it, I think “this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

On Sunday, Chad gave a great message on John 11: 25-26.

The context of the story is: two sisters want Jesus to come and heal their brother Lazarus. He’s a good friend of Jesus and they’re certain if he can just get there in time, their brother will be ok. He tells them not to worry and then he does nothing. Long story short … Lazarus dies. Understandably, the sisters are upset. Jesus finally shows up 4 days later acting like it’s no big deal. Many of you know the story ends well, however. Jesus tells (a very dead) Lazarus to get up out of his tomb and the guy walks out!

A couple of things Chad shared that really stuck with me as he was telling this story of Lazarus:

1. Sometimes God waits BECAUSE he loves us … not because he’s mad at us.

2. My preference and comfort will ALWAYS be trumped by His Glory. It’s not about me. It’s about him and what he wants to do in and through me. That means that ultimately, my comfort is not all that important to him.

3. Jesus wants us to trust him for who HE is, not for what he DOES. This is a big one for me. So often our faith meter goes up and down based on what God is or is not doing in our life in this moment. But Jesus says: I AM. And he wants us to believe in him based on that, not on something we’ve asked him to do.

Here’s a couple of adorable pics of one of the many people who got baptized this week. You can see her sweet son in the background video taping his mom’s baptism on her iPhone and then their sweet little kiss afterwards.  I’m so proud of this single mom for leading her son through her faith. It’s a beautiful thing.

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The Mondays – I AM Week 4

We’ve been looking at the seven things that Jesus said about Himself while he was here on earth. This weekend’s service was so powerful. We “met” Sean. A veteran whose story of courage and faith was so inspiring.

You can click HERE to Meet Sean for yourself!

Chad shared with us why, so many times in scripture, God chose to compare us to sheep and why he calls Himself the “Good Shephard.”

I guess I never really thought about it before but as he shared, it did occur to me that it was odd. Why Sheep? Chad’s explanation didn’t do much for my ego. Here’s some facts about sheep.

-They are stubborn.
-They will follow just about anyone even if it means they are putting themselves in danger.
-They are defenseless.
-They are dirty because they aren’t able to clean themselves.
-They wander … all the time.

Sound familiar? How interesting it is that, out of all of the animals in creation, God would choose to compare us to these, for lack of a better word, dumb animals. Sheep need guidance. Sheep need to be protected. Sheep need to be shown which way to go.

In John 10:11-15 Jesus says:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father —and I lay down my life for the sheep.“

Although most of us would not like to admit it, we need a lot of guidance in our life. I can barely decide what to wear each day or what to make for dinner without the opinion of someone else. And I am grateful for a God that does not leave us to our own devices. When we wander, he comes to find us. And what makes him “good” is that despite the fact that he knows me better than anyone, he still chose to lay down his life for me.

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The Mondays – I AM Week 3

What a great series this has been! We’ve been looking at the seven things that Jesus said about himself … who he is, why he came and what we should do about it. We were so blessed to have Lee Powell and his wife Joi with us this weekend. Lee is the Senior Pastor of Cedar Creek Church in Toledo, Ohio. A few thoughts from my heart about Lee, his wife Joi and the amazing church they lead.

1. When no one else believed in us and the dream God had given us, Cedar Creek did.

2. Cedar Creek showed us what it looks like to love people like God loves them.

3. Lee and the the other Elders (Hooty and Ed) are there for Chad whenever he needs them for whatever reason. They are the real deal.

4. Joi told me once that in the early days, her role was to fill in the gaps until someone came along who could do it better … then she got out-of-the-way. As a Lead Pastor’s wife, this statement was perhaps the most valuable thing anyone has told me. 

5. The Cedar Creek team lives out generosity. If they can give it to you, they will, no matter how big or how small. They view nothing as theirs … only God’s. 

I truly believe that Rock City would not be where it is at today, were it not for the support and generosity of Cedar Creek Church. We are so blessed to call them friends.

Lee did a great job this weekend teaching Rock City on one of the most challenging I AM statements Jesus made. In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I Am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a new feature on the Rock City website where you’ll be able to watch past messages including this great one from Lee! 

 

 

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Meet Jane

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing a woman who has served Columbus for over 30 years. She and her husband David moved to one of the poorest parts of the city to be a light to the people there.

Sometimes you meet someone who challenges everything you think is normal and right. She is one of those people. Her heart for others is so real and so raw. When the interview was over, I honestly didn’t want to leave. I am looking forward to spending a lot more time with her on her cute little porch.

CLICK HERE to meet Jane.

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The Mondays – Normal Isn’t Working PT 3

Of Jesus’ many guarantees, there is one I never like to be reminded of:

John 16:33 – In this world you WILL have trouble. 

You only have to be alive for about 3.2 seconds before you realize the truth to this blunt statement. I wish He would have said “you might have trouble,” or “you will have trouble if you are a really horrible person.” But no, He does not. This is a one size fits all promise. No matter who you are, how much money you have, how much you pray, how much faith you have, you WILL have trouble.

Thankfully, He does not end the thought with that depressing statement.

John 16:33 – In this world you WILL have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

I had the extreme privilege of spending several hours last week with a woman who has fully owned and received this promise from our Savior.

Lori found a lump on her breast 3 years ago as she was nursing her second child. After several false diagnoses, a biopsy revealed an extremely rare form of cancer that was in stage 4. The thought of hearing those words given to me by a doctor is, honestly, beyond my ability to comprehend. At the time, Lori had two young children, a flourishing career as a physician and a husband who adored her.

Three years later the cancer has spread throughout her entire body. She has traveled the country visiting the world’s most prominent doctors, lost her hair, gone through every treatment known to man and has basically been given just months to live.

As she shared her medical story with us, I just kept thinking: “How in the world is this woman even here right now? How could she possibly have the physical and emotional strength to recap with a group of complete strangers all that she has been through?”

After her medical story, she got to talking about her sweet children. What it has been like to come to the realization that she may not be here to watch them grow up. She shared how she has written birthday cards for each of their birthdays for years to come, bought them gifts for their wedding days that are to be given to them from her.

Can you imagine?

And would you believe in all of that she did not shed a tear? Not one tear. I’ve never seen such strength and peace.

Only when she began talking about her Jesus did the tears come. It was as if they were reserved for Him. This God who had held her hand so tightly these last three years. This God who she knew more intimately now than ever before. This God whom she trusted completely and unreservedly.

When Chad read Revelation 21: 4 this weekend, I immediately thought of Lori. How she must feel reading these words and how she has embraced this promise as her life’s song.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” 

Yes, we can count on the trouble. We can count on the fact that life will NOT go according to our plan. We can count on it being MORE than we can bear.

I loved how Chad summed this up on Sunday:

In this life:

-SYSTEMS will be shaken, but in God’s power we will remain STABLE.
-RELATIONSHIPS will be shaken, but in God’s presence we will remain SECURE.
-HOPES will be shaken, but in God’s promises we will remain CONFIDENT.

Here’s a pic of Lori with my sweet Wednesday Morning group. What a gift she gave us all.

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The Mondays – Because Normal Isn’t Working Pt 2

“BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T…”

When we read these words together this weekend at Rock City, I was hit like a ton of bricks. This was part 2 of our series: Because Normal Isn’t Working and Chad shared, from Daniel 3, a story of abnormal faith. I had read the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego countless times. You might remember it too … 3 young guys, evil king with big ego, fiery furnace, etc., etc.

We can all agree that being thrown into a furnace and walking out unscathed is kind of a big deal. It’s the kind of miracle that strengthens our faith, gets us excited and helps us walk through our own trials.  If God can do it for them, He can certainly get me out of this mess that I am in, or that trial you are facing. But what if He doesn’t? What if He hadn’t? What if those three young men had died in that fiery furnace King Nebuchadnezzar had prepared especially for them? Would it have changed anything?

The answer: No.

In Daniel 3: 16-18 we hear the abnormal faith of three men whose faith was not based on a miracle, a prayer or a hope but in a certainty in WHO God is.

“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand. But even if he doesn’t, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of the gold you have set up.”

What they are saying is that no matter how this thing goes down, Our God is still God. I heard Beth Moore say one time, that God will either deliver us to the fire, through the fire or from the fire. I think most of my prayers are focused on God delivering me from the fire. I’d rather not even go there. Chad described it as this:

“Most of us spend the majority of our life seeking a faith that will keep us from the fire, instead of seeking a God that will be with us IN the fire.”

I also loved what he said about real faith.

“Real faith believes that God CAN, expects that God WILL, but trusts HIM even when He doesn’t.”

God, give me a “Even if you don’t” kind of faith. Help me see You in the trials that I face and help me glorify you to others as I go through the fire.

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My Easter Top 10

There are about a hundred moments from this Easter weekend that were amazing. We had record attendance, with 700 people joining us at one of our 3 services and over 60 people making commitments to Get On Their Mark with God! That makes all of the craziness leading up to this weekend worth it.

Here are my Top 10 from Easter 2012:

1. Good Friday Communion and Prayer
On Friday night we joined with some of our Rock City team to thank God for His sacrifice and pray for Sunday. We prayed for every seat, every person that would walk through the doors and every heart that would hear the message of God’s love.

2. Volunteer Rock Stars
One guy walked into our church for the first time this weekend and told a volunteer: “I’ve never seen people more excited to be at church.” That’s an understatement buddy. Our volunteers put their heart, soul, sweat and tears into each weekend. I am so thankful for each and every volunteer who made this weekend so special. Here’s a pic someone snapped of some of our volunteers after the 3rd service after loading up the last trailer. It was hard to get these guys to go home!

3. Easter Bunny Fun
One of the perks of being a Pastor’s Kid is that the Easter Bunny comes to your house a day early! We had so much fun with our girls on Saturday morning. The Easter Bunny brought a few Build-A-Bear gift cards so we spent the afternoon picking out the right outfits for our new friends “Bella” and “Stella.”

4. 3rd Service Jitters
We launched our 3rd Sunday Morning worship experience on Easter Sunday. It kind of felt like launch day all over again. I was sitting in the sound booth thinking: “Oh God, please let people come!” Sure enough, at 12:31 people started streaming in. We met many people who thanked us for offering the 12:30 time. We are excited to see what God is going to do during this new service each week!

5. Sunday Afternoon Wind Down with Family and Friends
After the marathon of a morning, we were able to wind down a bit with our family and friends over some delish City BBQ catering (yes, I have their number on speed dial). We laughed a ton and reflected on all that God had done that morning.

6. Unexpected Sister Time
This may seem silly, but one of the highlights of the weekend for me was an impromptu visit with my sissy Saturday afternoon. We walked around her adorable yard, talked about the flowers and veggies we should plant in a few weeks and even got some sun.

7. Seeing over 60 people stand to their feet and accept Christ
This never gets old. One person who really touched me was brought by a couple who had just gotten on their mark a few months ago. They brought their friend for the first time and when it came time for people to stand to their feet if they wanted to accept Christ, he was one of the first to stand. The couple who had brought him had tears in their eyes and it was a beautiful sight.

8. Because Normal Isn’t Working – Everywhere
Our volunteers all rocked the new Because Normal Isn’t Working Rock City Swag this weekend.

9. Neighbors Inviting Neighbors
I met several families and single people who were invited by neighbors and came for the first time this weekend. I love the heart of our church and I love that Rock City is a place where people can proudly invite their friends.

10. Aftermath
Mondays in our world are always a bit rough. We try not to let them, but the coulda, shoulda, woulda’s always find a way to creep into our day. This Monday, however, they didn’t get far. We got so many encouraging emails from people who had visited Rock City for the first time. Some who had gotten on their mark, others who had been looking for a church for a long time, others who weren’t Christians but felt a connection to Rock City and planned to come back. These helped offset the normal Mondays and help us refocus on why we are here.

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The Mondays: On The Verge

Last week was awesome! Chad and I were able to take some of our team to a church we have been learning from for a long time. Perry Noble and Newspring Church in Anderson, SC are big supporters of ARC and they are such a good example of a church that is literally changing an entire city … one person at a time. Benchmarking organizations and leaders that are leading the way is important to us and it was so fun to watch our team’s dreams expand as they walked around their campus and talked with their people.

Here are a few pics from our trip:

This Sunday, Rock City got a little taste of what we experienced and heard a message from Perry Noble. We are in the middle of the Series: On The Verge. Perry is such a good teacher and we were blessed to be able to hear straight from him. In case you missed it, HERE is the message we shared with Rock city Church this weekend. Just Click Week 4 of their “All In” Series.

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The Mondays: On The Verge – Shift

Yesterday’s message at Rock City Church was perhaps more reflective of my husband’s heart than any other message I have ever heard him teach.

When I was in the business world, I had the privilege of being mentored and coached by Jim Shaffer. He is a leading voice in the world of communications and I will be forever grateful for the time he spent developing me. As we navigated the ins and outs of leadership consulting and coaching, he was constantly bringing me back to the his key belief which was: “It’s not enough to SAY it, you have to DO it.”

We worked with countless leaders who had really good intentions. Their hearts were in it. They talked a really good game. But, it was the small handful of leaders that really got this premise that were making a difference, leading the way and producing huge results. They understood that it wasn’t enough to learn the script, wink the eye and pat the back. It took action, making difficult decisions and stretching themselves to get to where they wanted to go.

1 John 3 lays out a pretty good litmus test for whether you are on your mark or not in your walk with God.

 ¹¹ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

There is something amazing that happens when we get on our mark with God. We start seeing the world differently. We start seeing that there are hurting people all around us. Our hearts start breaking for those who are without and we are compelled to take action.

Chad described it on Sunday like this: ” Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, requires much more than having a personal and transforming relationship with God, it also entails and public and transforming relationship with the world around us.”

Making a difference for this generation is going to require a shift. It’s not enough to say we care about them. It’s not enough to say that we love them. It’s not even enough to pray for them. God wants to know: What are you DOING for them?

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The Mondays: On the Verge – Imagine

What an exciting day we had yesterday! Kicking off the new series: On The Verge and celebrating with those who took the next step in their faith and were water baptized!

On the Verge is a series looking at the Greatness of God and what we, as a church, and as individuals are on the verge of as we learn to trust and follow Him. We looked at the story of Ezekiel and the desperate place he was in when God took him to the valley and showed him a crazy, bizarre and astonishing miracle.

God will often use our darkest moments to set the stage for His light to shine and awaken us to who He is. He is in the business of taking a seemingly impossible situation and making it make sense. He is in the business of breathing life into Dead Bones and He is in the business of lifting our eyes out above our current situation so that we can see the place He is taking us.

We also celebrated with many Rock Citiers as they took the plunge! It’s a big deal every time someone takes this step at Rock City and it never gets old seeing a person who is seeking to follow God make this public declaration of their faith.

Personally, it was a very cool day, as among those baptized were three people from our LifeGroup that we get to share and grow with each week! Here’s a grainy picture I took from my perch in the sound booth. Yes, that is a hot tub … outside in February.

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