I’ve Got Your Back

We just recently attended an awesome conference called Unleash and during the last session there was a powerful moment where we surrounded our pastor and prayed for him. The purpose of this time was to let him know that we have his back. I can tell you this is huge in a pastor’s life. In my humble opinion I feel like ministry is the toughest job on the planet. It is the one thing that you can never shut off. You think about people every minute of every day and your heart breaks over people who don’t know Jesus. It breaks for broken marriages. It hurts when its members hurt. You constantly think about how to build up people and your church. Ministry carries a weight that is indescribable.

As an executive pastor I have to tell you that I long for your support….of my pastor. I have had several people tell me since the conference that they have my back and I know that they mean it and it is appreciated but the most important thing to me and what helps me sleep at night is knowing that through hell or high water the people of Lifepoint Church support Pastor Jeff. I believe with all my heart that God appoints a leader over each church and that leader has to know that you are with them. So pray for your pastor today and next time you see him, let him know your with him.

Third Grade Just Called

Don’t know if you guys know this about me but I take my job seriously (sometimes to seriously). My job has to do with people finding out about eternal life. Each decision that I make, each conversation that I have, each dollar that I spend, each thing that I do could have life or death ramifications.

So, sue me if this offends you but I am tired of the stupid emails about your feelings being hurt or you noticing a flaw in our church. Here is a thought, maybe your the solution to the problem either that or satan sent you to slow us down (you be the judge).  Maybe you should volunteer on that team that didn’t meet your standards or encourage that person that you are complaining about.

This ones free, don’t tell me about the person talking bad about the church, or the pastor, or your family, get a back bone and call them out (the Bible tells us to).

I guess what I am trying to say is that we are not playing church, we are the church and if you are more into drama than seeing people come to know Jesus then please find another place to go.

Becareful What You Pray For

Several years ago Pastor Dino Rizzo told Jeff and I that if you take the people no one wants then God will give you the ones that everyone wants.

That statement affected us so much that when we started Lifepoint Church 3 years ago that was our prayer. “God, give us the ones that no one wants” .

Today as I reflect on one of our most powerful services to date and I read through prayer cards, I can’t help but thank God for answering our prayers. Now if you go to Lifepoint, don’t think that I am dissing you. The statement and the prayer are in reference to people that have been thrown under the bus, rejected, hurt, people with addictions, anger problems, social issues, etc. I would pretty much say that this list is a good description of Lifepoint Church.

The world may have given up on these people, their families may have given up on them and their friends may have given up on them but the truth is that God hasn’t and He is just getting started with these folks. That’s the beautiful part of the story. Our church is so full of potential and full of people that are truly being change by the love of Christ that it makes me crazy excited.

I can’t wait to see this group of Lifepointer’s fully engaged in God’s plan for their lives. It’s going to be awesome!