• We had a guy accept Christ today!
•. I have been pulled out of retirement the past two weeks and helped load in and I can't tell you how grateful I am for our set-up and tear-down teams, every piece of stage lifted, literature handed, sign positioned, matt laid, and light adjusted is part of every messge I preach.
•. I mentioned in my message that as I pondered it this morning, with the way God has blessed us with people accepting Jesus there is no way we could ever complain about the hard work.
•. I'm grateful that Origins has never been a group of complainers, we always rise to the challenge no matter what it is, men and women work hard week after week to make sure that the experience is the best worship experience we can present and we leave it on the field each and every week.
•. I am so excited about next week; if you know anyone who has struggled with thinking God can use them or finding purpose in their life or feeling like a failure get them to Origins next week...I beleive God is gonna show up in an extraordinary way!
•. I think a combination of the cold rain this morning and the UFC fight last night thinned our crowd a bit but there were still a bunch of guests.
•. I'm really excited about our Christmas Eve service at Great Wolf, we have a few very sweet elements planned.
•. If you forgot to bring your shoe boxes full of gifts for the OC party we are throwing for the homeless children today email Joel@originschurch.tv and you can drop them at the office and we will get them to the party for you.
•. I hope you are all praying about what God would have you give toward the Christmas offering which we are going to invest in Peru and a new Church Plant that is starting this January.
•. My children were more excited than usual for my message this morning since I was using a gumball machine. Stacy not as excited when I gave them a stack of quarters.
•. Did I mention how great our setup and tear down teams are, most of them have been doing it since we started and we are just now getting them breaks occassionally so if you are looking to serve Origins in a great way join up by emailing Joel@originschurch.tv
•. The band was hot this morning for sure; I love doing some Christmas music with the Origins flavor.
•. We had Life @the OC this morning and I am so overwhelmed each time I teach the class at the people that God brings to Origins....He is building His Church for sure and I can't even imagine Wgat the future mus hold with the people Hes bringing.
•. Next week is gonna be off the chain so make sure you are there and you bring someone with you!
•. Stacy and I went to a going away party for Kenny and Brooke Ellis who are moving to Indy for a job transfer; they were part of our original 27 people who started Origins so while I'm excited for their family I'm sad for OUR OC family.
•. If you want to give dozens or hundreds directly to the Peru trip and have a tangible representation of that gift you can make a donation for the OC Global Influence shirt, which would remind you to pray for the team, work, and country as w carry the gospel over there.
•. There is also a tacky Christmas party next week after Church where they are gonna be accepting donations for Peru if you have some Christmas sweaters you want to pull out of the closet or borrow from your Mom. :)
•. We also went to a Christmas Party we were invited to by some of our OC peeps and we scored a massager in the white elephant and we tested that puppy out today and it works pretty good.
•. Christmas reminds me of how much I Love Jesus, but mostly of how much He loves me.
•. I love Origins and I am so grateful for her!
What an incredible day. I always love when we do baptism, especially because we get to see the life change that's happening when people share it with us in their testimony videos. I am heading to Columbus this evening for a concert with some of our student ministry peeps so tonight's notables are going to be short. All I have to say is that it was overwhelming seeing that all of the signs were gone after the service. I know that some of you who wanted signs did not get one, so if you didn't and you'd really like some, email joel@originschurch.tv. We are completely out of the Hope Now signs but we do have some other Origins signs that we will make available to you. Also, if you'd like to share the Hope Now video with a friend, link them to our website, originschurch.tv, it's on the homepage. Here's some fun we had while filming the promo. For the record, I did not actually wet myself. Thanks for partnering with us and have an amazing Thanksgiving!
I'm not talking about a flexible schedule, I know that is not always possible and I have a very demanding schedule myself, Im just talking about being intentional about the time you do have with them. For instance, practicing a date night is important for sure, but sometimes Stacy needs extended attention during times that aren't date night. Sometimes she needs flowers on non-special occasions, and sometimes she needs me to unexpectedly take all the children out to dinner and to buy a doorknob (that doesn't fit by the way) so she can get some rest. The same goes for my 5 children, showing up at the games and special events are important but they need a 24/7 dad, not just a guy to comment on their abilities. They need a dad who gauges their spiritual, physical, and emotional climate and knows what's going on in their heart.
So what I have found to be successful is for me to become a student of my family and pray for God to give me discernment as to where I need to apply attention and then when I do I am fully present in those moments. I also have found that involving them in my life is just as important as me being involved in theirs, I talk to them about my struggles, challenges, successes, failures and I invite them to be a part of some of the things I enjoy and work related responsibilities when possible. We also do recurring family devotions, exercise, and we have a worship service in our home weekly just as a family.
How about you, what practices have you found to be helpful leading your family?
Many times in my life what I find to be true is that I am my own worst enemy. I know my own limitations and struggles many times but I ignore them and if thats not bad enough I also ignore conviction to. This is especially the case the busier I get and the more responsibility that I have. It becomes easier to overlook things when you are doing so much that you can justify it.
So as I recognize this about myself and fight the temptation to be delusional I realize that the beginning point of leading myself is repentance. If I am gong to be the leader I need to be for every other area in my life it is going to be built on my ability to follow Jesus and lead myself to be led by Him to repentance (2 Chronicals 7:14).
How about you? Do you find yourself running to repentance or reluctantly being dragged?
I was in Lynchburg the beginning of this past week speaking to some college students and it was a great time. I shared 4 things that I believe everyone needs to Lead if they are going to allow God to get the most out of them. I enjoyed sharing them so I thought I would share them here as well.
Lead Yourself
Lead Your Family
Lead Your Leadership
Lead Your Church (Organization)
Ill take the next couple days and explain what I mean by each one and if you have some thoughts I'd love to hear them in the comments section.