What is Spiritual Growth?

This is a blog I thought was really worth reading from my buddy Dave Nelson in Kenosha WS. I love his thoughts on what a spiritually deep church is and isn’t. Definitely something to think about and apply to Thrive Church.

Enjoy – Tom

Church is Messy (Part 3)

This past week I learned that one of our initial launch team members has left Great Lakes Church over the issue of “spiritual maturity”. From their perspective, we’re lacking it. Life change isn’t happening as quickly as they think it should. If you feel this way, whether about GLC or some other church, BE VERY CAREFUL!

BE CAREFUL TO NOT…

…evaluate where other people are at in their spiritual journey, based on where you are at.

…assume that you know what God is doing in someone else’s heart.

…think that there is a “one-size-fits-all” approach to spiritual growth.

…force spiritual growth into a specific timeline.

…determine someone’s spiritual growth based on religious habits and personal Bible knowledge.

All you need to do is quickly read through the second half of the Bible and you’ll see that it was the biblical scholars and theologians of the day who were the ones most at odds with Jesus and his message. They were the LEAST spiritually mature. Why? ‘Cause they were so focused on everyone else that they rarely took time to evaluate their own heart and spiritual growth.

So here’s the big question, “What is one area of your life that God’s been trying to change, but you’ve been resistant?” Obedience to God in that area is your next step towards spiritual maturity!

If you say, “There is way more than one area in my life in which God is trying to change me.” Good. That means you’re focused on your spiritual journey rather than everyone else’s spiritual journey.

Posted by Dave Nelson at 8/27/2010 6:49 AM

I love hanging out with emerging leaders and getting to speak to kids!

Tom

See ya Sunday..

Tom

5 things I am Looking forward to this Sunday!

It’s Friday! That means Sunday’s around the corner. Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to this weekend at THRIVE.

1. Sharing with you my journey this week as well as some exciting news for our church that has emerged from it!  Can’t wait to tell you what’s going on!

2. Hearing our guest speaker Joel Hunter from Northwood Church share God’s truth from the hit movie “Grown Up’s”. This Guy is a great teacher and an awesome friend!

3. Experiencing worship with our TC community. It’s one of my favorite moments of the week.

4. Watching the men of Thrive donate their Flat Screen TV’s and New Bikes that they bought for “The Ultimate Giveaway”.  We have over $250,000 in prizes to give away during this New Series-let’s get ready to invite our friends!

5. Eating BBQ at my house with about 50 new Thrive friends! Don’t even try to crash this party!

More to come!

Tom

At Thrive we will always love on and lift up our surrounding churches.

Tom

Tom

Tom

1st EVER VIDEO BLOG!

Hey guys.. Quick “vlog” with my new iPhone 4.. Looking forward to a great week!!!

Tom

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! I know we did. Check out the 2 videos below.

The first one is a silly video with my head and Jimmy Savage’s head on the Founding Fathers video we showed in church this morning.

The second one is a video of how we kicked off our services this morning! We rocked it Jimi Hendrix style!

Tom

Blue Ridge Church has Launched!

This past weekend some new friends of mine, Scott & Lisa Obenchain, launched Blue Ridge Church in Christiansburg, VA. .

According to Scott they blew the doors off the place!

Scott is an amazing leader that I got to know through my relationship with East Lake church in  Kenosha, WI. I am positive that big things are going to happen in their city.

Here are some highlights from Scott himself…..

“I am still pinching myself to see if this is real! What a day – 151 people showed up… More importantly 4 people used their connection card to indicate they were giving their lives to Christ…Thanks for everything – keep praying for us!”

Wow! I can’t tell you how excited I am to see a NEW-Life Giving church get off the ground. It was less than a year and a half ago that we were starting our own journey as a church. I am looking forward to partnering with Scott and Blue Ridge Church!

I’ve posted some pics below of Blue Ridge Church’s first Sunday. Let’s cheer for them and go check out their website and Facebook page. Hopefully we will see them soon!

Tom