That is what God is all about.  Since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, since they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, God has been in the business of redeeming people to himself.  He did not mess around and was serious enough to sacrifice his only son to die a criminal’s death on a cross for us all.  Think about it…that is some kind of vision!

As a result, the Bible says you and I should have that very same vision.   I beleive wholeheartedly that you and I were put on this earth first and foremost to help people come into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is why I love the purpose and mission of our church.  The reason we exist as a church is to see people come into a relationship with God and others.  That is our purpose.  Our mission, in turn, is to then reach people who are far from God; our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers.  That is what we do at Eagle Brook and it is a blast to be part of that.

As Pastor Bob mentioned this weekend–in order to continue to reach people who are far from God, we need more room.  Our Spring Lake Park campus us jammed full.  Our White Bear Lake campus is growing like crazy.  And the Lino Lakes campus this weekend was very full at all 4 services.  In other words, we cannot reach people who are far from God unless we open up more seats so you and I can invite them to church.

SO…that is exactly what we feel God is calling us to do in the next few years.  Our plan is to open 2 more campuses in Blaine and Woodbury.  We also plan to continue to reach people around the world who are in need in so many ways.  (This coming week I am heading to Nicaragua to scout out another potential partner for our church to connect with…look for a report later!)  Finally, we want to continue to help other churches around us get better at reaching people as well.  We are going to need all churches to step up and make a difference.

If you haven’t already, check out the “Not Without You”website for more details.  It is going to take each and everyone of us to redeem the world for Christ.  He wants to use you and me because that was his VISION in the first place!

I am back from running (literally) through the woods.  I am back from making my first Boundary Waters trip up in northern Minnesota.  I must say…it was pretty amazing and I would love to go back again.  It was a good thing that I squeezed this trip in now, because the next few months are going to be some of the most exciting and God-trusting times our church has ever gone through.  We hosted an event last Friday where we invited those Eagle Brookers who connect, serve, and give at Eagle Brook to come and hear first the vision that God has put on our heart for the next 3 years.  The comments I have heard have been overwhelmingly positive and people are more ready than ever to make a difference for His sake in the years to come.  This journey over the next 3 years is called “Not Without You” because it is going to take everyone to do the things that God has placed on our hearts.  In simple points this vision is 3-fold:

1)  Expand  to five locations
2)  Extend help around the world and at home
3)  Enlarge existing campus effectiveness.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next as we get all adults, kids, and students aligned around the goals for the next 3 years.  Thoughts or comments?

One of the highlights this past week was the Leadership Summit put on by Willow Creek Community Church but hosted by Eagle Brook as a satellite site.  All in all, this was probably the best Summit I have been to.  There was a great variety of speakers from various backgrounds and areas of expertise that poured into our leadership in a fresh way.  One of the greatest benefits for us as a church was the fact that we had about 700 EBCers attend.  The vision and equipping that took place with our own congregation is priceless.  Here are a few quotes that really stood out to me:

• “The normal we know has left the building” – Bill Hybels
• “God does his greatest work through those whose hearts are fully his” – Bill Hybels
• “Meltdowns happen way before the moment” – Henry Cloud
• “Firing should never be a surprise” – David Ireland
• “Too often the church is for the converted and content” – Gary Hamel
• “Leaders job is to mobilize, connect, and support” Gary Hamel
• “God accepts me, therefore I obey–rather than–I obey, therefore God accepts me – Tim Keller
• “All we do is huddle, play the game!” – Harvey Carey
• “Role of leaders is to equip” – Harvey Carey
• “You will not forget what you won’t forgive” – Wes Stafford
• “Not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader” – David Gergen
• “Take time from the balcony (referring to reflection) – David Gergen
• “We may not have a person problem, it may be a situation problem” – Dan Heath
• “Intuition is greater than intellect” – Bono

If you were at the Summit, what spoke loudest to you?

Hey everyone!  Where has the summer gone?  Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but I took a “blog sabbatical” for a couple of months.  Now I am back!:)  While I have slowed down on my blog, the rest of my life has not.  Here are a few updates on things with me and with EBC:

• My wife and I are expecting our first child in November!  We are more than pumped and have been preparing.  Just in the last few days we have moved furniture, painted walls, registered for stuff, and getting the rest of the babies room ready.  Can’t wait for this new chapter in our lives.
• Life at Eagle Brook has not slowed down one bit.  When I first started working at EBC 5 years ago, someone told me that many of the ministries slow down and that we are able to catch our breath in the summer.  I have come to realize that this person must have been smoking something.  Over the last two months, I have been busier than ever evaluating, planning, leading, and preparing for what is next.
• Speaking of what is next, our leadership team and other minsitry leaders feel that God is preparing us for something amazing over the next few years.  This vision will be shared in the months ahead and hopefully we find thousands of others willing to go on this ride together.  Stay tuned for more details!

These are just a few thoughts.  Look for more frequent posts in the weeks to come.  As my wife and I, as well as EBC are going through a time of change, I’m sure many of you are too–care to share how God is working in your life?

Yesterday we hosted our 5th annual Relevance Conference.  It was a huge success as about 900 leaders from 150 different churches and organizations attended.  Our teaching team did an amazing job of unpacking why we need to be relevant, what the term “relevance” really means, and then how to be relevant in our churches and ministries today.  Let me just  tell you, the team knocked it out of the park!  God really moved and I hope a year from now we can celebrate what He is doing around the 5-state area.

Another highlight was having Bill Hybels with us in the afternoon.  He and Bob did an interview session, and the wisdom Bill brings always amazes me.  I also had the chance to pick him and others from his team up at the airport and spend additional time in my car with him.  Just for the record…this guy is the real deal on and off of the platform.

Our huge hope and prayer is that God would use these 150 or so churches to change our region for Christ.  As Bob said, let’s start catching fish!!!

Does anyone who was at the conference have any thoughts around relevance?

Holy cow have I been busy lately.  Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but it has been a whirlwind of things going on.  Here are a few of the things happening at EBC…”in the trenches” style!

• -Many of our global partners from around the world are here this week.  We have been busy preparing for them, and then I had the chance to introduce them at the services this weekend.  God is doing some great things all over the world.  For more details about our partners, click here.
• -Our leadership team went on a 3-day retreat this past week and had the chance to seek out what God would have for us next.  You will hear more about this in the coming months, but all I have to say is… fasten your seat belt!!!
• -Met with the generosityteam today.  What a great group of volunteers we have helping with that value at EBC.  They are so passionate and SO want others to experience this value in their lives as well.
• -The last few weeks I have spent a lot of time with our various ministry leaders.  What an UNBELIEVABLE team we have!  We lost one of our best this week in Chris Luk, who is getting married and moving out of state.  We will miss her dearly.

Anything cool going on ”in the trenches” as you serve or are connected at EBC?

So, just the other day I was re-reading one of my favorite books of the Bible–Acts.  I love the account of the first church and how it operated and functioned in Acts 2.  I love how 3,000 people came to know Jesus Christ in a SINGLE DAY!  Then, they were all baptized and celebrated this new found faith.

But what comes next is really cool.  Check out Acts 2:42.  It says “The devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  Did you catch that word at the beginning of the verse?  It says they devoted themselves .  These brand new believers devoted themselves.  The church can help guide people, but it is really up to each person to devote themselves to teaching, community, and service.  In case you couldn’t tell, these are what we call the “Big 3″ here at Eagle Brook.  If you haven’t already…devote yourself today!

Hey everyone.  It is Saturday morning and I am having a great relaxing morning.  Just got done having some coffee and have been reading Andy Stanley’s new book, “The Principle of the Path”.  Outstanding book as usual from Andy.  Here are some other things going on in the trenches with ministry at Eagle Brook these days.

• -We are out of room.  Plain and simple, we are at an average of 80% capacity with all services at each of our campuses.  This past weekend we had about 13,000 adults and kids in attendance, but will be prohibited from continuing our mission or reaching people for Christ if we don’t make more space.  We have looked at many options and have to continue to be creative.  Should be fun!
• -I led our ministry leaders through a section of the book “Creating Magic”, by Lee Cockerell who is an executive with Disney.  We looked at the topic of listening to understand.  We all need to get better at this.  It is so tough to completely and truly listen without jumping into action first.  Check out the book…great stuff.
• -Our student ministries are leading about 150 students through an experience this weekend called “Revamp.”  It is an inner-city experience that is going to rock their worlds.  Can’t wait to hear the stories of transformation!
• -Grouplink took place this past week and we had over 200 people get connected into a small group for the first time!  Very cool…in the meantime, if you are not connected yet, I encourage you to seek out people around you and create a small group yourself.  We will help you along the way, but the best way to connect is with people you already know.

That’s it for now…anything exciting happen within ministry at EBC that others should know about?

It has been a crazy, exhausting, yet incredible week.  Like we said at church tonight, we have seen incredible things take place over the last week.  We saw 322 people put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ!  We saw just short of 20,000 come through our doors and hopefully experience a place of grace, a place that they can begin to experience God in a new and deeper way.  We saw hundreds of students come to our ministries this week and be challenged in new ways to live beyond themselves.  We saw people who struggle with addictions find hope this week.  We saw thousands of kids learn about Jesus in a relevant way this weekend.

That was my week.  What a week it was!  Any “God” moments happen in your life this week?

I love the week before Easter.  Our staff is working tirelessly, our volunteers are slotted and ready to serve this weekend, and it is always such a great reminder every year of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  Not only do we want to take time to reflect personally as to what Easter means to each of us that call ourselves Christ-followers, but we also use this as a time to introduce people to this amazing truth and help them come into a relationship with God.  Over the past couple of weeks I have invited two people I know who need to hear exactly that.  I can’t wait to see if they show up this weekend…what God could do in their life if they simply let Him in!

Who are you inviting to church this weekend?