Rodeo: Analysis

I've spent the better part of a week or more keeping you informed of the behind the scenes details of the Rodeo outreach - it's been fun to be a part of it and to bring you along for the ride. Now, some time for reflection.

What a day! I can't believe how well everything came together and the number of complete strangers that showed up. I'm astounded by the many levels in an event like the Rodeo and at each level I saw the potential of how God could use it for His glory.

The prayer life of Grace Church - I don't have a measure of what the routine prayer life of the body of Grace Church consists of, but for at least the last few weeks, in some cases maybe even the last nine months since we announced the idea, people have been praying. They've been praying for a specific purpose and possibly praying more than they normally do. Pastor Scott, myself and others have challenged people to pray and shared specific areas for prayer, but whether or not people followed was between them and God. If indeed their prayer lives increased, that can only be attributed to the Spirit's prompting. An increase prayer life in a church is just one of the benefits of doing something like the Rodeo. And, if God did nothing else, but to increase the prayer life of Grace Church, I think it was worth all of the effort.

Investing in Grace Church - I'm not talking about cash, I'm referring to lives. We've experienced tremendous growth at Grace over the past four years (yes, the growth trend started even before Pastor Young completed his ministry). As we saw with the Beach Blast, an event like the Rodeo opens opportunities for more people to get involved in the ministry of Grace. Sure, we've got slots that need to be filled across our ministries, but a lot of them are in circles with established networks that can be difficult to penetrate for someone new. That's what makes events like the Beach Blast or Rodeo unique. Because they're completely new, there are few, if any established networks in place, so everyone is on an even playing ground and can get involved. We had 320 people show up at the volunteer meeting for the Rodeo. A bunch of them had not participated in a Grace event previously. They've now had that chance and are likely to invest more of their life at Grace Church. Let's just say that the whole prayer life aspect of this was a mirage, if the only God does through the Rodeo is use it to motivate people to invest their lives in serving Him, it would all be worth it.

Intrapersonal relationships - After the meeting Saturday night, it was neat to see how many people stuck around just chatting together. A number of those conversations were groups of people who had just met. New relationships formed as a result of working side by side during the Rodeo. New relationships that God can use in a ton of different ways tomorrow and into the future. Even if they never volunteer for another activity, if all God did through the Rodeo is build new relationships among the church body, it would have been worth it all.

Leadership Development - Events like a Rodeo are an undertaking that requires leadership. They're in essence a concentrated leadership development program full of delegation, prioritization, working with people, leading people, trusting people, managing a budget, troubleshooting, and on and on. We've seen the leadership abilities of the people on the task force developed to new levels. And if that alone were the single outcome of the Rodeo, it would have been worth it.

Church/Staff Unity - When faced with the impossible, groups have the choice of rallying together or splitting a part. By God's grace, we rallied together, both as a church and as a staff. It was obvious by the conversations. What are you doing in the Rodeo? Are you excited for Sunday? I can't wait for the Rodeo? Who did you invite? The staff rallied together in a way that exceeded everything I've witnessed in my years at Grace. We hit snags, we always do, but as a staff, we solved them together in a positive atmosphere. We flexed unlike I've ever seen, rolled with the punches and methodically found creative solutions for unexpected problems. Those experiences will reap benefits for years to come which is well worth all the toil if God accomplished nothing else through the Rodeo. There are many more I can think of, but that horse is dead.

These are just some of the fringe benefits. In my next post, What Pepsi, basketball and a Rodeo have in common, I'll get to why we did the Rodeo in the first place, which I didn't even get to in this post.

Rodeo: Cleanup and another challenge

It's 8:30 Sunday night, and at this point, you can hardly tell what happened today. The cleanup was as amazing as the event itself. Meanwhile, the 501 W Lincoln property has morphed in a matter of minutes into an Avalanche Ranch for VBS which kicks off tomorrow. This is the challenge to keep praying!!!

The OB Teams have helped immensely to get everything set tonight, but more work is slated for tomorrow as well. Be praying for the 300+ kids that are registered already and invite the kids in your neighborhood to come on out beginning tomorrow night or any night this week. Pray, pray, pray and pray some more!!!

It's great working/serving of Lord and Saviour side by side with each of you.

Rodeo: Winding down

It's 6:35 Sunday evening the day is winding down, but what a day it was. From all reports, the bleachers were packed for both rodeos. I saw a ton of people I'd never seen before and a lot who didn't appear to be from Lititz.

To my knowledge, from what I've heard to this point, there were no major issues either. Unbelievable!!!

Rodeo: The army has gathered

We just finished the gathering of the army - 320 people attended tonight's volunteer organizational meeting for the Rodeo tomorrow. I think we had a small taste of what Gideon and his force may have experienced as they got together.

The field is set. Tents are up and staying up. The sound system is in place. The arena is up, bleachers are ready. The animals are scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning and a few people are camping out on the field tonight for the fun of it and for security. It's all coming together in a very amazing way and I'm seeing so many different positive things coming out of this even before we start building relationships with people we've never met or seen before. I've been taking pictures to document all of this, but haven't shared them because you gotta come check it out in person... even if you live in France, find some way to get over here!

Rodeo: weather update

Don't stop now. Even though it appears God is answering our 6 months of prayers by eliminating the rain concern, we still need God to give us the perfect weather mix. Yesterday, the wind presented some challenges.

We ordered something like seven tents and in normal setups, the company gets them put up in several hours. The tents arrived around 9 or 10 Friday morning. When I left the office at 4:30, two were set up and had been for several hours, two others had been set up and then blown over. Pray that we have just the right weather mix over the next two days.

Pray for the souls too. I took a phone call from a family in Lancaster yesterday that's planning to attend. I'm brushing up on my Spanish.

I look forward to seeing the volunteer army assembled at 7pm tonight. Can you feel the anticipation?

Rodeo: registration count

Though we closed pre-registrations at 2pm today, everyone can still come and fully participate in the rodeo on Sunday. The pre-registration was designed to merely give us an idea of how many people to expect so we could gauge how much food we needed to have prepared. As of 2pm, pre-registrations topped out at 2,409.

The field is in the midst of being converted to a rodeo arena. Tents are being erected, port-a-potties have been dropped off as well as several large generators.

You'll want to wear sneakers or boots as it's still a field. Feel free to bring lawn chairs, though we'll have plenty of seating on bleachers that hold several thousand and lots of hay bales. Continue to pray as there are still many logistical details that need to fall into place. I can report that everyone is working through their tasks list in a very calm demeanor with eager anticipation.

If you're volunteering, see you Saturday night at 7!

Rodeo: Pray and pray some more

The trucks started rolling in at 8 this morning. The bleachers and arena are working their way to Lititz. The field's to be disc-ed today. Lots of logistics need to come together over the course of today and tomorrow and with it a lot of details. Be praying with and for us as we look to coordinate everything.

Rodeo Registrations Exceed 1,700

Registrations for the Rodeo crossed over 1,700 at 9:15 this morning.

Rodeo: Pictures/Video

Though we have a couple of volunteers lined up as official picture takers to document Sunday's outreach, like a wedding, bring your camera/video camera. The more pictures and video clips we have to work with the better!

As of 8:30 this morning, we crossed over 1,500 registrations.

Rodeo: How to engage someone in conversation

Over lunch with the Operation Barnabas teens today I asked them for some help. I heard that they had been trained in how to engage someone they've never met before in a conversation. I thought those tips might be useful to us as we have the opportunity to engage people we've never met before at the rodeo on Sunday. The approach they use is based on the acrostic F.O.R.M.; each letter represents a potential conversation topic.

F - Family
People are usually very interested in talking about their family be it their kids, their spouse or other loved one. On Sunday, there's a high likelihood that there will be a lot of families at the event so questions about their kids/family will be a great conversation starter.

O - Occupation
Second to family topics, the OB'ers explained that adults are usually very willing to talk about what they do for a living.

R - Religion
Similar to what Bill Fay shared a few years ago, questions like, "what do you normally do on a Sunday afternoon?" or "do you regularly attend a church?" will also start a conversation.

M - Message
Unfortunately, the my lunch conversation with the OB'ers go interrupted at this point and I wasn't able to get a good definition of what Message stands for.


As of 2:30, Rodeo registrations have crossed over 1,400.

Rodeo: Parking

The parking plan for Sunday has been finalized. All Grace Church attenders will be asked to park their vehicles at Warwick High School. Shuttles will be running from WHS to the field at regular intervals.

The trick will be emptying the Grace Church lot after Sunday's services. We need everyone to move their cars to the high school as soon as the second service is over on Sunday morning. Thanks in advance for helping us out with this.

Rodeo: Staff Meeting Prayer Walk

We had a unbelievable staff meeting this morning. TK from CE National challenged us based on Ephesians 3:20 and we spent the better part of an hour meditating on who God is and what it would look like if He did immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. It was a humbling and terrifying exercise.

We ended by walking over to the field, forming a circle and committing the coming days as well as the land and the events to God.

I challenge you to consider taking a prayer walk with friends or your family and to walk the field together asking God to make it clear as to how He is challenging us to be a part of what He is doing. If you come by, park in the Grace Church lot and just be cautious when crossing the street.

And before you ask, yes, Warwick Township has offered to assist us with traffic control so everyone can cross the street safely on Sunday.

Rodeo: overnight activity

Registrations for the rodeo crossed over 1,000 overnight (we received 70 since the office closed Monday afternoon). Word about the event is spreading, so much so that we've had several food vendors contact us requesting to join. So as of yesterday, funnel cakes were added to the food menu. How cool is that?!?

One person has responded to yesterday's post and will be helping with phone registrations today, but I've got more slots available if you enjoy data entry and taking phone calls. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this amazing event!

Rodeo: Who did you invite?

Someone was sharing with me yesterday that they were doing projects around the house the other day when their son answered the phone. A minute or so later the parent was summoned. The communication went something like, "We regret to inform you that due to other commitments, President Bush will be unable to attend this Sunday's Rodeo and Western Fair, but he appreciates the invitation."

Apparently a similar call was received from Governor Rendell's office. I'm inviting our two neighbors and my contacts at the bank. Who are you inviting?

Rodeo Update 2

I'll try to give you a play by play of rodeo prep this week...

First off, I learned it was rye that was planted on the field, not oats. The rye was cut and harvested last Friday/Saturday.

According to reports the field is very dry and dusty. The rye is so short we don't even need to mow it with a lawn mower as we had prepared to do. The road access for the event trucks looks to be better than expected as well.

Of all things, the first thing to be placed on the property in preparation for the event... a dumpster. It was dropped off this morning, a little earlier than any of us expected.

We're taking a fair amount of phone registrations, so if you know anyone who'd like to volunteer to help with some data entry this week, let me know. We could use an hour or more of help any day Monday-Friday from 8:30-4:30 and if possible, I'd love to have some phone coverage lined up on Saturday from 8:30-4:30.

With press releases hitting the papers this week I'm anticipating phone traffic. My assumption is that if they get a live person, the likelihood of the caller attending the event will increase. Not that they wouldn't come if they reach the auto attendant, but it's another impact opportunity.

Have you seen the marquees in front of Keller Ford and Keller Dodge in Lititz?

Sunday Reflection: Baptism

One of many things I appreciate about Pastor Scott is his willingness to try things. We held a baptism yesterday and unlike previous baptisms, this one was held outside. We set up the inflatable pool just outside the auditorium and baptized seven individuals. It was neat to see a daycare employee and a Lititz Christian alum take the step of baptism, especially since both have started attended Grace in just the past year or two.

Fortunately, it wasn't until the pool was setup outside that it was learned that if you overfill the pool, it collapses. It would've been interesting had that been learned in doors!

There's something about an outdoor baptism for me, whether it's the public proclamation aspect of the event or the memories it stirs of so many outdoor baptisms in rivers, public swimming pools, lakes and oceans throughout my childhood in the Philippines.

On the other hand, whether it was because the audience was able to get right up to the pool or the natural lighting conditions, it was hard to ignore just how awkward it is to baptize in a not-deep-enough pool. The problem solver/logistician that I am, I was ready to put in a real pool on the spot. I don't have the data to back it up, but I think we'll find that chiropractic visits increase after each Grace Church baptism!

Either way, it was neat to be part of the church family, who gathered in a casual, outdoor atmosphere to celebrate with the seven who took the step of baptism.

Pray Harder

The church staff arrived at the office yesterday only to find that the hard drive that contained all of our files and databases went bad rendering them unusable for the majority of the day yesterday. It's operating today, but different files are corrupt. Fortunately, we have a good back up from which to restore and that seems to be working. On top of that, our photocopiers aren't working as they normally do this morning. Oh, and there was the tornado warning Wednesday afternoon too.

These inconveniences are throwing our normal routines out of sync. The bulletin is just now being printed - it's usually signed, sealed and delivered by now, ready for Sunday. I haven't been able to publish our ministry plan for 2007-2008 which I'm to present Sunday night. The Operation Barnabas Orientation isn't able to make the copies they need.

The timing of all of this seems more than just coincidence. Aside from completely losing it, the only thing I can think of is to PRAY HARDER!!!

The Rodeo's Big Obstacle: Parking

We're just over a week away from the Rodeo. Some 15,000 mailers are arriving in homes over the next day or two; we received ours today. Next Wednesday night the Operation Barnabas teens along with our youth group teens will be going door to door to invite families in the Manheim area. Things are coming together.

On this side of the event, aside from the weather next weekend, the biggest obstacle we anticipate is parking. Anticipating a crowd of up to 5,000, they'll be bring a lot of vehicles to the rodeo. All of the events are slated to occur on the farm field, so we'll be using the 501 W Lincoln property for parking only. Our overflow plan includes parking vehicles on the soccer field. And to give us as many parking spots as possible, we'll be asking all Grace people to park at an to-be-announced off-site parking location.

Please join us in praying for clear weather for next week and for families attending the rodeo to carpool!

The Conference Room that is no more

Over the past two weeks the conference room that used to be in the Administrative Wing has ceased to exist. Over the last 6-9 months conference room use has changed.

To begin with, the Elders never did fit around the entire table. The conference table seats 12 comfortably. The Elders have numbered upwards of 20, so like you see at US Senate Committee hearings there was always a second row of Elders seated behind those who were at the table. It was never conducive to an all inclusive group discussion.

The formerly organized School Board, numbered around 10, fitting comfortably around the table. But in the daycare/school reorganization the Board of Education numbered 16 immediately outgrowing the size of the room.

And while the church staff of around 12 had no problem holding staff meetings around the conference table in 2004, once the daycare/school office staff's were included plus other staff additions, the attendance doubled to something like 22.

Accessibility was another factor. Though the logical location for group meetings the conference room was never an easy room to access in the first place with the level of office security.

The need for more offices was the final shift that necessitated change. In the summer of 2006 we added three PT ministry staff positions but only had one private office. As PT positions and seeing as we didn't know what the future would hold, we setup a temporary shared office arrangement for two of the three PT positions. We made that work for several months.

As anticipated the landscape of the three PT positions changed over the course of the year. By June we no longer needed the shared office arrangement. However, the creation of the FT Pastor of Spiritual Formation position necessitated another private office. Already recognizing the limited use of the conference room, we've divided it in half to create two private offices, one that will be for the Pastor of Spiritual Formation and the other for a use to be determined later.

If you've been in the holy of holies before, the next time you stop by you'll notice things are a little different with the conference room that is no more.

A Field of Oats

The future site of the rodeo is currently a field of oats. One of the first issues we had to face in preparing for Sunday, June 24 was how to convert a farm field into a rodeo arena/ground that people can navigate comfortably. Not having any farm experience in my life to this point, I've learned some things that probably won't be on my resume, but interesting facts nonetheless.

The greatest concern was to do everything we could to keep from having a field of mud on Sunday, June 24. We've been praying for dry weather for that day/weekend since day 1 of this project. Secondly, I learned that oats have a strong root system that provides a firm surface/sub-surface. From what I learned, oats in our area are usually harvested around the 4th of July. The operation that farms our field graciously agreed to forgo their corn crop this summer, corn's usually planted in the Spring; planted oats to help us create a firm surface and will harvest the crop of oats a week prior to June 24, a few weeks earlier than normal.

But for now, it's just a field of oats.

Who are you?

If you're reading Administering Grace, would you leave a comment to let me know who you are? I'd like a better understand of the audience for whom I write . I often question the merit of the dribble I post here and whether I'm contributing anything of relevance. Feel free to suggest what topics you'd like me to pursue further or that most interest you.

Genesis of the Rodeo

Some may wonder how we came up with the idea for a rodeo outreach. If my memory serves right and I'm not 100% sure as to the accuracy of this, but my first recollection of any mention of a rodeo dates back a couple of years to when we were in the process of purchasing the 12.5 acre farm field. I recall Pastor Scott mentioning in passing that we could use the field for a rodeo. Last summer, the Science Teacher at Lititz Christian, who happens to participate in a Christian rodeo ministry over the summer, invited Pastor Scott and myself to attend one of their events. It didn't suit our schedule, so we never made it, but that was the next time a rodeo appeared on our radar. Fast forward to the Fall of 2006.

Having almost doubled the number of people attending our staff meetings, Pastor Scott realized we needed to do some team building exercises. He divided the staff into 4 groups and asked them to work together to put together a staff meeting. One of the groups, knowing that we would be hosting the Operation Barnabas Orientation in the Summer of 2007, led the staff in a brainstorming session of what ministry opportunities we could use to partner with Operation Barnabas. In that brainstorm, the rodeo appeared on the radar again, this time, gaining momentum and turning into a full fledged endeavor.

So it's not too far fetched to say that it's an outreach that's more than two years in the works.

A Lifetime Impact: Summary

Mr. French, Mr. Friesen and Ms. Wollerton, while each giving me knowledge in different areas together reinforced a common theme... they instilled self confidence. They each have played a key role in shaping who I am today. Each have a deep love for God, a passion to serve Him with excellence and had a passion for educating missionary children. Mr. French continues to teach art at Faith Academy. Mr. Friesen is now on staff in the IT department at Taylor University and Ms. Wollerton now has her doctorate in education and is teaching higher education at Azusa Pacific University according to my Google Search results.

With so much rosy attention on high school these past few posts you may be wondering why I bothered with college and graduate work. I attended college to gain a foundational Biblical education and graduate work for professional expertise in leadership. Maybe when we start a college program at Grace I'll expound on the lifetime impact of those years of my life.

A Lifetime Impact: Ms. Wollerton

Ms. Wollerton, English, Speech, Yearbook - Return on investment is common terminology in the financial arena. Of just about any class I've taken, grade school, undergrad and graduate school, I'd have to say I've received the highest return on the investment from taking Yearbook. Amazing when I think that it was a course for which I signed up to simply fill an elective my Junior year of high school. I participated in two years of Yearbook and the principles I learned in those two years I've used weekly since entering church ministry. Meticulously, Ms. Wollerton instructed us in the principles of page layouts, headline and caption writing, capturing the essence of an event or period of time in a matter of paragraphs, how to establish a theme across a collection of pages, how to crop pictures among many other details that appear in the weekly bulletin. They're lessons I've passed along to my staff not just in the bulletin, our brochures and the webpage.

In producing the Yearbook index, I was trusted to work in the main IT server room, without adult supervision into the wee hours of the morning - a privilege I took very seriously and considered a great honor. In my Senior year a simple composition of mine was used as the theme for the entire book, I designed graphics and a photograph to coincide that were used throughout the publication. It was amazing to see my work on a printed page with hundreds of copies in the hands of the student body.

In Speech I learned to communicate verbally to an audience, specifically how to think on my feet. Elements that come in handy in the midst of business meetings. Ms. Wollerton invested an inordinate amount of time in these classes instructing me, setting high expectations, equipping me to meet them and then challenging me to exceed them.

Though I'm not in a classroom on a daily basis, I hope the few chances I have to show our students how something works or talk to them about how I do what I do or to talk with the Yearbook staff, that I too will give them nuggets that last a lifetime.

A Lifetime Impact: Mr. Friesen

Mr. Friesen, Computer Teacher and JV Basketball Coach - My first interaction with Mr. Friesen was on the basketball court. I hadn't excelled in intramural basketball, but like any other sport for me, it involved competition so I played. I didn't understand the fundamentals of the game beyond don't double dribble, don't travel and heave the ball at the basket (I was a scrawny malnurished missionary kid). One particular open gym while shooting at a basket by myself, Mr. Friesen took the time to come over and show me one simple pointer - on my shooting hand, hold the ball on my finger tips instead of in my palm. He gave me that one simple instruction and he let me be the rest of that day. I eventually made the JV squad and he began to teach me the game of basketball. He invested time teaching me the game, but kept his expectations high. Over Christmas all of the missionaries in our mission would gather for a week long conference. Someone had the bright idea that Mr. Friesen and his wife would be a great couple to lead the sessions for us teens-the sessions were great, but the fringe benefits were less than desireable. Each morning at about 6am, when I was still recovering from having watched the latest bowl game, he'd wake me to go running to stay in shape since it was mid-season. He pushed me hard, had high expectations and didn't let me fail. After the first game of my Junior year, a game in which I had been yelling instructions to my teammates throughout the game, inadvertently letting the other team and everyone else in the gym for that matter know that we were in a 1-3-1 defense, Mr. Friesen pulled me aside and pointed out that my teammates had been listening to me, that I had been an on-the-court leader. He also mentioned we'd be implementing signals so I wouldn't give away our defensive scheme.

In the classroom, Mr. Friesen unleashed my love for computers, particularly programming. I was bitten by the programming bug early, as early as grade 4. As I reached high school, Mr. Friesen was in the early stages of introducing a new programming curriculum based on Turbo Pascal. I think he mostly taught himself and built the new program from scratch. The new curriculum was the exact set of challenges I needed to spur me on to strive for more. He taught us in a way that was open to our ideas. Other than Computer Applications, which I pretty much already knew since I was teaching missionaries how to use WordPerfect and the ill-fated WordStar, I took every computer course Mr. Friesen offered during my time in high school, culminating in AP Computer Science. He came oh so close to getting me to go to his alma mater, Taylor University to study Computer Science. I had the chance to visit the Taylor campus at the end of my Junior year in college and had I visited the campus prior to deciding which college to attend, I probably would've picked Taylor.

Mr. Friesen's taking my undeveloped abilities on the basketball court and in programming computers and molding them to reach a greater potential have stayed with me to this day. Even though it doesn't help me make a living, I still shoot a consistent free throw. And the computer expertise I gleaned from all those courses is used daily as I now try to strip apart the code behind webpages, create more and more complicated functions in Excel spreadsheets and enhance our databases.

Mr. Friesen's impact on my life was so fundamental and has had such long lasting an impact, I hope that I have but a smidge of a similar opportunity to influence the lives of the kids in our school.

High School: A Lifetime Impact... Mr. French

I've been taken by surprise by my recent feelings about our school ministry. Without a doubt I've become much more passionate about that aspect of our ministry over the past few years and it's led me to analyze exactly why.

With my increased influence in the school program, I've taken a higher interest in what the ministry is accomplishing. And my standard of measure of the outcomes I desire are directly related to the outcomes my high school education has helped me achieve. When I look at who I am today, the abilities and strengths that have been developed in me, I trace a lot of them back to my high school education and a few specific teachers that took the time to invest in my life.

David French, Art Teacher - I don't consider myself an artist in the most compromised definition of that word, but that one semester or year of art my Senior year has had a lasting impact. For it was Mr. French who encouraged me to be creative, not to be afraid to go against the norm if that's what I felt led to do. This was most captured in a class project that year. We were to bring an empty soda can to class, crumple it up and create a pencil drawing of the crumpled can. I watched my classmates all crumple their cans that while each would be unique, they'd all be similarly crumpled. I approached Mr. French with a different idea, draw an uncrumpled can then crumple the drawing instead of the can. The end product didn't produce the effect I was going for, but from the get go, Mr. French encouraged me to pursue the concept. It was a stupid soda can, but it's stuck with me for close to two decades.

In spite of my odd intricacies, he gave me the freedom to create. When he gave the class the option of drawing a part of a human skeleton, I of course chose the pelvis and along with all the other pieces, it too hung at the main entrance to the school for all guests, staff and students to admire. So too did the green/blue faced and red-eyed Ayatollah Khomeini and a collection of red cows.

Following Mr. French's example, I love the opportunities to encourage our students to be creative and pursue their ideas.

Commencement 2006-2007

My wife and I attended the Lititz Christian School commencement of 2006-2007. We started attending the annual celebration several years ago. I enjoy seeing the students who I've passed in the hallways on a regular basis and some who I've coached on the soccer field in years past, achieve the accomplishment of completing their high school graduation.

I had heard many compliment the Lititz Christian Class of 2007, but never really realized it myself until commencement. It was clear throughout the program that this was a special class. Unified, upstanding teens who came together as a group, encouraging each other and spurring each other on toward love and good deeds. I'm proud of these students, but even more, I'm excited about how God might use them in the future.

I was excited to hear how each graduate feels God is leading them right now. At least two are feeling led to use their God-given musical talents to lead church worship. There are students pursuing social work, nursing, teaching english, dance, fire/EMT, business - a whole array. I haven't had a big role in their education, but I take the chance to shake the hands of the students I've gotten to know and congratulate them on their accomplishments. In some cases, kids that I first met as 6th grade runts who I've watched grow into young teens. Kids who as freshmen we acting well below their age in the front seat of the bus on the way to a soccer match, who, with a few years under their belts are now ready to head to college with a level of confidence. Kids for whom studying maybe didn't come naturally making this achievement worth celebrating.

I'm proud of our Class of 2007. I congratulate them and am excited to hear how God uses them as they enter the next phase of their lives.

A Church/School Relationship that is Working

Thank you to the Administering Grace faithful who've been checking in daily/weekly in spite of the recent black out. The 2007-2008 budgets have finally been completed and hopefully more regular posting will resume.

The 2007 school year is on the cusp of of completion. I came to Grace with a preconception about church-run schools. My grandparents attended a church that had a school ministry that strained both ministries. Hearing the stories of the regular tension between the church and school made me nervous about such arrangements. When I had the opportunity to join the staff at Grace, I seized it with a challenge to influence a positive church/school arrangement.

I've benefited greatly from the philosophy, values and structure that Pastor Young had already ingrained which already had our ministries primed to work in unison. In the last several years, it has been exciting to see us move to an even higher level of cooperation, in the end benefiting the people in our care. I've been energized by our school ministry in 2006-2007 and have seized opportunities to encourage, participate and support that aspect of our ministry.

From eating lunch with the faculty and staff, to being the secret reader, attending graduation and the school play, speaking to the grade 12 accounting class and the grade 6 computer class. I've gained an even deeper appreciation for the ministry of our teachers and the daily opportunity they have to influence the lives of the kids in the classes. I've gained a greater understanding of the huge role I have in providing the faculty and staff with the best benefits and compensation possible.

Through the school, and my responsibilities in supporting the faculty and staff, I have the privilege of impacting the lives of the students as well.

Ministry Toolbox: Encouragement File

I'm not exactly sure where I picked up this tool, but somewhere along the way, whether it was from one of my undergrad courses or a suggestion of my college roommate, it's become one of the most valuable tools in my ministry tool box. The encouragement file.

Like a hammer, my encouragement file is nothing elaborate, just a regular manila folder. But it's contents can fuel me for months, sometimes years at a time. Since college, I've saved just about every note or communication that acknowledged some difference I had made in some one's life - notes of encouragement. I don't look at the file often, but in going through files a few weeks ago, I took a few moments to read through the file yet again. I was surprised at how I'd forgotten what was in that folder. Notes from close friends that I can't even remember the context in which they were written, but that isn't what matters, it's the messages they contain that lift my spirits. Email messages, cards, one-sided notes, some as small as a business card, they're in there, each with a message that picks me up. Granted, the file isn't overflowing.

As in a lot of other contexts, we probably don't encourage one another or build each other up as much as God, speaking through Timothy, intended. My ministry journey has at times required passing through the desert and in some cases the distance from one oasis to the next has been a long stretch. It's in those times when I've used the encouragement file to keep me going. (After my experience yesterday, so does being the Secret Reader - I happened to pass the grade 1 class in the hallway this morning and they all waved as if I was the King of England.)

My encouragement file is a key tool in my ministry toolbox and like a hammer, I strongly recommend everyone in ministry keep an encouragement file in their toolbox as well.

What is your Grace story?

I've been filling in, working evenings, for the Evening Building Supervisor this week. Ken, who has been in that role since January, is in Baltimore for the summer, so I've had to hire a summer replacement. What I've enjoyed about this week is getting to talk with people who's paths I don't normally cross.

Just last night I met someone for the first time and out of curiosity, I asked how they came to Grace (those stories always interest me). Her husband is into remote controlled airplanes and I guess was in a RC airplane club or often flew planes with someone who regularly attended Grace. After several invitations to come to Grace, the couple checked Grace out. That was about two years ago.

What is your Grace story?

Meeting CHILDREN Where They Are

I had the opportunity to be the Secret Reader for our grade 1 and grade 2 classes today; what a way to make my day! I read two books that have had a significant impact on my life: Big Joe's Trailer Truck and Curious George Gets A Medal. Though I was only scheduled to read one book, they convinced me and their teachers to go for two.

I thoroughly enjoyed having all of 30 minutes with these kids, many of whom I recognize from being in our daycare and from the Kindergarten graduation program the last two years. Nothing like this kind of an opportunity to make me even more aware of just how important a role our staff play in partnering with each child's parents in helping them train their children in the way they should go. That really hit home with one of the students who I know has been in our care since she was close to 6-weeks old. I remember the day she took her first steps...in our building. We all cheered her on!

Our staff have incredible opportunities on a daily basis to meet children where they are and move them to where God wants them to be. And as I walk the hallways, I know that can be a very challenging task at times. I do not take for granted the opportunity I have to support and encourage them in their ministry. Though just as faulty, if not less than me, I have the utmost respect and admiration for our staff.

Women Power!

A beach blast rolled in overnight and our building looks very different this morning. If you have the chance, stop by today or find an excuse to drive your spouse/daughter to the Blast tonight so you can take a peek. It's a sight to see.

I heard that the volunteer army behind this event totals some 150 women. That's amazing! There are so many facets to ministry - obviously, the primary goal of an event like this is creating opportunities and an atmosphere for people to connect and build relationships with those who are far from God. That's the main goal. But there are so many fringe benefits that occur naturally through the process. Take the 150 volunteers. This event has provided an opportunity for 150 individuals to get more connected with our ministry and in all likelihood, for relationships to be strengthened there too. Who knows how God might use those relationships in the future.

I am so excited to see people of Grace banding together to watch God work in and through them. And as this army carries out it's mission tonight, there's an even bigger army that's gaining momentum for the June 24 outreach. I'm telling you, now is the time to get involved! It appears to me that God is at work around us and if you sense that He is inviting you to join Him in what He is doing, fill out the volunteer form for the rodeo. Join us in watching how God works as we work our tails off.

Meeting PEOPLE where they are and moving people to where GOD wants them to be!

Headaches with Rewards - Multi-Use Buildings

There's no doubt about it, when handed the keys to a multi-use facility, a large bottle of Aspirin should be on the key chain. Take for example, the poor student who was slightly injured Monday morning because one of the rooms hadn't been completely returned to it's Monday-Friday to setup. But with those headaches, come a lot of rewards because of the flexibility of multi-use space.

Over Christmas, our building transformed into a winter wonderland for the Christmas Walk-Thru.
Last week, it transformed into an art gallery for the school's Creative Arts Festival.
Today, it's in the midst of transforming into a ocean side resort for this weekend's Beach Blast.
A multi-use facility with creative minds can transform into all kinds of things!

Yes, a dedicated Sanctuary space is the envy of most churches, but I think I much prefer the flexibility afforded by multi-use/multi-purpose spaces.

Today at Grace: New HVAC unit installed

The 1990 addition of our facility is approaching it's 20th birthday. We continue to see things in that area wearing out, needing replacement etc. Today at Grace, one of the roof top HVAC units is being replaced. You should see the faces of the daycare kids; I know it would've made my week to have a crane visit my daycare/school. Apparently, when the kids said there was a crane on the roof, the student teacher went out looking for a bird. Go figure.

Cheap IT Information

Several people I interact with on a regular basis often ask what the deal is with blogging. Though I haven't counted them up recently, I probably track 30+ blogs on a weekly basis. Predominantly, I'm tracking the blogs of church staff who are responsible for the computer/informational issues at churches across the country. Though I'm somewhat versed in computers, what formal computer training I had was in programming, so I'm not trained for leading/managing a network. I get a lot of cheap information, no, free information from these people who see blogging as an opportunity to exchange information. I greatly appreciate the time they put in and the knowledge they share with me. It's helped me lead our efforts to chart our path for the next five years.

Here's the list of IT bloggers I track...
Fady's Blog
Eric Busby
Chris Todd
Bryson Medlock
Brett Anderson
The Appian Way
Jeff Wilson
Terry Storch
Kyle Sagarsee
Nick Nicholaou
Brian Bailey
Scott Reichling
Stephen Wareham
Tony Dye
Jason Powell
Ed Buford

Pastor Scott has a higher gear!

Of several things I've greatly appreciated about Pastor Scott are his love of The Word and his love for lost people. Since joining our ministry, his passion for those two subjects has motivated me time after time during Sunday messages; each at a level that was higher than I'd ever experienced before. I remember during the candidating process the buzz about how driven Pastor Scott was and how we needed to be ready to run once he came on board. And believe me, we've been running ever since. But to my utter amazement, the staff discovered this past Tuesday that he has an even higher gear!

In my post-staff meeting assessment, I think we witnessed three forces colliding to form not the perfect storm, but an entire weather phenomena. As he lead us through a scripture passage, he was excited about all that it contained that his passion reached even high levels; it was so unbelievable, it was comical. At several points, in an euphoria of explaining the passage, he found one point only to put that aside because he remembered a second point he wanted to share, only to recall yet a third point he wanted to make first. Like the runway at O'Hare, he had three points lined up in succession that if he could, he would've shared simultaneously. It was, as he would say, AMAZING! His passion for the passage, the truths it contained and the direct application to our lives inspired and motivated me to seek Christ even more. So watch out, like any other motor, Pastor Scott's got an even higher gear than what we've seen to date. I wonder what got the RPM's up high enough for him to be able to shift?

I see three things (and I'm just conjecturing here) that possibly collided to put him into the next gear.

1. His love of scripture and lost people. Because the passage dealt directly with the topic of lost people, I think it resonated with him in a deep way.

2. His trip to Israel. I think the trip opened his eyes to the cultural background in a new way which in turn has given him a fresh perspective on the stories of the Bible.

3. I think he's had more time to study and with the pending addition of another Pastor to our staff, I think he'll have more time to study.

Rodeo Marquee

Though I hope he has a speedy and full recovery, afterall, this is the second time in but a short span that New Jersey has found itself Governor-less, I can't resist the following...

The marquee event at the upcoming Rodeo on June 24 will feature The Drag Racing Governors: Corzine mano-e-mano against Rendell. Oh, their State Police provided drivers can be in the vehicle with them. Odds are in Rendell's favor based on their qualifying speeds (Rendell 100; Corzine 91).

Interactive IRS

I appreciate the steps the IRS is taking to utilize the power of the internet for the tax payer's benefit. Was just able to check the status of our personal filing, pretty cool!

Maybe I've just missed it, but I wish there was a way to file electronically without having to use someone else's software or service. For now, I'm content with the PDF's they provide.

Driving the Church: Spiritually and Logistically

If you've been attending Grace or listening to our messages for the last few years, you've grown accustomed to the mantra, "Evangelism is the engine that must drive the church." I'd like to add to that statement.

Evangelism is the engine that must drive the church, spiritually.
Logistically, the church database is the engine that must drive the church.

The church database is the core system for tracking people - it's our earthly version of the Book of Life, if you will or the 2007 version of the Book of Numbers. It identifies the people in our church body, it provides channels for us to stay in touch with them, among a lot of other things.

Our database has lacked since I started here some eight years ago, but since January, we've been making huge improvements, thanks in full to Jodi's help. After serving in the Children's ministry for many years, Jodi, who's professionally trained in database programming (her service in the Children's ministry was a total Aaron/Moses type things - "God, I'm not, nor do I feel qualified to do this ministry, but if it's how You want to use me, here am I, send me), turned the Children's ministry over to other leadership in January. Though phasing out of that ministry she was interested in helping us in the office, particularly our databases. I have so appreciated having her on board so that every time I uncover a list of addresses someone has in a Word file, I can ask Jodi to go talk with them and explore if there are more efficient ways to track the data and produce the same end result. In just a few months, we've consolidated countless Word documents of address lists, address labels into our main database. We've introduced the concept of a mail merge!!! And Jodi's dug into the backend tables of the database to create links and other things to manipulate the data for our needs. It's a thing of beauty. What makes it even more cool is to see the smile on Jodi's face. Though way behind the scenes and details that don't interest many, the background work that Jodi's doing that will enable the rest of us in the office to enter and track more data all combines into the engine that must drive the church logistically.

Following the examples of Moses (The Book of Numbers) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:5), we too keep track of families.

Mountaintop Easter Sunrise

Unfortunately, I don't recall the actual Easter morning of the particular Holy Week I've been recounting here, but I do recall an Easter morning a few years later.

When planting churches, which is what comprised my parent's ministry, the early years usually consist of only a handful of believers, possibly even just the church planting team. We often would join with other groups of believers to celebrate Christ's resurrection.

I remember one Easter we celebrated in the province of Banaue. It's a part of the world unlike any other I've ever seen. It's in the northern part of Luzon, in the mountains; very remote and known for it's g-string wearing, beetle-juice spitting tribal people, the Ifugao, who primarily farmed rice. Rice farming necessitates flat terrain, so it's not the most conducive crop in mountainous regions. By hand, the Ifugao had carved numerous terraces into most of the entire mountain range (imagine the Shenandoah Mountains) to create rice field upon rice field. Such was the setting of an Easter sunrise service one year. We were on the top of a hill, maybe 30 of us, just our voices, no sound system, maybe a guitar or two. It was a serene environment as the sun crested over the mountains.

To celebrate the resurrected Lord, on a mountain top, at the crack of dawn, in the midst of a people group that practiced witchcraft and idol worship... it was a literal mountaintop Easter.

Holy Week - Saturday Morning

The next morning our regular playtime was interrupted by commotion on the street in front of our house as neighbors and friends gathered. We ran to our second floor window and peering between the louvers saw a group of 20-some people marching down the street. As they drew closer I was able to make out wreaths on their heads and cloths covering their heads. They were shirtless and barefoot with but a skimpy pair of shorts on. Though out of the ordinary to see a group marching down our street like that, it wasn't until they'd passed us that the horror set in.

The skin of their bare backs, which normally would've been a light brown color, was rubbed raw red, bleeding. I can't remember if I had been mesmerized trying to figure out the identities of these men - was one of them my buddy's Dad? - or what, but I guess I hadn't at first noticed the chains they were carrying. I recall my brother and I, using tube socks as a substitute, marching around the house reenacting the scene we witnessed that Saturday morning. It took my parents explanation to understand why those men felt the need to flagellate themselves.

As they marched on down the street, clinking each time the chains slashed against their back, sweating profusely under their anonymous disguises, it was a vivid, firsthand illustration of Christ's atonement for my sin - a deep theological lesson that in those few moments was comprehended even by a small first grade mind.

What I witnessed that Holy Week has resonated with me ever since. For sure, though those I observed were desperately trying to mimic Christ in His sufferings, and what I witnessed was indeed severe on a human scale, they still weren't coming close to capturing all that my Saviour endured. Though in other parts of the country others reenact actually being nailed to a cross, I never witnessed them firsthand. The despair, lack of hope and vain pursuit of atonement that entire week could be overwhelming, were it not for the mountain top, which I'll explain next time.

Here's an adult perspective on some of the same things I witnessed and some that I had forgotten.

The Holy Week I'll Never Forget

It was Holy Week, probably 1978. I think I was in the first grade at the time and we were living in a remote town on the southern half of the main island of the Philippines. The town of Labo was a farming town, not too much different than Lititz.

During that time period Roman Catholicism was ingrained in the Philippine culture. I remember how much not just Holy Week, but the whole month leading up to Easter was a big deal. Even as a first grader, I remember hearing the verbal accounts of the men who were embarked on a month-long pilgrimage carrying a cross for miles and miles. To put it in our terms, probably something like carrying a cross, on foot from Philly to Pittsburgh.

I remember the night of Good Friday. There was a procession through town, led by a band playing a dirge. Following were sights that as a young first grader, I had never pictured so vividly in my mind before, the 12 stations of the cross. Each station was in or on a wheeled float-type thing pulled by people. Just about everyone in town was out to watch the procession. And I seem to recall that the crowd as a whole was pretty emotional.

I felt uncomfortable. They looked like idols to me and I knew I wasn't supposed to worship idols, so even seeing them pass by seemed wrong. Add to that the detail of the stations and having never contemplated the magnitude of Christ's sufferings, it was a lot to take in on one night. Little did I expect what would pass by our house the next morning.

April Fool's Offering

Tomorrow I'll start a 3-post series about the Holy Week I'll Never Forget, but here's one more post from the weekend...

April Fool's was always marked on my calendar and often involved several weeks of premeditation. See, when you live in a all-boys dorm of some 15+ teenagers, it's an atmosphere ripe for joking. I remember many a morning coming to the breakfast table to be met by blue-colored milk or green eggs as someone snuck into the kitchen and gotten a hold of the food coloring.

So when the Count Team brought me the following offering envelope yesterday morning, I smiled immediately. Someone's Monopoly set is short $500.

Nelson's Beginning

I dug into the bulletin archives out of interest in what the Grace Church bulletin looked like when Bryan first started at Grace. I'm not exactly sure why, but church offices tend to keep and archive each week's bulletin. Interesting to see the change in formatting, type styles, graphics and worship in 10 years.

It's A Wonderful Life @ Grace

Our Worship Arts Director at Grace, Bryan Nelson will soon be following the yellow brick road to embark on a new ministry. In George Bailey fashion, what if God's plan didn't include Bryan Nelson crossing paths with Grace Church?

-With no Crosswalk Show, Lititz would have an additional food establishment featuring Chinese cuisine... The CrossWOK restaurant.

-Without the Ultimate Guitar Jam, over 100 guitarists would've gathered for an Electric Guitar Jam with special guest Gene Simmons that culminated in a mass guitar smashing at the end of the concert.

-Without the Brass Spectacular, the local shopping mall featured a Bras Spectacular. Maybe that was just a typo, but they did like 6 of them!

It's clear that God used Bryan "for such a time as this" in the life of Grace Church. He's led us in realizing some unique and incredible God-ordained opportunities and I'm excited to see how God uses him in Topeka. Just keep following the yellow brick road, Bryan.

Church Clean-up Day

Maybe it's revisionist history, but my perception is that in years past, churches in America benefited greatly from church clean-up days and similar volunteer armies descending upon the facility to fix things up. Maybe my perception is off base, but for a few, the church clean-up day is fading. Stubborn as I can be, we still schedule them.

This past Saturday eight adults and 12 teenagers worked the morning at Grace to spruce the facility up in preparation for this Saturday's Egg Hunt and the Easter services on April 8. While 20 people amounts to a smidgen of a percentage of our total attenders, I greatly appreciate their sacrifice to make the exterior of our church look good. They planted 576 pansies and put down more than a dump truck full of mulch. Did you notice how nice the flower beds looked yesterday?

What happened to Pastor Scott's blog?

If you are a regular reader of Pastor Scott's blog, Folks, Listen!, you noticed that we experienced some technical difficulties over the past few days. I'm not entirely sure what went down. What I do know is that we were unable to publish posts or make changes to the blog. But the change was part of a bigger issue that I've been navigating.

The host of lgbc.org recently contacted me to inform that the church website had reached a size of some 2 gigabytes of data. That's compared with the 250 megabyte limit of our current web host plan. In other words, our website was way over our limit. Working with Elaine, we've been trimming the church site of out of date information and other superfluous files, but even that didn't remove enough data to get us to the 250 megabyte level. It was then that I realized the Folks, Listen! blog was in the mix too.

When Pastor Scott launched Folks, Listen!, I was of the mindset that as the Senior Pastor's blog, it should be on the church's main website. But I'm no longer convinced that having it at that location generated any new traffic to the church website. So, with the blog taking up additional disk space, and with blogging services offering to host a blog for free, it seemed logical to move.

The move occurred much faster than I had planned, which didn't give us the option of advanced warning. If you can't find Pastor Scott's blog after all of this, here are the links.

Baptism - poll

The two-baptismal pool approach seemed to work this past Sunday, in fact, several times I felt like Pastor Scott and the worship team was realizing they had more time left in the service than they expected. Regardless of those technicalities, it was a great service.

Even the casual observer recognizes that in spite of all the attempts, most people aren't able to get fully immersed in the 30" inches of water the hot tub and inflatable pool hold. That makes me curious, do you see baptism and the significance of a full immersion as a high enough priority, that you'd encourage the church to consider a more permanent baptismal setup...

-in our current facility, recognizing that it could come at a substantial expense to retrofit existing structures?

-in any future facility, should God lead us in that direction at some point in the future?

This isn't any formal vote or study, I'm just curious for my own knowledge. I welcome your response via comments to this post.

More snow, more neighbors

Sure enough, while shoveling the latest snowfall Saturday morning, I had the chance to meet another neighbor in our development. He actually used his snow blower to clear our the end of our driveway, establishing what Filipino's call an utang na loob, a debt of gratitude. Though not as strong in US culture, it does open the door for us to do something in return for them which hopefully will lead to building another bridge with them. Clearing 6-8 inches off of our short, single-car driveway is knocked out in a few hours, the church on the other hand...

A lot of us probably don't realize the time and effort required to prep the church lot on snow days and the lengths we go to, to have it ready with as little disruption to the church's regular schedule. Take this last storm for example. As soon as the storm had passed, our snow clearing team started work almost immediately. That had them starting to work at 12:30am on Saturday morning. They had the lot cleared by around 8-9am. There's nothing like seeing the high contrast of several inches of snow against the black ashpalt of a driveway and parking lot.

As I've posted previously, we try to leave the cancellation of Sunday services as our absolute last option. So when it takes upwards of 8-9 hours to clear our parking lot, there will be Sundays when the lot is not completely cleared. We accept that, figuring that we can all wear boots to church if we have too and if ever someone doesn't feel comfortable being out in snowy weather, we highly encourage them to follow their intuition and stay home that week.

Fortunately, we have a dedicated snow clearing crew and most Sundays that I can remember, the lot has been as good as it could be in light of the circumstances. I appreciate the service and sleepless nights the team puts in as service to our church.

Just Add Water - Logistics, Part 2

As of Thursday, we're up to 102 who've asked to be baptized on Sunday, amazing. Sheri's had quite the week keeping everything organized. Note that the 102 doesn't include the applications that were received from:
- Ima Believer
- Needa Bath
- Duncan Water

Baptism Flashback

As I sit in my office reconciling the church bank statements the voices of Pastor Scott, Pastor Andy, our Youth Director, Doug, Scott's assistant Sheri, our Facility Director, Jay and Dot and Carl are carrying out of the conference room into my office. They're coordinating Sunday's baptism service.

I wonder if the disciples went through a similar process in the midst of Pentecost?
I wonder if they worked through the issues of water temp, tank/tub capacity, what the people should wear, who was dunking who...?

It's a fun time to be at Grace, though reconciling bank statements is all wet.

Ordinance

The messages the last two Sundays have been an interesting re-gripping of what baptism is all about. Upon further review I was struck by the contrast in ordinances. In the New Testament, Scripture mandates two practices to be regularly practiced by the local church: communion and baptism.

In kind of a "duh" moment, the contrast between the two caught my attention. Through His various scribes, God gave us detailed information about communion... what it symbolizes, who we're to remember each time we partake, who should practice it, when it should be practiced, who should not practice it, what happens to those who practiced it when they weren't supposed to, etcetera, etcetera. Lots of detail. Contrast that with what's recorded about baptism.

It's explained, but not in terms as specific as communion is explained. We're told what it symbolizes and who should practice it. But as I reflect on what I know and remember about the Bible, I don't recall reading anything that specifies who should not practice it. Nor do I recall reading anything about what happens, if anything, to those who are baptized who shouldn't have been. In fact, there's something to be said for the amount of stuff not written about baptism. Just an interesting observation.

This just in, there are now upwards of 90 people who want to be baptized on Sunday; unbelievable. Be praying for these 80+ people who are taking that next step in their relationship with Christ.

Just Add Water - Logistics

As Pastor Scott mentioned yesterday, there are some 50 people signed up to be baptized this coming Sunday. While Just Adding Water seems simple enough, doing so when we don't have a permanent baptismal presents some challenges. But as I shared with the staff in last week's staff meeting (using John's account of the feeding of the 5000), we can't allow logistics to get in the way of how God is moving in the hearts and minds of His children.

Through the late 1990s, Grace was content to hold baptismal services outside of the regular Sunday morning worship times and to hold the services in the original Chapel which has a built-in baptistery. But it didn't seem the appropriate atmosphere for celebrating one of the ordinances of the church. The timing didn't mesh with the schedule shifts of our culture, near the end all of 10 people were showing up for baptisms. At the same time the capacity of the Chapel doesn't hold the Sunday morning attendances. So we went with a temporary solution to accommodate baptisms on Sunday mornings - a hot tub!

That's served okay for the past four plus years (not everyone was fully immersed, in some cases only the front half of their head was plunged - the water height is all of 30"). But with us anticipating 50+ baptisms this week we're faced with a couple of issues:

Time - it takes a while to get people in and out of a baptistery, not an issue John the Baptist probably faced in the Jordan. In that forum, they were probably able to line everyone up in the river and just walk down the line. Unfortunately, Scripture doesn't give us the specifics of how they baptized at Pentecost - that would've been an interesting read. Our time-driven culture pressures us to get the 50+ people baptized in such a way that we can still get home (or beat the restaurant rush) as close to 12 noon as possible.

Water - when you start talking about mass baptisms, you have to think about how much water you'll need. Between what will spill out of the tub and what will walk about in the drenched clothing, there's a good chance we'll loose a good amount of water out of the tub.

I'm not in the loop, but from what I understand a couple of options are being considered. For one, we've ordered another makeshift baptistery. Having two tubs gives the option of doing near simultaneous baptisms. Plus, the newly ordered tub, being a bigger one, will be able to hold more water. You'll have to come Sunday to celebrate what God's doing in these people's lives and for side interest, how we navigate the logistics.

Where the M&M's came in

On Monday, December 4th we moved from creating the statement to communicating the statement. If you think the ideas were flying around during our first meetings, these were ideas on steroids. I mean, I'm talking about ideas of having the congregation sitting in specially constructed bleachers with Pastor Scott preaching from center court and giving each attender a basketball and all sorts of stuff that never made the cut. In the end we hit on the M&M concept and the other elements that you witness throughout the series.

But in all of this, what's been most gratifying to me is to see a group of people take hold of a simple statement and see it motivate them to take a next step in their walk with Christ. I've listened to professors talk about purpose statements in the isolation of a classroom setting, but I had never been a part of implementing the process from scratch. I've read the purpose statements of other organizations and been personally inspired, but never seen up close how they can transform a group of people.

It's been very satisfying to have had the opportunity to have a seat at the table were all of this was composed, to be a part of the process, to see it implemented and to see how it's energizing us to meet people where they are and move people to where God wants them to be.

It's not about the chocolate

Several days after my breakfast with Rich, Pastor Scott gathered all of the full time ministry staff together for an all day meeting. We spent a significant amount of our meeting in prayer and sharing what God had been doing in our lives personally and in our ministry. While God's promised that "where two or three are gathered, there I am with them" with our staff, where two or three are gathered, there's sure to be a wild and fun time. Add to that being holed up in a room all day and it's like the time I doused the charcoal with so much lighter fluid the lid to the grill caught fire. Though you may not believe it, we did have a very focused and productive day.

It was neat to see each of us participate and contribute to the discussion. And while our backgrounds are quite diverse, we span a range of ages and our approach to ministry sometimes differ, we were uniquely unified throughout the meeting. It was an exercise I thoroughly enjoyed.

As I write this, eight months later, it's been fun to recollect to that first meeting and especially to look at our original worksheets.
You can see how much we left on the cutting room floor because we felt it was implied, in an effort to keep the statement short and memorable. Actually, we figuratively left the floor covered with ideas and worksheets throughout this process - either the Elmer's was defective or only the good ideas were sticking.

With prayer interspersed in the interim, we reconvened several times after that initial meeting to see if we were comfortable with our work and the direction we were headed. Pastor Scott then shared it with the staff for comment and reaction and then the Elders. Having received very constructive feedback, but limited negative reaction, we started preparing for the February message series.

The irony of that first meeting is that it wasn't until I started composing this post that I realized that in addition to the bottled water, soda and pretzels that we were munching on during the all day meeting, there were also M&M's on the table. None of us realized it at the time that M&M's would come to the forefront several months later.

Making an M&M

I really like m&m's, especially Peanut m&m's (the plain one's are just a little too sweet). I pick my favorite NASCAR driver based on who drives the m&m's sponsored car. It might be a little bit of a stretch, but m&m's excite me, so much so that I thought it only appropriate to celebrate my 200th post by talking about them!

In the past month at Grace, M and M has a new meaning

M eeting PEOPLE where they are
M oving PEOPLE to where God wants them to be.

The new statement captures the purpose of Grace Church since it was organized back in 1970. We just finished a month-long message series dissecting what Grace Church has been and continues to be all about. If you weren't able to attend any of the services or hear the messages, you need to check them out. I keep harping on how God's doing something in our midst unlike anything I've ever seen and He just keeps adding more and more to it. Go Berean on me and check with other Grace-folk and see if it's just me.

February was a good month, but I almost forgot about the journey that started on June 20, 2006 that got us to where we are today.

Having closed on the 12.5-acre property purchase in the Fall of 2005, Pastor Scott and I had been working on creating the process we would follow to lead us in figuring out how God wanted to make use of the newly acquired property for the sake of His Kingdom. We'd recently connected with Rich, who's involved in a local ministry, helping them with strategic planning etc. and Scott asked me to meet with him. We had breakfast together on June 20, 2006.

Most of what Rich shared was a 60-minute review of my Master's program, but material that had gotten fragmented in the deep recesses of my mind. While the restaurant didn't serve any chocolate candies that melt in your mouth, not in your hand, little did I know that our breakfast would chart the course for the next eight months or the role chocolate would play down the road.

We stole the restroom from Chili's

You may have noticed that we renovated the lobby bathrooms in the past year, actually it was a year ago January that we did the work in the Alpha lobby restrooms. If you have been in the lobby restrooms, you know that we did some unique decorating schemes in those rooms. I think they turned out well, but the rooms are definitely unique. So the other day when my wife and I were having lunch at Chili's and I used the restroom, it dawned on me that the men's restroom in the Grace lobby is actually the restroom that Chili's wanted in their restaurants, but I think that we did a more effective job at catching the theme Chili's had in mind. So you need to check out our lobby restrooms, if you haven't already.

Lord, please send lots and lots of snow

It first struck me after we had lived for a few weeks in an apartment complex in Lawrenceville, NJ. The architect designed the apartments in clusters of 16 situated around a central garden-type thing. It looked like a nice, homey, apartment complex where the residents socialized regularly. Yeah, what was I thinking?!? Looks can be deceiving. At the end of each day, each of us would retreat to our cells and lock in until it was time to head out for work the next day. Farm country, at least my experience of country living, hasn't been much different.

I've gotten to talk with our neighbors only a handful of times...
-when we were all out chiseling the ice disguised as snow last week
-when the tree fell on our backyard shed last summer
-when we were shoveling snow last winter
-when we asked them if we could help with work around the house for them as part of SALT2005
No wonder God sends so much snow, it's the only chance we get to talk to our neighbors!

Most interesting was the response when we took our neighbors a breakfast pastry just before Christmas. We had close to a dozen to deliver, but much to my wife's and my surprise, they invited us in to chat!

Talking with neighbors is much of what I watched my parents do as they planted churches. In the Philippine culture, just about every block had a family run business where you could buy a soda and a snack - much like a vending machine, except it was a much more personable experience. These Sari-sari stores were a regular gathering place on the block. Want to get to know people, hang out at the Sari-sari store for a while. And that's how I watched my parents start churches. What is the Sari-sari store equivalent in Lititz?

This is elementary stuff. I see two choices: either each of us walks across the room, driveway or wherever we need to walk, OR, we join the children of the world in praying for lots and lots of snow.

The Enemy's Playbook

Gleaning from my youthful observations, both past and present, I think I've seen some trends in the way our enemy (the aforementioned roaring Lion) does his thing to thwart the progress of the Gospel. And it came to mind again during Sunday's message.

In the Philippines, I observed a culture, if not a whole nation, for which the spirit realm was accepted as reality, though feared to such extents that it held them captive. My childhood friends were literally scared to death of the ghosts and spirits that haunted the rice mill and lurked among the graves at the cemetery. It was obvious to me how the enemy used their common acceptance of the spirit realm in an attempt to hold the power of the Gospel at bay.

I contrast that with my common day observances now and it fascinates me how different a playbook the enemy uses in the US culture. The spirit realm is laughed off as child's play in our culture. But the enemy's playbook would make Bill Belichick proud. In the US I see him using our busyness to hold the Gospel at bay, among a list of other offensive/defensive schemes.

And I often see the church playing right into the enemy's plan... we, the church, simply add more busyness to people's lives. As was mentioned on Sunday, we need to resist busyness for the sake of the Gospel, even if it means not participating or our family members participating in everything everyone else is doing, whether it be rec leagues, community activities or, heaven forbid, some church events.

In order for us to walk across the room, the driveway or whatever you need to walk across, we need time in our schedules to build relationships. Which leads me to tomorrow's post...

Free Squirrely!

This is a follow-up to my January 15th post... Apparently our friendly visitor during the NFC Championship game took his/her whilrwind tour global. I'd like to think that like Free Willy, I had a part in letting that poor varmit live out his/her dream.

Skittering Stowaway

That's not called shoveling

Calling what all of us did yesterday (I pity you if you left it until today) shoveling just doesn't do it justice. I've determined that chiseling is a more appropriate term.

It was one time that I was glad I have a one car garage.

For the record

For the record, let me state publicly that I've advocated a daily siesta break of up to an hour or so in the office, but have always been rebuffed by my co-workers. They prefer to get home early than have a longer break during the day.

While environmental factors come into play, growing up in the Philippines I was accustomed to most businesses closing from 12 noon to around 2 pm for the daily siesta break. I always thought they were onto something and now there's a scientific study to support it.

You can't say I didn't try.

Get to know Judy

One of the things I appreciate about the company that we have hired to clean our facility is their relationship with us. Though the owners don’t attend our church, they have made a concerted effort to get to know not only our staff but our congregation as well. They are on a first-name basis with a lot of people. One of their staff members is Judy. She attended Grace many years ago and then stopped attending for awhile. When she joined Personal Touch Cleaning, it wasn’t long before she was back worshipping with us again. Two times a week Judy comes in and cleans the church offices, and it’s been fun for us as a staff to get to know her. To Judy, it is more than a job to clean our facility, offices, and bathrooms. It is her ministry and way to contribute to the body of Christ. She cares about our staff members and often asks how we are doing and keeps up with the different things going on in our lives. She also cares about the people we are ministering to as a church, helps out on Sunday mornings in the children’s area, and things like that. So, though she serves in a behind-the-scenes capacity and works for a company that is providing a service to the church, I appreciate all that Judy does and the role that she has at Grace.

Realtime feedback

I came across this article earlier today, wow, what a concept. I'm really curious as to how it actually worked. Was the speaker reading his text msgs throughout his talk? Did he respond to any of the msgs while he was talking? Very interesting though, I give him credit for taking the risk.

Thus far, we've only used text msgs at Grace to communicate about service information between the people on the stage and the techs supporting them on the Mezzanine. Oh, and last week I used one to pull someone out of a meeting.

Let's Go Racin'!!!

The Daytona 500 is this Sunday, time to strap in for another NASCAR season, even if at 36 races, it's too long of a season. I'm excited. To top all that, the all-chocolate front row is set, how cool is that. In the chocolate wars on the track, M&M/Mars beat out Hershey, for this round anyway.

If you want to join the Grace Church NASCAR Fantasy League, click here.
Group ID: 35122
Password: speedy

A couple of teams are already signed up:
Gilliland's Island
HurriKAHNES
GoJimmie!!!
Speed Gangsta!

Boogity, boogity, boogity!!!

Where is God Working?

The principles in Henry Blackaby and Claude King's book, Experiencing God, ring in my mind constantly and I'm always asking myself, "Where is God working?"

If you were at last Sunday's service at Grace, you got an idea that this is an exciting month at Grace and there's more to come! I'm excited about what God is doing - it's neat to see the results/answers to prayers we started praying six plus months ago. I'm excited to see all levels of our ministry doing the same thing and pointed in the same direction. After much prayer and searching for where God is working, it's fun to see God use people to take those principles and find creative ways to apply them in ways that make them stick in our minds.

With all of the excitement in Lititz, it struck me that some of the blogs I monitor on a regular basis are all excited about what God is doing in their churches, particularly pointing at their plans for tomorrow. Coincidince or is God working in unique ways across the country?
Gary Lamb - Ridge Stone Church
Perry Noble - NewSpring Church
Steven Furtick - Elevation Church

Join me in praying that God would open the eyes of all of us as to where He is working, how He is challenging us to join Him and that He would protect all of us from prowling Lion seeking whom he may devour.

Filling out child abuse clearance forms

If my seat belt analogy from yesterday didn't stick; why don't we hitchhike anymore? My impression was that early in transportation history, hitchhiking was an accepted form of getting from one place to another. When was the last time you hitchhiked or picked up a hitchhiker? Isn't the reason why we don't hitchhike comparable to the reason why we should check the criminal and child abuse histories of everyone who works with children?

The child abuse clearance form requires you to fill out every address at which you've ever lived and every person you've ever lived with. I had so many I had to send in a separate page with all of my listings. When you're parents are missionaries and move at least every four years, combined with being a boarding student in grades 4-7 and 12, on top of four years of college, the list gets quite long. If for nothing else, it was a great exercise of my brain functions as these rows of Cold Case files hadn't been accessed in decades. Here's what mine looks like:

Previous Addresses (since 1975)
1975-1976 Princeton, NJ
1976-1977 Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines
1977-1978 Karuhatan, Valenzuela, Bulacan, Philippines
1978-1980 Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines
1980-1981 Princeton, NJ
1982-1986 Villa Carolina, Muntinglupa, Philippines
1986-1987 Havertown, PA
1987-1989 Galas, Quezon City, Philippines
1989-1990 Gapan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
1990-1990 Cape May Court House, NJ
1990-1992 Langhorne, PA
1992-1992 Gapan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
1992-1993 Langhorne, PA
1993-1993 Skillman, NJ
1993-1994 Langhorne, PA
1994-1994 Wallingford, PA
1994-1995 Princeton, NJ
1995-1998 Lawrenceville, NJ
1998-2007 Lititz, PA

Household Members
P. Norton
L. Norton
S. Mittlestat
L. Agdepa
E. Bagasin
J. Westfall
N. Townsend
A. Miller
A. Walker
P. Bunnell
B. Burgess
J. Van Dam
J. Hochrein
M. Brussel
E. Dolbeck
P. Licata
T. Snyder
G. Peters
R. Thompson
A. Wong
M. Young
P. Colburn
E. Norton

Why we do criminal/child abuse checks on our volunteers?

Our children's ministries (daycare, Christian school and traditional church ministries for children) have been at the core of Grace's philosophy of ministry since the beginning... if we reach the children, it will give us opportunities to build relationships with their parents. With a State-certified daycare and a Christian school, we have government standards with which we need to comply - many of which are designed to protect the children in our care. In the same way, though not government mandated, we have set standards to protect the children in all of our ministries. While their protection is in the hands of The Creator, we do take do-diligence steps for each child's safety by checking the child abuse and criminal records of the volunteers who work with minors. It's a step we feel is necessary to exercise the best stewardship over the children in our care. I was contemplating this process recently and thought of the following analogy.

In my lifetime, US vehicles have always had seat belts. I remember riding in my Opa's Chrysler's which were only equipped with lap belts, but the cars had belts. My assumption is that the first vehicles didn't have any seat belts, but that before long, either the manufacturers or the government started installing them because they provided increased safety. If I were to ride in your car, and I put on the seat belt, would you take that to mean that I didn't trust your driving skills? No, we've all accepted and it's actually law, that everyone should buckle-up when in a vehicle. Buckling-up isn't an indicator of our mistrust of the driver or of other drivers, it's a step that increases our safety.

In my thinking, the criminal and child abuse checks, though a review of private information, are very similar to my regular use of a seat belt. It's a step that increases our safety. It's not a sign of mistrust or an indicator that we question the people who are caring for children. It's a stewardship exercise that communicates that people matter.

That said, I know filling out the forms can be laborious, especially when the child abuse clearance requires you to list every person you've ever lived with. As you'll see tomorrow, I challenge anyone to come up with a longer list than the one I had.