• Almost everyone agrees that stealing is wrong 'cause it violates another human being.
• When we violate another human, we violate God. Humans are made in His image and marked w/ His glory.
• Few people ever think of themselves as thieves.
• In Matthew 5, Jesus taught us that there is more to the 10 Commandments that what you initially see. He taught us that there is a root problem behind each of the commandments.
• The root problem of stealing is selfishness. Whenever we do something that takes from another human being, violates another person, or cheapens an individual in any way... it is stealing!
• In Ephesians 4:28, the apostle Paul challenges Christ Followers to make the transition from selfishness (life is about me) to selflessness (it's not about me). To go from being a taker... to being a giver. To go from being a consumer... to being a contributer.
• Generosity is the opposite of stealing. The way we make the transition from selfishness to selflessness is by embracing a simpler lifestyle. THIS DOESN'T MEAN EMBRACING A POVERTY LIFESTYLE. It simply means living on less w/ the purpose of being able to give generously to others.

If you're starting a church, and you don't understand this, you will become discouraged VERY QUICKLY! All of us tend to think unrealistically when it comes to church growth. We think that if our church is healthy it will grow every week. It won't. Another thought is, "If everyone who attends brings just one friend a year, we will double by next year this time." This never happens.

The way most churches grow is in spurts. Thankfully, "growth spurts" aren't difficult to predict because they happen in sync w/ the school year calendar. What I mean is that when schools are full-force in session... churches grow! When schools are not in session (June-Aug), nearing a break (Dec), or towards the end of the school year (May), churches typically do not grow.

So, for most of the country, the two seasons of growth are Sept-Nov and Jan-April (I list Sept first 'cause I'm thinking of the school year calendar). Now here's the big question: How will you be PROACTIVE in your planning to ensure you are best prepared for these growth seasons? Here is how we do it at Great Lakes:

• Just before a natural growth season, I spend one or two Sunday mornings mobilizing as many attenders as possible to become volunteers so that we are ready to welcome more people.
• We send out a minimum of 50K mailers to the community just before each of the 2 growth seasons.
• We STOPPED sending mailers at Easter 'cause it happens right before the "summer slump" and it's a waste of resources. Nelson Searcy, the church planting guru, will disagree w/ me on this... but I've got statistical proof to back up what I'm saying.
• The topics we tackle during the growth seasons are extremely practical (relationships, parenting, dealing w/ the past, etc).
• We rarely spend money during non-growth seasons (advertising, adding additional equipment, etc). We save everything for the growth spurts that naturally occur.
• We proactively get ready for growth. For example, this fall we're adding another adult auditorium, adding two new kids rooms, overhauling the check-in process to make it faster, etc. 
• Our kid's programs plan BIG Sunday morning events during natural growth seasons (ie - Back to School Bash).

When I first got married, I wanted to have a home like my parents. The only problem was, they had been married for awhile and it took many years of discipline and hard work to afford the home they owned. Church planters must embrace the fact that they are NEW and attempting to have all the "bells and whistles" is STUPID. Here are some things you can go without:

• Top of the line Mac computers that equal the technology seen on Star Trek.
• An audio/video system that would make the sound engineers at Radio City Music Hall drool.
• Office space (We grew to over 1,000 people, in our first year, w/o an office. YOU DON'T NEED ONE.)
• A special church phone (Google Voice is FREE and gives you your own number. It can be forwarded anywhere.)
• A website that rivals one Bill Gates could design. Clovers sites has templates that are simple, clean and inexpensive.
• Paid staff (It is a waste to pay someone to do something a volunteer is capable of doing. We only hire someone if they will be overseeing and/or mobilizing a large team of volunteers. Our goal is 1 full-time staff member for every 250 people.)
• "Church provided" cell phones, laptops, etc. Great Lakes Church does not provide equipment to staff members that they should already own. We do give a small stipend each month to help offset some of the costs involved w/ phones, internet and computer.
• Food! If everybody on staff expects the church to reimburse them for "business lunches" you'll end up spending loads of money. Don't do it. It's amazing how quickly a "business lunch" turns into a "coffee appointment" if the church isn't paying.

• This is probably the most challenging commandment because of how broad the term "father" and "mother" has become. 
• One of the most disturbing truths revealed in Scripture is that God always works through HUMAN AUTHORITY.
• Paul, a leader in the early church, says that how we treat authority is a really big deal to God (Romans 13:1-2). By the way, he wrote these words to Christians living under the rule of Nero in first century Rome!
• I can't believe how many kids don't talk to or rarely spend time with their parents (or vice versa). I know there are lots of reasons for this. It usually comes down to pride, fear or selfishness. I wish I had time to expound on this, but if this is you... read this phrase a hundred times: HUMILITY IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN REGRET! As difficult as it is, humble yourself and pursue a relationship with your parents!

When's the last time, other than Father's Day or Mother's Day, you did something to honor your parents?

Dave

10) The "I'm Definitely From Arkansas" Tattoo

9) The Multiple Choice Tattoo: A- Young girl?  B- Old woman?  C- Satanic doll?

8) The "I Can't Spell" Tattoo

7) The All I Can Say Is "WOW" Tattoo

6) The Best Use of Nasty Arm Hair Tattoo

Surprisingly, ancient Israel was much more of a 24/7 culture than we are. They worked all the time. Israel needed every possible day to accomplish what was needed to make society function and to ensure 1-2 million Israelites were fed, while living in the wilderness.

So, why would God place this command on His "Top 10 List"? Here's why:

1) It teaches us DEPEND on God. It's trusting him for 7 days of provision based on 6 days of work. (Exodus 16)

2) It helps us APPRECIATE what we have. Busyness and non-stop work distract us from being satisfied or grateful.

3) It allows us the time to REMEMBER what God has done. One of the purposes of the Sabbath was to build into Israel's weekly schedule a time in which they could reflect on how God had miraculously freed them from slavery. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

Recently, I've been trying to make the most of my day off (Mondays) by making sure I incorporate all 3 of the things above. I promise... it's not as easy as you'd think.

Dave

PS - Topping the "Homeschool Jokes Top 10 List" this past week was, "What do you call it when a homeschool mom talks to herself? A parent/teacher conference" (You can laugh now)

Wow! I can't tell you how excited I am that we get to be a part of this. It was less the 2 years ago that we were starting our own journey as a church. I've posted some pics below of Blue Ridge Church's first Sunday. Lets keep cheering them on!

Dave

Some of the Great Lakes Church crew resting after a LONG trip...

Getting the programs ready for Sunday morning...

Classrooms turned into nursery & preschool rooms...

Scott meeting with the volunteers...

People showed up!

• I NEVER IMAGINED HOW MANY "RIGHTS" I WOULD GIVE UP!

A few weeks ago, I heard a teaching that I'm still thinking about. The essence of the talk was pretty simple: As you are given more and more responsibility, you often lose more and more "rights". This goes against common sense. It just seems like a given that the higher my position on the organizational chart... the more rights and freedom I have! This isn't true. 

President Obama has less rights that most of us. He can't just walk around Washington D.C., w/o the Secret Service, anytime he wants. If he's craving one of  McDonald's amazing double cheeseburgers, and wants to pick it up himself, it's a big ordeal. Remember the Blackberry dilemma he had when first becoming president? Same issue. He had lots of responsibility, but little freedom.

This past week, Gen. McChrystal resigned (aka: was fired) from his job after he and his staff gave unflattering remarks about the Obama administration, in a Rolling Stones Magazine article. Think about this. McChrystal is about as close to Chuck Norris, in his abilities, as one can get. Regardless, because of his position, he lost the right to say whatever he wanted... about whomever he wanted... to whomever he wanted. By the way, I'm the product of a private school education... so I don't know the difference between "whomever" and "whoever", but I hope I'm right.

Last week, people were infuriated when the CEO of BP took some time to watch his 52 foot yacht compete in a race. Because of his position, he lost the right to do this (at least w/o controversy). Believe it or not, I hate getting involved in political discussions. However, I reference these stories 'cause they are well known.

As a pastor, with the RESPONSIBILITY of leading a church, there are many RIGHTS I've given up. I have embraced the fact that there are things I simply cannot do, which most people attending our church can do, and still maintain any sense of integrity or influence. These include: spewing off political views, meeting w/ women alone, living a lavish lifestyle (Ed Young Jr has recently proved this), making decisions w/o explaining "why", getting involved in multi-level-marketing businesses that I would benefit from, giving cliche answers to tough questions, etc. Think about it. NONE of those things are wrong in and of themselves, but any of them have the power to slowly (or quickly) strip away the trust that people have given me. 

Dave

PS - It's Friday, so you probably don't mind wasting time. Here are some hilarious vintage (and chauvinistic) ads that would cause TONS of controversy if they came out today...