Great Lakes Church
Dave Nelson
DaveNelsonsBlog.com
I Became A Christian And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt!
I'm REALLY excited for our new series that kicks off this Sunday! Over the next four weeks we'll be talking about why Christianity often ends up feeling like one big disappointment. I know that sounds harsh, but think about it...
- If Christianity isn't just another behavior-based religion, then why is there so much focus on behavior?
- If God wants me to live a certain way, then why doesn't He give me the desire to do so?
- How do we overcome the dilemma of our lifestyle not matching our beliefs?
- Why is it so difficult to reflect the same kind of love, generosity and compassion that Christians in the Bible had?
- If God is alive, then how come so many aspects of Christianity feel dead? Admit it. It's true.
- How did Christianity ever evolve into becoming about church attendance, dressing up, and not cussing?
I can't wait!
My Plan of Attack
*On Sunday, we're going to launch a new series called, "I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt!" I decided on this title 'cause it reflects the disappointment that so many of us have with Christianity. Going to church... Participating in a small group... Singing songs to Jesus... Trying to change our behavior... leads almost every follower of Jesus to eventually ask , "Is this it?" This series is going to confront that question!
*Recently, I asked the Great Lakes Church staff (paid & volunteer) to identify their greatest weakness and come up with a plan for how their going to tackle it. As they shared their plans yesterday, I realized that this was more important than I originally thought. Every one of the weaknesses that were shared had a HUGE effect on other people (lack of boundaries, disorganized, very little time spent renewing spiritually, etc.).
*Since I pretty much suck at having boundaries with my time, here's the plan I came up with:
1) Don't check my email in the morning!
1) Don't check my email in the morning!
2) Get away one day a month to think and plan.
3) Say "no" to more stuff (this is pretty vague, but I've already started to do this).
4) Take time each evening to plan my agenda for the next day.
5) Turn off the computer from 6-9pm every evening, so that I can spend more time with my kids. Earlier this year, I tried to do this, but that didn't work out well 
This is my second attempt!
This is my second attempt!-Dave
PS - On another note, I recently told the amazing story of Larry Walters. Here is news footage of the actual event (starting at the 30 second marker)!
Being a Pastor Isn't What I Expected (Part 5)
Continued from earlier blogs...
- I NEVER IMAGINED THAT I WOULD BE THIS UNQUALIFIED!
I am a college graduate. That's right! I graduated from North Central University in Mnpls, MN. with a bachelors degree in Pastoral Studies. It took me almost 15 years, but I did it! Despite that fact, I feel completely unqualified for most of what I do as a pastor. College was great at providing classes like, "Bible Study Methods", "Eschatology" and even "Church History". Those things aren't useless, but here are some classes that would have been more helpful:
-How to recruit, train and inspire volunteers
-How to care for the people in your church without burning out
-How to cast BIG vision on a regular basis without seeing repetitive or unrealistic
-How to set and manage a church budget
-How to preach A+ messages every Sunday, or at least every other Sunday
-How to have tough conversations with good people
-How to market a church without seeming gimmicky
-How to develop devoted followers of Jesus that don't embarrass God or His other followers
-How to design and fund a building without experience as an architect or a fundraiser
-How to manage the expectations of what a pastor is and is not (small churches tend to treat their pastor like a slave, while large churches tend to treat their pastor like a king... neither is healthy!)
You get the point. It's impossible to do it all. I've had to learn how to be comfortable with two things:
1) Building a healthy church requires lots of people. Romans 12:4-8 refers to the church as a body that needs all the other parts to properly function.
2) The church is messy. Controlling it is God's job and not mine.
Random Reminders and Learnings From the Weekend
From Sunday morning's talk w/ Mike Meeks...
*Jesus has lots of fans, but eventually He wants His fans to become His followers!
*It's easy to say, "God, I'm willing to do whatever you want me to do." What's difficult is surrendering the obvious patterns of sin in our life (ie: gossip, unresolved anger, etc.)
From Monday's network meeting w/ other pastors...
*Don't ask people to help shape the vision of the church 'cause you'll just have a collage of ideas. If you don't have a vision, get one!
*The summary of all the books on hiring is this: Hire intelligent, action-oriented people who are kind and fun to be around.
*Build a team of people who are action-oriented! It's easier to tame a lion than prod a turtle.
*There is no need for a job description if you clearly articulate the goals.
*100% of the church budget goes to "missions". Don't forget that everything we do is "missions".
*The best way to save time is to not check your email in the morning.
*You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
*Make sure to have systems in place and people ready to go for whatever opportunities God opens up.
*If you don't have non-Christians in your life who would call you their "friend", you need to reconsider why you're pastoring a church that exists for people who don't know God.
...Lots more learnings & reminders, but can't write them all out in one blog!
Church Planting
This weekend we have 20+ church planters (a mix of lead and staff pastors) who are coming together, in Kenosha, to strategize and learn how to become more effective in helping people find and follow Jesus Christ. I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Last night I started reading a new book called, "Viral Churches". Here are three quotes from the book:
Two thousand years of Christian history have proven that new churches grow faster, and reach more people, than established churches. The growth on any plant is always on the newest branches.
No single congregation can possibly reach every type of person in its community. It takes new churches to reach new generations and new groups of people.
Typical church programming often steals energy and time from the original mission focus of the church, which is to see lives changed through the Gospel.
Reread that last quote. I try to be very careful about not making dogmatic statements, but here goes: I WILL NEVER BE A PART OF ANOTHER CHURCH THAT IS CONCERNED WITH FILLING PEOPLE'S CALENDARS OR SOMEHOW WORKING TO CREATE A UTOPIA FOR "CHURCH PEOPLE". That is a waste of time, energy and resources.
Please take a moment to pray for the crew that is here this weekend. All the churches represented are less than three years old and five of the churches haven't even started yet. Many of these guys are about to take the biggest risk they've ever taken in their life. Pray that God will provide resources, an amazing launch team, people to encourage them, clarity of vision and the courage to move forward!
A Very Important Question
A few days ago, I had a buddy ask me the question, "What's your biggest challenge as a leader?" I didn't even need to think about it. I knew the answer. For ten minutes, I gave him some sad monologue about how I'm horrible at setting up boundaries. I talked about how many hours I work, how many emails I respond to every day, how little time I spend with my family, how I go months without taking a break from speaking on Sunday mornings, blah... blah... blah.
His response? "Nelson, you're an idiot! Ever since I've known you, you've openly talked about your lack of boundaries. I don't even feel bad for you." Then he asked me another question. A very important question. "What are you going to do about it? What's your plan?" I guess I never thought about it before. I whine and complain about the areas I suck at, but then do nothing about it! So this week, I'm putting together a plan. I'll let you know what it looks like when I'm done.
Where do you need huge improvement in your life? More importantly, what are you going to do about it? What's your plan? Seriously, what is it? What's your plan to move from the area you need improvement in to actually improving???
Dave
PS - On another note, this weekend we'll have 20+ church planters in town who are coming together to strategize and learn. I'll blog about this event on Friday, but I can't freakin' wait!
Sunday Recap With Ryan Meeks
*Ryan Meeks, pastor of EastLake Church in Seattle, spoke on Sunday. It was one of our best Sundays yet! Thanks to all of you who commented afterwards, "If Ryan started a church in Kenosha, we'd kiss Great Lakes Church goodbye." I love you too.
*Ryan was lying when he said that I must be the first pastor in Kenosha, he knows of, who has undergone a sex change.
*I am not lying when I say that Ryan looks like the love child of Ben Stiller and Jason Lee (from My Name is Earl).
Here are five great thoughts from Sunday's talk, "What To Do When... You're Discouraged":
1 - Discouragement makes us more vulnerable to temptation.
2 - When you're discouraged, the first thing you should do is schedule rest. Tired people are prone to discouragement.
3 - Discouraged people need to make it a priority to encourage others! (Proverbs 11:25) Encouraging others changes us.
4 - Your discouragement won't last forever! Never lose that perspective. God is always with us! (Psalm 43:5)
5 - You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Don't hang with people who are "downers"!
In closing, here's a classic "Debbie Downer" sketch from SNL...
Being a Pastor Isn't What I Expected (Part 4)
Continued from earlier blogs...
- I NEVER IMAGINED THAT GREAT LAKES CHURCH WOULD HURT PEOPLE!
We started Great Lakes Church for one reason: To make it easy for people find and follow Jesus Christ. Each week, a team of 300+ volunteers do their absolute best to remove the hurdles that have kept people at a distance from God. We have a huge welcome team to help people feel wanted! We give away everything for FREE to avoid the feeling that "the church just wants my money". We have Growth Groups and volunteer teams to provide care and a relational network for people. Simply put - We're working like crazy to make people feel loved, wanted and accepted.
Maybe I'm naive, but I never imagined that people would be hurt by Great Lakes Church. Everything we do is extremely intentional in helping people avoid negative church experiences. We've done our best to run from legalism and keep mean people from leading. However, since the church is made up of people... we've got flaws! Nobody is hurt by institutions. They're hurt by individuals who have a name and a face. People make dumb comments from time to time. People intentionally or unintentionally gossip. People sometimes don't show the compassion or concern they should towards other people. I hate to admit it, but I'm guilty of hurting people and so are the individuals who make up Great Lakes Church. When I hurt people 'cause of my carelessness, I'm totally wrong and need to ask for forgiveness.
Not to belittle what I just wrote, but sometimes people get "hurt" 'cause they're just easily offended. If people are hurt because of a decision we made that allows us to focus more on people who don't go to church, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause we didn't respond to one of their emails as quickly as they would have liked, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause they feel guilty about something we talk about on Sunday mornings and just don't want to change their lifestyle, I'M NOT SORRY! If they're hurt 'cause we don't take any of their suggestions seriously, since they're not involved at any level with Great Lakes Church, I'M NOT SORRY! Okay, I'd better stop before I say something I regret and really offend someone!!!
Connecting the Dots Between EastLake Church and Great Lakes Church
I've had tons of people ask me what the connection is between Great Lakes Church and the various EastLake Churches that exist. We're all non-denominational Christian churches, but we're definitely connected. Here's how:
2003 - I join the staff of EastLake Church in San Diego (Pastor Mike Meeks). His son Ryan is on staff as the music pastor.
2004 - Ryan Meeks (Mike's son) leaves EastLake Church in San Diego to start EastLake Church in Seattle.
2006 - I leave the staff of EastLake Church in San Diego and join the staff at EastLake Church in Seattle.
2008 - I leave the staff of EastLake Church in Seattle and move to Kenosha, WI to start Great Lakes Church.
2010 - All 3 churches (EastLake San Diego, EastLake Seattle and Great Lakes Church) help launch new churches.
Some churches we've started or will be starting this year are: EastLake Crowley, EastLake Lawrence, Blue Ridge Church, EastLake Salt Lake, and more!
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I want you to know that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves!
This Sunday (April 25), Ryan Meeks will be speaking at Great Lakes Church. For those of you who attend GLC, I'm excited for you to meet Ryan. Here are a few reasons why:
1 - Ryan was a HUGE part of launching GLC. As a matter of fact, EastLake Church in Seattle gave us roughly $50K in equipment and $35K in financial support to help us start. Today, we still have friends in Seattle who support us!!!
2 - He's one of the advisors for the church. This means that he's part of a small group of pastors who are responsible for helping us figure out what our next step is. I typically pee my pants at least once every time I talk to him 'cause he loves to push us on taking BIGGER RISKS for God!
3 - I haven't publicly made fun of Ryan for awhile. I will once again have the opportunity.
4 - I never know what Ryan is going to say, but it's ALWAYS good. That being said, I'm definitely previewing his notes for Sunday 'cause he makes me seem conservative!!! Ryan was the guy who gave me this advice, "You need to launch w/ a series called, 'Thank God For Sex'!" We all know how that worked out.
-Dave
Pictured below (left to right): no clue, no clue, no clue, no clue, Mike Meeks, Ryan Meeks
Great Thoughts from a Book Called "Crazy Love"...
I'm currently reading Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love". I'm only two chapters into it, but here's some interesting thoughts...
1) "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." (Acts 11:26) What I find interesting is the simple thought that the Christians didn't name themselves. But rather, they were called (or named) "Christians" by those watching their lives. I wonder if it would be the same today. Could someone look at your life or look at my life and name me a Christian?
2) To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins-is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?
3) Why would God create more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies (and this is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, "Wow, God is unfathomably big"? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response would be, "Who do I think I am?"
4) Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending.
5) Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you? Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?
6) Throughout time, somewhere between forty-five billion and one hundred twenty-five billion people have lived on this earth.' That's 125,000,000,000. In about fifty years (give or take a couple of decades), no one will remember you. Everyone you know will be dead. Certainly no one will care what job you had, what car you drove, what school you attended, or what clothes you wore. This can be terrifying or reassuring, or maybe a mix of both.
