Why should followers of Jesus be healthy?

We are created for more then we are doing now.

Over the last couple of weekends we have been going through a series called “Built 4 Life”.  We are going through the different areas of the bible that talk about living a healthy lifestyle.  So as we talked about health we came upon the idea that as followers of Jesus our health is an act of respect to God himself.  So the statement that we are thinking ont this week is:

“Respect the building, respect the builder.”

So what does that look like for us and everyday living:

• Excercise:  Take some small steps this week to get in the discipline of exercise. Start small and work up to something that will continue to encourage health.
• Experience God With a Healthy Life:  For people who are called followers of Jesus this means that you are to worship God with a healthy lifestyle.  Take a look at 1 Corinthians 6:19. Remember you are not your own.
• Extend Life’s Opportunities:  This is where our health and the way we live can put us in a position to do great things with opportunities that God places in our life.  We are built for so much more than we are doing now.

So what are some things that you can do this week to start living a healthier lifestyle? List something here in the comments section.

If you would like to see the message from this last weekend then just click here. (Built 4 Life)

How Does Memorial Day Matter?

A picture from the Vietnam Wall of our relative that gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life.

How does Memorial Day matter to you?  Is that you get a long weekend that is all that matters?  Is that you get to barbecue and have a few beers with friends is that all that matters?

For my family and I it has always been an opportunity for us to remember that there are men and women that gave their lives so that ours would matter.  That we have generation after generation of men and women in our family tree that have served in some form or another for our country.  So for us when it comes to Memorial Day it is the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can have the freedoms that we enjoy.  Like having a long weekend. Like having a barbecue and a couple of beers with friends. Let us not forget why we have this holiday.

So thank you to Clayton P. Hoffman (grandpa), thank you Phil Bloyer (dad), thank you Clay Bloyer (brother), and ultimately Sheldon E. Bloyer.

Who are those that you choose to remember when it comes to Memorial Day?

What would you do with your last days?

Over the last couple of days I have to say that I was not all that excited about what I was doing and who I was at the time.  So just like many people I started having a pity party, until I saw this video:

(Make sure that you take the time to watch the whole thing.)

So if you are like me and you are having a tough day and you feel that your life is just to hard.  Then I challenge you to watch this video and remember the song “Clouds”. Thanks to the family & friends of  Zach Sobiech.

What are the ways that you see God reminding you of how blessed your life really is . . .

Why should healthy living be important?

A great book on your health and being a follower of Jesus.

For the next couple of the weeks at Elevation we are going to be doing a series called, “Built 4 Life”. Where we are going to be focusing on how God has giving us the direction about living a healthy life.  So the focus verse for this series is:

John 10:10 (NLT) 10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

We are hoping and praying that people will be able to see that it is important to tie our physical being with the spiritual.  That as a person of faith I should see the need to be healthy and that God has created me to have a rich life.  But I need to see the why in my life whether it is personal or as a mission in my life.  In fact that is how we created the statement for this weekend; “The why leads me try.”  The why in my life should lead me to try and live a healthier life.  So here are some of my personal whys:

• I hope to live a long life with her.
• I hope to be able to walk my girls down the isle.
• I hope to be able to play catch with my grandkids.

But then there is the mission whys in my life:

• I hope to see all the people in Aurora know Jesus.
• I hope to be able to travel around the world and share about Jesus.
• I hope to be able to lead other groups in planting churches.

What are the whys in your life? How are those whys going to lead you to try and live a healthier life?

In the book “Winning My Race: Discovering the energy, time and discipline to fulfill your destiny.” By Dr. Ben Lerner & Dr. Chris Zaino there is a quote that challenges us to know our whys.

“The two most important days in someone’s life are the day you are born and the day you discover why.” Anonymous

What are your whys and how will you start to take some steps to lead a healthier life?

21 Years in 21 Pictures

It is so easy to be able to sit back and just buy a card.  But when it comes to celebrating one of the greatest days of my life I don’t ever just want it to be easy.  So here is a special gift to my bride on May 16th our 21st Anniversary.

 

 

I praise God for the woman who has made me better and stronger because she is in my life.

Quit listening to other voices! (part 5 finally)

The time that I was able to spend at the Preaching and Teaching conference was great. I was so glad that I was able to spend some time with a great friend named Arron Chambers.  He is the lead pastor at The Journey Church in Greeley, CO and is also the author of one of my favorite books called “Eats with Sinners“.  Arron has a great passion and great ability to communicate to people the importance of spending time with people who are far from Jesus.  I get excited every time I hear him give his talk about it.  In fact the main reason that I get excited about it is because he is always saying that we need to listen to the voice of Jesus talk about meeting and caring for people who are far from a relationship with Jesus.

That is the last thing that I shared with the college students that were a part of the talk that I gave at Ozark Christian College.  If we as church leaders and church planters are to “Quit to continue and continue to Quit” then are last thing is to “quit listening to other voices then the voice of Jesus.”

There are so many people who are going to be telling you as a church planter and church leader what is important for you to be doing.  That there is the need for a woman’s ministry, that there is a need for a men’s ministry, and that there is a need for the under water basket weaving for Jesus ministry. (Not real, but if you have this ministry stop. People might drowned.)

We need to as leaders and church planters to focus on what God is telling us.  Here again is a place where I believe that Saul can give us some insight in what not to do in 1 Samuel 15:24:

²⁴ Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. ” (My emphasis)

Saul as a leader was more worried about what the people wanted that what God had commanded.  There are certain times that as a follower of Jesus, leader in a church, or church planter that we just need to quit listening to everyone else and focus on what Jesus is calling us too.

For me that means that we need to make sure that we are seeking to reach people who are far away from Jesus. At Elevation we put it this way; “Engage jacked up people so that they can become followers of Jesus.”  This is something that we are always going to do in our church.  Why?  Because that is what God has called us to do as church in Aurora, CO and that is not up for debate.  Not because I want to be a jerk but because at the end of my life I want to be able to stand before Jesus and know that I listened to his voice and his voice alone.  ”Quit to continue and continue to quit.”  Let’s be quitters and not get caught quitting.

What is a voice that you need to stop listening too?

Quit going it alone! (part 4)

We need more of these in church planting.

As was sitting in the room at the Preaching and Teaching Conference at Ozark Christian College preparing to talk to students about church planting. The talk that I was about to give was called “Church Planting is for Quitters“.  I thought about the weeks and months that lead up to the start of Elevation. I was fortunate to be able to go through all of the faces of people who were and are a part of the team that makes up Elevation. (Faces because I am horrible with names, hit in the head too much.)

When we were preparing to start Elevation in Aurora, CO. I had prayed and fasted that God would bring together a team of people who would see the opportunity to be a part of the vision and mission of church that would, “Engage jacked up people so that they could become followers of Jesus.” It is one of the areas that I carry the most concern for when it comes to church planters.  That they are willing to get a group of people to be the team that starts a church in an area.  Especially people who are living in that area.  That have an invested connection to the place where the church is going to start.  We were fortunate to have people be a part of the church planting team, but we were more blessed when we started to see people in the community that saw the vision and mission of church as a need for their community.

I have always heard the business statement, “Get the right people on the bus.” I truly believe that is a great statement. But I believe it is way more important to “Get people on the bus.” Especially as a church planter to get people on the bus from the community that you are starting a church in. I love the verse in 1 Samuel 14:8 where Jonathan and his armor bearer are about to get in the battle:

⁸ “All right then,” Jonathan told him. “We will cross over and let them see us. 

Even though Jonathan was the son of the king and was the one that was leading this charge into enemy territory.  He included his armor bearer in that amazing statement.  When it comes to church planting and church planters we need to really see the need to quit going alone.  We need to continually look at how we can bring others along with us into the battle.

Who are you bringing along with you into the battle?

Quit waiting to move! (part 3)

I don’t know how many times that as a pastor or a pastor to students that I have heard people make this statement:

“God is calling me too, (fill in the blank) and I was hoping that you would pray with me about it.”

Most of the time my answer to them is “NO, I won’t pray with you about it.” Which really usually brings faces of shock and the question of “WHY?” Here is my response to that. “Because if God has called you to do it, then DO IT! Don’t pray about if you should do it. DO IT!”  Again when it comes to the area of “Church Planters being Quitters” I believe that is where church planters have seen that God has called them to do something so they have quit waiting to move. I love the verse where Jonathan and his armor bearer have taken a step of faith and are now about to step into the battle. As I read 1 Samuel 14:6 I was able to see the area of church planting and the need to move:

⁶ “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”  (Emphasis mine)

The more and more that I read through the bible and the more and more I talk with church planters and church leaders I believe that God has called us to live in the “Perhaps“.  We are as followers of Jesus first and foremost to rely on God and see the obstacles more as opportunities to see Him show up and do something amazing.

When we were preparing to launch Elevation Christian Church in Aurora, CO.  I kept putting off the date that we were going to launch. I was worried about money, I was worried about people, I was worried about the place, and I was worried if I was ready.  It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to have dinner with Pastor Perry Noble. (Twitter is awesome when you are able to find out people are in your area and you beg for dinner.)  We were sitting there eating and he began to ask questions about what we were doing then he asked when we were going to launch. The question that I had been dealing with.  When I gave him my answer of not being sure he made a statement that rocked me. “If God has called you to do this then do it, if it is God’s will then he will flip the bill.”  It was exactly what I needed to hear at that time.  To me it was the Jonathan moment where I need to hear that we need to live in the “Perhaps” of following God.

Where are you hearing God call you to move? Is it a life style move, is it a vocational move, or is it a spiritual move?

Quit focusing on the numbers in the church. (part two)

As I was preparing to speak at the Preaching and Teaching conference and talk about “Church Planting is for Quitters” as was reading through 1st and 2nd Samuel.  It was there that I was getting some amazing inspiration for being a church planter and leader from the lives of Saul, Jonathan, and David.  So here is why I see that church planters are quitters and not quitting. (To know what I am talking about go read “Church Planting is for Quitters“.)

Church Planting means that you “Quit focusing on the numbers in the church & focus on the numbers outside the church.”  In the story of Saul in 1 Samuel I read 13:8 and this came to life for me as a church planter:

⁸ Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. (my emphasis)

Saul was so focused on his own troops that he was not able to see the great opportunity that was before him for God to do something amazing.  That is why I believe that church planters quit focusing on the number in the church and focus on the number of people outside of the church.  Phil Claycomb from Nexus shared this formula for what we are to focus on when it comes to the numbers that are important. (By the way I really suck at MATH.)

a – (b x 2c) = d

a = Population of an area, b = number of churches in the area, c = avg. church size (national average has been said to be 76),

d = number of people who are not in the church.

So church planters quit focusing on the number in the church and more on the outside of the church.  Here is the statement that I have been hanging on, “Quit to continue and continue to quit.” If we are going to be the church that God has called us to be that is reaching our communities with the radical grace of Jesus we need to quit.

How are you learning to quit focusing on the number of people in the church and focusing those on the outside of the church?

Church Planting is for Quitters

We need more quitters, less quitting.

I had the amazing opportunity to spend the beginning of this week at Ozark Christian College for the Preaching and Teaching Conference.  I enjoyed being able to talk to mostly college students about church planting and why it is for QUITTERS.  Here are the areas that I think church planters are quitters and it is my hope that people who are going to church plant or are thinking about church planting will be a quitter too.

You see the more I look at our communities the church is quitting.  There is a difference between being a quitter and quitting.  Quitting means that you totally quit all together when it comes to life and all that God has called you to do in your community.  That is why the statistics about churches and church planting are so frustrating.  Like the following:

• There is not one county in the US were Christianity is increasing.
• 50% of evangelical churches didn’t have one person say Yes to Jesus in the last year.
• 14% of churches are growing at all.
• 2% of churches nationally are growing by conversion growth.
• More churches close each year than bars. (Just learned that from the Bar Makeover Show)

This is what I see as quitting.

But church planters are quitters and here are some of the ares that church planters are QUITTERS:

• Quit focusing on the numbers in the church, focus on the numbers that are outside the church.
• Quit waiting to move, when God calls MOVE.
• Quit going it alone, take people with you.
• Quit listening to other voices other than God.

I am so excited about the church planters that are about to take off and do what God has called them to do.  The way that I see it we need to “Quit to continue and continue to Quit.”  If we don’t continue to be quitters then eventually we will just be quitting.

Today how are you going to quit?