Hillsong United

Had a great time last night at United. God presence was so powerful. It was great to see people who have grown up in the church in Sydney, as a youth group, so faithfully serving God and engaging others in worship last night.

It was also incredible to be a part of the food drive. We will delivery all the food later today to the Des Moines Dream Center. If you'd like to still donate you can, just contact Jed at jeds@jordancreek.org

Colin's highlight for sure was getting to meet Joel Houston. He was throughly impressed that Joels Dad is a pastor as well!

Let Patience have its perfect work

Do you ever just find yourself in a Funk? Emotionally, mentally, and spiritually just like "what?"

Especially when you know God has placed visions and dreams in your heart, and you find yourself wondering when those specific things are going to "come to pass."

I love the story of David. A regular guy whom God chose to use mightily. We often think of the heroic efforts of him killing Goliath, or leading the charge for Israel, and conquering the enemey... (we do think of his giant sin with Bathsheba, but thats another post).

The reality is that we often over look how David responded to be anointed king. He was chosen to be king, but since there was already a king in place, he went right back to tending the sheep. Later once he had an army of men following him, he had a few opportunities to take things into his own hands to become king, forcing the situation and kill Saul -Twice! But didnt.

Not sure thats how I would have responded honestly. It would have been easy to rationalize that this must be what God wants since its the second time He's served Saul up to me... So now must be my time to become king, thanks God.

But David, waited patiently for Gods perfect timing in his life. He waited for Gods Divine Direction for the vision and dreams he had to "come to pass."

James speaks of patience in a great way.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:4

Wow, what a heady scripture when you really consider it. Perfect and complete -lacking nothing? Really? Mind blowing, if we let patience have its work in our life, we can become perfectly complete, lacking nothing.

Easy to read, easy to tell someone ELSE, but difficult to walk out.

If you wrestle with this area of your life, there are days you are in a funk. Just cloudy, as Im sure David was on occasion. But if you (me) really just hold on to what God has spoken to you, what he has played out for you in the dream theater of your soul, then patiently wait in His presence to become perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

God Im Yours. I know your still working in me, because I'm far from perfectly complete.

Easter

I just wanted to remind everyone that Easter is this Sunday! I know its a day filled with new outfits, eggs, and family time, but lets not forget that Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

I also wanted to remind you to invite a friend to be with us at JCFC for our newest series kick off called Just Ask. It will be an amazing morning of worship and creativity as we celebrate Jesus being alive and well!

Trust me you wont want to miss it!

Miracles, Miracles

Check out this awesome Testimony of a Miracle in EM and Amy Leonard's son Mickey. We have been specifically praying for healing in lives of people at church recently. Mickey was one of them, JCFC has been praying for. She sent me this email last night!

It is with UTMOST JOY that I send this message to you all today! I just received a call back from Mickey’s tummy doctor, and she told me that we can discontinue his antacid medication (he was receiving 1 tsp twice daily), AND his pulmonologist (lung doc) told us we can cut back to one breathing treatment a day, likely to be altogether discontinued in April!!!!!!

This is the most amazing gift! This is answer to prayers from many, yourselves and the prayer team of JCFC included! I think of all the nights Alana, E.M. and I said prayers and asked God to touch little Mickey’s legs to make them strong so that he could walk…and it lead to all of this! I seriously weep as I write this! I closed the door to my office, got on my knees, and cried. I am like any other mom who wants the best for her child, and because our church family stood with us in praying for change – LIFE change, God came right into our home and made that happen. Hallelujah!!!

Thanks for sharing this awesome news with us, Amy. We will continue to pray for you and your family!

Testing

Im reading a great book right now by Scott Wilson, pastor of The Oaks Fellowship, on the south side of Dallas. The book is called The Next Level, and it truly is amazing. Its a 31 day journey through the tests we see major Bible character walk through. Some pass the tests with flying colors, while others fail miserably only to face the same test again. Check this link for a daily video blog that tracks with the book.

Scott relates the tests God allows in our life to either a prison or a classroom. We can become bitter and angry about the test and run away (the prison thought) or we can embrace what God si teaching us while learning the lesson as we pass the test. I throughly believe that God is preparing each of us for what He has prepared for us.

So my reading for the day is some classic scripture about trusting God.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT)

Easter is going to be amazing, Just Ask...

I want to remind you that Easter is just around the corner. It is a great time to invite a friend to be in service with you. The majority of people will come to church with you if you Just Ask.

Im telling you this Easter could very well be the most amazing service ever at JCFC. We will be kicking off a new Series called "Just Ask" on Easter Morning. You wont want to miss it as we discuss how our Heavenly Father wants to bless, lead, comfort, and protect you. All you have to do is Just Ask. Don’t miss this series on talking with God about the things we need, and the things He wants to do for us!


Thanks Peoples Church and Fellowship Church for the thoughts and creative elements for this series and kick-off on Easter!

Tithe Wit Me dropped today!

Check out this great video!!!

Change

Humanity by nature is resistant to change. People tend to resist change as a general rule, but if you'll notice change is happening all around us. (I hope that the winter soon changes to spring, but that's another story.)

Things are constantly changing.

My little girl, is quickly changing from a little girl to a young lady. Yikes.
Restaurants and business change ownership.
Bloggers are changing to Tweetering and FB.
Senate, House, and other political positions change every few years.
I have a pastor friend who is dealing with some very difficult staff changes.
Relationships change through out the years.

Things change.

We sometimes dont like to admit it, but we change. I hope that we are not the same people we were in High School or college. Id like to think that God has changed me from the inside out to become more like Him.

Its interesting to watch those who are resistant to change, "just because."

Sadly when stop changing we die. Literally.

Life is all about change.

Im glad that God never changes, and He never stops changing me.

Synergy

Synergy defined is "The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects."

I love this process, and I'm reminded over and over again that its a team that makes it happen every time. When we isolate ourselves we limit what God is wanting to do in us and through us.

Lately, Ive been asking myself, what are the ways we can win the most people for God, the fastest. My heart is stirred for those who dont yet know Him.

So the questions are:
What are we currently doing that we can improve on?
What are we currently doing that we need to stop?
What do I need to do as a leader to grow and change?
What do I need to do or equip the current leaders we have to grow?
What uncultivated leaders do we have that we havent empowered to lead.

God help me to lead the way you would like for me to lead.

Coaching Today

Ive been reading a great E-book about coaching the past weeks. Its from Newthing Network, and you should really check it out.

All of us at some point have had someone coaching or mentoring us. Unfortunately we may not have even known it! I think its vitally important to continue to reproducing leaders all around you. It doesnt mean you have to be an "expert" in the area, just willing to see potential in people and encourage them to go forward with their goals. I think we all need to be more intentional about helping others grow all around us.

From the E-book "Life Changing Conversations, A Coach's Guidebook"

"What is a coach and what does a coach do? In short, a coach is a leader whose intentional investment in the lives of other leaders encourages them to do better; better not just in their leadership role...but better, period. A coach calls out the best in a leader. The relationship between the coach and leader is the engine that God uses to drive the leader to reach their God given purposes."

Who are you coaching?

The Gateway Church

Hey everyone check out my friend and fellow church planter Paul Stewart's most recent blog post.

He is doing a great job planting in Down Town Des Moines. They have been building steam all sumer and are launching this Sunday at the Temple for Performing Arts.

Pray God does amazing things through Paul, his bride Jessica, and the team the have assembled. We can never have too many churches in this city trying to reach people for Gods Glory.

Follow this link and watch their latest video.

Friday

Just spent some time this morning reading and catching up on some blogs before a few meetings and wrapping up this weekends sermon. Check us out Sunday, we are looking at some "capacity issues" from the story of Elijah, the widow and the flowing oil.

Here is a link to a great post by Perry Noble. Its so easy for all of us to get misaligned. Always a good idea to get a new alignment.

Check it out.

Marriage Matters

Check this post from Bil Cornelius. Awesome read.

Help! I Married The Wrong Person!

September 2, 2009 - 3:49pm — bafadmin

When marriage gets tough, the answer is not to run out on your spouse (not to mention the kids), but to stick it out. The problem with just leaving the relationship is that you have to take you with you! If you messed up the last marriage and didn’t learn anything, then you will mess up the next one too! The answer is to stay together, to let the dream die of “someone out there that’s better,” and realize that GOD IS BIG ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR CURRENT MARRIAGE WORK! Time and again I hear of couples struggling to stay together and I can tell you that time and again there are only a few things that consistently will create the best odds of making a marriage last:

1. Spend uninterrupted time together every day.

2. Keep no secrets no matter how painful it is to reveal.

3. As and act of worship to God, begin serving your spouse immediately…even if you don’t feel like it.

4. Choose to never bring up divorce as an option.

5. Cut off all relationships (even friends and family) that encourage you to divorce your spouse.

6. If you need it, go see a counselor…I can hear you now saying “it’s too expensive!” Trust me, divorce attorney’s cost more.

I have to confess, I may come across a little strong here, because I married well above my head! Having said that, these principles work. Hope this helps. Comments anyone?

Colins joke today

Colin, "Dad, why did the booger cross the road?"

I dont know son.

"Because he was bothered..."

Anna from the other room, "No Colin, becuase he was picked on..."

Colin, "Oh Yeah, thats it."

Hearing the Lord

Lately I've been reading for my devotional times in I Samuel. I love reading the histories. I samuel is rich in the fact that Samuel's goal was to have an ear that hears the Lord regularly.

I love it in I Sam 2:21, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Chapter 3 he hears God calling his name, and he simply responds with Im listening.

I pray as a Christ-follower that I, too, am growing up in His presence, and when He speaks to me I simply say Im listening , then follow through with what He says.

Simply put, "Speak Jesus, you have my undivided attention, Im all ears..."

Weekly Structure

I am working hard on reworking my weekly routine. It seems the more that needs to be done, the less gets done, if your not super disciplined to stay on task.

With that said, Im working hard to be finished with all the weekend items by Wednesday. Its not a 100% success yet, but I'm trying.

I used to have a meeting day on Tuesday where, id try to stack as many things then as as possible. But I'm finding that Thursday works better. It allows me to get a head of the week instead of playing catch up in Friday, or worse on Saturday!

We are also praying so much more as church directly for our city and congregation. There are over 40+ people committed to pray 10 minutes a day -one hour a week for this city.

God is doing great things already. Keep praying.

Crazy week, to say the least

1. The first part of the week was a whirlwind. Im trying to switch my meeting day to Thursday fro Tuesday. Ana ended up sick on Tuesday, so I had to help with her, as Dara is still on this semi-bed rest gig with the pregnancy. So that moved things around.

2. My grandma died on Wednesday and we left on Thursday to be with the family and speak at the funeral on Saturday.

3. Thursday night my phone feel off the dash and into an open cup of tea in the cup holder. I didnt realize it happened for about 5 minutes. When I pulled my BlackBerry out of the cup the entire screen was full of tea. Not good. Yeah, it still doesnt power on...

4. The hotel we staye din was nice, and the kids loved being there, but the internet wouldnt work right. So i had no email access or phone service. I wasnt pleased as I'm too addicted to being connected.

5. Funeral was Saturday, and we didnt get to leave STL until late by the time we went to the grave and then back to the church to eat with everyone. It was great to see so many family members from far away. My grandma was a wonderful woman and loved by many. Thankfully she is now back with my Grandpa and rejoicing with Jesus.

6. I was honored to be able to say some things about my grandma today and read the letters the family wrote to and bout her. It was a moving time, but I held my composure. I lost it years ago today at my grandpas funeral, as my role was the same at his as well.

I loved them both dearly, and they will truly be missed. I have to say I still dream of Grandpa Brown. I cant wait to run with him some day again in Heaven as we rejoice about Jesus toegther, and sit on some porch and sip a soda out of can with a straw with my Grandma Anna Ruth Brown. My little girl Ana was named after her, and our great friend Anna Tucker...

Grandma and Grandpa Brown you both will always be near my heart. Longing to see you again...

Great Post about Pastors Wives

Guys make sure you read this about pastor's wives. Whether you she is your wife or she's the wife of your pastor take this to heart!

Gary Lamb of Revolution church makes it plain today... or 3 years ago. Whichever, you'll get it if you link to it!

Read it here.

One hour a week prayer

We now have 40 committed to pray one hour a week for our city and church!

With all the prayer partners now praying for the Des Moines metro, we have about 2400 hours of prayer this year going up.

Des Moines watch out, God is about to do great things here!

Way to go, Jordan Creek. So Proud to be your pastor and on this journey with you!

Identifying Crazy People

At C3 last week, Ed Young gave a whole list of how to spot crazy people.

We all know crazy people, and how they drain us emotionally.
Read the list and you'll think of someone. If you dont think of anyone, then maybe your the cra....

Never mind.

Here it is!

Ed Youngs' How you know if People are Crazy

1. They have crazy eyes ~eyes are the window to the soul
2. They are always playing the God card. ~"oh brother God told me.... or God showed me..."
3. They name drop. ~They are always telling you about some celebrity they know or met
4. They are always "one upping you" - They have always done it bigger and better than you
5. They Blow up your phone
6. They dont take any advice, even after they ask you for it
7. They always talk about themselves
8. They dont have any kind of filter. ~ They say whatever comes to mind whenever.
9. They are one issue people. ~ALWAYS stuck on that one thing
10. They are space invaders. ~They dont have any personal space. Right up in your grille all the time.
11. They dress in full uniform of the team that they are cheering. face paint and all...
12. They enjoy their dysfunction.
13. They have crazy pets. ~It goes along with them being crazy
14. They answer their phone, "Mmmmeyellow"
15. They usually are the first to come up to you and they are the last to talk with you....