First!

Last night, in the rain, my daughter, Brooklyn, scored her 1st goal of the year. I was so proud and the smile on her face was priceless.

Let me give you some background: The last few years Brooklyn has led her team in scoring and has been one of the best players in her league. This year she stepped up to a new age division where she is now the youngest player on the team and in the league. It's has been an adjustment but we have encouraged her that by playing with kids who are better that will make you better.

It's working! She is improving so much.

I think the same philosophy works in life. Too often we compare ourselves to someone else to make ourselves feel better about out shortcomings.

Well I'm not as bad as he is or I'm much better than she is but that's not going to help us improve.

Paul said in I Cor. 11:1 "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ."

Paul challenged believers in his day to follow him as he followed the best example that ever lived - Jesus Christ.

Could you make a statement like that?

Follow the example of (insert your name here) as I follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Debut

Last night I made my coaching debut! I help on my son's soccer team and last night our coach couldn't be there so he gave me the whistle!

It's different being the coach - imagine having 15, 6-8 year olds, asking, "coach can I play goalie?" over and over and over...

As I took a moment to position each player I had an ah-ha moment...these kids don't care where they play as long as they are playing. The only thing that gets them down is sitting on the bench.

They are so excited to be in the game!

I thougth about that as it relates to my church. Sometimes I feel like we as the church have the exact opposite mindset. We want to sit on the bench - it's safer. We want to only play in certain positions - they're easier. And we really do care where we are playing - we get noticed more.

How about you? If God has called you be a part of the family of God and serve in the local church jump in and serve.

As I watched these kids play I noticed one more thing: it didn't matter who scored a goal. They all celebrated as if they scored.

At C1, my main goal (pardon the pun) is that we love God and love people. And as we do that we will see people cross the line of faith and we all can celebrate!

By the way: We won 6-1!

Bill Walsh

Bill Walsh died at his Woodside home Monday morning following a long battle with leukemia. He was 75.

Steve Young a former player of Walsh said, "He knew me well before I knew myself and knew what I could accomplish well before I knew that I could accomplish it,"

Bill Walsh, I believe, saw people the same way our heavenly Father sees people.

Many times we see our lives as a failure and we are constantly looking at the fumbles we make. Bill Walsh took over the S.F. 49ers in 1979 and they won two games (they lost 14 - focused on the positive there).

Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation -- but earlier in 1979, the 49ers drafted quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame.

Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10 -- and improbably, San Francisco won its first championship in 1981, just two years after winning two games.

Jerry Rice, the NFL's all time reception leader, was drafted by Bill Walsh's 49ers...and he said "I came to San Francisco, and I found another father, Bill Walsh," Rice said. "He was always there for me, when I was dropping balls, doing everything, when the media were trying to crucify him, 'Why did you go draft this small college player out of Mississippi Valley State?' He hung in there with me."

Let me encourage you today to remember that no matter what life has throw at you there is a heavenly Father who will always hang in there with you.

Defeat

Last night the C1 softball team lost it's first playoff game. We are the #6 seed and we were playing the #1 seed. The game went to extra innings and we lost by one. Ouch! Losses are never fun but it brings up a great lesson.

How do you handle defeat?

Defeat is defined as to prevent success or to cause frustration.

Many times the #1 cause of defeat is...drum-roll...ME. Too many times I prevent my success by a poor choice or a dumb decision. Too many times I cause myself to be frustrated by forgetting that I am not perfect.

I read once that over 90% of our thought life is negative. 90%.

That means that a majority of us are driving to work, spending time with our families, trying to go to sleep and the whole time thinking negative thoughts.

It's no wonder we feel defeated.

I read this verse (again) this past week: Psalm 3:3 God is the glory and the lifter of your head.

God wants us to live with our head lifted toward him not down in a defeated mindset.

God is a God of second chances and so is our softball league. You see our team is not out of it b/c the playoffs are double elimination. Thank God for double elimination.

Today allow the spirit of God to remind you that although you may have been defeated in an area of your life it doesn't mean you're out of it.

Belize

Yesterday @ C1 we had our missionaries to Belize speak. It was such a special service (1) because I have such a heart for missionaries and (2) the missionaries to Belize are my sister and her husband Ellis.

They did such an amazing job!

We took a special offering for them as they are raising money to purchase a Jeep and C1 stepped up BIG time! My sister and I set a goal of we wanted to see the church give and what she would happy with. Well the offering was 3X our goal - Wow!

For anyone who says God doesn't do miracles today, I'd respond with Uh Huh...

Thank you to everyone who invested in my sister and her husband! They (including me) were incredibly humbled by your generosity.

I believe our giving yesterday demonstrates the giving power of C1...

II Cor. 8:2 , “In the middle of their great trouble, they stayed full of joy and they gave generously to others.”

Thank You!

For the birds...

Today's talk is definately for the birds...that's such a crazy saying...anyway...

This morning I was looking out of our living room window and a hummingbird was flying around taking in the beauty of my hanging baskets. I sat and watched him (or her) for a while remembered something I read about hummingbirds.

They look for beautiful, sweet smelling things - like flowers. That in a hummingbirds little mind it's goal each day is to find something beautiful and sweet to spend it's time on.

Contrast that with another bird: a vulutre. It's main goal each day is to find something that's dead & decaying and spend it's time with it. If you've ever seen a vulture eating something dead and decaying you normally look away and make some wierd noise with your mouth.

In your life what's your main goal?

Are you looking for the sweet smellling, beautiful things or are you always looking for the dead & decaying things? To put it another way: are you looking for the positive things in life or are you always looking to find the negative in each situation?

Pauls tells us in Phil. 4 what we are to look for and think about each day...Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So today if I were to describe you as a bird - would you be a hummingbird or a vulture?

Sorry those are your only two choices!

Make it a great day my little hummingbirds...

Kaizen

A constant question I ask myself - How am I growing spiritually?

Game across a great growth story and thought I'd share it...

Growth is achieved by intentionally upgrading your attitude, skills, faith, etc.

After WWII, Japan had been devastated so 14 success points were taught by Professor W. Edwards Deming of the United States to help the Japanese rebuild.

Point number five was “to constantly improve every process.”

The Japanese incorporated and imbedded this philosophy into their culture which they called “kaizen.” Kaizen roughly translates as “constant improvement.”

Japan was told that if they did this (constantly improve), they would turn their country around in 10 years and be an economic world leader in 30 years. Obviously, they were right. Japanese cars, computers and other electronics are some of the best today and tiny Japan is a world economic leader.

So what about us? Are we constantly upgrading our lives for Jesus? Perhaps we should ask other people how we can improve or ask somebody what we are doing wrong.

Perhaps we could just take a season to upgrade something about ourselves like social skills, etc.

If we can improve just 1% per day, that would be over 300% in a year! Upgrading should not be left to chance because if you do, it will not happen. You should intentionally upgrade everyday.

This week @ C1 we are reading the book of Philippians every day to upgrade our lives in the area of joy!

Any areas your life need an upgrade?

Become what you believe

I think a lot times life comes down to God asking us a very simple question: do you believe?

God wants to do some great things through us but too often our unbelief cancels His belief in us.

Check this story out:

Jesus said in the gospels to a group of blind men, "Do you really believe I can do this?" They said, "Why, yes, Master!" He touched their eyes and said, "Become what you believe." It happened. They saw.

I think if Jesus were to look at today's church he would ask the same question and make the same statement.

Do you believe? Then 'become what you believe.'

How about you?

What does God need you to believe He can do?

my dna

My personal DNA

Saw this link on a pastor's website: www.personaldna.com filled out the DNA and drum roll...(you're not doing it...) OK...thanks...here's my personal DNA

I'm a director...and here's what the report says about me...

As a DIRECTOR, you combine an unusual openness and passion for beauty and style with confidence and a down-to-earth sensibility that allow you to realize your vision.

You are practical and pay attention to the details that others tend to miss.

By focusing on what is real and concrete, you achieve more than those who always have their heads in the clouds.

When it comes to what really matters in your life, you are confident in your ability to succeed.

Having beautiful things in your life gives you pleasure and satisfaction - you have a keen eye for style.

Even when problems present themselves, deep down you know you will overcome these challenges.

When routines get too familiar, you become bored and start looking for ways to spice things up.

You are open to new types of experiences – you are not afraid to take a risk on something new.

You have a highly developed sense of taste – you know what looks good on you, in your home, and in the world at large.

You are balanced in your approach to problem-solving, not letting your emotions hold you up.

You much prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute. Your decisions are well thought out, and you're not the least bit impulsive.

If you get five minutes go the site...check out your personal DNA and shoot me back your report!

Make it a great day!

attitude

I had to post some notes from Sunday! We started our new series...

'attitude' - is your's positive?

Our key scripture - Proverbs 23:7 “For as a man thinks, as he thinks within himself, so he is.”

You will become that which you think and as we go through this study we made (and hopefully you will too) three promises:

I will not hang out with negative people.
I will not dwell on negative thoughts.
I will replace negative thoughts with God’s thoughts.

Our Key Point:
Our attitude influnece others awareness.

As we model the behavior God wants to see repeated it's often our attitude that is on display the most.

How is your attitude? Is is positive?

We ended our service by repeating this verse:

Psalm 118 “This is the day…that the Lord has made…I will rejoice…and be glad in it”

It's a verse I've repeated every day this month and have committed to living? How about you? Are thankful for this day?

Your attitude will reflect your thankfulness!

Friday's are my day off - I really love days off. We spent the day outside riding bikes, throwing the football, relaxing on the deck, enjoying the slip-n-slide and a friendly little bowling competition (the boys won!)

Spending an entire day relaxing is so biblical yet I've noticed that very few Christians practice this. The bible says that God spent six days creating and one day resting. That's the process for a healthly and sucessful life.

Why is so difficult to stop and relax? Too often we feel like we have to get something done or we feel guilty for doing nothing.

Let me encourage you to look at your life and see when the last time you had an entire day off

If it's been awhile this week is a great week to start!

anyone can...

The Warren5 recently went to the movies to see the new movie 'ratatouille.' What a great movie! The big point of the movie: Anyone can cook. Now once you get past the fact that it's a rat adding the spices, stirring the pot and doing the actual cooking it was pretty good.

Anyone can cook.
Anyone can serve.

Anyone can give.

Anyone can love.

Anyone can forgive.

Anyone can invite.

As a pastor I often hear reasons why it can't be done but I honesty believe that we were created to get things done for God.

My church was recently broken into and I've got to admit, the brains behind the operation were pretty good. These guys knew what they were doing. Someone shared with me last week that if these guys would use their minds for good and not for evil they would be an asset to our community.

I often think the same thing - if every follower of Christ would just ask God (or others) for help in accomplishing His purpose we would see a world wanting to follow the church.

Too often we go negative, I can't, so quick that we convince ourselves we're unable to do whatever it is that God wants us to do.

I've made the month of July NO NEGATIVITY month. We're going to take ONE MONTH and choose to not go negative (more on that in tomorrow's blog).

But for today...what's one thing that you've told yourself you can't but really 'anyone can...(fill in your own blank) because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)

ONE MORE THING: We now have a pretty sweet security system installed at C1!

Don't throw in the towel

Great comments from a long distance mentor of mine:

Mark Batterson said...

Here is what the enemy wants you to believe: if you slip up once you might as well throw in the towel. It's a lie. I think we let small failures turn into big failures because we get so discouraged. What we need to do is a little damage control via confession. Ok, I messed up. But I'm still doing better than I was. And I'm not going to let this failure keep me down. And then we need to bury the sin again! Instead of viewing the slip up as your defeat, defeat the enemy again via repentance!

Amen!

junk!

I spent a few hours yesterday with our new Pre-School Cordinator cleaning out one of our preschool rooms. It was full of junk!

About 10 full garbage bags later the room looks amazing. It just needs a few details things and we'll be in great shape.

The coolest 'find' in our treasure hunt was Sunday School materials from...drum roll...(fine don't drum roll with me)...1986! Yes 1986! We had SS material that was 21 years old. I'm not sure how it survived this long but it has been taken to the curb.

My life sometimes has things that I hold to for awhile too...one time I was mad at my best friend for like two days. There have been other things that I've held on to longer...bitterness...unforgivness...jealousy...and like my classroom they needed to be cleared from my life.

How about you? Any 'junk' in your life?

Lightning bugs

Last night Brooklyn, Gabriel, Emma and I spent a few minutes outside catching lightning bugs. Remember when you were little and how much fun that was. We had a blast. Each of them caught about a dozen and we put all of them in a glass cup and then took the cup inside the house. Then we turned off all the lights and watched the lightning bugs do what they do best. Light up! It was so neat to see about 50 lightning bugs light up the room.

I thought about that as we were watching these little bugs. They are doing exactly what they were created to do. Light up.

As a Christian, a follower of Christ I am called to do the same thing. The bible tells me I am to be light in a dark world. That as I follow Christ I am to let the light (His light in me) shine before men and let others see my good works.

What a great reminder of my purpose? Today I will focus to be a better light for Christ. How about you? Are you letting your light shine?

What's your part?

I remember playing on my Jr. High basketball team. I was the one at the end of the bench. I rarely played. I was OK at basketball, it's just that the other 11 players on team were good, some even great.

I remember one game we played and we won by a score of 80 (something) to 50 (something) - getting old can't remember the exact score.

But that game I score 2 points!

I helped our team win. I'm sure no one else would look at it that way and no one probably remembers that a skinny 8th grader scored two points that night. But when God looks at my life he remembers.

Even though I only scored one basket, I contributed to the team.

What's your contribution to Team C1? Don't think for a minute you don't have one.

"God shaped each person in turn" (Psalm 33:15). "Each of us in an original" (Gal. 5:26) When God draws up a play He has you in mind to execute it. No contribution too small.

Play the position God has for and expect victory to come your way.

I'm sore...

I had a great workout yesterday and I'm feeling it today. It hurts to extend my arms. I love to lift weights because my competition is myself. If I eat right, train right, and stay disciplined I'll grow.

I believe the same can be said for your walk with Christ. If you stay disciplined you'll grow. I think the reason most of us stop growing is because of the pain factor. Each week my goal is to add MORE weight so I will become stronger. By adding weight each week I continually get sore.

I refuse to get comfortable.

How about you? Are you growing with Christ or just comfortable?

What about your walk with God has gotten stronger this week...this month...this year?

Here a few things that have made me stronger in Christ.

• My prayer time is more consistent.
• My daily bible reading.
• Reading books that help me grow.
• Choosing to stay positive, no matter what!

The benefits of worrying

I love lists - to do lists, grocery lists, christmas lists...

So here's a new list: a list of the advantages of anxiety!

Worrying helps our health - I know if lose sleep when I worry I feel much better in the morning. My stomach never hurts when I worry either.

Worrying brings joy - when you're a worrier doesn't the sky look bluer and the birds songs sound sweeter?

Worrying solvers our problems - I know whenever I worry, like magic all of my problems are gone!

I could go on but I'm worried that you might get upset...

God's word says, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked (don't worry) up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up the time comes." Matt. 6:33

There word worry means - to divide the mind

You can't think straight and you can't live with worry.

I've found that if I will choose to talk to God (prayer) about what I'm tempted to worry about things go much smoother in life.

When we pray we aren't worrying...God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Him because he trusts in God. Is 26

I read this week that I am unable to have wisdom for tomorrow's problems. So why worry about tomorrow.

God will make sure I'm taken care of today and I love that He meets my needs for today.

Maybe you're temtped to worry about your health or your finances or your career...know that God has plans to prosper you and to bless you and when you allow Him access to your daily decisions He'll open the right doors for you.

How about you? Is your life weighed down by worrying about tomorrow. If so, take a second and ask God to give a peace and joy for today!

Whatever

Have you ever 'played God?' Isn't it so easy to do. Well God if I were in charge I would do this or God here's what I think should happen in this situation.

No you haven't ever done but you know someone who has - me too...

The bible says, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” (Psalm 115:3). I love that!

Here a few reasons why I love that so much:

*It reminds me that God is in control and that no matter what happens in my life it doesn't knock God off his throne. It's sometimes so easy to forget that God works in ALL (not most) things for the good of those that love Him.

*It reminds me of God's place. He is not defeated...he's in heaven. God wants us to trust Him and realize if He is for you who can be against you?

*It reminds me that God gets done what God wants to get done.

This past Sunday a woman in our church came forward at the end of our worship time and gave her heart to Jesus and recommitted herself to the local church. Wow! Father's Day 2007 God knew that one of His children would give their heart back to him in a real way.

As you go through your week allow God to remind you of where He is and ask Him what He wants to still do in your life.

Watering Weeds

I love to landscape. It's a great stress reliever and it helps add a nice look to my home.

As I was working in the yard last week I noticed how quickly the weeds I had pulled a few weeks ago had come back. They were taking away from the beauty of the flowers in my yard.

Weeds are unattractive, unwanted, and can be unstoppable. So I did want any back-yard landscaper would do. I began to pull them out. I quickly realized that some weeds don't want to leave so they take a little more effort.

After a few hours and a lot dirt later my yard looks nice again.

I've thought about my weeding and how it relates to my life (and maybe your too). Too often we have weeds growing and without realizing it we are allowing them to grow in our lives.

In fact, I noticed that when I water my flowers some of the water actually falls on the weeds and I'm causing the weeds to grow.

Think about that: I'm actually watering weeds.

In our life we sometimes do the same thing. We allow weeds of worry, weeds of why God, or weeds of whining to take away from our Christ-like appearance.

Let me encourage you to pull those weeds out!

It may be tough and they may not to come out but trust me if you do your life will much better!

Vacation!

Just thought I'd drop my C1 Family a line - from the pool!

I'm enjoying the benefits of staying with my brother in law (Patrick) and his fine southern hospitality.

I don't think I've lifted a finger yet - we are grilling out every night and swimming in the pool and enjoying the freedom of having nothing to do!


One quick highlight: today my daughter Brooklyn learned to swim! I worked with her for a few laps and before I knew it she was swimming on her own.

I think the biggest reason for her success - she trusted her Father!

As you live your life you can trust yourself or you can trust in God. God says we get to call him 'Abba Father.' My main goal was to let Brooklyn know that no matter what I was going to be with her and not let her go under the water.

God's main goal is to do the same - He'll always be with you and He wants to let you know that He'll never let you go under (your circumstances - I Cor. 10:13)

My question: who are you trusting to get you across the pool of life?

Sweet Home Alabama

The Warren5 are heading to Huntsville, Alabama for a few days of rest with family. Beth's brother Patrick is hosting us for a few days. We've got a few things planned and a lot of things not planned.
A few highlights:



My brother in laws pool!
My brother in laws church - great church!
Going to a Sanctus Real Concert - kids love them.
The Newport Aquarium - they've got sharks!
Taking daily naps.
Reading a few good books.

We'll be back next Thursday, June 14th!

Out

Unhandy Andy

I'm not able to fix anything - in fact I've renamed myself "unhandy andy" when it comes to anything that needs fixed.

For example, my car has been making this noise (pretty descriptive huh) so I took it to a mechanic I've grown to trust.

He popped the hood and quickly diagnosed the problem and with a tweak and a twist my 4Runner wasn't making the noise. Cool.
I'm glad I went.

Isn't that like us? Maybe our life isn't running the way it should and we decide we need to take it to God. You know you can trust Him! And the amazing thing about placing your life in God's hands in that he can always diagnose the problem and with a few tweaks and twists have you back on the right road going the right direction.

This past week we had several first time guests at C1 and after church I was talking to one of them and they said, "I'm glad I went to church today."

Bringing your life to God so he can fix your flaws isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of wisdom.

I could have just let my car continue making that noise and in a few months be really paying for it.

How about you? Are you showing weakness or wisdom?

The wise meet at C1 this Sunday at 10:30 AM

Great Day

Yesterday was a great day!

My wife, Beth celebrated her birthday - thank you for the cards, gifts, cake, & to Renee & Liz for the party!

My church is growing - thank you for inviting your friends - we were almost at 200 again yesterday!

My kids are so cool - we went to a community soccer event. It was a shoot out - where you have to kick the ball through different size goals. There were about 100 kids down at the park. Gabriel won his age division and Brooklyn placed second her in age division. They each got tropheys! I think Gabriel slept with his...

I think great days are a great opportunity to remind ourselves how great God is. He takes such good care of us.

510 kids!

Got to spend the day with over 500 kids! Beth and I volunteered to help the local elementary school's year end fun day.

It was great hanging out with people and leading my 'little turtles' (that was the group I was assigned to) to victory.

What's so amazing about hanging out with people is when they find out I'm a pastor, they say things like, 'you seem so normal,' and 'you don't look like a preacher.'

I think too often the world has this view of pastors or christians and to be honest it's usually not positive.

My goal is to positively influence this community for Christ and it all starts with one relationship.

So let me ask you: Who did you influence today?

Trust

We make thousands of decisions a day. In fact it's been estimated that about every ten seconds you make a decision. Take a minute...see if that's accurate.

Do I answer the phone?
Should I buy this?
Where am I eating lunch?
This shirt or that shirt?
What's the square root of 64?
Why did they do that?

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

There are a few big decisions that will determine the quality and direction of our lives and it's during those times that we are faced with another decision.

Do I give this to God or give in to the temptation to do it on my own?

I think with each big decision comes the temptation of can God be trusted.

Can God be trusted with my finances?
Can God be trusted with my future?
Can God be trusted with my family?

I have learned that if I can trust God with small things I certainly can trust Him with the BIG things.

The issue is never the decision, the issue is do you trust God.

The decision is yours...

Thank You Teachers!

Just droppped off an end of the year gift to every teacher, staff, employee of the Conneaut School system.

It's C1s way of saying "thank you" for another great year of investing in our kids!

I believe that C1 Church is called to be a positive influence in our community and that happens best when we reach outside of our church walls and build relationships.

The value of building relationships is so important because of the investment you can have in someone's life.

Jesus took the time to hang out with the non-church crowd often and b/c of his example I want C1 Church to do the same.

How about you - are you building bridges with those God has put in your life? Your neighbors, your co-workers, the parents of your child's little league team...trust me people will notice and your impact will be long lasting!

Priorities

What's most important to you?

That's acutally the wrong question to ask...when it comes to life the right priorities will give you the right perspective.

When I was in High School one of my Final Exams was to learn how to juggle. If I learned, I got an A. If I didn't learn, I got an F.

I learned but in life I've been struggling with juggling ever since.

A lot of us are trying to juggle control our lives and call the shots and if we're honest with ourselves, we're not doing a very good job keeping everything in the air.

Trying to do it all is a formula for frustration.

We need to allow the One who created us to have access to our lives. When we decide to make God a prioritiy in our lives he'll give us focus and direction.

So if you, like me, are struggling with juggling, look at your priorities and see if you're living a "what's important to me" life or a "what's important to God" life.

I'm going to go practice my juggling!

Next Step

I met last night with our leadership team at C1. I love vision and we sat and discussed the vision and next step @ C1 for a little over three hours! Three vision packed hours! I walked away from that meeting excited and ready to trust God for the next step. When it comes to your life are you excited about where God is taking you? Are you trusting Him to take to you a place maybe you haven't been yet?

How will you know if your vision is a 'next step' one...easy...can you accomplish or can it only be accomplished through God's favor and blessing?

Coming soon to C1 - a vision that only God could accomplish! I'm excited and ready to trust!

Gameball

Last night the C1 Softball team won their first game of the year! Great start. We won 6-2 and after the game I was presented with the game ball. My goal was just to not suck...

It's fun to be a part of a team however it's even better to be part of a winning team.

I think of C1 as a team and I think it's fun to be a part of this team. However it's even better to be a part of a winning team.

What does it take for a church to win? I think it takes everyone playing together in their clearly defined role. The pitcher can't throw the ball and then try to run into the outfield and catch the ball too. The same concept works for the church. We need each other.

What area has called God you to serve in? And if you're serving in that area would you get a gameball for your performance?

What I learned in Chicago - Part III

While in Chicago I got the incredible pleasure of riding the L-train into downtown Chicago. What an experience. Literally thousands of people, all unique heading the same place.

Sounds a like like church.

We are all so unique, yet as believers, all heading the same place. That's so important to remember in life. We are all on the same team heading the same direction. At C1 we have people attending from all kinds of backgrounds: Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Assembly of God and I think that's so cool.

The reason that's so cool is that we are not called to be a baptist or a methodist or an assembly of God Christian we are called to be a follower of Christ whose MAIN goal in life is to 'seek and save the lost.'

I think it's easy to forget that heaven isn't just going to be my church but thousands (millions) of people who are unique but all arrived at the same place! SAVED thanks to God's grace!

Look around your life week and see if there's anyone who needs to be saved and experience God's grace.

What I learned in Chicago - Part II

During the Cubs game (did I mention I got to go see a Cubs game yet...) I noticed a sign of top of the dugout. It said, "Welcome to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.' Can you feel the love?

I thought about that message a lot the last few days as it relates to C1. What if we hung a sign on Rt. 20 that said, "Welcome to the friendly confines of C1 Church.' It would send the message that our church is inviting, friendly, and a safe place to be.

My goal as the lead guy at C1 is to create an enviroment where people can come and check church out and explore their curiousity in a way that is inviting, friendly and safe. Too often we expect people to buy into our belief system before they trust. My heart is that people will visit C1 as guests and want to return to the 'friendly confines of C1' b/c we provided an enviroment where they felt welcomed, were treated friendly, and felt safe.

As we do that who know maybe one day we'll have thousands of fans too!

What I learned in Chicago - Scoreboards

So while in Chicago I got to see a Cubs game! What an experience...42,000 Cubs fans singing 'take me out to the ball game.' It was electric.

The cubs won too!

It's easy to tell who won in a game - it's the team that scores more. But how do you tell if a church wins. How can we tell if C1 is a winning church?

Well I think we can guage a win by 'changed lives.' Is C1 a church that is changing lives? YES! Each week we are seeing people come into C1 with a perception of church or Christianity and I believe we are helping them to see that God loves them and so do we.

This week as you look at the scoreboard of your life are you winning? Are you changing lives?

chicago!

Off to Chicago for a few days. I'm looking forward to reading a few good books...having a sweet prayer time in the Windy City and getting to see my 1st Cubs Game.

Dreaming

Last night our leadership team got together to dream about the 'next step' for C1. So often in life we fail to dream God size dreams. I honestly believe that when you dream God size dreams you get God size results.

Our discussion was incredible as leaders shared what they believe is coming for our great church. I am really honored to be a part of a cool team that's not afraid to dream.

How about you, what God sized dream do you have today?

NFL Draft

Let me start off by saying I'm a Cincinnati Benglas fan & I live near Cleveland, OH. OK...that being said..the Cleveland Browns did an amazing job this past weekend at the NFL Draft.

To recap, with the 3rd pick in the draft they went with the not-so-sexy pick of drafting an offensive linemen. Everyone wanted them to take QB Brady Quinn. The Browns reasoning, we need someone to protect the quarterback we already have. Then they made one of the coolest moves of the draft....they traded next years 1st round draft pick to pick again in this years 1st round. Their pick: QB Brady Quinn.


The Browns may finally have a decent team. They chose what they needed over what they wanted.

I find that so hard to do in life. There are so many things I want but if I'm honest there are things that I need more.

I want to spend but I need to save (first).
I want to play but I need to pray (first).
I want to eat but I need to exercise (first).

Here's the cool thing - when you do what you need to do you often get to do what you want to do.

How about you - when you look at your life are your wants taking priority over your needs?

Community Impact

C1 is a church that strives to impact our community. Last night Conneaut held it's annual Summer Expo at the elementary school. What a great turnout! Over 250 people attended and I had some great conversations about our church.

One community comment we got that really excited me was this..a lady in the community asked me if we were that church that is always doing stuff for the community. Wow! She said 'it seems like you've always got something going on for the family."

We have worked hard to develop a community mindset and I believe it's finally starting to pay dividends.

As we grow our so will our community impact!

Ouch!

So my tooth has been hurting for a few weeks. So like every guy I grin and bear it. This weekend though the tipping point of pain was reached. I called my dentist and not only do I have a cavity but it's so bad I had to have a root canal.

So here's what happens during a root canal - the dentist to drills into the pulp chamber, and removes the infected pulp area (the nerve) by scraping it out of the root canals. Once that is done, the dentist fills the cavity with an inert material and seals up the opening.

If I would have gone in one month earlier, when my tooth first starting hurting it would have been a routine in and out cavity filled (please read here: a lot less PAIN)

So I was thinking, why is it so often in life we avoid taking care of what needs fixed?

Whether it's a broken relationship, a household repair or a hurting tooth we often allow what needs fixed to get forgotten.

What's happens though is that the pain gets so great that extreme measures are needed to rectify the problem.

How about your life? Is there an area of pain that needs restored. I believe with God all things are possible and He will help meet that need and heal that area.

Remember though...today is better than tomorrow...

Vision

I love vision! Whether it's a football coach who dreams of leading his team to victory or a restaurant manager who wants every customer to have a great dining experience - vision attracts.

This week I'm pretty excited as I'm traveling to C3 church in Pickerington, OH. C3 is led by my friend, Konan Stephens. Check this out: they planted this church about 8 months ago and they are already over 200 people doing two services! Isn't that amazing.

My prayer is that I will see what they are doing well and pray how C1 can use those principles in our community.

I believe God is not a respector of persons or places.

To often I hear if I had more money, or went to this school or if our church was this big, things would be better.

Here's what I think: if the vision is worth following people will.

So let me ask you C1'ers...what is your vision for our community, for our church, for your life? And ask yourself - will people follow this?

Imagine

Isn't this a great picture...we've dreamed and imagined C1 being full and we are closer today then we were last week.

Imagination is one of the coolest things...

As I look forward to the week after Easter I imagine that C1 will continue to grow and we will see God's favor on our church.

I know a lot of you prayed that your friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc would come to C1 last week and maybe they didn't...continue to imagine God's best for their lives.

Refuse to be disapointed or frustrated but celebrate that God is bringing them one step closer to Him.

Everyday is a step we take in our relationship with God. Did you take a step in the right direction today?

Tooth

My son just lost his front tooth! If you're a parent you know different your child looks after losing their front teeth.

Gabriel is growing up - sometimes too fast...

This is just a reminder for me to spend as much time as I can with my little gifts: Brooklyn, Gabriel & Emma.


Is there a gift God has given you (wife, friend, son, daughter) that you need to spend a little more time with?

God's plan

Zach Johnson wasn't even the best golfer on his High School Team. Six years ago Zach Johnson went to Augusta, Georgia to watch the Master's Golf Championship. Last week Zach Johnson won the Master's Golf Championship beating Tiger Woods.

In an interview with Zach Johnson after he won the Master's he said that this victory was very important to him because of the day it was on. Easter!

Zach is a devoted follower of Christ and has committed his life to serving God. His journey hasn't been an easy one and he will be the first to tell you that his faith in Jesus is really important to him.

Through it all though he believed that God had a plan for his life.

In six years Zach Johnson went from watching the Master's to winning the Master's.

What in your life do you believe God has planned? Imagine for a minute today that you too can go from watching to winning.

Spring Break?

Here's what Spring Break weather looks like in C-town

A Spring Break in Florida looks really nice!

My kids were hoping to play outside during their school break...

Father/Son

Yesterday Gabriel (my six year old) and I went the mall and spent his allowance. It took a while but he finally settled on a Lego Star Wars item. It came with battle droids and 106 pieces!

As soon as we got home when started putting it together. To get the whole picture let me back up to Christmas. He got a 1000 piece lego kit that 'daddy' had to put together. He watched and helped as much as he could.

So yesterday his goal was to put together this lego kit. As we read the instructions and began I was amazed at how well he did. In the end we only had to redo a few steps and he had a pretty cool Battle Droid Command Center.

I was thinking about that process quite a bit last night and thought that's how it is supposed to work.

Son watches Father. Father helps Son. Father watches Son.

In the book of John Jesus said, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

I'm so impressed with Gabriel b/c after watching me and helping me he was ready to do the building on his own.

I was there to offer suggestions (and he needed a little help) and in the end he was so proud of what he had accomplished.

I believe God has great things for us to do and if we will spend time with Him, allow Him to help us then we will make God the Father proud as He watches us do some great things.

What great thing do you want to do?

Easter Snow Storm...

Easter Sunday at C1 was great. I got to church at 6:00 AM to meet my shoveling team. Yes I said my shoveling team. A big thanks to the team who helped shovel the grass and church grounds. We shoveled for an hour and half to clear the snow for our 5,000 Easter Egg Hunt. Despite the snow we had a great turnout for our 1st Egg Hunt.

I'm sure the weather had some influence on our attendance but the box score for Sunday morning at C1 - 252 people. We had quite a few 1st time guests and the energy in the church was great.

I'm excited about what God is doing and believe that we are experiencing God's favor.

I pray each day for God's favor in my life. Whether it's God's favor on my friendships or my financial decision I want to include God.

How about you? What's an area that you need to include God in? Give it a try and see what a difference God's favor makes.

Jelly Belly

We spent Friday in Erie hanging out as a family. We have a new Chuck E Cheese ticket record. The Warren5 walked away with over 800 tickets yesterday! After lunch we shot over to the Jelly Belly Store. Got to have Jelly Belly's for Easter. We also got our kids a gift from the Easter Bunny. They'll open it tomorrow after church.

Easter Sunday is incredible for me. Each year I'm reminded of the incredible gift God gave to each of us. I can't imagine my life without that gift.

I can't wait!

C1 it's almost Sunday. I am pumped!

God has allowed Beth and I to be a part of something incredible in C-town and we are believing for something BIG to happen this weekend.

Jesus dreamed BIG…and He still does today…and so should we…

So–C1–let’s dream BIG for Easter...

What if we made an effort this week to literally invite everyone that we know...AND everyone we see to come to C1 this weekend.

In the book of Acts 2:41–3,000 people got saved in ONE DAY! In Acts 4:4 it grew to another 2,000 people got saved.

In Acts 5:14 Luke just stopped counting b/c so many people were getting saved. We see in Acts 6:1 & 6:7 that the church didn’t just grow–it EXPLODED!

As I said last week I want this Sunday to feel like a partay! The FREE breakfast starts at 8:30 and then our worship experience and then a 5,000 Easter Egg Hunt.

I once read in a survey that an overwhelming percentage of the unchurched population said that they would come to church if someone would invite them to go along with them. And guess what–that is something EVERY ONE OF US CAN DO!

Would you be willing to do that? Would you be willing to pray and ask the Lord who He wants you to invite?

See you this Sunday

They're down

Finally! The dividers are down.

Our Fellowship Hall remodel took a huge step Saturday as we took down the almost 40 year dividers. I have to say it looks so much nicer for Easter. The room looks bigger and this is just the beginning.

Creativity

Last weekend we took the Warren5 to the Erie Science Center. We had a great time as the kids went from station to station checking out how things worked. This place is all about imagination. It's an enviroment where creativity is encouraged.

I think the church should be the most creative place on the planet. The 5th word in the bible is 'create.' Yet too often the church is the least creative enviroment. If the church becomes predictable it become boring. I hate to suggest it but are too many churches settling for routine?

Sunday at C1 was anything but routine. We again had several 1st time guests and we are pumped about having a parteee next Sunday.

Easter Breakfast starts at 8:30, followed by the Service at 10:30 AM and then we have our first, soon to be annual Easter Eggstravaganza. 5,000 Eggs will be scattered all over our 10 acres of lands (snow or no snow)

Let me encourage you to get creative this week as you invite your friends to C1.

Angel Food

What if our church suddenly was gone? Would anyone miss us? That question is one that fuels my passion to reach our community.

About six months ago C1 started a ministry called, Angel Food. An outreach to help feed our community. Our first month we fed about 40 families. This month over 100 families, mainly unchurched, walked through our doors to receive food. We have about 30 volunteers who work for about three hours to help distribute the food, encourage each family, offer to have prayer, and invite them back to a service or event. It's amazing to see so many families who would never normally come to our church walk in and have a great 1st impression.

Our prayer is that God's favor is on each invitation and that the Holy Spirit will nudge families toward connecting with someone. As that connection happens I believe we'll see more and more families connect with God.

What are you praying for God's favor in?

Community Service

C1 church hosted a community wide Lenten service Thursday evening. We had a great night. There were five churches represented and it was cool to be a part of something that connected area churches.

Too often we talk about what we don't agree on instead of focusing on the main thing: Jesus.

I'm excited about Easter and focusing on the main thing - Jesus is alive. To me when you focus on the fact that Jesus is alive it makes me feel alive. My life feels active...my marriage feels alive...my passion to reach the lost is energized. All because I choose to focus on the main thing: Jesus.

What is your main focus?

Rabbi

Sunday was great! We, again, had quite a few 1st time guests and the energy was amazing. God is definately building something awesome.

We had Rabbi Kirt Schnieder in to speak and he was sweet. He taught about the relevance of the Jewish Tabernacle with today's world. Very interesting! You can hear the message at www.c1church.com.

We also had a high attendance for the year this past week - #173!

Also - there's only two weeks left till Easter? Who are you inviting?

21 Day Journey

Yesterday I ate two bananas, an apple, some pears and some organic chips with refried beans. Why? Well we started a 21-day Daniel Fast at C1 Church Saturday.

As we began the fast my 6 year, Gabriel, asked why we fast. How do I answer that so that a 6 year will understand it? So I said, we are choosing to give up something, like food, so that God knows He is more important than that. It seemed to make sense to him.

What in your life is important? Is it more important than your relationship with God? My prayer over the next few weeks is that God reveals to me anything that is in the way of perfect fellowship with Him.

I'm hungry and that must mean it's time for another apple!

500

Last night the C1 Men's Group got together for our annual "All you can Eat" wing night at Quaker Steak & Lube in Erie, PA. What an amazing time of fellowship and gorging.

In all over 500 wings were consumed and I've already heard that several C1 men had a sleepless night - I wonder what they were doing all night...

A big congrats to Nick for putting away 55 wings! And his brother Stephen, a close second with 50!

I am still feeling the effects of the "atomic wing" I crushed. Just in case you've never had an atomic wing it's definately something you have to put on your life to do list! It's an experience and it's called atomic for a reason.

Last year we started this annual tradition with 8 guys. This year we had 25 men show up and I was so excited to see the growth. The C1 Men's Group is growing and relationships are being built.

Proverbs 18:19 says, "Do a favor and win a friend forever nothing can untie that bond."

I feel honored to be a part of a great and growing church with so many friends!

Maybe there's someone you know who would love to be involved in C1 Men - do me a favor and invite them to our next Life Group or a Sunday Service. Your investment in their life will be rewarded and who knows maybe next year they'll be holding the C1 Wing Eating Champ Trophey!

Adopted

So I got to church Saturday afternoon to help set up for a dinner and these little guys were in a box in our entryway. I guess someone just dropped them off. They were cold & hungry so we've TEMPORARILY adopted them.

They needed us! We've found a home for one of them and have a few "maybe's" on the second one.

Like I said we've (my wife and I) temporarily adpoted them and that got me thinking about how God chose to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:5) and it's not a temporary thing but eternal. God often finds us when we need help the most too! This weekend, being a temporary adopted dad of two dogs has reminded me of joyful I am that God the Father always takes such good care of me.