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?