Weekending

What a sweet weekend!!! The boys are in a winter football league and we started off the weekend early Saturday morning with a great game. I love watching how they improve as the season goes on. Caleb had some great passes and is really becoming quite the QB and Luke is becoming Mr. Defense and had stopped several runs behind the line of scrimmage. After football we got to hang with the Bledsoe’s for a little bit and then we headed off to one of the theme parks with the Jacobson’s. It was one of those days that when it’s over you’re just totally exhausted but you loved every minute of it.

Then Sunday was totally sweet. We had two great Discovering C3 classes with 41 people joining C3 and 15 wanting to be baptized. I love when God blows my mind. :) Sunday night we had an awesome Crave-Out at Boardwalk Bowl. It jacked me up to watch our students invite their friends and just jell so well together. I love Crave, you guys rock!!! Of course now its Monday and after a weekend like that, I’m just trying to figure out how to see straight. :)

DC3

I’m jacked, this Sunday is Discovering C3 and we have 44 folks signed up. Sweet!!! If you’ve never been to a Discovering C3 experience, you gotta come check it out. For those that are new to C3 or for those who have started to get plugged in, Discovering C3 is a great way to take a behind the seines look at what makes C3, C3 and why we do what we do. We dive into the vision and direction of the church and it also gives everyone the opportunity to join the C3 family. If I still don't have you interested, well the best part of DC3 is that you get to hang-out with me and Darrell for 60 minutes. :)

Go Break Something

So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the phrase, “if it’s not broke, break it” and since I’m falling behind in the bloging world again, I figured I better get some thoughts down. I heard the phrase, “if it’s not broke, break it” over and over again in the business school at UCF. They hammered in us the idea that if businesses are to survive they must be innovative and adaptable to the cultural changes around them. As we listened to companies talk about how they used innovation and creativity to stay on top, that phrase seems to make a lot of since. We heard from companies like McDonalds, who added a whole new product line because people became more health conscious, and AT&T, who puts a ton of time and money into developing new technology. It just makes sense. The funny thing is that when I got out of UCF and hit the business world, I quickly found out that not all business like the idea of change. In fact, I had many managers who felt very threatened by new ideas and innovative thinking. Their overlying thought was; this is what has worked for us in the past, we aren’t going to try to start changing things now. What I find very interesting is that 2 companies that I worked for, who definitely did not embrace change, went out of business. Now these weren’t small companies. Both were nationwide firms whose sales were in the multi-millions. However, with both firms you could see the market shifting and the climate changing, but the company did not. Consequently, sales started dropping and in the end both firms went under. What’s strange is that companies know that if they do not adapt they will go down the road of the companies I worked for. Yes, there are exceptions, but usually those exceptions experience no real new growth.

I say all that because the more I read and the more I look at statistics, I think the majority of our churches here in America are going down the same path as those companies I worked for. Churches seem to be just set in their ways and instead of engaging culture to reach people, they run from it and call it evil. I think for far too long our churches have embraced their traditions and haven’t truly loved their neighbors. For far too long churches have worried about how everyone else in the church community views them, instead of wondering why 80% of our city doesn’t go to church. That’s why I love what’s happening at C3. At C3 we have made “change” part of our culture. While our message of Christ’s love hasn’t changed, the way we deliver that message has. We’ve engaged culture instead of running away from it and use creativity to communicate God’s love. And as we head into our 6th week here in the theaters, what I’ve personally seen and heard is that we are beginning to impact that 80%. I’m so thankful for a church and a staff that’s willing to break a few things so that people can meet a loving God.

Week # 3

Dude, I love the C3 Community!!! To me it’s a little glimpse into what the early church in Acts 2 experienced. We’re becoming a community where people honestly in their hearts say; if I have a truck or a home or a talent or time that can be used, then please use it. There’s just this overall sense of excitement about what God is doing. It was our 3rd Sunday in the theaters and it seems like folks are just happy to serve and be a part of everything that’s going on. Even the awesome folks on The Crew are always positive and pumped after getting up before dawn and working their tails off setting up and tearing down everything in the theaters each Sunday. It may be a ton of work, but I think we’re all just having a blast doing what we can to serve God. It’s funny after the day is over and I’m totally exhausted, as I’m getting ready for bed I start to think; dude I can’t wait until next Sunday. What’s really cool is that excitement and passion is effecting the unchurched. We had some friends come this weekend who are completely unchurched and they loved it. They loved the up beat worship, the genuine excitement they felt from everyone and a pastor who was real and connected with them. Well all this rambling to say I love what God is doing through C3. Thank you for being a part of it and being such a blessing to me. If you haven’t checked out C3 yet, check us out on the web and why not just give us a shot this weekend. I promise it will be a sweet experience.

Sunday

Oh my gosh, what can I say about yesterday; it was awesome!!! Our first Sunday doing church in the theaters was so much more than I could ever imagine. God was all over the place and brought so many of the small details together and the atmosphere was absolutely contagious. It really did feel like this is where our church belongs, it’s where we fit. Josh and the band rocked it out and Pastor Byron really connected with everyone and challenged us to really take the responsibility of our spiritual future. I can’t wait for next Sunday.

I also want to say a huge thank you for all our volunteers who are giving of their time and talents Sunday after Sunday to make C3 a reality. You guys are awesome!!!

Theaters

Dude, I’m getting so jacked about moving church into the theaters!!! Yesterday morning we were in the theaters taking care of some little details and we were standing at the front of where our main services will be and man, the atmosphere is just going to be through the roof. Regal Cinema is going to supply an outrageously sweet environment for doing church the way we do it. Even with all the craziness of this last week, trying to get everything together and moved out of the old buildings, I fell like my kids do looking forward to Christmas. I just can’t wait for the 6th!!!

Sunday after Sunday

Man, I love Sundays!!! It is always awesome to come worship God together and there is always something exciting going on at church. But I got to tell you the last 2 Sundays have been off the chain. 2 Sundays ago we rolled out our C3 Christmas Project. We gave everyone at church cash to go use to help folks in their communities this holiday season. Since then folks have been telling me about what their doing or plan on doing with the cash. The one I really love was I had one of our Crave students call me on the Monday after she had received the cash and was all excited. She told me that she knew a family that was really having a hard time financially so, she and a couple of the other youth put the money they received from the church together and went and bought this family clothes, blankets and some other things. That just awesome!!!

Then yesterday was just one of those Sundays where you stand back and say; dude, God is so awesome. We baptized 21 folks during the service yesterday. I had never seen anything like it. What made it really cool for me is that I got to talk with each individual during the weeks before they were baptized. I got to know them and their stories about coming to Christ. It is so cool, we have so many folks here at C3 who don’t have much of a church background but have now come to Christ and are just so passionate about serving Him. You guys are awesome!!! Congratulations on your decision to follow Christ.

Then that brings us to next Sunday, Dec. 2nd. I don’t want to sound like a broken record or anything but it is going to be another Sunday you don’t want to miss!!! Next Sunday is going to be one of those critical Sundays as we lay out the keys to our future success here at C3. See you then!!!

Sunday

On a little more of an upbeat note from yesterday’s blog, what an awesome day we had on Sunday!!! I started the day with Discovering C3. I love these classes, I get to meet so many people who are jacked about what God is doing here at C3 and just want to be a part of it. Then we had the 2nd part of our Great Adventures. This is a class for children who have prayed to receive Christ and want to be baptized. I’m so proud of these kids, they have done a great job learning more about what it means to be a Christ follower and what it means to be baptized. We now have 6 kids scheduled to be baptized on Sunday Dec. 2nd. Then to top all of it off, Pastor Byron started a brand new series called “Barbaric Grace.” This is going to be an awesome series as we take a deeper look at why we do what we do here at C3. I’ve heard some great comments about the message and this past Sunday was just the beginning. There are going to be so many awesome stories and truths to this series and some serious surprises, you won’t want to miss a single Sunday.

Get Real

Ya know I’ve had this stewing in me for a little bit and I really just wanted to get it out. I was thinking about my last blog and the brilliant dude that met me at MGM. The scary part is that I’m not the only one this has happened to. I’ve had 3 good friends tell me about similar experiences that happened to them. Where they were just going about their daily routines (one was at work) when they basically had someone either snub them or vomit their negativity on them, just because they attend C3. What gets me the most is that some of these people who have said things to my friends have been Pastors (or their wives) from different churches here in town. This just boggles my mind. I mean really, what’s the problem dudes? I heard one pastor say; “well that’s just not the way church should be done.” Really, what is it that you don’t like? Do you not like people coming to Christ? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like those who had completely given up on God and church coming and checking out church again? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like people who were wrapped up in drugs, alcohol and just the crap of life getting freed from that bondage? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like that kids and students are actually excited to go to church? – Because that’s happening here. Let’s get real here guys, if God is working and moving then maybe C3 is not what’s wrong here. Instead maybe you should read Luke 11:39-43 and take a good look at you.

Make'n C3, C3

Dude, I’m so jacked about what God’s doing here at C3!!! With all the stuff that’s been happening this past month I’ve been in a lot of different church’s and I got to say; man, I love what we do here! I love thinking how a couple years ago God began to put this vision of C3 into the hearts of our management team and there has been no turning back ever since. The guys I serve with are awesome. Each one brings amazing skills and talents to the table, but what gets me pumped is that in each one there is a relentless desire to do whatever it takes to see the unchurched connected with Christ. What I also love is these guys are so real. I’ve seen so many pastors who put on a suit Sunday after Sunday and put on this religious front. There’s no pretending or puffed up egos here, we all know we’re not perfect but we take what God has given us and we do our absolute best with it. I think Josh, our newest addition to the team, put it best when he said; “I’ve never been a part of a church where I could just be myself.” It’s hard to explain but there is a freedom in being able to be yourself here at church and it’s one of the things that makes C3, C3.

Tirelessly Devoted

Last night we went to the Colonial High vs. University High football game to hang with some of our Crave students. It was awesome to see Jen rock’n with the Colonial High band and #56 big Vail leading Colonial as the starting center. I’m so proud of all our Crave students; they have such passion and drive to succeed at all that they try. I remember playing in high school and really loving the game yet missing the drive to really succeed. It really became frustrating. I wanted to play but at the same time I didn’t want to spend all that time training and going the extra mile to play well. As I sit here thinking, I really believe this is where so many who work in churches get hung up. They love God and they love serving him, but they’re lazy. If you know me, the one thing I cannot stand (probably comes a lot from being this way in high school) is laziness. That is one of the reasons why I am so thankful to be a part of the staff at C3. It still amazes me to think about how over the past 2 years God has orchestrated bringing together a church staff that has a deep, relentless passion to become the relevant church tirelessly devoted to changing lives. It hasn’t always been easy, but I am so thankful for a Pastor who isn’t afraid to make the hard calls and a staff team that is so willing to do whatever it takes to see Gods vision through to completion.

Another Thought

I was thinking about yesterday’s blog and I started to think about how thankful I am for those that came along with us on the “search party.” In fact, this Sunday night we have a Home Team Leaders meeting that will be full of folks like that. They saw the vision of C3 church and have been faithful in living that vision out every step of the way. Guys; thank you for allowing God to use you to make C3 such a success!!! And, I got to tell ya, I am so jacked about what God has planned for C3. We have some jammed packed exciting days ahead of us as where we will be able to impact the community of East Orange County like it has never been before. Or as Darrell put it “hold on to your seats” because the ride is about to kick into overdrive.

Just a Thought

So I was thinking about this church that I heard about here locally that is starting to become much more progressive in reaching the unchurched. They have started to go through some of the same transitions that we have gone through here at C3. They are becoming more creative and innovative. Instead of running away from the culture they are using it to tell people about Christ. Well evidently, just like what we experienced here at C3, some of the current membership is all up in arms and very upset about this transition. They’ve started blogs calling the pastor names and saying how ungodly their church is now. Ya know, I just don’t understand that. It seems the folks that do this stuff only care about being heard and being “right” and in the process they tear down and destroy what God is doing at that church. Why? Because they believe church should be done a certain way? It almost seems like they think that because they disagree with the church style then God has somehow appointed them to absolutely make life miserable for anyone who sees things differently. I’m sick of it and these people need to grow up. I think the real problem is they don’t fully understand God’s heart. They don’t seem to understand that God wants us to engage and be relevant in society; why do you think the Bible says over and over again that Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. It’s why Paul said, “I become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” God never said to go out and create little convents where traditions rule and people like you can go. Instead, He said to head out into the highways and hedges; in other words, get out to where the people are. They seem to miss that absolute desire to do whatever it takes to “save some.” Or maybe it’s just that these folks feel jealous. Maybe they feel like, “my pastor and my church no longer revolve around me so I no longer feel like a big fish in the sea.” You remember the story in Luke 15 when Jesus tells the parable of the sheep? In this story Jesus shows us how serious He is about going out and finding the lost. He tells the parable of leaving 99 safe sheep to find one that was lost. Now some of the 99 might get excited when they see their shepherd heading out to find the 1, but I wonder how many others probably felt like they got left in the dust. So instead of heading out to become part of the search party, I think sometimes the 99 can feel jealous or left out. Then, because they have nothing better to do, they set out to make the pastors’ lives miserable. I wish these folks would be honest and say that the 1 doesn’t really matter all that much to them. What truly matters to them is what environment the 99 are meeting in. Well anyway, just a thought. If by some chance you are reading this and you are a pastor who is starting to make this transition, man I know things are probably getting rough right now. However, let me just encourage you and say, “Stay true to the vision that God gave you.” I can honestly say I am more excited about ministry today more than I have ever been.

I'm Loven It

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you were just exhausted, but things keep happening that get you more and more excited about the week? That’s been my week this week. Sunday morning driving to Church I could barely see straight, but once the day got started, man was it an awesome day. Darrell and the band were awesome as usual. Then we had a special time where all of the pastors got to reflect on this past year. It got me so pumped up! I just keep thinking about how many people have shared with me over the past year about how God has changed their lives. I am so thankful to just be a part of what God is doing here at C3. Then so far the rest of the week has been about the same as Sunday. There has just been so much that we’ve been working on this week that has me absolutely jacked-up. On Sept. 9th we start a brand new series in Crave called Life’s Toughest Questions. With this series we will take 7 Sunday evenings and answer questions that the students themselves said were things that they have difficulty understanding or dealing with in life. Also this week, we’ve been working on our Home Teams kick-off for Sept. 16th. I’m so excited to get Home Teams up and rolling again. There really is no better way for adults to connect with each other than through the Home Teams. Then, if that weren’t enough, tomorrow we begin putting together the room for our brand new puppets environment in First Look called Play House. Man, what a week so far, I love C3!

Wii Church

Received a question about “if it’s not broke, break it” from my blog on Change. I have to admit the first time I heard the idea, I didn’t really get it either. But, the truth is it’s a very simple idea where one is never satisfied with the status quo and always looking for ways to do things better. Take the Nintendo Wii for example. The guys over at Nintendo could have said, “Man, we love the Game Cube, it’s selling millions of units each year and kids love playing our games, it’s a system that works and we can’t mess with a system that works.” The natural tendency is to think that if something works once, then it will always work. But the truth is that if the guys over at Nintendo would have never changed their current system, the Game Cube, then eventually it would go the way of Atari which people think is old, boring and has nothing for them so everyone stopped buying it. Instead, the Nintendo guys said, “Hey, even though Game Cube is working we should “break” it and see what else we can come up with. Of course, they came up with the Wii and now stores can’t keep them on the shelves. The exact same holds true in church. Over 80% of Orlando doesn’t go to church on Sunday and many of those folks will tell you church has nothing for me, it’s irrelevant and boring. It’s an Atari. And then there are the Game Cube churches; they work fine, but could they be better? So, it’s time to start breaking some things in church. Of course, when I say that some folks get freaked out and think you can’t change church; that’s sacrilegious. No, understand Truth is still Truth. The Wii still plays “video games,” just in a different way. We in Church still need to share Truth, just in a more relevant way. At C3 we decided a year ago we’ve had enough of being a Game Cube church, we’re going to break a few things and become a Wii church. Also, check out Darrell’s blog on Innovation or Death.

C3 Kids Rock

Last night we had our beginning of the school year kickoff/training meeting with our Children’s ministry volunteers and I got to tell ya, I’m just jacked about where our Children’s ministry is heading. We have the world’s greatest volunteers for First Look and Power House. These are folks who are passionate, loving, will do whatever it takes to make Children’s Ministry relevant and exciting for the kids and even kept their energy up after going through policies and procedures last night:). You guys truly are making C3 THE place for kids!!! Our youth have really stepped up to the plate as well. We had a bunch of youth come volunteer yesterday. You guys rock! Last night we also rolled out our plans for a brand new element to First Look called Play House. Play House will bring in some awesome singing and dancing and best of all: puppets for our 2s, 3s, and 4 year olds. Big thanks to Marlene and Ryan for all your hard work on getting Play House together!!! Also, if you haven’t stopped by Power House lately (we seem to like the House theme) you got to check out Heroes of Mega City. We’ve started a brand new curriculum that helps us completely redo the theme to Power House every 8 weeks and the kids are loving it. It is going to be an awesome fall with C3 Kids, I’m really looking forward to all God has in store.

Change

I was catching up with reading blogs after vacation and if you haven’t read it already you have to check out Pastor Byron’s blog on change called Ahh… Freak Out from Aug. 7th. I remember being in the UCF Business School and them pounding the philosophy in us that if it’s not broken then break it. That’s a philosophy that can really freak a lot of people out. But their point was that in business just like so many parts of life you have to be imaginative, on the cutting edge and always looking for ways to become more effective at what you do. We had major corporations like Motorola, Darden and AT&T come into to our classes and always tell us the same thing: you have to embrace change and never be afraid to fail. In many ways church life is not so different. We always need to be looking for ways to improve and become the relevant church that strongly impacts our culture. That’s not always the easiest thing to do, especially when you have to change something that you’ve poured a ton of time and energy into. But the truth is if we want good things to become great and if we want to make sure we are advancing then, we have to be willing to change. I’m so thankful for a church staff that is willing to ask the difficult questions of why do we do things the way we do and then embrace change to make sure we are always on THE EDGE.

Good Company

So, I was really feeling like I needed to write about some comments that were recently published on certain folks’ blog sites. Evidently, there are a couple of people who like to say that the work we are doing here at C3 is from the devil and have compared staff members to satan. At first I was pretty mad at these comments, but then I realized we are in good company. You see, in Mark 3:22 Jesus was called the devil too. And what I find extremely interesting is who was doing the name calling; it was the religious elite, the “teachers of the law”. These were the guys who were supposed to be the closest to God yet they were calling God’s very own Son, the devil. Of course the question is why would they do that? Well, in part because the teachers of the law cared so much more about their rules, traditions and establishing a religion more than they cared about people. Jesus on the other hand came and turned those ideas upside down and it ticked the religious elite off. Jesus actually cared about those that didn’t spend all their time at the synagogue. In fact, He spent a ton of His time eating and hanging out with the vilest sinners around (Luke 15:1-2). In Mark 2 it even records Jesus going to a party with “notorious sinners”. But, why would He do that? Why would the most holy person who ever walked the earth hang out with those that are the farthest from Holiness? Jesus tells us in Mark 2:17 when He says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.” Jesus came not for the religious elite but for those that were the farthest from Him. To put it frankly, Jesus was a garbage picker. He came to this earth to the people who were considered the garbage of society and pulled them out. Personally, I think we at C3 have ticked the religious elite of Orlando off because we have decided to no longer be a social club or religious elite kind of church. Instead, we decided to “go out into the world” and pick out the garbage. I am sorry if you feel like your precious Southern Baptist Church was taken away from you. However, last time I checked it’s not your church, nor is it the Southern Baptist’s. Personally, I’m very thankful for Pastor Byron, our church and staff that clearly sees that God’s heart is not in creating a social order or massive colony. Instead His heart is getting out of the church building and going through the garbage cans of life.

God Loves Volunteers

I don’t know if you grew up going to church, but I remember when I went to church as a kid; I was always bored out of my mind. I remember playing with my Hot Wheels in the pew, or when we made it to Sunday School just being lectured at by the teachers and having a craft or two thrown at us. To say the least, it was not a favorable memory. However, at C3 we’ve embraced the philosophy that church for kids should be relevant and exciting. Today I started filming in our children’s department for a training DVD. It was a great way for me to become a “fly on the wall” in several of our First Look classes. All I can say is that children’s ministry here at C3 is definitely NOT boring. Our children’s volunteers do an awesome job of creating exciting, interactive environments where Bible stories and virtues come to life and are easily understood and applied in kid’s lives. Every Sunday I overhear at least 1 child telling his or her parents about what they did that morning and how they can’t wait to come back. In fact, at pick-up time this morning I heard a little boy who was visiting for the first time asking his parents when he would be able to come back again. To me, there is nothing more rewarding. So I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our directors and volunteers who make First Look and Power House happen every Sunday. You are truly making a difference in the hearts and lives of so many children and parents. God Bless you for He has truly blessed through you!!!

Would Jesus Wear Jeans

So yesterday I had a meeting with a 63-year-old grandma. She was interested in joining C3 and she wanted to come by and talk to me about the vision and direction of the church. She started out by telling me about the first time she visited one of our services, she said she couldn’t believe her eyes, when the pastor came out to preach in jeans (I hear that a lot). Her exact words were “I didn’t know what to think, then he started talking and I heard the Holy Spirit of God talking through this man in jeans.” She then proceeded to tell about how she has been drawn back week after week to experience this “different kind of church.” By the end of our conversation we were both saying how it’s so amazing what people will allow to get in their way of experiencing God. She was saying for her she almost missed the experience of C3 because of jeans. The problem comes when we as people start to put our religious traditions and rituals (like pastors in suites) over and above truth. Jesus experienced this throughout the Bible from the Pharisees and the religious elite. In fact, this morning I was reading Mark 2 where the Pharisees where arguing with Jesus about his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath. They cared so much more about their customs than they did God or the well being of others. So after our meeting I laid out the question; if Jesus were walking on earth today would He wear jeans to church? Our answer; yes. It’s not very hard to believe that if you truly believe that Jesus cared more about connecting with people than He ever did about religious rituals or traditions. That His heart was to love people no matter what they look like and to reach them where they are at.