Hands & Feet This Weekend at LHC

We work and pray diligently for every worship experience to be an opportunity to introduce people to the extravagant love of God. However, this weekend I'm beginning a sermon series that is PERFECT to invite people for that reason. THROUGH OUR HANDS will be something you don't want to miss and a great excuse to bring someone with you to see what the Jesus thing is really all about.


Through Our Hands/Community Fair Invite from Lake Hills Church on Vimeo.

The Buddy System

When I was a kid on Beach Retreat with my church, whenever we went in the ocean we had to have someone go with us. Between undertow, sharks, and other oceanic hazards, it was good to have someone who was looking out for you. When the LOD (Lifeguard on Duty) blew the airhorn, we had to go find our buddy and raise our hands together until they sounded the airhorn a second time. That was the program for helping to make sure everyone stayed safe and accounted for in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week, a phenomenal friend of mine flew in from Upper State New York to attend the Spur L'ship Conference with one of his staff members (I know it's Upstate, but we have another mutual friend that we like to harass for calling it Upper State). Buddy Cremeans is the Pastor of Northway Church. They have multiple locations throughout the Clifton Park-Colonie region of New York (and their Malta location is in process as we speak), and they are absolutely crushing it for the Kingdom in an area not noted for church growth fertility. (NOTE: If Upstate NY is accessible to you, next week on Monday, Oct. 13, Buddy is hosting a C3 Regional Conference with Ed Young. These one-day events are packed with hard-won principles that will promote mission-critical practices for a monster payoff in your church. You can get more info and register by hitting this link for CreativePastors.com.)

Since he left Austin last Friday morning, he has called or texted me four other times to encourage me, say thank you, and ask an opinion or two. Buddy is one of those people that fill my tanks. Every time I talk to him, or Julie and I get to be around him and his bride Debbie, we are fueled, in-couraged, and strengthened to go fight another day.

No airhorns, no literal sharks in the water or actual undertow. But, the Buddy System works. It's great to have people who are looking out for you and make the time to check on you.

Who's your "Buddy System" partner?

Check Out

...these other blogs:

Ed Young -- this has absolutely no purpose other than a great laugh and an insight into a very unique mind. Part of what I love about Ed is his passion and sense of humor. This has ample amounts of both.

Swerve -- Swerve is the blog of Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald, Pastor & Exec. Pastor respectively of LifeChurch. Their mother ship campus is in Edmund, OK and they have multiple satellite locations across the nation. Check this one out on Monday for a unique, God-honoring ministry initiative that is going to blanket the nation this coming summer.

C3, Pt. 2

We're heading out for C3 this afternoon and I'm really jacked about what God's got in store for our team, for me personally, and I know for everyone who'll be there this week.

One of the really cool things about C3 is reconnecting with really cool friends in ministry from around the country. It's funny--but as our church has grown, my acquaintances have grown exponentially. But, the number of true friends I have in Austin has decreased while the number of friends I have elsewhere has grown. Most of them will be in Dallas this week and I love getting to see them and steal ideas from them.

This isn't a bad thing, it's just an it-is-what-it-is thing. There are a lot of reasons for it, some of which are bad, some aren't. Craig Groeschel pastors LifeChurch which is one of the strongest, most Kingdom-minded churches on the planet. His blog this week speaks directly to the friendship-ministry challenge. I really appreciate his candor and knowing that our situation is common.

I'm curious: is this a phenomenon unique to ministry or do leaders in other arenas experience it as well? Comment back and let me know.