The Pursuit of God

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The Pursuit of God. That is precisely what I want this sabbatical to be about. Pursuing God. Not pursuing man, ministry, technique, or experiences, but pursuing God.

Not sure if I shared this yet, but before I left for this trip I packed only the Bible, Bible reference books and old(er) books on spiritual growth or spiritual formation (unsure of whether I would read any of them). I left every book on church ministry, church growth or leadership laying right on its shelf. I have had enough of that in my reading diet over the last 10 years. It is time for pursuing God and his heart; not man and his techniques.

Over the last few days, I read a book by A.W. Tozer entitled, "The Pursuit of God." It was written many years ago by a man who struggled to make something of himself and became an anointed Christian Author.

Due to the fact that I wrote in the margins of nearly every page, I will not even attempt to do a review of this book, but suffice it to say that reading it turned out to be a divinely appointed task for me. This short little book rocked my world in a big way. It is profoundly anointed and had me in deep reflection and tears several times.

Read "The Pursuit of God" by Tozer.

Go to the library and get it.

Buy it here for $7.79.

Borrow it.

But, whatever you do...read this book!!! Other than the Bible, I rate it as the best book that I have read in years, maybe ever!!! You will see why once you read it.
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Practical Update:

  • We had an amazing cruise.
  • I am officially disconnected! On Sunday, I forgot it was Sunday. Made it to Church just in time. Attended Severn River Church where my friend Ben Rainey Pastors.
  • We left Monday to start our drive to Colorado.
  • We are taking our time and making a 3 day trip in 5.
  • Arrived in Nashville, TN today to stay at the Gaylord's Opryland Hotel. There are no words for this place. 45 minutes and lost 3 times just to walk from one end to another.
  • Truly enjoying Tricia and Davis and nice to be largely disconnected from technology.
  • My heart is heavy for Lisa Savoy's family and friends after her passing this morning. What a dear saint who will be truly missed. Read about her on my blog here, here and here.
  • Perhaps I will blog again in a week or so.

Love to you all!

Noah

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." -Numbers 6:24-26

Unwinding

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I know some people that always insist on taking all of their annual vacation at one time because it is the only way that they can maximize it. For some of us, it takes 3-5 days just to unwind, let go, disconnect. Usually I can disconnect in about 2 days. This time, it is going to take me longer (probably because I know I have the time to do it).

Unwinding. That is precisely what this week has been about so far:

  • Been home or doing anything that I think of when I think of it.
  • I have nothing on my CCF task list.
  • Have not read a single work email all week.
  • The only "appointments" I have had all week, have been personal friends and family.
  • No blogging, no twittering, no facebooking, not even thought about it much at all.

Tomorrow, we finish packing for a week out at sea. Really looking forward to celebrating our 7 year anniversary this week out on the ocean blue, in the Caribbean and with my love!

After that, we start our trek west to our Summer Destination in Colorado where we will spend the majority of our Sabbatical.

I may check in again in a week or two.

Signing off again for now...

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." -Eph. 3: 17b-18

Our First Married Life Live Event...

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....has come and gone....and tonight.....we put a BIG "W" on the board!!!!

  • We laughed.
  • We learned.
  • We sipped coffee and punch.
  • We ate cookies.
  • We watched.
  • We listened.
  • We played.
  • We sang.
  • We reminisced with old music.
  • We danced.
  • We went home.

We all had a absolutely beautiful evening.

For the team of you that not only made this happen, but made this happen with the highest class, I say Thank You!

See you in the morning!

Open House this Sunday at our Place

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Attention CCF partners and attendees!!!

Seeing as how this is our last Sunday before we leave for our Sabbatical, we have decided to invite ALL of you over to our place for a little drop-in open house.

Open House at Pastor Noah and Tricia's

Address: 12405 Stonehaven Lane Bowie MD, 20715

This Sunday, 4pm-8pm

Stop by for a few minutes! We love you and want to give you a hug!

Whole church welcome!

Sabbatical FAQ's

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What is a sabbatical?
A Sabbatical is an extended time of absence from a position or role for the purpose of renewal or other specific purpose. For pastors, it is a time off intended to encourage spiritual refreshing and renewal for continued long term healthy service.

Why are you going on one?
Each staff member at CCF has a contract agreement of employment. CCF has graciously built into my contract a 2 month sabbatical every 4 years (we are celebrating 5 years, but we postponed it last year). Why else would we be going?

  • We receive the obvious benefits of refreshing and renewed perspective spiritually. Great family time and rest.
  • The church also benefits!! To name a few of those benefits: the exercise of lay leadership gifts, the increased leadership possibilities of our staff, a reminder that no church is built on a person or a personality, people to learn to trust other leaders, etc.
  • Because I want to last here! So many pastors burn out or have moral failures because they focus on leading everyone else and ignore their own growth. This is a time for Noah and God to work on Noah.

Is this basically a long vacation? If so, is it OK for me to be jealous?
No, it is not a vacation. It is a time dedicated for spiritual growth, not simply recreation. Thou shalt not envy.

When do you leave CCF?
This Sunday, May 31 is my last day of service. Sabbatical begins June 1, 2009.

When will you return?
I will be back in the Sunday service on Sunday, August 16th and in the office the 17th.

Where are you going?
We will start with some personal time and vacation and then we will be headed to spend a month+ in Colorado in the Rockies...staring at the beauty of God's creation! Then, I will be flying to Hong Kong to spend the first half of August with the Kauffman's doing missions work there. (Tricia and Davis will not be there for that part...bummer.)

Are Davis and Tricia coming?
YES!

What will you be doing?
For the most part, I will spend the first segment of most days in solitude, reading and prayer (in the presence of God). Then, we will do things together as a family. We are actually preparing to do a lot of exploring, hiking and outdoorsy stuff! The area and the weather will both be gorgeous!

Who do I contact if I need something that I would usually contact you about?
The church. Any Staff member. Your Small Group.

Will we still get prayer emails?
Yes. Direct all requests to Jaye or Pastor Nelson. They can both send them.

Who is preaching and who is serving in your role while you are gone?
Pastor Nelson. He will be assuming an Interim Lead Pastor Role while I am away. I have downloaded much of what I do to him over the last few weeks and I am confident that he will do an excellent job serving this summer. He will be preaching and coordinating other communicators throughout the summer.

Now that Tricia works at the church, who will be doing her job in the Kid's Ministry?
Tonya Wood, Rebecca Martin, Lisa Lewis and all the wonderful Capi's Kids workers!

Will you be reachable?
I will be reachable to Staff and Board for emergencies.

Will you be blogging?
Yes. But, much less then I normally would. Check in a couple times a week. During this time, I need to do more listening than talking. More taking in than giving out.

Will you be twittering?
Very little, if at all! I do not want to say no, because if we see something really cool, I may really want to tell you. Like, what if a bear is climbing on our windshield? That would be an AWESOME twitter! You get my point. (Besides, if I say no and then I do, you all will have some comment to make, smile.)

What about emailing?
I will NOT be receiving CCF emails this summer. Jaye Lindo will be serving as my assistant and will be managing my email account while I am away.

Will you be on Facebook?
Very little, if at all! I need to be getting God's Status Updates for a while, not yours.

Will you be reachable by cell phone?
No. Tricia will be. This way, I do not spend my sabbatical texting! The fruit of the spirit is self control. ;-) It will do me well to step away from technology for a while and focus on the Lord.

What about emergencies?
The Staff and Executive Board know what I would want to be contacted for and they know how to reach me in an emergency.

Can I use your car while you are gone?
No.

Can I use your house while you are gone?
No.

What if you really like it where you are going and don't want to come back?
In the words of the Terminator..."I'll be back!"

How can we pray for you this summer?
Pray that with God's help I (we) will lock in new spiritual and physical habits that will go with me for the rest of my life and ministry. Plan to spend time in the presence of God like NEVER before and to be physically fit like NEVER before. Pray also that the 3 of us grow together as a family and make wonderful memories. We truly appreciate your prayer support.

Will we miss you?
Does the sun come up in the morning? Does Billy Graham have a quiet time? Is snow white? You bet we will!! Like crazy!

One more thing....we want each of you to know how thankful that we are for this gift that CCF is giving us! This is not an entitlement or something that we expect, rather a gift that we are grateful to receive!

We love you!

Noah, Tricia and Davis

Vision: a journey, not a destination

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If my recent experience at the Drive Conference did one thing for me, it revealed for me the fact that we have not "arrived" at the "vision station." Vision development is a journey that we remain on, not a destination that we arrive at.

A few things are becoming glaringly clear to me recently:

  1. We have come a long way, baby! But, what we have done at CCF has been more "mission" establishment and clarification, than "vision" development. We have defined the game that every church should be playing. We HAD to to that first. If we do not know what game we are playing, we will never figure out how to win it!
  2. We have a long way to go, baby! Felt compelled to re-read "Vision Sticks" by Andy Stanley. It is a short read. Read it today. It reminded me of 3 key factors to vision:
  • You must clearly name a problem that needs to be solved (people will likely know about the problem)! Without a problem, nobody needs your solution (vision) and nobody needs you! Has CCF clearly and corporately identified the problem in Lanham/PG County/MD Suburbs that we exist to solve?
  • Then, you must must offer a clear and compelling solution. How as a church, are we positioned as a solution to that problem?
  • The third component to a convincing vision is the reason that something must be done now!! Plenty of people see problems and many have solutions. Few leaders and only excellent organizations decide that something must be done...NOW!! It's more than "why must we do this"? It's "why must we do this now?"

We know the game we are playing/the mission for which we exist. Jesus gave us that! How are WE going to win? What strategy will we be employing to cross home plate in the years to come at CCF?

Seeking the Lord on these things. Will you join me?

Sabbatical Intro Post...

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Today is a weird day. I am thinking a lot. I am mentally, physically and spiritually preparing for a first-ever Sabbatical experience. This is my last week at CCF until mid-August. Sunday will be my last Sunday and the sermon will be my last one I will preach for 11 Sundays (this will be wild...I have not been away from the pulpit for more than 3 weeks in 6 years)! It's just weird and good all at the same time. I have been handing off and wrapping up and delegating to the point that I have less on my task list and calendar for this week than ever in my time here at CCF! It feels so odd!

My task list this week:
-Prepare for Married Life Live
-Prepare to preach this Sunday

I am as nervous as I am excited. But, I AM READY!!! The timing is so right. So right. I wish I could clearly explain why, but suffice it to say:

  • I am about to go form some new life-long physical and spiritual habits.
  • I am about to go fall in love with Jesus like I never have before.
  • The church is more ready right now for me to walk off than ever before in my 5 years here. It is also my sense that this experience will be as good for CCF as it will be for us. You may not see it or know how to name it, but it will be!
  • This time is going to allow me to thank God for the 5 year journey thus far and get geared up and ready for 5+ more! It's weird, but I almost look at this coming experience as halftime for a 10 year ministry experience. This is where I know God has called me to be. I am not saying that I am leaving before or after 10 years, I am just saying that I am in this to stay!

I am going to put up a series of posts today and tomorrow that will explain what this Sabbatical is all about. I want to share it early in the week, so that conversations can happen before I unplug from technology on June 1!

More later.....

Some (not-so-deep) thoughts

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It's Memorial Day Monday, I'm up early and thought I'd share a few random thoughts on my blog. Not in a deep-thought mood, but felt like catching up with my blog readers...

  • Felt like yesterday's message made impact. There's no way to recreate it here, but suffice it to say that it provoked some people to make a move of obedience in their life that they have been putting off. I've already heard of many people's move (a break up, a make up and a straighten up)! Looking forward to hearing more.
  • Saw some people at church yesterday that were back visiting...great to see some friends from afar. Not sure where everyone else was. We had the lowest attendance that we've had in a while. If you miss seeing people, call them! (Yes, I know it in Memorial Day Weekend.)
  • Wait til you see the FUN colors that we painted the nurseries yesterday!
  • It was amazing how many conversations I had or heard yesterday at church that involved a reference to something someone learned on Facebook. The more people in the church that are connecting on there, the more connected people feel to each others week! I think that it is totally cool!
  • I cannot believe that this is my last week in the office before our Sabbatical. I will be blogging about my Sabbatical this week.
  • It's Memorial Day and I have a 9am meeting. You gotta do what you gotta do. Sometimes, Pastors need to work when others don't. Personally, I prefer a holiday meeting over a weekend meeting.

On this Memorial Day, let the sacrifice of many for one nation, remind you of the sacrifice of one for the world!

Excited to Preach Tomorrow...Make a Move!

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I am really excited to preach tomorrow. I ALWAYS consider it an honor to communicate God's truth. Sometimes I approach it with holy fear. Sometime with a sense of unworthy privilege. But, sometimes....I just approach it with a sense of "butterflies-in-the-stomach-excitement." The latter is how I feel about tomorrow morning.

Title: "Make a Move!!"

Main Texts: Johns 20: 24-29 and Hebrews 11:6-16

Big Idea: Some of us need to step out, step up, step in and MAKE A MOVE of obedience in our lives. You have been weighing the details, counting the cost and making excuses for far too long and it is time to jump.

It may be:

  • A Job Change
  • A Relationship Ending
  • A Relationship Starting
  • A relationship Changing
  • A Financial Investment
  • Selling something
  • Buying something
  • Answering a call to ministry
  • Moving Back
  • Moving Away

When is the last time you made a move that caused you to put all your faith in God, instead of yourself?

See you tomorrow!

Change. Fast Change.

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It is no secret to anyone that knows me well that I like change. As soon as you get used to something, I want to change it up. But, I value stability too. I actually think that you can be a really stable person who embraces change. I try to be one of those people. I will let you debate whether I am succeeding. Smile.

I read this on the Swerve Blog today: "Change is good, all the time, and all the time, change is good!" You may or may not agree with this, but is one of Lifechurch's core values.

Whether you are a fan of change or not, there is one thing we know. You nor I can stop it. We can always count on it happening.

I keep tabs/memos/notes over the years. While swapping some memos out of my old phone and into a new one I just got, I ran across this thing I jotted down several years ago and thought I would share it. It shows you how fast change can happen. Things JUST 50 years old (my parents were kids/teenagers), are now so foreign that they are officially hilarious.

Check out what I mean. Quotes from Americans in the 1950's:

  • "I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a weeks' groceries for $20.00."
  • "If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."
  • "I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies anymore. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying "damn" in "Gone With The Wind." It seems every movie has a "hell" or a "damn" in it."
  • "Also, it won't be long until couples are sleeping in the same bed in the movies. What is this world coming to?"
  • "Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if some day they'll be making more than the President."
  • "No one can afford to be sick anymore, $35.00 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood."

My how things have changed. And fast. What we see today will look equally (or more) silly than this stuff in 2050. Can you imagine?

Yet!

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The more I think about one of the things that Andy Stanley shared at the Drive Conference, the more I see it's application to more than just ministry, but to life. See how this applies to you:

There is great freedom, focus and maturity in knowing who you are, what you do and where you are headed (the vision). There is also great freedom in knowing where you are NOT YET AT along that road. So, statements like this can lift a lot of pressure and insecurity off of a leader:

  • We do not offer that...
  • We do not have that...
  • We have not launched that...
  • We are not doing that...
  • We have not started that...

YET!!!!!

We are making a beeline toward the vision and and in order to move directly toward excellence in our main purpose, we may have to pass up some good things along the way. The more we drill down on excellence, and the more we prosper, the more we will see the resources come in for some of the good things that we chose to pass up earlier.

We do not offer that....YET!

Perhaps some of you need to get comfortable saying that.

(And please notice that the above statements were NOT accompanied by an apology.)

Flexibilty

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(I know that many non-CCF'rs read my blog. This one is for my CCF peeplz!)

I am still pondering what yesterday meant to me. The staff marveled at it again this morning. We shared wins and stories of how well it went.

For those that do not know, we had some water damage and a terrible smell that forced us to need to change the location of our worship service.

We decided at 8:15am that we would be moving our Worship Service from the Worship Center to the Upper Room. That one decision had probably hundreds of implications. To name a few:

  1. Hundreds of chairs moved up a level
  2. Hundreds of chairs set up neatly
  3. Decorations moved up and placed
  4. Media files copied
  5. Cords disconnected downstairs and reconnected upstairs
  6. Instruments moved up
  7. Drums set up
  8. Learn a new sound board
  9. Mix live sound in a new room
  10. Move pulpit up
  11. Signage all over building printed and hung fast
  12. Extra greeters on post to make all transitions easier
  13. All usher supplies moved up
  14. Move EntryPoint to another location at the last minute
  15. And all the other stuff that I have no idea about that people just DID!

After all of that being done (with 20+ minutes to spare), we had an amazingly smooth service! In Caleb's words this morning, "it seemed even smoother than if we were downstairs."

I just want to thank every leader and volunteer for the job well done and I want to affirm the whole body for the display of understanding flexibility! Love this church!!!!!
Yesterday showed me:

  • Who we are
  • What we are made of
  • That our team is a team
  • That flexibility is a quality to be celebrated
  • And that the size of a room can drastically change the dynamics of an experience. Loved the change in feel yesterday!

Things happen when you go to the Upper Room!

Lessons from the Bar

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Yes, you read that title correctly. We went to a bar last night. A piano bar, in fact. And we had a blast! Why were we there? We were invited to Tricia's friend's graduation party taking place at the "Howl at the Moon" in Baltimore (the feature of this place is that there are two pianos dueling and live music that everyone sings along to). This is a childhood friend of Tricia's that has come onto our "turf" only in the last few years. She comes to our house and our church, but we have not been to her turf yet, so we went last night!

As you may imagine, it is not every Saturday night that I am out at a bar. In fact, this may be second or third time in my entire life (and the first time since being married). So, this was quite new for me. I have been wanting to go to one for awhile, so I am glad that I was invited. I did a lot of watching and thinking. I am always trying to learn...for the church...for the kingdom.

Okay, so where am I headed with this? Since leaving there last night and throughout the day today, I have been reflecting on what I learned from the experience. I contemplated whether to blog it and decided that I would (wifey endorsed it). I am not dumb, I know it will make some of the more spiritual Christians mad, but who knows...it may spark some good conversations. Here goes...things I am thinking about:

  1. People want to have fun after working all week!! They have a LOT of fun at the bar. We need to have more fun at church. Fun factor needs to increase! We are so stinkin' serious so stinkin' often. Why?
  2. Music breaks down walls. People love to sing together especially when they all know the songs and they dig up memories from different seasons of their lives. Secular music (whatever that is) is familiar music! People know it and they sing it. And plenty of it is morally neutral and totally harmless. We need to stop being afraid of it at church. Not advocating for trash music here, but I am advocating for good music! What's wrong with a little Billy Joel?
  3. No alcohol is needed for a great evening! We did not need to get drunk to have fun. On the contrary, the lady barfing and stumbling on the sidewalk when we left was miserable. We on the other hand, were not!
  4. Not every Christian can handle this. Maybe you would be too tempted or lack self control if you were in this environment. If so, don't go! You need to know you!
  5. People love community. They get it in full at the bar. Affection, attention, compliments, sharing stories and laughter! Could not help but notice that happening all around me last night.
  6. Tricia and I left after a great time with a spring in our step and romance in the air. Even got me a little smooch in the back of the cab. Something about a night out together seemed to spark us. Not sure how to explain it any more than that, and I am sure that you don't want me to. ;-)
  7. This was key: my presence (people we were with knew I was a Pastor/Christian) made people less likely to get carried away (brought balance) and more likely to see that just maybe they COULD be a Christian, after all. Not to mention, they were honored that we would come.

The whole experience made me think of Jesus. He was good at being where the people were. Even the "sinners". I think he may have been on to something. He knew some of the basics of how to win them. And it was not by distance and finger pointing.