tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70631082305202993642024-03-13T22:37:50.311-07:00nuwineNuwine is a collection of musings mostly about pastoral leadership, the church, and kingdom expansion. My passion is to see the gospel lived out in power in this generation.dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-73975774105706738552020-04-07T11:48:00.000-07:002020-04-08T09:06:22.433-07:00EASTER: For such a time as this
“Easter won’t be the same this year,” said one pastor. Another pastor told me how their church is making plans to celebrate Easter when the lockdown is lifted. “When everyone gets back, we are going to blow off the doors!”
I get it.
Three years ago, the Easter Celebration at our church was one of the most powerful worship services I’ve attended in recent years. Soul-stirring songs, well dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-67776022278739827472020-04-01T15:00:00.000-07:002020-04-01T13:06:53.920-07:00COVID-19 Rethinking Church
COVID-19 is forcing us to rethink how we do church.
When the lock down began, churches scrambled to get their worship services online. In a remarkably short period of time, the vast majority of churches figured out how to offer some kind of online presence. Sunday services now range from sophisticated to simple.
Regardless of the service being offered, almost every pastor I have dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com01600 Willow Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA37.4833355 -122.149425611.658841000000002 -163.4580196 63.30783 -80.8408316tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-35496969069824290492012-03-08T07:53:00.001-08:002012-03-08T08:38:58.857-08:00BAD LUCK AND CHURCH PLANTINGI'm currently reading GREAT BY CHOICE by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen. Today I read the chapter called "Return on Luck." In this chapter, the authors ask the question: What part did luck play in the success of these 10X companies? As one might guess given the title of the book, the authors conclude that luck does not play a significant role. Essentially, great dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-74210825498880336602012-01-03T07:07:00.000-08:002012-01-03T07:18:10.529-08:00GOD KNOWS, WE TRUSTOur job is to trust the God who knows the future, and is working out his redemptive purposes for our good and His glory. This truth was brought home to me afresh as I read Genesis 18 this morning.
There are two primary events in Genesis 18, emanating from the visit of the heavenly 'trio" to Abraham. The first event involves the announcement of a son, Isaac. What is the response of Abraham dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-84300111894655209162011-08-07T17:57:00.000-07:002011-08-07T17:57:26.128-07:00EVANGELISTIC CHURCHES AND MEGeorgia's TOP EVANGELISTIC CHURCHES was the name of a pamphlet recently sent to me by a friend. Honestly, it's not the kind of pamphlet I typically keep around. Before throwing it out, however, I decided to give it a scan.
What lessons can be gleaned from these churches? While 10 are listed, let me cite the top 5. Incidentally, when measured by the number of baptisms, these churches are dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-10595240326200520292011-06-20T08:56:00.000-07:002011-06-20T09:13:00.658-07:00WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?Yesterday I watched Rory McIlroy destroy a world-class field of golfers and win the US Open by eight strokes. Besides the wide-margin of victory, what makes his victory so intriguing is that Roy is still a kid, only twenty-two years old. As the announcers were sharing their post-tournament reflections, Johnny Miller talked about the whole group of young, outstanding, up-and-coming, dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-58199676358992638712011-03-23T16:23:00.000-07:002011-03-23T16:23:51.212-07:00EVERYDAY HEROESRecently my wife and I watched "The Longest Day," the epic WWII movie about the allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. I have never seen a movie with so many stars in it. Evidently, every notable actor of that era felt it was his patriotic duty to play a role.
After I viewed the movie, I was struck by the fact that there was not really a leading character. With all the stars, there's dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-2934476391296202302011-01-28T15:53:00.000-08:002011-01-28T15:53:00.478-08:00REFLECTIONS ON PLANTING A CHURCHFor the past three days I have served as an assessor for a church planters Assessment Center sponsored by Converge. The goal of the assessment process is very simple: to discern whether a candidate possesses a sufficient number of sixteen key building blocks to serve as the Lead Pastor of a a new church plant.
The whole process took me back to my own experience as a church planter in the dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-5944980045652983132011-01-22T17:26:00.001-08:002011-01-22T17:26:58.892-08:00A PASSION FOR THE GOSPEL?How much do I really want to see the gospel go forward? Am I willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, or am I really wanting to use the gospel in subtle ways for my own glory? These are questions I ask myself after reading Philippians 1:18 this morning.
Paul pens Philippians while in prison. Instead of griping about his fate, Paul writes of how "his imprisonment has really served dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-43506252823472769032010-05-05T19:05:00.000-07:002010-05-05T19:34:04.682-07:00THE FEEL OF THE ACTS 2 CHURCHWhat should the church do? In answer to this question, Acts 2:42-47 is often cited. Based on this descriptive passage of the post-Pentecost church in Jerusalem, activities such as teaching, worship in large settings, intimate gatherings in smaller groups, communion and prayer are cited. Certainly these activities, in some form, should mark the life of local Christ communities today.
But this dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-73358431910488780372010-02-19T08:30:00.000-08:002010-05-31T19:47:18.058-07:00GOD'S INDISPENSABLE PRESENCEIf the presence of God does not indwell our ministry, we might as well close up shop.
For the past several weeks I have been involved in a personal study of biblical leaders. Currently, I'm digging into the life of Moses. Today I found myself reflecting on Moses' encounter with God after the debacle with the golden calf. Moses is pleading on behalf of the people for God's forgiveness and mercy. dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-62887385628856487222010-01-25T18:49:00.000-08:002010-01-25T20:42:36.239-08:00The 3 P's of WorshipWhy does a worship service "work" for some people, and not for others? I use the word "work" rather loosely. Consulting with a number of different churches lately has caused me to do some reflection on this question.
The result is the "3 P's Of Worship." The average worship service consists of 3 P's: preaching, praise and people. As you will see, "praise" is stretched beyond it's technical dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7063108230520299364.post-72038823345327246172009-12-29T17:32:00.000-08:002010-01-13T10:34:10.705-08:00Rock Harbor and Urban OutfittersOn Christmas Eve I, and my family, attended Rock Harbor--a large, fast growing church in Costa Mesa, California. We visited the church at the invitation of our son, who attends from time to time, and promised us that the service would be "epic." I was expecting alot. I was not disappointed.
What words would I use to describe Rock Harbor? Vibrant. Warehouse look. Artistic. Young. Honest. dmeyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14013908881110034926noreply@blogger.com0