How important is planning?

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first hour sharpening the axe.” 

Abraham Lincoln

1- Talk to God. (Prayer). We are spinning our wheels if we don't know what is His plan and receive His blessing. Heather and I tithe. Which means that we give 10% of our income to the Lord. We have a great quote about tithing, that is not ours, but we adopted it as our own. "We believe that by giving God 10% of our income the 90% that is left will go further and last longer by His blessing than If we were to keep the entire 100% of our income." This is also a great example of trying to cut down a tree without sharpening the axe first. Prayer is that important. 

2- You must have a clear priority scale to really utilize planning. What are the most important things for your relationship with God, your family, your work and yourself. Then plan ahead for each one.

3- Tony Morgan has equipped me with four valuable questions: What is right, What is wrong,What is  missing and What is confusing? These simple questions have brought the most clarity in the last 9 months for me.

4- What dull tools have I grown accustomed to using? Has loving people become dull and even numb? If so, then has patience also? Work demands creativity and invention, so does my family. When you get tired and dull do we stop and sharpen the axe or do we allow work to rob the best of us from our family? Does work suffer because you are no longer carrying the passion you once had? What can you do to get passion back? 

5- Rest... Its amazing what a little can do. (For those that don't know how) Do nothing, Nap - my favorite, Don't do what you normally do, Ask a loved one what they would like to do, PRAY, garden - unless your a gardner...

Recently one of our good friends Tony Morgan wrote a blog about Cowboy Junction Church. Tony is a church consultant that helps church's get "unstuck". Though we are not stuck. We want to make sure that we keep the momentum going. Here is what he said about Cowboy Junction Church.

Tony Morgan blog.

COWBOY JUNCTION CHURCH: A DISTINCTIVE CHURCH WITH A DISTINCTIVE MISSION

Ty and Heather Bean, Senior Pastors of Cowboy Junction Church

I’ve had a unique opportunity the last several months to work with Cowboy Junction Church in Hobbs, New Mexico. (They’re going to hate that I’m pointing to their website before their new one launches.) It’s the first church I’ve worked with in New Mexico. And, it’s the first cowboy church I’ve worked with, though, that’s not what makes them unique.

Cowboy Junction is actually the smallest church that I’ve worked with in an extended relationship where we’ve gone through a (1) ministry health assessment, (2) developing and implementing a strategic operating plan, and (3) completing a staffing and structure review. We’re wrapping up the final phase now to confirm their staffing structure for today and, more important, develop a plan for future growth.

And, in the case of Cowboy Junction, I’m convinced they’re going to experience growth. Here are a few reasons why.

Clear and Distinctive Mission

Many churches are stuck “doing church” because they feel obligated to do what churches have always done. Because Cowboy Junction started out with a clear objective to do whatever it takes to reach people engaged in rodeo and other people with that western mindset, they aren’t under any obligation to be a “normal” church.

What they’ve learned is that if they focus their ministries on a specific type of person and avoid trying to be all things to all people, they actually reach all kinds of people…including the guys that spend most of their weekends engaged in rodeo activities that other churches don’t typically reach.

Strengths-Based Leadership

Cowboy Junction reaches about 400 to 500 people every weekend. It’s mid-sized church, but they have huge leadership capacity. What makes them unique is that they’ve been very intentional about getting leaders in positions that best fit their gifts and abilities.

Ty and Heather Bean, the senior pastors, have done a remarkable job in the last number of months empowering the other leaders on their team. They’re more focused on teaching, leadership development and vision casting. The team is handling more of the execution. Everyone wins.

Clear Action Plan

Most churches live from Sunday to Sunday without any clear plan to get from here to there. Cowboy Junction has done the hard work of figuring out what’s most important now. They’ve developed an action plan. They’ve assigned leaders and built teams around that plan. There are clear target dates and measures to monitor progress.

Their current plan has 11 initiatives that include establishing new systems around budgeting and staffing, expanding facilities, launching a new web strategy and redefining their discipleship path. Because they have an intentional plan with focused leadership, they’re well on their way to finishing all 11 initiatives in the next six months. At that point, they will renew their plan with a new set of initiatives.

A big reason why this is working is because Ty has empowered Cigi Hardin, their new Administrative Pastor, to run point on their strategic operating plan. Again, focused leadership based on the strengths of each person really works.

I wanted you to hear a bit of Cowboy Junction’s story. For those of you leading churches that aren’t in the megachurch category, they need to be on your radar. Watch what they’re doing. Don’t copy their ministries, because you probably don’t have many folks wearing cowboy hats in your community. Instead, embrace the foundational principles that make Cowboy Junction healthy.

And, when you have a moment, pray for Ty, Heather and the their team. Hobbs, New Mexico needs healthy churches like Cowboy Junction to reach people for Jesus.

Faith requires Discomfort

1 Peter 4:12-13

New King James Version (NKJV)

Suffering for God’s Glory

 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

This is meant to encourage you, because many will never step out in Faith, with our Heavenly Father, because of the fear of discomfort. Here are some thoughts to chew on.

• Many are unwilling to experience great reward because their beginnings are not glamorous. 
• Everything I ever started required risk, loss, sacrifice and volunteer. It never started with unlimited safety. Regarding true blessings in my life, I would gladly go back in time and inspire myself to trust God all over again.  I would tell myself a hefty, "Its sooooo worth it."

Zechariah 4:10

For who has despised the day of small things?

New King James Version (NKJV)

• The cost of lost purity is to pricey to pay. 
• For some your a target, for others your a treasure. (Your friends, who you will only know in your High School years, might tease you. The Father of the woman of your dreams is praying for you to come along. Whatever price you have to pay for your purity is worth it.)
• Some see your weakness, others see your strengths. 
• Certain ones tolerate you, others celebrate you.

Proverbs 22:11

He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.

Church and Sesame Street

I grew watching Sesame Street. It was not a daily source of information for me, but I bet I can still name almost every old character.  I was recently impressed with a decision they made to include a topic that is not easy to talk about, divorce. Sesame Street executives tried to bring this story up years ago, however the approach on the content was way to sad and intense. Recently they revisited the topic. Click here to visit the article and video.

Lynn Chwatsky, Sesame Workshop’s vice president of outreach initiatives oversaw the project explains why the “Sesame Street” crew decided to readdress this issue 20 years after flopping on it.

“We want kids to understand that they’re not alone, and that it’s not their fault,” says Chwatsky. “These kids love and adore Abby. So to know that she’s going through something similar to them, something challenging, it’s like, Wow. It makes it O.K. to have a whole range of feelings.”

So what does this have to do with church. Many times when mistakes happen in the church we care more about addressing the mistake, even trying to eliminate the potential of mistakes, then helping clean the mess up. Here are a few thoughts about how we can better talk about tough issues like divorce.

• Messes happen

- Divorce will always be apart of our culture. (There I said it.) We can help some marriages, others were doomed from the start. Its not the end of their world or the potential of what God can do in their life. My first desire is to see God restore the marriage (He hates divorce). Second can the church successfully navigate someone through a divorce?

• Divorce, now what?

- For many behind the church leadership we don't know. We did not know there were options. Here are some issues we need to study up on and think about. 

Divorce Counseling - (I did not say marriage counseling) What went wrong so I don't do it again. 

Mixed Families - This is a big one. How do we "all" get along? 

Stay in Church - Punishment usually follows people who are committed to church and go through a divorce. I don't believe this is the correct response. There must be time for healing and correction, but punishment is not the remedy. 

Kids Church Curriculum - I lost you here didn't I. Fifty percent of families are effected by divorce. To be more personal, as a kid you either thought your parents were going to get a divorce or they already did get a divorce. There is a lot of emotion locked up inside todays kids. Why not talk about it. The safest place for our kids to do that, I think, is in kids church.

• Hard Headedness is a sin. Divorce is a symptom

 . - Jesus was asked about divorce. Mark 10:1-12. Jesus quotes Moses, then rebukes them, not for divorce but for their own "hard headedness". Church leaders should rebuke (stand against, despise, teach on) hard headedness (arrogance, pride,  hard hearts) instead of symptoms of it.

I would like to know what you think. Remember this is a sticky subject and most people don't open this  "can of worms". However, it is here, it is real and in some form and fashion we are all connected with it. So, lets start the conversation.

2012 hunting season has begun! This of course is one of my loves. He scored 79 inches. It takes 67 inches to make the Poope & Young record books. Everyone needs hobbies. Here are a few of my reasons why.

1. Its "Cross Training" for the brain.
When I hunt I have to be a problem solver, creative and do my homework to be successful. These same qualities are a must for my calling too. Some might think its a stretch or excuse to link the two, but I don't. During a hunt I have time to think. After a successful hunt I come back energized.

2. Goals are Contagious.
When I sit down and write out my goals for every year some goals are more exciting than others. When I start checking off the goal list, because of completion. It sparks enthusiasm to accomplish more. One accomplished goal fuels confidence to accomplish another unachieved goal.

3. Fun is Fuel.
If I love it I will do it.

4. I'm good at it.
That helps a lot also. I want to be clear on what I am good at. Killing an animal? No. I am good at.... Preparing with good equipment, gear and my physical condition. I am good at doing my homework for a hunt. I put out trail cameras and get information to make a good decision on the animal I should harvest. I practice... a lot. I make an absolute best effort to take a good shot. I don't shoot young animals. I know how old the animal is, if he is a candidate for harvest and if he is a trophy or not. I practice self discipline. I have passed on more animals than I have harvested. Then I take the shot. I am honest. I have been in many sticky situations and have done the right thing. These are a few of the reasons I think I am a good hunter. I love being this type of person in other areas also.

5. Friends & Family
I want these two things in every area of my life. It makes the moments last longer. It causes the experiences to be sweeter. I doubt I would do a lot that I do if these two ingredients were not there.

Do you know how to HIDE!

Maybe I am letting the "Cat out of the Bag" but, I feel a new series coming on. The title is leaning towards "Do you know how to hide?" Most people don't or don't know they can or did not know it was an option. IT IS! Some view hiding as a weakness. Others see it as cowardly. God views is as wise.

Story - Once a young man was visiting his family in Nebraska. The sky was blue and the birds were singing. He and his family were enjoying a great day of Golf. Then the sky began to darken and the temperature dropped twenty degrees the smell of rain filled the air. The young man noticed that the sky then turned a strange green color. He looked around him and the birds that once were singing were now gone. The family that was playing golf with him had also vanished. He stood on the tee box alone. Then one of his cousins hollered at him from a storm shelter. "Hey, cousin, get in here." The man asked, "Why?" It was then he heard the sound. It sounded like a train was headed right for him, but there was no track. It was a tornado. The man ran for his life then jumped into the shelter with his cousins for safety. When he was finally safe he asked, "How did you know the tornado was coming." His cousin answered, "When you live in Nebraska its better to be safe than sorry."

Psalm 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

Thought to think- Most people's storms would not be so bad if they would only learn how to hide.

MORE TO COME...

4-27-2010 - Weekend Review

April 20, 2010 - WEEKEND REVIEW

X3 WATCH

SAFE EYES

X3 PURE

April 12, 2010

IM BACK!

Im back. I am going to try to do something different. VIDEO BLOGGING! "Most every" ;'} Tuesday I will recap the weekends topics. See Ya Soon!!!!!

What keeps them in Church?

Here is the area where most churches fail.
WHAT DO WE DO NOW THAT WE HAVE THEM?

Top 6 Things that Keep the Formerly Unchurched Active in the Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 62% - Ministry Involvement
2. 55% - Sunday School
3. 54% - Obedience to God
4. 49% - Fellowship of Members
5. 38% - Pastor/Preaching
6. 14% - Worship Services

Adrenaline, zeal, excitement are important parts of church involvement. We all know that if anything is going to last deeper issues apply. Things like involvement, ownership, obedience is key. I believe you must consistently have a mixture of both ends of the spectrum.

By viewing the last blogs survey and comparing it to this weeks survey we can come to some useful conclusions.

• Preaching/Teaching will always play a crucial role, however long term maturity through involvement should be the goal.
  
• Fellowship (friendship-community) plays a bigger part than most Church's think it does.
• Same thing goes for youth and children also.

MISSION POSSIBLE:
I know that there has got to be stories out there on how or why you picked and chose Cowboy Junction Church. Now is the time to inspire and "Light a Fire". There could be someone at CJC who doubts if his/her volunteerism is needed. Brag on someone. Use their name. Give a little credit to someone used by God.

Statistics on reaching the Lost.

In recent years, there have been several research studies hoping to discover what motivates church attendance.

Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 90% - Pastor/Preaching
2. 88% - Doctrines
3. 49% - Friendliness of Members
4. 42% - Other Issues
5. 41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
6. 38% - Family Member
7. 37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
8. 25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
9. 25% - Sunday School Class
10. 25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
11. 12% - Other Groups/Ministries
12. 11% - Worship Style/Music
13. 7% - Location

The statistics speak for themselves. Overall, doctrine, the pastor and his preaching, and the friendliness and fellowship of the congregation are the most influential qualities. A lot can be said about personal witnessing to people.

What's your thoughts?

For Discussion:
What do you think are the top reasons why people stay or connect with a church?
I HAVE THE STATISTICS FOR THAT TOO.
Next time... You might be surprised!!!!

Volunteers - 3 of 3

3. Servants need to be reminded - constantly - that what they're doing is not in vain.

Volunteers should be reminded again and again, that they're valued. The role they are playing is not insignificant; that God treasures every task they perform. every hour of service they render.

Matthew 6:4
Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Nothing that we do "as unto the Lord" goes unnoticed by our Lord. Every smile, every coffee pot filled, every greeting, every lesson taught, every note played, nothing goes unnoticed by our Lord. Volunteers need to reminded constantly that they are not crazy.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Cowboy Junction Church Volunteers: you are not crazy. CJC could not make it without you. Even more important than that, the Kingdom of God counts on you. You are a minister of the Gospel. Know this, If we could pay you we would. Your that important! Let this blog be a reminder to you that our staff and leaders constantly remind ourselves about how awesome our volunteers are.

HANG IN THERE! YOUR DOING A GREAT JOB!

Volunteers - 2 of 3

OK, here is my second blog on the "volunteer" theme. Remember, I am not an expert. I am only blogging on "volunteers" because I am learning also. Personally I found this next one important for the staff of CJC.

The easiest way to defeat a volunteer is to waste his/her time.


Here's how it happens. A pastor teaches about serving, creatively communicates needs, and extends personal invitations. People sign up to serve. In best-case scenarios, they're even directed into their areas of giftedness and passion.
The volunteer leaves work early and gets a babysitter, drives forty-five minutes, and shows up ready to serve-- then discovers that he/she is not needed. There are a million scenarios that this could apply to...(there is not enough of work, the skills they thought were needed actually are not, the project does not start on time, the project is not ready). The volunteer stands around for twenty minutes waiting for someone to show up with letters he/she is supposed to stuff into envelopes. Waisting volunteer's time is the best way to assure that he/she will never show up again.

Volunteers- 1 of 3

Pasturing is who I am, not what I do. Sometimes most of my day, to some, is non-productive. In actuality it's exactly what I should be doing. Today I am studying. I am preparing for staff meeting tomorrow. We are discussing several things, but one of them I thought you would be interested in. "VOLUNTEERS".

You might be one. You might be thinking of being one. Which ever one you are know this, we are constantly improving on how we relate, communicate and build community with our volunteers. Volunteers are the oil in the motor, the cords in our parachute, the "getter" in our "getter done". HA HA "That was funny, I don't care who you are."

Here is the first of three lessons we have researched lately.

* A NEW VOLUNTEER IS A FRAGILE VOLUNTEER.

An experienced volunteer can handle an occasional mishap. But a new volunteer is extremely vulnerable to discouragement and disillusionment. That first volunteers experience could become that persons ministry experience for the rest of his/her life.

ANSWER: We need to build communication bridges with our volunteers. Ask Q's like, "How do you feel? Did it breath life into you? Do you want to do it again? How's it going?" The more we communicate the more we can help each other.

Here is your responsibility: Now you know CJC's Staffs heart. Don't shut down. Don't turn introvert. Don't quit. Communicate with us. Were human too. Your to valuable to the Kingdom of God!

I LIVE FOR THIS STUFF!!! More to come.

It's fun to go to work.

How would you like to go to work every morning and have fun, work with great and creative people, think outside the box and so it all for Jesus? I do everyday. Camp Cross Fire is coming up and with it comes fun and funny things like this video.

We got this idea from two places. First is, of course, from the movie "Risky Business" with Tom Cruse. The theme from our camp "Unleash your inner Rock Star" came from a game we are going to play at camp. We are going to have a battle of the bands, on Guitar Hero. For those that don't know, Guitar Hero is a video game. On Guitar Hero's TV advertisement the chose professional athletes to promote their video, to the theme of "Risky Business". Click HERE to see that commercial. Soooo, we did a commercial of our own. You will see a lot of similarities.

Stay tuned for next week surprise! Another commercial is on the way. This could out do the the one you just watched.

OH, by the way, our Guitar Hero Band is , Cigi Allen - Guitar, Clay Hardin - Drums, Abby Jeronimus on Guitar. Way to go guys. HAHAHAHAHAH!

Improving the Arts!!!!

I love Art. This series, " The Forgotten Arts", is about the forgotten arts of the heart.

I was inspired by a Bruce Lee movie late one night. I watched how Bruce was able to do amazing things physically. I thought of his kicks and mine. There was a little difference. OK, a big difference. His kicks could be defined as a "Martial Art". My kicks looked more like a leg lift.

The same thing is true for arts of the heart. We covered, in our first week, "The Thank You". Anyone can say thank you. It takes a real discipline to know the heart behind it.

This weekend the second message will be on "The Apology". You will be blessed. See you Sunday or Monday. BRING A FRIEND!!!!!!

If I had not seen it...

If I had not seen it, I would not have believed it. The therapist came into mom's room today and said, "Lets try the new hip out." Mom got out of bed and with the help of a walker, walked 200 yards today. 24 hours after her surgery my mom is cruising the halls. I asked if it hurt? She said the hip does not hurt, but the stitches do.

Thanks to all the people who have called and sent flowers. The plans are to let her go on Friday.

Maggie Bean's Hip Replacement

The "Magoo" is doing great after her hip replacement.
*She came out of surgery in great spirits and no pain.
*The doctor said the hip was worse than he thought. She had wore a hole through her hip and the doctor had to rebuild her hip with a bone graph.
*Thanks to Janie Cockrel and Jereen Fanning. They are great friend to mom. They stayed there for the entire day.

I just got off the phone with mom this morning and she could not get comfortable for most the night. She also is frustrated with the cotton mouth taste that is a side effect from the pain killers.

We are getting dressed and then we are out of here to go be with her today.

Today:
*The therapist is going to require her to take her first steps on the "new" hip.
*We are going to spend the night in Roswell. We'll be back tomorrow.

Mom is at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center.
Cya when we get home - Keep her in your prayer.

Weekend Reflection

*This Mothers day celebration was a great success. Heather did a fantastic job putting the Mothers day decorations together. Great Job Honey. I hope all the Mothers had a fun time.
*DID YOU HEAR ABBY WHALE ON THE NEW SONG "DESERT SONG"!!!!!!!!!
*We did have some hick ups on the technical side of things. That was Cigi and I's fault. Mike did the best he could with what we gave him. In the end He was patient with Us and we are ALL learning together.
*The softball team is coming together. Now that our team is coming together, I have this funny feeling that the Hobbs Softball Assn. is starting the season TUESDAY. We will see.
*I talked to a visitor that had come to our church today. He said that he and his family loved church. What really did it for them was when they went to pickup their son from kids church, there son was ecstatic. HE HAD A BLAST!!! They are coming back, and feel like they have found a home church.
*Great Sunday attendance. The visitors are flooding in. These are exciting times at Cowboy Junction Church.

The Kick Off of "Junction City Kids Church"

Blog Break!!!

Today is the start of Spring Break. No one is more excited than me. Because of the wonderful time of year Heather and I are loading up the family and going on vacation. We have big plans and will fill you in when we get back.

I am also going to take a break from blogging. I know you will understand.
See you when we get back.

Weekend Reflection

I am doing this weekend reflection on a Wednesday. I should do this Tuesday morning, but the staff of CJC has been working hard on the new Junction City Kids Church. There was some awesome things that happened this weekend, soooo here we gooooo!

• The video "How Great is our God" with Louie Giglio, was worth the time out. From time to time CJC has been known to think outside the box. I decided to postpone what I had planned and obey the conviction in my heart. I decided to move the illustrated sermon "Perspective" to next week and play this video. To make a long story short, 13 people accepted Jesus as their personal savior. Also countless more rededicated their faith and confidence in our God that is bigger than the economy.
  
• Would you like to own the video? CJC purchased many DVDs and they will be on sale this Sunday and Monday. If you can't wait or are wondering what I am talking about click here.
• The goal of this weekend was to build our faith in a world that is shaky, uncertain and depressing. This was the second message that is intended to restore our faith, boost our confidence in the calling of God on our lives and remind us that God is both infinite and minuscule, our life is in control.
• The worship Monday was one of the highlights of the weekend. Thanks Fabian, Leslie, Abbie, Nora, Adam, Cigi, Dimitra, Mike and Ray D. You guys sounded wonderful.
• I THOUGHT THE KIDS CHURCH SKIT WAS HILARIOUS! Way to go Elizabeth (Abby) and Cowgirl Pearl (Cril). Can't wait for kickoff April.

I may not be Blogging as much as I had. This week I will be working on Sundays message and Spring Break is next week. So, lets see how things progress.

An inside look at the new Junction City Kids Church

If its not broke, break it and fix it!

I have pet peeves just like anyone else. One of the ones I hear a lot is this statement,

"IF it is not broke, don't fix it."

I realize that most people who make this statement mean it in the most innocent way possible. However, this statement is also the reason why most people never become great at whatever it is they are called to do.

If we had lived by this statement we would still have prop planes instead of jets. Today we would be talking on 5 lbs. cell phones instead of the one that is in my shirt pocket. The model T that Ford first manufactured would have been what I went to work today in, instead of my air conditioned, stereo, cruise controlled, F-150 4x4. Notice that all of these things transformed the way the world did things, but there is always ways of doing them better.

Evolution is a word that has not been welcome in churches. Evolution is what every church, ministry and mission needs to embrace. It is simply finding a better way of doing something. The Church needs to reevaluate, tweak and refocus on a continuous basis.

Here are some thoughts that should be asked about "Church".

• Are we reaching people?
• Do we know who we are reaching?
• After we reach someone, what do we do with them?
• How could we do this more efficient?
• How could we do this better?
• Is our vision Crystal clear?
• Has our vision changed?
  
• Are we doing it the same way as five years ago? Why?
  
• What are the pink elephants in the room? (Things everyone is thinking, but everyone is ignoring)
• Can technology improve the way we do it?
• Can Volunteers have more of a responsibility, so leaders can free up and dream more?
• Can paid staff improve how we are doing things?
• Can we merge these ministries, thus doubling staff, resources and volunteers?
• Should this be taken out of its misery?
• Lets ask the right people the right questions and get the right answers.
• Is the wrong person in charge.

I am a fan of evolution in the church. I have been blessed with a first hand experience of the post modern evolution in the 21st century church. My life has been blessed because of the pastors who choose to be cutting edge in the world we live in. I am a product of church evolution. My spiritual growth is due to the passion of my spiritual leaders who choose to make the church a fascinating, technological, revolution where I have experienced revelation, anointing and fascination from the Call of God in my life. I choose to be a leader the way I was led, by asking one simple question, "How can I do this better?"

Rachel Jackson in Concert

Rachel Jackson and Band will be our guests This Sunday (10:00 am) and Monday (6:30pm)

Rachel's concert will be great. Invite a friend.

C3 conference (First Day)

Here we are are the Creative Church Conference. (Crill, Corina, Damitra, Cigi and Heather. Then you have me and two guys I just met from Arkansas)

We are ready to listen to Jensen Franklin. He is one of the most dynamic speaker/pastors around. Come back for sermon notes.

C3 conference 2009

I am giddy! Tomorrow the staff of Cowboy Junction Church and the department leaders head to Grapevine, Texas for the Creative Church Conference.

This the most people that we have ever brought to this conference (10). I will be posting and up date everyday on the conference so be sure to revisit this blog for great material.

This is by far my favorite conference because of the speaker lineup. The speakers are Ed Young Jr., Bishop T.D. Jakes, Tommy Barnett, Craig Grotchell, Jentzen Franklin and many more.

We also get to reconnect with old friends. The Rock Church staff and Pastor's Jeff and Melinda Knight always go. It will be fun to see them.

Check back for sermon notes, video posts and personal reports. Talk to you soon.

Compassion International reminder.

This is a reason I love our Church.

Our church is not afraid to fail.
(we don't like it, but were not afraid of it)

I see all the ministry past, present and future CJC does. One thing keeps coming up, "Wow, did we come up with that?" Some was good, some not so good. What were they?

The Bad things.

• Roping's at the ranch when we first got the place.(Summer Round Robin Roping's) The arena was to small, no announcer stand, no sound system, the arena was barely lit, cattle busted through bad fence, no computer to keep books, etc. Needless to say, "The worst roping I have ever been to."
• Sale Barn in the Summer and Winter. Though it was our beginning and all we had, it reached a limit for what we could do. By the way, do you remember our children's church and nursery at the sale barn? (an old restaurant and a closet) I look back and laugh.
  
• The Sermons. This is mine. Though you may disagree, this is my turn. They were to long, to hard, immature (from a young pastor) from a frustrated speaker, manipulative, done how I was taught to do them instead of how Jesus was telling me to do them, and many more to count.
• Lea County Championship Roping's. Now there is good and bad in this. I loved the LCCR. I was honored that CJC got to host them and carry it through its 50th anniversary. I hated the fact that in some ways we did a poor job hosting them. The prizes, the cattle, our organization and the fun we had is where we shined. However the tradition and citizenship is where we failed. We neglected some things that cost us some dear friendships. It bothers me to this day. It was an awesome opportunity for grace, but we still own this one.
  
• Neglecting People. I could not keep up with everyone as a one person staff. Because of it some people were neglected. For this I am truly sorry.
  
• The list of our mistakes could go on and on. ( If at any point you were hurt by one of these or one I did not mention, this is for you.) I humbly apologize. I am not perfect and I hope you can find a way to forgive me (Ty Bean) or Cowboy Junction Church.
  

So there you go. Wow! That was liberating. Is that it. No! That's the thing about our Cowboy Junction Church. Even though we have made BIG mistakes, we don't allow them to stop us. We learn and we get better. How? Let me show you.

The Good things:

• We stopped kicking a dead horse (pun intended). Instead of feeling like we're letting God down by continuing to put on crappy roping's, we ended it. We could have felt bad that we were a cowboy church with no roping, or we could develop a "spirit of excellence". We ended our roping until we could do them right. We even discussed the other day in the board meeting the need to finish our new arena. But first we need to take care of our kids and youth. WHAT DID WE LEARN? We are not afraid to end some ministries to excel in others.
• We step out in faith. The purchase of the ranch was a leap of faith. Attendance was down, offerings were low and we had no money for a down payment. We knew however, that if we did not step out when we did our church would never have an opportunity to grow. I ran across the county as a fund raiser so we could have enough money for our down payment. ($30,000 was raised) Our attitude was, "This might fail, but the risk is worth it." Today I am so glad we went for it.
• I feel like Jesus is talking to us. Okay, that was a weird way of saying, "The sermons have gotten better." I finally got free of some baggage I was carrying as a public speaker. The pressure to perform, the pressure to please, the pressure to carry ALL the needs of Cowboy Junction Church (finance, leadership, vision, etc). Because of the release, I feel like I am being the man God wants me to be. I wasn't afraid to own up and change. DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of Ty Bean he might have momentary flare ups of his flesh. Please be aware that God is still working on him. He's slow, but worth waiting on.
  
• Cross your T's and dot your I's. Visionaries often have one tiny flaw, the details. One thing is definite at CJC, communication and consideration. Because of things like the LCCR, the staff of CJC have become sensitive to people. Recently our staff came up with a great idea to solve big problems we are having in our Kids Church. We were Soooooo excited. Immediately the wheels began to turn and the dates to start began to be thrown around. "March, we can start it in March", was the cry from one staff member. Then we paused. Though we were excited, we remembered that some communication with certain people must first take place. We have to be considerate of others and their ministries. We can't get ahead of ourselves because we have a good idea. Because of our failures with the LCCR we have become better leaders.
  
• To lead people we need people. This year our leadership agreed that, even though we needed to improve our buildings and facility, staff was more important. Beyond buildings, staff blesses individuals. We hired Cigi and immediately felt like we had made a great move. We then hired Jonsie Hicks as our church secretary, same result. Our staff now consists of myself, Heather, Cigi and Jonsie. Our new board consists of Crill Allen, Jeff Medlin and Larry Tuttle. Then we have also been blessed with a core group of volunteers and leadership in our "Mission Drift". I feel like we are filling in the gaps for our people. People do matter at Cowboy Junction Church.

There you have it. We are not afraid to fail. We don't like it, but were not afraid of it. Have patience with people, Gods working on them. They could be in the process of learning from their mistakes. If you get offended you just might not get to see them at their best, and benefit from it.

Wow! Where did I GO!

I lost all track of time. I have had my plate full and neglected my blog. I read some great posts on good blogging. The first rule of having your blog is to update it regularly. I dropped the ball this last week and a half.

Here's why.

1. Hudson had teeth surgery, Thursday, in Lubbock. (5 caps, 4 fillings and 1 root canal) Pretty tough on a three year old.

2. "Blessings" Equine Therapy Program is off and running well after Saturdays open House.
80 people came to our open house and several thousand dollars came in. Congratulations Corina.

3. Our Series "Core" continued Sunday and Monday. Apple covered three core words we believe at CJC. (Generosity, Creativity and Relationships) These are the seed and harvest words in our life. You can listen to it by clicking here.

4. Tuesday was staff meeting day. We covered many subjects, but one took most of the day. (Kids Church) Cigi came up with a great idea. This is by far the best idea that had ever been given in regards to Kids Church. I wish I could tell you, however we need to go through the proper channels of communication before we move. This change is less stress on our volunteers, involves a new location solving the growth problem and exciting for our Kids. If I was a Kid this would Soooooo be my Kids church. Needless to say, the CJC staff is extremely excited.

5. Today - Brady is home sick. We are getting ready for the VALENTINES BANQUET TONIGHT! Just a friendly reminder.

6. Thursday -The staff is shooting video on a new series coming in March called "MY LIFE".

7. Friday - Getting sermon ready for Sunday. "Heart" will be the third message in our series.

Busy, Busy, Busy - Love it. However, not to busy to keep in priority the things that are important.