James Laing's Blog

New Service!

2012-01-12T09:48:00.000-08:00

We are excited to have started a 2nd Modern Worship Service at www.christ-first.org! At 9am you now have a choice between our Classic service and our new Modern service. Kidstuf starts at a new time: 10:15am followed by the 11am Modern Service.

Modern Worship setlist this Sunday:
1. Happy Day by Kristian Stanfill
2. Water by Matt Brouwer
3. God is Able by Hillsong
4. Our God by Chris Tomlin

If any are unfamiliar to you you can find them on iTunes, Amazon or probably for free on YouTube. Get familiar with them... it's always a better experience to have everyone singing out LOUD at church! Invite a friend this weekend as we kick off a brand new sermon series.

Louis Zamperini

2011-11-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

I am typically reading two books at a time. A leisure book and something that will advance me... usually some kind of leadership book. The leisure book I'm reading now is blowing me away. It's about this Olympic athlete named Louis Zamperini. He was a WWII prisoner of war survivor who spent 47 days afloat in the pacific after crashing his bomber and then was picked up by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp. I was reading it late late last time (again!) and I'm 90% through it... this book is written so well and the story so gripping that I woke up and told my wife I feel like I just got freed from a POW camp!

I actually started reading this book in the summer. I couldn't put it down... and then I did something totally stupid. I left it at this campground near Nelson. I was so mad!!! I was planning on buying another copy because it was that good and just last week I see it sitting on my boss' shelf... I quickly asked to borrow it and actually found where I left off two months later.

Anyway, if you're whining about life and feeling sorry for yourself pick up this book. It'll smack you upside the head and remind you to lean into your (small) challenges in life. If Louie could get through what he did (with God's help!) so can you.

How Do You Make New Friends?

2011-10-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Recently I've worked with a few adults and children on the process of making new friends.

Feeling lonely is hard. Making a new friend can be harder. Actually, most of the time it's quite impossible. What I mean is that when people go about trying to make a friend they often end up being awkward by being too forward and overbearing. And who wants to be a friend with someone acting desperate?

Think about a close friend of yours. How did you make that friend? It's likely that you didn't make a plan one morning to go make a friend and that same day you actually caught him/her. Most people don't make friends. Most people become friends. In fact I would never recommend anyone to go and make a friend because at the end of the day if you didn't make a friend you have failed... or at least you feel like a failure. As the days without making a friend string together discouragement sets in and your focus turns inward with thoughts like, "Why doesn't anyone like me?" or "What's wrong with me?" At this point you've become your worst enemy in the process of trying to develop new friends because you're even less attractive to others as you wallow in negativity and self-pity. Walking into a room with negative expectations often is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You expect the worse, the worse happens. So suck it up and cheer up because I want to give you the simple tools that will dramatically increase your chance of developing new friendships.

The process of making friends is the same whether you're seven or forty-seven years old.

Instead of making a friend you should simply focus on being a friend. To be a friend is to simply express loving kindness to people around you and patiently wait. Then get up the next day and repeat. Get up the next day and... you guessed it, REPEAT!

K + P = > chance of 1 + 1
Kindness + Patience = a greater chance of making a friend.

Becoming friends with someone is never guaranteed. It's still a risk and not easy. Sometimes when you think you've become friends the other person shuts you out. That hurts. You cannot force someone to be a committed friend. God is the one who knits hearts together. That's God's department alone. So if you didn't make a friend today GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. That's not your job! But what you are responsible for is being friendly. Being kind and serving the people God has placed around you at your job, in your neighborhood, at the grocery store, hair salon, etc...

So quit playing God by trying to make friends.
Simply love others, be kind and have patience.

It's worth the wait.

"Love is patient. Love is kind."

2 Corinthians 13:4

Why You Always Wear a Helmet.

2011-10-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

To Start or Not to Start

2011-10-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

I just had a great conversation with a friend who is considering starting a business. Starting takes guts. Starting means stepping into the unknown and taking a risk. It also means taking initiative to make new friends. A lot of them. And providing something that adds value to their lives. So much value that they keep coming back to pay for your service. A key to starting well is having a coach. Someone who has been there and done that. A warm body is ideal but ink and paper is also valuable because you can't underline and highlight a warm body. And you can't pick their brain at 3am when you're anxiously seeking wisdom on what to do next.

Having trouble starting? Always dreaming?
I like Pastor Steven's post about about always dreaming but never starting.

Here are a few good coaches you can learn from any hour of the day. You'll want them in your corner:

1. Next Generation Leader: The heart of this book and your business should be character out of which flows courage, competence, clarity and coach-ability. A must read for any potential leader.
2. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: There is so much leadership goodness in this book you'll refer back to it for years.
3. EntreLeadership: I am halfway done with this new gem from Dave Ramsey. Practical wisdom from a guy who built a national brand from a card table at home.
4. Good to Great: You'll be surprised at what qualities in a leader can cause a business to go from just being good to becoming great and sustaining greatness for the long haul.
5. Quitter: How do you make the leap from being an employee to running your own business without dragging you and your family through poverty in the process? Acuff has the experience and wisdom to get you through.
6. Guerrilla Marketing: Need to get the word out about you and your company? Get this book, do what it says and repeat.
7. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: A classic book on personal leadership that will define all your daily habits. Knowing how to define your habits will light a fire in you to align them to leverage the years you have left in life.

Sunday Sept 4 Set List

2011-09-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Set list for christ-first.org this Sunday Sept 4 at our 11am service.

No Chains on Me, by Chris Tomlin from And if Our God is For Us
Jesus Saves, by Jeremy Camp from We Cry Out: The Worship Project
Forever Reign, by Hillsong Live from A Beautiful Exchange
Desert Song, by Hillsong United from Across the Earth

All songs are available for purchase on iTunes. Check them out and come ready to sing!

Also, Pastor Chad will be starting a brand new two-part series called "Soul Stealers". Come early to get a good seat!

God of 2nd chances

2011-01-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

God always allows 2nd chances to everyone. This is an amazing story of just that.

The Narrow Way

2010-12-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a reminder about what the Bible calls the narrow way to eternal life; aka: heaven. It's really offensive to those who would rather blaze their own trail... but the offer is still on the table for even those people while they still have breath in their lungs. Congress proclaimed Christmas a federal holiday (Holy Day) in 1870. As a nation we have chosen to take a day off of work to commemorate the birth of the narrow way; aka Jesus Christ. Pastor Stephen Furtick has written a short article with good insight on the narrow way Jesus saw the world. Read it here.

I haven't read his book yet... but I'm going to soon. I'm sure it's great. Look at all the positive reviews it has on amazon:

Evil & Sin

2010-12-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

I am reading Doctrine by Mark Driscoll. Here is a great summary paragraph of four essential Biblical truths on evil and sin:

1. God is fully and continually all-powerful.
2. God is altogether good and there is no evil in him whatsoever.
3. Evil and sin really do exist.
4. Sinners are fully responsible for their sin.

I think if God did not author the Bible at least one of these four truths would be omitted. That way we could either keep a handle on God or our sin problem. Since I can not do either I'll raise a white flag of surrender and rely on God's solution to sin. Mary delivered a baby in a dirty manger and that baby delivers sinners from the wages of their dirty sin. Hmm... that's the true meaning of Christmas!

Halloween

2010-10-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

Very cool article on the history of and a Christ followers response to Halloween: http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/10/29/the-history-of-halloween-revisted/

Currently Reading

2010-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading a book titled: "How and When to Tell Your Kids About Sex" by Stan and Brenna Jones. If you are a parent this is a must read. It will help you have the 'sex talk' with your kids and will guide you on what to say at the right time. There is a series of smaller books (yellow, red and green books below) that you can read to your children beginning at age three. I'm reading them to mine. It's important that my kids learn about the specific details of human sexuality from me and my wife BEFORE the other kids in their elementary schools. And yes, this is a hot topic amongst kids... I remember kids talking about it when I was in Kindergarten and 1st grade. I know this well because I was one of the kids bringing it up.

The importance of this topic stared me in the face today. On the cover of a local Azusa newspaper is a picture of a room full of teen (14-19 year old) moms. I applaud them for their courage in taking on the challenge of being a single parent and rejecting abortion but I bet most of them would prefer a different context for their baby. Our kids are being sold a ridiculous lie from our culture and they are buying it at an alarming rate. Just last week I was volunteering in a 1st grade class. A girl said as a joke after eating pancakes, "My tummy is so full! I have a baby in there." A boy in her class said, "No you're not. You need a boyfriend." I was floored.

This is a topic you need to address with your kids. Yes you will open up a flood gate of questions that might make you feel uncomfortable BUT as a parent you must equip your kids with a healthy and moral view of sex. There is too much at stake here. There are executives making six figures in media offices coming up with powerful and creative ways to tell your kids to become sexually active. Our media talks about sex A LOT!!! Every time the media addresses this topic there is a principle being sold to your kids. Parents must combat these unhealthy messages with continuous positive ones. Saying nothing is wrong. These books can help. I bought them and they're worth every penny.

Recruiting New Volunteers

2010-10-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

[Please don't tell anybody in my church that I use this strategy. :) ]

I have learned and used this principle over the last couple years. I have always struggled to 'sell' any volunteer opportunities that have a long time commitment. So I started doing something new a couple years ago and have had more success. The best way to recruit new volunteers is to not recruit new volunteers. :)

If I know of a potentially great youth volunteer I won't even mention volunteering. Even hinting at a time commitment is something I stay FAR away from. BUT I will ask if he/she can come and help do X at our Youth Ministry one time. Often the conversation might be, "Hey Jim, can you come and help set up some equipment on Wednesday night? My regular guy is away and I could use you to fill in." Jim is way more likely to say "yes" to this question compared to this one: "Hey Jim, I think you'd be a great youth leader. Would you consider joining our team?" That's way too big of a sell.

One night + easy service opportunity = Very easy sell.

Then, if I felt Jim had a great time and we enjoyed having him, I may ask him to come back again another time. After that I may go in for the "kill" (ask for longer commitment). But that ask is always after he has had a couple times to experience our ministry. Let the Youth Ministry sell itself by getting Jim there once.

The principle:
Never sell a commitment without a context.

Get your whole team doing this and watch your new potential volunteers come to you!

Have you struggled to sell a commitment?

Finally, a new Post!!!

2010-09-05T20:17:00.001-07:00

Wow!!! It's been like 8 months since I've blogged... it's good I don't do this for a living or I'd be broke! ;) My family has been on quite the journey over the past 9 months and we are so thankful for where we have landed. In February I transitioned away from a North Point strategic partner church in Ventura County to a 113 year old "church plant in the making" in the San Gabriel Valley. This transition came with many challenges including transitioning away from an amazing church planting team, 2.5 month commute of 90 miles one way, moving away from great friends, moving our kids to a different school, being forced into short-selling our home (and trashing our credit!) and living in an extremely small apartment. It has not been the easiest year. On top of all that, this summer Shanna had a miscarriage in her 7th week of pregnancy. (Heaven will be that much sweeter because when we get there we'll get to meet our third child!)

BUT I sit here tonight with huge appreciation for God never leaving us or forsaking us this year. He has blessed us beyond what we deserve with new friends, an amazing staff team focused on transforming our community, a loving church family, an amazing house that we moved into this past week and the opportunity to live closer to our family.

This morning I had the privilege of preaching my first sermon at Christ First Baptist Covina. I am the worship leader at our modern service so I was out of my element without my guitar and more than a little nervous. The passage was Phil 2:3-8 and the topic was serving with humility. Humility is an interesting concept. Not something you'd think you should pursue. It's not very humble to stand before people and inform them that you are humble. BUT the bible does speak to our responsibility to pursue humility in the way we live.

James 4:10 "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

We are given a specific description of how to pursue humility here:

Phil 2:3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

In what ways can you consider others better than yourselves?

"His Energy"

2010-01-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

I've been camped in the book of Colossians lately. A verse I've been thinking a lot about is 1:29. "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."

All His energy.

What does that mean... what does that mean to you? I think it's a phrase that points out an important fact. It's a fact that some of us recognize and some not. When was the last time you sat in a quiet room with little to no ambient noise? What did you hear? If you're reading this, and I'm assuming alive, I know you heard at least two things. You heard your heart beating and your lungs breathing. Did you will that to happen? Nope. It's your creator who causes you lungs to fill with life giving oxygen and your heart to continually pump that oxygen rich blood through your body. That's "His energy"!

Be still and know that Christ is your energy. Start your day with that understanding. Take that first step out of bed and each following step acknowledging that God is with you and will never forsake you and longs to give you the desires of your heart as you serve Him. Knowing it's His energy I pray you'd have a heart for what God has a heart for... loving and serving those around you proactively and praying they end up asking you what the source of your energetic service originates.

Have any cussers @ your church?

2009-12-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

Love this story: Story.

How would people react in your church if a first timer cussed?

Need a Moble Home? (Funny!)

2009-11-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Shows

2009-11-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to the next couple months. I get the privilege of leading worship with a lot of very talented musicians at some awesome venues in Ventura County.

Here is what's ahead:

Weekly
I lead worship at the best church venue in the county every Sunday morning at www.riverparkcc.com.

December 11
Leading a worship set at "An EPIC Night of Worship" in Ventura, CA. There will be four other bands playing. Music starts at 6pm and I'm on at 9pm.

December 22, 23 & 24
Playing with the band and leading a couple Christmas songs at Camarillo Community Church's family Christmas event called "Gifts". Nick Vujicic will be speaking. Each show is expected to sell out with 1,000 people in attendance. I heard Nick speak this past spring at Catalyst West Coast. This guy is an incredible communicator and God has opened doors for him to speak to millions of people around the globe. Check out his website and learn more about him! Here is a 2 minute clip of him on 20/20.

Hope to see you at these events! If you need a great worship band for your next event email me at jameslaingmusic@gmail.com. Listen to a few songs I recorded a while back and check out my EPK (Electronic Press Kit).

Eph 4:16

2009-11-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

"...according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." Eph 4:16

Effectual: producing or capable of producing an intended effect; adequate.

Strongs Concordance:

Word: energeia

Pronounce: en-erg'-i-ah

Strongs Number: G1753

Orig: from 1756; efficiency ("energy"):--operation, strong, (effectual) working.

Are you producing an intended effect where you sit? If not you may be decreasing the body from building itself up in love. That's a sobering thought. We can read a lot from what we produce. We can choose to read into what we produce instead of reading what we produce. Every situation does have a context but we need to be self-aware as to whether we are painting our own context or really seeing the context at hand. Speaking the truth in love to ourselves is an opportunity to "grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Eph 4:15)

Healthy community can help to diminish our own self deception. A community infused with trust, with invitations to evaluate on a macro level and personal level. This level of vulnerability is not easy but it's worth it. Imagine a whole community functioning on this level of vulnerability. Every part playing the role it was designed to play. Every part NOT playing the role it was NOT designed to play.

God calls all of us to speak the truth in love to ourselves and honestly evaluate what we produce in our personal, family and vocational roles.

Just a few thoughts God has brought to mind to kick off my week. Does your team communicate on this level? How can you contribute towards this level of health this week in your life, family and work?

66% of You Would Choose the Hard Way

2009-10-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

What if they did this on the streets? Would people drive less? ;)

Get In the Ring!

2009-10-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Had a great community group tonight. We discussed Rom 12:18 in the context of family relationships. Every family has some level of dysfunction in it. There are no perfect people, no perfect families. The bottom line of our conversation and the DVD we watched is that within our imperfect families it's always worth fighting for relationship. Even when it will turn out to be a losing fight is still WORTH the fight! Too many family members give up and stop fighting, they quit pursuing relationship and before they know it it's multiple years without communicating and something inside of them feels dead.

I know there are some relationships where physical or psychological abuse is taking place and those relationships just need to stop. But when personality differences, annoying idiosyncrasies, or pride cause friction you've got to stay in the ring. Even if you're the only one fighting, even though who you're fighting for has no interest in reciprocating any kind of relationship... it's worth the fight.

A great application tonight was writing a letter to a parent or child with one goal in that letter: To share all the good memories with that person. Even in all the mess, there is usually something redeemable. There may be tons of dirt between you but it's worth digging through all that to find the gold of great memories. And gold always shines a little brighter when shared with another.

What are you waiting for? Go write that letter.

Orange Tour/Call Update

2009-09-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last night was not as good. I made 195 calls and secured 7 addresses. Most of the numbers didn't exist. :\

Today I attended the Orange Tour with Reggie Joiner in Burbank. It was a great reminder of what our mission is and how we're implementing our mission. It also reminded me why I left a comfortable position to take a risk and start a new church. "Change will only take place when the pain of the status quo is bigger than the pain of change."

It was a boiling 105 degrees in Burbank today... so nice to live on the coast and be protected most of the time from that kind of heat! (And smog!)

Calls, Calls & more Calls!

2009-09-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

I hate telemarketers. I used to try and mess with them. Sometimes I would set a timer and see how long I could keep them on the line before they hung up on me. ;) I'd ask them question after question like I was really interested in their product but never buy. What a jerk I was!

I actually had a job as a telemarketer for 3.5 hours. I was selling AT&T long distance a few years back. They asked me to not come back because I didn't make one sale... well, actually I had one guy wanting to buy but he was an Iranian student without a credit card and we could only sell to those with a credit card. A funny: I'm freaking nervous (and hating myself for actually being a telemarketer!), while trying to keep up with the automatic dial system. Every time I hung up a new caller was on the line... in fact most times that person had already said hello before I was connected with them! So I'm looking at all the names quickly pop up on the screen and saying, "Hi! Is this Mr Brown, Mrs Green etc..." In the fray I looked at the next name without thinking and ask, "Is this Mr. Jehova?" The computer had dialed a Kingdom Hall. :)

Anyway, this week I had my third evening of taking part in a calling campaign to get the word out about RPCC. Our goal is to call about 30,000 people! The calling is going a little slower than anticipated because many of our volunteers are freaked out about doing this. Our calling has been overwhelmingly successful thus far and I've actually been enjoying it a lot! The cool thing is that we're not selling anything and we're actually not even asking people to go to church. It's a very 'soft' sell. We just tell people we're a new church in the area and ask if we can send them information to keep them updated on our progress. That's it! So every address we get we're sending them information.

Here are my numbers so far.

Dialed: 652
Addresses received: 53
That's 8%.
(Keep in mind that the majority of the numbers dialed were answering machines and we will call them back. We anticipate that we'll get addresses of at least 10%.)

If we call 30,000 people that's 3,000 people who will receive a few mail pieces from us and a follow up call! I'm excited to see what God is gonna do with this! We're inviting all these people to come out Oct 24 to a special Saturday evening service at the barn. If you want to be a catalyst for life change for people you don't know come and make some calls with me. I'll be doing it again tomorrow night and at least two nights next week. It's really fun because you never know how people will respond. I'd say 95% are very polite and are not put off by the call. I get a few hangups and a few "I've got my own religion... click" but I've also had great conversations with people including one guy who is a Hindu, attends a Hindu church but asked me to send him information. How cool is that???

Joy in Sorrow

2009-09-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

I celebrated twice this weekend. Yesterday a wedding, today a memorial. Both events were for friends. I cried a lot at the memorial for Kim, for what could have been and especially for her 5 year old daughter who will now live with a distant memory of her mama. I cried for Shanna because at one time she was very close with Kim and cherished their friendship. We met Sean, Kim and Robyn at the end of August in 2004... both our daughters less than a month old. In fact, we learned that our daughters were born on the exact same day. They came by to start a small group with us that actually ended up being just us four. We spent a couple months together going through Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" book. Yes, I did actually mean that I celebrated at the memorial too... Kim loved Jesus and I know she's with Him, with a new healthy body, quizzing Him like crazy about things we don't get answers to in this life.

I met Nick & Rachel for the first time in January. They came to check out our church and were heading out of the service when I shook their hands and asked them about their story. They were brand new to town from Washington State and I know moving to a new area is hard at first. Shanna and I had them over for dinner that Thursday and while talking about the Office we became good friends (Thanks Michael Scott!). That led to marriage counseling and yesterday I officiated their wedding. A perfect day for a great couple!

I played with my kids a lot tonight, gave them extra hugs and am reminded of the amazing gift that life is... something that should be cherished and lived to the full because it's gone too soon. Tomorrow is a new day and really a new season. I have been part-time at RPCC since March while Shanna has been working full-time. We made a commitment to do this at least until September and that is now here. She is now part time (and a full time mom!) and I need to fill that gap in our budget ASAP. I've applied at many places but now that I'm not playing "Mr. Mom" full time I can get more aggressive in my search. I'm actually looking forward to getting a part time job because I'll get to meet new people and invite them to check out RPCC.

8 Principles for Leading a Team

2009-09-16T10:59:00.001-07:00

Perry Noble shares some valuable points when leading others. This is a must read if you are in a position of leadership. In fact, it's a must read for everyone because we all lead someone in one way or anther!

It's easy to think of others who lead and which of these they struggle with... check the mirror and see what you may be struggling with. Or even better (this could be #9 on this list!), ask those who follow you to read this and give you feedback on what they think you struggle with. Ouch, that could hurt, but what you will learn will be worth it as long as you keep #4 in mind. :)

See You Soon River Park!

2009-09-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

We finished our final Sunday at Rio Vista Middle School in River Park. Rio School District raised our rent by over 50%, which is way beyond any comparable space in the area (Their special way of saying "Please do church elsewhere."), so we have moved out of River Park. We're taking our portable church 10 minutes south to an amazing facility that is actually charging us fair rental value! Did I mention fair? ... not bitter ;) God's up to something here, we're praying that we can get back into Oxnard when the commercial area finally opens in River Park which will make that area more of a destination.

Here is our new home beginning this Sunday. The Camarillo Ranch is a prominent Ventura County location for community events, school field trips, weddings, receptions, film shoots and now for church! I'm stoked we get to meet in a barn that was built in 1905. The whole property is an historic landmark in Camarillo and the grounds are beautifully landscaped with flowers, trails and fountains.

We are kicking off an amazing 6 week series this Sunday with Andy Stanley titled "5 Things God Uses To Grow Your Faith". I will be leading worship with an amazing group of musicians. Don't miss out on seeing us do Church At the Barn this Sunday beginning at 10am.

Top 100 Christian Blogs

2009-09-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Top 100 Christian Blogs.

I clicked on #1 which is Piper's. Today he summarizes Obama's speech to students. What I read in his summary is great and even encouraged me today. I hope many students get to see it today don't you?

Here is Obama's speech transcript.

River Park Community Church in Plain English

2009-08-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

NPMi Strategic Partners in Plain English from NPMiPartners on Vimeo.

RPCC

Financial Peace University

2009-08-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

I have had the honor to facilitate a Dave Ramsey F.P.U. class this summer through at River Park Community Church. We have four weeks to go of a thirteen week class. This class has literally changed a dozen lives this summer. There are couples in this class that have stronger marriages because they are finally working together as a team on family finances. We have parents that have changed their parenting styles and are now proactive with teaching their kids financial wisdom. We have a glass jar that is full of 15 credit card pieces! They were all cut up by class members who are determined to get out of debt. The honor is to witness all this life change take place! There is power when a small group of people gather together to keep each other accountable and celebrate wins.

If you've never taken this class, I highly recommend it. You can find one near you on Dave's website: www.daveramsey.com. If you can't make one soon, at least pick up and read his book "Total Money Makeover" and start to change your family tree!

Our National Motto

2009-07-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Do you know what the official national motto is for the United States of America? You probably see it everyday. In fact, you probably hold this motto in your hand everyday.

Give up?

Here it is: "IN GOD WE TRUST"

Seriously! I didn't know this was our official motto. Did you? On July 30, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law officially establishing "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the United States of America.

So here's a great question. Does this still ring true in 2009? Do you think the politicians in Washington reflect this motto in their service to the country? Why is this theme seem to be a continuous one in Washington? When was the last time a U.S. President actually prayed to the God "we trust" publicly on air or in print?

Check out this great message by Andy Stanley entitled "God & Country" as he explores the conscience of America in 2009. Then come to River Park Community Church for the compelling final part of this message series this Sunday.

Happy 4th of July weekend! And, Happy July 1st week to all you Canadians out there!

iPhone 3.0 Arrives Today!

2009-06-17T04:52:00.001-07:00

Major change coming. Good change. It's gonna cost me. It's $10 to make the change cause I have an iPhone without the Phone. iTouch update is supposed to cost $9.99 big ones to download the update. May be worth it though. Many new and very cool features in this update. Check out the details here.

The new $99 price coupled with horrible service from Verizon Wireless over the last few months has me on the edge of a decision to sign an AT&T contract. Do you know a lot of people switching with the new iPhone price reduction?

Twitter in Church

2009-05-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

I recently went to Catalyst West Coast where they posted twitter comments by the crowd on the big screen. It reminded me of Junior High summer camp. The last evening of camp as 500 students are gathered for the last meeting they get the opportunity to stand up and share in front of their leaders and peers. Sometimes you hear some amazing things that students had learned that week and how they plan to change the way they live once they get home. But there is always that one kid who is short on self awareness. He stands up 4 times and stretches the 2 minute time limit each time to go on about things he made up on the spot just to get chance to get up and talk one more time. I think that kid grew up and was tweeting at the conference.

Time magazine just did an article on a church that uses twitter in their worship service. What are the benefits and potential problems using twitter at church? Do you think this is the next big thing in church?

Drive Conference 2009

2009-05-07T13:56:00.003-07:00

Got back yesterday from the Drive Conference at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Had a great time or learning, worship and FUN!

Andy Stanley taught in the three main sessions. A few takeaways:
1. "Uncertainty is permanent and is why we need leaders. Leaders can afford to be uncertain but not unclear."
2. "It's very dangerous to attach God's name to your plans because they always change whereas vision does not."
3. "Leadership is not about making decisions on your own, it's about owning decisions you make."
4. "To be a great leader, you must be a great listener because you are probbably not the smartest person in your organization. You are just the leader."
5. "Leaders are attracted to environments where their ideas and opinions are heard. Leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing important to say."
6. "In a seniority structure, title and position, rather than insight or creativity, determine who sits at the decision-making table. Eventually, a seniority structure leaves the seniors in charge."
7. "Fairness ended in the garden of Eden. When you shoot for fairness you become unjust. Shoot for what is right."
8. "Vision: A mental picture of what could be, fueled by the passion of what should be."
9. "If doing Church is hard, it's because it is. But it's worth it."

I have worked in churches where the senior leaders always sat at the decision making table. Even though these leaders had a passion for young families they didn't have a clue about how to create environments for young families. What they created was an environment that repelled young families. The results of a fair, seniority seniority structure. This could have been overcome if they invited those with insight into young families to sit at the decision table.

How have you seen the seniority structure played out in your organization?

What is an Evangelical Christian?

2009-04-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am a Christian. This means that I believe the Holy Bible is a message from God to humanity. To be more specific I could use the terms "Evangelical Christian". If you don't understand those two terms let me briefly share what they mean.

The word "Evangelical" comes from a Greek word that means "Good News".
(The word "Gospel" also means "Good News")
The word "Christian" comes from the Bible in Acts 11:26 to describe those who are followers of Jesus Christ.

Placing those two words together means that I am a believer in Jesus Christ and strive to be faithful in promoting the "Good News" in my action, attitude and speech.

Here are four points that summarize the message (Good News) of the Bible and what it means to become a Christian.

--RELATIONAL PROBLEM--
1. God: the loving creator of the everything, who is Holy, or set apart, from creation. AKA: is perfect!
2. Us: humanity is not perfect. Nobody would argue with the fact that there are no perfect people. (My wife can attest to this fact by being married to me!) We all mess up, act selfish and think/act in in unGodly ways. So we have a problem. Imperfect humanity cannot have a relationship with a perfect God. God cannot stand the presence of a messed up, selfish, sinful man.

--RELATIONAL SOLUTION--
3. Jesus Christ: God's love is so audacious that He wanted to provide a way for us to have a right relationship with Him. He did this by sending Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, to die on a cross on our behalf. Our sin deserves death and permanent separation from God. BUT God allowed Christ to die in our place, for our sins, so that we can come into a permanent right relationship with God. Jesus saves us from the penalty of our sins. Is knowing this enough to have a right relationship with God? No. The devil even knows this and he is definitely not in a right relationship with God!
4. You and me personally: To cross the line into a right relationship with God you have to personally trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
A. Savior: Trust that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
B. Lord: You must decide in thought and deed to make Jesus Christ your ultimate authority. What Jesus modeled and encourages people to do is what we must strive to do. Granted, you will not be able to do this with perfection BUT your new ultimate life goal has changed from following and pleasing someone/something else to following and pleasing Christ in every area of your life. How can you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ? By reading the Bible and getting involved in a church where the Bible is taught and you can rub shoulders with people who will encourage you in your relationship with Christ.

There is nothing more significant in life than growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ. That's why I do what I do at RPCC.

Nobody can force you into this relationship with God but my hope and prayer is that you would honestly consider exploring this God who is passionately in love with you.

If you have any questions please email me: james@riverparkcc.com. If you would like to find a good church where you live I can help you find one no matter what part of the world you live in.

Catalyst West Coast

2009-04-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

Had a nice drive through Malibu and then the gazillions of people who call LA, Orange & Riverside County Home. At dusk I stopped at a Malibu beach for 15 minutes to think, pray, be still, eat a McDonald's Fruit N Yogurt Parfait, watched planes take off from LAX and saw the lights from the Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier. Now I'm chilling with my in-laws tonight and then an early start tomorrow. Heading to Mariners church in Irvine for www.catalystwestcoast.com. In being a poor church planter I can't afford these conferences... and our church can't afford to pay for these right now. So, I'm volunteering which means I get in free. I get the privilege of doing sound all day tomorrow in pre-conference seminars and then helping with sound for "The Before Part" hosted by Carlos Whittaker. Day two and three I'm a stage hand, aka 'grunt' from 6am-10pm. Expect to be exhausted at the end of the week but at the same time refreshed and encouraged by a great line up of leaders. The last 7 months has been a joy but no question a lot of hard work and this week will be some needed encouragement as I continue the journey.

I miss my family already... in fact, I missed them before I even left.

Are you Canadian?

2009-04-17T19:10:00.001-07:00

I woke up Canadian a while back. You might now be Canadian too! ;) Unlikely but funny video clip!

River Park Egg Drop!

2009-04-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was REEEEEDICULOUS!!! We had over 4,000 people show up to riverparkeggdrop.com!!! The people just kept coming and coming and coming! We advertised registration opening at 10am and people started to line up by 7:30am!!! My wife was in charge of the registration team of about 16 people. They did a phenominal job at getting 4000 people registered and gave all the kids wristbands within about 90 minutes.

Ventura County Star did an article on the event today. You can read it here. Make sure you read all the comments below. Some of them are a little dramatized but they'll help you get a feel for how CRAZY it was! Most people actually did have a great time but we sure learned a lot and if we do it again next year we will definetly be better prepared. It was so funny when the helicopter arrived... all the parents pulled out their cameras and video cameras like they have never seen a helicopter before. (They fly over many times a day around these parts!) The helicopter did about 4 fly overs before he dropped the 2,000 eggs. We advertised 10,000 eggs but the helicopter couldn't hold more than 2,000. Who knew?

Bottom line: it was a typical Easter Egg hunt (Ok, a helicopter is not so typical)... took a lot of time to plan and about 90 seconds to finish and there are always kids (and in this case parents!!!) who hog a ton of eggs and kids who get none. It's really a great activity to test (and teach) a child's character! We were honored to be able to bless our community with such a fun event.

If you ever want to plan an event like this in your area, I'd be glad to share with you how we put it together (and the mistakes we made!). We are now praying that many people who showed up would come by riverparkcc.com over the next few weeks and grow in their relationship with God.

-Stay tuned, I will post pictures and a YouTube video soon.

What did you do for Easter this year?

Are You Really the Leader?

2009-04-04T17:20:00.001-07:00

Great post on Leadership by Tony Morgan!

1 Helicopter... 10,000 Eggs

2009-04-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have begun the process of preparing my share of about 10,000 plastic Easter Eggs. I'm stuffing each one of my 2,000 with candy and a raffle ticket. Why? Because the RPCC team wants to be a blessing to Oxnard, CA. We just want to bless the families of west Ventura county with the biggest, most fun, unique Easter Egg hunt ever!
We're calling it the River Park Egg Drop.

I'm excited to see what is in store for us April 11 because everyone we talk to about this gets REALLY excited! Every time I turn around we seem to get a new sponsor. So far we've got 9 corporate sponsors and we're also teaming up with another local church plant to make this happen. All our prizes and candy have been donated. We've put up posters, put post cards in thousands of doors and car windows, pulled out Facebook ads. If you're in the area April 11, you will not want to miss this! I just hope there won't be too many scuffles with kids scrambling for the eggs! Don't worry, we will have plenty of candy for all, security and an ambulence on location! :) (They will not treat sugar highs!)

What Easter Events have you attended that were the most memorable/successful?

Jamie O'neal

2009-03-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

I don't do this often... in fact I've never done this! I commented on this YouTube video by Jamie O'neal. All these women have commented on it and are gushing about how great this video and message is, yet I've got a HUGE problem with it! I think the artist is talented and the songwriting isn't too bad but the premise is damaging to married women or those wanting to be married.

I'm kinda looking forward to some negative reaction to my comment (I like a good debate)... should be fun! My comment I posted is below. Do you agree/disagree? Why?

"Not to discard the importance of romance in a marriage (it's very important!) but if 'feeling like a woman' is exclusive to 'romance' in a marriage than she's got a very narrow definition of 'woman'. My wife feels like a woman while cleaning house, playing with our kids, making an income AND being romanced by her husband (me!). :) Ladies, please don't buy into what this video is selling!"

If the Population of the Earth was 100...

2009-03-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

What would a group of 100 people look like if they represented the population of the whole Earth? How many would be like you, or not? Here is an amazing video of what those 100 people would look like.

What surprised you about this video? What are, if anything, are you doing about it?

Stupid

2009-03-13T21:18:00.001-07:00

What's the stupidest, most embarrassing moment you've had? I remember being at a party in 7th grade and I started to play the piano... you know, trying to be cool and show off. I was standing at this piano while I played and half way through a song I felt a draft! I got pantsed! (Is that a word???) My friend (he was my friend before that!) decided it would be funny to whip my shorts to my ankles while my back was turned from everybody. It was funny, but for some reason at the time I wasn't laughing!

Yesterday John Maxwell, the leadership guru guy who has written a ton of books, was arrested. It's actually kind of a funny story. Read the news article first here. Then read his own account of it on his blog here.

I've never been arrested but I've received two or three speeding tickets. Thankfully I have not received any in the last 8-10 years. (Not that I haven't deserved them!)

Anyway, John Maxwell has a much better stupid and embarrassing story than me.

So what's your stupid, embarrassing story?

Orange County Board of Supervisors

2009-03-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

It's refreshing to see the Orange County Board make a decision that truly considers the health of all the people in their county, including those outside and inside the womb. Read the article here.

Jon Dunn, presedint of planned parenthood in Orange county makes this contradictory statement:

"It's clear to me that the agenda of Supervisor Moorlach, and the other supervisors' willingness to go along with him, are driven more by a religious ideology than an articulate health policy that benefits the people of Orange County," Dunn said.

Mr. Dunn is not concerned about the health of the unborn and he fails to acknowledge that the source of his ideology is also a religious ideology. Besides that, he uses that term as if it's a negative thing to allow oneself to be driven by a religious ideology. Every person's world view is based upon the object of their faith. And no one can really make decisions apart from their religious ideology, unless of course their religious ideology is purely lip-service and based on image as opposed to reality.

What Kind of Worker Are You?

2009-01-31T20:35:00.000-08:00

Do you work hard or hardly work? Do you take initiative or wait to be asked? Do you hang out paralyzed in your confusion or lack of knowledge or go ask someone smarter "What can I do now?"

Until you're willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission you're not qualified to do what you love best. Why? Because God doesn't need you! Especially when you are arrogant to the point that you think certain things are beneath you.

Every able bodied person is more than qualified to set up chairs, pick up trash or move something from point A over to point B. This may not be what someone with unique gifts should be doing full time... but for a season, even an extended season, you may have to humble yourself, roll up your sleeves and break a sweat. In the process you may grow in your relationship with those working around you. But what if you're scrubbing toilets alone??? That's where the best growth with the most important relationship can take place... you and your Heavenly Father!

I don't always have the best attitude and catch myself having to REPENT! Attitude is not something that acts upon me, I'm not a helpless victim... I choose my own attitude! Tomorrow I get the privilege of doing what needs to be done a little more than normal. I typically help set up until the band arrives and we begin our sound check. Tomorrow we have a guest worship leader, who I'm looking forward to hearing, and that means I've got time to pitch in with our Road Crew more than usual. I pray for a great sleep and lot's of energy so I can work hard and honor God with everything I lift, unpack and set up.

What kind of worker are you? What kind of attitude do you have towards doing what needs to be done compared to what you love to do?

Perry has a great post about what kind of staff person you are. Read it here.

Catagory Winner in songdoor.com's International Song Writing Competition

2009-01-30T13:11:00.000-08:00

I entered a song I wrote ("Spin") into a songwriting contest last year and just found out it was selected as a category winner. Don't know exactly what that means but I'm honored!

Check it out here: songdoor.com
Click on the main page to see the contest results. Scroll down and you can hear the songs.

You can purchase my song on iTunes by searching for "James Laing"... I'm the only one with that name on iTunes so far. And yes, I know. It's a very cheese-ball album cover. If you don't mind, write a review on iTunes... looks very empty without any reviews.

If you want to hear a few other songs for free check out www.myspace.com/jameslaingmusic.

You can also add me as a friend on facebook.com and hear some tunes under the "My Band" tab.

Thanks for listening!

So, who do you think will win the Super Bowl?

Barak Obama's Inauguration Speech

2009-01-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

This is way too cool. Check out this picture of Barak Obama's inauguration speech. Try double clicking on it a few times.

In-N-Out Burger, Apple Computer and Simple Church

2009-01-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

Last night I pulled off the 101 freeway with two words on my mind: "Double-double". As I think about my experience at In-N-Out's Drive Thru lane last night I still am surprised. When I pulled up there were no cars in front of me and no cars behind me. That's a first for me at In-N-Out, but understandable in a family town like Camarillo, CA at 7:45pm. Not too many families would be eating burgers for dinner that late.

The surprising thing was the lonely guy standing there with his portable computer register who took my order. He was over the top nice, clear, extremely helpful and completely at ease with his job. I felt like this guy is not just putting up with having to stand outside alone on this night. I felt that he actually enjoyed and took pride in his job.

Now, if you've never been to In-N-Out please stick with me as I explain the incredible process and strategy that makes this burger joint one of the busiest and inexpensive in Southern California. So sit back and relax because here comes the answer to this business phenom... hold on... are you ready?

The answer is as follows:

Combo 1,2 or 3.

Are you still with me? Relaxing time is over. That's it! Seriously! They have three combos for you to choose from. A burger empire built on simplicity and excellence (in product & service).

There is another well known company that is simple. While competers are laying off a multitude of people Apple continues strong. Read this latest article on their simplicity.

What if the church was also simple? Easy for guests to understand. No questions of "What does that mean?" or "I don't get it". What if the church offered two environments for adults. A worship service and small groups. What if that church focused on executing those environments with excellence in product and service?

No Sunday School, no sports ministries, no women's ministrys, no men's ministrys, no tutoring, no pilates, no special seasonal productions.

1. Worship Service
2. Small Groups

Simple. Excellent.

Leaving people with margin to invest in their families and communities during the week. Encouraging people to not join the local church softball league but to join the local city softball league. (Remember those salt and light passages in the Bible?)

Want a great read on this topic?

Want to experience a simple church?
Experience riverparkcc.com

Ventura County Star

2009-01-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

River Park Community Church was featured in the Community Section of the Ventura County Star Yesterday. Though the a few facts were skewed, like the fact that I apparently am not on staff, (I am) it was actually a fair article. Check out the article here.

The next two Sundays are our Grand Opening Sundays. We begin doing both the Adult Worship and Kidstuf weekly. Make a point to join us this Sunday or next! I'm going to be doing "Say" by John Mayer with the band. It's a great song and I'm thankful I've got great players this Sunday.

Last night I played Wii, watched the ball drop in NY City at midnight and then watched an episode of the first season of Hero's... I am totally addicted to this show, seems to get better each episode! "Save the cheerleader, save the world!"

Happy New Year!

Growing

2008-12-10T19:39:00.001-08:00

Sunday we had the largest turn out to date for Kidstuf. The good thing was that it was all also our best execution of Kidstuf! We had Darth Vader, a Jedi Knight and four sheep. How can you go wrong with that combination? We have had consistent visitors to riverparkcc.com this fall and I'm looking forward to what God's going to to in the new year when we begin each of our entry environments weekly.
We have our final Adult Worship Experience of 2008 this Sunday and then a Family Christmas Program on Dec 21st. We are taking Dec 28th off to give the staff and volunteers time to be with their families over Christmas. Yep, at a time when many churches in our area are stepping it up with large Christmas productions we're shutting down. Part of our philosophy is to do 'more with less'. We believe putting on a huge production once a year is side-ways energy. It would reduce the excellence of our weekly environments as a lot of people and resources would be funnelled into a big production. So instead of putting one on I'll be sitting in at least two of them with my family in area churches.

So what is your take on Churches doing Christmas productions? I don't claim that this philosophy is the only right one... but it's one we feel God is leading us in. What do you think?

Cornerstone Simi Valley

2008-12-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

Cornerstone Simi Valley had a write up this morning in the Ventura County Star. The author of this article is a little quirky but gives an interesting take on a relevant church with outside eyes. At the end of the article he makes a sweeping statement about his generation (I'm guessing he's a boomer.) Do you think he's right? Do you think that the younger generation today for the most part is not as selfish?

Ryan Dobson

2008-11-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Click on "Listen Now" on this page. Thought provoking broadcast about a "Christian Worldview" with Ryan Dobson. Great 'voice' for the next generation.

"It's never wrong to do right. It's never right to do wrong."

"Cousin Tectonic Plate"

2008-11-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, I laughed out loud when I read the few comments under this article about an earthquake that was centered about 15 minutes from my house.

Tomorrow is RPCC 's fourth Adult Worship Experience.

Set List:

1. Glorious One (Steve Fee)

2. Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall)

3. Mighty to Save (Hillsong) [Doing this as an acoustic response to the message]

4. Beautiful Jesus (Kristian Stanfil) [The version from the album 'Hello'... I think that's stronger than the one on Northpoint's album.]

I'm nervous about tomorrow for a few reasons:

1. I hope I remember the songs as we (the band) do them all from memory.

2. My band is full of players I've never played with before and our Monday rehearsal was without our drummer!

3. It is literally getting to financial 'crunch' time at RPCC. We need our regular givers to increase their giving this month or we may have to get creative on paying our bills.

It's good to be nervous because it reminds me of my dependence on God. It's Saturday night and I've prepped all I can... now God's part unfolds. Hoping many people leave tomorrow with a passion to walk closer with their creator!

We start a new series tomorrow called 'Home for the Holidays'. I'm looking forward to hearing what God has been teaching John!

So do you think God is punishing Southern California with all these fires? Right now I think the count is about 700 homes destroyed!

-Sleepy time! 4:40am comes early!-

Stacked!

2008-11-13T15:09:00.001-08:00

Ok, that's unfair. This H.S. team that is 30 minutes down the 101 from RPCC is stacked in more than one way!

So imagine you're the coach of this team... which dad would you call to see if they could host a team social event? :)

Boards/Committes

2008-11-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

This week I had a conversation with a friend I haven't seen in about 8 years. She is the Senior Pastor of a small Church in Ontario, Canada. (Yes, SHE is the Senior Pastor... I'll reserve the conversation about women as Senior Pastors for a future post.) I asked her how it was going 14 months in... she summed it up by saying something like: "I was hired under the expectation that I was to handle the leading AND management decisions of the church. In practice I am a puppet and the board (manages) pulls the strings."

She is underpaid, overworked and implements what she is told. On the bright side this allows this small group of people to keep their country club. ;)

I'm proud of her (and praying for her!) for following God's promptings to run fast from a secure pay check at this country club and head towards a ministry God has prepared in advance for her.

The age old practice of leadership by committee! I read something funny a while ago. One of the first committees formed in the Bible came to the conclusion of sending one of their own (Joesph) down a well! I laugh (with sadness) because I've seen that too many times in churches, including recently with my friend's church.

Here is an insightful post on this topic.

I am currently blessed to serve on a leadership team of 5 where we all have equal input. We get to offer our honest 'push-back' on pretty much anything but in the end respect the decision made by our Lead Pastor. He welcomes our input and we welcome his quick assessment of our input, promptings from God and his own wisdom to come up with a quick decision. It's efficient and effective. Something I will not take for granted for a long time after spending many years with committee (aka: inefficient or absent decision making!) managed churches!

How are leadership decisions made in your context? What are the pluses/minuses you've experienced with committees making management decisions?

Everyone Can Dance

2008-11-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

This video made me laugh out loud and ponder deeply about how similar I am to different races around the globe. There are things in the world that God has invented that can bring vastly different people, who would normally dislike each other, together. And it makes me laugh that in this case it just so happens to be a stupid dance.

Have fun and enjoy! :)

I liked it when he broke into the same moves as the women from India (I think it was India.).
What does watching this make you think about?

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Why I Can't Vote for Obama

2008-11-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

As an American citizen I have the right to make my voice heard on who I believe should become the next president. That's a very cool right. I have the right to disagree with you (and you I) and I have the freedom to talk about it. This in and of itself is a Godly position for a country to hold and I thank God for it.

I don't claim to be the smartest person and am by far no political expert. The issues at stake are big AND complex. I voted for McCain (via snail mail so I get to avoid the lines tomorrow!). One of the biggest reasons I did is because of his stance on life.

The approximate number of babies killed by abortion during the time America has been at war in Iraq: 67 times.

67 times what?

67 X THE AMOUNT OF CIVILIAN DEATHS IN IRAQ = BABIES KILLED!

Read John's post here. He shares some great information on this.

Get out and take advantage of your right to vote tomorrow.

No matter who becomes president I'll still sleep well and continue to pray for the man in that seat. For I know it is God whom this man is accountable to, whether he knows it or not, and it is in God I trust for the leading of my life, family and nation. There is something going on today that is much bigger than this election or this country and one day soon, both will not matter to us. What will matter is your personal vote for this man.

How was your voting experience? Did you stand in line, lick a stamp or just stay home and not vote?

Will Ferrell

2008-10-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is really twisted. Funny, but twisted.

Ouch

2008-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

iPod Shuffle: $59
Stop watch: $18
Nike running shoes: $69
Toque (beanie): $12
The feeling you get while running 3.94 miles at 7:30am after eating 4 pieces of peanut butter/jam toast for dinner at 10pm the night before: Priceless.

What did you do before 8am this morning?

Routine?

2008-10-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

My ears are ringing! Just got home from a band rehearsal and we were way too loud!!! We are heading into our third adult worship experience this Sunday. This past week I have felt like somewhat of a routine has come about with my responsibilities... it's been since March since I've felt that. I won't last long though, we'll be shaking things up real soon as we try and figure out how to pull off an Adult Worship Experience and Kidstuf on the same stage with minimal turn around time. It's going to be a challenge but with the type of people on our road crew and tech teams we'll figure it out. It means striking a stage with a band and rear projection screen and setting up the Kidstuf set in ideally 15 minutes! I can't get my head around the 'how' right now but then again a year ago I could hardly get my head around planting a multi-staff church yet somehow the doors have opened.

Our set list this Sunday is: 1. You Are (Todd Fields) 2. No One Like You (David Crowder) 3. No Other Name (Todd Fields)

I ran a very slow 3.5 miles this morning... it was freezing! ...And I had to run on pavement which I can't stand... hopefully my knees won't be hurting in the morning.

I've been inspired by two things this past week. 1. www.gomusic.ru. This is a russian .mp3 site where the songs cost .15 each and whole albums are even less! This site is the perfect marriage of my love of music and being frugal (my wife uses the word 'cheap')! 2. I came across the song 'Stolen' by Dashboard Confessional. I know nothing about this band yet found this song and can't stop listening... it's a simple lyric about a relationship but I love the structure and integrity of the music, melody, instrument 'color' and atmosphere created by the vocal mix... it's an expected/unexpected song with a killer hook.

Oh... Disneyland last week was fun! We spent Wed and Thurs there and the lines were small. In fact Shanna and I walked on space mountain twice! I'm used to spending 90 minutes in line for that thing... we walked on twice!!! I'm still in shock. It's fun getting to know the exact moment the camera take a picture of you so you can come up with the dorkiest face... speaking of frugal (cheap!) I didn't pay the $15 for the picture after our ride... I just took a picture of the screen with my cell phone. :) Maybe I'll upload it on a future post.

Past my bedtime...

So if you HAD to choose, would you rather be Joe Biden or Sarah Palin? Seriously, who would you rather be right now and why?

Adult Worship Experience #2

2008-10-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

What a cool morning! My morning started with my alarm at 4:40am. Didn't push snooze once and didn't even need a kick from my wife to get out of bed! I expected a skeleton crew to unload our trailers this morning and God sent a small army. I am so thankful for so many people committed to getting up before the sun rises to work hard to create environments for people they don't even know.

My father-in-law (visiting from out of town and not a church goer) put up our sandwich board signs and a couple ladies walking by asked him about the church and he invited them over and they came! I told him he's 'hired'! We had six first time guests and they all expressed interest in coming back.

I remembered all my lyrics and John knocked it out of the park with a great message about how complicated people can make Christianity and that as a church we're committed to keeping it Biblical... aka simple.

This week I'm taking a couple days off and heading to Disneyland with the fam. I LOVE space mountain! What's your favorite D-Land ride?

Trailer #2

2008-10-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

[Yesterday ran 3.94 miles in 30:48]
If you've been following my blog for a few months then I have a confession... all the run times I posted in August (and probably a month or two before that!) were a LIE! Not on purpose... here's what happened: my stop watch's battery was almost dead... and was keeping time slower than reality. :( So, I'm much slower than once thought... whatever... time means nothing to me!

I just purchased RPCC's 2nd trailer. In the past week or two we have finally gathered together all our equipment and it didn't all fit in our 24 foot trailer. Now we have another and I'm looking forward to getting all our equipment in the right trailer, mapping equipment placement and getting more intentional about how we unload/load.

I am sooo looking forward to Kidstuf #3 on Sunday!!! Praying many faces I've seen the last two show up this Sunday and that relational bridges continue to strengthen!

Gotta go and watch a recorded episode of "The Nanny" with my mother-in-law... at least it's not "Texas Walker Ranger" anymore! :)

Adult Worship Experience #1

2008-10-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

This morning went well at our first adult worship experience at RPCC. I liken it to driving a different car than you're used to... you're a little too heavy on the brake/gas and it causes some awkward jerky moments, turn the wiper on when you meant to turn on the cruise control, and generally are not efficiently/smoothly controlling the vehicle like your previous one that 'fit like a glove'. I personally felt that way but the feedback from the few folks I talked to said it flowed quite well. My in-ear monitor worked 20% of the time... and when it was it was distorting and static! After removing them I heard 100% drums and nothing else... there's most of the awkward jerky moments for me.

We had new Upstreet children environments to set up, a borrowed trailer (we need to buy a second one!), oodles of new pipe & drape (that looked awesome... yea 'sweat shop' sewers who pulled this together in two days!), new 'in ear' monitor system, new lights/board and a new adult worship environment! Considering all that, I'm proud of what our team pulled off and how hard our volunteers worked. Many started their day at 5:30am and didn't go home until 12:30pm!

I'm praying our folks step up to John's challenge... in fact, I'm even praying I step up to John's challenge and get on with investing and inviting! Looking forward to some great stories of spiritual growth this fall. Ended a great day with our small group meeting in a coffee shop. So good to connect with great friends, coffee and conversation to end the weekend.

Federal Government Economic Stimulus

2008-09-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

I understand that anyone who made a wage last year would get $600 from the feds. Yet my wife and I only received $600 together. We filed jointly last year... is that why we didn't get $1,200? Why would the feds discriminate against marriage? Is that what's happening here or am I missing something?

Did you and your spouse only get $600? Let me know if there's any point trying to get that $600.

Barlow Girl

2008-09-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Went to see Barlow Girl last night with Jimmy Needham and Brooke Barrettsmith. They did a great job with the place about 85% full. Unfortunately the sound was not good at all... all that great equipment and talent but with a messy, mushy sound that hid the vocals too much. I think the most important position in any band is the sound guy. He can make a band sound better or worse than what they are. Nonetheless, very cool to see all these women rockin out for God and being transparent with their life struggles and encouraging the teen girls in attendance with their own struggles. I'm looking forward to taking my daughter to a Barlow Girl concert when she is older... hopefully they're still cranking out the tunes in 5-6 years!

Tomorrow is our 2nd Kidstuf. Hoping and praying that many new folks come out and many returners from two weeks ago. I was reviewing the songs and my four year old daughter looked at me with excitement and said, "Dad! Is that Kidstuf?" And she started singing and dancing and getting very excited about going to church in the morning. How cool is that! My 4 year old is excited about church! That's great! I hope we can continue to create entry environments with excellence and relevance for each life stage as my kids grow up!

Recommendation: I took my family to the Padaro Beach Grill in Carpenteria. I'd give the food a 6 out of 10 (very healthy but my sandwich was kind of bland) but the location was awesome... on the beach, by the train tracks, sand play area with lots of toys for the kiddies. If you're ever in the area and are hungry go there... and take me with you. :)

Launch Sunday Pictures

2008-09-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

Pulling up with the trailer at 6am. (For a closer look, click on the pictures.)

Our sweet shag rugs for the kiddos to sit on. The school janitor set up our chairs. Our drape was too thin, gotta return it for heavier stuff. The guy on the left in this picture runs FOH for every crusade/festival the Billy Graham organization hosts around the world. We're blessed to have him help us get our system sounding great!

Our Kidstuf set. We used the house lights... didn't get to use our lights... that's coming soon. We had just over 100 people join us. We have intentionally not launched "big" this fall as we want our folks to fully understand and own our mission/strategy and then invest & invite their friends to one of our environments.

This week we are ending an era... our offices have been in Damon's garage since March 3rd. We have been given office space at Camarillo Community Church and we move Thursday. Damon's family has been so gracious for giving up space in their home for the last six months!

I'm looking forward to doing Kidstuf all over again on the 28th! This Sunday we take part in a commissioning service at Camarillo Community Church and then have a worship band practice on location at Rio Vista M.S. to prep for Oct 5. Good times!

I need more help on the "Road Crew"... it's a lot of fun unloading the trailer with the guys, seriously, let me know if you can help!

We Launched Today!

2008-09-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

We launched with Kidstuf this morning.

I'm tired.

At least one new family that walked over from the neighborhood said they'd be back in two weeks (our next Kidstuf is in two weeks).

It was worth the work.

G'night.

T-Minus 4 Days

2008-09-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Four days until we launch.
We're launching with our family (K-5 and parents) program called Kidstuf first.
We're launching with a Lead Pastor who isn't the 'preacher' and a preacher (we affectionately call him "TP" for teaching pastor) who isn't the Lead Pastor.
We're launching in Southern California yet partnered with a church in North Georgia.
We're launching with four full time and one part time staff in one of the most expensive corners of this country.
Our office is in a garage.
We've got permission to do church in a public Middle School in Oxnard, CA and I know in Auburn, Alabama (Bible belt!) they don't allow any churches to use schools.

We are anything but a typical church plant. I like it. God is doing a new thing in the VC (Ventura County)!

What untypical church plants do you know of? Is there even such a thing?

Church Growth - Jewish Style

2008-09-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

Check out this church growth plan by Jews in Dothan, Alabama. Instead of sharing their faith with the community they're bringing 'insiders' of the faith to the community to grow their churches. And they get $50,000 to come!!!

Interesting. Some folks do interesting things to grow their churches. I could chalk it up to how folks think in the south but I know that's not how they think. There is an incredible church called Wiregrass Church right in Dothan that is one of our partner churches. I've even known some churches that have as their top strategy a name change. And the people were banging down the door after the change!!! not. The best church growth strategy is to bless your community in the best, simplest way possible in a language (style) they understand. Simple but not easy.

What interesting things have you seen done under the banner of "Church Growth"?

3...2...1... BLASTOFF!!!

2008-09-07T22:52:00.000-07:00

I've committed blog world sin by not posting lately!!! We are officially launching RPCC this Sunday at 10am. As in any new start up, we are B-U-S-Y! We bought a 24 foot enclosed trailer yesterday for $3900. A really good deal! We bought it off a guy who builds movie sets... he helped built sets for The Chipmunks movie. Only in Socal! This week we test-drive our new tech equipment, practice our songs, moves and scripts to get set for our first Kidstuf production this Sunday. I'm praying God brings many families from the community out and new friends are made.

I started our first of 7 community 'Turbo' groups today. The rest will begin in the next few weeks. We are all meeting through December (hence 'turbo') and then we'll have an event called GroupLink where we'll 'shuffle the deck' and invite all the new folks who come this fall to form new groups that will stay together 12-24 months. After that we shuffle again. Our goal is to have groups long enough to build authentic community but to not stay together for years and years in an exclusive "clique" so we're always providing opportunities for 'outsiders' to join our groups. All our 'turbo' groups will be going through Starting Point so they will have experienced what they will be inviting their friends to in the near future.

Tonight our staff met with 30 folks from Camarillo Community Church and shared about our mission and asked for help. The Pastor of this church, Ralph Rittenhouse, is one of my heroes. I truly respect this guys leadership. He invited these 30 folks and was there himself... a senior Pastor encouraging folks from his own flock to go and help another church get started!!!??? This guy is truly KINGDOM MINDED and not address minded! Our goal with RPCC is to follow in his footsteps and one day help other churches get started.

If you're plugged in at a church are you helping to start new churches in your area? Why not?

I need your help this Sunday. If you live in the area (of willing to come to the area!) come help us unload our trailer and set up at 6am. What better things do you have to do at that time!!!??? :)

Improve Your Life #3: First Three in the Door

2008-08-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

I forget where I heard this from but it's been powerful in my life and I have confidence it will improve yours.

After a long day at work (or elsewhere) when you get home pay attention to the first three minutes through the door. Check your actions, attitude and speech. Is it positive towards or negative towards your family? Often how you are in the first three minutes will become a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' of the rest of the day. If you come home and look for things to criticize you'll be setting yourself (and your family) up for a potentially frustrating evening. Try being a blessing to your family no matter how you feel and see the difference it makes.

Ever since my kids where first born, I would come home and make an extra big deal about seeing them... kind of like a person who hasn't seen a loved one for months! It's kind of silly, but it's soooo worth it when my oldest reciprocates that by saying with the biggest smile "Daaaaaaaddy!!!". Sometimes she'll run and jump in my arms delivering the biggest hug her toddler arms can muster. And of course, if my wife is in the room she gets the first hug and kiss! Security in a child's heart is developed immensley when they see mom and dad express their devotion to each other.

What has been your experience with your "First three in the door"? Share your quick story of success or failure (I've had a lot of stupid failures too!!!).

Camarillo Community Church

2008-08-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Lead the worship band this morning at Camarillo Community Church. What a vibrant multi-generational church! Musicians were top notch. Next scheduled worship leading is October 5th at RPCC. Some guy I don't know came up to me and said, "Hey James, you baptized me four years ago." How cool is that? I remember the event but I don't remember him. :( I baptized a few folks I'd never met before that day. He shared a bit how he's grown in his walk with God since then. Again, just plain cool.

Set List this morning:
1. Not to Us by Chris Tomlin
2. Everlasting God by Benton Brown
3. Amazed by Lincoln Brewster
4. Son of God by Starfield
5. [Special led by Eliana] Lead me To the Cross by Brooke Fraser of Hillsong
-Eliana knocked this song out of the park!!!

Tonight at 6:30pm is our final RPCC launch team meeting. Ladies and gentlemen we are in the final stretch of our 'building'/'launch' stage! What a journey! Next Sunday is a pool party and then Sept 7th we're on location at Rio Vista M.S. for Kidstuf rehearsal before going live with Kidstuf on Sept 14th. Between now and October 5th I need to gather some pro musicians for the band, get our 'turbo' groups firing on all cylanders, keep the books up to date and help fundraise $115,000. We need that amount by the end of the year just to break even. I'm trusting that money will come through but wow that can be an intimidating amount! If you have a moment, throw up a quick prayer and even consider contributing while you pray. Thanks!

I've got to meet a friend/coach for a 4 mile run in the hills above Ventura before launch team meeting this afternoon. This guy is gonna whip my butt!!! Hope I survive!

iPod Touch Calendar

2008-08-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Ran 2.44 miles this morning in 13:04. 2nd fastest time yet! :)

It's tough to see but every dot on my iTouch calendar equals a run (including this morning). That's 11 so far this month. My goal is to is to keep filling in more dots and in October compete in this run. So far my knees are doing fine but I've had problems in the past when I was running regularly. Though I don't think I was in as much pain as Carlos. I'm half the man he is... I don't have the urge to run anything longer than 5 miles.

What are you filling your calendar with?

Barbie Fishing Rod

2008-08-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is incredible... my daughter has one of these rods... the fishing skills it must have taken... all with the Barbie fishing Rod!

What's the biggest fish you've ever caught? Mine was about 6 lbs.

Church Planting - Staff Teams

2008-08-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

3.94 miles in 22:03 minutes.

Our Lead Communicator hits the road in Atlanta, GA tomorrow to move to Camarillo, CA and finally join our team in person (we've been ichatting since May!). Our Sunday Program Director begins full time with RPCC Sept 1. Our Kidstuf director just started earlier this month. What an amazing team God has brought together. Seriously, these folks are money! We are humbled to be partnered with GHC and NP and the many local church churches and individuals. One year ago this month Damon and I felt God may want us to 'knock on the door' of this thing called 'church planting'. 12 months later we're less than a month away from launching with a great staff team and a launch team numbering in the 50s.

Don't get me wrong, this is still not going to be a walk-in-the-park. We need to raise $115,000 by December 31st. That's a lot of dough... and we have to raise even more than that the following year. What makes that number not so huge is the fact that God has brought high capacity leaders to our staff and launch team who want to see RPCC succeed and have an impact in this community. It's already worth it, I've seen growth and personally experienced growth! If you're considering planting a church I would strongly encourage you to do it with a team from day 1. Even Jesus modeled this fact... in no way did He need a team of 12 to do what he did, but He chose to do it and I believe this is something we can learn from today.

Please pray for John and his family as they travel this week.
Please pray we would do our part and work hard to raise $115,000 over the next three months.
Please pray that we would trust God to do his part with the results!

Thanks!
Do you know any churches with just one paid guy 'doing it all'? What have you seen that is good/not so good about that strategy?

Failed

2008-08-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I failed. I didn't even push snooze until 6:35am and then didn't get out of bed until 6:40am. But, I did my run in 13:27. Not bad. I also know that there is always tomorrow. :)

If you think of it, pray for me today. I've got two very important meetings today that could possibly make a difference far into the future of RPCC.

Improve Your Life #2: The Alarm Clock Promise

2008-08-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

I believe I heard this on Stephen Covey's "First Things First" audio cd that I got for free through an offer off a cereal box... pretty sweet offer!

The Alarm Clock Promise

Do you ever feel a bit depressed and that life is happening to you instead of you making life happen? Do you have a hard time getting yourself motivated? Try this right now:

1. Decide what time you would, scratch that, should get up tomorrow morning. Let's say you decide 6:30am (that's when I'm getting up)
2. Set your alarm for 6:30am
3. (Here's the key) Get out of bed at 6:30am tomorrow! Repeat for 5 days straight.

Seriously, your feet should hit the floor within 5 seconds of that alarm going off. Prepare for that tonight. Give yourself a personal pep talk like this, "Ok, no matter how my body screams 'NOOO!' in the morning, I'm going to keep this promise. I'm getting up and starting my day on time. God, please help me to not be a slave to my body but a keeper of my commitment."

You may notice that when you start your day by keeping a promise to yourself you'll likely have a better day. There is peace and contentment when you have integrity with yourself. This may seem small but I think there is a lot of power in this little exercise because it can improve the rest of your day. I'll be trying this tomorrow (Haven't done this in a while) and hopefully I'll be out the door for my run by 6:40am, so let me know how it goes with you and if it made a difference in your day/week.

Ok, let me share about the last three days of my life:
Thursday a.m.: Ran 2.44 miles in 12:28. Fastest time by far! Pretty stoked on that.
Thursday p.m.: I have the best wife in the world who has worked hard with caring for me and our two kids over the last three months so I encouraged her to take a personal retreat/break. She went to her folks house 2 hours away.
Thursday p.m.: Begin my first weekend alone with both kids by taking them on a date to dippin dots and the pet store, aka a free 'zoo' ;). They loved it!
Thursday p.m.: Kids in bed, and breathing (yes!). 1:30am - Massively huge thunder and lightening storm, wakes up my daughter. She's crying and crawls in my bed. She talks to me for the next hour, I think trying to calm herself down by hearing my voice... very sweet.
Friday: I'm stinkin tired from being up night before. My daughter over flows the toilet, "Dad, the water's coming, it's coming!" Filled the whole floor. Fun! Then we go to a dinner party to find out when we arrive it was cancelled. Our friends graciously invited us in and fed us some good grub.
Friday p.m.: At 3am my daughter is screaming very loud (probably because I didn't hear her for the first 15 minutes of her screaming.). She wet the bed. A lot. Put her in the bath, changed her bedding, she said "Thanks dad, I love you.", made it all worth it to hear that, back into bed by 3:45am.
Saturday: My daughter scrapes her leg pretty bad while balancing on a curb. That afternoon I put my 9 month old son down for a nap. Couple hours later I hear him, he's not crying, I open the door and he has the biggest smile on his face along with a lot of poopy. Brilliant as I am, I put him down for a nap with just a diaper and shirt. He pooped and took the liberty of removing his poopy diaper, smart kid (stupid dad). By the time I walked in there was poop all over his two blankets, stuffed elephant, all the slats on his crib and caked on his hair, face, arms, hands, legs & feet. B-E-A-UTIFUL! Momma came home after we went to the dinner party that was rescheduled to Sat night... I feel much closer to my kids. Thanks thunder/lightening, scrapes and poopy! God is good and has a great sense of humor!

Baptism

2008-08-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

I visited Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC at the end of June. You want to watch this very cool Baptism video clip. Seriously, sit for two minutes and click here.

Have you been baptized? What was your experience? If you have not been baptized, let me know if you have any questions about it: james@riverparkcc.com.

River Park Community Church needs your help!

2008-08-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Do you have too much money on your hands right now? :) I've got a great idea for it! Even if you don't have too much money, I've got a great idea for you too! It's an investment that will outlast you, that will make a difference in people's lives that you'll probably never meet! (If you don't go to RPCC that is.)

You'll also get a tax receipt, oh yea, I know I've got your attention now. River Park Community Church needs to raise a bunch of money so the team I'm on can work full time in this new work of God. Your gifts will get us through these early times before we become self-supporting. Even if you don't give, I'll still be serving at RPCC but I'll have to do it a little less frequently as I'll have to get a job at Trader Joe's or Costco or ...?

Find out a bit more by reading our Lead Communicator's post... he explains this much better than me, that's why I'm not the Lead Communicator. :)

You can find out about how to give here.

Thanks for your generosity!

Improve Your Life #1: Running

2008-08-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

I have taken to regular runs since earlier this year. I believe it's very important to take care of myself by eating healthy and exercise. I fail often (especially the eating part!) but this is the mantra that goes through my head.

"Your body is the only instrument through which God has given you to experience life. Improve your body, improve your life."

That's it. Pretty simple, very obvious but too often overlooked. The body I have is a gift from God... it's His, not mine... He created it and knit it together in my mama's womb so I feel responsible to take care of what I'm borrowing. In my mind this is part of my own spiritual growth before God. Serving at RPCC is easy because I have a passion to serve people and see people on a growth trajectory in their life, aka: see people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. I can only do this well from a full 'spiritual' tank, or as some would say, from an 'overflowing cup'. This year I've been filling this 'cup' through running. I spend a lot of time in reflection and prayer when I run. It's one of my spiritual disciplines built into my life right now.

To be honest, I also enjoy the accomplishment of filling up my iPod Touch calendar with little dots that represent the days I have run. Silly huh? :)

I got my iPod Touch last Christmas and have been filling up the calendar with my runs starting in January.

My regular route is 2.44 miles. Not really far, but it's been working for me.

Here are a few dates and times (I actually ran on average 2-3 times a week from Feb-May but I'll only list a few dates to illustrate my progress.)
Feb 6 - 22:02
Feb 11 - 20:03
Feb 19 - 19:44
Feb 27 - 17:24
Mar 12 - 20:05
Mar 21 - 16:32
Mar 26 - 17:58
Apr 15 - 17:29
May 2 - 28:18 (ran 4.94 miles this day)
May 20 - 16:01
May 22 - 17:55
My running routine went on hiatus because of a 6 week trip to Alpharetta, GA to do an internship with North Point Campus Expansion. I literally only ran once on a treadmill during this time. We were kept busy with a lot of meetings, aka, sitting on our backsides for four weeks straight! Combining that with a lot of southern food and overdosing on sweet tea contributed to me gaining 10 lbs! When I got home I was very excited to get back to my beloved running route! Below are all of the runs to date since getting back to Ventura, CA.

July 28 - 17:10
July 29 - 16:20
July 31 - 15:30
Aug 4 - 14:31
Aug 5 - 14:56
Aug 6 - 13:34
Aug 9 - 13:35
Aug 11 - 15:08
Aug 12 - 13:16

I usually start my run around 7am. It's the best running time of the day and I literally notice the increased energy and focus levels I have on the days I run. On future posts I'll throw up a run time and comments now that you're caught up on my year.

What do you do to take care of the only instrument through which you experience life? If you're not doing much I challenge you to improve your life this week. Pick a day this week and a time to do it and keep your promise to yourself by following through. Let me know how it goes.

For the next few posts I'll share a few other random things I strive to do to improve my life and that you could do to improve yours instantly. I'll explain in the next few posts so you better come back regularly but for now here's what I call them:
1. The alarm clock promise 2. First three in the door 3. Power 12 foods 4. Solitude and knees

Chuck Colson

2008-08-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the Leadership Summit at Camarillo Community Church I was intrigued with something Chuck Colson said. "We don't impose, we propose Christianity to people. We're not about creating a theocracy but freedom."

He went on to explain saying that as Christians we should not be about creating government that enforces laws that 'force' people to worship God. The best government we could create would be one that allows religious freedom because that is what God does with us. God pursues us with utmost passion and sacrifice but never crosses the line of a proposal and into the realm of force (In this life or the next!). He gives room for free will. He gives us room to make our own choice about following Him or following something or someone else (less).

I think in the last couple decades our country has made a move away from freedom to forced agnosticism or atheism... because those are the two most non-offensive faiths right? What do I mean?

I remember taking part in "Christmas Pageants" in elementary school. Makes sense to me, our foundational faith in this country that we build this place on is the Christian Bible and the principles found within that good book. Plus our official Holiday on December 25 is spelled "C H R I S T M A S". But now we have found ourselves in the "Winter Concert" era because the government doesn't want to offend and impose Christianity on anyone. My guess is that the word "Christmas" will soon be replaced with something else to describe December 25.

Let's talk about that word "impose". When does a person cross the line from a "proposal" to imposing their beliefs on another? How have you navigated this in the past?

(Invite: I'm leading the band at Catalyst Ventura tomorrow morning at 9:30am. If you're in the area come on out!)

Vision

2008-08-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

"Vision leaks". An axiom by Bill Hybels. He explains vision casting by imagining a bucket full of water with holes in the bottom. The water is slowly leaking out. To keep the bucket full you must regularly put more water in. Vision leaks too. You must continuously keep vision before the people. I like it! I had dinner with Larry Brey (from Elevation Church) and he put a metric to how often you need to add water. He said any meeting a leader has with individuals or groups at least 50% of the information is about vision and 50% is tactical. It almost seems too simple or too good to be true, but that's half the battle in life... remembering why we do what we do.

God constantly reminded the Israelites that He is the God who brought them up out of Egypt. (Remember???)
I need to remember why I live (To love God... and therefore everyone else on my travels)
I need to remember why I'm a married (To serve and love my wife)
I need to remember why I'm a Daddy (To invest [teach, model & pray] and care for my temporary gifts from God --> they are on loan from God so I better take care of what's not mine!]

Vision leaks because memory leaks. Memory leaks because you don't have a system in place. What system do you have in place to remember 'why'? What system do you have in place to remind those you lead 'why'?

Where there is no vision the people perish and where they is no system the vision bucket stays too low for too long! Hmm...

River Park 411

2008-08-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

On August 17 RPCC is putting on what's called: "River Park 411". If you're not connecting with 411 that's the number you call for information... when you want to look up someone's phone number and then the phone company charges you like a million dollars! Well, maybe a buck and change. (I don't pay for using 411 anymore!!! I call 1-800-free-411.)

August 17 we'll be introducing our launch team and anyone interested to our facility. We'll have creative boards set up in each room with pictures and explanations of how the room will look. We'll also be doing 'mini-church' with some unplugged worship and a message. We'll end with some open Q & A time and have a few goodies and surprises.

Should be a great morning, come check it out!

What is your worst air travel story? Probably not worse than this.

Prayer

2008-08-03T12:42:00.001-07:00

Heard a great sermon from Pastor Ralph Rittenhouse at Camarillo Community Church this morning. The topic was prayer. Without looking at my notes the one thing I remember is Ralph's clever saying "Knees before feet". He encouraged us all to get on our knees in prayer before we take our first steps in the morning. I love this... this is a "structure" issue... or a "system" issue. Jesus first talked about where you should go before he taught how you should pray in Matthew 6:6ff. That must say something to you about the importance of our prayer location!

The Bible talks about "unceasing" prayer... pray as you go, pray during the busyness of your day. This is great, but it's easy to allow this to be the exclusive form for your prayer life. I've often been guilty of this! I want to get alone physically on a more regular basis and pray.

A few things I'm praying for right now?
1. River Park Community Church: We launch in just over a month. I'm praying our equipment, people and finances come together to launch effectively so we can lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. I'm praying for the family of that guy who was beheaded on a Greyhound bus. (Read at your own risk!) Kind of random, but I can't get that out of my mind... very freakish murder and I'm torn up as I think of the pain his family is going through. I'm very thankful that there is a God who will sort all this out in the end!
3. I'm praying for wisdom as a spouse and parent.
4. I'm praying for family friends dealing with a family member who is in the hospital.

So where do you go to pray? Do you struggle with getting alone to pray?

Earthquake.

2008-07-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm in Vons in Oxnard about to do some business at an ATM machine and at 11:42am these employees start getting excited. Then I hear "Earthquake, EARTHQUAKE!!!" I look down the grocery asiles and they are seriously swaying. It was very surreal. I look at the floor and could see the ripples as the quake runs beneath my feet. Employees start to run for the front door. I looked up at the ceiling and was wondering if it's going to come down on me.
I then start to literally feel dizzy, kind of like a choppy boat ride or rough airline turbulence. The quake lasted a good 30 seconds. Then I attempt to finish my transaction and a lady comes over the loud-speaker, "Attention, we're having an earthquake." (I'm thinking, "No we're not, it's over.") "Would all customers and employees please make their way to the front doors. We don't want anyone hurt by items falling off shelves."
I keep finishing my ATM transaction then get yelled at from the crowd by an employee. "Person at the ATM, come to the front!" But I'm not leaving without getting my ATM card out of this machine! So I finally get my card out and walk through the crowd out of the store and off I go.

Weird day in Southern California. It reminded me that there are bigger things in life than what the eye percieves and that we're really not in control. And that my life is short and could be snuffed out any time... but not before I get my ATM card! :)

Generosity

2008-07-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Perry Noble's latest blog is about this teenager who saved up $1000.00 over 3 or 4 years and contributed it to New Spring Church. He wrote an incredible note about the fact that he was HONORED to give the gift and make a contribution towards someone else taking a step closer to God.

Very mature and audacious faith!

Perry went on to say that only 6% of those who call themselves evangelical Christians regularly tithe and the average amount given by an adult over the period of one year is $600. Compare that to the average adult spending $900 a year on coffee drinks (thanks to Fourbucks... I mean, Starbucks!) and $1000 a year on their pet and you get the picture of how huge this teen's gift was!

I'm looking forward to seeing River Park Community Church blow the above statistic away! I'm praying right now that the folks who will call RPCC their church home will be the most generous church in the county because they have a passion to see folks in their community grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. The RPCC staff team has a passion to see life change take place in the Ventura-Oxnard Metro Area... how big is this passion? Big enough that each staff person is just crazy enough to give up their jobs and secure paychecks to become church planters (aka: fund raisers) in one of the most expensive corners of this country (yes, it still is even with this depressed market today.)! We even have one of our team members willing to sell a great house (Pray that it sells soon!) in a more affordable city on the other side of the country and move his family out to Ventura County!!! He inspires me! I am praying this foundation of sacrifice and generosity will set the stage for great things to come. In reality it's not much sacrifice to be invited by the God of all creation to join in His mission, it's truly an honor!

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21
Where has your treasure been lately? Not sure? Check out your latest bank statement or your receipts. What percentage of your treasure has been spent on others/on you? Now you know where your heart is.

Where is your heart? How might God want you to work on your heart this week? How can I pray for you?

Discovery Church, Simi Valley

2008-07-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

I attended Discovery Church, Simi Valley this morning. Todd Clark brought a great message on the life of Joseph. He highlighted the tough times that Joseph endured (betrayal by his own family, sold as a slave in Egypt, accused of rape, thrown in jail etc…) that all led to one moment. This is the moment when Joseph went from an extreme helpless valley in life (he was in this valley for years!) to the opportunity of a lifetime… a conversation with the most powerful man in the world. Pharaoh asked Joseph if he could interpret his dream.

Gen 41:16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

Joseph gave ‘props’ to God for his gift. Actually, he said God is the author of his gift and that He is the one who will answer Pharaoh. Joseph’s ‘big break’ before this incredible leader was defined by his acknowledgment of God. And this to a man who was considered to be a god!

Todd also shared how their church is financially behind significantly. Todd and his team planted the church about 5 years ago and have over 1,000 people who call Discovery Church ‘home’. One of a few churches actually concerned about and reaching their community in Ventura County! Pray for Todd and Discovery Church as they may have to make some tough staff cuts later this fall if things don’t turn around.

Chick-fil-A

2008-07-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Speaking of sweet tea (read post below) I think the best on the planet is found at Chick-fil-A. If you haven't tried it you've got to! If you have don't you agree??? :)

Southern Potluck!

2008-07-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight the launch team (and anyone else who'd like to come) is gathering for the first time since our return from Atlanta. We're having a southern potluck. I'm excited and afraid about that fact. I now love southern food but while in Atlanta for a month I gained 10 pounds! Too much fatty foods and sweet tea!
I'm excited to reconnect, share our experience and look to what God has for us this fall. Damon's got some sweet creative boards with some pics of our facility to show that gang. Always good to bring visuals to a meeting! I'm looking forward to having my 19 year old cousin from Vancouver, British Columbia come down to visit tomorrow. I think the last time I saw her was when she just started high school... I hope I recognize her at LAX tomorrow!

Question: What is the one thing a leader cannot delegate?
Answer: Putting the right people in the right place.

Have you experienced a leader not doing this? How did it turn out? What else do you think a leader cannot delegate? (There's got to be more!)

Atlanta, GA

2008-07-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Just got back this morning from N*RICH at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. It was great having the whole riverparkcc.com staff team there. We learned a ton about launching a new church, had a lot of fun together and did our first strategic meeting with the whole team. Good stuff!!!

I read a chapter in a book called "Execution" at the airport. The author asked the question, "What is one thing a leader cannot delegate?" Let me know what you think and I'll give you his answer next posting.

Heart Check: EKG

2008-07-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

An electrocardiogram (EKG) is used in hospitals to monitor the health of your physical heart. What about the health of your emotional health? How do you know if it's healthy or not? A new friend of mine, Carry Nieuwhof, has an insightful posting on not only how to gauge your emotional heart but also offers ways to find your way back to health.

I spent about a year and a half during graduate school with an unhealthy stale heart. It's not a fun place to be and life is too short to spend any amount of time that way. Looking back I know that the way I moved out of that stage was through the connections I made with other people. Simply by building relationships. It order to see the world from a different place you need a bridge to walk to that different place. Being part of a small group and serving on a team was my bridge.

Read Carry's post.
How is your heart?
What was your 'bridge' back to a healthy heart?

Do you isolate yourself?

2008-07-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.

I've spent enough times in my life being lonely. (Defined: Having a hard time making new friends, feeling unconnected and maybe feeling sorry for myself.) This is an easy way to live today with the abundance of activities that keep us busy yet out of real, authentic relationship with others (like writing and reading blogs! :)). River Park Community Church (RPCC) will be a church that intentionally, and even aggressively (in a gentle kind of way) combats loneliness. Sunday morning will only be the entrance to truly experiencing RPCC. The destination that we hope everyone who walks through our doors would consider is our Small Groups. These are groups of 8-16 folks who hang out once a week.

So if you walk into a Sunday service, don't stop there. Keep walking towards a small group.
I can't wait to see the change in people as we get these started! Don't miss it!

We're getting prepared to start a few temporary "turbo" groups. Come join us... let me know. james@riverparkcc.com.

Rant!

2008-07-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm ticked off!!! In fact I'm flea ed off!!! My condo is infested with fleas!!! Walked in my place last night and a dozen of those little guys hopped on my legs... lovely, just lovely!!! :( My first day home is spent pouring powder all over my carpet and spending the rest of the day away from home.

I hope those guys enjoy the powder. Chow down guys, chow down!

Last night was kind of humorous. From another room I hear my daughter yelling, "Ahhhh!!! Flea, flea, flea... HELPPPPP!!!" I screamed back, "Slap them sweety, slap them away!!!" Couple seconds of silence... then "Whap, whap, whap!!! I got the flea Daddy!"

(Picture above: Just found this dead flea, HE'S HUGE!!! I'm surprised our cat has any blood left in him after keeping these giants alive!)

Back in Cali!

2008-07-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

After driving 2700 miles this past week my family and I are back in Southern California. It's been an incredible 6 weeks away. We spent two weeks traveling and four weeks living in Alpharetta, GA so I could participate with Damon in an internship at North Point Community Church. We spent 6 days a week preparing to become a strategic partner church plant of North Point. Our whole purpose for this adventure is to lead people into a growing relationships with Jesus Christ. There are many ways a church can do this and N.P.'s model is one of them. I personally think it's a very effective ministry model. Why? Because it's about removing obstacles between people and their Creator by creating a few excellent steps (environments) towards spiritual growth which we define as: 1. Intimacy with God, 2. Community with Insiders, 3. Influence with Outsiders.

So what's our next step? Our strategic calendar is in place and we just have to work it.

I'll keep you posted with how that calendar plays out...

When you think of your local church what are the things you observe that could be an obstacle between you and God? For you regular church goers, you may have to think a little harder. :)

Where are we planting?

2008-07-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

I am excited to plant a new church in a very cool metro area. Our staff has been referring to it as the "Ventura-Oxnard" Metro Area (pop. 500,000 in a 15 min. drive radius) but the White House refers to it as the "Oxnard-Ventura-Thousand Oaks" Metro Area (Pop. 800,000).

133 churches in our metro area above. A similarly populated area in the south would have about 800 churches. There is definetly room for one more church!

The actual city we're planting in is Oxnard, CA. Honestly, I think it's one of the weirdest city names I've ever heard. Combing the words "Ox" and "Nard" really make an enjoyable moment when that rolls off the tongue! Hence the reason we like to say we're planting in the "Ventura-Oxnard" metro Area. :) The specific community in Oxnard we're planting is called River Park. It's brand new with much of it currently still under construction. The community is located 30 minutes north of LA county (Via the 101 freeway) and smack dab in the middle of Malibu and Santa Barbara (another popular alternative way to describe Oxnard without using the name Oxnard!).

If you're iching to move and not sure where... consider River Park. I think it's price point is undervalued and you'd have the opporutnity for some significant equity in the near future, especially when the commercial area begins to come together. Oh and if you do move, I can recomend a great new church family that needs your help.

New Favorite Christian Bookstore

2008-07-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

At Tangers Outlet mall in Locust Grove, GA south of Atlanta. Bunch of tables set up and most books for $5 each. Recent titles too! I spent $67 and walked out with a lot of bookage!

If you ever find yourself in Locust Grove, GA... check it out!

Elevation Church

2008-06-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Spent 24 hours in Charlotte, NC. Met with a staffer from elevationchurch.com last night and attended both of their campuses this morning. Few comments:
1. Their church seeks to 'seek and save the lost' and strategize church to that end.
2. Their guest service team: tearing it up! By far the most warm welcome I've ever received walking into a church!
3. Setup team: On location by 5am. 5AM!!! Earliest I've ever heard a church begin setup. And there are about 50 on site at that time! Not one person stood around wasting time. These guys and gals took their volunteer positions serious!
4. The staff is very intentional about casting vision. Every meeting is 50% vision/50% tactical. When a volunteer understands the connection of their role to the vision and you multiply that by 280 you get elevationchurch.org!
5. They keep it SIMPLE. 1. Worship experience. 2. Small Groups. That's all!
6. Two years old and about 4,000 attendees.
7. No youth ministry. 50% of the Sunday morning volunteers were youth. What's that saying?
8. Every volunteer is required to refer to Stephen Furtick as 'Pastor', 'Pastor Stephen' or 'Pastor Stephen Furtick'. Seriously, it's required! You'll hear things like, "Pastor said this..." or "Pastor does that..." That kind of weird's me out. I'm not saying it's wrong... it's just different. Every staff and volunteer I connected with is normal. They don't worship Stephen and I didn't sense any weird (sinful!) stuff like that at all but they want to follow the vision God has put on their leaders heart and follow it well. I respect that. I didn't meet Stephen, he was speaking at another church. ButI met his vision and passion for the unbeliever when I met his staff and volunteers.

Bed time! I'm running on a couple hours of sleep and vertigo is setting in...

Atlanta

2008-06-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm watching the celtics-lakers game. It's tied at 90 with 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. I hope the Celtics win. Yea, even though I'm from California I'm not a very big lakers fan. I'd be surprised if the Lakers win. The Celtics are a stronger and more consistent team.

So I'm currently living in Alpharetta, GA. I've been here over a week and have about three weeks to go until we head back to the left coast. I've got a nice new apartment over looking a great pool. We've been in the pool almost every day cause it's so stinking hot and humid here! I'm enjoying the heat and will miss it when I leave. The one bummer out here is that west coast sports games run soooo late! It's almost midnight here and this game still has three minutes to go!!! (Lakers are up by 2 now :()

Today I went up to Chatanooga, TN to Rock Point Church. Heath and his team did a great job and we learned a lot. I'm looking forward to this week full of meetings at North Point Community Church. I appreciate the intentionality and excellence put forth by the staff at this church. It's truly a breath of fresh air.

Happy Fathers Day!

Mark Driscoll Interview

2008-05-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

Something new I'm using

2008-05-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Two very cool cutting edge web applications:

Remember the Milk

Jott

2019

2008-04-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

My son will be 12 in the year 2019. Dang that sounds like a long time from today! Yet, my son will only be 12 then. That is so far in the future!!!

Anyway, I wrote my son a letter today. He is not to open it until his 12th birthday in 2019. So what do you tell your son today who will read your words 12 years from now? I basically told him he is very loved and brings joy to our family. I told him to follow God despite the church and despite his family. I told him to laugh at himself. I told him to give himself to others. I told him to read a few books. I told him to respect and care for the ladies in his life and to not date until he's old enough (or almost old enough) to get married as dating leaves one with two choices: break-up or get married... so why not wait? I told him that he'll mess up in life yet God will always accept him back.

So I realize that I'm writing him a bunch of random pieces of advice I'd like to pass to him and that maybe Solomon did the same thing at the birth of his children and we now read it as the book of Proverbs. I know he did write it for his kids, but I wonder if he did it years in advance... just a random thought flying around the cranium today.

Randy Pausch

2008-04-09T23:18:00.000-07:00

You've probably seen this... if you haven't you should. I've placed this here more for me (sorry, I'm selfish) to help me keep a better perspective on life.