AnthonyMilas.net

HEART FIRST

2012-01-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend we were reminded that ministyr is not about using people to get things done. Its a PARTNERSHIP we enter into with anothe rperson in order to GLORIFY JESUS and to fulfill HIS DREAM for GRANITE! Knowing this it is important for us to remember as leaders that those we partner with are REAL PEOPLE, meaning they have feelings and a real need for community.

As leaders lets SLOW DOWN and clear the clutter off our plates in order to CREATE COMMUNITY for those we serve beside. No one needs anything else "to do", and SERVING should be a JOY! I believe that JOY comes not only when we ELEVATE WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO (for JESUS and His glory), but when we CELEBRATE AND APPRCIATE WHO WE DO IT WITH!

Here is some food for thought:

How is the COMMUNITY going on your team?
What intentional things are you doing to build strong bonds between team members?
What good thing needs to go, inorder to do the better things, such as spending time in COMMUNITY with your teams?

Remember we need to be connectd to the HEART before we ask for the HAND.

DROP THE AGENDA!

2012-01-27T11:03:00.000-05:00

Its been a few weeks since I have BLOGGED, did you miss me! TEAM GRANITE UNITED, I love you, I am proud of you, I am honored to serve with you, and I believe GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME FOR YOU and THROUGH YOU. I believe in you TEAM GRANITE, more important than that is JESUS BELIVES IN YOU, He believes in you so much that He has left to you the GREATEST PRIVELEDGE and RESPONSIBILITY in the UNIVERSE, THE GOSPEL!

Now that we have entered 2012 I have somehting I want you to do, DROP YOUR AGENDA! What in the world do I mean by that, because you know how serious we are about systems and organization. Here is what I mean

It's not about preaching and teaching, its about JESUS
It's not about music, its about JESUS
It's not about kids, its about JEUS
Its not baout students its about JESUS
Its not about singles, its about JESUS
Its not about small groups, its about JESUS
Its not about locaitons, its about JESUS
Its not about numbers, its about JESUS
Its not about "salvation notches" in our belts its about JESUS
Its not about gathering together its about JESUS

My point is this everything we do, the PURPOSE IS JESUS! To EXALT, PRAISE, WORSHIP, DRAW ATTENTION TO, FALL DEEPER IN LOVE WITH, INTRODUCE PEOPLE TOO, JESUS!
All the things we do at GRANITE if they dont lead to JESUS, all the agends we have, if they dont lead to JESUS, all the ideas we think of, if they dont lead to JESUS, DROP THEM, DROP THOSE AGENDAS!

Let me remind you of two things Jesus said about Himself. He said HE is THE BREAD OF LIFE, and HE is LIVING WATER. What people need when they step onto our campuses are not agenda's, THEY NEED JESUS.

So this week, before you step onto your campus, YES BE READY, YES BE ORAGNIZED, YES BE PREPARED, but do each of those things to DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF, IN ORDER TO BRING GLORY TO JESUS!

I love you team, lets keep the main thing the main thing, lets keep everything about JESUS! Please make sure every person on your leadership team reads this blog, NO EXCEPTIONS!

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS at GRANITE!

2011-12-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

CHRISTMAS is our chance to CELEBRATE thatGod went out of His way to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. This is one of the things we say at GRANITE all the time, but it's truth. Where would we be without the LOVE OF JESUS! This past week we took a look into the EXTRAVAGENT OVER THE TOP LOVE OF JESUS, and walked away asking ourselves tow questions:

1. Am I as COMMITTED to JESUS as HE WAS and IS to me?

2. Is it as easy for others to see MY LOVE FOR CHIRST, as it is for me to see HIS LOVE FOR ME?

As leaders our LOVE FOR CHRIST, that is rooted in HIS LOVE FOR US, should be the FUEL that sets on fire when it comes to SERVING. CHRISTMAS at GRANITE with 11 services, in 4 cities, located in 2 states, spanning over 6 days, gives us a wonderful opportunity to GIVE BACK TO JESUS, by GIVING OUR BEST TO PEOPLE!

So let me just say it right now, LEADERS THANK YOU for doing all you do to DRAW ATTENTION TO JESUS, so that those close to us and far from Him can know the true meaning of CHRISTMAS! What your doing is CHANGING ETERNITY, and isn't that what this is all about!

7 REASONS TO GIVE JESUS YOUR BEST

2011-11-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

1. The TRUTH - JESUS did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves so we could have what we don't

deserve!

2. The INCARNATION - The WORD was made flesh!

3. The CROSS - No one took His life, He gave it!

4. The BLOOD - No BLOOD, No CLEANSING!

5. The LOVE - We love JESUS, because JESUS first loved us, UNCONDITIONALLY!

6. The PROMISE - Eternal life!

7. THE WORD - Our LAMP, our LIGHT, JESUS never comes up short!

BUILDING LEADERSHIP TEAMS

2011-11-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

The third question that I was asked to address at a recent pastors meeting was HOW IS IT THAT GRANITE HAS SO MANY HIGH LEVEL LEADERS, HOW DID WE GET THERE? So here are a few of the things I shared.

1. Developing leaders is both the hardest and most rewarding thing we can do as leaders.

2. Not developing leaders is to set Gods church up to fail.

3. Develeoping leaders requires an intentional plan.

4. Outside of prayer and study, NOTHING is more important the developing leaders. Without
raising up and developing leaders the church is one generation from failure.

5. Recruiting leaders is seeing things in people that they sometimes don't see in themselves.

6. You want leaders who are initiaters, they do not need to be pulled along.

7. Schedule times to meet, pray, and read together, REGULARLY.

8. Show me your leaders and I will tell you what you believe God will do in your church

Remember these are things that I shared with a group of church leaders, church planters who asked me specific questions because of their desire to reach people for Jesus Christ. At the end of the day all we are doing is tring to cooperate with the calling and gifts that God has placed in people. we can never forget that we are not building "organizations" but working with God to mature and develop His church.

What an awesome privilege we have as leaders to pour our lives into people!

HOW TO SURVIVE MINISTRY...

2011-11-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

One of the quesitons that came up at the PASTORS MEETING was how is it that I have survived ministry for 26 years? I thought this was a great question because there are way to many people who start ministry and never finish. I though about the question, and I also though about it in relationship to my personal life and marriage. I came up with a ONE WORD ANSWER. If the leaders that day were looking for some deep theological answer I am sure they were very dissapointed with my answer, but it was an hooest answer. What was my ONE WORD ANSWER? Its simple really, to SURVIVE MINISTRY, and to HAVE AN AMAZING MARRIAGE, you have to keep it... ready...no i mean are you really ready? You have to keep it...

F.U.N.

Thats right, you have to have F.U.N.! Study the life of Jesus, I mean really study it, and you will see Jesus was a man, a leader who was ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENJOYED life! Really, with all the responsibilities He had on His shoulders, JESUS HAD FUN!

I know we usually dont think of Jesus in these terms, but it is one of the beautiful things about Him! Remember he is the one who said...

Proverbs 17:22a, "A cheerful heart is good medicine,..." NLT

Ministry is tough enough, and the stresses it brings are real to us as leaders and to our families. So make sure one of the things we all work on is KEEPING IT FUN! What say ye?

IF IT WERE EASY...

2011-11-09T18:35:00.001-05:00

I HAD THE HONOR OF SPEAKING TO OVER 50 CHURCH LEADER, PLANTERS AND TEAM MEMBERS IN MASSACHUSTTES. THE NEXT FEW BLOGS WILL BE THINGS WE COVERED AS A RESULT OF THIER TOP FIVE QUESTIONS ASKED TO ME. I PROMISED THESE GUYS I WOULD BLOG MY ANSWERS TO THEIR QUESTIONS.

MINISTRY - If it was EASY everyone would be doing it. Did you know that in JOHN 6 there were a number of people who QUIT ON JESUS and HIS MISSION? There have always been those who rweach a certain level of committment then fing an excuse, a reason, to ABANDON, to QUIT the mission.

If you read JOHN 6:61 you will discover the seed of DESERTING CHRIST is COMPLANING. The truth is the BIBLE doesnt sayanything else about these "disciples" their story, their opportunity seemed to have dissapeared. How sad! So let me encourage you with a few thoughts.

1. COMPLAINING IS ALWAYS THE FIRST STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

2. Jesus never said our calling would be easy, what He did promise was to never leave us or
forsake us.

3. Not everyone who starts will finish.

4. John 6:64 says Jesus knows exactly whats in a person heart, dispite thier reasoning.

5. Jesus didnt beg the DESSERTERS to stay, He let them go, He honors CHOICE.

6. After the ABANDONMENT of those disciples Jesus looked at those who were left and said, ARE
YOU IN OR OUT, lets settle this now.

I love our GRANITE leadership team, but what we have been called to give our lived too, will not be easy, but it will be worth it. My prayer is that as we enter into the CHRISTMAS SEASON we will decide before hand to BE ALL IN. Lets not let anything or anyone sway us from giving our best to the KING OF KINGS and THE LORD OF LORDS!

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1,000 WORDS!

2011-11-01T17:26:00.001-04:00

I love this picture, and I have been thinking about HOW LOVED we are by Jesus. Doesn't the thought that JESUS DID FOR US WHAT WE COULDN'T DO FOR OURSELVES just flood you with all kinds of emotion? He is THE GOOD SHEPHERD!

This picture also reminds me of the responsibility and privilege we have been given by the Lord to care for HIS SHEEP on His behalf. As leaders we have the AWESOME OPPORTUNITY to pour ourselves into our teams. So here's what I want to ask you to do. Over the next few days look at this picture, over and over, and think about how THE LORD'S EXAMPLE should influence your leadership and what does that look like practically.

Take the time when you are ready to comment on the BLOG PAGE.

THE SNAKE THAT POISONS EVERYONE

2011-10-10T16:16:00.001-04:00

Team Granite, I found this little ditty and it is worth sharing. As leaders you are held to a higher standard both by JESUS and OUR CHURCH. The bar is set high, and never forget that as a leader you have an enemy looking to use anything and everything he can to DESTROY YOUR INFLUNCE and YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD. So please take the following words very seriously. Its not your reputation I'm only concerned about, its JESUS' and His brides.

It topples governments, wrecks marriages, ruins careers, busts reputations, causes heartaches, nightmares, indigestion, spawns suspicion, generates grief, dispatches innocent people to cry in their pillows. Even it's name hisses.

It's called GOSSIP. Office gossip. Shop gossip. Party gossip. It makes headlines and headaches. Before you repeat a story, ask yourself:

Is it true? Is if fair? Is it necessary? If not, shut up!

TEAM GRANITE let me know you have read this, and if you are a H.L.L. let me know that you shared this out with your team. There's too much at stake to play games. GRANITE is in an amazing time of BLESSING and FAVOR, and nothing will sacrifice that quicker than GOSSIP, and LACK OF UNITY!

Proverbs 11:9A, "With their words, the godless destroy their friends,..." nlt

GOSSIP will not be tolerated in our church, not here, not now, not ever, CAN I GET A WITNESS!

Ephesians 4:29, "When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you." NCV

LOVE PEOPLE, NOT PROGRAMS

2011-09-08T16:09:00.000-04:00

Jesus calls us to pour our lives into people, just like He did. Jesus did not come to pour His life into programs but in real living breathing people. Programs are not created in the image of God people are. As leaders we need to make an COMMITMENT to the people God brings to our church each and every week not to a program. PROGRAMS WILL COME AND GO, PEOPLE WE WANT TO REACH AND KEEP, IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE!

Programs are nothing more than vehicles to bring people to the place Jesus calls them, DISCIPLESHIP. Programs should be sharp, followed through with, updated, and changed at times. But they are always for and about people. Programs are run by people for people.

So get to know the people who are connecting to your programs. I hope you wrestle with creating better programs that will PUSH THE VISION AND MOVE PEOPLE to become full court followers of Jesus.

So this week, LEARN A NEW NAME, address someone by their name. PAY ATTENTION TO PEOPLE. Work on your programs during the week and then let your programs work for you on the weekend so you can GIVE YOUR FULL 100% ATTENTION TO PEOPLE.

PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD, THEY BETTER MATTER TO US.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

2011-09-06T13:47:00.003-04:00

Eccl. 11:4, “Farmers WHO WAIT for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they NEVER HARVEST.” NLT

I have been spending a ton of time MEDITATING on this verse. I don’t want to be the person who NEVER HARVESTS. I believe Jesus who gave me the best of Him, deserve the best of me. I know I fall woefully short at times, but I want to be the guy who isn’t afraid to GO BIG for GOD!

As leaders if we are going to ADVANCE THE KINGDOM OF GOD then we must not sit around WAITING for perfect circumstances, waiting to find the time, thinking one day I’ll get to it. We cannot and must not HOLD BACK! LEADERS LEAD, that why it’s called LEADERSHIP. We are blessed at GRANITE to have a team of AMAZING LEADERS, but let me ask you to consider a few things.

1. Are you giving your BEST to Jesus in your MINISTRY, or are you holding back? If you are you’re going to miss the HARVEST.

2. Are you giving your BEST to Jesus with your OFFERINGS, or are you waiting for perfect circumstances? If you are you’re going to miss the HARVEST.

3. Are you giving your BEST to your TEAMS or are you thinking about one day you’ll get to it? If so YOUR TEAM WILL MISS THE HARVEST!

See the decisions we make not only affect us personally, but affect the people who TRUST US as their leaders. One of the greatest things we get to do is to LEAD PEOPLE in such a way that sets them up to hear WELL DONE from Jesus Himself. How cool is that!

So as we go into fall and we GRANITE prepares for HARVEST, the question is ARE YOU READY FOR HARVEST?

I'VE GOT BUTTERFLIES

2011-08-16T20:08:00.001-04:00

I know it doesn't sound very manly but I am so EXCITED and PUMPED for what I see in our NEAR FUTURE. We have had the GREATEST SUMMER in our 14 year history, we have seen DOZENS OF SOULS SAVED, RECORD ATTENDANCES, we will BAPTIZE OVER 100 PEOPLE this summer (Beach Bash 3 Churches), and our giving has been solid. TO GOD BE THE GLORY. What i just described was our SUMMER AT GRANITE, not the year, the last couple of months.

CAN YOU IMAGINE how amazing the fall is going to be?! This is why I have butterflies in my stomach, I love being a part of what God is doing, and GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME. I love our church, I love our churches spirit, attitude, sacrifice, love for each other, and our churches LOVE FOR THE LORD. I love our leadership team, thier commitment to honoring Jesus and each other, winning souls, sacrificially giving, and not being afraid to TO LIVE OUT EPH. 3:20. I love our volunteers, there are hundreds who have stepped up and not out, they show up rain or shine, they EXTEND, EXPRESS, AND REFLECT JESUS in amazing ways to our church and our guests. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE doing ministry with so many AMAZING PEOPLE!

I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about the LAUNCHING OF OUR HAVERHILL CAMPUS! Almost 60 leaders have committed to going, to bring Jesus to HAVERHILL! Dozens more will jon them to make room for more people in SALEM, AND TO BRING HUNDREDS MORE TO JESUS IN HAVERHILL. I am so glad we have a church willing to BE LIKE JESUS, and unwilling to sit on their butts "getting fed" whatever that means, lol.

Anyway its been a while since I BLOGGED so I thought I would share what I was sitting here thinking about, BUTTERFLIES, lol.

BOSTON BRUINS THOUGHTS ON CHURCH LEADERSHIP

2011-06-14T13:21:00.003-04:00

1. DON’T CRITICIZE - Vancouver’s goalie criticized Boston goalie on a missed save, suggesting he would have made it. The very next game the BRUINS scored 3 goals on him and he was YANKED from the game, OOPS! Don't get caught up in criticism, focus on bringing your A game each and every time you play!

2. PROTECT EACH OTHER - I love how the BRUINS have each others backs! If you mess with one Bruin, you’re gonna find a bunch of guys standing by the side of their fellow teammate! UNITY MATTERS!

3. EVERY MINUTE MATTERS - Remember how the Bruins lost the first game of the series in the last 18 seconds? Focus and intensity matter for the full 60 minutes, (ha-ha I'm not being critical, it’s an observation). What it shows me is that there can never be a time where we just go through the motions, because there is an opposing team, looking to beat us! MINSTER HARD OR GO HOME!

4. CELEBRATE - I love watching the BRUINS celebrate after each goal. We should celebrate the GREAT THINGS JESUS IS DOING and CELEBRATE BIG! Celebrating not only fires up the team, it fires up the entire stadium. CELEBRATING is CONTAGIOUS!

5. KNOW YOUR ROLE - It is critical that every BRUIN know their role and position and then function accordingly. When they do there is harmony and balance. The results speak for themselves. Tim Thomas can't win a game alone and neither can Krejci. As leaders we must know our roles, and strive to bring HARMONY and BALANCE to the team!

Anyway these are just a few thoughts I had, what would you add?

EASTER CELEBRATION

2011-04-18T21:28:00.002-04:00

WHERE TO BEGIN?!

1. WITH JESUS - Thank you Jesus for all you did so that we could know you. Your sacrifice and unconditional love is beyond comprehension! We love you and celebrate you, and our prayer is that this weekend your name was honored and lifted up in such a way that brings brought you glory!

2. PASTORAL TEAM - I am so proud to work alongside such an awesome passionate group of pastors and their wives, who love the dream of Jesus, their church, and people. Thank you pastoral team for going the extra mile the past few weeks, because of your efforts lives have been forever changed!

3. TEAM GRANITE - I am convinced we have the greatest team of volunteers in the world, yep probably even in the universe! Without the hundreds of people serving their would have been no way to do 6 services in two locations. I am humbled by your dedication and honored to serve Jesus with you. Because of you the family of God grew this weekend!

4. SALVATIONS – How amazing was it to see and be a part of 27 people bowing their hearts and calling on the name of Jesus to be their Savior! May we never get over ONE PERSON let alone 27 PEOPLE coming to Jesus. We are honored almost every week to see LIVES FOREVER CHANGED and my prayer is that we will continue leading these people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ!

5. NEW FRIENDS – This weekend the Lord brought tons of new friends out to GRANITE. Our church has done their part, God has done His, and now it’s time for our leadership team to do ours. Our goal is two-fold, to REACH PEOPLE and KEEP PEOPLE. Please pray for us as we work to reconnect with those who were in church this past weekend.

6. NETWORK CHURCHES – Thank you Jesus for blessing all the churches in our network. Together Lord, we want to reach a world for you. I am so proud of all our pastors and the way they lead!

FEAR THIS...#2

2011-03-31T20:04:00.002-04:00

I once read an article about fear. It said "All of us are born with the fear of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, of public speaking, and of the words "Some Assembly Required." I would like to add my two cents and share A FEAR that is a HUGE THING leaders in church world deal with. It’s called the fear of THE UNKNOWN.

Now let’s be honest FEAR IS A VERY POWERFUL EMOTION! Plus it does not always have to be a negative one. For instance, as leaders we can FEAR missing OUR GOD GIVEN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPACT OUR WORLD FOR CHRIST, and TO LEAD OTHERS TO HIM. This is a good fear, because it can be used to MOTIVATE US to EMBRACE all that God brings our way.

However FEAR CAN BE HARMFUL, paralyzing, and eliminating. It can eliminate you and keep you from the things that you should and are called to do. Your fear comes because we may feel UNWORTHY and UNPREPARED, and it’s this FEAR that becomes DESTRUCTIVE and DEBILITATING.

The enemy tries to plant this FEAR IN OUR HEARTS to keep POTENTIAL KINGDOM IMPACT PLAYERS from ever becoming all that God intends for them to become. So I have a few words for every leader out there, actually there Paul’s words…

2 Timothy 1:6-9, “6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” NLT

Now hear my words, YOU ARE A ONE OF A KIND, GOD DESIGNED MASTERPIECE, CALLED, EQUIPPED, AND COMMISSIONED BY GOD, FILLED WITH HIS SPIRIT! So FEAR THIS…fear potential missed opportunities and embrace what God has saved and called you to do!

PS. This blog has not been COURTLAND approved or corrected, lol, haha!

FEAR THIS...

2011-03-29T13:43:00.007-04:00

I think I'll do a couple blogs on FEAR. Did you know FEAR and FAITH cannot coexist? It’s true, and as followers of Jesus we are called to LIVE BY FAITH, and to PUT ASIDE FEAR. So, what are you afraid of? What it is that sends GOOSEBUMPS up and down your spine, brings your heart to your throat and makes you want to get sick just thinking about it? Snakes, heights, spiders, enclosed spaces?

How about the thought that JESUS has entrusted to us the SPREADING OF THE GOSPEL? How about the thought that WE MUST NOT FAIL because ETERNITY HANGS IN THE BALANCE? How about the REALITY that there is no time to play games? The weight of the responsibility JESUS has called us to can be cripple us through FEAR. These thoughts can become intimidating, overwhelming, and scary! These thoughts have the ability to stir up all sorts of NEGATIVE EMOTIONS, but I have some good news for you LEADER. As a follower of JESUS CHRIST, you and I do not have to submit to those EMOTIONS of inadequacy, failure or FEAR! WHY?!

II Tim. 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

So to all the forces of evil, to all the negative emotions, to all those who oppose the church and work of God, I have to say, FEAR THIS! God has filled His kids with HIS SPIRIT, His church with HIS POWER so we will not back down, we will not be intimidated, we will not go with the flow, but WE WILL trust in the Lord with all our heart. WE WILL face the giants, WE WILL fight the good fight of faith, WE WILL lift Jesus High, because the battle is the Lord’s!

So FEAR THIS child of God coming through!

SERIOUSLY...

2011-03-25T09:23:00.004-04:00

So I got this phone call the other day from a pastor who was deciding to continue supporting Brother Kim, you know the Brother Kim who sold everything and left everything to move to a communist nation to feed starving children and adults, both physically and spiritually, that Brother Kim. These were the questions this pastor asked me...

What version of the Bible do we use
What kind of music do we play
How do we view sanctification
Are we on the left or right (whatever the heck that means)

Questions he didn't ask me...

How many souls have been saved the past year
How many people have been baptized
How many lives have been salvaged by the Gospel
How many churches are you planting

SERIOUSLY! I almost couldn't believe this phone call. Here was a church deciding to continue supporting Brother Kim not based on how many souls are being saved and fed physically AND spiritually (BY THE WAY HE DID NOT ASK ONE QUESTION ABOUT BROTHER KIMS MINISTRY), or how many leaders were being developed in these communist nations, SERIOUSLY! Are you kidding me?

Then I got to thinking, how many of Christians jump ship never asking the new church

How many souls have been saved here in the past year
How many people have been baptized here
How many lives have been salvaged by the Gospel here
How many churches has your church sacrificed to birth

SERIOUSLY! I believe it is this attitude that makes God throw up! SERIOUSLY, you are deciding to support a man who sacrificed everything based on what we wear to church? SERIOUSLY, you will leave a church that is seeing lives forever changed, to sit in a church where you are more comfortable? SERIOUSLY you'll let kids and adults starve pysically and spiritually because of a Bible version? SERIOUSLY, you would rather go to a church and soak it in, then stay in a church and pour it out! SERIOUSLY! SERIOUSLY?

Hey Mr pastor man if Jesus comes back today I don't think the questions you're asking, He will be asking, THINK ABOUT IT! To My GRANITE family I am so proud of you, and honored to serve with you and by your side, the stakes are too high for us to seek to be comfortable. Jesus told us to DIE TO SELF, and to TAKE UP A CROSS.

SERIOUSLY, lets do this for Jesus, eternity hangs in the balance for those close to us and far from God. To my pastor friend in the Mid-West who has been hurt by those leaving the church because of your vision, remember the vision is not for sale, remember we need to focus of the LOST WHO ARE NOT HERE, not catering to the already committed. SERIOUSLY!

To my GRANITE leadership team, lets help people down from their HIGH-CHAIRS, hand them a towel and lead them to die to self and serve like Jesus died to self to serve. SERIOUSLY!

THE BIBLE MATTERS @ Granite United

2011-03-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

Somebody HONOR Somebody, Pt.5 [stevejesmer.com]

2011-03-13T01:00:00.002-05:00

This is reposted from www.stevejesmer.com.

HONOR THE WORD OF GOD

I honor and love Your commands. I meditate on Your decrees. (Psalms 119:48 NLT)

We all have questions we want to ask God, big questions. And every weekend we get the opportunity to hear from God through His Word. But do we really listen? Do we really expect to hear from God? Are we honoring God's word in how we attend church, how often we attend church, how we focus during the preaching of God's word?

Honor the Word of God by attending your local church's worship experience every weekend. We get 6 days to work for our families, but we only get one day to worship with our family! Make the weekends count, don't waste your weekend, worship with it!

Honor the Word of God by listening intently to the Pastor's sermon. If you have trouble staying awake, drink more coffee, grab a 5 hour energy, pop a caffeine pill;-) BUT DO SOMETHING... Don't just let week after week go by and you are sleeping through God's message for you! Try taking notes on your smartphone. Try tweeting important statements or principles from the sermon. Try updating your facebook with a Scripture verse from the sermon. And most importantly write down in your notebook or journal HOW YOU CAN BEGIN APPLYING THE SCRIPTURES RIGHT AWAY!

Honor the Word of God by reading it every day. Grab a journal and a bible. Take notes, write down questions, and look for answers in the Bible. Try getting a Bible reading plan from www.youversion.com. I also love THE ONE YEAR BIBLE by Tyndale.

Honor the Word of God by studying it in a small group every week. It's fun to learn the bible in community, and often times its necessary to have accountability and encouragement from other believers in order to apply and live out the Bible. Try joining a life group at www.theDC.tv/groups.

Honor the Word of God by responding to the sermon each week. This might be taking a faith step at the end of the sermon as the pastor leads you, or simply clapping, shouting, or responding when the Pastor prompts you to do so during the message.

Somebody HONOR Somebody, Pt.4 [stevejesmer.com]

2011-03-12T01:00:00.002-05:00

This is reposted from www.stevejesmer.com.

HONOR GOD WITH YOUR WEALTH - BRING THE FULL TITHE & LIVE SACRIFICIALLY

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. (Proverbs 3:9 NLT)

I love tithing. A tithe literally means "a tenth" or 10%. It is God's way of teaching the heart to always honor Him. Why does He use money? Because money is the greatest competitor for our heart's HONOR & WORSHIP!

We all like to treat money like its our god. We often believe that money will make everything better. We think, "If I just had a little more money then my life would be so much better." But that is a lie, because everytime we get that little more money, our lives aren't any better, we still have the same stresses that money brought in the first place. Why? Because so often we believe that MORE, MEANS MORE FOR ME.

Instead, the Bible teaches that we should GIVE IN PROPORTION TO WHAT WE GET. This is talking about tithing. God says, I have given you everything you own. In fact, all of my stuff is really God's stuff. And God says that He wants His portion. When I bring back God's portion, the tithe, I am really honoring God with all of my wealth/stuff.Bringing the full tithe (which means I bring back 10% of my gross income to the local church as an act of trust & obedience) is not a suggestion but a command, and certainly one with a huge promise of blessing (Mal.3:10).

It's easy to say that I HONOR GOD, OR LOVE GOD, BUT IF I'M NOT HONORING HIM WITH MY WEALTH, THEN I'M NOT HONORING HIM WITH MY LIFE!

The God of the Bible is so worthy of our best. He is not a God of leftovers, He gave us His best, His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us His best on the cross to save us from our sins and give us eternal life with Him. Now, He honors us by calling us to GIVE OUR BEST TO HIM!

Tithing is not the ceiling, it is the floor. Tithing is the starting point of obedience level giving. Once you have grown in your trust of God, its time to learn how to give above & beyond the tithe. This often means re-orienting your lifestyle in such a way that you "seek the kingdom of God first" in an effort to build God's kingdom, grow God's church, and invest in eternity!

Somebody HONOR Somebody, Pt.3 [stevejesmer.com]

2011-03-11T01:00:00.003-05:00

This is reposted from www.stevejesmer.com.

CELEBRATION AND EXPECTATION HONOR GOD

Then I will praise God's name with singing, and I will honor Him with thanksgiving. (Psalms 69:30 NLT)

At The Dialogue Church, we are very intentional about creating a culture of celebration and expectation. On the weekends every staff member, every ministry director, every team leader, & every volunteer work very hard to create an atmosphere of celebration and expectation. We truly believe that JESUS IS GOING TO CHANGE LIVES LIKE NEVER BEFORE! We are privileged to serve Him!

Every week we are intentional about clapping, hooting, and hollering about LIFE CHANGE! Whenever one sinner turns to follow Jesus all of heaven throws the biggest block party! And we want to celebrate what heaven celebrates! So, we clap, we yell, we chant, we passionately lift up the name of Jesus through singing, preaching, giving, serving, and leading!

A culture of passionate celebration over the blessings of God and His greatness HONORS GOD! Anything less would be sinful! When we honor God in this passionate celebratory way, it not only honors God but draws the lost to Him as well!

BUT WATCH-OUT BECAUSE HONOR IS INFECTIOUS!

A culture of expectation is all about BELIEVING THAT JESUS IS GOING TO DO WHAT HE ALREADY PROMISED HE WOULD DO, BUILD HIS CHURCH! A culture of expectation is "BELIEVING JESUS AT HIS WORD", it's about FAITH. And it's impossible to please God without faith. So a culture of expectation pleases God! Every leader has to own this in the church so he/she can pour it into each volunteer team member!

When you come to church, come believing God for the impossible! He is still in the life changing, church building, and eternity altering business!

Somebody HONOR Somebody, Pt.2 [stevejesmer.com]

2011-03-10T01:00:00.003-05:00

This is reposted from www.stevejesmer.com.

HONOR IS A MATTER OF THE HEART: ATTITUDE & APPROACH

Honor is not simply what you say, but HOW you say it. Honor is not simply what you do, but HOW you do it. It's about attitude and approach.

Teach me Your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You. (Psalms 86:11 NLT)

HONOR HAPPENS IN THE HEART.

Honor happens first in the heart. Honor is homegrown in the heart. Honor is honed in the humble of heart.A pure heart honors God. A heart that honors grows pure. An impure heart dishonors God. Dishonor corrupts the heart.You can't honor when your motives are impure, no matter what your lips might be saying.

So, church leader, ministry team member, Christ-follower, husband, wife, teenager, mom, dad, teacher - HOW IS YOUR HEART?

Do you approach Jesus, His Church, your ministry, your pastor, your spouse, God's House with an attitude of gratitude or with impure selfish motives? You can't fake honor without failing your own heart.

Somebody HONOR Somebody, Pt.1 [stevejesmer.com]

2011-03-09T14:47:00.004-05:00

Reposted from www.stevejesmer.com. Follow Pastor Steve Jesmer on Twitter @stevejesmer.

It's time to BRING HONOR BACK to the House!For far too long we have removed Gods House from our Homes and our Homes from God's House! It's time we BRING HIS HOUSE & HIS HONOR BACK! It's time we bring HIS HOUSE back into OUR HOMES, and OUR HOMES back into HIS HOUSE!

Recently, at the C3 2011 Conference hosted by Ed Young (www.edyoung.com) at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX there was an explosion of HONOR IN THE HOUSE! Some have called it an HONORFEST! i LOVE iT! I started my own study on HONOR and have stolen a lot from Pastor Ed Young and the other speakers at this conference; I also stole a lot from Pastor Anthony Milas and his notes on the conference (www.anthonymilas.net).

Here are some of learnings from honor! And I HOPE TO STIR UP AN HONOR-REVOLUTION IN YOUR HOME & GOD'S HOUSE!

HONOR STARTS FROM GOD & COMES FROM GOD

My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. (Psalms 62:7 NLT)

God is all about honor. In fact, my friend Pastor Buddy Crememans (www.buddycremeans.com) like to say, GOD HONORS HONOR!

The culture is all jacked up about honor. We don't want to honor our parents, we don't want to honor our elders, we don't want to honor city officials, teachers, authorities (such as police officers, fire fighters, etc...), we don't honor the president (not to mention pray for him as the Bible actually commands we do), and HONOR HAS BEEN LOST IN GOD'S HOUSE! It's time to bring honor back.

All HONOR COMES FROM GOD AND RETURNS BACK TO GOD.

So when you honor up, you honor all the way up to the Lord Jesus Christ! When you honor out, IT'S GONNA GET BACK TO GOD!

People are watching you and how YOU HONOR! How you honor will determine how they honor. I don't expect a guest to know our church's culture, but I do expect our staff, ministry leaders, and volunteers to learn and embrace the culture of honor!

I've Got Your Back Lord

2011-03-04T16:59:00.004-05:00

In case your not aware of this Jesus had the most CUTTING EDGE ministry of his day. People everywhere were experiencing life change, being baptized, and following the Lord as a result of what He was doing. Here are some of the cool things Jesus was doing with His church that separated him from the religious organizations of His day...

Jesus focused on RELATIONSHIPS not RULES
Jesus didn't focus on how screwed up people were, He focused on what they could be
Jesus took time to live in COMMUNITY
Jesus attended events, and hung with people "HE WASN'T SUPPOSE TOO"
Jesus focused on GRACE AND TRUTH
Jesus MET people where they were
Jesus drew CROWDS
Jesus taught in COMPELLING and CREATIVE ways
Jesus GAVE freely, sacrificially, and unconditionally
Jesus focused on peoples HEARTS

And just when you think everyone would want to do what Jesus was doing, especially the "religious" crowd, just the opposite was true. It wasn't enough for lives to be forever changed, to see people baptized, healing take place and JOY to fill communities. And because it wasn't enough, Jesus' ministry came under attack. The religious people of Jesus' day who did not want to submit to the WORD OF GOD, or the GOD OF THE WORD did the same thing that many "religious" "Christian" people do today. When a person doesn't want to submit and follow authority they question it, buck it, and attack it.

MARK 11:27-28, "27 Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 28 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”

Hey Jesus they said, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LEAD! Hey Jesus WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? Hey Jesus, since WE DON'T WANT TO do things the way you do them, so we're going to kill you, your movement AND YOUR PEOPLE. Guess what they FAILED! GRANITE we do what we do because JESUS IS OUR AUTHORITY and has called us to a unique mission. And when that MISSION IS QUESTIONED, don't back down, Jesus didn't back down, he said he would answer them if they first answered a question He had. So here are a a few questions you can ask a naysayer...

1. Who have you led to Jesus recently

2. Whose small group are you in

3. How much money do you give to the Lord through the church

4. What ministry are you leading

5. Who are you discipling

6. How much money are you giving to feed starving kids in a communist nation

The truth is those who are too busy with the work, have a hard time being critical of the work. Those who have much invested in the work, become protective of the work. Those who have died to self and love for Christ realize its not about what I want, my comfort, or even my needs, because Jesus has my back. But the question is do I have His back, do you have His back, or are you QUESTIONING HIS AUTHORITY because your unwilling to pay the price! I'm all in Lord.

LEADERS LEAD

2011-02-02T16:55:00.002-05:00

In the book GO BIG the author suggests as goes the pastor so goes the church. In the GRANITE CONTEXT I would put it this way, AS GOES THE MINISTRY LEAD SO GOES THAT MINISTRY. We are a team oriented, team driven church, meaning, as LEAD PASTOR allot of sharing has been given out in our ministry, with the PRIVILEGE comes incredible RESPONSIBILITY. One of the things I have been encouraging our MINISTRY LEADS in 2011 is to GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE MINISTRY AND ONTO THE MINISTERS. As a HIGH LEVEL LEADER you cannot afford to get bogged down in programs and must stayed focused on people, your ministry people.

Eph. 4:11-12, encourages us to EQUIP SAINTS, not to run programs. Programs are important but they do not warrant our attention tot he point of neglecting our teams. It will be our team members who will provide healthy programs, as we pour our lives in maintaining healthy leaders.

So lets make this post a little more interactive than usual and throw out some ideas on how to LOVE ON and INVEST in our teams. So what have you done in the past, or what are you thinking of doing in the future, to LEAD YOUR LEADERS? I want to hear some of your ideas.

Great Blog from Perry Noble

2011-01-26T22:04:00.002-05:00

Seven Gut Check Questions For Staff Members

I shared these questions with our staff here at NewSpring Church in last weeks staff meeting and thought it might be helpful if I shared them here on my website.

#1 – Would I attend this church if I were not on staff? If the answer is “no” then you should resign…immediately. God hasn’t called people in the ministry to work with a half hearted effort…and if you don’t believe in the vision/mission of your church enough to say that you would be there if they were not paying you then I am afraid your hearts isn’t there anyway.

#2 – Would I volunteer in the area I am working in if I were not on staff? This question speaks to motive…if you would not volunteer to do the job you are being paid to do then, once again, you’ve got to ask if your heart is really there. (If you do not LOVE what you do then you are not going to be able to do what Scripture commands in Philippians 2:14 and Colossians 3:23-24).

#3 – Do I feel entitled? There is nothing worse than a staff member (including a senior pastor) who has an entitlement mentality. These people believe the church has latched on to them and would sink if they were to leave (which is never the case.) Reality is the church doesn’t owe anyone…she’s God’s Bride and we (volunteers and staff) are the ones who latched on to her in regards to our gifts being pulled out of us and developed for HIS Kingdom.

#4 – Am I a tither? If you are not tithing and giving generously to your church…your heart isn’t there. Don’t argue with me…JESUS said it! (Matthew 6:21) Also…how in the world can someone who claims to have integrity work on a church and spent the tithe money of other people when they are not actually giving any themselves?

#5 – How clean is my office/work area? The answer to this question determines how well a person is willing to steward the resources that God allows them to use…AND how they feel about the church as a whole. (And…a staff member CAN and should be held accountable for this.)

#6 – How much do I complain about my job? A staff member who is always complaining most likely is not operating in their area of gifting. I’ve told my staff, “I KNOW your job is hard…it’s ministry, we’re on the front lines. A marine on the front lines in a way is never surprised when someone shoots at him…he doesn’t begin to whine and tell people how hard his job is. Ministry is, hands down, the hardest job you will EVER have!

#7 – Am I concerned about my particular area/team…OR about the church as a whole? Staff members need to be willing to have uncomfortable conversations with people if they ever perceive something to be “off mission”…even if it is not in their direct area of responsibility. A staff is a team…and everything impacts everything else. Staff members who fail to realize this will eventually create silos that actually begin to compete with other departments on staff rather than partnering with other staff members to kick satan in his cookies and advance God’s Kingdom!

2011 - ARE YOU READY?

2011-01-04T20:24:00.003-05:00

You better be because we're here! 2011 is here and its fully intent on moving ahead with or without us, the nerve! As leaders in a growing and going church one of the hardest things we will ever have to do is to stay AHEAD of the church. In other words, we have to have a clear understanding of where we are headed, how we will lead to the desired destination, and what are the the necessary steps to take to get us to where God wants us to go and then the courage to take our church on this journey.

One of the things I will be moving our team towards is getting our hands OFF THE MINISTRY and ONTO THE MINISTERS. I'm not going to elaborate on that just yet, I want it to simmer a little bit.

So let me ask you, did 2010 go as expected for you as a leader? Whether it did or didn't THE PAST IS THE PAST, with all its successes and failures, THE PAST IS THE PAST. So embrace THE NOW, but begin this year with the END IN MIND. Fast forward to 2012, and write out what "happened" in 2011. As your writing, make sure its GOD SIZED! When your finished writing what "happened" in 2011, and your believe its God sized, begin WORKING BACKWARDS in making your part of JESUS' DREAM for GRANITE a reality.

Lastly, why not take a risk and share you 2011 story with someone on the team!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

2010-12-22T12:46:00.003-05:00

In just a few hours we will be kicking off the first of five Christmas benefit concert at GRANITE. My heart is racing, my head is pounding, and my hands are cold and sweaty, I know disgusting, and snow is falling from the sky. All of this because of the anticipation of watching Jesus do amazing things in peoples lives as we Celebrate His birthday! But there is something else that is on my mind, THE AMAZING TEAM WE ARE BLESSED WITH AT GRANITE.

I am so grateful for the TEAM Jesus has brought together at GRANITE. I have the privilege of rubbing shoulders with some serious KINGDOM MINDED people. I know the next few nights at GRANITE are going to be amazing, but I also know that God does His best work through His kids, and trust the kids on our TEAM are AMAZING! I wish every pastor could be blessed like I am blessed, that every church could benefit from hundreds of leaders like GRANITE has. TEAM I love you all, and appreciate you so much. It is an honor to serve Jesus along side of you. Because of you, lives are going to be forever changed, how exciting is that!

LET'S DO THIS THING!

Pull the TRIGGER!

2010-11-16T07:41:00.004-05:00

PULL THE TRIGGER is a common expression meaning to make a decision that causes an important action to take place. So what decision have you been toying with making that just needs to be made? Here are some thoughts about making decisions...

1. DECISIONS are necessary for the dream of Jesus to advance.

2. DECISIONS are not about being popular, they are about doing right.

3. RIGHT DECISIONS will make a ministry, WRONG DECISIONS will break a ministry.

4. DECISIONS should be made in light of WHAT SHOULD BE, NOT WHAT IS

5. DECISIONS force us to think forward

6. DECISIONS are what leaders do

7. DECISIONS should be well thought out

These are just some random thoughts off the top of my little brain. What DECISION do you need to PULL THE TRIGGER ON?

VISION for GREATER THINGS

2010-11-13T11:42:00.003-05:00

Andy Stanley in his book "VISIONEERING" says that visions are born in the soul of a man or woman who is consumed with the tension of WHAT IS and WHAT COULD BE. Every time I think about these words I get fired up! I get fired up dreaming that God has...

So much more for GRANITE
So much more for New England
So much more for our kids, students and families
So much more for His Kingdom
So many more campuses to start
So many more church to plant
So many more groups to start
So many more souls to be saved
So many more disciples to be made

If we are going to live inside the tension of WHAT COULD BE, we need to get to the point of becoming DISCONTENT with WHAT IS. That doesn't mean we don't take time to celebrate WHAT IS, it means we use what God is doing as the fuel to move us beyond WHAT IS to WHAT COULD BE. God has so much more, I believe it with all my heart, but we need to move into becoming leaders who are not leading from the point of WHERE WE ARE, but leaders who are leading and making decisions for WHERE WERE GOING.

But in order to lead from the vantage point of WHERE WERE GOING, you have to have a VISION for what that is, what that looks like, and what it will take as a leader to GET THERE. VISION doesn't worry about parking spaces, seat capacity, or building size, it doesn't focus on the hundreds that are connected but on the thousands who need to be connected. This is where we begin transitioning from WHAT IS to WHAT COULD BE!

Vision carries with it a a sense of urgency and expectancy, and drives us to REFUSE TO STAY WHERE WE ARE. So let me ask you, WHAT DO YOU SEE? Do you see WHAT IS or do you see WHAT COULD BE? Are you leading for WHAT IS, or are creating teams and systems for WHAT COULD BE? Are you coasting and basking in WHAT IS? Or are you pushing yourself and leading your teams to the edge of WHAT COULD BE?

Granite is at a HUGE HUGE CROSSROAD a DEFINING MOMENT, and we will be making GOD SIZED DECISIONS in the next few weeks. If you are stalled at WHAT IS you will become overwhelmed, but if you step into the realm of WHAT COULD BE, you will find yourself overjoyed at the thought of WHAT GOD WILL DO through you!

Its your call!

I'm Just Saying...

2010-11-04T15:59:00.003-04:00

I want to take time to say THANK YOU to some people who have BLESSED me big time! October was pastor appreciation month and I was reminded once again how BLESSED I am, but I also know like a quarterback who gets too much credit when the football team wins and to much criticism when they lose, I know that there are a lot of people who make GRANITE what she is...

I'M JUST SAYING...I have the most amazing wife! I am blessed to be married to MY BEST FRIEND of almost 25 years! Lots of people refer to the spouse as their best friend, CHRISTY is my best friend. There isn't a person on the planet I would want to spend every minute of every day with more than her. Christy has a passion for the Lord and His work and it is awesome having a partner like her to serve Jesus with. THANK YOU Christy, I LOVE YOU!

I'M JUST SAYING...I have been blessed with an incredible TEAM! I have the privilege of working with an amazing pastoral team who go above and beyond to see the Dream of Jesus come alive in New England through GRANITE UNITED. I wouldn't want to do ministry with any other team, I love you guys and your families, and I thank the Lord everyday for the chance to be part of such amazing people! THANK YOU pastors and pastors wives for always striving to bring glory to Jesus!

I'M JUST SAYING...I have been blessed with a phenomenal team of H.L.L.'s (HIGH LEVEL LEADERS). These are the people who work countless hours to make sure Jesus is high and lifted up at GRANITE. It humbles me every time I think of your dedication and watch how much you willingly as volunteers go ABOVE and BEYOND the call of duty. It is because of you that lives are being changed every week, I am so grateful that God has brought you into my life and our church, THANK YOU for all you do!

I'M JUST SAYING...I have been blessed with a SECOND TO NONE church family. Honestly if I wasn't a pastor the GRANITE family would be the family I would want to be a part of. I am so proud and honored to pastor such an amazing church family. Although we are not perfect, we are in this together! I love you church, and THANK YOU for loving me, dreaming with me, and working with me to bring New England to the cross of Jesus.

I'M JUST SAYING...JESUS YOU ARE WORTHY! THANK YOU JESUS for not only loving enough to doe for me, but for taking me and using me. I am blown away that you would choose me, but i want you to know I will give my life to see your dream for the world come true. My we never forget that although we are to give honor to whom honor is due, the truth is ALL GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST! I love you Lord Jesus, and THANK YOU for the privilege and honor of serving you in this capacity.

THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to send us cards, emails, facebook posts, and so much more. I am humbled by your love!

It Could Be Me

2010-10-29T18:27:00.004-04:00

This past week I was involved in a conversation where I was told the music we sing at church is not worshipful. And like all conversations I really try to walk away from them and ask the Lord WHAT He is wanting me to learn from conversations like these. It also has caused me to take a fresh look at the WORSHIP SONGS we sing at GRANITE because everything we do it is intended to bring glory to God. So first what did I learn from the conversation?

Our team must always, always, always, share WHY we do WHAT we do CONSTANTLY, because vision leaks and there are always new people who need to be brought up to speed. We must stop thinking that something said once is enough, IT ISN'T, especially when it concerns our worship services. We must CONSTANTLY be reinforcing the vision.

So that is one of the things I walked away with as a leader, so what about the songs we use during our worship services? Well there is a difference between the songs we use to build bridges and the songs we use to offer worship to God.

BRIDGE BUILDING SONGS - These songs are nothing more than modern day parables that we use to meet people where they are. I'm pretty sure there was nothing spiritual about sparrows when Jesus used them in one of His talks, but what a great illustration they turned out to be, Jesus said if God takes care of them, He is more than capable of taking care of us. Oh by the way, the religious crowd of Jesus' day HATED the way He spoke and taught, INTERESTING. These BRIDGE BUILDING SONGS are simply a way for us to establish common ground with people who do not understand CHRISTIANEZE in order to prepare them to hear the LIFE CHANGING message of Jesus Christ. If I'm not mistaken, there was this Jewish Rabbi named Jesus Christ who used the same approach. That's right God, clothed in human flesh used modern day stories and the language of His culture to prepare peoples hearts to hear His Fathers story. HHHMMMMM, if Jesus did it, I say it's a pretty good plan for GRANITE to follow.

WORSHIP SONGS - These are songs that are intended to OFFER TO GOD PRAISE. Songs sung to Him, not simply about Him. So are the songs that we are singing good worship songs? Well I read the lyrics and guess what they actually sing to and about the Lord, who would have thunk it! When your in church this weekend don't just follow along and sing, concentrate on the words of the songs, you will be amazed how awesome they are.

The truth is LIFE IS SHORT, ETERNITY IS LONG, and the STAKE ARE WAY TO HIGH for us to allow our church to have empty discussions about music. So I have some suggestions. If someone is looking for Choir music, traditional hymns packaged up in suites and ties then send them over to my good friend Danial at Marsh Corner Community Church, he is a great pastor with an amazing heart for God. If someone wants a church that is a praise and worship church send them to CROSSRAODS in Pelham, Matt Kyzer is a great pastor with an amazing church. If someone is looking for a church that is edger in their music approach then send them or encourage them to GRANITE.

What's the point? The point is within 15 minutes of our church are some great churches doing some great things, but doing them differently. We are called to be GRANITE, MARSH is called to be MARSH and CROSSROADS is called to be CROSSRAODS. Different strokes for different folks, different ministries philosophies to reach different people. All churches are necessary to reach all types of people. Different churches do not exist to compete with one another, the heart of God is that they would complete each other by reaching only those they can reach, while the other churches reach those they can reach.

I am proud of how our church has grown and I look forward to reaching NEW ENGLAND for Jesus. So to all the vision vandals out there, you need to know, THE DREAM OF JESUS IS NOT FOR SALE AT GRANITE. We are determined to do church for THE ONE who church is for and about, JESUS CHRIST.

And just one more thing before I close. I got to thinking just how selfish is it really for one or two or ever a dozen people to want to change what HUNDREDS of others enjoy worshiping to? Why is that your way is the right way? Why is it that if we don;t do things your way, you will walk away? Why is it that your commitment to the church is only as deep as the church meeting your needs? Here's a thought if hundreds of people are engaging in worship all around you, and your one of the few who aren't engaged in worship, maybe, just maybe it could be you that needs to change, hhhmmmmm.

To all my pastor brothers, lets never stop learning, leaders are learners, but lets not back down from God's dream and plan for His church over a few disgruntled voices.

PEACE!

GREAT EXPECTATIONS #2

2010-10-25T15:08:00.002-04:00

So time to get back on track! So if it's true and I believe it is that God will grow GRANITE to the expectation level we have, let me ask you WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING? Is what you are expecting so HUGE that is demands that God show up? Or is what you're are dreaming...

SAFE
BORING
MORE OF THE SAME

Or is what you're dreaming

SCARY
INSPIRATIONAL
NUTS

For years people use to ask me why we had so much "staff" (mostly volunteer HHL's) like we do today. The answer always was and is, I believe we should staff ourselves for where we're going, not for where we are, so with your present team are you...

IN A POSITION TO DOUBLE YOUR MINISTRY SIZE
IN A POSITION TO UNLEASH ANOTHER CAMPUS
IN A POSITION TO WALK AWAY WITHOUT YOUR MINISTRY MISSING A BEAT

Let's Remember our ministry will not outgrow our vision. Our leadership structure will not outgrow our vision, our impact will not outgrow our vision. We are where we want to be, the question is, WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO? The question is WHERE ARE YOU TAKING YOUR MINISTRY?

Pastor I Love You BUT...

2010-10-24T19:46:00.005-04:00

Oh how I love conversations that start out like that because they always go down a road I don't like traveling. However I am not the only one that gets the Ole I love you BUT...Jesus Himself got that during His earthly ministry and He still gets it today Now trust me in NO WAY am I putting myself or any pastor on the same level as Jesus THAT WOULD JUST BE PLAIN STUPID, I think you would agree! I am however saying these conversations aren't new.

Jesus I love you, BUT I don't have time to serve you

Jesus I love you, BUT I can't trust you with my money

Jesus I love you, BUT I think I can handle this one on my own

Jesus I love you, BUT I sharing you is asking for a little too much

Jesus I love you, BUT Sunday is my day not Your day

Jesus I love you, BUT______________________________

It's nothing new even when Pilot said I find no fault in Him, the crowd cried back "we will not have this man rule over us". From the world to the "church" the conversation is all the same, and usually (not always) very selfish, self-centered, and focused on me, myself, and I. Now don't get me wrong, most of these conversations take place with good people who for some reason have found themselves in a bad place.

What pastors typically hear is something along the lines of PASTOR I LOVE YOU...

BUT the church isn't deep enough

BUT the church isn't meeting our needs

BUT all this church talks about is money

BUT the music's too loud

BUT the church is too big

BUT I'm not being fed

BUT we just want something different

BUT _________________________

What pastors don't hear are things like PASTOR I LOVE YOU...

BUT I just don't want to attend a maturity course

BUT I don't want to serve I want to be served

BUT I don't want to be a generous giver

BUT I want our church to be what I want it to be

BUT I don't want to feed myself

BUT I don't want to INVEST and INVITE the lost

BUT _______________________________

I know this won't be a popular post, BUT...

I'm thinking about a church planting friend who stepped out in faith to bring the life changing message of Jesus to a lot of people who have been saved, only to hear many on the launch team say, seeing lives forever changed isn't what we thought we were getting into, WE'RE LEAVING

I'm thinking about one of my boys who is a senior pastor (I have a number of them out there) who's church voted him in to lead, but the church didn't want him to lead, they wanted him to follow, so people are being "LED" TO LEAVE

I'm thinking of a friend of mine who pastors a church that is arguing over things that aren't even biblical while the people living right outside their church doors are dying and going to hell because their leaders won't follow their pastor, the man chosen by God to lead, so many are being "LED" TO LEAVE

I am thinking of myself and our Pastoral team. After an amazing weekend of seeing about a dozen people surrender to Jesus for salvation, after being pulled aside and hearing the story of a womans sister coming to Jesus in church after years of prayer, after being pulled aside by a person who was saved today who was so broken we never were able to talk because of her tears, after watching HUNDREDS of people take the garbage out, and spending time a sweet time around the Lord's Table, and after receiving some pastor appreciation cards, I got the OLE' Pastor I love you BUT...

To all the I love you pastor, BUT PEOPLE, I want to say this on behalf of all of us pastors, we love you, BUT...

Life is short and eternity is too long, we will refuse to do church for you, we are committed to doing church for the glory of Jesus Christ
People really do die and those close to us and far from God will remain our mission, and we think you will be very happy it did, when you stand before God as one of His kids
We understand it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people, and it makes us sad if you're not happy but if our church isn't for you find one that is
God calls one man on His behalf to lead His church, our responsibility is to lead, so we will lead without apology
We have made a promise to church planters and missionaries and we refuse to walk away from that commitment for convenience sake
We have a responsibility to our children to show them Jesus is worth giving our all for
But are called to take up our crosses and to follow Jesus, not you

Make no mistake it hurts and it stinks when a pastor hears that a person/family is "LED" TO LEAVE the church, especially if there were years of investing in that person/family that has taken place. HOWEVER, we are committed to giving our all to THE ONE who has given His all for us. And you can talk, and you can walk, but we ready to lay down, to lay down our lives for the Dream of Jesus Christ! It's not easy but it is worth it and we will not give up!

So how do you respond to a post like this, I'm not really sure, but I do have a one thought, maybe we can help people changes their BUTTS to ANDS. Pastor I love you...

AND I am fully behind you - (Don't take for granted he knows that)

AND you can call me anytime for any reason for anything - (pastors need team players)

AND I have your back - (A threefold cord is not quickly broken)

AND I'm all in for the Dream of Jesus - (Actions speak louder than words)

AND I love your family - (Pastor/Husband/Father/Friend/Son/Brother/etc.)

AND I want to honor you by...

AND I realize you have feelings, so how are you doing

AND I will protect, encourage, prayer, you as God's man

AND ________________________________________

You might read this post and wonder if I am discouraged, let me answer that for you, NO WAY- NOT A LITTLE BIT, Jesus is doing to many great things in our church and I will not give the devil or any person that much leverage to tear down what God is building up. What's the key for me? Believing with all my heart that GRANITE is on the right track, heading in the right direction, committed to seeing NEW ENGLAND KNOW JESUS! It's not easy but who said it would be!

To all my pastor friends, I love you keep on keeping on! Jesus is worth it, your family is worth it, your community is worth it, eternity is worth it! Don't you give up, don't you walk away, don't you get mad, don't you throw in the towel, JESUS is worth our best during the good, bad and the ugly!

To all of our church families at GRANITE and around the country who said this month, Pastor I love you...

AND here are some movie tickets, THANK YOU

AND here is a card of love and appreciation - THANK YOU

AND here is some cash, take your wife out - THANK YOU

AND here is a shout out on FACEBOOK - THANK YOU

AND ____________________________________

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You make serving Jesus in our churches a JOY and together we are making a difference!

GREAT EXPECTATION

2010-10-21T10:15:00.003-04:00

Question - The DREAM YOUR DREAMING right now, that vision that you have in your heart right now, HOW BIG IS IT? Is it manageable? Is it attainable? Is it SAFE? Team we are called to GO BIG or GO HOME when its comes to the DREAM OF JESUS, so we need to begin asking ourselves some questions. So My question is, HOW BIG IS IT, the dream , thats in your heart for what God has called you too. When you think about it, is it...

making your heart race a little faster
getting your pulse pumping and popping
taking your breathe away
keeping you up at night
forcing you on your knees before FATHER
WORTH GIVING YOUR LIFE TOO
WORTH ASKING OTHERS TO GIVE THEIR LIVES TOO

Our church, your ministry, is doing exactly what you EXPECT IT TO BE DOING. So do you...

Need to REFOCUS
Need to FEFUEL
Need to RELAUNCH
Need to RETHINK
Need to REDO
Need to RETRAIN
Need to RECAST
Need to REEVALUATE

Team GRANITE UNITED its time to put this baby into another gear. So consider the questions, because HERE WE GO AGAIN! I love what we get to do for Jesus, what a blast!!!!!!

October 2010 Friend Day

2010-10-07T18:11:00.000-04:00

SALEM CAMPUS COMING TOGETHER

2010-08-23T20:20:00.003-04:00

I am STINKEN EXCITED! There is so much going on, on the Salem campus in preparation for our campus relaunch. I am blown away by the people who are willing to step up and go the extra mile in preparing God's House for the next step in our Journey. Seriously, some of these guys are here 10 plus hours a day, like I said I am blown away and incredibly thankful for them everyone who is busting it to make this happen.

I can't help but think that all of this work ultimately comes down to one thing THE GLORY OF GOD. I know lives are going to be forever changed by Jesus, and people who Jesus died for will come to life and begin honoring God as their Lord and Savior, that's awesome! That's what makes all this hard work and long days worth every minute.

There will be a lot of cleaning to do this weekend and we need all hands on deck! I keep hearing over and over again I would be there but I don't know how to... Well if you can use a broom, wash a wall, clean a window then this Saturday from 10am-1pm is your time to shine. We will be having a massive church cleaning day and I encourage everyone to show up.

Okay that's it for now. Time to go home.

Got To Love It

2010-08-22T16:49:00.004-04:00

I am NOT venting in this post, I am simply sharing with you some of the crazy yet humorous things that happened in the past 7 days.

1. We had a former family who left our church a couple of years ago try to recruit one of our faithful families because we don't teach or use the Bible at GRANITE.

2. We had a family leave the church this week because we are to strict on how we teach the Bible and how serious we are about it.

3. I had a "christian" family tell me they left the church because of that darn rock and roll music we use sometimes to open up our services.

4. I baptized a man last week at the lake who said he was tuned in from the moment we sang Livin' On A Prayer (sung during our prayer series, and it was awesome)

5. Was told by a man that our church is to strict when it comes to holiness and purity, so he needed to find a new church that his lifestyle could fit in with

6. Was told that a man in our church was approached by someone and encouraged to leave our church because we lack standards

7. This week our church gave $1,000 towards feeding, clothing, and educating orphans in Africa, and 17,000 the week before to feed 240,000 meals to starving people in a communist nation

8. This week a man told me he was done with GRANITE because we do nothing as far as the social Gospel is concerned.

I could go on and on, but I won't because the list is long, and if you are like me you don't care. There is only one person we need to please, and only one person we do church for, and only one person we will stand before and give an account to, JESUS! And it is JESUS we will continue lifting up, it is JESUS we will continue bragging about, it is JESUS we will continue to model our ministry after, and it is JESUS' opinion that will always reign supreme at GRANITE.

I'm sorry for those who may not like the way we do ministry, and I am happy for those who like the way we do ministry, but in the end, we need to ask HOW DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT THE WAY WE DO MINISTRY.

We will stay true to the DREAM OF JESUS for GRANITE, meaning we will continue to GROW our church, MULTIPLY campuses, and BIRTH network churches, all for God's glory. So when Jesus comes we will not be caught debating ministry models and philosophies, but we will get caught doing ministry seeing people lives forever changed through the power of God!

THERE IS A REASON WHY...

2010-07-07T15:51:00.004-04:00

Team there is a reason WHY we must as a ministry team become UNSTOPPABLE! The reasons are NOT...

So we can be the talk of the town
So we can have cool services
So that we can gather lots of people

WHY we must become UNSTOPPABLE is simple, without JESUS people die and go to hell and it doesn't have to be that way. My prayer is that we will never forget that although we want to build a great church that glorifies God, nothing brings God more glory than saving his lost children from a CHRISTLESS eternity, from hell. We must become UNSTOPPABLE, but as a leadership team we must let the reality of a literal hell burn a hole in our hearts. Jesus is counting on us, families are counting on us, moms, dads, teens, and kids are all counting on us to believe in the reality of a literal hell. Do we? May our actions speak louder then our words.

A hitman had been caught and was convicted of his crime. Waiting to be hanged, he was told by a priest that he was going to go to hell but that it was still not too late to repent. The hitman looked at him and replied, "You live such comfortable lives, you could not possibly believe in what you believe. If I believed in the hell that you preach, I would crawl the length of England on broken glass just to make one convert."

WOW! Now that's a challenge!

IT MEANS WHAT IT SAYS!

2010-06-13T19:42:00.002-04:00

In case we have forgotten the Bible is God's Word and being Gods Word it is the authority in our lives. As much as every follower of Jesus needs to pay attention to the WORD OF GOD those in ministry need to pay attention to the WORD on a HOLE NUTHA LEVEL. As LEADERS God calls us, commands us, expects us, REQUIRES us to live BLAMELESS and ABOVE REPROACH.

Titus 1:6-8, "⁶[These elders should be] men who are of unquestionable integrity and are irreproachable, the husband of [but] one wife, whose children are [well trained and are] believers, not open to the accusation of being loose in morals and conduct or unruly and disorderly. ⁷For the bishop (an overseer) as God's steward must be blameless, not self-willed or arrogant or presumptuous; he must not be quick-tempered or given to drink or pugnacious (brawling, violent); he must not be grasping and greedy for filthy lucre (financial gain); ⁸But he must be hospitable (loving and a friend to believers, especially to strangers and foreigners); [he must be] a lover of goodness [of good people and good things], sober-minded (sensible, discreet), upright and fair-minded, a devout man and religiously correct, temperate and keeping himself in hand." AMP

There ya go! I don't think its that difficult to see and understand the standard we are called too, it is HOLINESS and CHRIST LIKENESS and it is NOT AN OPTION. Our enemy will do whatever he can to get us to let down our guard, and to do something STUPID in the heat of a moment. And you better remember this, whats done in a moment may cost you for a LIFETIME!!!!!! Don't be DUMB!

To those on my team who will read this, I love you and God has huge plans for you and our church. Don't give one inch to the enemy, that stinken loser isn't worth it, and never forget real people, real souls are at stake. Remember the name and reputation of Jesus is at stake, and it is a name worth living for and protecting. GUARD YOURSELVES, because READY OR NOT HERE COMES THE ENEMY!

BLAMELESS MEANS BLAMELESS! ABOVE REPROACH MEANS ABOVE REPROACH! Read the Scriptures and take them to heart.

IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!

2010-06-12T10:10:00.002-04:00

As many of you know these are the famous words of the great Rick Warren in his book the PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, but in case you didn't know GOD SAID THEM FIRST! This month we are studying THE LORD'S PRAYER and you can't walk away from this prayer without the realization that the closer we get to FATHER the BIGGER HE GETS and the SMALLER WE BECOME. I think for the first time in my life and ministry I am beginning to understand just how the attitudes SELF-CENTERDNESS , WHAT ABOUT ME, and THATS NOT FAIR break the heart of God. How sad to see so many "CHRISTIANS" more concerned "ABOUT ME" then they are about HIM, about the HEART and PASSIONS of JESUS. I personally am challenged by this and want my life to be all about Christ and not about me.

As followers of Christ may we never forget we are called to do ONE THING, DIE. Die to self! Then and only then can we take up the cross and follow Him. My prayer for my life is MORE DYING, for Granite MORE DYING, for our leadership MORE DYING. Because in the words of we must lose OUR LIVES to FIND REAL LIFE.

LEAVE YOUR MARK

2010-05-02T21:05:00.002-04:00

We began a new series today about how to LEAVE YOUR MARK in this world for the GLORY OF GOD. What a day it was, wish amazing worship, energy energy energy from God's kids who were fired up, and a message that took a peek at the FACEBOOK pages of Dr. Luke and Demas.

It was cool seeing God's church being stretched to grow and 6 adults UPDATE their relational status with Jesus, yahoo! It is so amazing each and every week to be able to be part of a work of God that is fresh, relevant, and life changing. As always I am so proud of our team of dedicated people who make Sundays happen. We have hundreds of people who for nothing other than their love for Jesus and people who serve without recognition every week. These are the people who are the unsung hero's of GRANITE UNITED. The heart behind all that gets done and the lives that are being forever changed by Jesus! What an honor to pastor such an amazing church!

Why we do what we do!

2010-04-30T08:21:00.002-04:00

Last night I received the following email and it fired my up, so I thought I would share it.

Pastor Anthony,

let me start by saying Thank you! My daughter Christina started going to the youth group with a friend..and that has transpired into 6+ members of our family attending Granite United each Sunday morning. - I have not missed a week since we first went on Easter. Both of my girls ask me to go each week! My 19 year old daughter has been going to meetings and getting more involved on her own! Absolutely amazing!

I was raised a Catholioc all my life but like many others never felt like i fit in or really understood or learned a lot. I have been reading my new Bible since it was given to me on my first day and I feel so much better.

I have to admit...i have always been a skeptic of anything new - especially a new Church but at my own pace I have been trying to slowly find my way and get involved a little more. I truely would like to thank you and all members of Granite United for making me and my family feel so welcome!!

Have a wonderful evening!!
See you Sunday!!

AWESOME now if that doesn't throw some logs on the fire nothing will!

I'm Back!

2010-04-28T21:04:00.004-04:00

But where did I go? I don't really know, how is that for an answer! This picture was taken at Caley's wedding shower where she received a lot of cool gifts that she has no idea what to do with, like all those pots and pans, lol! Things have been crazy busy with so much stuff going on in our church and in our family, most of it exciting, all of it requiring us to trust God!

Recently we had our one day staff retreat and I am so excited to see the growth of our team and how serious they take the mission on Jesus to reach New England by growing our church, multiplying campuses, and planting network churches. I am blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people most of which are volunteer leaders who just go the extra mile.

This weekend we start a new series called LEAVE YOUR MARK, a series on how our legacy will outlive all of us. I'm excited about this series as I think it will help stretch our church and challenge us to take the gift of life God has given us and make the most of it.

Anyway I just wanted to check in and get my BLOG ON, lol! Talk to you soon.

Post Easter Excitement

2010-04-06T20:52:00.003-04:00

Well were a couple of days past Easter and as the dust settles and I look back I am grateful for a number of things:

1. A living Savior risen, reigning, and coming again!!!!!!
2. A church that is on fire for the DREAM OF JESUS
3. The newly saved that were brought into the family of God this weekend
4. Amazing leaders that refuse to sell out, step down, or walk away, but willingly give it all, step
up, and walk the way.
5. For our awesome network churches who take reaching New England seriously
6. For answered prayer
7. For spouses reaching spouses for Jesus
8. For the freedom to do church in a way that brings glory to God
9. For finally breaking 1,000 on our way to 2,000 with campuses everywhere

I love my Lord, I love my church, I love my family, and I love the fact that we get to do this all together!

CRAZY LOVE ANTICIPATION

2010-03-27T18:45:00.002-04:00

I just watched Kansas St. get upset by Butler who are now on their way to the final four. Pretty cool I have to admit, but it doesn't even compare to the excitement that takes place every Sunday worshiping Jesus and seeing lives forever changed at GRANITE. I saw guys pour their hearts out and gave it all they had to win a basketball game, again pretty cool, I love basketball! The effort of the ball players reminded me of all the amazing leaders we have at GRANITE who bring their "A" game every week to make a KINGDOM IMPACT! I love our church, I love our leaders, and I am so proud to be apart of such an amazing team.

Mission Mexico Day 3

2010-03-17T09:43:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to tell you a little bit about yesterday before we take off for the day because it was an incredible day.

1. We finished a total EXTREME MAKEOVER of a house for a husband and wife who are in the mid 90's. The were the founders of the churches we are working with. Their home literally had holes all over the outside that we cemented, broken windows not cracked broken that we took out and replaced, and we painted the entire outside of the home.

2. We went to a children's home where 250 plus kids live. These are not orphans but they are kids whose parents make such little money that the parents literally work all day and all night to have nothing. We had the chance to play games with the kids, sing, beat the stuffing out of a pinyata, and just love on them.

3. Last night was the second night of doing a church service in the park. Linda and Hahn shared their stories on how they came to Christ, and was one of two preachers to speak. We saw God work in amazing ways with people being saved and others recommitting their lives to Jesus.

There were so many highlights throughout the day but i will share one very cool one. During the worship in the park the people were very quite and almost disconnected with what was going on, then all of the sudden I saw our GRANITE UNITED team step out and walk up in front of everybody and begin to just worship. It was a beautiful sight and within minutes the place was electrified, but here is the highlight. During the invitation a woman came forward and was called to the platform and she was asked why she had come. She said when I saw the JOY in those people singing and dancing I knew I did not have what they had, and she gave her heart to Jesus. How awesome is that!

Okay thats it for now time for me to talk to Christy, another highlight of my day!!!!!!!!

Mission Mexico Day 2

2010-03-16T01:47:00.002-04:00

I am sitting here exhausted trying to put into words what an amazing day today was. Remember we are running on less than 4 hours of sleep and just finished busting our butts for the past 12 hours. So this is going to be short and sweet and then I am going to go pass out. Some words i would use to describe today would be...

PROUD - Watching our church rise to the mission of Jesus in Mexico has been incredible. It will blow you away to hear what we are doing down here in the areas of construction, kids ministry, and church services. I caught myself today starring at our church people with a big smile on my face and thinking in my heart GO GRANITE!

AMAZED - Our church is running on less then 4 hours of sleep but that did not keep anyone from bringing their "A" game today. Our first stop was at a hospital where I watched our church handout copies of the Book of Romans, feed people, pray with people and help over 10 people connect to Jesus Christ.

HONORED - I am feel so honored to be the pastor of such an amazing church. People willing to extend the love of Jesus to people they do not know. I also feel honored that God not only saved me but has given me this chance to serve Him in the capacity that I do.

EXCITED - Knowing that Jesus is burning His mission for this world deeper into the hearts of our church people, how awesome is that.

The only thing that could have made this Mission better would be to have my beautiful Christy and family here with me. I miss them! Night.

Mission MEXICO Day 1

2010-03-15T10:11:00.003-04:00

Its 9:00PM Mexico time, which means its Midnight at home, meaning we have been traveling 16 hours and we have 3.5 hours left on the bus we are now on, YAHOO! It’s been a long day, but honestly we have had a ton of laughs and have begun making some cool memories as a church family. One of which is right now as I am sitting in the back of the bus next to the bathroom that has no toilet paper, doesn’t flush and hasn’t been cleaned maybe ever, lol. Everyone is tired but there is a real excitement in the air, no not from the smell of the bathroom, but at the thought of ministering in the name of Jesus a few hours from now. The lights are now off in the bus, it is very quiet, and it’s time to get some shut eye.

OH MY GOODNESS! So when I finished typing last night and turned my computer off, I shut my eyes and within about 15 minutes, our bus HIT A COW! Yep, we HIT A COW! It was crazy for a lot of reasons mostly because we HIT A COW and the other because when you HIT A COW on a major highway in MEXICO, you just can't leave it lying in the road, so we waited an 1.5 hours for the proper people to arrive to remove the COW WE HIT from the highway. CRAZY! Well we finally made it to the hotel about 4 hours ago, making the travel time a whopping 21 hours, HOLY COW, opps, poor cow, I guess I shouldn't say that, how about 21 hours of travel time holy smokes! Now we are up, getting ready, and about to go build something that by some miracle will remain standing after we leave, lol!

I'll write again later.

MAN TRIP 2010

2010-03-09T21:09:00.003-05:00

Just wanted everyone to know that Cody and I along with our friends the IDOL and Little Joey had an amazing time on our third annual man trip. Although it was a little cold and a bit rainy we made the most of our time away. We did both Universal Studio parks for two days, hit the Blue Man group, and like men! I love getting away every year with Cody and creating these memories, these are special times. Especially since the Codeman turned 16 this year. We are already talking about next year, maybe we will do a cowboy camp, or some deep sea fishing, maybe a walk-about. Who knows, all I know is that I am already looking forward to it.

I am a blessed man with an amazing family and church family. I don't deserve the blessings, but I am so thankful to the Lord for blessing me. My prayer as always is to take His blessings and to be a blessing. I don't want to squander the life and time God has given me. I want to invest all I have in my family, my church family, and God's kingdom work.

Me and My Son

2010-02-24T20:50:00.003-05:00

For the past three years Cody and I have started a tradition where we take a MAN TRIP and do something exciting. It's one of the highlights of my year to be able to spend this time with my son. In case you haven't picked this up from my blogs I love my family! I am a blessed man, with two awesome and amazing daughters, a very cool son, and a babe for a wife! Anyway, enough about that. So what are me and Cody doing for the next few days on our man trip? We are taking off for Florida and chilling at UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!

So that's it! I'm shutting everything down and totally going to hang with my son. See you later BLOG WORLD, you won't be missed, lol!

All or Nothing

2010-02-22T21:16:00.002-05:00

I don't know what you think of when you hear the phrase "ALL OR NOTHING" but it reminds me of one of the things the Apostle Paul said in his writings to the Romans Church.

Romans 12:1, "And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy -- the kind he can accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?"

I wanna be the guy who leaves it all on the field for Jesus, because He gave it all on the cross for me. I get one shot, one chance to make a KINGDOM IMPACT, and I don't want to blow it! Everyday is a new opportunity to do something that will last forever, and I don't want to miss my chance to make it count. I want to follow in the footsteps of my SAVIOR and leave it all on the field, THANK YOU JESUS!

Radicalis Declaration

2010-02-18T08:01:00.000-05:00

Today I am stepping across the line. I’m tired of waffling and I’m finished with wavering. I’ve made my choice; the verdict is in and my decision is irrevocable. I’m going God’s way. There is no turning back. I will live the rest of my life serving God’s purposes, with God’s people, on God’s planet, for God’s glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home waiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me”, character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasure. I know what matters most and I will give it all I’ve got. I will do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today. I won’t be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I’ll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal; not on the sidelines or on those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won’t back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I’ll just keep moving forward by God’s grace. I’m spirit-led, purpose-driven, and mission-focused so I can’t be bought. I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I’m a trophy of God’s amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me. I am a radical in the original sense of the word: rooted in Christ, rooted in love, and rooted in his Word.

I hereby declare my supreme allegiance to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I say this: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer is yes! I’m ready. Anytime. Anyway. Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I’ll hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful one. Come on in and let the eternal party begin!”

BREAKING BARRIERS

2010-02-17T11:08:00.002-05:00

One of the things I AM CONVINCED of is that God has called our church to THRIVE, not survive. I believe this is going to be a BREAK OUT YEAR for our church. Our leaders are excited, our church is excited and lives are being FOREVER CHANGED every week. We need to keep DREAMING BIG believing our God can do MORE THAN we could ever imagine.

How do you dream big? Learn to use the phrase "WHAT IF" when talking about our church. Not the negative what if, but the "WHAT IF" God showed up question, believing in your heart "WHY NOT". We must dream dreams that require God to show up, or why would he? If we can plan things in such a way where we have it all figured out, and don't need God, then guess what, we don't need God. Let's not go there.

So I ask you team, what "WHAT IF" questions are you asking, I would love to hear them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2010-02-12T09:56:00.002-05:00

To all my blog world followers (I believe there are 10 of you) I have something to share. Today is my awesome wifes birthday! So because a friend of mine has encouraged me to do some lists on my blog (Steven who is jealous of my writing abilities apparently) I want to list just ten things out of the million I love about my wife: DRUM ROLL PLEASE..............

10. Creative

9. Sold out to Jesus and His church

8. Makes me laugh

7. Amazing mom

6. Golf champion - Won the first annual Milas family vacation par three tourney!

5. Sensitive

4. Dedicated

3. Sweet

2. Beautiful outside and inside

1. My best friend

So there ya go. This may not be a life changing or ministry changing blog, but she has changed my life and made me a better man. I love you CHRISTY LYNN MILAS, HAPPY 45th BIRTHDAY.

How to Develop a THRIVING Ministry

2010-02-10T20:50:00.003-05:00

I'm want to blog a little bit about how to THRIVE IN ministry as opposed to SURVIVE THE ministry. Just in the last 5 days I have had two people I have personal TRIED to encourage in their churches FAIL. One church closed its doors, and the other has quite on the "DREAM OF JESUS" and will more than likely be closing their doors as a POTENTIAL GOSPEL WITNESS to their community. In both of these scenarios I am convinced:

That it wasn't the Lord who failed His church
That God did not make a mistake in leading these churches to be birthed in their communities
That God's heart is broken over the fact that the church failed in their mission

So probably more for me then you I want to talk about why I believe God has blessed GRANITE UNITED and our NETWORK CHURCHES. THRIVING MINISTRIES are fueled by CLEAR VISION. It is VISION that gives churches their PURPOSE push the limits and pay the price that is required to flesh out God's dream for the community among them and the community around them.

What's GOD'S VISION for GRANITE UNITED? To reach NEW ENGLAND with the GOSPEL by GROWING our church, MULTIPLYING campuses, and birthing NETWORK churches.

So what's your vision for your church or ministry? If you are part of the GRANITE UNITED TEAM how are you aligning your ministry in LIVING OUT God's vision for our church? If you are not part of the GRANITE TEAM let me ask you, what's the vision God has placed in the heart of your church, and do they know it?

PUMP YOU UP!

2010-02-05T07:13:00.000-05:00

So how does one get PUMPED UP for Sunday?

Seek God
Expect great things from God
Pray all week
Think about people experiencing life change
Get your worship on
Get to sleep early Saturday
Get up early Sunday
Sunday morning pre-game warm ups
See it before it happens
Hug some leaders

Ministry "CHOICES"

2010-02-04T12:20:00.002-05:00

My Great Friend PERRY NOBLE asked (haha, no Perry has no idea that I exsist, lol) what are you doing right with your life thats going to matter 100 YEARS FROM NOW? When I heard him ask this I smiled because it reminds me of a "CHOICE" I have made in my life...

"CHOICE" #5 - TO POUR MY LIFE INTO OTHER LEADERS

One of the things that has always concerned me when I look at most ministries is that many are one person away from EXTINCTION. I heard a leader say many years there is no SUCCESS without a SUCCESSOR. For me there is no GREATER MODEL of this than JESUS! Think about it, from the very beginning of His public ministry He began pouring Himself into OTHER LEADERS. WHY? Its simple really, because Jesus knew that in just a few short years He would leave planet earth but the MISSION OF GOD needed to live on. So by POURING HIMSELF into other leaders, those LEADERS continued the PURPOSES and MISSION of God after Jesus physically left earth.

I have been blessed to be able to see so many of my "TEENAGERS" from my past, "YOUTH WORKERS" from my past, and "MINISTRY TEAM" members through the years to this day blowing and going for the glory of God in many parts of the country and even around the world. Although at times I might wonder if my INVESTMENT actually is making a difference, but the PROOF is in the PUDDING. I am so glad that many years ago I FIGURED IT OUT that ministry is not about ME but it is about WE.

I believe with all my heart that 100 years from now, although my name may not be known (oh and by the way that doesn't matter to me because there is only one name that matters - JESUS) the investment I make in leaders will continue to have a KINGDOM IMPACT should the Lord prolong His return.

So I know the "CHOICE" I have made and when I look around I see the LEADERS I am intentionally investing in. How about you? Look around, do you see any LEADERS YOU ARE INVESTING IN? If not you should know this your MINISTRY, your INFLUENCE and MINISTRY is one person away from EXTINCTION? Why not follow the EXAMPLE JESUS LEFT YOU and INVEST IN LEADERS!

Ministry "CHOICES"

2010-01-28T19:48:00.002-05:00

I know I have taken some time to post the next ministry "CHOICE" I have made but here it is, ARE YOU READY!

"CHOICE" #4 - I HAVE MADE THE "CHOICE" TO WORK WITH A TEAM

Years ago I realized that there is NOTHING that can replace a QUALITY TEAM! For me there is NO GREATER JOY than ministering side by side with people who are as PASSIONATE about the DREAM OF JESUS as I am. As the LEAD PASTOR of Granite United Church I have the awesome privilege of working with some of the FINEST LEADERS I believe in the church world. So it is to my ministry team that I say THANK YOU because although ministry is not always easy, having all of you by my side ENCOURAGES ME and INSPIRES ME to keep on keeping on!

So the "CHOICE" to work with a TEAM has been one of the greatest "CHOICES" I have ever made, and I am thankful that the Lord taught me this lesson early in my ministry life. I want to keep this brief, so I will end by simply saying, I AM A BETTER PASTOR BECAUSE OF THE TEAM AROUND ME. I LOVE ALL OF YOU and couldn't imagine doing ministry without you (especially the G.U. Producer)!

"P"

Ministry "CHOICES"

2010-01-27T07:13:00.001-05:00

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” (Denis Waitley)

"CHOICE" #3 - I REFUSE TO GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS

I have made the "CHOICE" not to be the type of person who accepts the STATUS QUO especially when it comes to God's KINGDOM WORK. I REFUSE, absolutely REFUSE to be the person who looks back over his shoulder over time and is haunted by the thought of WOULD OF, COULD OF, but DIDN'T. The song MOTIONS by Matthew West describes some of what is in my heart...

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

What if I had given everything,

Instead of going through the motions?

Without a doubt I believe I have been saved to be a KINGDOM IMPACT PLAYER and it's not because of what I bring to the table, it's because we serve and AMAZING GOD, and He is always looking for someone to do His work through. I'm that guy with my hand high in the air praying and begging USE ME. There is too much at stake to go through the MOTIONS OF DOING CHURCH. I want to see a REVOLUTION start in NEW ENGLAND and I know that won't happen unless I allow His all consuming passion burn inside of me, and I get up and do something about it!

I Anthony Milas have made the "CHOICE" to REFUSE to go through the MOTIONS!

Ministry "CHOICES"

2010-01-26T08:35:00.002-05:00

"CHOICES" we all make them and they all have either positive or negative consequences. Because I want my "CHOICES" to be positive and have eternal value I have made the following "CHOICE"...

"CHOICE" #2 - TO POUR MY LIFE INTO PEOPLE

We can make the "CHOICE" to live for fame and fortune or for the one thing that actually matters in eternity, PEOPLE. Jesus didn't give his life so that I could attain STATUS, or accumulate WEALTH. And He certainly didn't lay down His life so that I could take the NEW LIFE He has given me and squander it. Jesus came to give His life for the one thing that mattered in eternity, ME, YOU, PEOPLE! PEOPLE matter to God, and because PEOPLE matter to God PEOPLE SHOULD matter to you, to me. One of the prayers I pray every day is actually taken from an OLD SCHOOL song, that says, "Let me see this world, dear Lord, as though I were looking through your eyes."

I have made the "CHOICE" to LIVE FOR THOSE JESUS DIED FOR! It's the easiest "CHOICE" I have ever made, NOT, but it is one of the "CHOICES" that I know I will never regret. The Scriptures I am often challenged by are found in Paul's writings...

Philippians 2:3-5, "Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." NLT

My prayer is that I would DECREASE knowing that as I DECREASE CHRIST INCREASES, and when my life is consumed with CHRIST then what CONSUMED CHRIST will CONSUME ME, and what was CHRIST consumed with, PEOPLE. How do I know, He laid His life down for THEM, for US, for ME. Lord help me to always make the "CHOICE" to follow in your steps and to be willing to lay my life down for those you love! Help me Lord to always see PEOPLE through your eyes.

Ministry "CHOICES"

2010-01-25T13:42:00.003-05:00

We are in a series at GRANITE UNITED called "CHOICES". We are journeying together working through our HURTS, HABITS, and HANG-UPS, not through will power but through HIS POWER. It's been a wonderful study so far and life changing. Well the theme of "CHOICES" really got me thinking about MY MINISTRY "CHOICES" so for the next few days I want to share the "CHOICES" I have made and am committed to concerning GOD'S CALLING in my life.

"CHOICE" #1 - It's All About JESUS

Even though there are pulls in every direction to do this and to do that, I have committed my life to doing ONE THING, and that is keeping MY LIFE and OUR CHURCH ALL ABOUT JESUS. I have made the "CHOICE" to lay down my life and my will to THE ONE who GAVE HIS ALL for me. Although I value the opinions of people, there is ONE VOICE I strive to be in tune with, and to obey, the sweet voice of MY SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

I know this sounds either overly simplistic or super pious, and I also know there are plenty of times, I miss the mark, but the prayer of my life it to keep IT ALL ABOUT JESUS! I have made the "CHOICE" to LIVE FOR HIM and to SERVE HIM and I don't need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or catered to! I have made my "CHOICE"! I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around! I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside! I cannot lose enough to cause me to quite! I have made my "CHOICE", His name is JESUS!

10 Reasons I'm PUMPED about GRANITE UNITED

2010-01-23T20:15:00.003-05:00

10. SWEET church family

9. LIFE CHANGE

8. AMAZING Worship

7. Fired Up WARRIORS

6. Kids LOVING church

5. Room to GROW

4. SALVATIONS

3. DREAM of JESUS coming true

2. HOPE found

1. LIFTING UP JESUS

COME APART BEFORE YOU COME APART

2010-01-20T21:56:00.009-05:00

If you spend any time reading the Gospels you will read about times Jesus stepped away form the busyness of ministry to set aside time to spend with His team. WHY? Because of we do not take the time to COME APART the truth is we will COME APART. Our church has been blessed with amazing and growing leaders, and recently three of us had the chance to escape to MYRTLE BEACH for a few days. One of the cool things all pastors should do is to build a team of people they not only would like to work with but a team of people they would would like to hang with. Thats the kind of team we are building at GRANITE UNITED, its the kind of team I look forward too LIVING OUT THE DREAM OF JESUS with, and its the kind of team I enjoy being around.

Cultivating a real team takes a serious investment and for every lead pastor the choice will always be to USE PEOPLE to do ministry or to do ministry WITH PEOPLE. The ministries that use people will always experience high turnover, the ministry that does ministry with people will experience longevity. My prayer for GRANITE UNITED is to continue investing in relationships that will be healthy and growing and to develop a network of CHURCHES, CAMPUSES, and TEAMS who not only want to work with each other, but seek to be with each other.

MY BEST FRIEND!

2010-01-19T20:00:00.005-05:00

For the THOUSANDS of people who follow my blog I thought I would take the time to tell you about MY BEST FRIEND! It is my amazing and beautiful wife Christy. I just had the chance to spend three days with her and some other friends in MYRTLE BEACH and what a great time we had. Christy and I have been MARRIED for what will soon be 24 YEARS and after all this time there isn't another person on the planet I would rather spend time with then her. Yep, I know what your thinking SAPPY, but I want everyone to know how blessed I am not only to be married to a beautiful lady but to be married to MY BEST FRIEND.

Christy is an amazing person who loves the Lord, His church, and the ministry. It is cool having a wife that not only supports me in the ministry, but is in the ministry with me. Christy is also a phenomenal mom to our kids. She is loving, caring, giving, sacrificial, faithful and a wonderful example to everyone who knows her. Christy is one of the most creative people I know, and she uses her gifts for God's glory investing her talents in His church, taking GRANITE UNITED to a HOLE NUTHA LEVEL. I could go on and on about how awesome she is, but I won't I think you get the point.

Christy makes me laugh, she makes me think, she challenges me, and Christy motivates me to be all I can be, and for that I am thankful. So in case your wondering, its true, I'm in love with my best friend!

Proverbs 18:22, "Find a good spouse, you find a good life—and even more: the favor of God!" MSG

Reflections on 2009

2010-01-01T12:30:00.003-05:00

Let me share some of my 2009 HIGHLIGHTS

God's AMAZING GRACE
Growing closer to Jesus
The privilege of another year SERVING MY SAVIOR
Celebrated my 23rd wedding anniversary with the love of my life, CHRISTY
Had an amazing vacation with my kids, parents, and friends
Got to see people I care about come to Jesus
Was blessed to see WARRIORS for JESUS rise up at GRANITE UNITED CHURCH
Was part of seeing over 120 people follow Jesus in Baptism
Blessed to know that all our church plants are healthy and growing
Got to get away with Christy to Maine
Spent time with dear friends from around the country
Cody and I won our fantasy football league - more Cody than me
Was incredibly blessed to be a blessing
Moved our church to new location - at least when its not snowing, lol
Saw our ministry team mature and lead on a HOLE NUTHA LEVEL
Saw our church exercise faith which intersected with God's faithfulness
Catalyst with team
The huXtable - added over 100 new WARRIORS for Jesus in ministry
Hanging with my kids at HAMPTON BEACH
Houston Trip- Giving Joel Olsteen the blessing to meet my family
Watching Cody catch a 35 inch fish in Bay
Watching my daughter ASHLEY lead worship
Watching my daughter CALEY pour her life into her girls
Chillin with my HARLEY!

Psalm 103:1-5, "¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. ² Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- ³ who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, ⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." NIV

PTP'S

2009-12-21T08:49:00.002-05:00

Famed college basketball announcer Dick Vitale has coined many cool catch phrases through the years, and today I am going to steal one of them! It's the phrase PTP, yep, that it its PTP, and it stand for PRIME TIME PLAYERS. It is Vitale's opinion that for any team to be successful it needs to be made up of one or more PTP'S - PRIME TIME PLAYERS, and I agree. I want to take a few minutes and BRAG, yep BRAG, but before I do let me set the table.

This past weekend was our scheduled CHRISTMAS SERVICE at GRANITE UNITED. The auditorium was all set, thousands of invites had been sent out, two Christmas concerts with hundreds of red shorts to promote the service, it was sure to be a CHRISTMAS SERVICE to remember with a goal of over 1,000 in attendance, and then it happened, and as thye say in New England "SNOW HAPPENS".

Thats right a SNOW STORM, not one as bad as last CHRISTMAS where we got over 20 inches of snow, but a storm hit New England. Big enough to to SHUT THE SCHOOL DOWN, remember we are a portable church, yahoo! So here we are looking at our single biggest service of 2009, with NO SCHOOL to meet it, all our set design stuff locked inside, and hundreds of guests expected to be in attendance at the school.

ENTER OUR PTP'S! With all the craziness, chaos, and confusion our team was determined not to let a SNOW STORM spoil our CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION for Jesus. So an aggressive plan was set into place, reworking WORSHIP SETS, redesigning a CHRISTMAS SET, rerouting LEADERS, JUMPING through hoops, people now needed to PLOW, finding guys willing to stand in the FALLING SNOW helping people find parking spots, moving from one service to THREE, and COMMUNICATING, COMMUNICATING, and more COMMUNICATING.

The RESULT was amazing! We had our HIGHEST ATTENDANCE since we moved to the school, the SPIRIT was through the roof, JESUS WAS CELEBRATED and EXALTED, and LIVES WERE FOREVER CHANGED! Why? Because our PTP'S would not surrender what God had planned to a little snow. Some churches CANCELLED and no one could blame them, some pastors stayed home wrapped up in their SNUGGIES, other ministry teams took the DAY OFF, and some communities had NO CHURCH to attend to hear about Jesus. But that was not the case at GRANITE UNITED!

One of the greatest gifts GRANITE UNITED has ever received are the PTP'S that make our team great. I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing TEAM of people! I AM SO PROUD OF OUR PTP'S!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

THANKSGIVING

2009-11-25T22:47:00.002-05:00

20 Things I am THANKFUL for:

An AMAZING God who loves me and has saved me
An INCREDIBLE family who love the Lord and live for the DREAM OF JESUS
My BEAUTIFUL wife Christy who is the love of my life
My PRECIOUS Ashley who has a heart filled of worship
My PRINCESS Caley who has a heart for Teenagers
My CRAZY son who keeps us laughing
My TOUGH dog Harley protector of our home
My LOYAL parents who love both God and others
My SERVING sister and brother-in-law who give without expecting to get
A PASSIONATE church of Christ followers
A DEDICATED team of leaders willing to pay the price for New England
STRATEGIC church planting working to complete each other not compete with eachother
The PRIVILEGE of serving on the mission filed of New England
FAITHFUL friends who truly brothers
The SACRIFICE of so many before me
INDESCRIBABLE GRACE
A FEARLESS church willing to fail in order to succeed
For SURRENDERED people willing to take the Gospel to forbidden places
For WONDERFUL husbands the Lord has and will provide my daughters
For the OPPORTUNITY to pour my life into others

CHURCH ALIVE

2009-11-09T08:25:00.003-05:00

We have all heard in some form or another that "PEOPLE DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE". For me this is just another way explaining the difference between DOING CHURCH vs. BEING THE CHURCH. Yesterday GRANITE UNITED CHURCH believing that no family should go without a meal this THANKSGIVING season filled a U-Haul truck full for groceries to be distributed to a number of local area food banks. I felt like a proud father watching his kid growing up! It was so cool to see the HUNDREDS of HUNDREDS of bags of groceries being brought into our auditorium and placed on the platform as first an offering and testimony to God's goodness in all our lives, we have BEEN BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING. Secondly as a demonstration of the outstretched arms of love to our community as the BODY OF CHRIST. Our prayer is too draw attention to our church for one reason and one reason only, to bring people to THE TABLE so that they may eat of the BREAD OF LIFE! As hard as times are for people, we have a wonderful opportunity as THE CHURCH to introduce people to the SOLUTION, His name is Jesus Christ!

It is not a human right

To stare not fight

While broken nations dream

Open up our eyes, so blind

That we might find

The Mercy for the need

Singing, Hey now

Fill our hearts with your compassion

Hey now

As we hold to our confession

Yeah

It is not too far a cry

To much to try

To help the least of these

Politics will not decide

If we should rise

And be your hands and feet

Singing, Hey now

Fill our hearts with your compassion

Hey Now

As we hold to our confession

Woah-oh-oh,

God be the solution

Woah-oh-oh

We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance

Your promise stands

Your love for all to see

Higher than protest line and dollar signs

Your love is all we need

Only You can mend the broken heart

And cause the blind to see

Erase complete the sinners past

And set the captives free

Only You can take the widows cry

And cause her heart to sing

Be a Father to the fatherless

Our Savior and our King

We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet

We will run this race

On the darkest place, we will be Your light

We will be Your light

We will be Your hands , we will be Your feet

We will run this race for the least of these

In the darkest place, we will be your light

We will be your light

We'll sing

Woah-oh-oh,

God be the solution

Woah-oh-oh

We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Woah-oh-oh,

God be the solution

Woah-oh-oh

We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Yeah, yeah

We will run we will run

We will run with the solution [2x]

We will be Your hands we will be Your feet

We will run this race for the least of these

In the darkest place we will be Your light

We will be Your light

We sing

STAYING FOCUSED 2

2009-10-01T11:10:00.003-04:00

We have been called to produce disciples! In order to do that we have to take the DREAM OF JESUS for our lives and ministries and work to turn them into realities. Jesus did this, He took the Fathers came to planet earth and began a REVOLUTION that to this day is bringing life change to millions of people. It was Jesus who birthed the church and said that He would build it. Jesus was a leader that literally shook the foundation of the world! But their was a key to His leadership that every world leader needs. Jesus BUILT TEAMS around Him of COMMITTED FOLLOWERS who took His vision for CHANGE SERIOUSLY and SACRIFICIALLY who worked in COOPERATION with Him to turn the DREAM into REALITY.

I am thankful for the team God has blessed me with at GRANITE UNITED! We have warriors on our team who serve seriously and sacrificially I call them KINGDOM IMPACT PLAYERS. My prayer is that God will raise more leaders within the walls of our church so that we can continue the REVOLUTION Jesus started here in New England.

STAYING FOCUSED 1

2009-09-30T22:32:00.002-04:00

One of the things I have to work at is making sure I stay focused on what I know to be the DREAM OF JESUS for our church, because so goes the DREAM so goes NEW ENGLAND! Today I tweeted the following, " IS THE FUTURE CHANGE WORTH THE PRESENT PAIN". I know and believe in my heart that it is, but I don't know if there has ever been a time when I have felt the weight of the DREAM to be as heavy as I do now. I'm not sure why that is, but I do know I have committed my life to CHRIST'S CALLING, and I will not back down. My loyalty is to the Lord Jesus and I am committed and dedicated to both His kids and those who are far from God. Sad to say those who should give 100% to the one who gave His all for them, still want more from Him, that is very sad. But for those who are willing to GIVE IT ALL to make a FOREVER DIFFERENCE in this world, we together we will continue doing what needs to be done, changing what needs to be changed, and inviting those in who want to go forward.

The big question is, who really wants to pay the price to see done in NEW ENGLAND and at GRANITE UNITED what JESUS DREAMS OF? Many are called few are chosen. I want to run with the runners, and its time to shake off and cut off the dead weight that is keeping us from BEING THE CHURCH we are called to be. Life is short, eternity is long, and the stakes are too high to play games!

NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED

2009-09-14T06:54:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we kickoff a new series at church NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED. I just wanted to start my the morning and week off thanking Jesus for coming to pour His life into all the screwed up sinners of the world. I pray that I will never forget that I am nothing without Christ and that all to Him I owe. As a Christ follower I don't want to make excuses for not reaching New England, I want to make a difference. My prayer is that God will use my life GRANITE UNITED to break through and introduce an imperfect world to a perfect Savior.

SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!

2009-09-04T14:06:00.003-04:00

So we have friends coming in from out of town tonight, actually they are more like FAMILY! We are so excited because this will be the first time they will be able to visit us in the home we bought 2 years ago. So with the ANTICIPATED ARRIVAL of our family my wife has called for an all out CLEANING and CLEANSING of our house. Now here is what you need to understand. My wife, CHRISTY, is one of the cleanest, neatest, awesome house keepers I know, so its not like the house was a mess or anything. However, my AMAZING WIFE has found a way to take our home to a HOLE NUTHA CLEANSING LEVEL, lol! So it got me thinking...

We just finished a series at church on PROPHESY. One of the coolest things we LOOK FORWARD too as CHRIST FOLLOWERS is the RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST - also know as the RAPTURE. The RAPTURE is when Christ comes FOR His church, the SECOND COMING is when Christ comes WITH His church. So even though we don't know exactly when Jesus will return we do know He is coming! And just like my family who arrive tonight at 11:45PM, yes PM, and have given us plenty of time to prepare for their arrival. Jesus too gives AMPLE TIME to PREPARE and READY ourselves for His UNANNOUNCED ARRIVAL. My prayer is that I will be putting as much EFFORT and ENERGY into CLEANING and CLEANSING (thats a funny word) myself spiritually, so that when Jesus does come, He will find me READY, FOCUSED, and POURING my life into His mission!

Now back to HOUSEWORK before CHRISTY see's me blogging, lol!

First Day of School

2009-09-02T06:35:00.003-04:00

Well I'm sitting here waiting to take my son Cody to school. He is tired, pumped and nervous all at the same time. I feel the same way every Sunday. TIRED because I rarely get a good nights sleep on Saturday's, PUMPED because we get to come together as a church body and worship the one true God, and NERVOUS because of the anticipation of God doing His work in peoples hearts. I pray I never loose those feelings, and that I always live with that type of excitement and anticipation about Sunday in my heart. Sundays coming, are you ready?

Sunday Refections @ GRANITE UNITED

2009-08-17T20:32:00.002-04:00

Sunday August 16, 2009

After a week of vacation I couldn't wait to get back to GRANITE UNITED and here are a few reasons why:

God is doing something very special in our church
We have amazing volunteer leaders who simply bring it every week for Jesus
It's a joy to be around our team of pastors, who are dedicated to the dream of Jesus
There is an electricity when our church family is together
When you're at GRANITE you're with family
You never know what to expect, but you always expect God to do something big
Engaging worship
Powerful presentation
Lots of guests
LIFE CHANGE!

Those are some of my reasons, what are some of yours?

SOMEBODY MISSED SOMETHING! #2

2009-08-04T17:54:00.003-04:00

So now we will never find the WORLD'S GREATEST HAMBURG since the place was shut down and boarded up. In my earlier post I suggested that maybe the reason the WORLD'S GREATEST HAMBURGER joint closed is because they had convinced themselves that they were serving something they actually weren't. Maybe that in their minds they were serving the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER when in reality what they were serving was the WORLD'S WORST BURGER, I don't know. What I do know is that the place was CLOSED and BOARDED UP for business.

But let's give this BURGER place the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they did have the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER and the reason they went out of business is that nobody knew about it! Maybe all the internal hype was true, maybe the BURGERS were to die for! However there was still a problem if no one knew about the BURGERS the result was the same as the first, SHUT DOWN and OUT OF BUSINESS!

Why is that 3-5 churches everyday who are called to serve the BREAD of LIFE and the WATER of LIFE are SHUTTING DOWN and CLOSING EVERY DAY? Maybe just maybe it in how they are offering the BREAD of LIFE and lIVING WATER? Maybe how their serving it isn't as great as they think it is. Or maybe they are doing a great job internally but externally no one knows about.

Just some thoughts!

SOMEBODY MISSED SOMETHING! #1

2009-08-03T11:31:00.004-04:00

While in Pennsylvania recently I thought my long search had come to an end, only to be incredibly dissapointed. See all my life I have longed to find the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER, and this journey of mine has led me from Fudruckers in Salem, New Hampshire to McDonald's in Jerusalem, Israel. With each visit I have yet to discover what I would call the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER, but then the amazing took place. In Pennsylvania there it was, the one thing I had long for all my life, a restaurant that had in BIG BOLD LETTERS on the side of its building HOME OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER! Oh the joy that flooded my soul, could it finally be that I have found the answer to the one question I had been asking all my life. Could it be true that right here across the street from where I was staying was the place that would finally quench my hunger for the perfect burger! So what did I do? I did any man would do who has spent a life time SEARCHING, I pulled right into the parking lot, stomach growling to be fed, eyes full of tears (no not really), and plastic card in hand. And what did I discover? That the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER place was closed for business! WHAT!!!!!! CLOSED DOWN!!!!! Are you kidding me! Oh what the roller-coaster of emotions I was experiencing. Thinking I had finally found it! Thinking that after all these years of searching, to be in the parking lot, only to be drive away with HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.

So what went wrong? I think there are two possible things...

1. Maybe what they thought was the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER really wasn't the WORLD'S GREATEST BURGER at all. Maybe they had convinced themselves to think that they were offering one thing, when in REALITY they were offering something else?

HMMMMM? I wonder why the average church in America is on the decline? Could it be that the she has convinced herself that she is serving something she isn't? Just something to think about until tomorrow.

LIFT STUDENT CAMP 2009

2009-07-29T00:30:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to give all of you an idea on where I have been. Presently I am at Sr. High camp with our amazing church kids. I was a student pastor for 7 years (a long time ago) and although i don;t have the horses to keep up with the teens any longer I sure do love being around them. This is a special group of students with us at camp this year and as I watch them I see amazing God potential in each of them. Without a doubt these students are going to do great things that will bring God glory. I will return to regular blogging on August 3rd. Until then I invite you to check out our church at www.gsbc.net or on facebook at GRANITE UNITED!

It's About FREAKING Time

2009-07-22T01:49:00.000-04:00

GUEST BLOGGER: Court Holloway, United Staff

Being a Pastor @ Granite is a privilege... actually an honor. Being so young and having very little experience prior to being @ Granite, there has been a learning curve. Anyone on our leadership team, you know what I am saying!

Here is the deal. There comes a point when you finally execute on something, you just exclaim "It's about FREAKING time" and realize it wasn't nearly as TOUGH as you thought it would be, it had a much BIGGER pay off than you expected, and it ultimately pointed more people to JESUS than you imagined. Those "It's About FREAKING Time" moments stick with you, especially when you realize the confusion or conflict your lack of execution caused.

So how do we kill off these "It's About FREAKING Time" situations? Here are some thoughts:

1.) Make a habit of ASKING GOD to mold your HEART and ATTITUDE to be receptive.

2.) Listen to your BOSS/Pastor/Leader the FIRST TIME. (Hebrews 13:17)

3.) Ask for clarification if you don't understand.

4.) Try to implement immediately. Keep your LEADER up to date on progress.

5.) Take it as FAR AS YOU CAN & Involve OTHERS.

6.) Listen to your Leader the FIRST TIME... wait did I say that already?

7.) *add your own here* I haven't written a book on this so there has got be a ton I left off.

Peace. Follow me @courtholloway on TWITTER *SHAMELESS PLUG*

LEADERSHIP MINDSET

2009-07-21T12:28:00.002-04:00

I have learned that there is a differences in the MINDSETS of successful leaders as opposed to leaders who accept the status quo. Successful leaders realize that that LIFE IS SHORT, ETERNITY IS LONG and the STAKES ARE WAY TO HIGH TO PLAY GAMES WHEN IT COMES TO ETERNITY. I have also learned that the successful leaders MINDSET is VISION DRIVEN/FUTURE LOOKING. Moses one of God's amazing leaders in the Bible embraced this particular MINDSET and it led him in becoming one of God's choice leaders. If you know much about Moses' story you would realize that physically speaking Moses walked away from a life of fame and riches to follow the DREAM GOD HAD BURNED IN HIS HEART. The world would say that Moses sacrificed EVERYTHING for NOTHING. But when Moses turned his back on the pleasures and wealth of the world, he told us that he had SACRIFICED NOTHING FOR EVERYTHING!

As leaders I want to encourage us to keep our eyes fixed and focused on what matters most, ETERNITY, and GOD'S GLORY. Let's not sell out for the temporary highs of the world, but let's commit to living and doing ministry for the stuff that lasts forever! Very few of us, if any of us, have heard people at the end of their lives who wished they had worked more, or made more money, but we have heard people wish that they had taken their faith more seriously, and their families. I have spoken to many older church leaders who also looked back on their ministries and wished they hadn't wasted so much time on "ministry junk" that just didn't matter. Let's look to Moses and work towards adapting a MINDSET that realizes that when we sacrifice the temporary for the eternal we have really sacrificed nothing at all!

Hebrews 11:26, "He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward."

FAITH vs. FEAR

2009-07-20T16:53:00.002-04:00

As a leader it is important to remember that the archenemy of FAITH is FEAR. Over and over again in the Gospels you see Jesus getting in the disciples faces asking them why they were so FEARFUL and where was their FAITH! I pray as leaders that we understand that God cannot and will not operate in and through us when we live in a state of FEAR. As a matter of fact the Bible says that FEAR PARALYZES II Samuel 4:1. I meet so many leaders who COULD OF, SHOULD OF, but DIDN'T and the common denominator was that they allowed FEAR to control and dictate how big they allowed God to be in their lives and ministries. As MINISTRY LEADERS our focus should always remain on the Lord and not on man. And if our focus and FAITH is on and in the Lord then we can do ministry in confidence because the Bible says,

Jeremiah 10:6, "Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power." NLT

The reason there are so many dead churches is because their leaders have been paralyzed by FEAR, and not energized by FAITH. Let's take some time to do a little inventory and ask ourselves, how much FAITH is actually required with the ministry I am currently doing? If not much FAITH is required in the steps you are currently taking, it may be that FEAR is bigger than you realize. My prayer is that all of us, beginning with myslef, will constantly operate in the realm of FAITH, so that we can all experience the power of God!

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

2009-07-15T17:36:00.002-04:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, LEADERSHIP MATTERS. As leaders we are called to meet people WHERE THEY ARE and then take them to where GOD WANTS THEM TO BE. As leaders we are not called to please everyone, but we are called to please THE ONE who gave His life. When we do ministry for an audience of one we can be confident that although not everyone will want to join the team, God will bless! It's His promise. The truth is many churches fail because of WEAK and APOLOGETIC LEADERS. God has called us to live above both those. Yes, we are called to walk humbly before the Lord, but we are also called to get out in front of people and LEAD them on God's behalf. We must guard against being full of pride but we need to walk in confidence before people. How does a leader gain that confidence? When the leader HEARS FROM GOD! When we hear from God then we do not have to back down from leading but we do need to figure out how to take people along with us. If we do not plan how to bring people along we will be filled with vision and enthusiasm but we will take no kingdom ground. So I hope this helps all understand that LEADERSHIP MATTERS. So what are doing to develop your leadership skills?

SMALL THINGS MATTER

2009-07-09T16:54:00.003-04:00

It's been said not to SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, but I have found that in ministry its the SMALL STUFF, THE LITTLE THINGS that matter. People love it when we remember their names, take an interest in their kids, and to remember a birthday is like hitting a walk off homerun in Fenway Park! In the day of CHURCH COMMUNITY BUILDER, FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, and TWITTER we can be more connected and should be more connected to people than ever. And to do the LITTLE THINGS takes very LITTLE TIME, but makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE. In my previous post I talked about how ministry is all about people, and that we should make people are priority, well remember this its the little things that let people know we are PAYING ATTENTION, AND THAT THEY MATTER TO US. Bottom line its the big things people expect us to catch, but little things well thats taking ministry to a HOLE NUTHA LEVEL.

ITS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE

2009-07-06T16:42:00.003-04:00

MINISTRY is all about PEOPLE. I know that seems like it should go without saying, but trust me if we're not careful to keep the main thing the main thing, then a lot of other things will force themselves before people. What kind of things you ask? Things like...

TRADITIONS - Sure we have pushed back from being OLD SCHOOL, but we need to guard against clinging to NEW TRADITIONS. We must always be willing to challenge what we are doing with what we should be doing.

CREATIVITY - Don't get me wrong, although I am not a CREATIVE GENIUS (sorry Ed Young I really want to be) I do love creativity. But if we are not careful we will lose what God has called us to communicate trying to be overly creative. I believe the true result of CREATIVITY is when we have nailed the truth God has called us to unpack.

MINISTRY MEETINGS - Leadership development is absolutely crucial to a churches success. However if we spend all out time talking ministry strategies, then we will actually never minister. We need to make sure we keep a proper balance when it comes to ministry meetings and ministry. How many hours do we spend doing each? It may be a good idea to keep a couple weeks worth of logging the hours spent in each area?.

Bottom line is Jesus is all about PEOPLE. He came to be a people ( I know, go with it), He lived among the people, He served people, He gave His life for people, I think you get the point. PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE. Yesterday at our church family fun day we were reminded once again its all about people! GRANITE let's never forget the DREAM OF JESUS IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE.

Stolen from my facebook friend Ed Young without permission, THANKS ED!

2009-07-03T07:15:00.001-04:00

Purity for Politicians...

...and purity for pastors, priests, poets and all people.

By now you've probably heard the sad and disappointing news of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affair. It's a story that is sure to be in the headlines for the next several days. But after the hype of the news channels and tabloids, newspapers and magazines, the reality is that a marriage, and a family, hangs in the balance. And this story has caused me to think about my own marriage and the marriages of the people I meet every day.

Over the years, Lisa and I have been asked countless questions by thousands of people about our marriage. But one of the most important questions we've been asked is how we keep our marriage pure. So years ago I wrote out:

The 10 Commandments of Purity

1. I shall have no other human relationship before Lisa, including our children.
2. I shall remember our date night and keep it holy.
3. I shall honor Lisa on anniversaries and special days so that I may live long in the land the Lord has given me.
4. I shall not take the covenant of marriage in vain.
5. I shall not ride in a car or eat in a restaurant alone with a member of the opposite sex.
6. I shall not travel alone.
7. I shall not counsel a woman with the doors closed.
8. I shall not share the details of our marriage with others.
9. I shall not watch, read or expose myself to sexually explicit shows, books, websites, etc.
10. I shall remember the implications of committing adultery.

No matter who you are, I challenge you to make these your own. Follow them in your marriage every day. They may seem extreme. But something that has extreme consequences calls for extreme action.

Remember, everyone deals with temptation. It's what you do before facing temptation to stay pure that determines what happens in the face of it. You have to protect your marriage. So do I. Because failing to do so can result in heartache - for ourselves, our families and most importantly, our God.

This issue is bigger than only calling for purity for politicians. We need to call for purity as politicians, pastors, priests, poets and as all people.

STOLEN from PERRY NOBLE!

2009-07-01T07:02:00.000-04:00

This post was too good not to share, it is stolen without permission from Perry Noble. Sorry Perry I will buy you a steak dinner should we ever get to hang out!

Will I Preach Jesus?

In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus is very clear to His disciples the purpose of preaching and leading is to proclaim His name…and that if anyone denies His name that He will deny them- pretty serious stuff.

I remember a time several years ago where I nearly lost my focus. I would find a cool video idea or a cool song idea or a sermon prop idea and try my best to revolve the sermon around a concept rather than scripture.

I actually thought I could give really great lessons in morality and not preach Jesus because His name seemed to constantly offend people—then God rocked my world, slapped my face, got my attention and helped me to understand that Jesus, and ONLY Jesus, is the game changer.

“Cool and cute” will impress people….but Christ will CHANGE them!

I could teach people get out of debt, have great sex with their spouse, get over anger issues, and become greater people; however, if I do all of that without pointing them to the Gospel and sharing Jesus with them I have rescued them from Hell on Earth and damned them to Hell in eternity.

(And do not misunderstand the paragraph above as me taking shots at teaching the practical…I am not against that at all…but when our goal is simply to be practical and avoid the controversial that the Gospel will cause…we have a problem!)

I try to be a student of growing churches…and the thing I see across the board in nearly every church that is experiencing growth is that they are preaching Jesus…that there is a dependence upon the Spirit and not just systems…

And the Spirit will ALWAYS lead us to proclaim the name of Jesus!

When our agenda in the church becomes anything except for Jesus (insert whatever you wish here—political preferences, home schooling, recycling, the list goes on and on) then we are proclaiming another Savior…which is dangerous and heretical!

I Corinthians 15:1-8 is where Paul says THIS is the most important thing we can preach…we NEVER go wrong by lifting up Christ.

Doing Church vs. Being The Church

2009-06-30T21:15:00.004-04:00

One of the questions I often get from other leaders is why GRANITE has grown the way she has over the years. One of the keys for us has always been teaching our church what it means to BE THE CHURCH as opposed to simply DOING CHURCH. When a congregation is simply DOING CHURCH they do nothing more than go through the motions each and every Sunday, embracing and clinging to the same ole, same ole. Another thing that becomes "sacred" to congregations that live for DOING CHURCH is clinging to tradition, basking in the successes of the past as opposed to the DREAM JESUS has called them to in the present with eyes focused on the future. So what does it mean to BE THE CHURCH? It's a transformation that takes place in a congregation when the people begin to understand what it means to be the VISIBLE LIVING BODY OF CHRIST IN THE WORLD. It is then when the church goes from doing "JESUS/RELIGIOUS STUFF" to "BEING/LIVING JESUS" in every area of their lives which is brought into their communities. It's been said that people would rather see a sermon than hear a sermon any day, and we believe that happens when we move from DOING CHURCH to BEING THE CHURCH. Let's never forget and commit to teaching our churches that we are the hands, voice box, feet, and extended arms of Jesus in this world. When our churches go beyond learning these facts theologically and we help them make it practical this is the realm where real life change takes place and churches take off!

TIME OUT - MY FAMILY...#2

2009-06-29T11:48:00.010-04:00

Beyond being blessed with being married to my best friend, Christy and I have been also blessed with three ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BEAUTIFUL AWESOME CRAZY kids! And because inquiring minds want to know, I want to share a little about them.

ASHLEY CHRISTINE - is our oldest, and she has forsaken her father, turned her back on me and went and got married, (okay, so I am still adjusting, lol)! I am so proud of Ashley, she is one of the WORSHIP LEADERS of our church, and has a huge heart for God. Ash married one of the MINISTRY LEADERS of our church Michael Tinney, who happens to be a very nice guy who also loves the Lord and serves God with all his heart. HOWEVER, he will never, oh never mind, lol!

CALEY CHRISTINE - our second daughter, the middle child! Caley just finished a year of Bible college. She is a passionate follower of Jesus and is an AMAZING LEADER in our STUDENT MINISTRY. Caley has promised me that she will never get married and that she will always remain daddy's little girl, or am I just making that up, I'll never tell! Although there is this guy named Tom who seems to be around our place a lot, I am sure he is juts lost.

CODY ANTHONY - aka HEIR TO THE THRONE - Cody is the man, and we enjoy golfing together, playing bball, and wiffleball on the beach. Cody is one of those type of kids that to be around him is to love him, and no I am not biased it's the truth. Unfortunately, about three days ago Cody went missing somewhere in his room. We believe he is still in there, just can't find him in his typical 15 year old guys room, lol! God has a unique plan for Cody's life and I am enjoying watching it unfold.

MY PARENTS - I just want to give an extra shout out to my parents, who are two of the most committed Christ followers I have ever known. They both serve out church full time for the Love of Jesus. Mom works in the office, and dad watches over the building. I am blessed to be able to share ministry with them. My sister and her husband also voluntarily work around the church several days of the week.

Well I hope this gives everybody a little insight into my family. And tomorrow we will continue with more leadership ideas.

TIME OUT - MY FAMILY...

2009-06-25T21:42:00.005-04:00

I want to call a time out and talk a little about my family the next few days. I want to start with my beautiful and amazing wife CHRISTY. I can honestly say I am married to my best friend! My wife is not only beautiful but she is an amazing mother of three, impeccable home maker, and she is just cool to hang out with. We love taking the motorcycle out and riding up the coast taking pictures by the ocean and just finding a cool bench to sit and people watch. We have been married now for 23 incredible years. One of the greatest things about CHRISTY is she loves the Lord and loves serving Jesus giving Him her best. It is such a high having my best friend by my side, as together we are living for the DREAM OF JESUS for NEW ENGLAND. I wish everyone could be as blessed as I am. Tomorrow I will tell you a little bit about my oldest daughter, ASHLEY!

Who's Glory?

2009-06-23T09:06:00.002-04:00

In Ephesians 3:20 Paul who was used of God to touch the world realized something that we all struggle with and that's making sure ALL THE GLORY GOES TO GOD. I don't know a single ministry leader who says glorify me, but to some extent we all love to be praise, don't we. I love the first few words of the PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE that remind us, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. Man, they are some challenging words! They are also a good reminder of what Paul was saying as well. I believe God shows up and does His greatest work in places where He knows He will receive the greatest glory. Let's be very intentional in making sure that in private and public all the glory goes to God.

God's Best Work

2009-06-22T07:02:00.003-04:00

I am convinced that God is God and I am not, how's that for a revelation. Our God is AWESOME, His power is limitless and His abilities beyond anything we could wrap our minds around. With that said it blows my mind to think that God has chosen us to do His best work through. It's true, check this out...

Ephesians 3:20, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." NLT

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it reminds us that God, who is God, has chosen to do His best work through us, giving us the ability to change this world through His power. If this is really true then why are so many Churches and Christians barley leaving a mark in this world? What can we do to see the great things of God? Lets talk...see you tomorrow!

Every Leader Needs Two "I's"...PART 2

2009-06-19T10:37:00.002-04:00

The second "I" every growing leader needs is INTERROGATION. Once we do our INVESTIGATION then we are ready to move on to INTERROGATION. It's the next step in the process of gaining valuable information that will have shape us as leaders. So what exactly does it mean to INTERROGATE a ministry. It's simple really. All it means is that we begin connecting to a person within a certain organization and begin ASKING STRATEGIC QUESTIONS. It's not really complicated especially in the day of technology that we live in. You can begin making connections through TWITTER, EMAIL, and here is a crazy idea, the PHONE! I have discovered that people who are KINGDOM MINDED love investing in other ministers and ministries. Now here is a tip that I have found helpful, when you make the connection, know what you want to ask. So what are the two "I's"? INVESTIGATE and INTERROGATE, so what are you waiting for, don't PROCRASTINATE!

Every Leader Needs Two "I's"...

2009-06-17T07:32:00.004-04:00

I am convinced that if you call yourself a LEADER then you embrace two "I's"! "I" number one stands for INVESTIGATE. This just in, every leader needs to be a learner, and in case you weren't aware of this, we don't know everything, lol! The truth is God is doing some BIG stuff in churches across the country. Because of the awesome day and age we live in we can INVESTIGATE other ministries from our kitchen tables in our pajama's, how cool is that. Now I am talking about recklessly wasting time surfing the net, but purposeful time that is strategically peering into works of God around the country. If we want to become all God created us to become as leaders, then we need to allow other leaders permission to speak into our lives. It's kinda like that iron sharpens iron thing! Let me give you a couple of ideas on how to INVESTIGATE.

If you find an exciting blog from a church leader that speaks to your heart, check out their website
If you receive cool magazines like OUTREACH MAGAZINE always check out the writers websites
Keep a favorites folder of cool websites you find and frequent them often
Ask other leaders what sites they enjoy "stealing" from and learning from

More to come tomorrow, how exciting is this! Until tomorrow...

Action Speak...

2009-06-16T07:33:00.004-04:00

We have all heard it, and i am sure and one point we have all said it, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDR THAN WORDS. So let me begin the morning with this challenge to us as CURCH LEADERS. Beyond our preaching and teaching on Sundays what do our actions communicate about us and those who need Christ? I'm not trying to minimize what we do on Sundays, I am simply trying to elevate what we do as leaders throughout the week. So what do my actions say about ME and MY desire to reach the lost? Let's be honest, I'm not talking about our church follow up letter, or our token thank you phone call, but a real honest attempt to build a bridge with someone to help them find Christ. Maybe this week we could...

Work on making a friend
Invite a friend to lunch
Join a local community team

These are just some things to think about. After all the ministry really is about PEOPLE isn't it? So what are your actions saying? What are MY actions saying?

It's All About Eternity

2009-06-15T07:34:00.001-04:00

This week two GSBCers stepped into eternity. The first man Bob 78 years old was a wonderful, faithful member of our church. The other a 36 year old man named Nick. Nick died in his sleep this week. It was just a couple of months ago that Nick walked into our church tattooed from head to toe (which by the way was very cool), and surrendered his life to Jesus as Savior. Although Nicks struggles were intense he had found Jesus and embraced Him as Savior. When Nick took his last breath on planet earth his very next breathe was in the presence of Jesus. That's WHY we do what we do, and Nick is the reason we will not bail on the DREAM of JESUS at GRANITE. We must never ever forget the WHY behind our ministry. We must remember that everyone steps into eternity, and we get the chance to help them spend it with God, by staying true to the mission of Jesus! And WHY do we stay true to the mission and God's calling in our lives?

1 Peter 4:10, “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you.” NLT

You ask WHY do we stay true to the DREAM, the VISION? Because the GENEROSITY and LOVE of God FLOWS THROUGH US. Think about that, what a privilege, what a responsibility we have to show the world how AMAZING the Lord is. We don't "HAVE TO" we "GET TO" invest our lives in others so that when they step into eternity, they are READY! How cool is that! Thank you Jesus for using us to show NICK you GENEROSITY and LOVE, so that now NICK can be with you FOREVER.

MINISTRY TEAMS

2009-06-13T11:16:00.004-04:00

Its been said that great leaders help you go farther faster and I couldn't agree more. At GRANITE I am blessed to have an amazing TEAM made up of passionate followers of Jesus Christ who have bought into the dream of Jesus. If it were not for this TEAM the dream of Jesus who limp along, barley gaining any traction. What I have discovered is that when you have the right leaders in the right chairs around your leadership table God shows up in BIG WAYS! As a pastor I have discovered that the best thing I can do is to give my leaders permission to run! After-all Thoroughbreds are designed to run! As a pastor I know how important TEAM is and I want to encourage every leader to work and building a TEAM around you. Not for the sake of making you look good, or successful, but for the sake of the call of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of producing disciples. There is an old acronym for TEAM that goes like this - Together Everyone Accomplishes More. One of the mindsets behind building TEAMS is to remember it's not about you!

The Dream of Jesus is NOT FOR SALE

2009-06-12T11:00:00.004-04:00

Years ago we had to make a decision and the decision we made then still navigates our the decisions we make in our church today. What was the decision? We had to choose between SELLING OUT on the dream of Jesus to please people, or BEING SOLD OUT to the dream of Jesus had given to our church, at the cost of losing "christians" at times, which reaching other "christians" was never our mission. So our church of just over 100 committed to BEING SOLD OUT to the dream of Jesus at all costs. Sure we lost some self-centered, all-knowing, what's in it for me "christians" who wanted to be blessed as opposed to being a blessing. But 12 years later at GRANITE, four church plants later, and well over a 1,000 people represented every Sunday I say we made the right GOD HONORING decision. Being SOLD OUT to the dream of Jesus is not always easy, but it is always worth it! To all who read this, know this, THE DREAM OF JESUS AT GRANITE STATE BAPTIST CHURCH IS NOT FOR SALE.

SHEEP SHEEP, REALLY!

2009-06-11T15:54:00.002-04:00

So if shepherds shepherd, then it only makes sense that sheep sheep. Now that may sound a little to simple, but if we could just get to the place where we simply embrace the role God has called us to within His body, the church, churches everywhere could accomplish so much more for the glory of God. As shepherds we must never forget it is a privilege not a right to be able to invest in and care for God's flock. I believe when a ministry team is loving the church, the way Christ loved the church, then the church will respond to the vision God places in his leaders. No, not every sheep follows, but we cannot allow the few difficult sheep to rob from the majority of sheep who want to make a difference in this world. There is too much at stake to DO church, God has called us to BE the church. More on that later...

Shepherds Shepherd!

2009-06-10T11:10:00.002-04:00

Now here is a thought that came to me, shepherds should shepherd and sheep should sheep, if that little bit of information doesn't change the church world nothing will. I recently encouraged our leadership team to shepherd the sheep, and not to get put into a position where the sheep shepherd the shepherds, now process that for a moment. I have found that God's plan runs smoother when leaders lead. Does that mean that sheep are any less important? Absolutely not! As a matter of fact when I read my Bible it says that shepherds give their lives for the sheep. Sounds to me that sheep must be pretty special! So let me throw out a few questions to chew on if you are a leader:

1. You call your self a leader but is anyone following you?
2. You call yourself a leader but do you have a clear picture of where JEsus has
called you to lead His flock?
3. You call yourself a leader but are you willing to fight for the sheep and at
times fight with the sheep to keep them on God's path? Remember there are
reasons sheep need shepherds!

Three simple questions but the answers to them, will ultimately determine how effective we will be in accomplishing the DREAM of JESUS in our churches.

Got Team!

2009-06-09T12:16:00.003-04:00

We are in the midst of a HUGE faith step here at GRANITE, believing that this step will help us advance the DREAM of JESUS for New England. One of the coolest things that makes this step exciting is that I get to do this with an amazing leadership team the Lord has blessed us with here at GRANITE. Ever person on our team is committed to seeing the DREAM of JESUS happen and I get so pumped up listening to them share what God has burned in their hearts and then watching them go for broke! So in short one of the greatest leadership lessons I have learned is that we should never do ministry alone. There is nothing like working alongside a team of passionate players. Now its time to get ready for our CREATIVE TEAM MEETING!