We're taking this thing to a Whole Nutha Level!

This will be last post on the blog formerly known as Real Life Leaders.

From now on, you can join the revolution at OhioValleyRevolution.blogspot.com

See ya there!

Tonight I had the privilege of listening to a friend of mine give message at a local ministry event. His message was all about "FAITH". As part of the faith message, he used a baseball analogy that really caused me to stop and think for a moment. The analogy went something like this,"in baseball, there a several ways to strike out at bat" and he began to describe the possibilities, but the meat of the story surrounded the fact that worst way in the game to strike out is to let the pitcher throw the strikes right down pike, over the plate, and into the catcher's glove, without even taking a swing at the pitch. He used this image to talk about how important faith is to our calling, and really then boiled it down to risk taking. In order to hit the ball, you have to take a swing. You have to risk missing the ball and getting a strike, in order to have success at making contact with the ball. Here is where my mind starting processing things at a different level. As we swing our proverbial bat here this evening, let's look a couple of things:
1. It's by faith that we are playing in the game!
--I believe that God has a plan for people who do not have an honest relationship with Him right here in Belmont County, and I am being faithful to that vision that has been placed in front of us. Gotta have faith to step out of our comfort zone for the unchurched. "Gimme the Ball"

2. It's by faith that we swing the bat!
--I believe that all people need the saving Grace of Jesus and for that reason, I don't want any pitches to get by me without taking a risk to hit them. The stakes are too high! There are too many unchurched people that are closing there minds to Jesus because all the freakin strings we attach with religion. I am not saying take reckless swings at the ball, but we have to meet people where they are and on terms that they are familiar with.

But, as you ponder these images in your mind, let's give this faith thing some additional substance. We have the all-mighty God on our side! With 100% unconditional faith in our God, total trust that His ways are the Best ways, incomparable surrender to His desires instead of ours, and the confidence that would go along with these attributes, WE WILL hit home runs!!!! The first leap of faith is one of the hardest, but with God on our side, we can do the impossible!!

If you been at bat a few times and watched many pitches go by without a swing, or if where you are at right now, you feel the swing and misses are getting the best of you, we want to dream about "home runs" and "wins" with you! We want to desperately share Jesus with our community in a relevant way. We want to be a church for people who do not like church. We want a place of life change by and thru Jesus!! God wants us to trust in Him, with all of Heart, mind and strength--Though FAITH in HIM, he wants us to have the confidence to step up to the plate, have the riskiness to swing the bat, and the Heart and drive to knock it OUT-of-the-BALLPARK in HIS name!!

One Church...One Vision:the unchurched

So I got this message in my Facebook inbox (I've deleted last names):

Hi Jessica - I don't think we even know each other. I actually clicked on your profile to see who the nice person was that was going to take Mike's puppy. From there, I "snooped" around. Long story short, I have been trying to find a church that would work for my family. I am not interested on an "If you (fill in the blank)_________, then (and only then) will you be "good", "saved", etc. Something tells me you might be the person to ask about something out there that is a little different, and more accepting, positive, real, etc. If you'd like to share, I'd love to listen. Thanks so much, Amy

I wrote back to Amy and hopefully we can get together soon.

We've been asking God to move in BIG WAYS in Belmont County and He certainly is! People are hungry, restless.

Pray for Amy and her family.

Pray for our team.

Pray for Belmont County.

Amen!

From TheDailyVerse.com:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... Ecclesiastes 3:1

Change is going to happen. You can count on it like you can count on summer turning into autumn, autumn turning into winter, and so on. There is a divine purpose for change - it is necessary to prepare for the next season. Instead of spending your energy reacting to the changes that are bound to come, start considering how you can spend that energy embracing those changes and living them out to the fullest.

"I want a church that my children can understand and enjoy going to."

That was facebook chat from an old high school chum.

An old high school chum who is surrounded by churches in St. C., but NOT ONE that is applicable to her and her childrens' lives.

You hang on, baby!

It's coming!

Let's do this thing!

from Perry Noble's blog:
*part of a series-visit his blog on our links

My fourth hill: the hill of fear.
I have a philosophy when it comes to leadership and it is that God will allow us to go through fearful situations in order for us to renew our passion and desperation for Him!
One of the most ridiculous prayers that a leader or anyone can pray for that matter is God please take the fear away from me. A leader isn’t one who leads when everything is good. A leader is one who can face fear and still believe that God is completely sovereign.
I’ve spent most of my life as a church planter in fear.
I was scared to plant the church wondering every week are people going to show up (by the way, I still wonder that every single week).
I was scared when we went to one service to two services in the Sullivan Building at Anderson University thinking people were not going to come.
I was scared when I felt the Lord tell us to move from the 150 seat facility on the campus of Anderson to the 1,100 seat facility.
I was scared when God told us to build the facility we are currently in on our Anderson Campus.
I was scared when God told us to launch a church in Greenville.
I was scared when God told us to launch a church in Florence.
I was scared when God told us to build a Children’s and Youth Facility on the Anderson campus.
I have been scared as a leader most of the time and I am so thankful because if I were not scared then that would result in pride and arrogance. I know that I cannot do a thing unless God moves and interacts and my prayer for me is that I will always be willing to face my fears and know that God is in complete control.

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MY THOUGHTS:
One of the things I have been letting hold me back in ministry recently is this very subject! What if I step out and fail..........What if I step up and realize that I am not good enough...........What if I can't take the heat when it comes, and I know it will come............

Leaders that cares about the unchurched, truly and passionately care for the unchurched, will continually meet with these questions--AND you know who it most often is responsible for bring these questions to your mind? It is the other "churched" people around you.

They will question your passion to provide an environment that might make the unchurched more comfortable with the Sunday morning experience.

They will question your vision that God has placed on your heart to have a church that does not put personal desires in front of the unchurched.

Don't even get me started when it comes to the music that we play as part of the worship experience!!!

It often times becomes a mountain of doubt and fear when you constantly feel the "buttons" on the back or your head (Mark Hall from Casting Crowns-story) being pushed, especially when it comes from Christians who really don't understand your passion. I have learned alot in past months that I MUST face these fears, like Perry is talking about, head on and asking God for strength, endurance, and the will to keep the vision. A vision where ALL people are loved equally- the good, the bad and the ugly-ones that got it goin on and the ones that don't even have a clue!!

therevolutionproject is obsessed with making Jesus and His Love for all of us, our #1 vision. We believe that His Grace and Love is available for all and that we as "Christians" got to get our freakin selfish desires out of the way and be obsessively passionate about getting our hearts lined up with Gods desires!!! Listen now, it is truly not about what "Christians" want or like........
*not the music
*not the church environment
*not the lighting
*not the "buffet" of food in the foyer
*etc, etc, etc

It has to be about what makes a person or persons open to hearing about the Grace and Love that Christ offers them, AND it's about us "Christians" believing that the people who do not have a relationship with Jesus are the most important thing to us. I know that they are to God!

Fear can not be an option! There's too much at stake. Let's have short prayer together:
God, please help us meet the fears facing us, "head-on". Father help us learn from our fearful experiences and make us even more passionate about the things that BREAK YOUR HEART.
Amen.
**One Church...One Vision: the unchurched**

From Steven Furtick: That can’t happen
One of the sayings we used to employ around here is: That can’t happen.

Battery in a handheld died during announcements? That can’t happen.
Audio on a video didn’t fire on cue? That can’t happen.
Staff member showed up late for a meeting? That can’t happen.

We don’t use the phrase quite as much these days. Because fact is: That can’t happen does happen. Inevitably. Inconveniently. In recurring patterns.

So what do you do when that happens? Here are a few suggestions:

Force accountability for the mistake. In our weekly production meeting, there’s a section called hits and misses. Under misses, everything that went wrong on Sunday is listed and scanned by the entire group. We don’t discuss the majority of the items, but requiring that they be listed and acknowledged is a step toward ensuring that it won’t happen next time.

Diagnosis systems-not symptoms. Don’t settle for: “Jeff forgot to change the battery…I yelled at him”as an acceptable explanation for the mistake. Cause Jeff might not be the one to change the battery next time. What’s the system to make sure the batteries get changed? Is it a good one? If so, why was it violated? What have you done to prevent it from happening again-not just next week-but 6 months from now?

If that keeps happening, either change the standard or change the personnel. Otherwise, you’re sending a message: that really can happen-it’s no big deal.

Mistakes aren’t fatal. Apathy is.

Wow! Now THAT'S a Standard of Excellence!