Smile more

I often hear horror stories of Pastor's who lead congregations that really don't appreciate the sacrifice he makes for them. I can honestly say that I have always felt loved and appreciated by my Church family.
This month is Pastor Appreciation Month. I have received many kind words, cards and nice notes, but one of the coolest things occured this week. A wonderful family in our church dropped by with a homemade cheesecake, and they brought their young daughter with them. She had a school paper to do about people who help others. Some of the students picked policemen, doctors, nurses, etc. She chose me. She brought me that paper. On the front she had colored a picture of a guy (I'm assuming it's me). There are a few other things in the picture. I think one is my table that I use to set my Bible, another appears to be a pair of glasses (one of the curses of being over 40), and a couple of other things (I'm not sure what they are). But the one thing that I love about her picture, is that I have a smile on my face! From her young perspective, she sees that her Pastor is happy. I have always tried never to preach angry.
I see many Pastors who seem angry. They preach with a scowl instead of a smile. They look like they don't really enjoy what they do, or the people who they do it with. The Bible is Good News!
Pastors, we have been called to spread the greatest message that has ever been told. Imagine that----we even get paid to do that!
If someone drew a picture of you, what expression would be on your face?
By the way. On the back of her picture she writes this. (I am writing it just as she did.) "Preachers tell pepol about Jesus and God in terch and Gods holeword and that is how preachers help pepol." (Here is the translation: Preachers tell people about Jesus and God in Church and God's Holy Word. And that is how Preachers help people") Don't you just love it!

Church Planting

One of the things that we feel very strongly about at Foothills, is the need to help other Churches. Every person on my staff is committed to this value. We frequently host staff from other churches, and have built relationships with many Pastors and staff.
One thing that we are presently considering is providing an internship program to a prospective church planter. Our thought at this point is to bring someone on staff at Foothills. We would pay a portion of their salary, and they would raise the rest. In return they would get an inside look at what goes here at Foothills. They would serve in virtually every area of ministry during their internship. We are thinking that the program would last around 6-12 months. At that point our hopes are to place that person in a launch location, and offer some on-going support as well.
There are some other churches doing similar things. If you know of anyone that may be interested in applying for this position, have them contact me.

Classic Service

I am very excited about what God is doing here at Foothills Community Church. 3 weeks ago we added a 4th Sunday service at 6:00pm---it's been incredible. But one of the things we are going to be working on is changing our 8:30 am service to be more of a "Classic" style. We have always called the 8:30 service "classic", but it really hasn't been too different than the other services. So we are going to make a radical departure and try to make it different.
Let me describe what our definition of "classic" is. In that service we will change the pre-service music to something with less of an edge. The music set will probably be 2 hymns (modern arrangememt), 1 curerent upbeat song, and 1 oldie goldie (ie. Shout To The Lord).
The volume level will be backed off a few decibels, and the band will alot more acoustic. It will still be a Foothills "feel" , but we are hoping to connect with the people who say, "I love this church, but the music is a little over the top for me". We'll see how it works.