SUNDAY IN REVIEW 01.25.09

• GREAT day @ a2! I mean, GREAT!

• I love what God is doing! Every week I believe we’re becoming more of the kind of church God wants us to be.

• I thank God that a2 Church is not about traditions, rules, rituals and "church as usual"… It’s just about Jesus. It’s always about Jesus. It’s only about Jesus. I love it.

• Yesterday I invited the girl who works at the place we get all of our printing done to check out a2. She looked at our card that reads, “…a church for people who’ve given up on church,” and said, “That’d be me.” It was awesome to look at her and say, “Then a2’s the place for you.” And MEAN IT. We're not into religion. We're into JESUS. Don't get me preaching!

• God is up to something. I love getting to join Him in His activity.

• Today the band kicked off the service with our own arrangement of Coldplay’s song, “Life In Technicolor” featuring mandolin – you read that right, mandolin on Coldplay. Who knew? Electrics. Bass. Drums. Acoustic. The works. Really cool approach. I love seeing our band grow, develop and gel. It gets me pumped up about the present and the future. We're going to steal Life Pointe Church's T-shirt design. Our new T-shirt? a2 Rocks!

• As the band covered the song, three artists from a2 – Anhtuan B., Kevin J. and Nathan H. painted their own interpretation of Malachi 4:2, “…the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings.” I’ll throw up a pic later. All I can say is that I’m amazed. In four minutes – AWESOMENESS.

• The band blew up worship with Chris Tomlin’s, He Lifted Me Out. This song rocks! I loved hearing our people sing it and know that before long when we sing, “He set me dancing, dancing…” we’ll actually be dancing!

• Everlasting God is a great worship song. “You never change. You stay the same. You are the everlasting God.”

• Closed out Reset by preaching from Malachi 4. Loved preaching this week’s message. Key thought: Entropy is one of the great enemies of the human spirit. If you put any important area of your life on autopilot, and you’re at risk. God’s will is never entropy or mediocrity. It is life!

• Pumped about seeing the response during the invitation. Seeing approximately 20 people STAND – yeah, we went “old school” this morning and challenged people who wanted to “return to God with their whole heart” to stand – and sing, “Come and make my heart your home…” Oh, yeah! Love it!

• I’m feeling more passionate and bold about challenging people towards commitment to Christ than I believe I’ve ever felt! Look out! The ride could get bumpy... But aren't you tired of "cheap grace," passionless preaching and a lukewarm relationship with the God of the Universe. We were meant to live for so much more... (Thanks, Bonhoeffer and Switchfoot.)

• To use the words of Jim Collins, “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great… Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life…" I really believe God longs for people to live GREAT LIVES, but it requires repentance and a constant pursuit of holiness. To quote Paul, “I’m bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing…”

• Loved going back to “You Lifted Me Out” at the end of the service. David pumped up the mix, BIG TIME. “He set me dancing…”

• Today one of our Sound Techs, David W. brought me a great T-shirt. I may wear it next week. The front of it says, "If our music is too loud. You're too old." I love it!

• How about the free pizza at the end of the service? COOL! Got the idea earlier this week to give away free pizza at the end of our 21-day adventure… Our people loved it. All of it was GONE – really, really quick. People hung out until almost 1. Love seeing our people walk out Acts 2:42-47. That’s what a2 is all about.

• Pumped about this Wednesday’s Dream Team Session. Last Wednesday rocked! I was absolutely “out of control.” Oh, yeah, this Wednesday – not holding anything back. If you want it all nice, neat and politically correct – forget it! We’re talking God’s Word, not some self-help book. Pre-service prayer @ 6. Dream Team Session @ 6:30. One hour of intense “leadership level” study. Gooooood stuff!

• Absolutely jazzed about our new series, “Come Home: Invitations from the Prodigal God.” Really believe God’s going to use it to remind people – “No matter what you’ve done… No matter how you feel… The past is behind you… You can come home.” Three weeks in the most familiar and maybe one of the most important of all Jesus’ parables is going to rock. We’re going to fall in love with the gospel of grace and realize that “prodigals” come in all shapes and sizes. Cool thing: God loves them, regardless! Come home!

• Make certain you use the “Come Home” postcard invitations. Write a hand written note this week to somebody who has wondered from God. Follow it up with a phone call or email. Share the special “Come Home” invite cards. The GOSPEL OF GRACE is going to BLOW UP @ a2 this Sunday.

• Excited about next Sunday’s Student Super Bowl Bash. Can’t wait to hang out with students 6 – 12 grade. The game is going to look awesome on the big screens. The sound is going to rock. The food is going to be amazing. And if the game gets out of hand – check out “Rock Band!!!” Invite a friend.

• Pumped up about the new a2 Kid's Ministry Stage Set. We want a2 to be the coolest environment possible. We want kids and their parents to LOVE it! Thanks to Kevin J., Chris G., Jennifer G., Jeremy G. and Bill R. for helping to get this off the ground.

• Oh, by the way, God has used this 21-day adventure to amp up my prayer life. I am praying like crazy that God will blow our minds with what He does through a2. I'm praying with boldness and a sense of passion. Thank you, Holy Spirit for re-igniting my life.

• Dream big. Pray hard. Work like everything depends on you. Pray like everything depends on God!

• I’m out.