The Notebook

In the first session we heard Wayne Cordeiro who pastor New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii. He shared that the weather in Honolulu was boring, sunny and 80 degrees everyday. He should try out Cleveland’s weather if he wants some variety. Since starting New Hope in 1995 the churc...

Darin Avery and I are in Orlando at the National New Church Conference.  We arrived yesterday to the wonderful sunshine of central Florida and no humidity which was a welcome surprise.  We did not register for any of the pre-conference conferences. Could that be classsified as an oxymoron?...

Preaching with a goal of transforming lives through an articulated purpose involves careful consideration of the audience. The importance of the listener, the power of Scripture, and a holistic approach are all components of preaching with a specific purpose. The dynamics of the preacher-listener re...

What comes to mind when you think of worship? Is it a formal occasion? Is it a joyous occasion? Does it contain certain rituals? Are you involved? Are you praising God? Are you learning? Are you hearing from God? Are you in contemplation? Are you singing? Are you praying? Are you alone, or with othe...

To serve as Jesus served, requires commitment In 1986, I went on my first mission trip and it was to Romeo, MI where we worked with a small church that was struggling, but wanted to reach their community. It was then that I got the vision that the church needed to be externally focused. It […...

There are several things about ministry that are not glamorous and exciting. I will tell you this, serving people is one of the things I love about ministry. Last week in Tennessee I shared with a group of people that I am having more fun now than I have ever had in 17 years of […]...

When I say that I am a Christian because Christ is my life I mean, firstly, that I have surrendered to him. You see, the beginning point for us is the call of Christ. Actually, that is not the beginning point for God, only for us. God began before the foundation of the world. And […]...

Myspace is a huge phenomenon that can’t be ignored. There are 230,000 new myspace pages created everyday and there are more than 100 million of them out there. We have had our encounter with myspace our house and for a while I kind of blew it off as a fad. This week I launched my […]...

I have been receiving several comments from people who attended the launch of Bridge Church this past Sunday that I want to share with you. When I read these comments of how God is moving, it has brought me to tears. The launch of Bridge Church is all about God, not me or anyone on […]...

It happened! I wrote about it here on this site several times over the past few months and it finally happened. The Big Happening? Bridge Church launched Sunday January 21st in Perry Ohio with ninety-eight people present for this God thing! To be honest I wasn’t sure how many people would show...