I can’t believe I’m 36.

By the time this is published I will be home from my trip to the New England area.  I’ve had some good birthday experiences.  This year I celebrated next to the ski slopes of New Hampshire although I didn’t ski.  Last year I celebrated in Seattle while participating in a church planting workshop.  The best trip by far was 3 years ago when I celebrated on the Sea of Galilee in Israel.

These have been very unique experiences in which God gave me a sense of clarity each time that I was not expecting.

• In Israel I gained this clarity about my relationship with Him that I hadn’t had in some time.  The essence of that clarity was that Jesus really is all that matters.  If my focus is on Jesus everything else is secondary.  Nothing matters as much as Him.
• In Seattle I gained clarity that God really was working with the new campus we were planting.  I received such a confirmation that God was already at work ahead of us and that He indeed wanted Suncrest-East to succeed even more than I did.  Probably more important was the confirmation that I was the one He really wanted leading it.
• And this year…well the experience is still fresh so I will wait to reflect on it in this arena.

All in all, good birthdays over the last several years.  But I still can’t believe I’m 36.

[vimeo 3386799]

So you’ve heard about the rules, give us some good stuff to laugh about!  Please submit your videos to either;

www.vimeo.com or

www.youtube.com and then

send me (doug.gamble AT suncrest.org) the link to the video.

Deadline for submissions is March 19th.

What’s holding you back?

I think that is a great question to ask ourselves everyday.  What’s holding me back from being who God wants me to be? What’s holding me back from accomplishing the dream God has placed in my heart? What’s holding me back from doing what I said I was going to do 5 years ago?

In Tribes, Seth Godin suggests it is one thing: FEAR.

Fear of failure or what he calls a “lack of faith.”

“The only thing holding you back from becoming the kind of person who changes things is this: lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it’s worth doing.  Faith that failure wont’ destroy you. (71)”

Another nuance to our fear is blame and criticism.  What will people say?

“We choose not to be remarkable because we’re worried about criticism.” (46)

How do these things hold you back?  How do you let fear drive you?

I’ve blogged before about my fear of criticism.  Yet having been criticized plenty in my life…

…for being a pastor…

…for preaching too loud…

…for being too funny… (okay I made that one up)

…for home educating our children…

…for launching a 2nd campus with video…

…the criticism never hurt more than the pay off of accomplishing the goal.

So what is holding you back? What do you dream about?

Read this book…and then get out there and lead.

It’s no secret I love the show Lost.  I do for lots of reasons…

• great storytelling
• great storyline where the writers are not just making it up a they go
• great actors.

I also love the fact that they bring in Biblical metaphors and numbers.  This past week, the character named Ben retold the story of doubting Thomas.  He ended the story by telling Jack, the skeptic, “Jack, eventually we all believe.”

Now I know the writers do not intend for the message to be about believing in Jesus, yet…

that particular episode was titled “316.”  It was the number of the Flight the crew had to take to get back to the island AND it was a reference to John 3:16.  Again, they are using it loosely as a metaphor for what is going in the show, but it is there nonetheless.

Here’s where it is interesting to me.  There is this whole tribe of people who explore indepth the mythology of Lost.  I dabble here and there as I have time, but many, many people really get into it.  Yes, you will probably call them nerds even though you wouldn’t say the same thing about someone who knows every stat of an MLB player or the intricsies of fashion, but either way it’s what they are interested in.  And there was so much chatter about the Biblical reference.  I was intrigued by the use of this Scripture so I listened to a couple podcasts and I heard John 3:16 quoted more times than at church.

Here’s my point:  Jesus was preached, even though those speaking didn’t know it.   And the Gospel is being revealed even on the show.  How so?  In this way:  Lost is all about the necessity of belief and that everything that really matters requires sacrifice.

Okay, so it is not the full Gospel, but it’s a starting point.  A great starting point in fact to start a conversation about spiritual matters with friends.

If you are lost on Lost, here’s the writer’s top ten episodes to watch in order to know what is going on as suggested by the executive producers and writers:

Season 1

Walkabout

White Rabbit

Deus Ex Machina
Season 2

The 23rd Psalm

Live together die alone
Season 3

Flashes before your eyes

The man behind the curtain

Season 4

The Constant

The shape of things to come

There’s no place like home

I had the opportunity to preach at West campus yesterday.  It was good to see so many faces I had not seen in sometime.  It was also weird being there.  Even though I’m in the building almost everyday except Sunday, being there to preach was not what I expected.  I thought it would feel kind of like going home.  It didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong.  It was a good experience.  It just wasn’t what I thought.

Two things really contributed to this:

1)  There are a ton of new people at West campus.  That is so awesome!  I love that the seats we left empty by launching EAST have filled up with new people.  That is what it is all about!  I really noticed this in 3rd service that felt about half filled with new people.

2) The other contributing factor to this is that most of the people who I am connected with personally are at EAST.  It really struck me how the people who make up my community helped launch EAST campus.  Certainly not everyone that falls into that category are at EAST but most of them are.  That has created for us a situation where it really is like a party each Sunday.  The challenge of course is that we have to work at not turning inward and keep welcoming guests.

It was great being at WEST, but I really do love EAST campus.  That is so reaffirming that it is exactly where God wants me.

I love reading stories like this.  It’s another story of a life helped through Land of a Thousand Hill’s coffee.

“From your purchases of Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee we have invested significant portions of profits in micro loan opportunities for victims of genocide. Nadine’s loan of just $56 set her up with her own market stand, a healthy supply of tomatoes and the opportunity to leave behind the slums and move into a new home. Nadine is not providing for her own and can even help pay for her siblings to go to school She is living the life God intended for her.

Nadine isn’t the recipient of charity, she is a business woman, selling goods and making her loan repayments on time. What greater wish could we have, than that of watching others less fortunate than us – thrive!”

If you don’t get your coffee from here, why not?  Drink Coffee and do good.

Confessions of a Campus Pastor series

There I said it.  It won’t surprise any ministry person because they undoubtedly worry about attendnace at their events as well.  But I have to tell you that ever since launching Suncrest-East I worry more than I ever used to.  I wake up in the middle of the nigh Sunday mornings worrying that non one will show up….worrying that there we will be in the movie theater that we pay too much for with no new people…that everyone will be asking me what we should do because everyone has stopped coming…worrying that the whole thing is going to fall apart.

I wouldn’t say it is a chronic problem because this past weekend I didn’t wake up at all…okay I did wake up but that was because of my son who was sick. My response is to pray through it and ask God to help me have the right kind of focus.

You have to understand that this weakness is tied to my identity.  It affects how I look at myself.  If attendance is down, I tend to take it personally.  If it is up, I feel great.  I’m not proud of that.  That is just my struggle.

Someone twittered on December 28th (a notoriously low attendance Sunday) a prayer that God would help us focus on who IS there rather than who IS NOT.  As I read that I thought it was exactly the kind of prayer I needed to read and the kind of prayer I needed to pray.  So I did and I have.  And my “natural” focus has begun to shift from attendance (the  numbers) to what matters most…people.