Beginnings
Mar 13, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
This weekend, I am launching a new series on the Old Testament at Riv and we’ll be specifically looking for Jesus in those pages.
That’s why this video (via ysmarko) struck me. It’s about Jesus’ 40 days in the desert and his temptation by Satan before he launched into his ministry. Even though the video doesn’t specifically show how Jesus fought these temptations, I was reminded that he did so by quoting the Old Testament. It was, after all, the Bible he had.
Enjoy the video and we’ll see you this weekend.
Questions
Mar 12, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Pete Wilson linked to a quote from one of Mark Batterson’s books and it struck me.
According to the research of Rolf Smith, children ask 125 probing questions per day. Adults, on the other hand, ask only half a dozen probing questions each day. That means somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose 119 questions per day…. Unfortunately, at some point in our lives, most of us stop asking questions and start making assumptions. We stop gazing at the stars and start staring at the ceiling.
When I read this, I remembered teaching years and years ago on the concept of questions (specifically asking God questions). At that point, I made a similar point but I added that it is adults that get annoyed by questions and shut kids down. That causes them to stop asking questions.
This struck me hard because now that I have 4 kids who ask billions of questions a day, I find I have become that guy. I am now the adult who is annoyed by the questions and shuts my kids down.
Dang it.
I don’t want them to stop asking questions.
Looks like I have some work to do in my parenting.
Thanks Pete, Mark, and God for bringing that one to my attention.
Tag Team
Mar 11, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Last weekend at Riv, someone asked me how we as pastors keep track of / care for thousands of people.
I told him we were like professional wrestlers (maybe I was inspired because I just watched bits of Nacho Libre). I told him we step into the ring when someone needs us, but then we tag someone else from Riv to take if from there. There are times when we are tagged again, and we step back in, but then we tag out again.
Here’s an example from this weekend. There’s a guy in our church going through a pretty rough time (we’ll call him Joe). I saw Joe’s friend (we’ll call him Bob) and I asked him how things were going. Bob gave me an update on the situation and shared how he was trying to help Joe out. He was doing a great job but was at a loss in a few areas.
Conveniently, Joe walked up and I was able to speak specifically to the areas where Bob was at a loss. Bob then suggested we pray (brilliant) and we took a few minutes to pray together. I then said to Joe, “Let me know if there is anything I can do, but in the meantime lean on Bob. He is an awesome guy and he knows you well enough to help way better than I can.” With that, I jetted and got into another conversation where the cycle started again.
I am so thankful for guys like Bob in our church. He is a great example of the body taking care of itself and it’s how things are supposed to be. Ultimately, the pastors are here to teach and coach the church and counsel as a last resort.
Beginnings
Mar 10, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
The Team: The Riv Pastors
Mar 9, 2009 The Team
I have the honor of working with one of the best church staff teams in the known universe (although I may be a tad biased). Today, I want to highlight the guys that lead this crazy staff team: The Riv Pastors.
When I think of these guys, I am reminded of William Shakespeare’s words in Henry V:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
At Riverview, we have a team-model to leadership. That means that the five pastors serve together to lead the church. We have different roles, but equal responsibility for the church. This can sometimes be a cumbersome structure, but it gives each of us the freedom to work in our “sweet spots.” Here are a few thoughts on each of these guys:
Mark Brett
Mark serves as a “bi-vocational pastor” at Riv. That means he works his butt off and we don’t pay him anything. He has a day job that is super demanding and he still finds time to serve on our team. Mark is an operations master and uses that gift to oversee our East Lansing Venue and EPIC (our ministry at MSU). He also gives me tons of counsel on big-picture issues and has a great ability to see the forest instead of the trees.
Paul DenHerder
I can honestly say I wouldn’t be a pastor if it wasn’t for Paul. He is a shepherd at heart and spent years and years pouring his life into mine. When I was a young punk, he bought me lunch 300 weeks in a row. He would listen (a lot), advise, and pray with me. Paul writes the Message Notes we email out each week, which allows him to use his shepherd’s gift on a big scale. He also works with a lot of our different counseling deals going on and oversees a lot of day to day ministry.
Dan Price
Dan and I first met at a conference where he was leading the music and I was teaching. We clicked then and the rest is history. When we hired Dan, we knew he was a phenomenal musician but had no idea what a great leader he is. In addition to overseeing our 7 bands (which includes writing and arranging a lot of music, recorded albums, etc), he is an intuitive discipler and socratic teacher. He works with an amazing number of ministries around Riv and is my primary sounding board for crazy ideas.
Steve Sommerlot
Steve is our elder statesman around here. I’m contractually limited from disclosing his age, but let’s just say he’s been bald most of his life (you do the math). Steve teaches a lot at our Holt Venue both on the main stage and in classes. He is a self-taught theologian and he works hard to keep us from going off the deep end with our doctrine. He oversees our RivU classes and generally makes sure I’m reigned in and heading in the right direction.
Paper Airplane
Mar 4, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
OK, this is amazing…
Flying from Sam Fuller on Vimeo.
Quote of the Day
Mar 3, 2009 Quotes
Thanks to Manvotional for this amazing Teddy Roosevelt quote:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
The Team: Eddie and Renee Cloutier
Mar 2, 2009 The Team
Today I continue my little Monday tradition highlighting someone from Riv’s team that rocks my socks off.
This post highlights 2 people who are 1 in the flesh: Eddie and Renee Cloutier
Eddie and Renee have been part of our team at Riv since…well…since I wasn’t even a teenager yet. Let’s just say it was a long time ago.
I remember the first time I met them. A bunch of us were heading to a conference and when we boarded an airport shuttle, there weren’t enough seats. So I sat on this dude’s lap. He looked vaguely familiar to me, but little did I know how much…
The first time I visited their home, Renee made me whole wheat cinnamon rolls from scratch. Oh man. They are still one of my favorite things ever.
At the time, Eddie was co-pastoring one of Riv’s daughter churches in the Detroit area. Over time, they ended up moving back to the Lansing area and that’s where I got to know them better and better.
Eddie serves around here as a volunteer extraordinaire. I seriously don’t know how he has time to run his business with all he does for us. He has overseen many projects at Riv; from our finances, to our operations, to our facility. Eddie is a “trend genius.” He can predict where our finances are going with the most subtle of changes and can spot building problems before anyone sees them. Eddie is singlehandedly the reason our building is in as good of shape as it is. His most recent project was getting our building expansion built. He kept everything going smoothly and on budget.
Renee is a part-time staffer around here in the office. She works with our financial gifts, doing all the grunt work of entering data and producing my favorite piece of paper of the week: the weekend report on attendance and giving. She also keeps her eye on our Own It. campaign. But one of Renee’s most valuable roles for me personally is cheerleader. She constantly shoots me encouraging emails about what’s happening around Riv and when necessary challenges me to get my butt in line. Awesome.
Eddie and Renee are uniquely gifted to help make other people successful. I owe a large measure of my personal growth to them and Riv owes them more than anyone will ever realize.
