Preston Mitchell's Blog

Recalculating

Last week, my family took a vacation to Florida.  One of the necessary devices we carried with us was my wif'e's Garmin.  A Garmin is great to help you find your way around an unfamiliar area.  You type in an address, push go and the Garmin gives you directions via a human voice.  If you choose, for whatever reason, to go another way, the Garmin says "recalculating."  I love that word.  Isn't that what we do every day of our life?

What if we approached our lives by telling ourselves to recalculate. In other words, are we on the right path that God wants for us?  Many times, we aren't and we need to recalculate.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to help us recalculate the direction we are going and go a different way.  The Garmin used the shorter route to get us where we wanted to go.  That's what the Holy Spirit does for us. Without it, I drive blind spending a long time trying to find a location. If I don't listen to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, I am going to life lost. 

I am in a season of life where I am doing some recalculating.  We are sellling our home and downsizing, That was a tough decision but Dedo and I know it is the right one.  Our kids are leaving us, so we are recalculating our priorities.  Dedo and I are constantly recalculating our marriage because if we didn't, we would end up in a ditch.  I am thinking more and more about finances and we are recalculating the way we spend money.  I am recalculating my work at Fellowship Church.  What can I do, not do, suggest, prioritize, staffing issues, friends, etc.  After 20 years of serving in this ministry, I need to recalculate my purpose for what I do. 

I love to recalculate because when you do, more energy, creativity and passion is given.  It's like wiping the slate clean and doing God's purposes in a more efficient and relevant way.  What would you do with your life if you sat down and recalculated every day?  I bet it would be more strategic and effective than ever before.

Recalculate!

Life and Death

It never ceases to amaze me how thin the veil is between life and death.  We are only one breath or one heart beat away from eternity.  I've been thinking a lot about life and death after a 23-year old man collapsed during one of our Easter Services.  A doctor sitting two rows back was able to immediately begin chest compressions as our hosts got him out into the Atrium.  The paramedics came and continued resuscitation on the young man as he was transported to a nearby hospital.  Today, he is in a coma with little chance of survival unless God miraculously heals him and that is what we are praying for (www.edyoungblog.com).

The most surprising thing to me was that the young man was someone that grew up with my daughter.  They went to school and college together. His parents are good friends of ours.  Jared had no previous medical problems.  He was a healthy and active young man who had just moved into an apartment to be on his own.  Doctors have no clue about what happened to him.  They can help with the symptoms but are at a loss to pinpoint the trigger that caused Jared to collapse.  As great as science is, it still cannot explain how the human body lives.  The cause of life can only be explained by a Creator who sustains us every second of every day. 

As I have thought about Jared and his family, several things have crossed my mind.

    *    Life is never promised past our last breath.  As James says, we are like a vapor...

    *    God is sufficient in our greatest times of crisis.  I can see that in the lives of Jared's parents as they deal with this terrible crisis.  As hard as it is, they have a calming faith that is indescribable.

    *    The local church is critical as a supporting partner to families.  Our church has done a magnificent job of staying with the family, praying with them and feeding them.  It has been wonderful to see how the local church takes care of the needs of people in pain and suffering.

    *    Jared collapsed on Easter Sunday morning while worshiping God and surrounded by his family and friends.  From his last conscious moment to standing before the Father, he was worshiping.  That is incredible to me.

We are still on our knees praying for Jared and his family.  I believe God can heal Jared immediately.  But if He chooses not to, then Jared is ready to face God eye to eye. He is a follower of Christ and because Christ defeated death through his death, burial and resurrection, Jared will also experience a death, burial and resurrection.   

He is ready.  Are you?

Vegas? Come On!

Sorry I have been off blog for a few days.  I had a chance to get away and now I am catching up.  My family had an opportunity to go see the Beatles show "Love" which is at The Mirage in Las Vegas.  Vegas is not a place I enjoy, but I really wanted to see the show.  It was as good as advertised.  The music, artistry, programming, creativity, stage design, signage and sound was incredible.  The seats had speakers built in to get the full effect of the band. To bad we can't do that in the church!  What!   We can?  Are you kidding me?  Really? 

Can the church be as good as a Vegas show?  Where will we get the money?  It costs a lot to do what they did.  They charge like $150 to go to a show.  No wonder they can do all the stuff they do.  They have the cash to make it happen.  We can barely afford donuts in Sunday School. 

There is no way we can find people in our community that have that kind of talent.  Are you kidding me?  We live in the sticks. Have you heard the choir? It would take a lot of work to think up all the creative elements and some people may not get it.  People may even complain that the band wore skinny ties and jeans with a scarf.  This isn't Hollywood!  Loud sound like they have in Vegas may rupture ear drums.  Besides, I don't know all the words to the Beatles songs.  How can I sing?  We can't change anything on our platform.  It's all nailed down into concrete.  We can't move it, can we?

People know who the Beatles are.  Sure, people will come to a show like that!  Are you kidding?  The best rock band of the 20th century.  But we don't have anyone that famous they want to see, do we?  You probably think we should greet people who walk in the door.  Offer stuff to drink and eat. Our kitchen isn't big enough and how would we keep pimento cheese sandwiches fresh?  The signs around the hotel really were helpful getting us to the right place.  But why would we want to spend a lot of money on signage when we can make our own with a Sharpie and Scotch Tape?  Besides, everyone knows where everything is.  We never have anyone new here, so why worry?  Video elements, scrims, cool lighting?  Have you lost your mind?  There is no way we can do that.  Who would do it?  Who understands the technology stuff?  Not me.  I can't do it.  They can hire people in Las Vegas to do that.  We can't hire people to help.  That's why we have a staff.  That is their job, isn't it? 

Let's get real!  A Vegas show is way out of our church league. Right?

Thoughts about a "good 'ol boy."

Today is a difficut day for the staff of Fellowship Church.  Late Saturday night, Jimmy York passed into the eternal security of heaven.   He was a valuable member of our Home Teams ministry and worked with hundreds of people to connect them to our church family.  Jimmy worked for me years ago and I was always impressed by his loyalty to the vision of Fellowship Church, his love for people and his godly actions as a husband and father. 

One weekend, Jimmy invited me, my son Cameron (who was probably about 13)  and Todd Hamilton to go fishing.  His family had a house and a boat on a local lake.  It was a good time to fish for white bass, so we loaded up and spent the weekend fishing.  The first afternoon of the trip, my son hooked a bass and was trying to get it into the boat.  I reached down to get the fish just as Cameron decide to give one final pull on his rod.  The treble hook ended up buried in my skin between my thumb and index finger.  OUCH!  We went back to the house and tried to get it out.  Then we went next door where a guy was sitting at a table smoking and had beer cans stacked all around him.  Jimmy told me this guy knew everything about fishing and he could help us.  After the guy pulled out a rusty pair of pliers and tried to push the hook through my hand, I decided to take my chances at the local emergency room 17 miles away.  Jimmy and Todd drove me to the hospital, the doctors removed the hook and I get to see the scar every day.  As I look at the scar this morning, it brings back a lot of memories.

This morning as I was studying, I ran across a verse that I had never really thought much about.  It's found in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 and this verse describes Jimmy's life:

18What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do. 19Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard--this is God's gift to you. 20God will keep you so happy that you won't have time to worry about each day.  

This is the biblical description of a "good 'ol boy."  Solomon writes that we should just enjoy the life we have.  if we do that,we won't worry about the end of our life.  I think that's the way Jimmy lived his life.  He loved to fish, watch and play sports, enjoy time with his boys and love his wife Tricia.  He worked hard at connecting people to community at Fellowship Church.  When you had the opportunity to be around Jimmy, he was calm, reserved and friendly.  If you started talking sports or fishing, you could get him excited. But Jimmy never played the over bearing "I know it all" person.  He never lost his sense of humor and even keeled personality.  He was the best "good 'ol boy" I ever knew.

I am going to miss Jimmy York.  He has been a constant on our staff for several years and we will not be able to replace his uniqness and God-given passion for people.  Pray for Tricia and the boys as they go through this very difficult time. 

His life ended too soon on earth, but he is at home now in heaven!

   

Ed and Lisa on The Colbert Report Monday Night

Isn't it interesting to see what happens when you mention sex and church in the same sentence?  Such was the case when the media heard about Ed's challenge to Fellowship Church to have 7 days of sex with their spouse.  When NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox heard about that, they almost imploded.  The media went into a feeding frenzy.  Ed was contacted and interviewed by almost every major news outlet in the country and across the world.  The media could not grasp the Biblical command to practice sex God's way.  They are okay with having 7 days of sex with anyone other than your spouse, but with your spouse...no way.

What's really cool is they are still calling.  Ed and Lisa will appear on The Colbert Report on Monday night, January 26, at 10:30 PM CST on Comedy Central.  Ed is also in the middle of writing a book about sex and marriage based on his 7 day challenge.  It will be out soon.

The church needs to do a better job of teaching about sex.  We also need to start teaching earlier.  I believe that students as young as 4th and 5th grade should be taught about Biblical sex.  That's the age when students get into masturbation, oral sex and inappropriate touching.  By the time they reach middle school, they have heard it all.

If you are interested in picking up a copy of Ed's' series Leaving Lust Vegas, simply go to our resource site at www.creativepastors.com.  To find out what's happening at our Creative Church Conference in February, go to www.creativechurchconference.com. 

Don't forget to watch Ed and Lisa Monday night!

"Bidness Plan" as we say in Texas!

We had our first staff meeting of the new year today.  It was intense, fun, crazy, productive and we had food.  You can't have a better staff meeting than that.  We had a lot to talk about during the meeting, but Ed said something that most pastor's don't ever think about. 

He said, "if a business person can understand your church budget and expenses, you are not doing what God has called you to do."  In other words, churches don't budget and spend money like a business does.  Most business people, especially the ones who serve as deacons and elders, check their intellect in at the financial meeting door and become "church idiots."  What Ed means by his statement is important for pastors and church leaders to understand.  Sometimes God calls us to spend a lot of money on something that doesn't make much sense. Even in a tough economic time.  A business person would put a stop on the project or idea because in their world, the expenditure doesn't make "financial sense."  Since when did God's plan and purposes have to make sense to us - the puny human being? 

God doesn't operate on the Dow Jones or Chase Bank business model.  If He did, the church would be in the same shape as the econony.  When God calls for us to build, start programs, feed the hungry, or reach people, it doesn't matter how much it costs or if we have adequate funds "in the bank."  We do it, even if we don't have the money budgeted.  Now, we can't be stupid with our money. We are accountable for money, but we cannot let money affect a God-ordained plan. 

Business men and women - Your job is to support the vision of the pastor and help him/her to attain the money needed to implement God's plan.  If you stop God's plan because of "business sense," you better duck!  So many churches are sitting and doing nothing because their hands are tied by the business brainiacs. 

Of course, my wife does all our financial stuff, so what do I know about business?

Why Not Me?

I am happy 2009 is finally here because 2008 was a bad year for me personally.  I had four surgeries (including a kidney/pancreas transplant), two daughters get married, 40% loss in net worth ( because of the weddings) and a crummy Cowboy season. 

I am like so many people who ask "why me" when difficulties hit.  Whether it is sickness, marriage, parenting, financies or whatever, we start looking for someone to blame when we ask "why me?"  Most of the time, we blame God for the bad times and take credit for the good times.

The question for 2009 should be "why not me?" Stop blaming other people in your life.  If we are walking in step with the Saviour, we have nothing to fear.  Our focus should be "why not me" because we have a God who will expand our perseverance (James 1:2-3) to be able to handle anything that comes our way.  Pastors, ask yourself "why not me?'  Tackle what you fear.

Why not change something in the church?  Why not release some employees who are "why me" people and hire some "why not me" staff?  Why not challenge people to bring the tithe even though the economy is down?  Why not stand up to the status quo in your community?   We don't because we are afraid of the ripple of negativity and the back talk of backstabbers.  So we cower in the corner and shiver "why me" God?

My prayer this year is "why not me."  Who better to share the gospel than me?  Cod created and called you and me to be a "why not" people. No one else can do what we can do.  Join me and let's do some things that we didn't think possible.  With the power and perseverance of God, nothing can stand in our way.

Reckless Living

A few days ago, my 18-year old son Cameron and I were driving to church.  He was driving and the weather was terrible.  It was rainy, foggy and cold.  I was getting a little tense at his reckless driving and I said something to him about slowing down.  He said, “Dad, the world would be a better place if people lived more recklessly,” he said as he was swerving between two 18-wheelers.  What a profound statement I thought.

We need to live a reckless life with nothing holding us back from God’s potential in our lives.  I am the worst because I live by the rules and rarely take chances.  But we will never be challenged if we don’t become a little more reckless.  After my heart slows from the morning commute, I am going to ask God to give me courage to be more reckless in building His church.

Young and Younger

A couple of weeks ago, Ed looked around our staff and said “We are old!”  The average age of the people in the room was about 35 I would guess.   He and Lisa had just returned from a trip to Hillsong London.  He told us that he didn’t see anyone over 27 on the stage, as volunteers, in guest services, the parkers and the attenders.    

We have always believed that our church reflects who we put on stage.  Now, it is time to face the cold hard fact that we need younger people all over our campus.  That is the goal of our different ministry teams for 2009 – find high school, college or young married couples who are sharp, friendly and cool to engage our visitors.  What happens to guys and girls like me who are 52?  Are we retired and put out to pasture?  It depends.  If you have an old spirit, you will be retired.  Many of us choose to stay young in spirit so that we can continue to reach out to this generation.  We can lead by example, encourage, train and teach our young employees and volunteers to take this church to the next level. 

This past weekend, we had the youngest stage ever (except for me - I spoke).  Their enthusiasm and energy swept through the audience.  I had to sit down to speak because I was tired from just watching them.  Keep it young!

 

Have a great 2009!  I'm late for my Botox appointment!