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Why Faithco Doesn’t Cancel Church for Snow Days

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I sometimes get questioned about our “No Cancel” policy that we have for our weekend worship.  The last few Sundays we’ve had some pretty bad weather, so I thought I’d talk about why we decided to keep church open regardless of the weather -especially snow and sleet days.

First , I feel compelled to say that I don’t require anyone (including our leadership team) to drive to church on snow or sleet days.  I tell them, “If you can go, then go, but don’t risk your life or your family’s to come to church”.  I leave this decision completely up to individual judgment, and I don’t pressure any of our team or volunteers to attend on these bad weather days.   Knowing this, let me tell you why we don’t cancel church although most churches do for bad-weather days.

First,  many of our people get out in bad weather.  My mother is 64 years old.  I tell her to stay home when the weather is bad and most of our people around this age do stay home.  However, the median age of our church is around 28 years old… maybe even younger.  Many of our younger people don’t stay home; they get out even in bad weather.  We stay open for the younger people who would come regardless.

Second, many of our people have SUV’s and trucks with four-wheel drive and are looking for another reason to put this $2500 option to use.  We have an adventurous demographic of people who seek the thrill of getting out on ice to test themselves and their all terrain tires in snow.  I have to admit that I may fit into this category.

Third, since so many churches shut down on bad weather days, we usually have a number of guests who are looking for a place to worship.  I’m always surprised by all the first-time guests who come on bad-weather days.

Faithco’s average attendance usually runs between 450-525 on a regular weekend.  Two weeks ago, during one of the worst snow storms in our state history, when most churches cancelled weekend worship, Faithco decided not to cancel.  We didn’t have 4-500 people, but we did have 265 people show up that day.  I think that is pretty awesome.

My personal commitment is that if there is any way possible for me to get to church on a Sunday, I will.  Why?  Because if any person comes to church on a bad-weather day, It could be that this person really needs to hear from God.  I’m there.

Plus, I like doing donuts in the church parking lot in the snow.

This Past Weekend…

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I think every weekend here at Faithco is amazing.  However, this past weekend really stood out to me…here’s why:

1.  People came home to Christ.  Every decision made to follow Jesus is celebrated in Heaven.  We celebrate too.

2.  I believe recognizing all school teachers and school administration is important as we kick off the school year. I didn’t know we had so many teachers and school staff at faithco.  The time we took yesterday to recognize and applaud these people was a small token of our appreciation for them.

3.  Bringing in and up to the front all of our kids who are attending school this year was also powerful.  We need to pray for our students, and we need to pray for them as a whole church.  As we know, school is a hard place to be these days.  I thought it was an incredible experience - to be part of a whole church community praying for their elementary and high school students.

4.  Thanks for everyone who contributed financially towards our new church van.   WE SO NEED THIS VAN.

5.  Finally, I believe the message was powerful.  I don’t always deliver the message the way I get it; still, the message of UNITY is something that must be hammered in our churches.  If you missed this past weekend, you can see it online: www.faithco.org .  I strongly recommend you watch or listed to this message.  I think it is very important.

Great stuff, this past weekend….okay, that’s all I got

This Past Weekend…

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This past weekend was one of the best weekends we have experienced here at Faithco.  Although I don’t have the time to mention everything that led up to such a great weekend, I’d like to discuss a few things that really stood out:

1.  Several people came home to Christ.  I can’t tell you how that makes me feel.  God is so good.

2.  The worship band was awesome.  I liked the new song.

3.  We’ve got to build.  Both services were at capacity.  The place was electric.  I can feel God is up to something. 

4.  A healthy church is a church that is committed to reaching people with the gospel.  We will never stop our efforts to reach people for Christ.  As long as I am pastor here, and as long as God sends us people who are searching for Christ, we will be a soul-winning church.

5.  Friends of Summer Connect groups event was off the chain!  Wow, what a night.  Our people are wild and crazy and know how to enjoy each other.  Who says we can’t have a blast at church?  I liked the Olympics theme along with the competition factor.  I believe it is as fun as it is important to get all the groups together a couple of times a year to meet new people and to form new groups.

What a day and what a night.  Thank you God for Faithco.  This church has changed my life.

…that’s all I got.

Coming this Weekend

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We are planning for an incredible Easter Celebration this weekend at Faithco.  I want to tell you some things that you will probably want to be a part of this weekend.  Also, I want to share some aspects that will give you some ideas that will allow you to make the most of our weekend gathering.

1.  We will be busy this weekend.  We are expecting somewhere between 800-1000 attenders, many of which will be first-time guests.  We want to make room for our guests so we are offering an early worship experience at 8:00am.  That’s a little early for me, but I am really looking forward to the break in routine.  If you usually attend the 11:00am worship, you may consider this weekend attending a different service since the 11:00am is usually our most attended service especially on Easter.  Try something new, maybe a Saturday night.  I know you will like the change.

2.  We are going to do something we have never done in an Easter Service.  That’s all I have to say about that.  I’m nervous and excited about it.

3.  We are so fortunate to be friends with the people at Star Skate.  This Sunday is also Kids Day at Faithco and Star Skate allows us to rent their facilities for Easter Sunday so weather is not a factor for our Faithkids Easter egg hunt and festivities.  Don’t forget to drop off your G-force age kids at Star Skate this Sunday morning, and don’t forget to pick them up afterward.

4.   The adult Easter egg hunt.  Every year I try to ditch this for various reasons.  However, the support for this event is overwhelmingly positive.  Yes we are going to do this again, and the prizes will exceed the previous years.  Warning: Hunt at your own risk!

I know there is so much more we are doing to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord this Easter.  I can’t tell you everything in one blog so I hope that you will be at Faithco this Sunday

Live an Illustrated Life

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This past weekend, I was reminded of the impact a simple illustration can have on a group of people.  The message was part of a series called “The Journey” and it was subtitled “Traveling Light” . 

If you like, you can check it out here:  http://www.faithco.org

I talked about how each major experience of life can give us baggage, and that we can choose to carry or to let go of this baggage.

To illustrate my point, I strapped a bunch of luggage all over me as to show what we might look like if we could see all the life baggage we carry.

I thought it was a simple straight forward message, but nothing too grand.  Boy was I wrong.  I could not believe all the comments and facebook replies from all the people who were impacted by the message.  I actually had a gentleman in his eighties walk up to me after the worship and tell me “that was the most insightful messages I had ever heard”.    Wow!  I guess as a pastor  it is easy to forget the impact of illustrating God’s word.

What if our every day lives illustrated God’s word?  Who would be impacted?  What would the ripple effect produce around us? 

I challenge you today to be a walking illustration of Christ and His words.

Oral Roberts -thoughts and memories

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Yesterday, we lost a good man. 

I remember watching Oral Roberts on television when I was a kid.  It seemed that most of the time, he talked about faith.  As I recall, we were watching him before there was even Christian television.  I’ve read how he was one of the first television evangelists and how he was a pioneer for television ministry. 

I realize that there has been some criticism and speculation following his ministry throughout the years.  I can’t imagine anyone (especially ministers) being in the public eye not suffering criticism.  However, I believe his integrity was always in tact and his life was lived with passion to see God’s kingdom fulfilled. 

For what it is worth, every time I think I have done something big, I think of Oral Roberts University and what an incredible mark he left on this earth for the cause of Christ.

Making Christmas Brighter (Shawnee Outlook article)

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Our Bikes for Kids Outreach event is growing with momentum.  Shawnee’s main publication, the Shawnee Outlook posted a great article in this month’s edition.  Check it out, its a good article:

http://layersmedia.com/wordpress/?p=185

One Cold Black Friday –a short story by Travis Hurst

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One Cold Black Friday –a short story by Travis Hurst

 It was a dreary Thanksgiving night; the year was 2004, I was reading a Wal-Mart flyer for the next day’s Black Friday sale.

Among all the items on sale, were DVD players for $29 and trampolines for $120 …but only while supplies last.  It just so happened that I needed both.

“The doors open at 6:00am so you’d better get here early” the flyer proclaimed as to give us a secret warning.

“Hey Deana, I’ve got a great idea, let’s get there a little before 6:00am to make sure we miss the crowds” I said with complete confidence in my strategic thinking.

So we rose at 4:30am sharp, had some breakfast, and scurried off into town to conquer and to claim gifts for our children.

When we pulled up into the Wal-Mart parking lot at 5:50am, to our astonishment it was already jam packed.  When we walked in the store, we could see there were lines forming all over the store for these “good deals”.  Looking around, I quickly found the trampolines so I instructed Deana to stand post right next to ours until I returned with the DVD player and a shopping cart.

The next part of my story is a little fuzzy but I will tell it as best as I can remember.  

Suddenly, someone wearing a blue vest standing on a ladder with a hand held megaphone announced: “We are now open!” And in that moment, all hell broke loose. 

It was an angry mob scene. People were crowding in, pushing, shoving, gouging, and yelling unspeakable things.  Dogs were barking; children were crying.  There was mayhem on every side.  To my left were two women fighting over five dollar blankets; to my right, people were snatching pillows out of a wooden bin, I think someone got hit in the head by one.  Shelves were emptying as fast as I could see.  In vain I sought for what I came there to buy.

Suddenly, there they were: right in front of me the $29 DVD players I had come to buy; however, I couldn’t get to them because of the crowd.  So I watched, stood there helplessly as the few fortunate folks one by one snatched the limited supply of boxed DVD players off the shelves. 

I feared I would be left out.  I had to just go for it.  So with a forceful thrust, I broke through and rushed in to claim one of the DVD players but alas, I was knocked down and nearly trampled.  As I was fighting for what seemed to be my very life, I was able to grab one of the last DVD players on my way down and hug it safely and securely while laying in the fetal position on the floor. 

I remembered how comforting the cool tile floor felt against my left cheek.  I was tempted to touch my tongue to the cool tile floor but feared it to would be trampled also. So I just laid there and waited confidently because I was victorious!

When the crowd finally cleared, I hugged my prize all the way back to the cart. As I returned to Deana we embraced thankfully for my safe return.  But now, it was time to make our way to the cash register without losing what we had worked so hard to obtain. We felt the jealous eyes of those all around who were less fortunate –the late comers who, because  of an extra 10 minutes of slumber, would walk the aisles with empty shopping carts looking to snatch from the successful like me.

Soon we found that we were standing in a line that ended at the back of the store.  We waited in line for almost 2 hours.

The ride back home was a silent one.  We thought of how things transpired, how things got out of hand, and how close I came to being seriously injured.  Was it worth it?  Just how much money was saved on that cold Black Friday.  Total savings: about $40-45 bucks. 

I haven’t been to a Black Friday sale since.

Cheer’s Factor

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I haven’t blogged in a couple weeks.  I’ve been away on a planning retreat.  Thanks for your patience.

In my last blog, I discussed the importance of investment into friendships.  Today I want to talk about something that I have discovered through our church that has helped cultivate friendships -real friendships.

In the early stages of our church as we began to grow, we noticed that we were losing something I like to refer to as the “Cheer’s Factor” –you know, where everyone knows your name, and they are all so glad you came.  It is that sense on community that we feel when we are with people we know and love.  When our church had 50-150 people it seemed that we did everything together.  All the announcements were to everyone in the church, and it seemed that everyone attended all church functions.  We went to all baby showers. We visited all sick people. We attended all weddings. Everyone came to all events.  This was great because we were experiencing the friendships, the fun,  and the excitement of community within our church. 

However, something bad happened — we kept growing.  Growing isn’t bad, in fact it is an awesome thing; however, it was bad for the Cheer’s Factor in our church.  The Cheer’s Factor was not so much a factor anymore, especially after our attendance grew beyond what our auditorium could hold.  Then, when we added a second worship experience, it seemed like the Cheer’s Factor was completely gone, and it would be all but gone had we not added something to our church community that saved the Cheer’s Factor.

I’ll tell you what we added later.  If you attend faithco, you probably already know.

Thoughts of Cambodia

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Its Saturday afternoon here in Phnom Penh.  I’ve been here almost 5 days.  This trip will be a pivital point in my life.  There is so much to be done here as far as ministry need.  It is apparent that this is a critical time for the church to get involved in Cambodia.  When David (www.davidgadberry.wordpress.com) and I spoke to Pastor Jesse of New Life Church here in Phnom Penh, we asked him where we would be the most help.  He looked at us and said  “Anywhere, there are needs on every street corner”. 

The next day, we went into an area called “the slums”, where the poorest of poor live.  Honestly, I had never seen anything like it, I stood in amazement while our team went to work washing children, administering medication, clippping fingernails, and anything else to help these kids.  As I stood there taking all this in, one of the local ministers tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Are you free?”  I shook my head to released my eyes from the blank stare of shock on my face.  “Follow me” he said.  He and I walked all the way to the end of the slums to the hut of an old woman.  He then looked at me and handed me a knife and said “Can you peal potato?” Now that I can do so I quickly responded “Yes, yes I can”.  For the next half hour, I pealed potatoes.  When we were done he walked over to me and said “Are you done?”  When I told him I was, he said to me again “Follow me.”  So I followed him to another part of the slums where we found an older lady pealing something that looked like a root.  So I sat down, and for the next 45 minutes, I helped another woman peal something.  I guess what I’m trying to say is someone had to walk over to me and wake me up from the shock of what I was seeing and put something in my hands to help someone in need. 

The need here is overwhelming.  It’s seems too big; however, I’ve learned not to focus on all that needs to be done. Instead, I have learned to simply help someone who is right in front of me.  I can’t focus on feeding or saving the world, this would be impossible for me to do, and I would feel hopeless.  Instead, I will do what is right in front of me…one person, one need at a time.