I think where I have landed, at least for now, is that bigger than the issue of evaluation, is the issue of continuance.  The fact is that I really do believe growth is occurring in individual lives, not just in the total numbers of people. We are accomplishing our objective to “make growing disciples of Jesus Christ”.  I still want to consider ways to validate that belief, and I have some ideas I’m working on there, but the key word for me now is sustainability.  I want us to be able to continue doing what we’ve been doing.

I realize before that any line of thinking that involves evaluation in a spiritual context is controversial at best, but evaluating now will help us continue to grow and stay healthy and enhance the future growth that we experience. I personally believe that the church must be evaluating progress towards objectives, as any healthy organization should do.

We have a great experiment this week at Grace Community Church. I’m one that chooses to look for the positive in every negative situation, so I really want to see what I can grasp from this opportunity.

This past Sunday’s message was about failure. Although we had this message in the series planned for months and we spend considerable time in prayer about what to speak about each week, I never imagined how sensitive this topic would be. I have been inundated with stories this week of how failure has impacted people’s lives. (And to think I thought it was just my story…)

One would have to be living under a rock (or a shoe) not to have heard of Soles4Souls Ministry in recent months. Soles4Souls has a simple concept: they get shoes and give them away. You can read more about their history HERE. This is one ministry that went to work immediately and is making a huge impact in the Haiti disaster.

There are some things in life that have stolen from us the people we thought we would be. Last Sunday I spoke about how the direction of our life, or lack thereof, can be the culprit in stealing our identity. Have you lost your way? Watch this message to help you get back on the right path.

Rog Hill, our Serve Pastor, emailed me today to ask what we need to do to address the earthquake crisis in Haiti. The fact is he beat me to the email. I was working out of the office today on my message for Sunday, but couldn’t escape my thoughts about this tragedy. I had received several emails already from people in our church wondering if we were doing anything. I was intending to email Rog later in the day. I’m thankful for a church so ready to respond to others in need. We don’t have our plans worked out completely, but we know we have to do something.

We are not a very formal organization at Grace Community Church. As our church and staff have grown, however, we have recognized the need for more structure. I try to keep an open door policy of leadership and frequently ask for input and try to provide feedback. I realize, however, that communication is one of the areas I continually need to improve upon, especially as our church grows larger.

I rearranged my office over the weekend. It wasn’t a whim. Those that know me know I’m not wired very much for spur of the moment decisions. This office makeover was definitely purposeful.

We had the deal of all deals presented to our church a few months ago. Because of the people involved I can’t share details, but it was one of those “too good to be true” scenarios. It came from nowhere and totally rocked my world for a few weeks. I personally had 80 to 100 hours invested. It was going to be huge.