Are you planning yet for 2010?
Now is a great time to start evaluating the year and planning for a better year in 2010.
I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping for an even better year. 2009 has been one of the hardest years for Cheryl and me personally that we’ve had in recent [...]

It started like this. Years ago I was explaining to a friend that I was at one of those “trying to discover God’s will” points in my life. I have been there many times before and will be again. His advice was something like, “Maybe you need to start with a blank piece of paper and give God ample space to plan out the rest of your life. Make yourself completely available to Him.” That made a lot of sense. I left our meeting, however, with a very probing question for myself. Did I really have blank piece of paper?

In the four years Grace Community Church has been a church we have received much praise from people that love what we do. Hundreds of lost, hurting people have chosen to unite with us. We have had some previously churched people join us who felt we were a better fit for them or their family, but mostly we have reached people who previously did not attend church. Most exciting to us is that we have baptized more adults than children in our four years, indicating to us that we are truly evangelizing and not just helping people swap churches. It has been a wild, exciting, thrilling time watching God shape us over these first few years.

Don’t say no to opportunities…say yes to an organized plan…

People always ask me how I do it all…

The truth is I don’t…

I just have a plan for my life…

Of course, one of the benefits to a conference in Chicago is I have a very special connection here. Nate Edmondson, my youngest son, is here studying at Moody Bible Institute. Anyone that knows me well knows I am a hard worker and rarely take days off, and this is certainly not a play week for me. I hope to learn and connect a lot this week, but I can promise you my nights will be occupied with one special young man!

The most common reasons for not pursuing a dream or goal are the fear of failure or the uncertainty of success.

I was inspired while visiting the small town of Jerome, Arizona on our recent vacation to the Southwest. While Cheryl enjoyed some local shopping, I enjoyed perusing the streets discovering nuggets of the city’s rich history. Jerome began as a mining town. People came hoping to get rich off the minerals in the area, especially copper. When the mines dried up, the city nearly died. Jerome’s population went from a height of 15,000 in 1920’s to 50 people in the late 1950’s.

Earlier this week I was looking for an old file and ran across some notes from a “Dream Big” planning retreat we did as a staff in August of 2007. We were almost 2 years old at that time and the assignment was to brainstorm about “the sky is the limit” and “money is not an obstacle” dreams the staff at the time had. It was amazing to look at the list today and realize that much of the list is being accomplished or could be in a short amount of time. I realized it is time for us to dream big again!

Recovering after a mistake or a fall is what keeps a lot of people from ever accomplishing much in life. Failure does not have to stop you from achieving your dreams and goals. A lot of bouncing back depends on your response to the fall.

When I meet with people who have made mistakes in life in my role as a pastor, I am always less concerned with where they have been or what they have done wrong. I am always more concerned with where they want to go in life and how dedicated they are to get there. My dad is an example of someone that wants to end well. I believe his legacy will prove he achieved his goal.