No Perfect People Allowed

Meeting A Need In Japan...

As I have watched and prayed over the past few days... seeing the devastation of what a tsunami can do and an 8.9 earthquake leaves... I am overwhelmed with many emotions and thoughts.  What can I do to help?  How do I know that what I give will go directly to meeting needs?  I feel helpless and I know that prayer is powerful, but I want to do more.

Enter, Samaritan's Purse.  This is the same mission organization that we support with "Operation Christmas Child" when we collect shoe boxes full of Christmas gifts. 

For more information on how you can help and for a update on their mission relief efforts, click here.

 

Loving The New Series...

So pumped about the new series that we're starting this week at NMCC!  "I Love My Church" series will take a look at some of our core values and what we are trying to accomplish in being the church that God designed for us to become! 

Every week during the month of March we're going to unpack a core value that describes our church based upon biblical principles!

And it's because of these core values and the presence of God that I really love this church!  Let me tell you why I love my church...

• I love my church because of the people! 
• I love my church because of our focus!
• I love my church because of our purpose!
• I love my church because of our vision!
• I love my church because of our worship!
• I love my church because of our compassion!
• I love my church because it's not perfect!  I can come as I am.
• I love my church because it's not about me!  It's all about Jesus and reaching the unconvinced!

There's so much more... but enough about why I love the church... what about you?

Where I Was Last Week...

I got the opportunity to go to the C3 Conference in Dallas, TX this past week.  Unbelievable.  What a huge impact on my heart and life.  Here's a clip re-cap of the week.  Powerful! You can check out more in detail @C3_2011 

C3 2011 Conference Recap from Fellowship Creative on Vimeo.

Just Fun....

A good friend of mine shared this with me... and I had to laugh.  Don't want to make anyone mad... but Steve Martin is creative and I believe his work with the Steep Canyon Rangers is just plain fun.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Sun Stand Still....

We kicked off the new year with the series "Sun Stand Still!"  What an awesome, faith-boosting, audacious, big-sized dream prayer that Joshua prayed.  Steven Furtick, one of my favorite preachers, wrote a book by that title, and I would highly recommend you to read it!  Talk about a "Sun Stand Still" prayer and the Elevation church!  Wow!

But already, great things are happening!

• We had 3 life-changing, destiny altering decisions on Sunday:  They all embraced Jesus as their Lord and Savior!  YES!  That never gets old.
• NMCC ordained Jordan Hull into full time ministry!  It was a moving moment when all the leaders of the church surrounded Jordan, his parents, and his brother and prayed over him.  We even had one of the elders from the church in Dallas, TX where he grew up, come and pray with us!  Very moving moment!
• We had a large amount of first time guests this Sunday come to NMCC!  I love it when people carve out time to check out what's going on!  And I have full confidence that they were welcomed and loved!
• The antique 4 post canopy bed that was donated by Bears Furniture for our "A Christmas Carol" series was sold for over $1700 with all the money going to the food ministry to feed the hungry!  Wow!  Thank You!

And that was just the first Sunday of the year!  I am so pumped about what the next 51 weeks are going to bring!

What's your "Sun Stand Still" prayer?

What A Great Idea...

Hope you enjoy...

 

Flash Mob Sings Hallelujah Chorus at Food Court for Christmas from Michael Brown on Vimeo.

Loved Every Mile...

What an adventure!  I really enjoyed myself at the Indy Monumental Marathon!  Here's a pic of the family after we crossed the finish line together!  From left to right: Brandon, Shelby, Jacob, me, Sara, and James!

 Man... was it cold!  28 degrees to start!  But what a day!  My daughter, Sara, set an awesome pace in the beginning and the bands, the dance team, the DJ's, the crowd cheering, and of course the course being flat... made it a very enjoyable day!

For a really good step-by-step... mile-by-mile depictions with pictures stop by the Scientist Runner's blog by clicking here. 

I hit what is called a "Runner's High" at mile 10 and while I cannot explain it... it was a very spiritual moment for me! 

A huge thanks for all who prayed for us... and, Yes!  I do plan to run another one... and maybe more! 

Indy's Monumental Marathon...

Here it is.  Hard to believe that it is only 5 days away.  I remember putting it down on my 2010 to-do list in January... and I thought November was so far away... ha.

But, I've been training pretty hard and am pumped about running my first 13.1 miles!  And what's really exciting is that I get to run with my family!  Sara (my daughter), her husband, James, and my 2 boys Jacob and Brandon are running with me.  Jacob's girlfriend, Shelby, will also be running... so if anything... it's going to be fun.

If you'd like to keep up with our progress, check out their webstie by clicking here, and just follow the directions.

Primal Series This Sunday...

So pumped about this new series:  "Primal:  The Quest For The Lost Soul Of Christianity"  What would happen if we just stripped away all the years of "add on laws" that many believe were a part of the original Gospel Message...and just became fully devoted followers of Jesus?

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.  The 2nd is equally important: love your neighbor as yourself.  No other commandment is greater than these."  Mark 12:30-31 (NLT)

So how do we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength?  That's what we're going to be opening up on Sundays during the month of October.  I hope that you join us at NMCC!

And a great resource to go along with the series is the book "Primal" by Mark Batterson which you can pick up here.

Launching Our 3rd Experience...

This Sunday we are launching our 3rd Worship Experience and I am so pumped!  Our Worship 430 that we started over a year ago on Sunday afternoons at 4:30 has moved to 10:45 on Sunday mornings!  And it launches this Sunday!

We will be simulcasting live the message from our 10:45 experience downstairs to the "Upper Room" experience in the Loft!

What's really exciting to me about this move is that we are creating another opportunity for those who have yet to say "yes" to Jesus... to be introduced to Him and embrace Him as their Lord and Savior!  This will open another 150 seats!!! So Excited!  Here's some highlights...

• Same band from the 430 will be playing at this experience
• Live teaching in HD!
• Prime time for the unconvinced to meet Jesus!! (the whole reason for this)
• Excellent ministries for the entire family at the same time
• Same "Come As You Are" atmosphere
• Creates the foundation for a 2nd location (more about that later)

We did a "soft launch" this past Sunday and everyone who attended really got excited!  Sure there were a few glitches to work out... but God was glorified!

Making more room for us to embrace the unconvinced to become fully devoted followers of Jesus !  So... who are you planning to invite?