Some Thoughts on Growth

Journey Christian Church is growing.  Our average attendance in January 2009 was 393.  Our average attendance for January 2010 was 550.  The giving is great too.  Our giving is up 25% so far this year (as compared with last year at this time).

We are all so excited about what God is doing here and we can’t wait to see what God’s going to do next.

I was away at the end of last week and during that time I reflected on some of the reasons we are growing.  Let me share a few of those with you.

1. The people of Journey have a huge faith in God.  These people expect big things from God each week and are willing to take huge steps to follow wherever He is leading.

2.  The people of Journey have a loving spirit.  They’re not perfect, but their love is consistently extraordinary. I wish I had time to tell you some of the amazing acts of love I’ve witnessed here, but it would take too long.

3. The people of Journey are not afraid of change because they understand that change is just a part of growth.  In his book Tribes, Seth Godin makes the following observation: A recent study by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press found that about a third of all Americans have left the religion they grew up with. The study mistakenly uses the word faith, but in fact few of these people have lost faith. What they have done instead is change the system they use for re-enforcing that faith.  When you fall in love with the system you lose the ability to grow” p.71, Tribes

The people of Journey are not in love with the system; they’re in love with the Savior so they are willing endure a lot of change to be in the center of His will for this church.

4. The people of Journey are not in love with physical possessions.  We have a beautiful building that is only a few years old, but we are quickly out-growing it and talking about other options.  I’m amazed at the willingness of the people to consider ALL options–including relocating.  They are also very generous people who give sacrificially to those in need and to the Lord’s work.

5. The people of Journey love this church and can’t stop talking about it.  We have a ton of visitors each week who came because they were invited by someone at Journey who is excited about what God is doing here.

6. The people of Journey love God and love to worship Him…passionately.

7. The people of Journey love God’s Word and expect me to preach it…truthfully.

8. The people of Journey are a joyful bunch of people.  We laugh a lot.

9. The people of Journey believe in prayer.  I’ve never been associated with a church that prays like this church prays.  We just changed our worship service to include prayer as a major component of our worship service.

10. The people of Journey have committed to enjoying the journey, but to not enjoying it alone.

As a staff, we are praying consistently for the following three things:

1) Holiness–A moral failure in our leadership could be used by Satan to hinder God’s work here, so we have established a higher degree of accountability in our leadership team to protect our purity.

2) Humility–We remind ourselves how great God is and how average we are.  He must increase and we must always decrease.

3) Unity–(I could have said “Harmony” to keep the alliteration going, but “Unity” is the more accurate word for what we are praying for).  We have a great team and we all really like each other and enjoy serving together.  We know that we must work to protect our unity and do what we can to nourish it.

Michiana Men’s Retreat

I’m going to be speaking at a Men’s Retreat in April at Michiana Christian Service Camp in Niles, Michigan.

I love doing Men’s events and I’m especially excited about the theme (The Winner’s Circle) because I’m going to be able to talk a lot about NASCAR–which kicks off this weekend at Daytona!

If you’re a guy who lives in the Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan area, why don’t you join us?

You can find out more about the retreat here: www.michianacamp.org

Retreat Dates: April 30 – May 1, 2010

Theme: “The Winner’s Circle”

Cost: $40

On Confidence in Worship

Worship last Sunday at Journey was amazing! Matt Estrin and his team ushered us through a meaningful time of worship and reflection. The people sang with such conviction…such confidence that God is good and that He’s worthy of our praise.

As I’ve reflected on the worship experience last Sunday I thought about Abraham.

“He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.  We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

~Genesis 22:5

Authentic confidence is inspirational.

Talk show host Larry King tells this story about baseball great Ty Cobb.  When Cobb was 70, a reporter asked him, “What do you think you’d hit if you were playing these days?”  Cobb, who was a lifetime .367 hitter, said, “About .290, maybe .300.”  The reporter said, “That’s because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches like the slider, right?”  “No,” said Cobb, “it’s because I’m 70.”

Authentic confidence IS inspirational, but false confidence is comical.

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the little boy in his backyard with a baseball and a bat.  Tossing the ball into the air he confidently he announced as he swung the bat with all his might, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!”  But he missed.

Undeterred he tried again.  Tossing the ball into the air he proclaimed, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!”  And he missed the ball again.

Still hopeful and still confident he tried for a third time, but as he released the ball into the air this time he cheered, “I’m the greatest pitcher in the world.”

Authentic confidence is as easy to recognize as false confidence.  Authentic confidence is, and can only be, based in God.  False confidence is, and can only be, based in self.  Abraham, the father of faith, displayed authentic confidence when he proclaimed, “We will worship and then we will come back to you” (Gen. 22:5 emphasis mine).  Abraham’s journey with God to this point assured him that—somehow, someway—Isaac would crawl off that altar, alive.

And he did.

I’m doing an interview in Canada tomorrow morning

I’m doing an interview on a radio program in Canada tomorrow and I’m really excited about it.  It’s on the Morning Show with Jon Ramer on AM 930 The Light which broadcasts out of Edmonton, Canada.

The interview begins at 9 am EST.  It’s a live interview and you can listen here by clicking on “Listen Live”: Interview on Eats With Sinners.

I’m Speaking at Milligan College This Thursday

I just came across this press release from Milligan College about my appearance in chapel this Thursday.

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (January 27, 2010) – Arron Chambers, senior minister of Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colo., will speak at Milligan College on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 11 am. in Seeger Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

I’m going to be delivering a message based on my book Eats With Sinners.  I’ll be selling and signing books as well.  If you’re in the area, please stop by.

Article on Journey Christian Church and our Afghanistan Project

The Greeley Tribune ran a nice story on Journey Christian Church and our efforts to collect clothes for children in Afghanistan..

I love being a part of this church!

Here’s an excerpt:

Three beautiful, brown-eyed girls are walking through the city in a bad part of Afghanistan. Their clothing is minimal and the sight breaks the heart of a U.S. soldier who pulls out the only dollar he has and gives it to the girls. An American dollar to them is like gold.

Hearing numerous stories like this one prompted Josh Eldridge to reach out to the Journey Christian Church in Greeley. On Dec. 2, Eldridge, a Greeley resident now serving in Afghanistan, contacted Lead Minister Arron Chambers, voicing concern about the well-being of children where he’s stationed and asking for help. Chambers was inspired and on Dec. 6 asked the members of the church to donate clothes for the cause.

On Jan. 11, 70 boxes containing $7,000 worth of new and used winter clothing were shipped from Greeley to Afghanistan.

The rest of the story is here: Greeley Soldier and Church Team Up to Show Christ’s Love

On Great Leaders

In his book Tribes, Seth Godin makes an interesting observation about great leaders.

“So great leaders don’t try to please everyone.  Great leaders don’t water down their message in order to make the tribe a bit bigger.   Instead, they realize that a motivated, connected tribe in the midst of a movement is far more powerful than a larger group could ever be” (Tribes, p. 67).

I think this applies to Lead Ministers too.

If I tried to please everyone, I would lose my mind…and my way.  I have to seek God’s will for my life and His church and do my best to make His will a reality in both my life and His church.

I must speak the truth and fight the temptation to water down the message to build a crowd.

It’s been my experience that people want to be a part of a movement, so if I focus on walking with integrity, preaching the truth, seeking God’s will, lifting up the name of Jesus, and serving His church humbly the people will come…and the tribe will grow.

Anatomy of a Movement

Last week I read a good book by Seth Godin called Tribes.

The book defines a tribe as any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, or an idea.  If you are a leader–or want to be one–I’d recommend reading this short book (you could read it in a couple of hours) because I believe it contains some practical insights about leading in this current cultural climate.

Over the next week I will share some of what I learned from Tribes.

The Anatomy of a Movement:

1. A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we are trying to build.

2. A connection between and among the leader and the tribe.

3. Something to do–the fewer limits the better.

“Too often organizations fail to do anything but the third.”–Tribes, p. 27

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I believe that Journey Christian Church is a part of a powerful movement of God in Northern Colorado.

We have a great story, a strong connection, and a something to do: ”To go to Heaven and take as many people with us as possible” and to “enjoy the journey, but not to enjoy it alone.”

Journey Christian Church was planted in 200o because of the faith and vision of a courageous group of people and the leadership of Rocky Mountain Christian Church. In the past 9 years JCC has been used by God to impact & bless countless lives in Greeley, Colorado–and the future is bright.  I’m humbled & grateful to be a part of this movement.

Just Found Another Great Review for Eats With Sinners

Brandon Smith just posted this review for my latest book on Amazon.com:

Evangelism “strategies” and “tools” seem to be everywhere.

They have changed over the course of time. Back in the day, you could actually go door-to-door and have a decent conversation with somebody about faith. Then, when that stopped working, we started handing out tracts. Quite a bit less personal, especially if you just left them on your table at the restaurant for your waitress or on the back of the toilet in the stall. With the age of technology, we have created new ways to engage in “electronic evangelism” and creating dialogue through pictures.

None of these are bad things. But, I tend to grow nervous around methods and tools.

If you look at the way Jesus connected with people who needed to hear the good news, it seemed to be much simpler.

He used food.

“But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, `This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:2)

Could sharing the gospel be as easy as eating together? Could we really earn the opportunity to share our faith as we develop a relationship with someone over food? Could the sacred event of a meal be the fertile grounds in which the seeds of faith are planted?

Jesus thought so.

And so does Arron Chambers. His new book is appropriately titled Eats with Sinners. (www.EatsWithSinners.com) In the book, Arron dives deep into the “ingredients” necessary to effectively share your faith. Each chapter covers an ingredient, such as integrity, grace, intimacy, urgency, and vision.

Arron writes practically, but that doesn’t mean what he writes is easy. As I read (and re-read) this book, I found myself very challenged. Arron encourages intentional relationships that are moving towards an opportunity to share the gospel. I don’t have many relationships with non-Christians. And the ones I do have are surely not intentional.

I found Arron’s book to be so valuable that we have adopted, at the Christian Campus House, the theme of evangelism for this spring semester. We plan on looking at each of the ingredients as shared by Arron over the course of the next few months. Our students have a nervous energy about them. Nervous because we are talking about evangelism, and that always gives us the jitters. But energy, because this isn’t the same kind of evangelism most of us have experienced.

I bought each of my student leaders a copy of Eats with Sinners. Our first meeting night, I also asked if there were any other students interested in having their own copy of the book…and I ordered 17 more the next day!

And so…if you haven’t snagged your copy of Eats with Sinners yet, I recommend you do so. We are buying them up and left and right here in northwest Missouri. You best hurry if you want your own copy.

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I’m so grateful for good reviews like this one.  Wow!

There continues to be a lot of “buzz” for my book and I’m so excited about that because I believe this book has the potential of introducing countless people too the saving love of Jesus Christ–as people put the principles of the book into practice.

This week I met with the publishing board and contributing editors for Standard Publishing down in Orlando.  It was a great week–as I had the chance to work with and get to know some of the greatest leaders in the Christian Churches.  I also had the privilege of getting to know the President and VP of Standard Publishing.  The conversations I had with these two men challenged and inspired me.  I’m so grateful to be associated with men–and a company–like Standard Publishing.

Book Review of Eats With Sinners

Eats With Sinners was just reviewed by professional book reviewer Andrea Schulz.

I’m very happy with the review.

In her review she writes:

‘Eats with Sinners’  is reaching me at a time when the Lord is showing me time and time again in a myriad of ways how much He loves us.  I have the tendency to judge and criticize others, and not extend the compassion and love as the Lord expects.  As Christians, we can also fall into a Christian clique in which we rarely connect with or interact with non-Christians.  Jesus met with sinner on a regular basis.  We need to remember that we are sinners saved by grace, and that we need to not forget from whence we came.   Jesus loved, and we need to remember to do the same.  I appreciate the methods that Arron gives us in order to get to – or back to – the way Jesus lived His life while walking among us.  The book is provocative and heartwarming, while also very entertaining (and funny in spots).

Please check it out: Book Review of Eats With Sinners