Last Sunday the Hendersons visited Fusion Church.  We were really impressed with the way they are doing ‘church’ in a High School. One of the stand out points was their extremely warm welcome to us and the other guests. With friendly people welcoming and offering help to good coffee and donuts it was easy to feel safe and get engaged in a conversation. There IS something about coffee and nibblies that make one feel safe and even open to engaging. Great welcome pack too by the way, my wife loves chocolate!

We recently celebrated Arch’s birthday and it was great to see how much he enjoyed himself this time round. We had a great time. It all started off with opening presents and readin Birthday cards from friends and family from back home. I actually felt a little homesick for family for the first time, but only for 3 seconds
We then went and bought Arch some new boots. He calls them his ‘hunting boots’ cause his favorite show after Sponge Bob is the Deer hunting channel…
We then went and had lunch at Five Guys, it was packed. Archie actually tried to chat up a little blonde girl who was sitting over from him. He offered her some of his hot dog (we diverted their attention) and her Mum said, “Oh how cute!” I then went to get some drinks and while I was away Nerida said the girls Dad looked at Archie and sternly warned, “Okay you’ve gotta be home by 9, and I’m letting you know I have a gun.”
We then went home all feeling a little sick and had a ‘nap’. Then it was get up and eat chocolate birthday cake!! Yay. And then I took the boys down to the Church car park to ride on their pushies. All in all it was a great Birthday. We love you so much Archie, may God richly bless and guide your life always.

Today Nerida & I packed up the boys and headed over to Fusion Church.  It was great to visit another plant that is knocking it out when it comes to meeting in a high school.  Our first impressions were as follows:
(BTW – Excellent Website, clear and easy to navigate.)
• Great signage on the roads around the school.  We easily found where to park and how to find our way to Kids Safari and the main meeting.
• The boys were amazed by the Safari theme of the Fusion Kids Ministry environment.  They especially loved the bugs that were nailed to the desk and that they got to be ‘tigers’ and ‘giraffes.’
• We were warmly welcomed by the Safari staff and they answered all Nerida’s questions.  It was good to know that they had it under control and our boys were safe.
• Fusions approach to their Kids ministry is that the kids have their own ‘church service’ designed specifically for different age groupings.  We weren’t there but the boys loved it, remembered what they were taught and wanted to go back.  Now that’s a ‘win.’
• The foyer environment was excellent, from the Krispy Kreme Donuts and Coffee to the warm welcomes and clear directions it was clear that this environment had been carefully thought through.
• Once inside the auditorium (500 seat) we were ushered to a seat and were quickly engaged with the praise time.  The words were very gospel centered and the music was contemporary with a rock/pop band style.
• The worship leader did a great job of reminding us of the good news of Jesus.
• The transitions were smooth, quick and frankly I didn’t notice them, that’s a win.
• Tony McCollum did a great job with the message.  Tony spoke from Matthew 14:22-33.  He connected with the audience by beginning with the fears and uncertainties we all face, He then lead us to Jesus and the truth of the gospel and all along the way he applied the truth of Jesus soundly and practically to the challenge of personal fears and uncertainty.  It was a little long but Tony is such a good and humorous communicator he pulled it off.
• The band did a great job closing out and we picked up our kids and had a great time chatting about our experiences on the way home.

Now my mates back in Oz would know that my leadership style tends to lead more naturally to the ‘instinctive’ side. You know, point me to the hill and I’ll just run and start climbing it and work it out as I go, now that’s good and bad and maybe I’ll talk about why in another post. But over the last three months I’ve been intentionally nurturing my ‘reflective’ side and one of the things that keeps messing me up is the way leaders like Shawn and Bob keep saying this :

“Want to know the leader you will be in 5 years? It’s determined by the subjects you spend consistent time studying and the people you hang around.”

Now those questions are revealing and profound, but as I ponder them for leaders there has to be a third –

“Who are you intentionally pouring your life into?”

Answering the first two well means absolutely nothing if it all stops with me. Now that’s profound. I’ve gotta go and eat some sugar or something…

Yesterday morning I attended the NewThing Network Pre Lab at Catalyst.
My Key Take Away.
As Christian leaders we need to remember that it is Jesus’ mission we’re engaged in and His plans are much bigger than ours. He wants to do immeasurably more than we can think or imagine in our lives, in His church and in His world. He wants it to be filled with the Glory of His gospel.

Application : I need to stop daily and come back to Jesus and realign myself with His gospel, and focus on His mission of reaching those who’re far from God and encouraging them to grow in their faith. Jesus’ mission is far bigger than I can imagine.

Yesterday Nerida and I jotted down some of the key things we noticed and learned during our visit to Freedom Church last Sunday. Today we’ll pick up where we left off…

Foyer : We were then escorted back to the ‘foyer area’. My wife grabbed a couple of cups of coffee, it was was hot and Starbucks, which to me is always a safe move for guests. There’s something soothing about having a familiar cup of coffee. The information display was neatly presented and there was plenty of colour.

Meeting : We then walked into the auditorium, being welcomed again as we entered. The service was excellent, the music rocked and J.R. is a great communicator. I personally noticed that he communicated the “vision” a number of times during the message. There should be no mistake, “Freedom exists so that people who’re far from God might have life in Christ.” Again there was no confusion.

Baptism : Again there was no confusion. They had packs done up for men and women with clothes, flip-flops (thongs for us Aussies), you name it, they had it!! There was no excuse, and because of that there were a whole bunch of ‘spontaneous’ baptisms.

J.R. and his wife Devin were kind and friendly and it was good to see the way they interact with the people who make up Freedom Church. They are strong leaders and it’s obvious God is using them. I know it sounds lame but really there was nothing we experienced we could pick a hole in. We learnt a lot about being prepared and clear. Clarity about the vision is crucial to creating an environment that makes people who’re far from God feel safe about checking out Jesus and ultimately making the decision to follow Him.

The key take away from our visit to Freedom Church last Sunday was – “NO Confusion.” There was heaps of road signage. Once we drove into the car park there was a sign saying – “Parents of Preschoolers and first time guests please turn on you lights, thankyou.” That sign set the tone for the morning. There was no confusion what to do next.

Car park :

Welcome : Once parked it was dead easy where to walk because there was huge colorful signage. We then walked up to the ‘welcome desk’ and not only was my wife and I warmly welcomed, but our kids were too! They actually gave the boys a pack of M&M’s each (which I confiscated till after church cause our boys go crazy on sugar ). They talked to our kids, asked them how old they were and then offered to escort us into the Children’s ministry area. Now for us that was great, we don’t want to feel like we’re not welcome to drop our kids off.

Kids Ministry : Once we arrived at the ‘kids check in’ we were again warmly welcomed and everything was explained. The kids were given a welcome gift, a neat kids book, and they are still carrying them around. That was a huge win, cause our boys love Freedom now. We all got neat printed stickers for security/I.D. purposes and then were walked to the different classes. The children staff were very happy and professional. My wife particularly liked the way the workers were clearly identified by ‘staff lanyards.’ ID makes her feel the kids were safe. Again there was no confusion about what to do next.

Next post – Foyer, Meeting, Baptism & Wrap up.

Be mean about the vision. Clarification, firstly it doesn’t mean being nasty or cruel to people and it doesn’t mean not seeking to do it better and being willing to change things, but at the end of the day the vision never changes and the is no debate over it. Leaders guard and defend the vision, and at the end of the day they will need to be mean about it.

The truth is that Jesus’ vision never changes and faithful churches stick with it. I see this vision working as the engine at Mountain Lake Church. The vision is to reach the people of Cumming and grow them as followers of Jesus and this vision is the filter that decides everything. From the time you drive into the parking lot to the welcoming, to kids check in, to the way the auditorium is set up, the coffee, the music style, the age of the staff, the clothes they wear, the quality of the printed materials, the use of videos and production etc. It all is shaped and tweaked to make guests feel more than welcome, but a part of the church. To feel like they belong… and as they do they’re in a place, a community where the grace of God can impact them through the gospel. A place to belong and a place to become.

Today Nerida and I packed up the kids and drove over to Acworth to visit Freedom Church. Freedom was launched in January this year and it is literally exploding. I want to blog about what we saw and learnt later this week simply because I want to take the time to sit down with my wife and process everyting we saw. That said, it was great to visit and witness their baptisms today. Good stuff J.R. you have an awesome team and it’s obvious that God is doing something great in you, the people who are ‘Freedom Church’ and in your town.

The top 3 things I learnt from Mountain Lake in September 08…
In no particular order.

There is such a thing as the gift of leadership. Ps Shawn has it. He is a great speaker, communicator and is hugely hungry to lead the church forward. I said to him one day last week, “Shawn are you wired today?” and he said, “I’m always wired.” That gives you a glimpse of the leadership hunger I’m talking about.

Leadership is more than important it is crucial. One of the things that stands out to me is that at Mountain Lake Church the ‘leaders’ are allowed to lead and that is KEY to this church’s ability to ‘do’ the work Jesus has called it to do in this community. Leadership is also the fundation under the unity of the team environment. Sure there are little things, that’s people living in relationships, but at the end of the day the staff at MLC obviously enjoy working together. I think that is a direct result of the leadership culture that Shawn and David etc have intentionally developed and nurtured over the years. It is hands down the best environment I have worked in – appart from working with my Dad on the farm growing up, but those days will always be the best in my mind.