I loved Wayne Cordeira’s talk. If he wasn’t a preacher he could make tons of money doing infomercials. I love that he can speak God’s truth and smile at the same time. I grew up on angry preaching and can still default to that style if I am not careful. I admire skill and encouraging communication. I hope to learn from Wayne.

What is up with the silver dude, Lamar? I don’t know if the medicine exists that could help me stand that still! Have you ever seen more beautiful scenery in a “sermon?” His church does a 6-day leadership intensive that has perked my interest…

Where do you get wisdom?

1. Personal experiences
2. Other people’s personal experience (the better way)

You baseball fans have heard of the 5-tool player. Christ followers have 4 tools they need to bring everyday when they come to hear from God.

1. Your Bible
2. Your Pen
3. Reading Program
4. Your Journal

Favorite quotes:

“You have to harvest wisdom along the way”

“If you will understand what God has placed in here (the Bible) for you and for me, then you will begin to understand the source of wisdom.”

“Wisdom isn’t built in a day, but it will be built daily”

“Feed yourself!”

Thanks for praying for us in Russia. By the time you read this, we will have begun our work projects. The group will be tired from all the travel and the enemy will try hard to get us off track. Pray for safety and unity. Pray that lives will be forever changed. Pray that life-long friendships will be forged and refreshed. If you have never gone on a mission’s trip, let me ask you why not in 2009? What is holding you back. Jesus said “go.” Answer the call. Live different. Live dangerous. Thanks to those of you who sacrificed so others could go. Parents, your students are going to do a great job. Friends and family, keep lifting up your loved ones who are here. They will come home different…God loves to bless this kind of sacrifice and faith! I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

Our flight arrives in Moscow at 12:15 PM (4:15 AM EST). In case you wondered the flight is somewhere between 9-10 hours of cramped fun. I have a hard time “loving” those people in business class…

Once we pass through customs we are headed to Red Square. It is amazing to see. If you were alive during the cold war it is a surreal moment to say the least. Our group will be snapping shots of the Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and Lenin’s tomb. Russians love to have weddings at Red Square. It is not uncommon to see over 10 wedding parties in the vicinity. After Red Square we will grab our last (for the week) American meal at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Following Hard Rock we will travel by bus to Smolensk for the last remaining 6 hours of our journey. We will check into our hotel…eat some pizza (Russian) and call it a night.

Sunday brings church with our Russian brothers and sisters and some sightseeing in Smolensk for our group. Smolensk is a city rich in history. Every army that has tried to conquer Russia has had to come through Smolensk from Napoleon to Nazi Germany. I will be going to survey the orphanages with our project leaders so we are ready to hit it first thing Monday morning.

Keep checking my blog for updates throughout the week.

By the time you read this 33 of us will be en route to Russia. We (26 of Fellowship’s finest) will be joined on this year’s trip with some friends from Texas (2), Missouri (3), Colorado (1), and Florida (1). God has given us a great team. It is a tough trip travel wise, not to mention that this is our largest group ever.

Our theme for 2008 has been “Live Different.” Now we are taking “live different” international! We are going to build playgrounds at two orphanages and also build a security fence around a well at one of the orphanages. Seems like they dug a well last year but the authorities won’t let them use it until they secure it with a fence. Can you imagine an orphanage without water?

I have to give it up for our group. They are sacrificing their time and treasure…they are living different…they are answering the call Jesus gave when he said to “go.” Please be praying for them. The trip is not easy but the rewards are eternal. Getting out of your world and entering into someone else’s is living like Jesus. The enemy will try to get us off track…anything he can do to make it about us instead of others. He will attack our chemistry and synergy.

Stay tuned over the next 8 days…”live different” is going on tour!

This Sunday’s talk has me very excited. We have the privilege to have Pastor Wayne Cordeiro of New Life Christian Church speaking for us. Wayne’s one prayer for the church is, “God, make us wise.” I was awestruck when I listened to Wayne several weeks ago. What an inspired and gifted communicator! You will not want to miss this Sunday…trust me.

New Life Christian Church was founded in beautiful Hawaii 13 years ago with Wayne Cordeiro and his wife. Today, over 14,500 attend the mother church and the nine satellite campuses each weekend. They have planted a total of fifteen plants on Oahu and fourteen on the outer islands in the last13 years. New Hope has planted 102 churches with the majority of them being in the mission field.

You will see by his talk that they really lead the way in video teaching. I would love to see Fellowship begin a second campus in the near future! I guess this means our campus in Hawaii is out of the question…

I loved Craig’s talk yesterday. I love his heart and his passion. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.”

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all - Ephesians 4:3-6. Craig’s one prayer for the church today would be, “Father, make us one!” It is the same prayer that Jesus had. The church struggles with unity as a whole. For some of you its the first time you have even thought about it.We are more unified after Craig’s talk.

The church does have and image problem. Christians are the problem. You and I are the problem when we don’t display a spirit of unity. We are the problem when we criticize others - when we make those outside our walls jump through hoops to be with us. When we drag the name of Jesus through the gutter with our behavior and attitudes. That is the bad news. The good news is that we are in the process of redefining church in the Delaware Valley one heart, one life, at a time. Our future is bright!

What would unify the church?

1. If we had One enemy - Satan (loved the video - I was thinking of who could play the part of the devil if we ever do a similar video). Let’s remember who we are actually fighting!
2. If we had one heart. This is what makes us different!
3. If we had one purpose. Our mission is bigger than all of us. I told our staff this very thing this week. It is not about John it is about bringing people to Jesus. Period.

Favorite quotes:

• “Unity is not the same thing as uniformity”
• “When have we forgotten that we are the church, the church doesn’t exist for us and we are the church and we exist for the world.”

One Prayer Stats:

• Total Churches: 1,451
• Total Attendance: 812,644

Next Speaker: Wayne Cordeiro

New Hope Christian Church

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. Father’s day doesn’t get the hype that Mother’s day does, but I am okay with that. Here are a couple thoughts about Father’s day.

First it makes me think of my heavenly Father. How blessed and fortunate I am to read God’s word and get insight into God’s life. He is the standard. He sets the bar. No one has sacrifice more than he did. To watch his own son, Jesus, suffer and die on my behalf is beyond my understanding. Today, I am thankful for my heavenly Father.

Second, I think of my Dad. As my brother Buddy likes to call him…”the Chuckster.” It wasn’t that many months ago, where I wasn’t sure that Dad would be around for Father’s day. It makes you think. God had other plans and for that I will be eternally grateful. The time I have spent with my Dad this year has been the best of my life. God is reinventing him at age 69. Most guys that age would coast, but not my pops. He is still looking for ways to invest in others and eternity. He is inspired to be a better husband at this stage of his life. At a season of life where most would say “I am what I am…take it or leave it,” Dad is on his face before God and trying his best to be more like Jesus. I am dreaming that God will relocate my parents to our area and Dad could serve part-time as our pastor of Seniors. He would be awesome! Happy Father’s Day, Pops. This post is dedicated to you and the impact you have made on me. Thanks for teaching me how to be a man - I really do want to be like you when I grow up!

Thirdly, I think of my beautiful kids - Alli, Emmy, B, Drew, and GG. Unbelievable. What would my life be without them? They keep things exciting and interesting. They are far from perfect but I would not trade them for anything in the world. They know how to love and they sure know how to fight! How could five kids be so different yet have so much in common. They are all learning to love Jesus. They love Fellowship and our life here. I am humbled that God has called me to pour into the lives of such and incredible group. I have no doubt that they will all have a greater kingdom impact than I ever will. Individually and collectively. God changed the world with 12 followers…I wonder what he will do with the Cremeans 5? I am praying for big things. I am praying for their spouses today…wherever they are and whoever they are. God, may they fall in love with Jesus now!

Finally, I am thinking of you. Some of you reading this today have the great privilege of being a Dad. Don’t hold back - give it everything you have. Remember your kids will remember more about how you loved them than how hard you worked. They really aren’t all that impressed with our jobs or our portfolios. Love them with all you have guys. Don’t get complacent or withdrawal because it’s complicated or you don’t know what to do. Lead them in following Jesus. Lead them in serving…in connecting…in giving. Teach them now so they will have those foundations for life.

For some, this will be a difficult day. This might be your first Father’s day without your dad or one of your children. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you are feeling today. Some of you are still grieving the relationship you have or had with your father. He just never got it. I hate that for you. Some dads might have a wayward son or daughter and you won’t get that phone call today that says, “I love you dad.” Don’t give up hope…don’t stop praying. God is still in the business of changing lives and bringing wayward sons and daughters home.

For all of you I pray that this will be a meaningful day. A day where you will find the time to give thanks and honor. God loves it when we give thanks and honor those around us. Happy Fathers Day.

This Sunday Fellowship Church will hear from Craig Groeschel with the message, “God, Make Us One”. Craig is founder and lead pastor of LifeChurch.tv (based in Oklahoma City, OK). You can read his thoughts on leadership and ministry at the Swerve Blog (coauthored with Bobby Gruenewald).

Craig has also written a couple of books including Chazown: khaw-ZONE - A Different Way to See Your Life and Confessions of a Pastor. Both are great reads that I highly recommend.

I am honored to have Craig speak to us this week. He has been a mentor in my life even though I don’t know him personally. If I didn’t go to Fellowship, I would want to be under Craig’s ministry. I see and sense God’s hand all over him. I have had the privilege to hear him speak in public twice and have heard many of his sermons on line. He doesn’t mince words and he is ruthless in his pursuit of those who haven’t met Jesus. Let me know what you think this coming Monday. Be praying about this Sunday. Pray that God would use Craig’s words to change us…to make us one!

Wow! Sunday we had the greatest single day offering in the history of Fellowship Church! We had a total of $147,574.05 for our Elevate summer kick-off offering! That is 74% of our summer goal of $200K and 20% of our campaign goal of 750K! God is awesome and I continue to be amazed at the generosity of Fellowship and the support of the vision God has given us. Thank you to those of you who stepped up and sacrificed! We still have two and a half months for the remaining $52,500 of our summer goal to come in. Some of you still need to sacrifice and jump in! Please be praying hard about that amount as we desperately need to address some key areas in our kids wings, and multi-media.

This is going to be the best fall in the history of Fellowship Church. In order for that to be true, this needs to be the best summer in the history of Fellowship Church. I believe we are on our way. Eighteen people went public with their faith in baptism on Sunday. That is huge! I will tell you what I told our staff and elders on Tuesday. Make sure you have the chance to exhale this summer. Strategic breaks are a must in our lives. When you go away for your vacations do your best to unwind and clear your mind. Having said that, don’t vacation from your spiritual journey this summer. Don’t fall back into the RTD of compartmentalization. Don’t take the summer off from serving, connecting, and giving. Remember, company is coming and the sermon starts in the parking lot. We will have lots of guests this summer as people relocate to the area. I believe our church will grow this summer - that is what Elevate is all about.

Speaking of Elevate. I met with someone this week who was not in a position to give financially to Elevate. God was still speaking to her in a big way. She recently fasted for 21 days crying out to God for his will and direction in her life. Based on God’s leading she approached her employer and cut back on some teaching responsibilities so she could have more margin to serve and follow God’s calling on her life. She took a serious financial hit (thousands) but spiritually she has elevated her obedience to God and her life mission. Elevate is a spiritual growth campaign first and foremost. It is about listening to the voice of God and having the courage to obey. This dear lady stepped out of her comfort zone and made what many would say is a dangerous financial decision. She is praying high risk prayers.  She is walking to the edge of the ledge in faith.  I love it! She is living different! God, make us all different. May we follow your lead of sacrifice and serving just as this lady has done. Great things are happening at Fellowship and greater things are coming.

Twenty years ago today I married the girl of my dreams. What a ride it has been for us. I know there have been times along the way and even a few seasons where neither of us ever dreamed we would make it to this day. My kids had the sweetest congratulatory notes all over the house this morning when we got up. Proverbs 18:22 says, “A man’s greatest treasure is his wife— she is a gift from the Lord.” God smiled on me when he gave me Michelle and I treasure her more today than at any time in my life.

Here are the top 10 things I love about Michelle. They are in no particular order of importance - and there are of course, many other things I love about her.

1. Michelle has amazing character. Proverbs 12:4 says, “A wife with strength of character is the crown of her husband…She is the same around people and in private. Her character is strong and it runs deep. She does what is right.
2. Michelle has incredible discernment. She sees things in people that I am oblivious to…good things and dangerous things. This is a spiritual gift and I rely on her God-given radar all the time.
3. Michelle is an incredible friend. Even when we have gone through difficult times we have enjoyed a spirit of friendship. She pours into my life daily and is anxious to hear about how I am doing and how my day went. She is a courageous friend who speaks truth in love to me on a consistent basis.
4. Michelle is an awesome Mother. Our kids are blessed to have her. She has sacrificed consistently of herself that they could have a better life. Alli, Emily, Bailey, Drew, and Grace are the center of her world and she has answered God’s call to raise them to love Jesus and be like him.
5. Michelle loves animals. She has some of that Dr. Doolittle vibe going on. I have seen this even more since we moved to our current home. She is up to milk her two dairy goats every morning by 7:00 no matter what (God hasn’t called me to help in this area to date)
6. Michelle has a heart-flipping smile. (This is code for the fact that she is super hot - OH BABY!)
7. Michelle is a hard worker. There isn’t a lot of rest when you have a high maintenance husband, five kids, four acres, seven goats, seventeen chickens, six ducks, two dogs, two cats, sing in our worship team, and go to two services every Sunday. Maybe this is why her and the girl (Jenny) at Starbucks are on a first name basis…gotta have that caffeine!
8. Michelle is forgiving and gracious. I have made some terribly selfish mistakes on this journey called marriage. I have been the recipient of grace and forgiveness on a scale that is difficult for me to put into words. The best human example of Jesus in my life has been Michelle - hands down.
9. Michelle loves and supports me. I figure I am quickly approaching 500 different talks she has endured over the seven and a half years. I feel sorry for her. She has always been honest, supportive, and affirming. Pastors can be so insecure. I can be so insecure. I’m getting better (more secure) and she is a big reason for the change.
10. Michelle loves Jesus. From the day I first saw her I knew she marched to a different drumbeat. Jesus had rocked her life and everything and everyone else came in second to Jesus. That has never changed. She is head over heals in love with him and I can’t help but think that if we arrived at heaven’s gate at the same time, she would knock me out of the way to get to him first.

Finally, I want to thank Fellowship. You have shared the best years of our life. Our elders blessed us (they do this a lot) for our anniversary. They represent their God and their church well. Thanks!

I had the interment today for my friend Gail Oxley. Gail was a Viet Nam veteran so there were soldiers present to give him the military honors he so deserved. I love our troops. They inspire me. After I finished my brief talk and prayed, one of the soldiers played taps. He then marched smartly to the casket and gave the order to “retire the colors“. I got a lump in my throat as they folded the flag and presented it to Gail’s wife Joanne. “On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation” they thanked her for Gail’s service and presented her the flag followed by a salute.

Yesterday, we also “retired the colors” at Gail’s celebration service. Gail was wearing his “Live Different” bracelet and had his “Live Different” t-shirt folded neatly inside his casket. Joanne arranged for everyone at the service to have a bracelet just like the ones we passed out earlier in the year. I am on bracelet number 6 because I have given mine to several new children at Fellowship. I had one young lady who worked with Gail come and ask me for 15 more bracelets for her co-workers who had to miss the service. Cool stuff.

I’m reminded today that I am first and foremost of citizen of heaven. Paul said we are “strangers” to this world. My home is in heaven. I’m just staying here for a while. Gail being there before me makes me more anxious to “go home.” The “colors theme” make me think about the color red. The blood that our beautiful Savior, Jesus, shed for my sin and yours. How priceless his gift was and still is today. Someday, Jesus will say “retire the colors” and I will lay my spiritual armor down. I long to hear God say, “Nice Job John, welcome home Son.” The lump is back in my throat.

Until that day, I want to fight the good fight. I want us all to fight the good fight.  The one thing I will no longer be able to do when I get to heaven is to tell people about Jesus and the difference he makes. That is why I do what I do. That is why I exist. It is why God is calling us to Elevate what we do as we redefine church in the Delaware Valley.

Gail served…do you?

Gail loved to worship…do you?

Gail connected with his life group…do you?

Gail gave…do you?

Gail made church his priority…do you?

Honor the colors…live different.