Leadership Community Empowerment LCE

This morning we brought to a close our first anniversary of using the Church Life

model by our friend, Dr. Wayne Lee. This model boils the hundreds of functions a church typically performs into 15 large categories. Those categories are then grouped into 4 quadrants and a core. The value of such a model is the ability to finally get a handle on assessing how the church is doing and also to begin to strategically plan where we need to work on strengthening the church. In essence, this model becomes a powerful tool for improving the health of the church.

We invited Dr. Lee to consult us on the health of our church last year. He helped us see where we were strong and also where we were weak. A plan was designed and we began a year long process to improve the health of our church. Today, we evaluated our progress and I invited all of the pastor's, ministry leaders, and the Life Group leaders to help evaluate the change. It was exciting for each ministry leader to look back and see how their plans progressed over the past year. It provided a great time of discussing not only individual ministries, but how related ministries could support one another. I saw the "smoke stack" mentality give way to a real sense of team synergy.

Community Lighthouse Praise Report

Today was a fantastic day! One of my passions is to serve the poor and the
needy. Our many years in missionary work provided ample experience in understanding the unique needs of hurting people.

The House of Blessing has historically been Calvary Lighthouse's vehicle for meeting physical needs. We have expanded our tent stakes over the past few years and built a separate non-profit organization, COMMUNITY LIGHTHOUSE. This fully registered, tax-deductible organization is designed as a community development entity. For in America today, we find that some donors will give to a church and some will not. Through Community Lighthouse, we have created an organization that allows us to serve the poor and stand inside a new organization. We continue to show the love of Jesus and we continue to obey our Lord's commands. Yet, we invite others who may not be comfortable with our church to partner with us in helping the poor. God has called us to be peaceful as doves and wise as serpents!

Life's Healing Choices Coming in 2010

I am excited about the upcoming new year and the series we plan to
begin! Life's Healing Choices is a powerful series built off of
Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. Many consider this sermon to be Jesus's most profound and certainly it is one of His most famous. Also known as, "The Beattitudes," Jesus's teaching describes the lifestyle of those who live in His kingdom.

We will enter into 2010 with a community wide commitment to live as Jesus taught us. All of the "hurts, habits, and hang-ups" that have plagued our lives will be collectively surrendered to God. I am praying for the Holy Spirit to begin a work of holiness in each of our lives that is unprecedented. Join with me in preparing the soil of your heart. Let's invite the Holy Spirit to be the plow that breaks the rocks lose from our heart. Let's ask Jesus to water the Word into our hearts and cause it to grow.

2010 is a year for making new CHOICES!