.Real.Greg.Lee.

So a couple weeks ago, I hear Sue Hertzfeldt scream from her office.  “Scott Thomas is on the phone.  He’s throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley!”  Then I saw this picture from him on FaceBook and knew I had to share it.  His name is even on the scoreboard!

Scott Thomas was on our staff as worship arts director for some time….and he and Sue successfully served as my Cub fan counterbalance!   In my kindness 🙂 , I’m even posting this picture on a night when the Cubs beat the Cardinals for the second night in a row.  (As if it matters for either team at this stage!)

Scott won a contest and got the chance.  Here’s how he described it to me in an email…

“Yea, it was really an opportunity of a lifetime.  So surreal to head to the mound (stepped OVER the foul line :), hear your name announced, take a look around, and try not to spend 20 minutes out there soaking it all in!  My arm was shaking so bad – about 1/2 way through my motion, I thought, “oh man, it’s not gonna get there!”,  Luckily, it did!”

Cool Stuff.

Posted in Suncrest

A lot of Pastors do some sort of “Sunday Reflections” blog where they recap their services, etc.  I’ve done that from time to time, including yesterday.

I think it hit me last night that in our ministry, it is better for me to do a “Tuesday Reflections”.  Lots of reasons for that, but the biggest one is really important for me.  Sunday isn’t just about coming to enjoy ourselves, it is designed for movement!  And Tuesday is the day I see how people are actually responded to things.  Here are some of those I’m celebrating this morning…

1. I heard we had an overflowing crew for one of our “Starting Point” Classes.  It’s one way new people get connected and we are always interested in how and why people are coming to Suncrest…and why they are staying. Why do they come? Mostly invitations from others who attend.  And one lady who found our series “How to Read Your Bible” online and thought it was exactly what she needed.  Why do they stay? Over the long term, I know their answer will be because they connected in a Community Group (Starting Point is their first step toward that), but for a lot of them they have kept coming because of our children’s ministry (always a very popular answer), the music connected with them, and they found a place they can grow in their faith.

2.  Looks like there will be 80+ women connecting for Morning Grace beginning this Wednesday.  I love MG!

3.  More than a dozen people/families said they would go help with the Walkerton launch in October/November.  If you did, I think you are cool.  (You might be cool too even if you didn’t, but this was just one way to know for sure.)  🙂

4.  I got an email from a lady who read about the NWI Women’s Center in our bulletin and is going to volunteer there now.  I love people who serve people in need outside our walls.

5.  I mentioned Home Depot’s Slogan on Sunday about the partnership between you and Suncrest when it comes to helping people take steps of faith – “You can Do it.  We can help.” An attender who works at Home Depot said they have a new slogan that could work for us too — “More Saving.  More Doing.”  I like it.

There is more…including an INCREDIBLE meeting last night with a potential partner for church planting in Liberia.  I have to go get started with the rest of the day.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll write “Wednesday Reflections”.

Posted in Suncrest

7 reasons I’m thankful at the end of today.

1. LOVED praying over the team that is going to Launch the Highland Campus in our services.  Why wouldn’t I?  I think they have put themselves in a position to have God use them in a powerful (and fun!) way.  I know lives will be changed because of them.

2.  Got a text from Andy Kaser about the first walk through at the Walkerton’s Campus.  Part of it said, “Very positive in every way! Grateful!”

3.  We had a lunch for all our community group leaders after church.  Can’t wait to see these kick off over the next two weeks!  If you are not in a group, make sure you CONNECT here.

5.  I went from the Groups Lunch to an elder interview.  We are nearing the final steps of our process to determine who will be added as new elders for the next season.

6.  After our interview, all the elders found a radio where we could listen to the Bears pull out the win this afternoon.  Not pretty.  Also, at 19-14 it wasn’t far from my 17-14 prediction.

7.  My parents are in town and we got to have a great evening cooking out and eating on the deck.  Perfect evening to top off a pretty great day.

I’m always dead at the end of the day on Sunday, but it is (almost) always worth it.  Today certainly was.

Posted in Suncrest

It’s Opening Day for the Bears tomorrow.  While they really aren’t supposed to be very good, there is always hope on Week 1, right?  I thought I’d give one blog post each week to making my prediction for the coming game, so here it is.

Bears 17 – Lions 14

Posted in Suncrest

Something hit me today as I sat at Northwest Indiana’s “One Region One Vision” lunch.  It probably won’t seem that earth-shattering to you…but here it is:  Northwest Indiana is home.

Maybe it should have been more obvious.

-I’ve lived here — and to some degree or another have led here — for 14 years.

-I’ve freely told people I imagine I will be here for a lifetime.

-I’ve just ate my 1000th “Mickey” from Schoops (only a slight exaggeration).

Still, as I listened to leaders talk about our region, its challenges, and some promising new initiatives, it hit me that I really care about our area.  I imagine some of it is that my children are now part of soccer clubs and school systems.  And some may be that Suncrest has expanded from Tri-town/Crown Point to Hobart/Merrillville and now to Highland and the surrounding area.

Does this matter?  It does for me.  It makes me want to keep shaping people’s lives one by one through their faith, knowing they will bring great influence to the Region.  But I am also fascinated by the impressive effort of a lot of community leaders to move our area toward a better quality of life through communication, cooperation, and collaboration.

It’s no secret to anyone who lives here that the past story of the region can often be traced to fractures and turf wars.  And no one is pretending those will change overnight.  But there was evidence of people coming together for the common good.  I don’t quite know how yet, but I want our family to be part of that solution.  And I’d like for you to be also.

Posted in Suncrest

Most pastors I know are desperate for a conversation about building the NYC mosque and burning the Koran that goes beyond talking heads and baiting people to argue about them.  That may drive ratings.  It also kills civility and respect.  I don’t suppose to speak for all the pastors, but I do offer this as one perspective with some insights gained from talking to others.

Thankfully, our country is built on freedom. The Florida pastor has the legal right to burn a Koran and the NYC Imam has the right to build a mosque near ground zero.  We should agree on that and move to the more important question for a person guided by faith or maturity.

Instead of asking “What do I have the right to do?” ask “What is the right thing to do?”  Part of my Christian faith means limiting myself for the good of others.  The Bible says, “Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” What is the wise thing to do?  What best represents the message of God?  What is the unselfish choice?  What is the best way to love God and our neighbor?  This is where I would love the conversation to be.  This isn’t easy to sort out and we may still disagree, but they are the basis of a thoughtful conversation.

To that end, we have to acknowledge the unique tension of Islam and Christianity in America today.  As a pastor, some (in the name of conviction) want me to condemn other religions.  Others (in the name of tolerance), want me to agree that all religions are simply different paths to the same God. My effort to follow Jesus sees both of these as misguided.

Jesus made claims about himself and the nature of God that are distinct (even contradictory) from other religions.  No intellectually honest person would claim these are just different versions of the same thing, but he was not condemning toward them.  He actually reserved his judgment tone for leaders in his own faith community who were misrepresenting it or exploiting it for selfish ends.

That shapes how I would engage conversations about building this mosque or the burning of the Koran with these leaders.

Since the pastor in Florida is claiming to be a leader in my community of faith (Christianity), I’d ask him to stop his effort and his grandstanding.  I’d be very direct with him about how I think he is misrepresenting Christ and the scriptures.  I would rebuke him since his actions don’t reflect what comes from the spirit of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control.

Since the Imam is someone outside of my community of faith, I may disagree with him, but I would only treat him with respect. I would ask him to consider all the dynamics to the situation engage the conversation with the most helpful questions. What is the wise thing to do?  What is the constructive thing to do?  We know no decision will bring agreement from everyone and I would be the first to say no person should just do something because the majority wants you to.  In the end, I would pray for him and his decision, that he would give consideration to the greatest good.

Much more could be written, but for now, I’ll leave it here for you to consider and reflect on.

Posted in Suncrest

On the Beach in Liberia

First the good news…Denise Tribble isn’t dying or moving away or leaving Suncrest.  You all can breathe easier now!

But September is already different around here without her on our staff.  Denise has been a fixture on our staff team for a long time (over 10 years) starting as a volunteer in the small rented office over on Keilman Street and growing with us to be a key leader in the areas of missions and benevolence.  I’ll list some things we will miss about her…but if you know Denise there is simply nothing more than her presence.

Denise was the guinea pig for medical clinic practice!

She brings peace, kindness, authenticity, and laughter to every setting she is in.  Outside of everything she did, I know that is what our team will miss the most.

Her heart for changing the world (often by changing individual lives) has been a driving force in our Missions and Benevolence/Compassion efforts.

Her faith took her to Liberia with Jenny and me on our first trip 19 months ago.  Her legacy at Suncrest has our current Liberia efforts all over it.

Her family is a special crew…great husband and great kids.  And lots of extended family she has brought to Suncrest!

Her determination….you wouldn’t want to mistake her kind spirit for weakness!  She will take on and push through anything that will help people.

She was a magnet with the kids!

Her salt and light.  We will really miss Denise on our staff, but it is also true that I’m very excited for her next step.  She is going to work at a  job in the area and I know she’ll be an asset to the company.  Even more than that, as we have talked so much recently about a Christ-follower being salt and light…Not being weird or judgmental, but also not just blending in.  I told Denise at her going away party that is what I’m most excited about.  I can’t think of a better person with a better spirit to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in the non-church setting.

Thanks Denise!  You live our mission.

Posted in Suncrest

On Sunday, our Highland Campus Team had their very first walk-through at school where they will meet for worship beginning on September 26.

It sounded like a super-exciting time and some people captured some great pictures.  Can you feel the vision?  As I looked through these I stopped to pray and ask God to use this team BEYOND their potential to bless the town of Highland and surrounding communities.  Will you stop and do the same thing?

Posted in Suncrest

Another Post from Gordon (pictured at left with Liberian leaders) as he reflects on one of the most important (and sensitive!) issues when working cross-culturally…

One of the things we decided before we left for Liberia was that anything we get involved with in Liberia needs to be Liberian-led.  So one of the questions we needed to answer is how do we use our “American thinking” in a positive way to help Liberian-led efforts.  We had heard that Liberians don’t think like Americans, that they don’t problem solve like us and are not good planners for the future.  A couple of interactions we had in Liberia made me question this.

The first was during a group conversation with some leaders from the church we have worked with most – Monrovia United Christian Church.  They asked us why America, or “Little Heaven” as they call it, is so successful.  A very insightful question that kind of caught me off guard.  This is where you have to fight off your American arrogance, the feeling that as Americans we are just smarter than everyone else.  Between the three of us I think we offered many things that add up to a pretty good answer.  Hard work, never say quit, searching for all solutions to a problem, visionary leaders, a system that rewards success are all a part of who we are as Americans.  I think the question is a great one from church leaders in a country just 6 years after the end of a civil war.  They are looking forward to rebuilding themselves and their country in a positive way.

The second interaction was with a young man named James Moore.  James is the point person for the LACES program in Liberia.  Some or you may remember Seren Frost who came to Suncrest last year to discuss this program.  She loves soccer (“football” in Liberia…and the rest of the world!) and the people of Liberia.  She saw the Liberian kids love for soccer and decided to start a program to use soccer to introduce the kids to positive influences in their lives and ultimately to Jesus.  James is her leader in Liberia.  I told James that I had heard that Liberians are not good planners.  His answer was instant and said with conviction,  “Liberians are very good planners, we struggle in implementation.”  I followed up with the question, “Why do you struggle in implementation?”  This time James paused for a few seconds and then came back with a one word answer “Corruption”.    James is just one of the many strong, intelligent, driven, forward thinking people we met in Liberia.  Hopefully, a generation who will change the corrupt ways of the past.

If we work with James, the leaders of MUCC,  and people like them we will be able to mesh our American thinking into Liberian culture in a very positive way.

Posted in Suncrest

Two guys were on this trip to Liberia with me.  David Vineyard is our staff leader for our church planting effort there and Gordon Barker is one of our elders.  I want you to hear from all of us, so here are Gordon’s initial reflections.  I love how he lets God work through him…

When I was first asked to consider going to Liberia I was hesitant.  For someone who’s international travel experience included Canada and 3 hours in Tijuana, I figured 10 days in Liberia might not be the best way to break in to overseas travel.  After doing the normal pros and cons thinking, three things made me decide to go.  The chance to help chart the path for the Jesus Mission in Liberia, the chance to make my own personal world a lot bigger, and the opportunity to take an adventure with one of my best friends, Greg.  In hindsight I am very glad I went.

From the moment you get off the plane in Monrovia you know that you are a long way from home.  The regular terminal is burned out from the war and men are scrambling around you to carry your bags for tips.  On the ride from the airport you see poverty like you haven’t seen before.  For me, for the first few days all I noticed were the differences:  the people don’t look the same, speak the same, eat the same foods, have our comforts, these along with hundreds of other differences in their daily lives from yours and mine. (They definitely don’t drive the same or shake hands the same, you’ll have to ask someone who has been there for the inside scoop on these.)

But after I got over the newness of everything and started to talk to people I began to realize that in the more important things in life we are much more the same than we are different.  We all want and need love in our lives, we all want to provide for our families, to see our kids grow up healthy and happy, and to have the freedom to pursue our dreams.

Finally, after some reflection, I realized that in the most important thing we are exactly the same.  We are all searching for meaning in our lives.  Meaning that can only be found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

My world got a lot bigger and a lot smaller all at the same time.

Posted in Suncrest