.Real.Greg.Lee.

I’m wiped out.

After camping Wednesday through Friday, we came back to Suncrest’s party Friday night to honor Miss Sue. (She’s incredible and will get her own post later this week!) It was a super-late night because Jenny washed everything and we re-packed to head various directions on Saturday.

At 6:30am Saturday I was with Jack on my way to Dunkin Donuts.  I knew breakfast was my last chance to see the kids for a week and they love donuts!  At 9:00, I was teaching our pre-marital classes, at 12:15 meeting with some potential leaders, and after another 1:30 appointment I went to perform a wedding in Highland at 5:00.  Then, rushing to the airport for a flight that was delayed anyway.  Finally landed in New Hampshire after 12:30am.

I fell asleep on my bed last night out here trying to type a few emails…and then was up early (especially with that lost hour from eastern time) to worship with two different churches out here, including the one we helped start in Boston.  The rest of the day we spent seeing the city of Boston.  I’ve done the Freedom Trail enough times that I can give the tour by now, but I had never been on one of the duck boat tours.  I was excited, but once we drove into the ocean, it must have been a little too peaceful and I fell asleep!

I start teaching the classes I’m out here for tomorrow.  It’s an incredible chance to shape some the lives of some high-potential students out here in their thinking about leadership and church planting.

Now…to bed.

Posted in Suncrest

It’s always interesting to me about what resonates with people.  This camping trip generated WAY more conversation than I ever anticipated.  So, here’s a quick summary of our experience:

It was a lot of work AND a lot of fun.  We talked on our way home about whether we would do it again.  Jenny and I both have trouble imagining we would do it with just our family, but with the chance to do it with friends again…yeah.  It all started a few months ago with some friends inviting our family to go and because of them we had a great time.  All of our kids played together, we laughed endlessly canoeing, the ladies rode horses together, some of us went for a run one morning, the peaceful campfire (Read:  after the kids went to bed) sets the table for good conversations and a card game or two. 

We did come back tired…and my schedule has only led to more fatigue, so it wasn’t that “refreshed” feeling that you would like to have coming back from time away.  Still, it was a blast…thanks to friends.

One great memory…Jack brought his own tent (pictured) and announced that he was going to set his own up and sleep in it.  Honestly, I was pretty sure he would last 20 minutes and sleep the night in ours.  But he took it very seriously and confiscated the first power strip I pulled out so he could have his own fan .  Better yet, the tent we had borrowed from a friend also came with dangling lights…which jack took for his own also.  He wired it up so some decorated the outside and some decorated the inside…with the power strip hanging from his “ceiling” so he could just reach up and turn out his own lights.  He slept the whole night both nights in that tent…and loved every minute of it.

Posted in Suncrest

Any updates while we are camping will have to be brief. Updating my blog with only my blackberry is a little challenging.

Let’s just say it is about. 11:00PM and I’m having my first peaceful moments. We were suppossed to leave the church at 10am and after our first stop we were leaving cedar lake at noon. Once we got here…lots of work, lots of kids, lots of heat.

I can’t really say its been a great experience, but I am enjoying time with friends under the stars right now.

Canoeing tomorrow with the whole fam. Stay tuned.

Posted in Suncrest

The title of this post is a quote from a guy who just finished teaching at Suncrest for the first time a few years ago.  He had some great conversations after the message with people asking questions about one of the ways he had suggested people live out the message.  My answer was something eloquent like “Uh…yeah.”

But given his experience in ministry, he had grown to assume that most people come to church, put in their time, and head out to lunch to start a new week with no real desire to actually take what they heard Sunday and use it.  But his experience at Suncrest was full of people who were different:  They came because they wanted something helpful for their lives and they took seriously the teaching and application.  It’s among my favorite things about this church…people are here because they want to be here…they genuinely want help week in and week out to guide their life…and when things apply to their life they really take a shot at changing.

I was reminded again today in kind of a funny way.  In our Integrity@Work message, I was trying to lift the conversation beyond just “stealing paperclips” and then I said something like, “If you have a box of pens from work at your house, you should take them back, but this message is about so much more than that.”  Today, a young woman came in and asked for me.  I was in a meeting, but Cindy (my assistant) went out to greet her and the lady handed her a bag full of pens from the last place she had worked.  She didn’t work there anymore and couldn’t take them back, so she did the next best thing — she brought them to me to confess and turn them in!  (The picture is literally some of the pens from in the bag).

I love it — both these simple applications and the more complex ones that the Suncrest family wrestles through each week.

Posted in Suncrest

When I welcome east campus in the camera every Sunday morning, I’ve gotten into the habit of saying “we love what God is doing out there.”  I know it might seem trite to hear it over and over again, but I still haven’t figured out a concise way to say it any better!

Sunday was cool.  While we were doing baby dedications at West Campus (St. John), there were also baby dedications at East Campus.  And while West campus went our separate ways Sunday afternoon, East Campus headed to Lake Michigan for a party — A party to celebrate 5 baptisms in the Lake!!  You can watch the video on the east campus blog here. 

Scroll down on that East Campus blog and you’ll see a profile of a new staff member at Suncrest.  His name is Andy Kaser and he is doing a leadership residency here.  He has dreams of planting a church someday and has come to soak up our culture.  He is raising all of his own financial support for the position, so you can see what a blessing it is for us and how dedicated he is to developing as a leader!

And while there are dynamic things happening at our individual locations, there is power in still being ONE church.  In fact, for our Party on the Parking Lot this Friday, we’ll see everyone come together for one event.  I love you, Suncrest.  All of you.

Posted in Suncrest

Sitting here at the end of a day thinking about how great today was — as most Sundays are.  Here’s today’s:

-One of our volunteer video guys sent me this picture.  It’s from his vantage point behind the camera and monitor.  I’m still amazed we have such committed volunteers to fill these key roles and love the way Bobby Jackson keeps developing these volunteers.  The breadth of his responsibilities is REMARKABLE.

-Thought we had a good morning in terms of our worship.  Teaching this series is more challenging than I thought.  I felt decent about today, but I hate it when there are a few humorous moments in a sermon…and today’s was lacking in that regard.  If there is one thing I know…you can’t think of a funny story when you are TRYING to think of a funny story!

-I had a ton of people I got to pray with after all our services.  Lots of hurt and confusion to process today.  I’m so glad people come up to talk/pray, but it was almost overwhelming today.

-I got to watch parts of both the cubs/cardinals game today.  Fun weekend and I guess a split isn’t bad…it’s just not good either.

-My parents are in town.  We’ve had a blast hanging out and having dinner out.  I spent a couple hours on the golf course with my son and my dad…what could be better than that?

-That camping trip I mentioned?  Apparently, I didn’t realize just how many of “our friends” were going.  (Jenny is in charge of this and I get info on kind of a “need to know” basis.)  Turns out there are about 45 of us going with the current breakdown 25 kids/20 adults.  I’m pretty sure they could take us!

-Only have a couple days in the office this week, so I’m setting the alarm for an extra-early start.  Hope to be at my desk shortly after 6:00am and hammer stuff out all day long.

Posted in Suncrest

We love these ladies.  And today, one of our support staff (Laurie Olson) threw them a little appreciation party to show them how much.  These self proclaimed “bulletin babes” are here every Friday morning to fold all the bulletins and stuff them with inserts for both campuses.  Here’s what I love about them:

–They serve where needed.Nothing glamorous about this job, but they know how it fits into our larger mission.  They are an important link in our ministry and being  used by God to change lives.

–They are givers, not takers.  They expect nothing for their service (and they usually bake something that I get to benefit from on Friday mornings!)  Like anyone would, they loved the little appreciation event this morning but that isn’t WHY they do it.

–They found some great friends serving together.  Most of them weren’t friends before they starting folding, but now they are.  We usually think community groups are the places to find friendship (and they are), but there is a real camaraderie that serving together builds.

One last thing…I think I caught them GAMBLING in the church this morning. 🙂  Their dice game  between bulletin folding and lunch was intense and I was afraid to look under the table for fear they had hid the cash under there as I walked through!

Thanks ladies..and all who serve unselfishly!

Posted in Suncrest

It’s been on my calendar for a while, but it didn’t really get on my cognitive radar until last night.  Next week we are going with some friends that invited us to go camping.  Like…real-life, build a fire, pitch a tent, hike a trail, pack your own food, fight mosquitoes kind of camping. 

And I have this odd feeling inside of me…I am a guy who is ALWAYS up for an adventure, but for some reason I have huge hesitations about this. 

You know I love my family, BUT….this seems like a fun thing to do with a group of guys to hang out, not a place to relax with a 3 year old and 5 year old in tow.  I’m actually envisioning tired, hot, and cranky. 

I could be convinced otherwise…your thoughts?

Posted in Suncrest

How does your faith play out at work?  That is the question we are exploring in the new sermon series (started last week at west campus, this week at east campus).

One of my reflections has been about how MY work is similar to and how it is different fromthe work that most of the people in our church do.  I started to make a list of where I thought my role was different and where I thought it was the same…and then I realized it wasn’t so easy to categorize, so this is just became some reflections on my work.  I’ll let you decide whether they are the same as yours or different.

1.  My work environment has very few temptations/struggles with sin.  Working at a church doesn’t make the environment perfect, but all of us do share a common set of values. 

2.  The greater purpose of my work is easily seen…probably easier than most.  I do think there is great purpose in many, many lines of work.  Still, I do what I do because I feel like it is the most important job on planet earth.

3.  The DRIVE inside me is complex.  I genuinely want to be used by God to change lives.  Honestly, I also want to be successful (I think I know some good measurements for this, but it is still a constant question for me).  I want to be a great teacher.  I want to be a man of faith and vision willing to trust God to do things others are hesitant to do (this comes out of a conviction that if we only do what we’ve always done we will only reach who we’ve always reached).  But I don’t want to chase fads — and those are at least as common in ministry as in most work environments.  I do get the satisfaction of literally seeing lives changed before my eyes…Not hard to get up in the morning for that.

4.  I make many decisions every day, but only 2% of my choices are between Right/Wrong or Good/Bad.  Most are judgement calls between good/great or better/best.  Growth brings greater opportunities for influence and more demands for my time, leaving the dream of personally serving each person dead.  The only thing I hate about my job is saying “no” to things that are incredibly valuable.  It’s the worst feeling in the world to choose against going to do a hospital visit or telling someone I can’t personally give them counsel (or even telling a staff member we can’t fund something they believe will make a difference). Choosing against something bad is easy.  Choosing against something good (even when you believe it will bring about something better) is killer.

5.  Bill Hybels says that the primary challenge in leading a church is that you do it with “one hand tied behind your back”.  He is referencing the idea that for many business/non-profit leaders leading the organization is their job.  But for pastors, in addition to leading the ministry, you give your very best thinking, reflection and time to preparing a 30 minute sermon that is Biblically accurate and relevant to people’s lives every week.  One of my pastor-friends calls it “the term paper that is due every Sunday”. 

6. Like many pastors, I have a love/hate relationship with the teaching responsibility.  It is 90% love becuase of the catalyst Biblical teaching can be for changed lives.  The “hate” side rears it’s head when I get tired or feel pressed for time (which totally works against creativity).  There is nothing better than a sermon you are satisfied with…and nothing worse than one that you feel went flat…it will be 7 days before you feel like you can redeem yourself!

7.  Good LEADERSHIP makes all the difference.  Lots of churches are good at preaching and praying…and think that is enough.  But I think a reading of the scriptures would show with preaching and prayer at the foundation, it is leadership that makes the difference in fulfilling any mission.  So, while the most visible thing I do is teach on Sundays, the most important role I have is to discern God’s direction for Suncrest (along with our leaders) and build teams and other leaders to help us get from where we are to where God wants us to be.

8.  Practically, that is not nearly as “lofty” as it sounds.  I have a lot of meetings during the day with staff and during the evenings with volunteer teams.  It’s reviewing budgets and leadership development and planning – long-term and short term.  It is recruiting people, guiding people, motivating people, resourcing people and (don’t we all love this?) holding people accountable.  It is knowing when to centralize something for focus and strength and when to de-centralize it for ownership and innovation.  It is making sure we aren’t inward focused paralyzing growth, while making sure we have built the right foundations to support the growth God is bringing us.  It is knowing when to push volunteers because you believe in them and when to pull back because you are about to burn them out.  It is genuinely listening to people’s preferences and needs while not settling for anything less than the vision God has laid on our heart. 

OK…it feels like this post morphed as I kept typing and typing…I’ll just leave it there for now.

Posted in Suncrest

Today was my first back in the office after 2 weeks out…as most of you noticed my time off included a vacation from blogging also.  But I’m back in the rhythm now and we had one of my favorite meetings of the month this morning…our all staff meeting where the 20+ of us talk through what’s next at suncrest.

We always start with stories of where we are “winning” becuase it helps us keep right goals in sight — and in ministry that is often best done by story-telling. Iwas so inspired by these today….

-A lady who has had her life dramatically changed by our Celebrate Recovery ministry is now using twitter and a blog, finding it can reach many, many people who face the same challenges she is overcoming.

-One of our west campus staff went to our east campus in Merrillville on Sunday.  He said “It was great to see people I have never met not just attending, but serving!”

–Reports from the seminar on Revelation were strong.  (I personally had two conversations on Sunday with people who loved having Dr. Lowery here!)

–We had a team travel to New England last week on a mission trip to help one of our new churches with their “Camp Create”.  Incredible experience.

-Our HUGE Shipping Container to supply our African Ministry during ONE PRAYER is FULL.  It isn’t all sandals and flip flops, but they certainly have their section!

–We had 7 baptisms on Sunday, each with their own powerful story of embracing this life of faith.  Children, adults, stories of God’s grace and one young man who serves our country and leaves for Iraq soon.

–We had a team scheduled to go on a mission trip to Honduras next week…and because of the government coup that has changed.  The revised plan is for a place in Mexico.

There was more, but I couldn’t write fast enough!  I’m just thankful people in our church keep letting God work in them and through them.

Posted in Suncrest