A Party With A Purpose

I'm fired up about the big Washington Gardens Block Party we have planned for July 11th.

Washington Gardens is a government housing complex where low income and no income families live. Times are tough, and the 200 families in WG are feeling it the most. The Elkhart Campus has identified this area as a place where we want to be - bringing life, hope, and love to those who need it most. Our Block Party will be a bridge building and trust building opportunity to connect with these families!

• When: Saturday - July 11th, 4:00-7:00pm.

• Where: Washington Gardens Park & Community Center

• What: Cookout, games, inflatables for the kids, giving away boxes of food, giving each family a box fan (none of them have AC), and more.
  

How to Get Involved:

• Sponsor a family: Buy a fan or buy a meal for $10 (do this at the "Block Party" display at the Elkhart Campus)

• Volunteer: Stop by the "Block Party" display this Sunday for info on tons of places to help make it happen!

• Be there! Bring the whole family and be a part of making a lasting impact in this community.

A Chance to Start Over

I've been reflecting this week on Mark Beeson's message from last weekend. Mark reminded us that we have a good God who is waiting on us. He calls us to be people of focus, people who walk in the light, people who mark moments on the journey.

I keep thinking about Mark's words that he challenges us with so often: "if you take steps in this direction, you'll end up over here..." The steps we take today determine where we'll be tomorrow. Don't like where your life is heading? Then change direction! Point your feet the other way.

This brings me to where my focus has been this week: we serve a good God, a gracious God who allows us to start again. He allows us to change direction. He allows us to hit the reset button over and over and over. Can you imagine a God who wouldn't allow that? What if He had a max - "you get 3 restarts and then you're disqualified". Not our God! Even when others won't allow us to start over, even when we struggle to allow it in ourselves, the One who made us never runs out of fresh starts for his children.

Wow. A God who not only allows restarts, but cheers us on and embraces us when we do.

Thinking Arithmatic.

From a Ben Arment blog post:

"Once there were two preachers. George Whitefield amazed crowds with his preaching ability, led tons of people to Christ, and died with a great reputation. John Wesley organized his converts into discipleship groups and equipped ordinary farmers to become preachers who carried on the mission long past his death."

Read it yesterday. It's still messing with me. Challenging me.

Was one man right? Was one man wrong? Is it both/and?

Is it Calling? Methodology?

Resources. Time. Energy. Focus.

Where? Where are they best invested for the greatest impact?

Addition. Multiplication.

Thanks for the post, Ben.

Incredible Day.

GCC.
Elkhart Campus.
This morning.
Over 80 stakeholders met at 9:15am for our campus Huddle.
Close to 400 high energy, fully engaged people attended our 10:30am service.
Inspiring worship.
Unreal arts.
Powerful, impacting message.
81 people filled out cards in response to the service.
Five people signed "It Begins Today". They gave their lives to Jesus today.
Incredible Day.

Incredible.

Open Prayer - Impact

I loved it last year. I'm pumped about it this year.

And it starts this Sunday!

Last year over 1500 churches across the globe came together for One Prayer. The purpose is for the church at large to gather as a force, using its collective resources and energies to have a large, sweeping impact. Last year there was impact.

Boy, was there impact.

The resources collected from last year's One Prayer have resulted in 667 new churches being planted in China, Sudan, India, and Cambodia in less than 12 months. Through these new churches, 44,618 people have engaged in Bible Studies, and 7,112 people have been baptized to publicly acknowledge their new faith in Jesus.

That's IMPACT!

This year we're teaming together again, and once again One Prayer will involve some incredible teaching. Here at Granger, we're slated for the following:

• June 7 - Craig Groeschel (LifeChurch)
• June 14 - Mark Beeson
  
• June 21 - Andy Stanley (North Point Community Church)
• June 28 - Stephen Furtick (Elevation Church)

Four gifted teachers. Four impacting weeks.

Join us at the Elkhart Campus this Sunday at 10:30am.

Thank You...

photo from arlingtoncemetary.net

The Place to Be - and One Comes for FREE

Summer is finally here! Ready for some sun and a vacation? Have you considered Granger, Indiana as your next vacation destination? No?!

Hmm. How about considering Granger as a learning destination then?! Join us June 25-26 for top notch training in a variety of areas.

It's easy. Pick one of the following workshops to attend all day. Come for one day or stay for two. Your materials and lunch are included. The experience? It will be packed with real-life examples of what works and what doesn't, with space for questions and interaction. The cost? Just $99 per person, per day.


Thursday, June 25 [9 a.m.-4 p.m.]

- Less Clutter. Less Noise. [How to get the word out.]

- EnterMission [Engaging your people in local and global missions.]

- First Impressions [Keep guests coming back to your church.]

- Kids [Creating safe, fun space for kids to know Jesus.]

- Multi-site Church Practicum [Strategies for launching new campuses.]


Friday, June 26 [9 a.m.-4 p.m.]

- Less Clutter. Less Noise. Day 2 [Extend Day 1 with consulting.]

- Lasting Impressions [Keeping guests growing and engaged.]

- Simply Strategic Volunteers [Finding and keeping great volunteers.]

- Information Technology Practicum [IT best practices, resources and tools.]


I'll be leading the Multi-site Practicum and would love to connect with you!

Oh - and I have a FREE registration to give away. The first person to email me directly (jbell@gccwired.com) and get registered gets an extra registration for FREE! Have a friend, staff leader, or volunteer join you! Sign them up for free in the same workshop OR another workshop of your choice.

All that and rows upon rows of cornfields. Where else would you want to be in June?

I'm Back.

Time to start blogging again. :)

The break has been a good one for me. It's recharged my energy for this medium of communication and influence. It's allowed me to reflect on the why and what of blogging for me.

Three big thoughts as we more forward:

1. I'm in this to give, not get. I don't want this blog to be about self-promotion. I hate those kinds of blogs, they're everywhere. I'll give you what I have, not so I can be known, but so Jesus can be known and life can be shared.

2. This won't just be a bulletin board. I'll continue to keep you posted on what's going on at GCC-Elkhart (and it's going!), but I'll be making a clear shift. The bulk of my posts will be focused on life - living well and leading well. Sharing insights, sharing failures, what Jesus is teaching me, celebrating stories. Life stuff. Leadership stuff. I look forward to that.

3. I want this blog to be OUR blog. I want to interact more. I want to hear from you. Agree or disagree with me, I want to hear your voice. I don't have it all figured out yet, neither do you. But together we can make some big dents.

I hope you'll see this reflected in the journey ahead. I'm also making some other BIG format changes to the blog. In the next couple of weeks we'll role out a whole new layout. So stay tuned!

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Good to be back. Ready to move forward.

Poolside Reading

Still on a blogging break. In fact tomorrow I leave for a real break.

South Florida. Seven days. Sun, sand, palm trees. Just me and my bride.

I plan to read. I plan to rest. I plan to get a tan.

Ahh.

Blogging Break

I haven't been blogged as much over the last few weeks. For the most part all I've posted is announcement info - new service time, program launches, etc. We've just come through a very busy run at GCC-Elkhart. A great run - but a busy one. And I've needed to pull back a little. I feel a need to recalibrate - bring the RPMs down to a healthier, more sustainable pace again.

One area I've decided to pull back in is blogging. Normally I enjoy it, but lately haven't had as much energy for it. I've also felt a need to reduce some of the 'noise' in my life. Being real: I'm often too quick to give priority to the urgent (email, twitter, my blog, read other blogs, news updates, etc.) rather than that which truly grows my heart and character (spiritual disciplines, solitude, reading, etc.). I've sense some 'soul splinters' lately. I want to hear that still, small, drawing voice of Jesus again in a deeper way than I've been hearing lately.

So among other things, I'm taking a few weeks off from blogging. Thanks for following; we'll journey again together soon.