WholeHeartedLife

It's Here

You know, I've never posted on a Sunday morning; i probably never will again. But this morning I feel the need to express some things to God and my readers BEFORE the big day happens:

• Today (6:35 am) is one of the most beautiful sunrises i have ever seen. Lord, You are SO good! You have given us exactly the kind of March morning that we would have hand picked for LAUNCH! day. It's amazing just as YOU are amazing, JESUS.
• I have never been more proud of Hyde Park Church than i was yesterday at the "Rumba on the Lumba"! I don't have time to talk about all of the great things that happened out there (nor do i even know all the great things that happened - because it was you doing the great things). God knows. Many lives were impacted.
• After the Rumba, many people did exciting things behind the scenes to make today an awesome success. I was "privy" to be around - these things will make today better than it would've been without them.
• I hope that you've got people coming today - this new series will be an eye opener. The honesty that will be presented in today's message will CHALLENGE THE COMFORTABLE AND COMFORT THE CHALLENGED - just like JESUS always did. (read the gospels!)
• i am nothing without JESUS...

I'm sure a post will follow tonite. Gotta go get ready. I love You, JESUS. I love you who read. May His Name be famous throughout our region - may we be a part of making that happen.

On the Edge!

Why am i on the edge? Because i have NO IDEA what Sunday's gonna be like; i mean, I know that the music is gonna be "ON", and i know that we have some slammin' ideas for using media that everyone's gonna love. I know that we're gonna be pumped because we're coming off of the "Rumba" (and that should be a great experience - thousands will descend on downtown Lumberton and we will be there too!). But in the end i have no control over who comes or what time or when...

I have been known to have a "problem" with control - over-management and over-involvement. Hey, at least I admit it!

I believe that this whole weekend is going to be great and positive. One of the highlights should be the new series that Pastor is going to be starting Sunday, "High Definition Living". We are preparing some great stuff to go along with this series - definitely something that you're friends, family, co-workers and all will be able to relate to.

Something else you need to know about this series - we are attempting to destroy the myths that many have about the church. Statistics show that most American's have no problem with JESUS - they have a problem with the church. Now I know that for many this is just another excuse to use to explain WHY they don't attend - the truth is that everyone who doesn't attend church is because THEY DON'T WANT TO. Simple as that; I pretty much do everything that I want to do (don't you?). Well, I believe that most people don't want to attend church because they've never been to a passionate church with music that they actually like and a message that faithfully teaches about the Bible and JESUS while helping them to make application to their life -

HYDE PARK IS THAT CHURCH. Hyde Park will continue to strive to be A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHURCH.

So bring your friends - unashamedly. Invite - liberally. Love - extravagantly. Serve - humbly. And pray - fervently. I have to say, not many people have made time to pray over the wall this week - the most important thing that will happen to make LAUNCH! a success is the ferverent prayer of the saints.

Oh, almost forgot to tell you that I went to UNCP's BSU house to speak last night! I love college students and the room was filled with some great young people that could turn that campus upside-down for JESUS! Let's pray together that God will begin something hot in their hearts to reach that campus (and community) with the passionate, contagious love of Christ.

I needed something to remind me this morning - this was it. Love ya'll.

Sunday Nite Comments (on a Monday Morning)...

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1

And so we wait and pray and prepare - because now it's just about here...

6 days from now we will LAUNCH! the new services and Bible Fellowship Group ministries. We've had our last large gathering prior to LAUNCH! - we will have no additonal opportunities to inspire, vision cast and send off.

The time is now.

I feel confident that we have done everything we could possible do to prepare for next Sunday - we've prayed, studied, built leadership, dreamed, prayed, trusted, preached, met, learned, taught (did i mention that we PRAYED!?). We've asked the tough questions - we've challenged each other - We've wondered "What If?" LAUNCH! is and has always been in the hands of JESUS. We have worked as hard as we could and done all that we could because I believe that God gives us the gifts and abilities that He does for the purpose of doing our part but in the end He's the One who orchestrates and blesses.

I am confident in the hands of JESUS.

Yesterday was a great day. I spoke about the fact that YOU ARE A MISSIONARY, that God wants to reach "your world" for JESUS through you. I ended the message by challenging our people to come forward and write the names of people that were on their hearts, those they would love to see come to LAUNCH! next weekend. We constructed a wall (our "Wall of Love") at the front of our auditorium for this purpose and the response was unbelievable! At that invitation hundreds left their seats, grabbed a magic marker and wrote for their friends and loved ones; We have hundreds of names written on the "wall of love". (Hope to get some photos on here of that). Please pray that God will help those who want to reach friends, family, co-workers, etc. - that He will use those people to bring others to Himself. And remember, if you live in our area you are welcome to stop by and pray for the names on the wall anytime during office hours.

I'm excited because...

• I believe that many, many people are praying. I believe that many of them WILL come this week and pray over the names on the wall. Are you praying for this weekend? Turn up the heat - pray like you've never prayed before!
• We are depending on YOU to get those invite tickets and pass them out to anybody and everybody. IF YOU NEED TICKETS PLEASE COME BY THE OFFICE AND GET ALL THAT YOU NEED! Invite everyone you see to Hyde Park this weekend!!!
• Pastor will begin his new series "High Definition Living" and we have some awesome stuff in store - Pray that God will make our ideas/plans come to life.
• Rumba on the Lumber is gonna be a HUGE opportunity for HP - have you made plans to be there?
• I believe that you know that we need every one of you to make LAUNCH! a success. Please, this time, do not assume that someone else is doing what you should do. This is the moment when lives are changed.

And so we wait and pray and prepare - and we do so in faith; not faith in ourselves or faith in the hard work that has happened - faith in JESUS because it's all about JESUS. We want Him to be famous in this region. Pray. Pray hard. Believe. Have faith that He will use us. And buckle your seat belt, because in 6 days, it's ON!

Sunday Nite

Yesterday was a great, great day! It got me pretty pumped to see all the black and white LAUNCH! shirts - as people came on campus it was obvious that there was something going-down. I had multiple people share with me that they had the opportunity to share with people at restaurants JESUS and what LAUNCH! is because they had their t-shirts on. Yea God!!!

We gave a LAUNCH! Challenge yesterday - more on that in a minute...

Our band, singers and choir are just unbelievable. If what they do is not contagious it's because you're closed to what they're serving up. You just have to know them and the heart that they bring in week after week (it is not uncommon for a choir rehearsal to turn into a prayer meeting - not to mention that this group is really the group that keep so many other ministries running strong. Ya'll are definitely the bomb!)

In preparation for LAUNCH! we had our 1st official "First Impression Team" meeting tonight at 6 pm. I asked Laura (Sampson, our coordinator) how many we were gonna have which she couldn't tell me. When the time came they just kept coming and coming - PACKED ROOM! We ended up having at least 85 people show up because they want to make a difference in our guests 1st HP experience. They now understand that we want them to say "WOW!!!" when they leave - and it's all about making their 1st experience go above and beyond anything they've ever expected. Laura hit it out of the park last night - i am very proud of her and feel that (with God's leading) we've made the right choice in this area of ministry.

If you miss any of the next 2 services you're missing it...

• Next weekend is the last of "Desperate Households" and the message is called "Passions: Mature Audiences". Pastor said this morning: "If you're wondering why there's a bed onstage this morningnext week we address an issue most churches will not talk about - we're talking about passion and the three letter word that goes with it. This message is for mature audiences only." He's gonna be talking about sex and what God has to say about it. You've never heard a message like this in this area before so come and invite your friends to check it out. 
• On the 25th we will be preparing to LAUNCH! and we have something very, very special planned - that's all i will say about that right now.

Last, the LAUNCH! Challenge: it was humbling tonight (before our meeting, about 5:40) as a few of us who were there early prayed over all of those committment cards that many of you brought and lay upon the stage during the worship service this morning - you stepped out in faith - regardless of the fact that many around you JUST SAT THERE, denying the fact that God was moving - you filled out your card, got out of your seat and came to the front as a committment to our God. I know that it is hard to do something in front of others and that's why we did it; our goal was to attach meaning to what we're asking you to do and deciding to step out PUBLICLY was the best way to do that. Way to step out - i am so proud of you and promise to pray for you over the next 14 days.

What we are asking for from some of you is a lot - we know that. However, for many, all we are really asking people to do is to pray for LAUNCH! and to positively let people know what's going on. I close this morning with a paraphrased story from Matthew 22... (this just happened to be my daily reading today and I thought that it was so appropriate.)

1-3 Jesus responded by telling still more stories. "God's kingdom," he said, "is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn't come!

4"He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, 'Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!'

5-7"They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.

8-10"Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.

I love parties. (especially the ones that everything is paid for, like the king's in the above story). Why didn't everyone come to the party? Because they didn't want to. Why? Because there was something that was more important to them (like "weeding the garden" and "working" v.5). Others, "because they had nothing better to do (v. 6) beat up the messengers and killed them". (what's the DEAL with that!?! Dude, he's just inviting you to party with him!) The King went on to tell his servants "I've got all this food prepared and no guests, go out and see who you can find to come take advantage of what i'm doing." So they did. Application: LAUNCH! is not about adding new services and classes; LAUNCH! is about regular people, many of who have just attended HP for a long time, deciding it's time to go to another level with God and accepting His invitation to the party.

You comin'?

the LAUNCH! Challenge

This is the challenge that we put out to our church...

I will pray over the next 14 days (Feb. 25th) for God's leadership about the following:

• Moving to another service time for the purpose of reaching new people for JESUS.
• For the success of LAUNCH! that others might be saved
• Invite & share w/ people about our exciting new services.
• About being a part of a new class start at 8:21 or 11:11
• Joining a ministry at Hyde Park
• Committing my life to JESUS
• Being baptized.
• Joining Hyde Park
• Taking the next New Attender’s Class (March 25)

Sunday Morning Conversations

The following happened Sunday morning, February 4th between the time of 7:24 and 7:28.

(Mobile phone rings - mike p talking to himself - something he often does because he truly is losing it!) "Who is that calling? It can't be good - if my phone rings at this time on Sunday morning it's NEVER good news. Regan's not gonna be here today, who's next?" (answers phone) "hello"

"Mike p - this is Todd Moody." (former student minister @ Hyde Park)

Mike - "What's up, Todd?"

Todd - "Nothing man. I just wanted to call you to tell you that i've prayed for you this morning."

Mike - "Thank you, Todd..."

Todd - "And God wanted me to tell you that 'it's gonna be alright'. I don't know what that means, but I know that He wanted me to call you and tell you that."

Mike - "you don't know what you've just said..."

Todd - "No, I really don't. I just felt impressed by the Lord to pray for you this morning as I was driving. When I got finished He said to me, 'now call Him and tell him that i said it's gonna be alright.'"

This morning was the first time I have spoken to Todd in months; he had no idea that we were LAUNCH!(ing) a new service and multiple small group times. He had no idea what "it's gonna be alright." meant, but thank God that he was faithful to deliver the encouraging message.

I explained to Todd that in my prayer time this morning I cried out to God - LITERALLY! I'd be lying if I didn't admit that LAUNCH! is the scariest endeavor that i've ever been a part of. I know that if God doesn't move we will fail - we can't make this happen; we can't make you make the necessary adjustments to make sure that this is a great success; we can't make you choose to be "stretched by God" and be a part of a new class start-up for the sake of connecting the hundreds of unconnected attendees at HP; we can't make you actually get involved in some sort of on-campus ministry to ensure that our guest have an unbelievable 1st time experience; we can't make unchurched, de-churched, lost people come to see what's happening at Hyde Park - HECK, WE CAN'T EVEN MAKE THEM BELIEVE THAT THEY REALLY NEED JESUS! Friends, that is scary because it matters so much.

I cried out because I KNOW that we have to do this - if we don't we are "giving up" on our community. We have to provide more opportunities to reach more people - that's why God has placed us here - to reach those who do not know Him, those who are lost, those who are hurting, those who need forgiveness for their sin. It is not our job to judge them, it's our job to find, reach, love and offer the free gift of regeneration (salvation) that comes only through repentence and a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST.

So as I cried out, I lay my burdens at His feet and basically said, "God, if YOU don't show up and make this happen we will fail. We need you not so we (HP) can be successful but because thousands of souls (real people who WILL face God when they leave this world) are dependent upon it."

Do I believe that God was speaking through Todd? Yes. Hopeful thinking? No, I don't think so. Why? Because God can, has and will use anybody and anything to communicate the necessary message (Ever read the story of God speaking through a donkey? Read it here.) I needed a word of encouragement and it came through someone whom I KNOW talks to and listens to JESUS.

There are 2 morals to this story:

1. When God lays someone or something on your heart, do something about it (the devil will never inspire you to encourage someone - unless of course it's to encourage them to sin...) So make that phone call, visit and give that encouraging word. And never be afraid to pray for someone right then, "on-the-spot"; praying with someone is one of the most compassionate, encouraging things you can ever do.
2. Don't call me before 8 am on Sunday morning. (it's always bad news - that's a joke - LAUGH!)

Please read yesterday's post if you haven't already (you gotta get one of those cool shirts - i want the whole campus to be black and white by LAUNCH! day). Big "shout-out" to my main man, JD, kickin'-it in Wyoming! Live 4 JESUS everyone!

Monday Ramblings...

So did you order your cool LAUNCH! tshirt yesterday? Hopefully you did because next weekend i want our whole campus to be black & white. When people visit over the next 3 weeks I WANT THEM TO KNOW:

1. that there is something important going on at Hyde Park
2. it's called LAUNCH!
3. that they better figure out what it's all about because they're missing out (and they want one of those cool tshirts!)

I'm pumped because i just came out of a smokin' staff meeting and just got some unbelievable ideas for LAUNCH! Ya'll are not gonna believe all that we've got in store for you over the next few weeks. DO NOT MISS A SUNDAY or you will definitely miss out on some excellent stuff.

Pastor's "DESPERATE HOUSEHOLDS" message series has been great - probably one of the best series of the past year. If you have missed any of these messages you can pick up a copy of the CD at GUEST SERVICES for $3 (that's a bargain - you can listen again and pass it on to a friend).

Everyone who is interested in finding a place to serve at HP can do so this Sunday night in the ROC Cafe' for the F.I.T. (First Impression Team) meeting. Not familiar with F.I.T.? Read about it here.

Yesterday was a great day - Worship was hot - I had some great fellowship with friends (thanx Tim) - and the Colts won. (but the commercials were not as good as in the past - did you see the one with the men dancing to "It's Gettin' Hot in here!"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT1_4Oe-rw0 that was pretty funny and definitely got our attention.)

I hope you have a HUGE week for Jesus. If you want to order one of them thar shirts, shoot me an email - we'll try to get it by Sunday.

"Worship on the 1's"

Our pastor blew my mind yesterday. He and I had been discussing our worship schedule times very frequently because it is on of the most pressing issues of LAUNCH! We know that we're gonna be pressed to do a lot in a short period of time and we want to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible (so it won't be a distraction to you and those you bring!)

We were thinking about tweaking the schedule by pushing the 1st service back < by a few minutes and the last service forward > by a few minutes to make sure the parking lot transition happened. Then yesterday, he walks in and says: "I know what we need to do about the worship times."

I'm like, "this sounds good - I see the smile on your face. What do you have?"

"We're gonna do Worship on the 1's." he replies. And I am blown away!

All I can do is smile because my pastor continues to suprise and stretch me with innovative ideas. I love it!

The new worship schedule (as of 03.04.07) will be:  8:21am - 9:51am - 11:11am. Way to go, Pastor!

Here is a great post about the coaches this weekend standing for JESUS. This Sunday night we will have service at 5:30 so those of you who wanna see the commercials game can. (If you were wondering - go Colts!)

By the way - 32 DAYS TO LAUNCH!

Hands and Feet

May the Spirit displayed in this great song infect us with purpose and passion - in Jesus' Name!

Join us Sunday nite @ 6pm as I'll be sharing & updating everyone about the great progress being made on LAUNCH! In this exciting meeting we'll be talking extensively about:

• "BFG's" (bible fellowship groups), new classes, existing classes,
• "F.I.T. Ministry" (first impressions team),
• The New 9:45 Worship Experience
• The "Rumba on the Lumba" (March 3rd, 10am - 3"ish") and how it works into LAUNCH!
• VeggieKonnection - Our new Weekly Pre-Schoolers Service featuring the VeggieTales.
• And whatever else is important to LAUNCH! I'll do my best to make it all "crystal" clear for you. This will be in an informal format, so if you want to ask questions or even request clarification that would be even better (no doubt, whatever questions you have may be the same as someone else!).

The purpose of this evening inspiration, invitation and clarification. Make sure everyone (that means all that you have influence over - SS/Small group leaders please tell your classes) knows that they should attend.