Halftime

Greg Murtha, Lloyd Reeb and Steve Jenkins

Greg Murtha and Lloyd Reeb arrived today. Our Ignite team had dinner with them this evening and interacted with them regarding halftime issues. We talked about how men and women approach halftime differently, what marketplace leaders need from the church, and how to integrate halftime leaders into a church context.

I'm looking forward to our Halftime Conference on Friday and Saturday. It will be exciting to see how the Spirit of God leads people into creative and innovative ministry in the weeks and months ahead. There is no limit to what God can accomplish through a community of people who dare to dream His dreams.

It's Hard to Believe

Lloyd Reeb

It's hard to believe! That's a common phrase for those of us in halftime.

• It's hard to believe that our children have left home.
• It's hard to believe that our children have completed college and haven't left home!
• It's hard to believe that I'm this old.
• It's hard to believe that we've lived here this long.

For me, it's hard to believe that our Ignite Halftime Conference with our special speaker, Lloyd Reeb, is this coming weekend! Wow, this has gone from a vision to a full-blown event in a years time. We have over 120 already registered for Friday evening and over 100 registered for Saturday!

And of course, as good as the Conference will be, an event like this merely surfaces the issues that need to be addressed. For this reason, we will be offering several ten week, Ignite Halftime small groups for further study and application.

Over the next ten years we're going to see an increasing number of people begin to invest their resources and lives for the sake of the kingdom. What kind of impact can our Halftimers have on Cedar Rapids and the world? It's hard to imagine!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

We Are Family

Membership Weekend

We had another great Membership Class this weekend with 47 people in attendance. You can click on the above picture to see a slideshow of our time together.

The family is one of my favorite metaphors regarding the church. Have you noticed that nobody asks your opinion regarding who gets admitted into your family? You enter a family through birth, marriage or adoption. So too in the family of God, everyone who has placed their faith in Christ is admitted into God's family, the church. A healthy church welcomes newcomers and values and affirms each member.

In a healthy family, everyone has an age appropriate responsibility. So too in the family of God. The body grows and builds itself up in love as each member does its part.

New Covenant is a family of growing disciples. We are committed to growing great lives. We are family.

It Takes A Team

Mike, Tye, Mark, Kim and Brian

It's been a good morning. I've started a once-a-month group called A Bagel and A Book. We had the first meeting this morning at Panera to discuss the book, The Wisdom of Teams. I love learning together in community, so times like this morning are energizing for me.

The premise of the book is that organizations and groups of people are more effective when they work together as a team. A team is defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

And though the Bible does not use the word team, the concept of teamwork is reflected throughout Scripture. The Trinity, the 12 disciples, Paul's missionary teams, the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ and many more examples show us the importance of working with others in order to accomplish our mission.

So why is true teamwork so rare? Because working effectively as a team requires humility. Teamwork by it's very nature means that I need others, that I can't accomplish my performance goals by myself, that others can do something better than me and add value to my life, that I don't have all the answers, and that I can't and don't control everything. Teamwork requires commitment and trust and a compelling vision and goal.

This coming year, I'm committed to becoming a better team member, a better team leader and a better servant leader. It's a joy to do this together with people you love and trust - my family, our church staff, the many wonderful ministry leaders and members in our New Covenant church family. It takes a family to raise a child; it takes a team to lead a church.

Forgiven

Gerry McNamara

The boys were celebrat'n at the Pagel house this weekend. It's official, we're suffering from Orange Fever! Syracuse University won the Big East Conference basketball tournament on Saturday, securing an NCAA tournament bid. It was an improbable feat, one that no one expected. Consider these facts:

• The Big East is the toughest conference in the country.
• Syracuse had lost their last three games coming into the tournament, including getting beat by DePaul (a team that didn't even make the Big East tournament) by 39 points! By the way, Jason went to that game in Chicago and saw Jim Boeheim's worst defeat ever!
• It was generally accepted, even by Coach Boeheim, that Syracuse had played themselves out of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
• Syracuse had to play the University of Connecticut in the second round. UConn just happens to be the #1 team in the nation and had already beaten Syracuse twice during the regular season.
• No team had ever won the conference tournament without receiving a first round bye. Syracuse became the first team to win four games.
• Syracuse could have easily lost all four games. Come from behind victories and three point shots at the buzzer made for heart-stopping drama.
• Just days before the tournament, Gerry McNamara, the senior team leader, was criticized for being over-rated. Even the Syracuse Herald newspaper joined in the criticism. All Gerry did to answer his critics was to hit a tournament record 16 three point shots, win three games at the buzzer, and be named tournament MVP!
• Syracuse went from being out of the tournament to a number 5 seed in just four short days.

You have to love the underdog. And you can't help feel their joy when they come out of no where to exceed everyone's expectations. That's what's so thrilling about March Madness. In one brief moment in time, an improbable hero is born and an unlikely victor is crowned. For a short moment in time, the tears of victory erase all the memories of the past. In one moment in time, all can be forgiven.

God With Us

What an incredible day of worship! Pastor Gary, and our orchestra and choir were awesome. And Pastor Bob led us in a wonderful time of prayer as people gathered around those who had prayer needs.

Our theme today was God With Us. And we sensed His presence among us as we lifted up our voices in worship.

As I stood in the back of the worship center this evening, I was filled with a tremendous sense of gratitude and awe. I was overwhelmed with the goodness of God and the way He has so graciously provided for me and my family. And I was grateful to be able to serve in a church that understands grace, honors God's Word and loves people. As a church family, it was a time to experience God with us.

Shamrock Around The Clock

Who are these people and what are they doing? It's scary when you begin to meet people at church that make Bernice look normal! With all the green they are wearing I guess they must be associated with Shamrock Around The Clock.

Shamrock is our Sr. High Youth Group's St. Patricks Scavenger Hunt. This year's event is Friday, March 17. There are a lot of opportunities to help out with this outreach. Elves, drivers, gophers, chaperones, and green food preparers are all needed!

Contact Pastor Mark Forstrom if you would like to volunteer. And by the way, if you see Bernice and her two wacky friends around the church, tell them about Shamrock Around The Clock.

Hall of Shame

Bonds

Buster Olney from ESPN has written a column about Barry Bonds that's a must read. Buster writes about a Cooperstown induction speech that could have been, should have been, but won't be given. Barry may someday be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame, but his reputation and itegrity have been tarnished. Here is some of what Buster imagines the induction speech could have sounded like.

"Sure, the end of his career got a little ugly, as it did for the rest of us. Barry's knees were killing him, but he played through it, for the last five years of his career. He wasn't hitting 70 homers, like some of his peers, but he played the game with the highest possible integrity. Those 25 homers he hit in his last year, in 2004, we can take those to the bank. We can take everything he accomplished at face value."

"He didn't finish his career with as many homers as Henry Aaron, or Babe Ruth, or myself, or Frank Robinson. But Barry was the best player of his generation -- one of the greatest of all time."

The crowd cheers loudly.

"In recent years, you have seen a lot of the stage behind me empty, and you know why. A lot of the Hall of Famers won't come when they presume that the inductees put something in their bodies that wasn't supposed to be there. But now look behind us. The stage is packed. Look, we all know Barry has been a bit prickly from time to time. But we all know the choices Barry faced, and the choices Barry made, and because of that, there is no player from his era more respected."

"With that, I want to introduce to you my godson, Barry Bonds."

There are cheers, and as Bonds rises from his chair, the Hall of Famers behind Bonds rise, as well, and clap.

It behooves us all to pause from time to time to reflect on how we want our lives to end. To reflect on how we want people to remember us. When a person lives a life of integrity, at the end of their life, people don't have to lie about what they say about them.

The choices we make today shape our future. What kind of life are you building? What kind of heritage do you want to leave behind? I long to hear the words, "Well done my good and faithful servant." And I long for my family to remember me as one who was faithful to Christ in my generation - one of the greatest men of all time.

A Spiritual Journey

Mike Buster

It's been a busy 2 1/2 days. We've had the priviledge of having Mike Buster at New Covenant to talk to our staff, elders, and deacons about church relocation and construction issues. Mike is the Executive Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church where he has served for the past 15 years.

Bob and I met Mike on our trip to Dallas last month. Mike graciously met with us during the middle of his busy day to help us learn more about church construction. We were so impressed with Mike that we recommended bringing him to New Covenant to talk to our leadership team. Mike has overseen 10 building programs during the past 13 years and has learned how to bring a building project in on budget, on time and on target. Mike also oversaw Pestonwood's relocation to their present site in 1999.

During the past three days Mike has talked with us about staffing, construction, relocation, and member assimilation issues. I especially enjoyed his presentation titled, Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Relocating. Mistake #1 is Making The Relocation Process A Secular Journey. Mike warned us that we can expect spiritual warfare and opposition. This is not about building a new church, but a spiritual journey that can transform lives. He encouraged us to enjoy the journey and to make prayer a priority.

We appreciated all that Mike shared with us, but we were the most impressed with his servant heart. In retrospect, we overbooked Mike's schedule. He was exhausted by the end of his last presentation tonight, but he passed every test with flying colors.

I will pick Mike up at Bob's tomorrow morning at 4:45 AM so he can catch his 6:00 AM flight back to Dallas. Our time together has come to a close .... but our spiritual journey has just begun.

Love Goes To The Wall

Today was a memorable day. Today was the day that we transferred the names from our book marks to the cityscape murals. It was an awesome sight to watch people get up out of their seats and go to one of the eight murals in the worship center to write the names of people God has laid on their hearts. Literally hundreds, if not several thousand names were written on the walls around the worship center. You can click on the above picture to see a short slideshow of the day.

It's awesome to think of the impact that we can have on our community through prayer, care and share. At least 31 churches around the city joined together today to go to the wall for those without Christ.

As we gathered around the communion table today, we remembered God's love that went to the cross for us. And we asked God to help us model that kind of love to those around us. Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love goes to the wall.

Happy 50th!

Happy Birthday Bob

Pastor Bob turns 50 this week. Leesa surprised him with a slideshow set to the music "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" and then a birthday cake during lunch at Lindale Mall. It was all Bob could do to blow out all 50 candles! You can see a short slideshow by clicking on the above picture.

Birthdays are reminders that time doesn't stand still. Our lives are gifts from God, full of promise and potential. What God gives us is an expression of His grace. What we do with it is an expression of our thankfulness.

Happy 50th. You're a good man, Bob Westfall.

Dare to Dream

J-Mac

By now you may have already heard of Jason McElwain, the 17 year-old student manager of the Greece Athena varsity basketball team outside of Rochester, New York. The story begins in a very familiar way. Jason who is too short at 5' 6", doesn't make the JV roster and becomes the student manager of the varsity boys team. Jason works hard and becomes a valued and respected part of the team. In three years as student manager he only missed one game. So far so good, nothing too unusual yet.

That is until February 15, 2006; Senior Night and the last home game of the year for Greece Athena. Coach Johnson told J-Mac that he would try to get him in the game, but couldn't promise him anything. And then with 4 minutes and 19 seconds left in the game and Greece Athena up by 20, Coach Johnson called J-Mac's number.

259 seconds later Jason had become the game's leading scorer, set a new school record for the most 3 point baskets made in a game and was carried off the floor on the shoulders of his team mates. Oh, and did I mention that Jason is autistic and this was the only varsity game he ever played? Don't believe it? Use this link and push the play button on the video to see for yourself.

This has to be the feel-good story of the year. It reminds us again that everyone, regardless of their disability or talent level, can make a valued contribution. That a community of people working together for a common purpose can transcend individual accomplishment. That great things sometimes happen to those who persevere and attend to the "small things". And that sometimes with some some help from our friends, dreams do come true.

What we all want in life is a shot. But what we do with it, that's a story we all want to tell. Jason took his, and now it's a story we can all tell. So, what's your story? Let's dare to dream!

Out of Touch

Out of Touch

An article in The Gazette today focused on the controversary over the TouchPlay gambling machines. According to The Gazette there are 140 TouchPlay machines in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Marion. 90 of the machines are in neighborhoods whose median household incomes are $40,000 or less annually.

Over 4000 machines have been installed around the state and another 5000 are on the way. The Iowa Lottery Commission today announced that the TouchPlay machines have brought in $212 million over the past eight months. The state estimates that 88% of Iowans gamble. TouchPlay gambling at every corner gas station and convenience store is not what our state is about. It's time to say no to neighborhood lottery machines!

A House committee on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban TouchPlay machines and give owners 30 days to shut down thousands of the games statewide. "My constituents have overwhelming said 'get these things out of here,"' said Rep. Sandy Greiner, R-Keota. "They really resent taking their children into a grocery store or convenience store and having these machines all over."

Kudos to Sandy! I want to add my voice to those who say enough is enough. Let the governor and state representatives know that when it comes to TouchPlay, they are out of touch!