daveferguson.org

Pownce? Anybody Using It?

I'm always interested in new technology.  I'm totally loving Twitter, facebook and blogging. But is anyone using Pownce? And if you are using it; how are you using it?

Truthfulness Makes Life Work!

This series from the book of Proverbs, Making Life Work is one of my favorites in a long time!  The feedback we have been getting from the people of CCC has been outstanding.  This weekend we discussed how Truthfulness Makes Life Work and focused on Proverbs 27:6, "faithful are the wounds of a friend".  I had one person who came up to me after a service who told me that he was going tell "the truth in love" to his dad about a destructive behavior pattern that had gone on for forty years.  I had another person tell me that they were going to have a truth-telling conversation with someone involved in an affair and on the verge of divorce.  That was just a couple of the many conversations I had with people this weekend.  I love how the people of CCC are willing to hear the wisdom of God and then take action on it!  Good stuff.  If you want to watch this message, click HERE.
 

Returning the Gift To A Cub Fan...

After the Sox finished off the Cubs three straight at US Cellular I got in my car and I left this at the door of the Cub fan who brought it to my house last Sunday night.  It turns out that it belonged to him after all!  :)

So, this is for all you Cub fans that e-mailed me; sent me tweets through Twitter and messages through facebook!

Frontline and Typhoon Frank

Our NewThing affiliate church Frontline Worship Center in San Pablo, Phillipines was hit dead on by the Typhoon Frank.  Fortunately, everyone is OK.  I got the following e-mail from Jeff Pessina last night:

Hi Dave, We got hit dead on, with the eye passing directly over us. Not my favorite time of the year. We were up all night at all locations (Children Center, Church, Main Center) trying to save ourselves from total destruction. Well, I mean, trying to keep our tarps and tents from being totally destroyed, and our roofing from flying away. We were climbing all over my trailer at 3am in pitch darkness, and nearly lost the covering, but finally got it tied town. Our kitchen tent did not fare so well. It was totally destroyed. So we are in freak out mode trying to finish up a temporary cooking and eating area.  All in all, this was not a massive hit... unlike Milenyo a couple years ago that really flattened us badly. We have a number of things damaged with some level of financial cost. And the chow-tent cannot be replaced easily since it came from the USA and is quite expensive. But otherwise, as I said, the damage was not as bad as some other storms (for us personally that is), and no one was hurt. So we thank God for that.  Thanks for asking Dave. Will talk with you soon. Bro Jeff

Jeff also gives an update today on his blog with some pics and a post titled, "Frank the Bad Guy."   Good to hear everyone is OK!

Look What A Cub Fan Left At My Door...

I turned off the TV  after suffering through a third consecutive humiliating loss to the Cubs and my door bell rings.  It's late, so I go to the door thinking maybe someone is in trouble or needing help.  I open the door and look what a Cub fan left for me.

Wait till next weekend!

Christianity Sweeping China

The Sunday Chicago Tribune had a fascinating and informative front page story titled, Jesus in China.   The article begins, "Christianity's rapid rise is reshaping the officially atheist nation, it's politics and the way many Chinese view the world..."

One of the reasons that I was so interested in this article is that I'm increasingly convinced that the church in the west must learn from the church in the east.  There is so much growth and innovation happening in places like China, India, South Korea and beyond - we must learn what God is teaching them.  At this next years Exponential Conference we are going to feature leaders from the east in our main sessions so that we can expose leaders from the west to what God is doing in other places around the world.  It's going to be awesome!

If you want more info beyond the article, here are a couple audio slide shows from Chicago Tribune

• Christianity Sweeping China
• Bible Empire Grows in China

You might also want to know that the Public Broadcasting Service and Chicago Tribune are airing a TV special:  Jesus In China on Tuesday, June 24th, 8 pm CST on PBS stations.

She is finding her way back to God...

COMMUNITY has always been about "helping people find their way back to God" so I love it when I hear stories or get e-mails of people telling me of their journey to Jesus.  Here is one from Jami that I just had to share with you:

“The first time entering the CCC Montgomery Campus I could not believe THIS was a church.  The instant energizing vibe hit me as soon as I walked through the glass doors.  The cozy, welcoming foyer area—high tech chalkboard, comforting fireplace, lemonade stand and all!! The bright detailed children’s rooms weren’t anything I ever experienced in a church before.  Even the first service wasn’t comparable to any mass I’d previously attended.  I felt like the guy on the stage was personally speaking to me.  As if he knew my exact lack of faith at that moment…reaching inside to my personal thoughts. That first service I cried more than Cubs fans did when that Steve guy ruined their chance to the World Series!! I actually found myself commuting from my apartment in the city all the way to Aurora a few more times to check this place out.  To this day, just over three months later, the same phenomenon brings me back and the impact is still indescribable.  Now I look forward to weekly services…I actually plan my weekends around them!!  I’ve become so hooked, I am working within Kids City helping out the 1st through 3rd graders with their spiritual path.  Each time a volunteering opportunity presents itself I cannot wait to sign up.  Finding my way back to God has totally allowed me to ditch the despair and loneliness while surrounding me with great people and a greater purpose.  I want to be baptized as an adult to publicly and internally confirm I am one of Jesus’ followers finding my way back to God.”

COMMUNITY Wins "Best of Show" for Video

Simple things can make a big difference

For the last six months my Blackberry has had me moving from meeting to meeting and appointment to appointment faster than ever.  It wasn't so bad that I ever felt it was dangerous; but it definitely was not sustainable.  In was in the middle of this chaos a friend made the following simple suggestion:  "What if instead of having a weekly one-on-one with all your direct reports AND a weekly meeting with your Lead Team...instead do your one-on-ones one week and your Lead Team meeting the next week?"   This simple suggestion will create several extra hours in my schedule and this week I have started implementing this simple suggestion. It will allow me to more fully re-engage with our Big Idea creative team and begin to do some writing that I have been putting off since the end of last year.  Simple things can make a big difference!

I Love Baptisms!

I love baptisms!  We had a whole bunch of people that got baptized this past weekend.  It started on Saturday night I got to see my nephew Graham get baptized at the Yellow Box.  He is a great kid who God has blessed with some amazing gifts and it was very cool to see this young man declare his loyalty to Jesus.  Then on Sunday morning I was at Naperville-Downtown and Rachel Olivares got baptized.  We heard her story of finding her way back to God and you could feel the buzz in room.  I quickly drove back over to the Yellow Box to baptize Laura Pruett, someone I got to know through a tragedy 10 years ago; who then moved away and recently moved back.  That was fun!  And the morning was complete as Chris and her 82 year old  Grandfather were baptized.  82 years old and committing himself to becoming a Christ=Follower!!  Later, I was told this was the answer to 30 years of prayer!  Wow.  I love baptisms!

If You Are Into Running, You'll Like This Link

I really got into running about 10 years ago when a guy in my small group who had run several marathons challenged some of us on staff to train and run the Chicago Marathon.  We did it together and it was one of the real highs of my life.  Since then, I've enjoyed running on a regular basis as a means of exercise, competition and a spiritual discipline of sorts. The pic is of Jon and I running the Park Forest Scenic 10 mile last year. 

If you are into running I have a website that you will really enjoy.  My son Josh who is a terrific runner turned me onto this website where you can set goals for yourself and also track your mileage.  The website is LOGARUN.COM.  I just started using it and it is great for holding me accountable for how many miles I am really running.

I'm posting this for a couple reasons.  First, if you are into running you'll love this link.  Second, if you live in the Chicago area what races are coming up that you recommend?  I'm particularly interested in races that are not on Saturday or Sunday (workdays!)? 

Who Gave My Car A Bumper Sticker?

I finished up speaking at CCC-Montgomery tonight and headed over to the Yellow Box to see my nephew get baptized.  Once in the Yellow Box Nick Plassman comes up to me and says, "Hey, I like your bumper sticker" (chuckle, chuckle).   I say, "What bumper sticker?"  After a few other people check out the new decoration on my sweet '94 Toyota Paseo I go out to look at it out too.  What you see in the above pic was the new addition to the back end of my car.  You are looking at the evidence.  My question is this:  who put it there?  Was it someone from CCC-Montgomery?  Was it someone from the Yellow Box?  Was it Nick?  Who was it?  Together we can solve this case.  Who are the suspects? 

Reading Proverbs and Making Life Work

We are starting a brand new series this weekend Making Life Work.  The whole series we will be teaching from the books of Proverbs. One of the cool things about the book of Proverbs is that it has 31 chapters - one for each day of the month. I have a friend that reads through Proverbs every month and he is truly one of the wisest people I know!  So, this month I'm joining my friend and reading and journaling through the book of Proverbs.  Since today is June 12th, I'm reading Proverbs 12...see how that works?!

Small Groups: the Connection of Community

I have always been in a small group.  Most of the time I have been in more than one small group.  However, it has been a while since I have led a small group.  Last night I got together with my new apprentice leader and we began to lay out the plans for our new group and how we are going to meet over the summer.  It  is exciting for me to think about how God is going to use these relationships that will  develop and these friendships that will mature over the next several months.  Gods simple idea behind the church is that it would be a group of relationships that change each other and change the world.  Small groups are really the connection that makes community happen.

Is Grilling Making a Meal?

OK, it is time to get this settled once and for all.  When a guy cooks out on the grill does he get credit for cooking the meal? 

All Chicago World Series?

What first place team in major league baseball has the biggest lead in their division?  White Sox!  What team has the best record in baseball?  Cubs.  (Of course 1908 was the last time it was this late in the season that the Cubs had this distinction.)  It seems like this might be a special year...maybe even a special October?  Did you know that it has been 35 years since both the White Sox and the Cubs were in first place after June 1st?

I know all this ridiculous optimism could make me sound like a naive Cub fan.  But I like living on the edge, so let me be the first to predict:  The White Sox in 5 games in an all Chicago World Series!

Hybels and Willow Respond to the Buzz

I got an e-mail last night from the Willow Creek Association saying that Bill Hybels had video response to some of the buzz about the them "abandoning the seeker movement" and some of the controversy surrounding the Reveal study.  If you want to see the video click HERE.  Attached is written response; if you want to read it click HERE . 

I will get a chance to see Bill this afternoon and I'm sure it will come up in conversation.  I think most of the misunderstanding is because people forget that Bill is at heart a passionate evangelist and consequently so is the church and association that he leads.  He does what flows out of his God-given gifting and I'm all for that.

Why New Churches Love NewThing

Matt Mahaffey who planted The Pursuit Christian Church at the beginning of the year is one of a growing number of dynamic new churches that are a part of the NewThing Network.  The mission of NewThing is to be a "catalyst for a movement of reproducing churches." In Matt's most recent post he talks about some of the benefits he and his church have enjoyed with their Newthing Connection.

Cutting the Cord: How To Birth a New Small Group

I'm convinced that the secret of every great reproducing church is that before they reproduce campuses or churches or networks they reproduce leaders and small groups.  Here is a great article by CCC's Eric Metcalf titled Cutting the Cord.  The article give some very practical steps for how an existing group can give birth to a brand new group.

Obama or McCain or...?

It looks like we know for sure who the democratic candidate will be and we have known for some time the republican candidate for president.  Despite trying to closely follow the election I'm still not really excited about either candidate. Tim Stevens on twitter put it this way:  "The presidential choices scare me. It's like, 'You want a suppository or a catheter?'" 

So, here is your chance to convince me and a whole bunch of regular readers why one candidate (or perhaps a third??) is better than another.  Comments?