This week has been full with many good things going on.  Let me share with you some of those good things:

- This coming Sunday at 12:20pm we will be having our Baptism Service at Cary Christian Church.  Right now we have four people who have made decisions to follow Jesus Christ and express that in baptism.  I’m still praying for more.

- I like to quantify our effectiveness at realHope all the time.  But in the ministry that is sometimes very difficult and subjective.  Numbers only tell one part of the story.  But if we put numbers to it, currently we have a 5:1 ratio for conversion/baptisms.  National church experts will tell you that a church that as a 20:1 ratio or less is healthy.  So I guess in that aspect we are one dynamic and growing church!  But, we don’t really have to but numbers around that to see what God is really up too.

- We’ve updated our website with some new features! First you can now share your story with us on what your hope is and how do you give it out to people.  Did you help someone at the grocery store today?  Did you give hope to a coworker?  We want to hear your story and share your story wit h others.  Simply click the ‘Your Story’ button and submit it.  Once its approved it will be online for others to read.  Let’s see how many stories of real Hope we can find!

Also, you can now donate online! If you currently go to realHope or you are far away but have wanted to support our passion to share real Hope with others, we’ve made it real simple online.  Just click the ‘Donate’ button and it will walk you through the steps.  It is done through Google Checkout a safe and secure way to donate.  You will get a receipt for your records, but we will still send one as well.

Speaking of websites, we are actually raising funds for our new develop website. Our current one has been great but doesn’t give the complete feel of our culture and message we want to send out.  We are raising $3000 to replace our old one.  A matter of fact our new one is pretty much complete just lacks the funds to go live.  Here’s a sneak peak of the new look:

- We’ve added some new social media networks and hope you’ll join them! We moved over to a Fan page in Facebook to allow us to communicate better and we’ve got a Twitter account too!  So follow us either one or both so you don’t miss out!

- Our Think.Orange. series concludes this Sunday with Think. Incarnational. Each of these messages have been great reminding us as a church what we are to be about.  This week message really knits together the missional and relational part of life so that we may really live as the church.  All of this has been building up to our 212 Summit weekend Nov 6 & 7.

- We have four relational groups for  people of all ages to be a part in. They continue to grow and go strong.  Tuesday’s group @ 7pm is working thru Acts, Wednesday’s group @ 7pm is working thru Romans, realQuay student’s have a group meeting on Tuesday’s @ 7pm on financial management, & Cafe Mom meets on Friday’s @ 10am.  62% of our church is involved in a relational group and I’m praying more will take that next step to get real with God & others.

So wow!  That’s just this week!  Next weekend on Saturday 10/31 we have our big Trick OR Treat Fall Bash 09 along with Fuquay’s Day In Downtown event.  There will be food, games, and a whole lot of fall fun taking place.  If you are in the Quay stop by and say ‘Hi.’   And as always we hope to see you this Sunday @ 10:30am!

No matter how my week is going – up, down, sideways, this group has a way of bringing me back to what is most important.  My relationship with God and others. 

We’ve started a new sermon series called Think Orange (there’s a popular book that just came out with this idea and with realHope’s colors being orange we’ve adapted the idea around our strategy) and last week was on think. missional.  This week we will focus on think. relational.

I’m always encouraged by people taking the next step at realHope to get real with God and others and I believe there is no better place than in a smaller group where you can build authentic relationships.

I know some would say that being real with others is not possible.  But I am on a relentless pursuit to have the church be such a place.  It’s the realization that no perfect people exist and grace must abound.  It’s the willingness to be open and trust one another.  Sitting in my relational group tonight and meeting with couples making courageous decisions in their lives this week I realized how fragile our relationships are. We need each other to care for one another beyond measure.  This means thinking outside myself and my needs.

I’m not a pro at this yet but I hope some day I will be.  I pray realHope will be such a place, where we really embrace loving one another without condition and experience being real with one another.  Do you experience relational realness with other Christ-followers?  Do you have a story how being a part of a small group as change your life?  I would love to hear your story as I prepare for this weeks message.

Today you could have read the stress all over me.  Today I was ready to quit, hang it all up, say it’s been a good run, at least I tried it, right?  I mean not many people can say they’ve done what I’ve done.  Not that I’ve done any of this just to prove something.  I really believe in what God has called not just me to but us to, those who call realHope their church.

I’ve been trying to figure out the next steps but just can’t seem to figure out what God is up too.  I’m back working some hours at the hotel, trying to work up some other income with a friend, Christie is looking at options, and yet it never seems like enough.  This is the greatest challenge in bi-vocational ministry I think, but I don’t know many non-profits or churches who are not feeling the lack of resources and the more needs.  So I was honest tonight in our relational group that we had not paid rent, offerings were low, and I was stressed with my own finances and the church’s.  So we prayed that God would provide and we’d leave it to Him.

Jenn, our financial secretary was hosting the group and at the end of prayer said, ‘Oh yeah, a support check came in today, do you want it?’  I said yes, I’ll go ahead and deposit it, every bit helps.’  She said who it was from so I was not surprised that it had arrived.  She went to open it up and said, ‘Oh there’s two checks.’  I was perplexed by that (uh, as if we just hadn’t prayed about the whole thing) and as we looked at it we realized a sacrificial gift was being made. Jenn and my mouths drop open in amazement.  Our group was standing around us just watching us wondering what was going on.   We looked up and I said, ‘This is how God works.  We just got a $1,000 check in the mail.’  Everyone was astonished.

I normally don’t know what anyone gives, but I sent off a thank you note tonight not just for the gift, but for the Kingdom impact that was made.

I don’t know if realHope will every reach the thousands, (I dream it will) but this I do know, life change was experienced in our church tonight and I have a new understanding of how the psalmist puts it..”the heavens declare the glory of God.”  Something of wonder and awe took place tonight through people who choose to give and Kingdom, life-changing impact happen and I believe the heavens declared glory.

It’s crazy isn’t?  That the stuff we read in Acts still happens today with us!

I read tonight a great interview in the Leadership Journal with Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, TX.  While I’m not reformed and follow strongly in the restoration movement I am impressed with those who teach and preach the Gospel without hindrance.  Fact is they are doing a whole lot more for the kingdom of God in Raleigh, NC than most of our NT Restoration Christian Churches (whoops! I said it.)  This is the very reason I have been so passionate about planting a NT Restoration Church in the area because we are way behind in making the Kingdom impact we should be making.  For us to reach the 1.2 million people who live in the Triangle it will take more Christian Church plants and partnering with those already making an impact such as those in the reformed movement.

Leadership Journal asked,

“The New Reformed movement is sometimes seen as a belligerent group. Do you think that perception is accurate?”

I’m unapologetically Reformed, but nine times out of ten I cannot stand the Reformed community. I don’t want to be around them. I don’t want to read their blogs. They can be cannibalistic, self-indulgent, non-missional, and angry. It’s silly and sad at the same time. Reformed doctrine should lead to a deep sense of humility and patience with others. How it produces such arrogance baffles me.

New Calvinism is a young movement, and young people are often arrogant. Life hasn’t had a chance to beat the trash out of them yet. I’ll tell the young people in my sermons, “You can’t get into theological battles while you still live with your mom.” Or, “You can nail your 95 theses to the door once you own one.” Before these 20 year olds begin passionately defending their view of Scripture, I want to see that they are being obedient to it.

I appreciate Matt’s comments as I feel that tension, but would not limit it just to the reformed movement, but to a theological culture (to best term it).  While I appreciate deep and thoughtful theological dialogue and feel the church should see its importance, it seems with so many pastors that  its a race for the next coolest deep thought or proving ground or rite of passage – rather than just serving with humility with the gifts God has given you and to the people He has called you too serve.  Unfortunately, I would have to confess I’ve bullied my own doctrine, trying  just  to prove I was capable, only to realize that I was really turning off the very people I was trying to influence.

Another question asked, that only reaffirms our strategy at realHope to develop partnerships and not programs:

Looking to the future, what challenges are ahead for The Village Church?

As we’ve gotten bigger, I hear a lot of people saying, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we … ” That always worries me, because what usually follows is something that will make things easier for people inside the church. And before you know it, we’re focused inward rather than outward.

Can you give an example?

Sure. Some people think it would be cool if we had a coffee shop. But I don’t want people getting their lattes here. I want them getting their lattes at the four Starbucks in our area so they can get to know the baristas and invite them into our body. I don’t want our church doing basketball tournaments for lost people. Lifetime and LA Fitness already have basketball tournaments filled with lost people. I want our guys playing in those games. We are trying hard to keep the church lean, stripped down, very program-light. There are no frills.

We noticed that’s true about your building too.

Our building is ridiculous. It’s a nightmare getting in and out on Sunday. It can take 40 minutes. I love that. I hope we never solve that problem because everything teaches. Church buildings teach people. I don’t think you can proclaim a great mission about being in the world, and then create a building that keeps people out of the world all week. I’m not against the attractional model, it’s just not what we’ve been called to.

realHope is in one of the most unique buildings it will probably ever find itself in its life.  I hope we realize its full potential to bring the world into it, teach them, and send them back out to live the missional life.

This morning before I even awoke I could feel the migraine headache lurking.  I needed to put the last minute touches on my sermon so I had gotten up earlier.  The shower only reminded me of the warm comfort the bed brings.  I made it downstairs only to stare at the blurry computer screen.  Then slowly forcing myself to take medicine on an upset and empty stomach.  I laid on the couch for another thirty minutes hoping it would all go away.  Again, back to the sermon, trying to make sense of what was before me.  Then on my knees in the living room, my face buried into the chair asking and pleading with God to take it all away.

I had things to accomplish today.  I had to preach the Gospel today.  I had to announce and push relational groups.  I needed to encourage those who were taking next steps serving.  I needed to make sure the environment was right.  I needed to wake up Luke.  I needed to do so much.  But all that came was my pounding head.

At 9 am I made the call and went back to bed.  Into my deep coma like state until I would emerge without the headache but feeling like I’d been hit by a truck (which I do actually know how that feels).

Truthfully, I get angry when this happens.  I’m frustrated that I can’t do it all.  I’m frustrated that I get messed up enough to think that I have to do it all.  That without me, it won’t happen.  This of course is the goodness of a migraine.  While it hurts, it makes me stop.  Stop and rest.  Stop.  Sleep.  Realize that the important things still get done.  I run at one speed and most times I operate well at that speed, even enjoy it.  But these migraines that sneak their way in my life point out that not even Superman can stay at one speed.

So I sit here tonight after fighting with Christie (yes, even we fight) over…well, I’m not sure either one of us really know what its over.  But I sit here tonight tired.  Tired of pinching pennies, tired of thinking of working at the hotel again, tired of waiting for extra jobs to happen, tired of filing for unemployment, tired of working unpaid at church, tired of not being able to quantify what is happening at church, tired of my backyard looking like a war zone, tired of the ugly rug we have downstairs, tired of the fence being broken, tired of the van needing tires, tired of being positive, tired of explaining myself, tired of holding people’s hands, tired of feeling like I can’t get anything right, tired of money at church, tired of lack of resources – I just feel done tonight.

I keep waiting and praying for God to do something great – to make the church have explosive growth, to provide the resources we need, to do something.  And I get a migraine.  A head pounding sick to your stomach migraine.  And maybe its what I needed to make me stop and realize that I’m not in control, that this is not my dream, but it is all God’s.

Will I publish this?  Yes, as is.  Because reader, I want you to understand that I’m real too.  It’s what I preach, its what I live.  I want you to know that I am more blessed than most church planters because things are sometimes so hard.  That I am bless that I have a wife who will make me better and support me and hang in with me to the very last.  That I am blessed to have a church family like realHope that loves each other and loves Jesus.  We all have our migraine days, even me, and maybe they are a source of good…if it makes us stop and finally focus that God is still in the picture and working.

I’m excited this week as we move from our large gathering events into smaller relational groups.  These groups are designed for us to relate to one another and to God.  Without them I really don’t know how we would expect to get real with others.  I hope if you have been coming to realHope that you will take the risk and jump into one of these groups.

What’s even greater is how these groups are laying out.  All the groups have a wide demographic of singles, couples, young, and a mix of generations.  When we set out planning for relational groups this fall two important things came back from our survey.  One, we needed to offer more groups throughout the week, and second, people were looking for deeper study into the weekend’s message or deeper study in the Bible.  So we have set out to make this happen.  Here’s the run down on the group’s:

Tuesday’s Group – Leader: Tim Tudor

Wednesday’s Group – Leader: Jeremy Tudor & Greg Bagley

Friday’s Group – Mom’s Cafe – Leader: Christie Tudor

Women’s Group – TBD – Leader: Blynn Linithicum

realLoser’s (a weight-loss support group) – TBD – Leader: Jenn DeVarnne

If you are new, or been coming for awhile, relational group’s are a great ‘next step’ in getting real with yourself, with others, and with God.  Take time on Sunday to sign up in the Hospitality Suite and a leader will be in contact with you this week.  As we have been saying around realHope this fall, we get to not because we have to, but because we get to.  I hope you will want to get in one of these groups!

Today was a good day especially since last Sunday seemed straight out of the Twilight Zone series dealing with power outages, blown fuses (the life with an old house), a sick infant, no air conditioning, and hours at the hospital.  It was nice to have things running semi-normal again.  I don’t want to say normal because God always seems to be up to something that keeps things exciting.

It was awesome to have Bev play the drums this morning.  She did an awesome job!  Kate taught for the first time in realKidz and we had all boys!  Talk about jumping all the way in.  She reassured me that she would teach again.  I think everyone in the realKidz ministry is really excited about starting our new programming in September.  There is a lot of work still ahead of us during the month of August to get everything ready but it will be all worth it in the end.

I preached today on a church anybody can come reminding us about the church we are striving to be, a place where you can come as you are and no perfect people are allowed.  As we continue to grow I can’t help but be excited about the days ahead and what God is going to do with us a church and the people He keeps bringing.

I also announced today that I applied for my clergy id badge for the hospital in hopes that this would stop people from going to the hospital.  It always seems to happen that way.  I have been to the hospital more this season than any other time in ministry.  Greg Bagley, one our leaders, suffered a heart attack this last week and will have triple bypass surgery on Tuesday.  His spirits are really good and he would rather be out of the hospital then stuck in the bed.  I just thank God for his protection over him and his family.  He is a great deal of strength, wisdom, and encouragement personally and to our entire church.  Even in this crisis it is great to see the church family reach out and love one another.

I have the next two weeks off of preaching so I can spend sometime planning and working on some of our strategies.  Please pray that this time for me will be productive and also restful.  This next weekend Christie and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage, and that is unbelievable!  I love her so much and could not accomplish the ministry that I do without her!

Well, start of a great week ahead…stay missional!

realHope Rick is back with new realHope fall promos.   And despite some disappointed fans at a recent event – upset over his time recovery in the backroom from falling at the real spring fling – realHope rick is keeping his cool.

“It’s sometimes nice to be missed – its lets you know people care,” he tells realHope staff. The once forgotten warehouse mannequin tackled readers’ questions about his life before church, now in church, and his plans for this fall.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?

realHope rick: In my career there’s many things I’ve won, and many things I’ve achieved.  I’ve been in a lot of store windows but that was always about the show.  Now my greatest achievement is being in a church community where I can be missional and really make a difference. It’s about being who you are, I’m a good mannequin, and sharing that with a connected family as much as possible.

• I want to know how you came up with your name.

realHope rick: Well the first part was easy, realHope.  I love realHope church and I wanted people to know what I was all about.  And rick well, it started with ‘r’ and just sounded like a real ordinary name.  And I’m ordinary like everyone else just contributing my part to a healthy community.  And I just liked it.

• How do you get pumped up before services at realHope?

realHope rick: I’m not a player who has to be notice all the time. I’m very laid back and try to stay out of the way so that God can work through me. I try to go into every Sunday with as much prayer as possible and I like to listen to music.  I’m really loving the band Lifehouse right now.

• What is a typical Sunday for you?

realHope rick: Our lead guy, Jeremy gets to church between 9 am – 9:30 am along with the worship band.  He gets the lights on, checks the environment, says hello to everyone, a real friendly guy who just makes you feel at home.  Around 9:45 am he comes and gets me from the back.  We do any wardrobe changes then and I get into position.  I’m a real team player so I’ve been in a lot of team positions – served on the First Impressions team welcoming everyone, model for the preaching team, work in videos with the creative arts team.  Really where ever they need me on Sundays, I’m there!

• What’s the secret to making all this work?

realHope rick: You have to have fun together and you have to remember its about people.  So many churches get stuck on numbers or the cool factor.  Around here we just try to stay real and have fun as we journey together in getting to know God more.

• What do you plan on doing whenever you retire from this gig?

realHope rick: I don’t plan on retiring.  Lead Minister Jeremy and I have lately been having some theological discussions about my life after this, but right now, I have a purpose and that purpose is to serve Christ here at realHope.

• So we understand there is some new wear coming out this fall?

realHope rick: Yeah, a few people are sporting them now.  Our ‘no perfect people allowed’ shirts.  We have a few other designs coming out in September.  I think everyone will really love them.

• What are you most excited about this fall?

realHope rick: Well, one we are growing and I’m not sure how we are going to fit everyone in here.  But I’m also excited about the opportunity we are going to have on August 16th at our next Owner’s night to really commit.  I’ve been out for awhile, but enough excuses on my part.  I’m so lucky I get to be in, and really everyone get’s to be in we just have to make that choice, and I’m choosing this fall to be in – because I get to.  I get to be in a relational group, I get to be more missional, I get to serve every week.  There are so many things happening it might just be hard to choose like our new realKidz ministry starting Upstreet or the Youth’s realQuay grearing up.  One thing I do know is we need more people who will choose to be in.

Check back here or realHope rick’s blog for more sneak previews of this fall at realHope with realHope rick.  And come to the next Owner’s Night, August 16th @ 6 PM to ‘get in.’

I was preaching on 1 Corinthians 1:17 where Paul writes about the message of the cross is foolishness.  I was defining the word foolishness and made the statement that the message of the cross is stupid  (In context, stupid if all we do is look at the cross and not who was on the cross). Well, right about that moment the children were coming quietly down the stairs to go outside and play.  They were very, very quiet and did not say a word.  When they got outside Luke, my son, said, “My dad said the cross was stupid!”

We have yet to clear  up this theological misunderstanding.  Honestly, I’m not sure how I will explain it all with a 5 year old.

Abraham named the place where he had taken Isaac to sacrifice, God-Yireh (God-Sees-To-It).  I’ve read this story many times before in the Old Testament.  This time a particular verse stood out to me in Genesis 22:7-8,

Issac said to Abraham his father, “Father?”

“Yes, my son.”

“We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”

Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.”  And they kept walking together.”

From the rest of the story we know what God did exactly, He Sees-To-It and provided a ram for the sacrifice.   I’m mixed with emotion as I experience Abraham’s confident spirit leading forward yet feel the innocence of Isaac asking the obvious question, “Uh, dad, aren’t we missing something?”

When my dad taught me to change the oil in the car he always stressed the importance of remember to put oil back in the car.  In his very dad authoritive voice he would say, “You have oil in the car?”  I remember on one occasion when he forgot to put oil back in the car.  Fortunate or unfortunate for him, none of his teenage sons were observant enough to notice.  He probably would have appreciated Isaac’s eye for detail, ‘Uh dad, you forgetting something?”  Of course dad’s response was never God will see to it, it was always we better see to it if we wanted the car to still run.

My prayers and conversations with God though must sound so similar to putting oil in the car;

“God.”

“Yes.”

“We have gathered people.  We have stepped out on faith.  All the nuts and bolts are in place.  We even have a building but to do what’s next where are the resources to do it?  I’ll see to it if I just know where the rest of the resources are.”

“I am the God who sees-to-it.”

“Yep, God, I’ll see to it.  Where’s the oil that makes this whole thing run now?”

Someone once said that when you surrender everything and accept you have nothing then you will begin to see how God will provide.  Many in the realHope family are having to surrender everything.  I am amazed at their confidence and faith to go forward even when there are many Isaac questions burning in our hearts.  Yet isn’t it in the voice of the questions the how’s, the why’s, the when’s, the where’s that get spoken outloud in community that will allow us to see God-Yireh (God-Sees-To-It) together?  If we only will stop and listen, observe, and see what God is already up to we can continue to walk together on the journey.