Travis Johnson

Christ Fellowship Homestead Here to Stay

We pray for God's Kingdom to come to Homestead.  One of our "sayings" at Life Pointe is that we want to "make it hard for people to hit hell from Homestead." So, a few months ago when Christ Fellowship opened their first extension campus outside of Palmetto Bay right here in Homestead, I couldn't have been more excited.

A couple weeks ago, I heard a rumor that CF wasn't going to be at Waterstone in the fall.  I was really disappointed.  So, I emailed Jeff Reed to find out what's up and heard their awesome news. Eric Geiger writes about it here as well.  Bottom line is it was a total rumor.  In fact, they were being given almost five acres ($6,000,000+) on the Turnpike!  It was given to them by the Miami Baptist Association. 

Dude, I'm just about ready to be a Baptist!  I already really dig Ed Stetzer.  You know...for 5 acres in Miami-Dade, I think I might even be willing to become a Fundie!  Anyway, great news for Christ Fellowship...great news for the Kingdom of God in Homestead!

National New Church Conference Audio

The 2007 Exponential Conference (National New Church Conference) was excellent. In case you missed it, you can get the audio to the plenary sessions here:

Plenary Session 1 with Wayne Cordeiro
Plenary Session 2 with Ed Stetzer
Plenary Session 3 with Dave Ferguson
Plenary Session 4 with Bill Hybels

For the rest of the pre-conference podcasts, click here.  Thanks to Steve Addison for the heads up.

Free Web Seminar with Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson just announced that Greg Ligon of the Leadership Network will be hosting a web seminar with Dave, John Ferguson, and Eric Bramlett on Tuesday, June 26th from 11-noon (eastern).  The seminar is based on the book, The Big Idea.

Pastors, leaders, creative planners, etc... don't miss it.  Spread the word, people. Register here.

Sunday Wrap-up

We had our first summer slump day of 2007.  It was a good day...here's the details:

• We had a really great, witty couple that called Flamingo Road Church to find out if they had a campus in Homestead.  They don't.  But, whoever they talked to said that they needed to visit Life Pointe. So, they did. That rocks.  I have to throw a huge thanks to Troy for taking an interest in me...can't tell you how much that mens to a pup like me.
• While our crowd was down, we had a good number of new people. Our attendance today is still higher than the average for the month of Easter 2006.  That's awesome!
  
• I think that there was a rule today that if you are a leader at Life Pointe, you vacation on 6/24...not even kidding.
• I like to preach to our people.  Our crowd is so engaging.  I feel as much of a participant as I do the communicator.
• Like clockwork, our ratio of adults to kids (12 and under) is 2:1.  We have a lot of kids.  I just got the dashboard (attendance, guest tracking system) from The Journey in Manhattan this week.  After looking at how many kids they have, you have to know that every church is incredibly unique.
• Today, I started the last chapter of James.  We talked about money and how it shouldn't "rot in your hands."  I don't do that often.  But, we went directly at it.  Trusting God with our finances is a huge piece of following Christ.  We are getting this lesson.
• Finally, we are having Sunday night church back at the Theater at 7:00 PM.  We are watching a theological documentary...Evan Almighty.  Can't wait.

Book Review: Ready for Anything

"Ready for Anything" by David Allen is the follow-up to "Getting Things Done."  I'm challenged in the field of organization.  Generally, I can mess up a garage, a desk, or a bedroom in minutes.  Yet, I thrive in minimalist environments.  So, both David Allen books worked for me.

I especially like Ready for Anything because it was 52 principles bulleted.  Like most books, there are a few too many pages, stories, illustrations.  I think I can tweak my preaching in the same way I can critique a good book.  Less is always more.

Of the 52 principles, the following stood out the most:

1. Cleaning up creates new directions.
4. Getting to where you're going requires knowing where you are.
8. Closing open loops creates energy.
10. Creativity shows up when there's space.
21. Perspective is the most valuable commodity on the planet.
25. Only one thing on your mind is "in the zone."
27. Stability on one levels opens creativity on another.
34. You can't win a game you haven't defined.
35. Whenever two or more are responsible for something, usually no one is.
41. Too controlled is out of control.
44. Your power is proportional to your ability to relax.
46. The longer your horizon, teh smoother your moves.
49. Small things done consistently, create major impact.
51. Its easier to move when you're in motion.

I'll leave you with my favorite line from in the book, "When you can see your target and identify with getting there, you quickly lose interest with how beaten, bloody, or muddy you are."

Also, check out what Drew Goodmanson had to say about both books here.

Stages of a Growing Church

Ben Arment shared a good post here about the growth stages a church goes through.  I'll summarize his summary like this:

1. Growth solely from the pastor/planter.
2. Growth from core people inviting their social networks.
3. Growth from advertising and coordinated outreach.
4. Growth from multiplication of small groups.
5. Momentum Growth from Word-of-mouth.
6. Growth from sub-congregations (second service, additional locations, age specific congregations, etc..)
7. Growth from critical mass (a crowd attracts a crowd)
8. Church Reproduction.

While there's no scientific pattern, this does explain how some styles of churches (like us) grow.

Committed to the Cause

I truly believe that the greatest hope for the world and the greatest organization in the world is the Church.  It is easy to become disillusioned with church because there are some real dummies out there taking advantage of people.  But, when the Church is functioning right, great things happen.

Before Kelly and I met and before I made the decision to be in "professional ministry," I made a decision that was going to be a real part of the Church.  I gave my heart, emotions, hands, voice, life, and resources to God and people who identify with Christ.  When Kelly and I started dating, I let her know that there were some non-negotiables in my life.  I thought some of those things might scare her off.  As we got to know each other, I was glad to find out that we were committed to the same cause, the same Christ, and with similar levels of passion.

I asked her to commit to the following things with me:

1. To be willing to go anywhere and live anywhere for the cause of Christ.
2. To be faithful with our finances, prayers, and devotional time. (I struggle more in prayer and devotional time than with finances).
3. To always love me and to always receive my love.  We pledged NEVER to threaten divorce.  Its off the table.  Through some challenging times, we've loved one another.  We've invested in one another.  During the times we both came off as unloveable, those investments have paid off big time.

I think that one of the biggest reasons people don't make it with Christ in the long run is a lack of "all in" commitment.  We surrender areas to God and withhold areas for ourselves.  I haven't mastered relationship with Jesus (relationship with Kelly for that matter).  But, I am fully committed to both.  I'm seeing both of those relationships really develop into something beautiful. 

I am thanking God for the transformation that is taking place in our church community.  What has been or is the biggest hurdle to you in making the decision to go all in?

Primal Porsche

I'm driving with Bob Franquiz on my way back from our coaching network in St. Pete.  It's a turnaround, same day drive in addition to sitting in a class room environment from early to late.  I thought I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation and exhaustion when I was getting on to I-275 south.

I checked over my shoulder to change lanes and caught a red Porsche in my peripheral vision.  The Porsche didn't startle me.  But, the monkey that was driving did.  I was passed on the interstate by a monkey doing 85 mph!  What?! 

I've seen some crazy stuff in my life.  As many of you know weird stuff follows me.  I'm rarely surprised.  But, my mouth is gaping and I'm waiting for Charlton Heston as George Taylor to wrestle the steering wheel from Cornelius in some sort of Planet of the Apes replay.

I put the hammer down on my silver Altima and caught up to the fine tuned Porsche which had a Florida license plate that read "Prime8."  Bob grabbed a couple pictures as I tried to keep the car between the yellow lines.  Maybe he'll post the pictures soon.  Bizarro!

UPDATE: Here's Bob's picture and his rendition of the story.

John Brockman and Atlanta MC this Friday 7 PM

John and Joselyn Brockman and Atlanta Master's Commission will be at the Life Pointe Church building this Friday at 7 PM for an awesome evening of worship.  If you aren't familiar with our building, here are the directions.

So, what's this about? Expect some really great worship time, drama, dance, and a great time with John.  The promotion of this event has been incredibly minimal.  So, I'm depending on you guys to get the word out to your friends.  Come early, stay late...its going to be a great night.

Reina and Diego Join the Team

My mind went racing back to Chicago when I'd see Jesse, Reina, David Lugo, and Joey Gonzalez doing their thing.  Good days.  It was nice to see Reina doing ministry with Jesse.  And, Diego is cute little cat.  When I hold him, I just want to steal him and keep him forever...awesome.  I really haven't had the opportunity to say welcome to these two publicly.  But, here it is...welcome Reina and Diego!