Let me start by saying I am a die hard Apple user. I have an iPhone, iPod, and a MacBook Pro. The only real technology I have outside this company is an Amazon Kindle (which I love by the way.) So, when I heard of the iPad I was immediately excited to check it out.

Uh…wait…I’m looking at it…and I can’t find…it’s primary purpose! Other than just looking amazingly cool, what is the primary REASON for this product? Surf the web? Music? Email? I know it does all of them, and might do them really well, but what is the #1 reason I should purchase this product? What advantage will I have in my everyday life if I purchase this? I mean, with all the products out there, what one reason would I want to attend your church on Sunday morning…wait, did I just get sidetracked or is the ipad a great representation of some churches?

I have been going to numerous churches, doing consulting work with some, and just studying others. And one thing that stands out as a major characteristic of healthy churches is that they know their purpose. It is engrained in their DNA and they make all decisions through this filter, and make NO apologies for it. One flaw is that many times churches mistake the wrong thing as their purpose or get to grandiose in their purpose. We are all directed to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, so that one we all have in common, but Pastors and Leaders, what has God given you that only your church in your area can do. We are not all cookie cutters, but rather a massively diverse group of people all with the same end goal. Your purpose can’t be “we have great music,” there is someone doing it better. It can’t be “we have great preaching,” there is someone better out there. Those might be attributes of your church, but your purpose has to be more. Come on, leaders, we serve a huge God, and just playing the right notes or having great hermeneutics can’t be all we are about. What is the one thing your church thrives to do?

What about you Ben? What is Baypointe’s purpose, Mr “not even open yet but trying to give me advice?” Well, I’m glad you asked. We want to bring encourgement to the hopeless, unite people in community, and complete people in Christ. That’s it.Our music will be amazing, our kids program will be fun and foundational, and maybe I will teach a few things well, but in the end, when all is said and done, we want to be the place people know as hope, unity, and maturity.

Don’t be an iPad church with lots of stuff that is great without a distinct purpose. If you know it, make it forefront in all you do. If you don’t know it, seek God and find it. The world doesn’t need another church, it needs another great church, and having a singular purpose will get you on the way.

Now I gotta go figure out if I need an iPad to stay in the Apple club…

Grace.

Ben

Yesterday, our family, along with Billy Tisko and his family went to the Zoo in Panama City Beach as part of my daughter Cadence’s 7^th birthday. The place is really amazing with tons of animals including lions, tigers, and bears…oh my! Yep, that was a cheap shot a humor, but they really did have all those things.

One of the shows we went to was about Wolves. They brought out two Wolves, Montana and Dakota. Dakota was much bigger than Dakota, walked with a different walk, sat in the middle of the stage area and kept an eye on things. Montana on the other hand was smaller, still big by my standards, but definitely smaller than Dakota. He was led by his trainer around where everyone was sitting, so we could pet and feel this amazing animal. When they finally took him to the middle of the staging area, he was much more intent on being involved with the people. He was never wild, out of control, or tense, but it was obvious he was different from the much larger Dakota.

The trainer then asked the question, “Which one of these two animals is the alpha male of this pack?” That was a no brainer for me, it had to be Dakota, the bigger, more laid back, observer who had sat in the middle and had complete control. He had “the alpha male” look. I proudly raised my hand that it had to be Dakota. I was quickly informed how wrong my answer was. It was Montana, and as the trainer went on to explain why, an amazing leadership lesson emerged.

He told us that size, strength, or age had anything to do with being the leader of the pack. It was all about ATTITUDE. Montana was able to walk around the room, adapt to each person, handle all the stress, be led by someone else (did you get that one?), all without biting and attacking the others. It was about being able to adapt and adjust to people and their needs. It was not about sitting in the middle of the room, purporting “the look” of leadership while being obviously detached from others. Montana was the alpha male leader because his attitude was in the right place.

Leaders, what does this stir in you? Simply being the big guy in the middle of the room does not always make you the leader. Where is your attitude? Are you able to adapt to circumstances, adjust to different people, without biting or attacking? Gut check time. Now, before you give me the “that’s just how I am wired, so I can’t be that flexible, adaptable, blah blah blah, I can’t be like that, blah blah blah, I don’t have it in me, blah blah blah,” think how many times we challenge others to develop and grow new characteristics. I am not saying you have to be a people person, the life of the party, etc, but we must all be adaptable, and adjust to the moment we are in. Yes, how you are wired will be a difficulty for some, but using it as a crutch will never allow you to develop. You will simply be the big wolf in the middle that stays the same, never with a chance to help others through your gifts.

Be the leader God has called you to be, and never stop striving to be more each day. Never rest on improvement. This world needs you. Which wolf are you?

Grace.

Ben

Today is a day where we celebrate a man that had a dream. A dream that was bigger than him, bigger than his life, and bigger than the culture that tried to derail it from coming true. I think of one of my favorite lines from a movie is from Pretty Woman, when there is a man at the beginning and end of the movie. He is holding a sign and just keeps repeating, “What’s yo dream? What’s yo dream? Everyone’s got a dream!” One of my all time favorite songs is a song called “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn. I love dreaming. I love people with dreams.

Do you have a dream that you are working towards? Sure you do. Its that thing deep in your heart that you would do if you would stop looking at outside circumstances. What if money was no object? If time was not an issue? If your education was where you wanted it to be? What would you do? Are you afraid of failing? Are you afraid of someone laughing at you? What’s yo dream??

Ok, I am about to offend you so if you are easily offended stop now and go to Joel Osteen’s page where you will not be offended. (Not bashing, just sayin…) Do NOT use your spiritual obligations as dreams. This is not Jerry Springer. Do not get married and tell me your dream is to be faithful. You are supposed to be! Do not have kids and tell me your dream is to take care of them. You are supposed to! Things you are supposed to do because you chose them don’t qualify with me. Let me tell you my dream, and yes those of you that are close to me have heard it a hundred times…go to Joel’s page. I’m kidding…

I dream of one day standing in front of Jesus and he tells me to turn around and look behind me. I see thousands and thousands of people and I know NONE of them. He says to me, “because of your willingness to be obedient to me, all of these people are here. You did the right thing, lived selflessly, loved recklessly, and these people are here indirectly because of someone I influenced through you. None of them were members of the church I let you pastor, but that was never the point.” (Notice Jesus didn’t speak in King James? Okay, I just offended more, man I am on a roll…) This dream drives me, makes me work hard, teaches me that building the Kingdom is way infinitely more important that just building a church. I want that day so bad that we structured Baypointe to give us a chance to help people find a savior in a real way, an unfiltered way, a way that will give them dreams that are bigger than themselves. Then they will go out and change the world.

So what’s your dream? What’s stopping you? Write it down, begin the process, and watch God handle the rest.

Grace.

Ben

So it is 2010 and the world of resolutions is among us! I used to be against these crazy things because the majority of them were short lived and just frustrated people, but I now just use the beginning of the year to check my priorities and make sure they are where they need to be.

I have quickly learned that starting a church from scratch is a tedious, overwhelming, yet exciting task. But in the midst of it all, I want to make sure I keep things in the right order. So I will use this time of year to make sure the things that are important are still at the top of my list. Here’s a sample IN ORDER of importance:

1. MY time with God. Not a time of praying for needs, asking for stuff, or even filling in all the prayer requests I promise people I will pray about. I am talking about Ben and God time. I am not any good to Brenda, my kids, or my church without it. I will have other time to go through the other prayer list stuff, but I need time with God to feel love, give honor, get direction, and just be a “kid.” I am fortunate to live in what I think of as paradise so spending an hour on the beach reading, listening, and praying in the mornings may not seem hard, but when the to-do list is as long as mine is, it is easy to “justify” just getting to the office.
2. BRENDA! She needs me. She needs me to be her husband, friend, and dad to her kids. Many of you know how important she is to me, but in 2010, she will know it even more. We will date, we will laugh, we will cry, but we will do it together. I don’t deserve someone like her, yet for some crazy reason, God gave her to me, and I will cherish her like no other.
3. My kids. The main reason God trusted me with them is for me to instruct them in a way that they will get back to him when they die. My ability to be a dad is more important that my ability to plant a church. We will have family nights where I will beat them badly in MarioKart and Apples to Apples junior…they need to learn how to lose! Yes I talk trash even to my kids…
4. My responsibility as a Pastor and leader. I will lead my staff with love, passion, and accountability. I will strive to make them the greatest leaders I can. They have left everything to follow the vision of Baypointe Church and that is something I will never take lightly. For all the others that God has lined up to become part of this church called Baypointe I will lead them in a way that creates an avenue to get closer to Christ.

Nope, I do not have a top ten list. That’s my list. I believe that if I take care of those things, everything else will take care of itself. Will I work out? Of course. Will I stay on the Dave Ramsey plan? Absolutely. Will I read X amount of books? Yep. These things will be driven out of a passion to fulfill one of the top 4.

I hope that 2010 is a great year for you and your families!

Grace.

Ben