Life Point Blog

America's Cup Tied at 1-1

In an incredible day of sailing, Team New Zealand overcame a 23 second deficit to beat the Swiss Alinghi by 28 seconds. You have to understand that in match racing, this is HUGE. The wind is never constant and you are fighting the currents, the spectator chop, and the shifts in the wind conditions. All of this makes it extremely difficult to go up and down on a windward/leeward course.

Both boats are very close in boat speed with a slight edge to Alinghi. However the real key is calling the first wind shift. The Swiss nailed that and took a 20 sec lead. However in a dramatic turn of events, Team NZ split coverage and went to the right side of the course, caught a fresh favored shift in breeze and when they crossed were ahead. DRAMATIC TURN AROUND!!!

The 3rd race is today and it will be anyones guess on the weather in Spain. Yesterday was breezy and shifty. But it was a lay day. Today who knows. All I know is there is nothing like racing sailboats except being a church planter with the team God is putting together here in SW Florida. WOW!!! I am blessed!!!

Evan Almighty

Its cute. Its a great family movie. It will give you some great sermon illustrations and sermon video clips when it comes to dvd. Its better than Bruce Almighty and its funnier. It also a little bit corny. One of the best parts is when God(Freeman) tells Joan that when people pray for patience, sometimes they get circumstances that allow them to develop patience, and when they pray for courage, sometimes they are given opportunities to be brave.
HMMM... Faith in action.

Sunday Night Update

Here is an update on where we are:

1: Tuesday we had another incredible launch team meeting. We DOUBLED in size!! Go GOD.
2: We decided the best scenario would be to meet for launch team worship every other Sunday night at 6:00 pm and the the alternate Sunday morning visiting churches in the area.
3: Went back to Next Level Church. Pastor Matt Keller knocked it out the park. He and his team started a new series called Take Me Out To The Ball Game. It was awesome. Great job Matt and team.
4: Our team thoroughly enjoyed themselves and really got a fresh look at just what Life Point is going to be all about.
5: We got a real chance to land the most incredible Children's Minister I have EVER SEEN!!. Already her ideas are off the charts and her goal is to have The Best Children's Ministry In SW Florida!
6: We are blessed to have another team member who is one of the neatest people I have met. He has "local knowledge". He is one gifted individual and I know God is giving him the vision for Life Point and particularly the Coconut Point area.
7: I LOVE what I am doing. I LOVE being a church planter. I LOVE the people in SW Florida. I LOVE the fact that God is working in a mighty way. I LOVE our launch team. God is putting the most awesome and gifted group of people together. PRAISE TO YOU JESUS!!!

Americas Cup Begins TODAY

The oldest trophy in all of sports. The Holy Grail of trophies. Ongoing for 156 years the 32nd Americas Cup Yachting Race begins today in Valencia Spain. The Kiwis with Team New Zealand will seek to bring the Cup back down under by beating Swiss defender Alinghi. This race only comes every 4 years. It is an incredible display of teamwork, wind and water management, and hours of intense concentration. The best adrenaline rush in the world.

This is a great event for me having raced sailboats professionally for 13 years, all over the world and in 2 Cup campaigns. Its hard to believe that 20 years ago this week, I was in Australia doing what they are doing today. There is no greater thrill than winning the cup and bringing it back to the USA like we did in Freemantle in 1987 and then defend it in 1992 in San Diego. This is a best of 5 series and will last all of 2 weeks. Stay tuned, I will be posting updates.

Podcast With Tom Cheney of NAMB

While I was at the Exponential Conference, my friend Tom Cheney of the NAMB interview me for his podcast. YOU can listen to it HERE.
Tom is a church planter's kind of guy. The Church Planting Village at NAMB is full of rich resources to assist the planter in every phase of the journey. Thank you Tom for the honor of being interviewd and thank you and your team at NAMB for the heart you have for church planting.

Team Visit To Summit Main Campus

Took part of our team to the main campus at Summit Church in Estero. I got to say it was an incredible experience. We caught the second service at 9:45 and upon arriving were greeted by parking attendants who were very friendly and helpful. The first service was getting ready to let out and the way they handled parking was good. Signage was good and it was one of the friendliest churches we have been to. All the staff were in the lobby area talking and greeting guests. The information table was run by great people who were very helpful. Summit gives first time guests a really cool coffee cup along with plenty of information.

The flow between services was very smooth and I must say the 9:45 service was packed. They had to pull chairs out. However, the music was INCREDIBLE. Jamin Stinziano the worship pastor did one incredible job leading worship. It was powerful. However the team leader, Orlando Cabrera knocked it out the park. They were wrapping up their series on Heros and preached from Revelation Chapter 1. It was powerful, all about the person of Jesus. A great applicable expositional sermon.

After the service we were greeted by many people and I must say these guys know how to do it. We learned a ton. They are still portable for time being meeting in the Florida Gulf Coast Student union. They will soon be in their brand new building right down the road. I worshiped and heard a GREAT Word today. Good job guys!!!

AWESOME 1st. Launch Team Meeting

I can not begin to tell you how stoked I am. We had our first launch team meeting and man was it awesome. There is now Life to the Life Point Vision. We had great pizza thanks to California Pizza at Coconut Point and then a time of worship while Smitty played. Our music is going to be so very COOL. We then jumped right into talking about the vision and the plan and all the things we must do before the first preview service.

As I sat and looked at all 8 of us, Jim, Jeannie, Smitty, Julie, and Mark, I can help but realize just how awesome our God is. How He has orchestrated all of our journeys to come together for this mission. EVERYONE GOT THE VISION. EVERYONE IS SO ON-BOARD. EVERYONE IS PUMPED.

Big shout out to Jeannie who led a girl at work to become a Christ-Follower. Then on top of that, I had the most incredible honor of having lunch yesterday with a mother and daughter who work at the Muvico Theater where we will be holding church. God opened up the door and I had the honor of leading both of them to become Christ Followers. MAN!!!

We have our next team meeting Tuesday and I can't wait. This Sunday Smitty, Jeannie, Mark and Julie will be doing Life Point's first mission trip to Central Florida to do worship at one of the prisons. Our prison ministry is so important in that the gospel is presented and the music is rockin and with Mark and Smitty and Julie and Jeannie and everyone else, lives will be changed. People will become Christ-Followers. This weekend. WOW!!!

So it looks like it will be my brother Jim going to a local church to visit tomorrow. I will keep you posted . Be in prayer for us, for the 3 new Christ - Followers and for the prison ministry this weekend.
Man is God moving.

Ruth Graham Goes To Be With Jesus

I will never forget the day many many years ago that I was at Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly in NC with a bunch of kids. We went to Pizza Hut in Montreat and I had to go into Eckerds Drug Store. While I was there in walks Mrs. Ruth. I went over, introduced myself and we talked and she invited me to Little Piney Cove. That started a friendship with her and Dr. Billy. She was one of the most remarkable women I ever met. Truly down to earth and a true friend to young pastors. She is with Jesus now. Doing what we are preaching about. Pray for her family.

First Launch Team Meeting

I am STOKED! Tomorrow night at 6:30 pm we will be having the FIRST meeting of the LIFE POINT LAUNCH TEAM! Man God is awesome. Over a year and a half of prayer and planning and worrying and laughing and crying and now we have feet to the vision. I can't wait. Our team is awesome!!!.

The Best of Oak Leaf and Ridgestone Blogs

I have gone through Gary Lamb's Ridgestone Backstage and Oak Leaf Church's blog by Michael Lukaszewski. Both of these guys are just tearing it up. Download ridgestone_backstage.pdf

Download oak_leaf_blog.pdf