Archive for the 'Church Planting' Category

Highlights from 2008

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 5 January 2009
in Church Planting, City of Weston Florida and InDependence Church
. 1 Comment

In just 15 days InDependence will be 1 year old. In reading this post I was inspired to layout some of the highlights from this past year. These are in no particular order, accept for number 1.

 

  1. We have led people to Christ.
  2. We have survived 1 year as a church plant.
  3. We have hired an amazing Worship Leader and God threw in an awesome band as a bonus.
  4. We have some incredibly dedicated people and I believe it is becoming contagious.
  5. We had somebody threaten to call the cops on us while we were giving away FREE food.
  6. I had the cops called on me for being too nice.
  7. Every week there are people serving at our church that I honestly believe wouldn’t even be in church if it wasn’t for InDependence.
  8. We are seeing the benefits of 40 days of corporate prayer and fasting.
  9. We have created an environment that has birthed some wonderful relationships.
  10. Finally a great thing that happened in 2008 is that it ended. The reason I am so excited about this is because I (and quite a few other people) believe that 2009 is going to be an amazing year for InDependence. I am already beginning to see new people, new ministries and even some new ministers. I can’t wait to see how God gets some glory out of us reaching out to Weston and the surrounding areas.

How to lose 30+lbs in 40 Days

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 24 December 2008
in Church Planting, City of Weston Florida, Health, InDependence Church and My Life
. 16 Comments

This is my personal daily log of my 40 day fasting experience. I tried to keep them brief because I really want you to read through the progression. I didn’t go into the really spiritual side because I have some personal stuff there that I just didn’t feel led to share. So I focused mainly on the physical because I want you to know that it is physically possible. This is something that you can do WHEN GOD LEADS YOU TO. (Emphasis added again and again and again).

Not everybody is called to a 40 day fast but we are all called to fast. It is good for the spirit, the mind and the body. If I didn’t think it would be creepy I had considered doing a photo journal as well but with a thin 5′-8″ frame to start, it is easy to imagine the progression. So enjoy reading about the last 40 Days of my life as I have set out to give Jesus the gift of me for His birthday.

(As a continuation to the follow-up I have posted comments for a couple of days to give you the aftermath)

Day 1 - 157.0 lbs- Headache from 2:00 throught the remainder of the day. Probably due to the types of food I have been eating and the amount of caffeine I have been drinking. In hindsight I should have cut out caffeine and sugar a while ago and making a chocolate chip cookie the last thing I ate… not brilliant.

Day 2 - 155.2 lbs - Beginning of mental attack. Why am I doing this? What is the purpose? Will it really change anything?

Day 3 - 152.7 lbs - Slight stiffness and soreness throughout my body. Some is usual given the set-up and tear down at church but a lot more than usual today. Lusted over my sons breakfast today. Remembering from my previous 30 day fast getting past the first 3-4 days is the biggest challenge so I am gutting it out.

Day 4 - 150.8 lbs - Today I am feeling my first real hunger pains. I also am having a little bit of “laziness” in my muscles, specifically my legs. I feel like God dropped another purpose to fast in my spirit. I was taking part in the 40 days with our church but this season may take a more personal direction.

Day 5 - 149.2 lbs. - Really sluggish start to the day but the brisk motorcycle ride in today really got the blood flowing. Yesterday was a company lunch which is always really good. I don’t feel the physical need to eat as strong as the mental need to eat. Sounds strange but frankly I like to eat more than I need to eat.

Day 6 - 148.8lbs - I am glad the weight loss slowed down a little today. Today I feel the best that I have felt so far. Company birthday breakfasts two days in a row… you have got to be kidding me! Struggling a little to force myself to drink enough water to stay hydrated. Simply tired of the taste and going pee all the time. I know that it will make the difference between my success and failure so I had better get used to it.

Day 7 - 147.2lbs - Today has been the best morning yet. Very little uncomfortableness or sluggishness. I feel like my mind is clear and can really focus on the purpose of this fast. If I remember from my 30 day there is potentially another rough patch at +/-20 days but we’ll see. For now I am excited to be on this spiritual journey as God strengthens me in this process of beating this earthly flesh into submission.

As a side note: Sneezing with an empty stomach is pretty painful.

Day 8 - 146.4lbs - This fast is forcing me to get some more rest which is good.

Day 9 - 145.8lbs - Found myself easily winded at set-up today. Operated for most of the day on pure adrenalin. With that said I believe it was one of the best Sunday’s we have had in a while. I confirmed it with my wife because I couldn’t believe how focused I was during message delivery. By evening I was cooked but my favorite TV show helped me wind down: 24 Redemption. In reality I didn’t need any help winding down, I was pooped.

Day 10 - 143.6lbs - This is the second biggest weight loss day right behind last Sunday. This has me a little concerned because we are headed into the holidays and some of our college student help will be leaving which almost guarantees me a spot on the set-up team. I had anticipated losing 20-25lbs and I am already at 13 lbs just one quarter of the way through. Continue reading ‘How to lose 30+lbs in 40 Days’

Top 100

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 9 October 2008
in Church Planting
. 0 Comments

So I don’t talk a lot about numbers on this blog but here are some worth mentioning. Outreach Magazine released the Top 100 Largest Churches and Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in America list. I was proud of how well Florida was represented in this list.

 

Even South Florida, commonly referred to as a highly unchurched area, represented half of the Florida churches listed in the largest churches category. This does not change the statistics that this one of the top five most unchurched areas in the country, but for a church planter it is encouraging to think that it is possible to reach people here.

 

Any time you talk about “Mega” churches there are always the people that question the methods that are used to grow churches to this size. This week I was discussing one of the individuals on the overall list and I got “checked” by a friend with this thought… “Have you ever been in one of their services to know what really goes on?” My opinion was based on interviews, edited video and audio, media, etc. In reality I had no right justification for  the opinion I had.

 

I have attended a few of these churches but this isn’t about methods today. What I want you to consider is that every one of these thousands or tens of thousands represents one of God’s kids. The word “go” in the Great Commission doesn’t say a lot about “how” we are to make disciples. There are some specifics on baptism there, but if these churches are expanding the kingdom of God and there really are 90,220 Floridians headed to heaven because of these ministries who are we question?

 

For a list of Florida Churches in each category click throught to the next page…

Continue reading ‘Top 100′

Pastoral Counseling

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 8 October 2008
in Church Planting, My Life, Parenting and Random Ramblings
. 3 Comments

I had the best counseling session ever at 3:52 this morning. I don’t do a lot of counseling because there are a lot of people way more qualified. My wife is trained in counseling and all I have is a degree from the school of hard knocks. It wasn’t a scheduled counseling session but when my 4 year old came in to wake me up I had to do my vary best to be Daddy/Pastor.


Before becoming a church planter life was pretty simple for us. We lived a life right out of 1960’s television. Not the “Honeymooners” but more like “Leave it to Beaver”. I was home everyday at 4:30pm and our involvement in church was limited to a Council Meeting once a month, 2 services per week, and an occasional weekend event.


Our families were close and so Owen would have weekly contact with one set of grandparents or another. We had multiple family friends including some really close friends in our immediate neighborhood. So it wasn’t unusual for random drop-ins from neighbors so Owen and their kids could play while moms chit-chatted over cookies and coffee.


All that changed with our move to South Florida and is taking its toll on a 4 year olds emotions (and some 30+ emotions too.) So I spent an hour this morning explaining some pretty significant concepts to my son. These thoughts can encourage the 4 or the 40 so I thought I would share.

  1. A house is made up of walls floors, ceilings, doors and windows. But a home is made by a family. So even though we have moved to different houses and will hopefully be moving again in the not too distant future we will remain a family and that is what makes a home.
  2. God is bigger than all the monsters. Hence when we have God inside of us, regardless of how small we may be, we take on the size and power of God. So when we are scared of things we just need to remember that we have God on our side.
  3. God doesn’t always answer our prayers because He knows what is best for us. I was able to use our recent dog catastrophe to explain that even though we thought it would be a great idea to get a dog (two if you’re my wife) it wound up not being the right timing for us, given some of the other things going on in life. With a few scars to remind him he understood. So it isn’t that God doesn’t hear you or is ignoring you, it is that you may be asking for “good” but He wants to give you great!
  4. Enjoy the “fun” moments in life instead of worrying that they are going to end. In the last week or so my son (and wife) have made some new friends and since my son has just been starving for some play time he gets all worked up because he knows that at some point he is going to have to go home. Obviously we cleared up some “home” thoughts, but he needed to realize that worrying over what is going to happen in an hour or two when play time is over was cutting into the fun that he could have right now.

    To relate that to us adults… The Bible says don’t worry about tomorrow because just as God has made provisions for the birds He will make provisions for us. This is that unexplainable joy that we read about.

     

    The joy of the Lord is to be our strength so that even when it appears that the whole world is crumbling around us we don’t have to have an emotional breakdown. We can place our faith in God and even if a rough road comes, He able to bring us through it. 

     

  5. God loves when we obey. Just like when Owen obeys us and we reward that, God also rewards our obedience. I explained to Owen that God asked us to leave the house that he loves in Oakland, FL and move here to plant a church. That even though we had to give up some things that made us comfortable, God was proud of us for doing it and in the end obedience pays. It may not always be in the dividends that we expect or desire but God certainly rewards obedience.

Seems like there were a few more things we discussed but in the end he just need some reinforcement. There are many things based on our current position that are in flux but there are certain things that are solid. Even though I have previously mentioned some chinks in the family armor we are fortifying that and have come a long way. So my wife and I are reinforcing that our relationship with God and our relationship with each other are things he can count on. I think we all need to know that those are things we can count on.

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Wrap up

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 23 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 4 Comments

Well the results are in from my little time log experience. In case you are just joining me… For the last week I have documented how I have spent my time. I didn’t get too detailed but I walked away with some pretty good data to evaluate. 

This past Sunday as a part of our New Testament Challenge we discussed the Challenge of Generosity. One area that we are to be generous is with our time. We looked at the story in Luke 10 of the Good Samaritan and how he felt that the best use of his time was to help the badly injured Jew laying beside the road.  

We discussed how we really don’t have any promise of time for tomorrow but we have right now so that leads to the question: “God, what is the best use of my time right now?” To be honest I have not done a great job of asking that question. So because of that I have misappropriated my time and needed to evaluate my priorities based on the actual time I was designated to them. 

This thought began with the definition of radical love: (previous week’s message) Love is the choice you make based on the actions you take. So was I really showing love to my wife and my family? Well in looking at the numbers I am proud to say that this week was one of the most balanced weeks I have experienced in a while. I proved that by making some conscious decisions in certain areas I could improve some areas I was clearly lacking in. 

Still have some distance to travel and some areas to improve but I feel that this exercise helped me establish a base line to work from. So check out the results: Time Log Analysis

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Sunday

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 22 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 0 Comments

Here is day seven. Tabulation and reason behind this exercise tomorrow.

 

12:01 am – 4:45 am

  • Sleep

4:45 am – 5:10 am

  • Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)

5:10 am – 5:40 am

  • Cut and assembled program/response cards (I usually have a volunteer do this but I didn’t get the design completed in time)

5:40 am – 6:00 am

  • Power nap

6:00 am – 6:30 am

  • Got ready to go

6:30 am – 7:30 am

  • Went and picked up the trailer to meet the set-up crew

7:30 am – 9:50 am

9:50 am – 10:00 am

  • Got cleaned up and changed

10:00 am – 10:15 am

  • Greeted people with Owen (he loves doing that)

10:15 am – 10:29 am

  • Final preparations

  • Prayer with team

10:29 am – 12:05 pm      

  • Service (audio here tomorrow)

12:05 pm – 1:15 pm        

  • Teardown

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

  • Return trailer

2:15 pm – 5:00 pm

  • Lunch

  • Play

  • Relax

  • Nascar

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

  • Pool time w/ family

6:30 pm – 8:15 pm

  • Movie night with Owen

8:15 pm – 9:30 pm

  • Read books and got Owen to bed

9:30 pm – 10:30 pm

  • Couples devotion with Harmony

10:30 pm – 12:00 pm

  • Sleep

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Saturday

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 22 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 0 Comments

12:01 am – 2:00 am

  • Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)

  • Worked on sermon

  • Finished program/response card design

  • Printed programs & Response cards

  • Watched new Knight Rider Premier during printing operation (slightly cheesy but at least it didn’t have David Hasselhoff) Just to be honest if they remaid the A-Team or The Dukes of Hazzard (again) I would watch those too.

2:00 am – 7:30 am

  • Sleep

7:30 am – 8:30 am

  • Pretended to be asleep because I wasn’t ready to get up. Trying to remeber what sleeping in felt like

8:30 am – 9:00 am

  • Breakfast

9:00 am – 10:30 am

  • Can’t really remember but I think it involved Buzz Lightyear.

10:30 am – 1:30 pm

  • Detailed the inside of both trucks with the help of Owen

1:30 pm – 2:15 pm

  • Got cleaned up… first time shaving on a Saturday in a while

  • Gave Owen a hair cut

2:15 pm – 3:45 pm

  • Finished sermon

  • Prepared Media Shout presentation

3:45 pm – 4:30 pm

  • Watched a little college football

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm

  • Got ready for date night to celebrate our 9th anniversary

5:00 pm – 5:30 pm

  • Went to Publix for chocolate and flowers

5:30 pm – 9:30 pm

  • Dinner –a little more than anticipated

  • Roll of Mentos - $.89

  • Change from purchase of Mentos for metered parking - $.90

  • Stroll on the Commercial Street pier - $4

  • Babysitter - $40

  • First date night in too long - priceless

9:30 pm – 10:15 pm

  • Getting Owen calmed down and asleep after 4hrs with the new babysitter who “let me do whatever I wanted” (she was actually a great sitter)

10:15 pm – 11:15 pm

  • Alone time with Harmony

11:15 pm – 12:00 pm

  • Sleep

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Friday

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 22 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 0 Comments

12:01 am – 4:00 am

  • Sleep

4:00 am – 4:20 am

  • Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)

4:20 am – 6:30 am

  • Just couldn’t do it today so I went back to bed.

6:30 am – 7:00 am

  • Got ready for work

7:00 am – 7:30 am

  • Breakfast w/ Harmony (no Owen today…)

7:30 am – 8:15 am

  • Travel to work

8:30 am – 12:30 pm

  • Work

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

  • Worked on sermon during lunch

1:30 pm – 5:30 pm

  • Work

5:30 pm – 6:15 pm

  • Travel home from work

6:15 pm – 6:45 pm

  • Dinner

6:45 pm – 8:45 pm

  • Trip to storage and Costco

8:45 pm – 10:15 pm

  • Book time and getting Owen to bed

10:15 pm – 10:45 pm

  • Started a new couples devotion book with Harmony

10:45 pm – 12:00 pm

  • Worked on sermon

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Thursday

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 19 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 2 Comments

12:01 am – 4:00 am

  • Sleep

4:00 am – 4:20 am

  • Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)

4:20 am – 6:00 am

  • Designed an anniversary card and polished off the love letter for my wife (Crap…out of ink so I can’t print it)

  • Set up her gift and prepared to take a walk down memory lane with our photo albums (We participate in the traditional anniversary gift list and this year was willow/pottery)

6:00 am – 6:30 am

  • Devotion

6:30 am – 7:00 am

  • Got ready for work

7:00 am – 7:30 am

  • For the third time Harmony and I had our “us” time interrupted. As we prepared to walk down memory lane Owen woke up early and so anniversary talk quickly shifted to Woody and Buzz.

7:30 am – 8:15 am

  • Travel to work (Drove truck again, due to 40% chance of rain, so I was able to listen to a sermon on the way… tough to do on the bike)

8:30 am – 12:30 pm

  • Work

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

  • Worked on sermon during lunch

1:30 pm – 5:30 pm

  • Work

5:30 pm – 6:15 pm

  • Travel home from work (listened to John Bevere – Bait of Satan… good stuff)

6:15 pm – 6:35 pm

  • Got the family rounded up for a trip to the mall

6:35 pm – 7:45 pm

  • Romantic dinner at the food court (Doing the real deal on Saturday night)

  • Took my wedding ring to be resized (anniversary gift)

7:45 pm – 8:45 pm

  • Went to Toys-R-Us to get Owen a keyboard to practice on

8:45 pm – 9:45 pm

  • Book time and getting Owen to bed

9:45 pm – 10:15 pm

  • Alone TV time while Harmony finished up some stuff… I think some of the first all week… hello Speed channel, I missed you

10:15 pm – 11:30 pm

  • Alone time with Harmony

11:30 pm – 12:00 pm

  • Sleep

A Week in the Life of a Church Planter - Wednesday

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 18 September 2008
in Church Planting, InDependence Church and My Life
. 2 Comments

12:01 am – 4:00 am

  • Sleep

4:00 am – 4:20 am

  • Uploaded NTC (New Testament Challenge) e-votional for the morning delivery (Want in on it… e-mail info@TheInChurch.org to be added to the mailing list)

4:20 am – 5:15 am

5:15 am – 6:00 am

  • Devotion (Caught up on some Bible reading – penalty for falling asleep early)

6:00 am – 6:30 am

  • Power nap… should have been working on newsletter

6:30 am – 7:00 am

  • Got ready for work

7:00 am – 7:30 am

  • Tried once again to get some pre-work alone time with Harmony but for the second time Owen got up about an hour early to come hangout with Dad and Mom

7:30 am – 8:15 am

  • Travel to work (Drove truck so I was able to listen to a sermon on the way… tough to do on the bike)

8:30 am – 10:00 am

  • Work

10:00 am – 2:00 pm

  • Meeting that included going to lunch (positive - I got the first person interested in a pre-work weekly Bible study)

2:00 pm – 5:40 pm

  • Work

5:40 pm – 6:30 pm

  • Drove to InVest NTC Central and made pitstop at Post Office to check the church mail

6:30 pm – 6:55 pm

  • Did my Bible reading in the car to free up Thursday (Celebrating 9 wonderful years of marriage)

6:55 pm – 10:20 pm

  • InVest NTC and hanging out with people afterwards

10:20 pm – 10:50 pm

  • Travel home (stop for gas)

10:50 pm – 11:30 pm

  • Alone time with Harmony

11:30 pm – 12:00 pm

  • Sleep