It’s funny, whenever someone comes to visit Fellowship to speak or to play music or share their ministry with us, they always say the same thing, “You have an incredibly neat church,” or “you have a cool kind of vibe going on here”.  Of course, “neat”, in this context does not necessarily mean clean and “cool” has nothing to do with the pastor, but what they are doing is complimenting the community of people that make up Fellowship Church.

And when it comes to loving people.  First class, that’s what I think.

Jon Acuff, writer of “Stuff Christians like”,  as he spoke yesterday – Yeah, pretty much treated like royalty. (He, by the way is an amazing guy – and truly hilarious)

And The Wrecking, The Black Raspberries, and Steve Patton – I heard quotes all day from them like the ones mentioned above, plus others like, “We’ve never been treated like this” and “You all know how to treat people”, and of course the “It’s a sin if that woman (the lady who hosted the band’s dinner last night) doesn’t have her own restaurant.”

So basically, we know how to treat people.

Today I’m praying that we would also become a church and I would become a pastor who would treat one another as well as we treat strangers.  Sometimes, that’s easier, ya know?  Treating strangers well.  And familiarity can breed contempt and all that.  Like the teenage son who treats his mom like dirt, then goes out and treats his friends like royalty, as if they had something to do with him becoming who he is today.

So the last few weeks have been about bringing in “cool” people and treating them like royalty.  The next few weeks?

Causing the ones who we see each week in life groups and every Sunday in church to say,

“Wow, this sure is a neat church.”

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I’ll cut to the chase.  Sunday morning at Fellowship we’ll be hosting a great author, an author of a book one of my fave pastors, Andy Stanley says, “I Can’t put it down.”  His name is Jon Acuff, and he writes the popular blog “Stuff Christians Like”.  He’ll be speaking at our 10:30 am service, and frankly, I can’t wait!

Here’s one of my favorite posts from him about “Our prayer requests that aren’t big enough”:

“Uh oh,” my friend said the other night at the end of our men’s group, “I don’t think I should share my prayer request anymore.”

Why did he say this? Simple, he didn’t have a “big prayer request.”

After hearing everyone’s very serious, very heartfelt prayer requests, his suddenly felt small and insignificant. He didn’t want to say it out loud. He was struck with a bought of prayer envy or “prenvy.” And you hate to see that kind of thing strike a kid so young. It’s a shame, a dang shame.

So to help him, and others out there, I thought it would be a good idea to review some ways to prevent feeling like your prayer request isn’t “big enough.”… (read the rest and more here)

This Sunday.  10:30.  Fellowship Church.

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Many know by now that Easter is another word for Ishtar, who was a self-proclaimed, real life Babylonian goddess, said to have been married to the biblical figure of Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-10) and long before it (meaning “Easter”) was celebrated by Christians around the world, it was celebrated by pagans worshiping this goddess who happened to specialize in fertility (I guess if you’re going to specialize in something…).  This celebration apparently drew world wide popularity because King Herod Agrippa celebrated it after killing James, one of Jesus’ disciples and then decided to imprison Peter during the party, which at the time had no connection to the resurrection of Jesus. (see Acts 12:1-5, KJV)  It happened to occasionally connect with the Jewish celebration of the passover.

Years go by and the church becomes official and the church becomes THE CHURCH.  THE CHURCH decides, in honor of their risen Savior to mix holiday metaphors a bit, and copy the culture that exists.  Easter then becomes a THE CHURCH holiday.  The problem is the former holiday never really goes away, but the two begin to meld together in a bunny loving, egg coloring, candy eating, oh yeah, and by the way, Jesus rising type of way.

By the time it’s too late, THE CHURCH becomes THE CHURCHES and wonders what all the confusion is about – this thing, after all, is about one thing.  The one thing that, somewhere along the way, was not enough, and needed to be pepped up or apologized for or altered a little bit, because it’s been years since anyone’s seen anyone rise from the dead.

So this Sunday, THE CHURCHES are going to do everything they can to ‘pull out all the stops’ and wow you with classy production, excellent gimmicks, and the pastors best 3 point outline.  None of those things are wrong and none of those things are going to be demonized here, but none of those things are also the reason why we meet together and call ourselves “followers of Jesus” or “Christians”.

But the reason we are gathered as the church is not because of a holiday or a tradition or because we’re supposed to, but because a man walked this earth (many have done this), did amazing, miraculous things (many have done this, too), could not be found guilty of anything (no one else has done this), gave His life for the glory of God and for the salvation of mankind (wait for it…), then three days later rose again, after he was indeed (not figuratively) dead. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

The hope that we have because this happened is unimaginable, as our trust can now be placed firmly outside of our own hands and into the hands of a Savior and a God who made a way for our world to be healed and redeemed back into His arms.

Call it whatever you want, but just celebrate the right thing.

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This week  in my life is a perfect example of an amazing Easter week!

It started off strong with high hopes because Carie and I received some amazing financial news, and then some more, and then some more.  I felt a bit like Warren Buffet, or at least the China Buffet.  Things were good.  Then the bottom dropped out.  Not so much in finances or even amongst people, but about rain.  For days it has poured and poured and poured here in the Northeast.  Flooding is occurring and I thought I’d have to take a boat the 200 or so feet it takes me to get to work.  Facebook statuses complain of flooding basements, wet dogs, and dark days creating dark moods.

In the midst of the darkness, our Fellowship lead team gathered together in a room on Wednesday evening and talked about what we were going to do this Sunday.  Most of us talked of our service, some of us talked about fishing.  We laughed, we thought, we even sang a bit.  And we wondered.  Wondered if our Easter plans that are as different as they can be from every other Easter service we’ve done is going to work.  Just like His disciples during those dark nights we wondered and we questioned (not His presence, but our ideas).

But Sunday is a-coming and with it comes sunny days, beautiful weather, uplifted moods, and a time for followers everywhere to come together and pronounce that Jesus is indeed risen, and he lives forevermore!

I’ll be celebrating at Fellowship!  Where will you be?

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I Am The Elliots from FC Holden.

For years we’ve done series.  A lot of churches do series, and for the last 9 years we’ve been no different.  We’ve done series too.  Typically they are topical in nature and many times they are practical and timely.

But in his blog posts, Ben inspired me last year when he was preparing for Story ’09 to find our own voice as a church when we share the truths of God’s word.  Me?  I like stories.  I like Jesus stories.  I like Jewish stories.  I like mythological stories.  And I like stories of Forrest running from bullies in Greenbow, Alabama and meeting president after president after president because of the “circumstances” in his life.

So last fall when Ben was preaching the idea of story, Carie and I were viewing  the season 4 DVD’s of House and together were enthralled by the amazing storytelling techniques of the writers of this emmy winning show.   During this time, I had this thought:  Why couldn’t we do a season instead of a series?  Focusing not necessarily on a topic, but by a story inspired by the major themes of Scripture.

And the process began.  The first thing I did was acquire the help of one of my favorite writers, Jeff Campbell, who gladly accepted my idea and was ready to run with it.  So we started to talk about characters, development, story, arcs, and themes.  Then we began to write a story.  At first I participated, writing a few of the scripts, but then I gladly turned it over to the master, and Jeff has written a season of focused plot, interesting characters, and engaging themes.

Then MB took control.  As the producer and director of the new season, she drafted some great actors, and will be producing some of the stories that will be performed over the next 13 weeks at Fellowship Church.

So beginning this Sunday morning @Fellowship, February 7, 2010, we will be presenting a new season, called “I am the Eliots”.  The story of 4 individuals whose lives are forever changed when they lose someone they love.  A funeral doesn’t answer questions, a funeral asks them, and the questions they begin to ask are questions that we could all stand to ask as we wrestle with life here on planet earth.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea or if you’re in the area, what you thought about the premiere presentation here at Fellowship Church, or you will be able to view it online on FCTV.

My friend Brian said it best when I told him the idea about 3 months ago.  He listened intently, sounded shocked by its innovativeness, then responded,

“Marty, you’ll either look like a genius or an idiot.”

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Told as if the audience @ Fellowship were twittering about the service this Sunday morning:

(10:28 am)  Is that Bon Jovi playing as we walk in the room?  Why yes, it certainly is.  Nice.

(10:29 am)  There’s nothing like walking into any room listening to the smooth rock voice of Bon Jovi, except maybe Axl Rose in the late 80′s, but we digress.

(10:30 am)  There seems to be a certain energy in the room this morning, like we’re all expecting something to happen.

(10:33 am)  Wow!  Al and the band are on fire this morning.  Somebody get a hose out here!

(10:34 am)  Nice video.  We didn’t know Steve Blumer’s mom came to the internet campus.  Cool.

(10:40 am)  2nd song was good too.  We WILL make the change and we won’t go back!  Also, does that guitarist have a fake finger?

(10:42 am)  Video of mom thanking the Gambogee place (elementary environment)  leaders for their role w/ our children teared us up a bit.

(10:43 am) Wow!  There are a lot of people in this room we don’t know.

(10:48 am)  Ha!  Marty opens with a great  story about his old pastor, Lonnie.

(10:50 am)  “A dream without a plan is only a wish.”

(10:55 am)  “We’re not trying to build an empire, but we are trying to infiltrate Massachusetts with the Fellowship Community.”

(11:00 am)  Marty’s about to launch into what he’s calling Phase 1 – the first phase of our new building project

(11:05 am)  4 specifics about “phase 1 – the beginning”

(11:05 am)  1.  The elimination of the back trailer – the “scourge of our existence”

(11:06 am)  2.  Patch and paint the rear exterior wall of the main building.  I guess we’ll be doing that part ourselves!  There goes that Saturday.

(11:06 am)  3.  Replace rear doors.  4.  Replace roofing on south side of church.

(11:07 am)   “Starting with phase 1 means first of all eliminating the distractions.”

(11:09 am)  $20,000 is a lot of money.

(11:10 am)  We want Fellowship to be a place where people can safely watch, connect, and grow.

(11:15 am)  Luke 14:25-33, Wow!  that Jesus guy says some really crazy things.  Where’s the love?

(11:21 am)  “To surrender to Jesus is not just to say,’I like Jesus’.  It’s more than that.”

(11:22 am)  “A person who is growing is a person who is planning to grow.”

(11:25 am)  “Before you grow, you’ve got to eliminate the distractions in your life.”

(11:31 am)  Suuuweeet!  Fellowship Worcester…we are cheering at that prospect!

(11:32 am)  The Splat Coffee shop!  Boo-yah!  Cheering again.  We’re doing a lot of that today! :  )

(11:32 am)  Very cool.  The Fellowship Haiti Mission.  más aplausos

(11:34 am)  “What are the distractions in your life that are keeping you from fulfilling your dream?”  Very inspiring Marty

(11:36 am)  Video of a quote from Milka about the FC family, but most of us are thinking about things we can eliminate in order to grow.

(11:39 am)  Worshipping.  “From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out!”

(11:44 am)  Last song just finished.  “On Christ the solid rock we will stand!”  Our hearts want to jump out of these bodies!

(11:45 am)  The immediate vision is clear in our heads, and we are ready for the future!  Go God!  Go Fellowship!

(11:48 am)  Oh crud, we forgot to pick up the kids!

(Noon)  We should follow Marty and FC Holden on Twitter.

 

 

 

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This last Sunday at Fellowship, I laid down a challenge:  The “Love Spreads” challenge.

It’s based on the premise that love is always a better choice than pride, and always impacts our world more positively than it’s “p” word counterpart.  So I laid down the challenge to our church that for one week, we would make every effort to communicate everything we do in love.  Because many times we find ourselves immersed in bad habits of communication, it’s easier to explain in the things this excludes.  This means:

Sarcasm
Negativity (that is not needed to express a valid point)
Bitterness about another person or a negative circumstance (like someone who does something “stupid” or an electronic device that wont do what you want it to)
Joking around which tears down and busting
Talking to someone with malicious intent about someone else
rolling of the eyes when someone’s name is mentioned

While this is not an exhaustive list, I’m interested to see how it’s going for those who accepted the challenge, or if this is the first you’ve heard of it, what you think about the challenge in the first place?  I most certainly have failed a number of times, but I’m still working on it.

Are you willing to “spread only  love” for one week?

 

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Hundreds of people gathered tight into the dark room, with only thunderous music with a driving beat between them and the lights about to turn on to begin the event.  An energy filled the room as I walked out on stage to introduce the focus of the coming event.  Lights, there was a camera, and plenty of action ensued as the Christmas Family Experience took its excellence to another level.

What’s better than children dancing up and down to a song about compassion, actors who made all the adults roar with laughter, and a spiritual energy bringing it all together?  Not too much apparently, I found out as many people came to me afterward, thanking our church for the amazing program they had just experienced.  In fact, that’s why we call it that, because we don’t want people to come to a program, so much as we want them to experience something with the kids, like they do when they go to the zoo or see a Disney movie.

So four times a year we put away the band and the preaching and the “adults only” environment, and we all worship together, but different.  And the lights, and the production teams, and the high energy music, and the outstanding acting all focuses us on building something more than Fellowship Church – the Kingdom of God.  Even before we gave away the Nintendo DSi, we were all getting slammed hard with the call to being more compassionate in our everyday lives, children AND adults.

One lady looked up to the ceiling while sharing with me what she thought about the message conveyed during the environment, and she said almost with a whisper, “I hope they get it.  The Kids.  I hope they get it, because our generation sure hasn’t.”  Her husband looked at us both and said with a smile coming from the corner of his mouth, “I hope we get it.”

No, I stopped believing the Family Experiences we do at Fellowship Church were for the kids a long time ago.  They are for you, and they are for me.

Next Family Experience:  March 7, 2010

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Aaaahhh, yes, the day off.

This week the team worked hard to prepare for an amazing experience on Sunday morning @ Fellowship and to provide that same experience online.  My focus will be in James, and we’ll spotlight one of my Christian heroes, George Muller.  But today I rest.  Not much on the schedule except Finders and date night with Carie.  That’s on purpose.  Rest is important.  One day of rest is as important as 5-6 days of work.  It helps focus you to your priorities and rejuvenates you to keep going.
And for me, one of the most important things about the day of rest is some quality time with God.  He reminds me that what I do is not about me but it’s about Him working through me, and as I hide my face, He offers more grace.

And that is something I don’t deserve.

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I’m on vacation.  Carie and I travelled to Virginia for a week, and we’re having a great time embarking on adventure, Chick Fil-A, and lots of book reading. 

Yesterday was Sunday.  Always an awkward day in the life of a vacationing “non-denominational” pastor.  Typically I do my research, find a place I’d really like to attend, and go there.  I did that this time too, the only problem:  the only church I really wanted to go was one hour and ten minutes away.  So instead of attending a church in person, I decided to take advantage of a ministry we have at the FC called the Web Campus, and go to church online.  We started it last winter as a means to get through the horrific Sunday weather we had (ice storms, Nor’easters, etc…) and have been improving it over the last year.  This was my first opportunity to see it live on a Sunday.  (Typically I’m busy)

I arrived at church at 10:29 am on Sunday morning armed with my Macbook pro (13″), a pair of headphones, and a bottle of water.  The 5 minute countdown was playing and “FCHoldenBilly” was there to warmly greet me to the chat forum/internet video service.  7 others joined me for the occasion, said a small box in the video section.  In about a minute and a half, the countdown turned to the FC band going all soft on me with the worship song “All who are thirsty.”  I happened to be in a room full of people walking all over the place as I watched, and I didn’t think they wanted to hear me sing anyway (I left my hat back at the room).  I started chatting with the others in the cyber room.  At this point 11 were attending church.

We talked about the band, the internet, where each of us were.  In truth, it wasn’t a lot different than my live conversations before a service in Holden.  The people were nice, and they were certainly expectant.  Eventually, the executive pastor of Fellowship, Steve Blumer came on stage and welcomed the audience.  I’m not sure if he welcomed the internet audience, though I can always look back at the video and see, but he told of the things that are to come at the FC.  I took this opportunity to venture into another website I am privy to, to see what the order of service would be, while I listened to Steve wax eloquently about all things ladies retreat and future sermon series.  This was one of the two times the video froze on my laptop.  Both times I was viewing other pages, much like reading your bulletin while the minister is preaching, right?

The band came back on, still sounding great with some worship tunes, then closing up the setlist with one of my favorites, “We shine”.  I almost stood up at this song and sang along, but security being called on me didn’t sound so great, so I just hummed and mentioned to my fellow viewers (13 by this time) that this was indeed one of my favorites.  None of them agreed.  Huh.

Currently we’re going through a series in our church called “Why we love this place” and we’re focusing on our 7 core values.  After the last song, Steve came back up and introduced both the next video we had, and the speaker for the day.  The core value was relational evangelism, so it was appropriate to have with us two missionaries filling in the gaps for me this morning.  One I won’t mention because of the nature of his ministry, and the speaker was Walt Mutti, former missionary to Venezuela and current missionary to new England – to which I mentioned to the people in the chat room – we need it.

Both missionaries did a fabulous job, and Walt provided a lot of conversation in the chat room regarding sin, the need for Christ, and how to deal with stuff going on in our lives.  To be honest, it was one of the most wonderful services I’ve been to (that I didn’t have a heavy participation in) in a long time.  The spirit was amazing, and I told my wife afterwards, it really felt like I had been to church.  I mean, I started it.  I advertise for it all the time, but who knew. 

Two shout outs I need to give up:  Billy, who is our Web Campus director.  He has worked hard to develop this ministry, and from what I’ve been told, it hasn’t always been this smooth, but his hard work has paid off.  And Al, who led the music during the service.  It was fabulous!

What about you?  Would you attend an internet service?

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