A sunny chilly day in Worcester, Massachusetts found me driving to pick up my friend Jason Destratis for lunch at Moe’s.  As Carie and I are attempting to be wise with our money, I was jubilant about our restaurant choice because I had a coupon for a free meal at Moes.  Both Jay and I requested the attendance of our friend Steve Bramlett to join us, but he had foolishly locked himself into a staff meeting where he works.

For whatever reason I found myself quite warm driving to pick Jay up, and rolled the windows down, which of course is another way of saying I pushed a button to mechanically lower the pane of glass.  The sun shone brightly down onto my face and for a short time the 33 degrees felt like 75.  When I picked Jay up, there was no doubt where we were going and there was no doubt what we were hungry for – The Homewrecker, chips, salsa, and maybe even a bit of queso.

As I drove onto Lincoln St. the driver of a car in one lane decided very quickly to steer into my lane, causing me to face the Lincoln St. Plaza, almost perpendicular to the 5 year old haven of materialism and gluttony.  Target, Lowe’s, Barnes and Nobles, Texas Roadhouse, and Papa Gino’s are just a few of the eating and shopping establishments dedicated to causing us to stumble in the aforementioned areas of decadence.

I watched as Jason leaned over to see (perhaps for the first time) the newest restaurant being added to the  collection of “the Man” machines (thank you Homey the clown, circa 1991), 5 Guys, burgers and fries. “Is it open?” Jay said, salivating like an 13 year old girl over a Thanksgiving feast of Twilightian Vampires during a new moon. “I don’t think so man” I said almost regretfully.  Then with a glimmer of hope, while turning my right blinker on, I said, “But we can always find out!”

As we drove in, the plaza appeared a bit chaotic, but this was because of the Christmas season and shopping and had little to do with 5 Guys, so we drove past the store slowly, and though there appeared to be a few people in the newest greasy spoon in town, I hypothesized that training was going on before the big day, whenever that might be.  So Jay made the call:  ”All right, let’s just head down to Moe’s.”  Just then appeared in my vision a phone number – 508-853-2000 – you can call it right now to see if its for real.

Done?  Good, on with the story.

As I drove away I decided to call the number to see if they actually were open.  ”Hello, 5 guys,” the young lady cheerily answered as she picked up the phone.  I only assume she picked up the phone, though she could have just rolled it up, like my car window.  ”Yes,” I said happy to get a response, “Are you ‘guys’ open yet?  Even if it’s just 1 of you?”  ”Huh?”  ”Nothing, are you open for business yet?”  ”Oh, no, I’m sorry,” she said, having might as well of stabbed me with a cajun fry, and then taken it back.  ”We open tomorrow.”  ”Okay, thank you” I said trying to sound undissapointed and non desperate for the kind of grease that coats your arteries and gets people like House to theorize what’s wrong with me.

“But you can come get some free food” she countered quickly with an obvious smile in her voice that you didn’t need videophone to see.  Now I was responding “huh?”  ”Yes, from now (11:58 am) until 1:30 pm we’re giving away free food.”  I hung up.  I didn’t need to be polite.  I would be seeing her in about 26 seconds.

So Jay and I jumped out of the car and walked with springs in our step and smiles on our faces into the red and white checkered chamber of clogging.  We found what the phone answerer said to be true, ordered and then did our part to help the hour and a half event go viral.  From Twitter to Facebook to phone calls, we did it all, and eventually accompanied by our friends, Billy, Al, and Jake.

And that my friends, is how 5 guys got free food at 5 Guys.

Steve Bramlett would have made it 6.

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?

Billy, Al, and Steve hanging with a cow?

So I love sports, and I love competition.

As I grow older, one of the aspects of sports I’m coming to appreciate more and more is the teamwork that’s involved in team sports.  I’m also coming to appreciate the idea of team in every aspect of my life.  So for the next several afternoons I’ll be sharing some of the favorite “teams” in my own life.  Some of these are actual teams, and some of them are, shall we say, metaphysical teams (if there is such a thing) that exist to better an aspect of my life that is lacking.

Today’s favorite team is my fellow leaders at Fellowship Church.  They consistently impress with me with their desire to improve and to see people connecting and growing in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  They work together and we’ve seen great results here in central Massachusetts because of their hard work and innovative style.  I love the stuff God is accomplishing through this team, so please allow me to introduce them to you:

Steve Blumer:  The administrative genius on our team, and getting better every day.  This dude has his stuff together and you just know he loves the church and what we’re about.  He’s totally different from me and yet, somehow the same.  (hmmm, that was deep)  He’s done an amazing job at the role of Family Ministries director, and over the next 6 months will be transitioning into being the executive pastor of the FC.  I believe our church will be 100x’s better when that transition takes place.

Billy McGuiness:  Billy has just recently transitioned from our First Impressions director to the new Fellowship Web Campus director.  If you’ve checked out FC TV in the last 3 months, you’ve seen a lot of the amazing work he’s done to transition our church into the 21st century through the web.  I love what Billy brings to the table in sacrifice, excellence in web development, and just being a team player.

Al Dancy:  Al has been a close friend of mine for years now, and as soon as I took the lead pastor role at Fellowship, he came on board to revolutionize our Sunday morning programming.  He’s doing that now with his relevant style, his creative imagination, and his desire to see God move wherever he’s serving.  When Billy and Al get together though, watch out – there are going to be some laughs all around.

Jeff Campbell:  Jeff is our resident progressive thinker, or as he would put it “deep thinker”.  He has grown more in his faith than I have seen anyone ever grow in the time I’ve known him.  He’s the introvert of the bunch, but his leadership over our life group ministry speaks for itself.  This guy also communicates on Sunday mornings when I’m out and about, and sometimes when I’m still in the building.

Pam Watson:  She has no blog or web site, but in some ways, this newest member of our team is more experienced and prepared for her new role as the First Impressions director than anyone else I’ve mentioned, myself included.  She loves Fellowship Church, having been here since 1998 (about 7 months longer than me), and has a desire to see people feel like this place is their church home when they come in.  Her experience as a project coordinator of the UMass medical school Standardized patient program will help in her endeavor to unify her own guest services team to accomplish the mission God has given them, so that maybe one day they will be her favorite team!

So that, my friends,  is one of my favorite teams!

This last Sunday the unthinkable happened, and it scared me.

We had just gone through an amazing service focusing on the story of God, and the music had been great, I felt comfortable with the message God had given to me, and the energy in the room was awesome.  Al and the band were finishing up their last song, “All we”, which was rocking my face off (Thanks Darren).  The music silenced and people cheered when up onto the stage walked a young lady who had been sitting towards the front and who had come in by herself.

I can tell you this now because she eventually told me, but at the time I had no clue who she was – she had very little church experience and only then had attended Catholic churches.  She had told a few people that she was looking for something more.

I noticed as I preached that day that she rarely made eye contact, so I had no idea what she thought about the service, the music, or my message.  So it would be an underestimation to say that I was nervous as I watched her walk up the front stairs and take the microphone stand from Al.  Here’s what she said:

“Most of you guys don’t know me. Tina and Steve do, that’s why I’m here.  I just had tears s come over me, and now tears again. (wipes her face)  Let’s just put it this way, I have 3 upcoming rock concerts I’m going to that, you know, you pay for, big names like the Dropkick Murphys, and I didn’t even know these guys were here (pointing to Al and motioning to the band), (Scream/cheer from the audience, so next phrase is unheard), …but all I need to do is come here on Sundays and come to a concert!”  (she turns around and shakes Al’s hand, and he gives her a hug)

I talked to her after the service, and she clearly loved what she had just experienced.  She filled out a card and signed up for just about everything we have,including wanting to know more about life groups, getting involved in service, and most importantly, she writes that she started a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I wonder if trying to focus and reach a younger generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it because (my mindset):  “If we just slowed down a bit or put some more piano in the mix, older Christians would come too.”  And then I realize…

I’m not a manipulating salesman who does this for the money. I do this because I’m called to reach people like Kirsten, who one day found herself on stage in front of a large group of people she didn’t know, thanking them for their input into her life that day.  And I do this for Phil, a 20 something first time guest this last Sunday.  Phil came as a guest of a member of our church, and who called her up Sunday afternoon thanking her for bringing him to Fellowship Church.  Phil hadn’t stepped foot into a church for about 10 years, since he last left the catholic school he attended then.  And I do this because of the group of 50 and over friends who made their way to my office on Sunday morning to pray for our service and to ask God to work in the lives of people that morning.

And we’re called to reach people like Kirsten or Phil so that one day they will grow to be Christ followers like Garret or Keith and Dawn or Steve or Ian and Katie or Al, Billy,Jeff or Pam, all of who are maturing in the Lord and who understand that we are not a part of the Kingdom of God so that we can start programs to make church people happy, but to reach and teach other people to grow in Christ.  This ensures that the real church of Christ will last far beyond my time here on this earth.  Nothing makes me more excited than this!

And it’s why I exist.

Even the best sports teams eventually lose momentum.  How they respond to that loss is the important thing however, as their response can either put them on track to get back on the momentum band wagon, or keep them far away.  The Celtics are the world champions, right?  And right now they’ve lost a bit of momentum by losing to two  really good teams, quite possibly their two best competitors for the title.  But Garrett officially tells me at Finders on Friday not to worry, because “defense in the playoffs is totally different than in the regular season,and the Celtics are a defensive team.”

We’ll see how that goes, but now for my point.  I’m thrilled at some of the momentum we’ve built this spring at the FC.  God is really working in people’s hearts and each Sunday I walk away feeling like God is doing something big here in this church.  Here are a few of the things I’ve seen:

Our services have been pretty packed as of late, having to add rows regularly, but the cool thing is that we’ve also added regular attenders, including one family of 10.  If that doesn’t fill a row or two…

The spirit in our services has been electric. Thank you God!

Al and his team have done some amazing planning as far as creativity in the services.  The music and videos have been just what the doctor ordered.  And for me, by the time I get up to speak, the commotion is down to a minimum.  People are focused.

(for the record, the speech at the end of the service was not planned, nor did I even know the person who walked up to the stage and spoke into the mic.  But she evidentally really liked our service because she’ll be back next week she says.)

The web campus, led by Billy, has seen more than 10 attenders every week for the last month, includingpeople from New York, Vermont, Ohio, and Germany.

Is it me, or is our ministry for children the best in the state of Massachusetts?  Yes, I think it is.  Great job Steve and the rest of the Family ministries Team!  Kids love going to our church.

Some great things are happening at Fellowship,and you can see it yourself.  Check out this link to view our services on demand.

One more thing I’m excited about is my new small group is starting up this Wednesday.  If you’re looking to get involved at Fellowship, this would be a great way to start.  We’re meeting at the Holman household this Wed. at 6:30 pm.

How have you seen God work at Fellowship?

It’s Fellowship Week and I want to introduce you to Billy McGuiness, our First Impressions Director and the guy who is making the web campus at FC a force to be reckoned with on the info superhighway.

Billy and his wife Colleen came to the FC in the summer of 2001, and they have helped us lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ for the last 7.5 years.  Billy has a servants heart and the talent to make things happen in whatever he’s doing.  Currently in the last 2 months he’s made some impressive headway in turning our web campus into a viable option for attending church and building authentic community @ FC, which has really been a help for people here in Central Massachusetts as each week it seems we’re getting another snow storm.

Billy says that the craziest thing that has happened to him since he’s been here is watching our friend, Alvin the Chipmunk, find his way onto the stage a few times on Sunday Mornings @ Fellowship, and the greatest thing about FC to Billy:  The commitment to build a community of people who want to love Jesus more, and not an earthly kingdom of Sunday morning isolation.

You can find Billy’s blog here, and if you ever want to actually find him, you can see him running the web campus on Sundays, in his FC office on Mon., Wed., and Fri., or hanging out with his Colleen and his two wonderful daughters, Emilie and Erynne.

Give a shout out to Billy, an all around great guy from Fellowship Church!

I’ll be sending out an email about this tomorrow morning, but I figured I’d spread the word here first.

Billy, our  Sunday Morning Impressions director, and Steve, our Family Ministries director have teamed up to provide a great experience each week as we stream our services live here.

Now we’ve taken it a step further and are able to keep the prior weeks service available for viewing throughout the week.  For instance, the service held on January 4, 2009 can be viewed right now or anytime you care to watch.

As time goes on we’ll improve our production quality, but I’m excited that we can reach out to more people, specifically people who are volunteering in our Family Ministy, senior citizens who might not be able to get to church, or those who are travelling or home sick.

Thanks to those of you who are a part of the Fellowship Church family!  2009 is going to be an amazing year for the church!

Your thoughts on church online?

Earlier in a post I wrote that I was going to write about our lead team retreat this weekend.  It looks like I don’t have to, because Billy, our first impressions director, already did.  Check out this incredible post on Billy’s blog and get a glimpse of the weekend we all had.

Dream, dream, dream.

So yesterday I’m going through my blogs via google reader, and I come upon Vince Antonucci’s latest blog.  For those of you who don’t know, Vince is the author of the book we did as a church this spring called “I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” 
It appears that Vince was checking out the blogs where people were writing about him and his book and found BIlly’s blog,and specifically this post, which mentions the author and the book.
So anyway, congratulations Billy for making the big time, and to you too Vince, for writing such an amazing book.  By the way, the jury’s out and it’s about 80%-20% – 80 love the book and 20, well, let’s just say they don’t get your sense of humor.

I can relate.

To you, that is.