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?

This just about says it all.

I thought of a lot of things.  I thought of the times my dad used to turn on the television on Sunday afternoons and we’d watch the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish dominate everything that moved on the old parquet floor of the Boston Garden.  I thought of the times immediately after when I’d run outside, pretending I was their point guard Dennis Johnson (I was pretty short as a child) and dribbling through orange cones and chairs and anything else that could defend me.  I thought of the countless number of times that I would go out as a young teenager and practice my turn around jumper ala Larry Bird, or my baby hook ala Robert and Kevin (I had grown a bit at that point).  I thought of the Wheaties box I bought the first week I moved to Massachusetts – July 9, 1998 – with a commemorative picture of Bird on it.  I have yet to open it.

I also thought of the playoffs in 2002 when Pierce and Walker took the C’s to the semifinals, and I would sit in my pastor’s house and watch the games over chinese food and ice cream with Lonnie and Ruth Snell.  They almost did it then, but they definitely were not the best team, and typically in the NBA, the best team wins.  Ironically enough, that year Shaq and Koby were the leaders of the best team, the Lakers.
And then I thought about what Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers must have gone through last year.  The worst team in the league.  The joke – and they were a joke – of this great professional sports area.  To bring your team from that to win the world championship is a feat that not many people’s psyche would have allowed.  But quitting, losing, and ultimate defeat were words that were not even in the dictionary when Ainge pulled off the trades that would ultimately bring them to win it all.  Not just bringing in Allen and Garnett, but also Posey, House, and Brown, and still made them a team, something even this Celtics fan denied could happen in a year.
“Two years, maybe, but I’d give it three, and even then, the new “big three” will probably be showing their age too much to win a championship.”
And then last night happened, as the Celtics destroyed the Lakers in a fitting end to their dominant year, and as I sat with my friends, some old friends, some new, (A shout out to Jay, Al, Steve bramlett, Jon, and Ben inserted here) I thought about this moment,and I thought about what it takes to be a champion.
It takes a team, committed to something more than personal glory, committed to something more than a “me first” mentality, to show up on a regular basis, and admit in their action, I will do what it takes to accomplish the task at hand.
That’s what I want to be a part of, and the vision may be different for me (no trophies for this one), but the end result wil be so much more satisfying.  To see people connect into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  And I love the team I get to accomplish this goal with.

What’s your Championship?

This post was written with Randy Elrod’s Watercooler Wednesday in mind.

Last night Al and I drove to Boston to a Boston Baptist College alumni dinner (can you say free barbeque).  I have had a relationship with the school, and I’m a pastor, so I was invited to attend via email from my friend Scotty Anderson.

We twittered about it all night (yet another exciting reason to twitter), but I thought I’d say a few words about it on my blog.  BBC is a college that has its roots in the Baptist Bible Fellowship, and is a network of autonomous (unless you change the name of your church to not have the word “Baptist” anymore) churches for the purpose of things like fellowship and missions.  Typically I enjoy spending time with many of these pastors, and really, this evening was no exception.

Al and I arrived late because of traffic, and almost all the barbeque was gone when we got there.  But we dug up the food we could, which was very amazing.  And we ate.  This was good too.  Among the things on the menu:

Barbeque Beef sandwiches
Bbq baked beans
Corn bread
the most amazing cheesecake bites ever

After we ate, the program began.  There are some things that are done well during bbf meetings like this, but there is hardly anything that is done relevant.  For instance, the music was wonderful, it was just boring, with the exception of one song where this girl stole the show from her parents (who were the main performers) and sang this song with her dad that was absolutely brilliant.  The song was old-fashioned, but how it was done was great.

After the concert, a alumnus from the school came to the stage and offered some thoughts on how it prepared him for his work on the mission field.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Perhaps the only redeeming part of the night was the speaker (every BBF meeting has a preacher, not a speaker, amen!) named Paul Trinkle.  I know Paul’s brother, Ed, but had never got a chance to meet him.  His message was encouraging as he focused on the relationship of Moses and Joshua, and encouraged every Moses (old guy) to have a Joshua, and every Joshua (young guy) to become a Moses. (from Exodus 33)

After the meeting, Al and I talked to several people we know, and then we went to Dunkin Donuts with some of my closer friends from the group and talked church for a bit.  Actually, one of our friends, attempted to share with several of us why we should be more a part of the BBF.  I was not convinced.  In fact, one of the lessons I learned from the chat was that the ONLY thing I need from this organization is fellowship.  I don’t need or want their money.  I don’t need to send any of my students to their Bible college.  I only need to be able to chat with a group of guys who are going through many of the same things I am.  Here are 3 of the guys I met with:

Left to right:  Paul Trinkle, Sean Sears, Rob Willis (not pictured:  James Tomassen (sp?), Al Dancy)

We stayed there chatting until about 10:35 pm, at which time the Celtics had already beaten up on the Pistons in game 1.  I had a great time, like I always do even with the music and suits, because of relationships.  This is why I go. 

I did ask myself however if I would have rather have been here.

How about this?  My dad’s favorite teams in basketball and hockey are the Pistons and the Red Wings
My favorite teams are the Celtics and the Penguins. 

I bet there will be some trash talking!

Welcome to MoMo’s! HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

This weekend was a blast.  I went to a wedding reheasal on Frday night, then went to Gibbits Grill in Groton.  Amazing food, and the groom for the wedding that I performed is one of the top chefs there.  If you’re looking for a date night restaurant in Massachusetts,GO THERE!

The wedding was held in a different establishment I had never been to, but just as well-known, and I was looking forward to performing the ceremony.  The mother of the bride seemed a bit nervous for me, and asked if this was my first wedding.  I think she was encouraged when I told her it was my 15th.  Here’s the lucky couple.  They were great to work with, and I’m excited about their future together.

Sunday finished off our weekend with a bang.  Both Carie and I were tired from the busy schedule, but we had great services at Fellowship Church and then we went to a 30th birthday party for this guy, where the band “The Black Raspberries” played underneath a tent in the rain (Pictured above).  Good stuff!  If you ever get a chance to see them, check them out.  And I couldn’t find a link to them, so anyone knowing how I can link to them via the web, please comment!

After my venture to the party in Sturbridge, we had dinner with this guys family, while watching the Celtics win the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs  So did the Penguins by the way.  Stanley cup bound!

All in all, it was a great weekend. 

Tonight, theres a lot going on in my life.

I could be watching game 2 of this series.
Or I could watch another new episode of Lost, which is on fire right now.

But I also have my life group tonight, where 10-13 of my friends will come together to laugh, cry, talk, play, philosophize, pray, eat, and basically do whatever close friends do when they hang out.  So despite the fact I love the Celtics, and that I love the idea that Jack wil eventually be free of the island, I’m headed out to hang with these peeps.

Good times.

In case you haven’t heard the Boston Celtics crushed the Atlanta Hawks in Boston this afternoon 99-65. 
I enjoyed the game.

Did you?

 Welcome to MoMo’s! HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “amazing story”, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.

To join me, write a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week.  Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.  By the way, I do this because I love stories.  To tell them, to hear them, and to read them.

So tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…

Here’s mine.

On Sunday night, right before my Celtics destroyed the Atlanta Hawks, I had the privilege to attend a vision meeting at Northway Church in Malta, New York.  Carie and I were in town and decided to take the opportunity to attend this meeting specifically for the volunteers of Northway.  Two blogging friends, Buddy and Brian, pastor this church in New York, and I was excited to hear what God had placed in their hearts for the future of Northway.

As soon as I walked in the door, I was awed at what God is doing in this church.  Volunteers from all 3 campuses (Malta, Clifton Park, and Colonie) were packed in, catching up and eating amazing some church provided food.  It looked from first glance that their was an excitement in this church that made the place buzz like the “Lost” island did whenever someone didn’t push that dang button every 108 seconds in the 2nd season.

After a while, the meeting started with one of the church bands leading us in some sweet music like “How great is our God”, “Shout to the Lord”, and “Let God arise”.  They were great – very professional and seemed to really enjoy themselves as they worshipped.

Then Buddy came on stage and introduced a first class video made by their production team (or whatever they call it) called “The Revolution” which highlited Buddy riding on a helicoptor and flying over all 3 campuses of Northway Church.  He shared some of the amazing things God is doing there at the church and through it all, I could see not only his passion for what was going on there, but the passion of the hundreds of volunteers looking on, obviously overwhelmed by what how God is using them.  By the end of the video, I was inspired and wanted to get in on the revolution myself.

After the video, Buddy came up to address the crowd.  he challenged them to Look back (to see what God has done), Look up (to see what He’s doing), and look forward (to see where God is taking us).  I was challenged in my own life to do these things and appreciated his authenticity as he tearfully recalled the early days of Northway, and the changes that had gone on in the process.

After Buddy finished, the band came up once again as the crowd sang “How Great is our God.”

Afterwards, I chatted with Buddy briefly and thanked him for his vision and for allowing me in on what God is doing there at Northway Church.  I believe we have a similar vision at Fellowship Church, and am more excited than ever to allow God to use us to carry it out.

How about you?

As a child of parents who pastored a church, I had some great babysitters.  One of those babysitters had a son who about two years older than me.  That son turned me toward sports in Pittsburgh, specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I love the Steelers.  I always have and I always will.

But I also like all the other Pittsburgh teams:  The Pirates and the Penguins.  The NBA didn’t support a team from the Steel city, so I, like my father before me, was captivated by the great Larry Bird.

Years go by, and the Steelers, under the “Jaw” Coach Bill Cowher, just kept improving, while the Penguins and the Pirates, just kept stinking it up.  I cheered for them anyway, always with some hope for the future.

About 10 years ago I moved to New England.  The first week I was here, I was grocery shopping and found a box of Wheaties with Larry Bird on the front of the box.  I was in my own personal sports heaven.  But I continued to cheer for the other Pittsburgh teams.  Along the way, I found that New England’s enthusiasm for their pro sports teams was infectious.  Imagine 6 states sharing one team per sport.  And they all focused on the pro teams, because by in large, their college teams are really lousy compared to the rest of the country.  Along the way, I have also begun to cheer for and occasionally watch the New England Revolution, who are frequently competitive in the MLS.

Before I go any farther, let me just say that the day will never come when I am no longer a Steelers fan.  I don’t like the Patriots, and they are one of my favorite teams to hate.  I WILL ALWAYS BE A STEELERS FAN, and probably I’ll always be one in New England.  I’ll always be a Penguin fan too, but not for the same reasons.  Basically I don’t care about hockey enough to change my fanship.  Plus four words:  Mario Lemieux Sidney Crosby.

Along the way though, something has taken place that I can no longer ignore.  I no longer care about the Pirates, who constantly lose year after year because their owners seem to care enough to build a new park, but don’t care enough to put a decent team together since 1993 (see Jim Leyland, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Andy Van Slyke).  In that same time, I’ve watched several Red Sox games on TV and at Fenway, and seen miracles of enormous capacity (see 2004 playoff race).

So I’m going to do something that I haven’t done since I was in elementary school in Ohio – I’m going to switch my allegiance in baseball from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Boston Red Sox.  So Pirate Fans (if there are any left), you can hate me, and Red Sox nation, I hope you will embrace me.

Favorite:
NBA Team:  Celtics
NFL Team:  Steelers
NHL Team:  Penguins
MLB Team:  Red Sox
MLS Team:  Revolution
College Teams:  Universities of Michigan & Pitt

And I can’t wait for the 2008 playoff race!