DaveNelsonsBlog.com

The Rumors Are True

Dave Nelson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:05 GMT

After 18 exhaustive months of looking and praying for an additional location to launch a 2nd Great Lakes Church campus... it's finally happening.

This past week, we signed the necessary paperwork for leasing the Renaissance Movie Theater in Racine, WI. The timing couldn't have been better.

On Sunday, we passed the 1500 people mark for the first time. WE ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF SPACE. I honestly don't know how we're pulling off services anymore. Our massive volunteer force is implementing new things every week and I'm only hearing about them second hand. It is an exciting time for our faith family.

I've never claimed that anything we do at Great Lakes Church is EPIC... BETTER THAN... OR MORE OUTSTANDING than any other church or organization. It's not. Nothing we do is all that unique or impressive. What we do have is a whole bunch of people passionately committed to the vision of making the message of God's grace easy & accessible to as many people as possible.

Jesus is the hero of the story!

Stats and stories can come across as arrogance. I realize that. But I also realize that on occasion we all need to be reminded that our prayers, hard work, ongoing commitments, and financial sacrifices are making a difference.

Let's enjoy the moment and not just talk about the past or the potential of the future.

It's a fun season in the life of our church. And even if it wasn't... God would still be amazing!

-Dave

PS - Here are some pics of the Renaissance Theater

Love, Marriage, Baby Carriage - Part 2

Dave Nelson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:57:24 GMT

Every marriage has problems. You are not alone.

Two people becoming one is pretty much impossible. That's why Ephesians 5 says, "This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one."

Think about it. Marriage is two individuals with completely different upbringings, traditions and backgrounds trying to merge their lives together.

At some point in your marriage relationship things are going to get really tough. There will be seasons where you're going to want to call it quits. The work of staying together is going to seem way too much. BUT DON'T LOSE HOPE.

2/3 of unhappy marriages will become happy in 5 years if the couple commits to going through the hard work of weathering the storm together (Tim Keller in The Meaning of Marriage).

Chris Rock asks, "Do you want to be single and lonely or married and bored?" The good news is that you don't have to settle for either one!

The couples who we all admire are the ones who've gone through the discipline and hard work necessary to achieve the love they have. If someone's marriage looks easy, I promise you it took a long time to get to that point.

Here's a video of Rindy and I that was shown on Sunday morning as we talked about the challenges we've had to go through in our journey to a happy and healthy marriage...

Love, Marriage, Baby Carriage

Dave Nelson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:10:53 GMT

Yesterday, at Great Lakes Church, we kicked off our new series, "Love, Marriage, Baby Carriage".

There was lots of energy and lots of people. In fact, outside of Easter, it was our highest attended Sunday yet!

If you're wondering why we do a relationship series every year, here's why:

Healthy marriages don't happen overnight. They take time. A one-time talk, a good book, a conference or even an entire series on relationships isn't going to help anybody long-term. Marriage is a journey of growing, learning, discovering and maturing. So I look at any series we do on relationships as part of an ongoing discussion about love, sex, dating and marriage.

The fact is, before I got married I struggled praying regularly, picking up after myself, eating healthy, being concerned for others, doing chores, and a bunch of other stuff I could add to the list.

Then I said, "I do".

And I discovered that Rindy was also coming into the marriage with her own list of struggles.

No wonder marriage is tough.

This coming Sunday, Rindy and I are planning on talking about some of the lowest points and biggest challenges we've had in our relationship and the journey we're on to build a marriage that goes the distance.

Church Membership

Dave Nelson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:55:14 GMT

The whole concept of church membership feels a little archaic to me. It sounds very institutional, obligatory, and in alignment with traditional church. Some would even argue that it's not all that biblical.

So over the past year I've wrestled with the entire concept of church membership to ensure we're not just doing something at Great Lakes Church to do it. Here's the summary of my thoughts:

1) The local church is a faith family.

2) The local church is the key to spiritual health and growth for every Christian.

3) The local church is the best environment to actively live out our faith.

4) Being a follower of Jesus has many responsibilities including: praying for, caring for, encouraging, challenging and serving the people in our faith family.

In summary, church membership is much more than a formality. It's a way of identifying ourselves with a local group of believers and partnering with them to bring the message of hope, healing and forgiveness to as many people as possible.

Here is a brilliant article on this topic, if you're interested (click here).

By the way, if you attend Great Lakes Church, you can sign up for our upcoming GLC 101 (membership class) here.

The Great Rivalry

Dave Nelson — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:43:20 GMT

Everybody loves to watch people battle for first place. That's why rivalries exist. They always have and always will.

Coke vs. Pepsi

McDonalds vs. Burger King

Packers vs. Bears

Mac vs. PC

Justin Bieber vs. Puberty

One of the greatest rivalries of all time is one that we're not even aware of. It's taking place inside of us. It's the battle between gratitude and entitlement.

In Luke 17, we read a well known story of Jesus healing 10 individuals with leprosy and only one returning to say thanks. At the end of the story Jesus asks, "Why didn't the other nine come back to say thanks... where are they?".

From our perspective, it looks like the 9 lepers who were healed were totally ungrateful. But most likely that's not the case. Most likely, they were incredibly grateful, but got so busy with life they never returned to say thank you.

When we don't say thank you, it communicates that we're not grateful. People aren't mind-readers, so when we don't say thanks it communicates that we feel entitled. Learn to express gratitude. One handwritten card. One phone call. One verbal expression of thanks makes all the difference in the world!

Slay Your Dragons Before Breakfast

Dave Nelson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:50:29 GMT

I kicked off 2012 with just one New Year's resolution: Get up an hour earlier and do something productive with the time.

That's it.

I know it doesn't sound all that impressive, but it's been a whole lot more effective that coming up with a long list of things I'll never do. The results have been amazing! I'm getting a bunch of stuff done.

And guess what? Today I read Michael Hyatt's blog and it was freakin' brilliant! It pretty much summarized what I've been experiencing.

It makes sense when you think about it. So here it is: Slay Your Dragons Before Breakfast

Just read it... apply it... and who knows, someday you may have your own stories of the dragons you're slaying before breakfast!

The "SEX CHURCH"

Dave Nelson — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:57:29 GMT

3 years ago, in January of 2009, Great Lakes Church began holding weekly services. Wow! Can you believe that? The time has flown by.

In some ways, it feels like just yesterday that I received a call from the local school district informing us that we had lost our lease with the school that we were renting, because we had decided to take on the topic of sex (and advertise it). That one event sent our less-than-one-month-old church into crisis mode! I've never been more panicked in my life.

Looking back, it all worked out great. Losing our lease with the school started a chain of events that eventually led to us to being at Tinseltown Movie Theater. I can't imagine doing church anywhere else.

But here's something interesting: Today, 36 months later, I still run into people who ask me if I'm the pastor of the "sex church". My answer, almost always, is "You know it!"

The question never offends me, but truth be known... I never want that to be our identity. I'm not interested in being known as the "sex church", the "beer drinking church", or the "church that plays loud music".

I want to be known as the church that loves God and is obsessed with showing His grace to others. That's it. It's nothing complicated or fancy, but it's what I'm hoping to be identified as.

"By this will all people know you are my followers, if you love one another." John 13:35

The Myth That Christians Buy Into

Dave Nelson — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:52:57 GMT

If you've been around Christians for awhile you've probably heard someone refer to a pastor or church leader as "anointed" (meaning: chosen one).

This is a myth.

It's an Old Testament way of thinking that goes against what Jesus taught.

Jesus is "The Anointed One". In Luke 4:18-19, he says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor..."

Everything else Jesus taught us was about how essential each and every person is to building and expanding God's Kingdom. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, God has given you the Holy Spirit to make a difference in this world and in His Church.

This means all of us are essential. There is no place for celebrity pastors or celebrity thinking in God's Kingdom. It's all about Him.

When God uses people in a special way, we like to believe there is something special about the person (ie - the anointing). The fact is, when you are open to being used by God, He uses you in conjunction with your personality, talents and passions! God uses rich people and poor people. He uses individuals at the end of their life and some just starting out. He uses men and women. He uses pastors and mortgage brokers.

As much as I'd like for people to bow before me and kiss my ring, there is nothing biblical about it.

The Most Frustrating Thing About Christianity...

Dave Nelson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:50:40 GMT

There's a lot that I love about being a follower of Jesus Christ.

I love the message of grace, the hope of heaven, what the cross represents, the fact that I have a worldwide church family and the constant challenge to become more and more like Jesus in my character (Sorry, Kirk Cameron films don't make my list of "likes").

But it's not all roses.

When we open our hearts to God, our souls are converted, but our flesh is not. I hate this.

No matter how much we love Jesus. No matter how much we pray. Now matter how much Scripture we can quote. It's always going to be a challenge to reflect the character of Christ.

We're always going to experience the tension of forgiving people who don't deserve it.

We're always going to struggle with true generosity.

We're always going to battle lust.

We're always going to want to retaliate when someone hurts us.

We're always going to enjoy gossip.

We're always going to hope our "enemy" doesn't do well.

It's just reality. Our flesh will never be converted. The only thing we can do is tame it and discipline it and control it (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Am I Missing Something???

Dave Nelson — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:51:41 GMT

I woke up today to hear a bunch of commentators talking about how Rick Perry's campaign went up in smoke last night as a result of a pretty big brain lapse (see video below)...

Really?!?! I swear I'm missing something. I honestly couldn't care less about the Perry campaign, but to say it "went up in smoke" is about as big of an exaggeration as one can make.

This past week I somehow gave out the wrong address for my house to a Growth Group that was coming over for breakfast. I don't even think I'm fit to run my own life.

It is amazing how much we care about the dumb things that other people do, but when we do something dumb we expect mercy and grace 'cause after all, "we're only human".

This is why Jesus taught us to treat others in the same way that we want to be treated (Luke 6:31).

Seriously, if Rick Perry's blunder made your blood boil or cause you to assume he's an idiot... get a freakin' life!!! You are a loser.

And no... I'm not voting for Rick Perry. I promise.

Risk

Dave Nelson — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:00:49 GMT

The way I see it, I've only taken one real risk in my entire life... starting a church.

I'm being serious. I think that getting married, changing places of employment, and moving to new cities all FELT like risks at the time, but in reality that we're all pretty safe bets. It's not that much of a risk to move to a new area when there is a "guaranteed" salary in an established setting. It's also not that much of a risk to get married when you love someone and enjoy being around them.

When we started Great Lakes Church (January 2009) the first series we ever did was simply called, "DNA". The talks covered 5 specific topics that we wanted to define our church. "Taking Risks" was one of them.

Since that time, we've taken almost no risks at all. At times I've convinced myself that we were taking a risk, but really we weren't. We've tried new things. We've experimented with stuff. We've even spent money and used resources... but we haven't really done anything that had a good possibility of failure.

2012 is going to be different. We're going add service time options and move towards starting a campus (fall 2012). For the first time since our launch, it's becoming impossible for me to keep up with what's going on in every area of the church.

Yes, I am peeing myself over this. However, if we allow fear to paralyze us and our love for comfort to keep us from moving forward, we're going to simply EXIST as a church. For me personally, I think that's a pretty lame place to be and not worth giving my life to.

Spiritual Gifts

Dave Nelson — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:33:12 GMT

There a few things in the Bible that make me uncomfortable. I mean, really uncomfortable. Spiritual gifts is one of them.

According to numerous Bible passages (1 Corinthians 12:7-11, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Ephesians 4:11-13, etc.), when someone opens their hearts to God's grace and becomes a follower of Jesus Christ they are given four things: forgiveness, eternal life, God's Spirit and a SPIRITUAL GIFT!

This is very mysterious to me. I don't understand it.

Some of the spiritual gifts sound somewhat normal! The gift of hospitality is one example. Another example is the gift of mercy.

Some people are given the gift of faith and are able to believe God for the impossible! Others are given the gift of generosity and never seem to flinch in sharing their resources with others. Those gifts are pretty cool.

But there are some gifts that make me really uneasy (tongues and prophecy are two examples).That doesn't mean those gifts don't exist. It just means they have a very mystical element to them and can easily be used and abused.

That being said, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 puts everything into perspective by saying that without love even the most supernatural and mystical spiritual gifts are useless!

So without further ado, if you're interested in taking a spiritual gifts assessment to help you figure out what your gift(s) may be, here is a test that covers some of them (click here). Obviously this isn't error-proof, but it's a great start!

Derailed (Part 3)

Dave Nelson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:09:36 GMT

None of us want our life to become derailed, but the potential for it happening is extremely high. I've already addressed two of the reasons for this, here's a third:

3) Unwillingness to Accept Personal Responsibility

I blogged about this one year ago.

When our life starts to derail in any area, by far, most of the time, it is the result of a series of decisions that we've made and are responsible for. Period!

When our marriage starts to derail, more often than not it's because we haven't acknowledged our faults, given much thought to any of their needs or been faithful in keeping our marriage vows.

When our finances start to derail, usually it's 'cause we've spent more than we've made, lacked a saving's plan, lived without margin or thought we could beat some mortgage company at their own game.

When our families start to derail, it's very likely that we haven't given the time, put in the energy or made the emotional investment necessary for a healthy family.

But if it makes you feel better, you can blame somebody else for your problems. It seems like everyone else does.

Derailed (Part 2)

Dave Nelson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:08:46 GMT

Life has proven that great people are derailed by a whole lot more than just sex or money.

Lack of Self-Awareness is a big one!!!

Of course, none of us ever feel like we're lacking self-awareness. That's kind of the point. So here are some questions to ask yourself:

1) When is the last time that somebody told you a difficult truth about yourself (ie - you're arrogant!)?

If the only person you can think of is your mom, and it was over a year ago, you're in trouble!

2) When is the last time somebody challenged you on something without you becoming defensive or justifying yourself?

3) What are your top 5 strengths?

4) What are your top 5 weaknesses?

5) How quickly are you willing to admit when you are wrong on something?

6) When are you the most insensitive to others?

Our entire country has become derailed financially because of lots of arrogance and people in high places turning a blind eye to problems that we're clearly right in front of them. If we're not careful, we'll do the same thing with our life. All of us have watched people become victims of their own actions and our only thought was, "It's not a surprise. I saw that coming a long time ago!" Don't be that person.

Derailed (Part 1)

Dave Nelson — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:55:57 GMT

Rarely does anybody's life get off track in a second. It takes time. It's usually a poor decision... followed by another poor decision... followed by another poor decision.

When someone's life becomes derailed, often the people closest to them aren't shocked. They saw it coming, but never felt like they were in a position to say anything.

Other than sex or money, what are the things that have the potential to derail our lives?

1) ENTITLEMENT

We've all seen this. Someone works really really hard at something and then they finally begin to experience the rewards of all their efforts. Good for them!

But success can be really tricky. It often becomes the breeding ground for an entitlement mentality. It produces such thinking as, "I made this company what is it, I deserve to be given special treatment".

It's ENTITLEMENT that causes people to treat the company's finances like their own personal ATM.

It's ENTITLEMENT that motivates people to walk all over others.

It's ENTITLEMENT that hardens someone's heart from gratitude 'cause after all... they deserve it!

Sorry, but none of are entitled to anything. Period.

No Comment

Dave Nelson — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:30:38 GMT

It's been a very difficult discipline for me to develop, but I've finally come to the point in my life where I don't feel it necessary to comment on every little thing.

Years ago, I somehow thought it was important for me to weigh in on every question and/or decision that people were wrestling with...

-Is Harry Potter evil?

-Are people born gay?

-Are we living in "end times"?

-How do you explain evolution?

-Does God predetermine who is and is not going to be "saved"?

-Is it wrong to let my kids celebrate Halloween?

Regardless of how passionate you and I are about some of the cultural and/or religious issues we encounter... let's be realistic about something: We might be wrong.

Now, that doesn't mean I won't ever have an opinion. MOST LIKELY I WILL. It just means I'm not always going to share my thoughts (based on who's asking, why they are asking and the context they are asking in). Even when I do share, it doesn't matter how passionate, well thought out or definitive my answer is. The fact is, more often than not it is just an opinion and not a fact!

Too Busy to Parent (Part 2)

Dave Nelson — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:33:45 GMT

Over the years, I've received multiple requests for ideas on where to bring kids for one-on-one vacations. I promise you, none of the places I've taken trips will blow you away. But here is a list of some of them (based on where we were living at the time):

Orange County, CA (Discovery Science Center, a movie and a hotel w/ a pool)

Monroe, WA (Reptile zoo, a movie, a park and a hotel w/ a pool)

Seattle, WA (downtown, the Space Needle and a hotel w/ a pool)

Seattle, WA (overnight cruise to Vancouver, Canada... then taking the train back)

Everett, WA (circus and hotel w/ a pool)

Wisconsin Dells, WI (Great Wolf Lodge and tubing at Cascade Mountain)

Kansas City, KS (Kansas City Zoo, a state park, a pumpkin farm, and a hotel w/ a pool)

Milwaukee, WI (glow in the dark mini-golf, a movie theater where you can eat a meal while watching, and a hotel with a pool)

Kenosha, WI (overnight camping trip)

Minneapolis, MN (Mall of America and hotel w/ a pool)

You get the picture. It doesn't take much to build memories with our kids.

Too Busy to Parent (Part 1)

Dave Nelson — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:06:19 GMT

Like everyone else in the world, I tend to live my life on fast-forward.

I'm addicted to the FEELING of busyness (and you are too!). That's not a bad thing. It keeps us from wasting our life.

But sometimes my busyness keeps me from parenting. I can go weeks without spending more than a couple hours focused on my kids. So, I've had to do some pretty intentional planning to make sure I'm not losing the relationships that ultimately mean the most to me.

By far, the best plan I've ever come up with is taking individual vacations with each of my kids every year. They are short and relatively inexpensive trips, but it means the world to them!

This past weekend, I spoke for my buddy Matt Cox at a church that he and his friends started 18 months ago. They meet in a Jr High building. On Sunday, they had over 500 people. Wow. Simply wow!

Instead of doing this trip alone, I brought my 11 year old daughter Alyssa with me. A State Park, the zoo and Oklahoma Joe's BBQ was all that was needed to make her feel like she was the center of my world. Totally worth it.

Behind the Scenes in Starting a Church

Dave Nelson — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:25:43 GMT

This is a longer than usual blog post... but one of my pals, Wayne Northup, is launching a church in New Orleans next Sunday and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

I don't think I'll ever forget the weeks leading up to the official launch of Great Lakes Church. It was a surreal experience. All of the planning, praying, stressing, mobilizing people and freakin' hard work FINALLY began paying off.

It still does.

It pays off with stories of how God brings hope, healing and forgiveness to those who need it most.

This will be the story of Saints Community Church (launching October 2nd).

I talked with Wayne this morning and asked him to give me some bullet point answers to specific questions. His answers will give you a behind the scenes look into what it takes to launch a church.

Why New Orleans?

15 years ago I visited the city of New Orleans and somehow the city got inside of me. I can't escape the gut feeling that this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm convinced if we can raise the level of hope in this city, it will raise the level of hope in the entire region.

What best prepared you for launching a church?

Reading almost 50 books on church planting (one of the top books was Nelson Searcy's, "Launch").
Surrounding myself with "coaches" who can speak into my life.

What have been your biggest challenges?

Finding a facility to meet in. It was a nightmare trying to find a place with the right location, the right amount of seating, good parking, etc.
Mobilizing the launch team to PERSONALLY invite people and not just hope people show up because of advertising.

What personal investments did you make to launch the church?

Moved to New Orleans and immediately took a $1500 a month pay cut (forcing my family and I to live on a very tight budget).
Incredibly long and challenging work hours.
Leaving a city and environment where I was known and loved... to a city where I'm completely unknown.

There you have it. It's not a detailed look, but it's a quick look at the early days of a church. Let's be praying for Wayne, his wife Kristi, and their entire launch team (45 people!) as they begin watching the dream unfold.

If you want a detailed look of their journey, you can download Wayne & Kristi's book by clicking here.

Dating Jesus

Dave Nelson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:09:24 GMT

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to be part of one of the most amazing youth groups on the planet.

I'm not exaggerating.

Hundreds of us students would gather together every Wednesday night to focus all of the energy and passion in our bodies onto one thing: GOD! It was a rush. Every time we got together it was the same agenda: pray, sing, and talk about Jesus. To add fuel to a fire that was already going, we would have retreats, youth conventions and spontaneous worship gatherings.

It was like we were dating Jesus. Everything was new and emotional. We couldn't wait 'til the next time we were in His presence.

Fast forward 20 years. I'm reminded that the hype and passion and emotions and feeling doesn't last forever. At some point it's going to fade. Then it will come back. Then it will fade again.

In many ways it's like a marriage. At some point, commitment needs to take over in order to prepare us for the highs and lows of our spiritual journey.

So when I don't feel like it, I still pray... I still worship... I still serve... I still study the Bible... I still keep moving forward. Because following Jesus is a long-term commitment that cannot be based on short-term emotions.