kent chevalier

Today I’m meeting with several pastors from the North Hills of Pittsburgh.  It was a burden on my heart several months ago that I was losing touch with like-minded pastors in the city, so I sent an invitation out to some guys that are around my age that are no longer in youth ministry and are either Lead Pastors, Executive Pastors, Campus Pastors, etc.  I know that I need to be connected to guys that are doing similar kinds of ministry as me.  I need to learn from them, share what I’m doing, hear their ideas (and borrow them!) and trade stories.

Pastoral Community is an absolute essential for me.  I need it.  I welcome it.  I’ve missed it.  It challenges me to get beyond myself and into the minds and hearts of other guys that are in the trenches.  It’s important for me.  It’s important for the Church of Pittsburgh.

I’m looking forward to meeting with these pastors today!

I have found this resource to be very helpful to me in my communication of God’s Word.  I thought you might want to check it out - http://video.preachingrocket.com/

Today, I’m attending a free live webcast on how to craft a memorable bottom line for people to remember.  It’s frustrating to know that most of what I teach on a weekend will be forgotten in the first few hours of people walking out of service.  This webcast is created to craft a bottom line that people will not forget.  I’m excited to learn with Dennis Allan and Amanda Beggs.

Yesterday I sat down with my “college mentor”, Rich Grassel.  I had a lot to chat with him about, but we realized yesterday that it had been almost 4 years since we last sat down together.  We had traded emails and Facebook messages, but we hadn’t been face-to-face for a long time…too long!  This is what social media can do…alienate us from face-to-face dialogue.

I have a lot of movement in my life right now, and I wanted to touch base with Rich because he knew me when I was first being called into full-time ministry.  He knew me before 10 years of youth ministry experience.  He knew me before I tried to plant a church and failed.  He knew me before I landed in my current ministry position at North Way.  I wanted to catch up to see how he was doing in ministry as a Senior Pastor of Conway Alliance Church.  He brings such wisdom and perspective on things that I’m just getting into now.

Rich was such an encouragement to me yesterday.  I should not be surprised, he always is, and it’s exactly what I needed.  One conversation with a person that cares deeply about who I am and not what I can do for them was so valuable for my soul.

Pastors/Church Leaders/Friends, maybe it’s been a while since you have been face-to-face with someone that has encouraged you in your past.  Maybe you’re in a spot where you need that wisdom from a person that knew you before now.  I would encourage you to reach out to them.  Grab lunch or coffee with them for a long overdue chat about the condition of your heart.  It allows you to reminisce.  This type of conversation allows you to remember who you are.  It forces you to see your life differently.

One conversation with Rich Grassel, and I was reminded of my calling and why I love the Church.  I won’t be waiting another 4 years to sit down with him again!

I read this on Mark Batterson’s blog, and I thought I’d pass it along to you.  There’s a reason why I recommend his book “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” to a lot of people.  Check this out…

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith. Chase the lion!

I intend to, Mark.  I am.

I’ve been spending some of my free time watching the ‘Elephant Room’ DVD’s.  If you are a person in full-time vocational ministry, you need to watch this.  If you are a person that enjoys debate and can handle hard dialogue around tough topics, I would recommend this to you.  It’s good, hard and honest dialogue  on many controversial issues within the Capital C Church.  Seven of the most influential American Church leaders gather to debate issues such as “Preaching to Build the Attendance vs. Preaching to Build the Attendees” and “Multi-Site: Personality Cult vs. God’s Greater Glory” and more.  I think you should take a look into the Elephant Room!

In case you missed this last weekend at North Way, Dave Buehring (my friend and mentor) spoke at our weekend services.  I thought I’d share the video with you.

Today I had the opportunity to talk on the phone with Joel Thomas, Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church in Alphretta, GA.  Andy Stanley is the Senior Pastor of North Point Ministries, and he was the Pastor of North Point Community Church up until January 2011.  Andy Stanley handed over the original campus’ leadership reigns to Joel who had been under his leadership for 15+ years.

I was extremely grateful for this conversation because North Way Christian Community is still transitioning into being a fully functioning multi site church.  We are multi site on paper, but the majority of our systems and processes were designed for one campus and one staff.  Now that we are in four campuses with four staffs, our systems and processes cannot handle the complexity.  So, we have to reorganize and shift.  We’ve been doing this for quite some time behind the scenes and maneuvering as we go, but it’s now time to shift completely as we think about launching more campuses.

Joel and I discussed the complexities and wonderful advantages of leading in a multi site church.  I was astonished at the similarities between our ministry worlds, and I was tracking with everything he was saying while taking notes feverishly.  One of the major lessons I took from him was something that was really unspoken…TRUST.  Andy Stanley trusts him, and Joel trust Andy completely.  TRUST is a MUST in the multi site church world.

Joel, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with a young pastor from Pittsburgh who’s trying to figure out how to lead yet follow in the multi site church setting.

I’ve had a great weekend thus far.  I watched my two oldest daughters in a “modesty first” fashion show on Friday night (Secret Keeper Girl).  I spent Saturday monring/afternoon with a dozen 10-year olds at my oldest’s  basketball-themed 10th birthday party.  Saturday night and Sunday morning were amazing as Ian Rosenberger and Tassy Fils-aime shared how God can speak to one person and change one life and now hundreds of lives!

Tassy shared something at the end of last night’s service that wasn’t really planned.  Pastor Scott Stevens sealed their moment with a word of prayer over Ian, Tassy and Team Tassy.  Just then, Tassy said, “Wait, I have something to share!” and he went on to read something that he wrote for this moment.  He said (my words here) I am proof that God is able.  I was dying from a tumor in my mouth.  I called out to God, and He sent Ian Rosenberger to help me.  No matter what you’re going through, no matter what you need, know today that God is able.  Then Tassy led us in singing Chris Tomlin’s song “How Great is Our God.”  It was an incredible moment where I could strongly sense God’s presence!  He then shared this at every service we had.  It was awesome!

It’s amazing how God can speak to someone in Pittsburgh about going to Haiti and end up saving a Haitian boy’s life (and more lives) by obeying the call to simply go.  God orchestrated the rest.  Now, Tassy is planning to go to college to “help people medically” and continue to share the story of how God saved his life.  God is good, and Tassy plans to pass on the good news of how God can save you physically and more importantly, spiritually!

The same can be true for you and me…let’s pass on the good news!

Today my oldest daughter turns 10!  That’s right…I am father to a ten-year old!  I feel old. I feel responsible.  Somehow double digits is putting a weight of responsibility on my chest differently today.  I am so blessed to have her in my life!

I can’t believe that she came into my world this day ten years ago at 11:33am.  This is when I began to understand (at a deeper level) what the Father heart of God was truly about.  When her little hand grasped my finger, not only did my heart melt (of course I cried!), but my heart softened a little more towards the heart of my heavenly Father.  The love that a good father has for his children is nothing in comparison to the love that God has for his children.  God’s heart is for his children, wanting what is best for them.  He desires to bless his kids.  He longs to be in deep intimacy with his children.

I want the best for my 10-year old!  I pray blessing upon her this year.  I hope that she has an amazing decade filled with adventure.  I pray that my presence in her life will exemplify a good example of following Jesus, a red-hot marriage and how to parent the best with what you’ve been given.  I know this is a long way off, but I pray now for her college and career path.  I pray for her husband to be a follower of Jesus and a great leader to her and in advancing God’s kingdom.  I desire for my oldest daughter to know the depths of God’s love above all.  The crazy thing is that God loves her more than I do.  However, I’m a close second.

Happy Birthday to the oldest of my #pinklife.