A New Level

This past weekend I had one of those “once in a lifetime” opportunities come my way. Ed Young, who pastors Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX (fellowshipchurch.com), spoke at my brother Buddy’s church in Malta, NY. All I can say is WOW! The fact that Ed continues to grow as a communicator encourages me like crazy. (There is hope for me yet!) It was the best talk I have ever heard him give. In case you don’t know who Ed is…he pastors a mega church…and I do mean mega…in the Dallas metroplex area that has between 17,000 to 20,000 people attend every Sunday. He is known for his creativity in communicating the gospel in fresh and meaningful ways. Fellowship hosts an awesome conference called C3 which Michelle and I have attended the last 2 years. We love it. I hope to take our staff in 2008.
Anyway, Ed said that God wants us to take our commitment to a “whole new level.” When we do go to new levels, we will find waiting for us a “whole new devil.” Man, have I seen that lately. That “whole new devil” has shown up big around here in the last several months. The encouraging part for me is that God is getting us ready to go to a whole new level at Fellowship Church (Delaware County). This is going to be our best fall yet! I can’t wait! Imagine the people that are far from God who will discover His grace and love for the first time! Life change, baby! Heaven instead of Hell!
Saturday night was off the hook! Buddy invited me out to dinner with Ed and Lisa Young. I also got to connect with another really cool pastor and his wife, Mac and Julie Richard. They are at Lake Hills Church (lhc.org) in Austin, TX. You should check out their website if you get the chance. Anyway, we got to hang out for a couple of hours and I just soaked it all in. Ed just got back from speaking at Hillsong Church in Australia, so we got to hear what he learned from that trip. I have to say that Ed and Lisa were two of the nicest and most gracious people that I have had the chance to spend time with. I have learned so much from their ministry at a distance…so to learn from across the table was a big thrill. If you get a chance, go on and listen to Ed’s talk at Northwaychurch.tv. I know it will bless you.