people are signage

During our recent leadership meeting with our team leaders we evaluated everything we do on a Sunday. We talked about every detail from how long my messages need to shorten, to lighting on the screen, to children check-in.  I had over 3 pages of details we need to work through to have more excellence.  As we left I only remember one.  One of our leaders expressed that his sister was walking around, only came for the 2nd time, and after 10am there was no one in the lobby.  People were coming in looking around wandering where to go with only signage to point.

I’m glad someone was there to recognize an easy thing to fix.  But….. we learned something.  I don’t care how incredibly designed your signage is – 99% of people don’t care and don’t look.  They look for people willing to help them, love them, care for them, serve them, and show them where they need to go.  Our signage and banners needs to become people.  It blows me away that the reality is people have already made up their minds in coming back long before they hearing the band or my talking head.  My prayer is that we could become one of, if not, the friendliest most loving and accepting place in our entire community between 930-1130 on a Sunday morning!  With God’s help we are going to get there!

loving with words

After an early morning jog filled with great uplifting conversation I fled to the lake to give God the best part of my day.  Fresh bread from my heavenly father.  Immediately I was slapped by Jesus’ brother who reminded me, “Teaching is highly responsible work.  Teachers are held to strictest standards.  And none of us is perfectly qualified.  We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.”  Ugggh!  I remember something my Mom told me as a student in Bible college, “Rick, don’t ever worry about using eloquent words or impress anyone with your theology, just be yourself and always share from your heart.”

With the week off this past Sunday I feel so refreshed and ready to deliver a challenging and well-timed message for our church family.  I never want to take it for granted.  It reminds me that if God hasn’t given me anything to say to not say anything.  Thus the reason for fleeing to the lake….. so I can hear his voice and let him guide the message.

As I am preparing to talk about having “Crazy Love” with our words I came across a 10 year old file called “Encouraging Notes”.  Anytime anyone has ever given me a card, note, email, or letter chances are I’ve put it aside.  Words mean so much.  I came across a letter a student wrote me five years ago expressing what a difference I had made, a napkin my Mom wrote on nearly 8 years ago during college to encourage me, a card from my MNL before I was engaged to her daughter, and a letter Amy wrote to me just months before we got married.  How much are they worth to me?  No price I wouldn’t sell them to anyone.

Why is it we wait until a funeral to express our words of love to those we care about the most?  Why are we so stinken busy that we lose sight of we we are here.  My goal lately is this: walk more slowly through life so I can truly enjoy the journey.  I can’t wait for the challenge I’m putting before our entire church on Sunday – if we all catch it – there’s going to be some CRAZY LOVE extended to anyone that knows a Weller!  As I’m writing this entry a close friend and a banded brother sent me a face book message:

“i’m glad to call you pastor, i’m honored to call you friend, more than those, i love to call you brother. if there is anything i can do for you, consider it done. anything i can give, consider it yours”

I’m so excited that we added to our creative team on Monday and I’m so pumped about implementing the message with videos and other elements to spice up the message.  We are already brainstorming for our marriage series coming in September and it is going to be incredible!  I thank God he’s bringing people together for such a time as this as we see a community’s perception of church stripped and we serve others with authentic love so they might be transformed into the image of Christ!

sunday @ the well

The Shirt Mullets

It was cool to have Davy back with us after being gone on vacation.  He led us in a powerful time of worship and his passion was contagious.  Every now and then the band reminds me of my shirt mullets and they were all waiting for me during our pre-gathering huddle.  Punks!

Back to Back Baby Dedications

It was an honor to dedicate one of the cutest little girls I know to our heavenly father.  Macie belongs to Jesus and he so happened to entrust Morgan & Summer with the opportunity to take care of her for a little while.  The fact of holding her and my older sister just giving birth to a little baby girl sure doesn’t help my cause.

Elijah’s Prayer & Stories

My little buddy Elijah came up front stood tall (with a little help from the stool) and led us in the most geniune heart-felt prayer over the offering.  I might let him do it far more often as it reflected in our generous giving!  Thank you to Tina and Christi for sharing their journeys of walking with Christ and being “All In” in the area of groups and givings.

Family-Style Remembrance

One of most favorite times of the month is our last Sunday when we bring in our elementary kids.  I love that moment when kids look over at their parents and ask, “What is this little juice thing for?”.  I can’t think of greater opportunities we can provide on a Sunday for our children to be discipled by their own parents.  They get to see us worship and submit ourselves to the teaching of God’s Word – it’s beautiful!  Plus I love our kids leaders enough to give them a week of rest and let them drink in!

First Lady’s Red Leather Skirt

A friend approached me after our gathering and said, “So…. Amy did awesome.  You concerned about job security?”.  I couldn’t help but laugh with them.  Five years ago I would have been way to insecure to let my wife use her teaching gift.  Now…… I’m honored to have her apart of The Well teaching team.  She hit us between the eyes after sharing her “red leather skirt” story and reminding us that we can’t even begin to have “Crazy Love” for others if we don’t have “Crazy Love” for ourselves.

Trailer Rotation

Being portable means that setting up and tearing down happens a little bit more than other churches.  The white trojan horse has to be pulled across town and arrive at Cinema 8 by 7am.  It must take a rotation of warriors to hook this miracle trailer up and unload it.  I’m so thankful for a team of men that wake up long before others when they could be sleeping in to provide us with the tools and resources to better serve others during our weekly gathering!

Gathering Evaluation

Once a month we meet with Group Leaders as well as Team Leaders.  I loved being able to shower them with some crazy love afterwards as we stuffed our faces with chinese.These are those that serve by leading a group during the week or lead up a team of volunteers.  Last month we spent almost the entire night celebrating, this month it was all about evaluating.  Our pages filled up with areas we need improvement to better love and serve people during a Sunday gathering.  There will always be issues to fix.  However, with the right people with the right hearts sitting in the right seat on the right bus I have no doubts all of them were solvable.  There are definetly roles to still fill, but I’d rather wait until the right person comes along – God’s selected.

from entropy to the desert

This afternoon I’m sitting looking out a narrow window here in the Claremore library.   I’ve decided to start implementing a “Personal Retreat Day” into my calendar.  I don’t know how else to say it – last week I hit the wall.  I was having trouble getting up in the mornings, breathing heavy, and had lost some motivation.  My passion was still there I had to reached a place of complete emotional and physical exhaustion.  I’m thrilled that I could call a dear friend and say, “Man can I be honest with you?  I need you right now” or have a Thursday night group come prayer request time as the Pastor just let it all come out knowing they still love me despite my humanity.

I was able to get away for a few days and see my parents in Texas, watching the Red Sox get swept however didn’t help my cause.  It felt great to get away and it felt like an oasis of refreshment.  This last week I think I’ve done more thinking and reflecting than I have in the past 20 weeks combined.  You know what I’ve come to realize?  I have limits.  That’s it nothing more and nothing less.  Without boundaries to those limits you fall on your face no matter how much passion you have, no matter how great you think your relationship with Christ is, or how many people you are serving.  One of my core values is “life is a marathon not a sprint”.  I’ve not lived that out.  I once heard someone say, “The demons that drive you are the same demons, if you allow them, can be your greatest downfall”.

I’ve experienced this.  I have tons of passion and drive and energy.  I’m your typical Type A personality.  So what am I going to do?   I’m going to start saying no more, even if it is to good things.  I’m going to start cheating in other areas so I don’t cheat my family or relationship with Christ.  I’m going to stop doing so much ministry and train others to do more of it.  I’m going to step back and let others lead more.  I’m going to get back into my triathlon training again and eating better.  I’m going to sleep more on the front of the clock and less on the back of it.  I’m going to take my foot off the pedal and slow down my pace more and start enjoying the journey.  I’m going to stop comparing myself to every other guy that has started a church before me.

I’m going to start spending larger bulks of time simply sitting at the feet of Jesus.  I’m going to allow the Biblical mentors in the Bible to start pouring into me.  I’m going to start getting away monthly to evaluate.  Someone once said, “An intentional life requires consistent monitoring and assessment or you experience entropy…. a decline back to mediocre lifestyle”.

I was reading this morning a verse that really began the journey several years ago for me as a church planter when I was driving around in a truck wandering what in the world God wanted me to do with my life.  I replaced “her” with my name:

¹⁴ “But then I will win Ricky back once again.  I will lead Ricky into the desert and speak tenderly to him there.
¹⁵ I will return Ricky’s vineyards to himself and transform the Valley of Trouble^[a] into a gateway of hope.  Ricky will give himself to me there, as he did long ago when he was young, when I freed Ricky from his captivity.”

So…… back to the desert I go but in a good way.  I long to go there because that is where my well is.  As a deer pants for water, so my soul pants.  I long to spend time with Jesus.  I long to hear his voice.  I long to have fresh bread straight from the hand of God each day of my life.

sunday @ the well

acoustic set

The summer is a fun time to experiment and try new things.  It is also a good time to let people take a breather.  There was something beautiful and simplistic about worship this morning.  Thank you Amy and Adam for a sweet aroma to the nostrils of Christ!

faithful dedicated volunteers

Two college students tied for 19 straight weeks without missing a Sunday at The Well!  That blows my mind, I wish I had that much commitment at that age.  Thank you to Davey Rumsey and Mark Goodman for leading the charge with their servanthood.  Davey helps lead us in worship and Mark puts out all of our graphics and church communications.

tobie’s moment

My friend Tobie had everyone crying as he shared his story.  I’ll admit, “You Got Mail” pulled at me heart strings as well!  You must listen to the podcast and let his words touch your heart.  My favorite part was “that moment” when he felt God enter into his life sitting on a porch at his apartment two years ago.  It was fun to watch him express a little crazy love as we brought Mom up and gave her a wireless laptop to meet a need that she had.  Expressing love is so much better than talking about it.

first baby dedication

After talking to several couples in our plugged group, we realized several babies had never been dedicated.  There’s such a diversity within our church and from different denominations that many were wandering if we allow “infant baptisms”.   Our philosophy believes once a child is at an age of accountability and knows the decision they are making it makes more since.  We do something called a baby dedication and it is more for the parents.  It was an honor and privilege to dedicate little Alexander Moore as our first dedication in the history of The Well!  I was reminded that I am the greatest remedy for him to go to sleep – my talking head on Sunday mornings!

crazy love expressed

Being in a very non-traditional setting with so many unchurched people and people of wide church backgrounds makes things interesting at times.  We are without hesitation a church that follows the leading of the Holy Spirit.  This played out as he orchestrated a few minutes during our gathering as crazy love was expressed through praying for one another.  It was a beautiful picture to see people moving around to go lay a hand on a shoulder or grab a hand symbolizing agreement that God’s love was being outstretched.  This is probably one of the greatest ways our church family can show love – praying one for another.

lingering love

As we dismissed this morning, I loved the fact that people lingered.  People loved on each other.  People hugged and shook hands.  They were authentically interested in sharing feelings for each other.  It meant the world as a lady put her hand on my shoulder to thank me that I had been such a huge part in her spiritual growth over the past few months – Wow what an honor!

armor bearing messages

In October of 2007 I ran my first marathon.  At mile 20 I hit a wall of complete exhaustion.  My glycogen tank was empty.  Over the past week or so I have openly shared with those in my group and with close friends.  I think one of the greatest mistakes I made early on in ministry was I didn’t let people in, refused to be authentic, and didn’t allow others to minister back to me.   I’ve reached the wall at 20 weeks of our church and am well……. emotionally and physically worn out.  I’m thrilled that I can share that with others and let them be an encouragement back at me.  Here’s two comments of crazy love that have meant the world:

“My husband said by week 20, you were starting to use up all your energy reserves. I just pray that you would be refreshed and that all you’ve sown into the lives of others would come back to you 10-fold. I appreciate your genuineness and your commitment to the vision God has given you. Your authenticity is a breathe of fresh air in the trash heap of pretend Chrisitianity. Continue to go out and claim lives for Christ!!!! Be the warrior that God made you, Ricky Van Pay.”

“I believe in the mission and I believe in you. You get so fired up but not in a scary way like some pastors do. You just show the love of Jesus. So that’s one thing…. and the other is that I really want to utilize my gifts to help “you” the best way I can. I know what it is like to get burnt out and I want to help you to set up a system that will keep you moving in full force like you are. I have a huge network of people that I’ve built in Rogers County and I want to figure out how I can use that to help you and the Well. 
I love you and your family and by helping you, I am helping to enlarge God’s Kingdom. I don’t care if it’s 1 person or 100, I want to help you.”

Words of encouragement and love….. I’m looking forward to a little getaway to Texas to see my parents and catch a few Red Sox games.  I’m looking forward to a 3 day stay at a monastery and a retreat with Amy later in November.  I’m learning that even though everything can feel alright at times, we must relax even if we don’t think we need to.  I’ve had the petal full throttle and am learning that at some point either you decide to take your foot off or your body and mind will do it for you.  I’m looking forward to the journey ahead and gaining some perspective on being a full-time Pastor.  During this time I can since my soul longing for the desert…… I’m excited to start heading out there to find refreshment.

rest and relaxation

 

I love hanging with the guys.  Once a month The Well host a Girls and Guys Night Out.  I look forward to them all month.  I’m thankful for a friend in Steve that is so generous to let us come out to his quarry and spend some R&R.  It felt good to jump in the boat and redeem myself.  Last time I got shout out but not this go round!  There’s just something about spending a night in a tent with your son, seeing the stars, staying up till 2am with new friends around a campfire.  I still can’t believe my friend Billy literally fell asleep sitting by the fire but what a way to go to sleep!  The smells of breakfast burritos and a little male agression out on the paintball field – love it!  These guys are not just friends, but my band of brother’s.

sunday @ the well

house payment paid

I was notified this past Friday of an urgent need within our church family.  Due to circumstances that really don’t matter, word went out and within an hour a chunk of the need was devoured.  I showed up at the theater Sunday morning to express what we could do and my friend said, “That was to the dollar the exact amount we needed to finish off the payment”.  To me that is simply beautiful and I’m so proud of my family!

summer’s story

It is always intimidating getting before people and baring it all.  I’m so glad Summer was willing to share her story of faith with her finances yesterday morning.  The temptation when we are in a bind is to think about holding back what really belongs to God.  Her and Morgan trusted and in the last minute of needing groceries and gas, their truck sold which had been on Craig’s list for several months.  I believe as they were willing to give away clothes for single mom’s and give away a bed God’s eyes of favor immediately were upon them.  No greater place to be!

new guests

It was a pure joy to see new faces into the theater once again.  I truly hope that one day, if not already, people will come and be blown away by servanthood and an authentic love that immediate acceptance will occur.  I love friends that come in that we haven’t see in months and not get a “Where have you been with a cold shoulder”, but “We’ve missed you so much – so glad you are here we love you!”.

it’s ok to not be ok

There was a friend that had a conversation with me and said, “Man I just want you to know, God and I are not on good terms right now”.  After he shared the reason why, I wasn’t so sure I wouldn’t feel the same way.  I told him I think God was OK with that – he’s big enough.  Why is it people have always felt like they must have everything together before coming to a church gathering?  They must have all the mess solved and believe before they belong.  I’m wandering if there would have been any disciples following Jesus if that were the case.  Well….. not with us.  Welcome aboard man!

heart-shape candies

As we left yesterday everyone was given a token of a piece of candy.  I’m looking forward to hearing stories of people expressing Crazy Love one for another as we leave little candies all over the place, after we express some sort of love with action.  It’s so easy to say, “I love you”.  Love is not a noun, but an action.

 

ole school family-style picnic

It was pure beauty to pull up to our little covered shelter at the lake.  Guys were throwing footballs, corn hole was about to be put into effect, kids running around giggling, men grilling steaks and brats, women with babies laughing, dogs looking for morsels, and people relaxing in lawn chairs.  When Amy later told me how many people had shown up it didn’t hit me till later that over 80% of our Sunday crowd came to the picnic.  I’ve never heard of that many people coming to something outside a Sunday gathering!  I hadn’t been to a church picnic since I was a little kid and this will definetly become an annual event with Wellers.

9 year old tingling

During the picnic a special moment occured.  A mom came up to me and well here’s her comments, “I just wanted to say thank you so much for doing what u did for my son, he has been having alot of problems and when he told me he wanted to ask Jesus into his life I just knew it would be alright. His dad walked out of his life almost 4 yrs ago and he has had big issues with that.. After you prayed with him he asked me “Mom am I suppose to have this tingleing feeing in my stomach because I do”.  I know that God can and will do miraculise things in his life and things will get easier for him…I feel so thankfull and blessed to have found a church family that is so awesome”.

parental baptisms

Our first baptism occurred in a horse trough on one of the coldest, windiest days all year.  This one was one of the hottest days of the year and happened in a public lake.  I loved being around so many on lookers and this truly allowing those to go public with their faith.  Our church family yelled and clapped in celebration as each hand popped back out of the water!  It was heaven on earth!  I’m started to wander where our next one will be held.  9 adults and kids took the plunge and it gets sweeter and sweeter as the relationships deepen.  One of our little girls Dad is a minister so he asked if he could baptize his little girl.  It was a pleasure watching that play out as tears rolled.  Camden was beside me throughout most of the baptisms and at one point put his hand over his nose and requested to go under.  The thought immediately tore me up, because although too little now, the day will come!

a few needs & a slithery life goal

 A Bed Drop Off

A buddy of mine this past week held a free garage sale, I love that these are getting contagious and gave away everything.  As a lady was leaving he asked, “Is there anything you need we didn’t have?”.  She told him a bed.  A few text messages went out and we nailed down a bed.  As we drove over to her house and were unloading the stench of cat litter aroma was unbearable.  All I could think of is dropping off the bed and getting back in the truck.  She said, “Thank you now my 6 kids won’t have to share 2 beds!”  Wow.  Later I realized my lack of love.  It was easy to meet a need of the bed, but if I really truly loved her we would have stayed, endured a little smell, and cleaned up the cat litter.  After sharing this story yesterday at church, 2 different Well families are going to head over and help her clean her house.  How humbling that love can be so crazy.  By this Jesus says people will know we are his followers.  In the 3rd century church everyone fled villages due to diseases.  The ones that stayed and helped care for those that were sick were Christians.  My dream is that one day in a dechurched community that the word Christian would actually have meaning again.  But before it does, we must make love contagious!

 Property Clean-Up

One of the couples in our Plugged Group needed help this past Saturday with some inherited property.  It didn’t take long for everyone to start volunteering tools and time.  We were able to load up 6 trailer loads of tree limbs and cut down 3 trees.  Last night one of the guys in our group was rushed to the ER with a pull in his back.  Before the night was out 90% of our group put legs to their love one for each other and showed up at the hospital to help Tobie.  At that point I realized we were no longer a “group” but a small family.  We are starting to truly “love each other more than we love ourselves”.

 

 A Nasty Life Goal

Recently I shared with some friends that one of my life goals was to hold a snake in my hand.  I know weird and nasty but I’ve had a fear of them since I was a little boy.  Well, although not that large and probably the least bit dangerous – my goal was conquered cleaning up the property.  So glad this one is off my list now!

the guide

Three times over the past week I felt strongly to follow the leading of the Paraclete in my life.  The early church identified the Paraclete as the Holy Spirit.  It appears in the N.T. where it may be translated in English as “Counselor”, “Helper”, or “Comforter”.  I tend to think of the Paraclete as more of a guide than anything else.  

On Saturday during my run I felt so strongly to add into Sunday’s message something for just one person.  I felt such a strong leading to let someone know that God truly loved them despite their imperfections.  On Monday morning one of our leaders texted me saying, “I have always known that God loves me, but I really never understood His love for me.  I needed to hear it.  I didn’t know I needed to hear it.  During worship I lifted my hands up to tell him back, “I love you too” and it was like He gave me a big giant God hug!  Thank you for being a servant to Him and saying what He would have you say.”

I also stated a few other things for a specific person and got texted Sunday night, “Thanks bro I needed that”.  A few blog entries ago I wrote on “I’m Waiting on You” and felt strongly to write it for a specific person.  I had delayed writing that blog for several months.  The next day I received a response saying, “I was the one” from a friend.

It makes me think of all the preparation put into a message or things we try to say based on our own wisdom, experience or lack of, or something good someone else said we can pass along.  What if we neglected time spent in prayer?  What if we neglected time in His word?  In those moments is when he speaks to our hearts…… but here’s the thing I’m learning.  When I neglect those sweet moments crying out in desperation for God to anoint my lips it doesn’t just hurt me from hearing something……. it costs that one person or maybe far more, perhaps an entire church hearing that one Paraclete-led word.  Lives aren’t altared because of anything clever man has to say, but lives are transformed as the Paraclete speaks through man.  

I’m truly looking forward to continuing to hear the voice of God.  I’m also looking forward to reading a book on my list called Wild Goose Chase - all about the holy spirit.

Do you ever wander what would happen if we stopped ignoring that leading?  What if we truly followed it every time we heard it?  What risks would we take?  What sins would we avoid?  I’m thinking this is a future teaching series.

one need, one person at a time

 

Have you ever had one of those days that you would put on repeat over and over again?  Last Thursday was one of those days.  Anthony and I took our church directory and began making calls one after the next with this question in mind, “Do you have a need?  Is their anything we can help you with?  A lawn?  Repairs?  Help with groceries?  Unpaid bills?  We were able to hit on several different needs.  One single dad had an injured wrist so we grabbed our weed eaters and met a need.  His girlfriend later told a friend, “Yeah I was losing faith in humanity one person at a time then they showed up.  It was a wake up call”.  Another single mom we were able to pray with in person before going off to see a doctor.  Another we suprised with a gift card to her favorite resteraunt.  Another just lost her father so we dropped by some plants for we know she loves to garden.  Another we dropped by with her favorite dessert and say happy birthday!  Several other single mom’s we went to Wal-mart and loaded up on diapers and wipes and did a diaper drive by.  I’m still trying to forget all the people’s looks at two shaved headed guys went out with a cart load of diapers!  Another we dropped by a little card with 2 car payments fully paid.  

I’ve never fully understood until going around our community talking with people long before The Well came into existence that….. people just really don’t care about your church name or building…. until they see you care for them first.  They don’t care about an invite card until you’ve invited yourself to meet a need for them.  They don’t care how much you have to say, until they see your hands and feet talking.  Then they watch to see if it was about them coming to your church.  Then they watch even longer if they don’t show up if you’ll serve them again or did you already move on to someone else.  I’m looking forward to Thursdays as I team up with a close friend to link arms to serve people within our church and community one person at a time with the authentic love of Christ.  I’m also looking forward to our entire church getting bit by the bug of serving.  It’s contagious and then the bug of giving creeps in and then it is just simply crazy.  Call it crazy love if you will.  I still can’t believe I get to be apart of a church like this.  I still can’t believe Jesus allows us to represent him and actually be the church.