big day @ the well

I’m looking forward to this coming Sunday!  When I was 20 years old I had a unique opportunity to be an interim Youth Pastor in Garden City, Kansas.  My pastor was Kent Anderson and he was the most relational Pastor I’ve ever been able to serve.  I still remember hanging out at his house and eating at Taco Bell on Wednesday afternoons with his family.  I’m praying that he doesn’t share the “fireworks” incident on Sunday!  It is going to be an honor having him as our guest and hear his heart for Rural Compassion which helps fight poverty in rural areas.

If you’ve ever volunteered within The Well I also invite you to Pizza Time Buffet at 6:30 for an appreciation night!  Free pizza, childcare, and a fun time of showering each other with love and affirmation will be on the menu!  I also want to give everyone a Happy Thanksgiving shout out this afternoon and pray your holidays are safe and enjoyable.  I’m thankful for God’s calling on my life, my marriage, my healthy boys, and a church family that has become a life-line.  What are you thankful for?

sunday @ the well

despite no shows & light trees

At times I think we can lose focus on what really matters and we can get focused on “the show” and “us” rather than “the presence” and “Him”.   Our drummer decided to sleep in and one of our light trees decided to blow a fuse.  I give our band some props for making adjustments and not allowing it to be about our performance, but about inviting our creator to drench us in love and us to give him praise!

friends from afar

I was honored and humbled that one of our Youth Leaders from Ft. Worth came up, more importantly a close friend, to share some time with us.  It was over 2 years ago that he made the trip up and I still remember sharing my heart and vision with Him about something God was calling me too.  I had no idea then that it was the inner stirrings of a different kind of church called The Well.

upfront birthday cake

I’m not sure I can ever remember being in a church gathering in which a Pastor had the birthday song sang to Him and birthday cake with candles!  This blew me away and made me feel absolutely loved and made me forget about the grey hairs blossoming in my beard.  I know the Bible talks about grey hair representing wisdom….. surely it didn’t just mean on top of the head!  Thank you to all of you that made this day so special to me, for all the cards, texts, and face book messages!

uncle benji

The sticky factor of the morning message was holding a $100 bill in the air and talking about sticking to a budget, getting out of debt, saving money, acting our wage, and using cash instead of credit cards.  How many of us when we get a “Benji” want to spend it?  No way we keep it and he becomes part of your wallet or purse.  It’s amazing how much less we’ll spend to keep from breaking his feelings vs. throwing out a visa without a thought.  You can go to the link: http://thewellchurch.tv/budget-resources and get some valuable forms to download if you are looking to get help financially.

band of bros

One of my favorite times of the day continues to be the early morning set up time with a band of brothers.  We make fun of each other, laugh, and it’s like we are preparing for battle together.  We are setting the environment for others to experience an authentic love what an honor!  I refuse to be the Pastor that is like the general up on the hill commanding the charge while soldiers go to battle.  I’d rather be like Mel Gibson in Brave heart leading the way with a sword!  God’s called me to be on the forefront how bout you?

not requests but thanks

Upon our last song instead of immediately going to requests for prayer we decided to take a few moments and speak out thanksgiving.  I loved all the variety of what our core team was thankful for.  Some things mentioned were: community, family, provision, and others.

welts & wings

It was an extremely busy Sunday but usually they are and I love them.  A group of guys took the field and inserted welts on each other from paintballs.  One of my favorite past times is a tradition called “running the gauntlet”.  The evening was spent watching a bunch of grown men with tats and beards become junior high boys and forget the stress of life.  One of our guys took the “homicide challenge” at Wings to Go.  His tears said it all it has to go down as one of the most humorous Well moments.  I’ve never seen so many men humbled by the pain in their mouth as what the homicide sauce called.  My tongue still hurts this morning.

rural compassion missionary

Looking forward to next week as one of our supported missionaries comes to share his heart and vision for rural compassion.  This is an incredible cause that helps those in rural areas dealing with poverty.  I’m looking forward to seeing one of my former Pastors and friends.  You don’t want to miss hearing about this!

sunday @ the well

theater foot washing

I love watching families come together and define servanthood.  As I pulled up to the theater I was beat by one of our core families.  They arrived early with trash bags and made the parking lot look better for our guests.  In so many ways it is like we “washed the feet” of our local movie theater.  Thank Christ for these precious hearts!

 

guests ready to play

One of the best statements any Pastor likes to hear on a Sunday is the following, “Hi this is our first time hear and we want to serve.”  I’ve grown to realize people need to time to build relationships and settle in to really see if this is where they want to commit long-term before putting them into volunteer positions.  But… need-less-to-say enjoyed hearing Christ-followers say that they would rather play then ride the pine!

 

it’s all God’s

The message reminded us all everything we have is God’s.  He wants to bless us but isn’t going to give us anything if we don’t steward it in a healthy way.  As long as we live open handed he can pour our, and if we keep it open by giving away he’ll keep pouring.  The moment we close our hands it starts leaking through the cracks and he’s unable to pour into anything else.  I love investing in eternal purposes!

 

beards of brotherhood

We are going into the new year with a whole new approach to groups, discipleship, and relationships within The Well.  There is already some small bands hooking up during the week to lay a foundation for this and I’ve not been this excited since day one.  It is going to revolutionize our whole approach to getting people connected into authentic community.  As a sign of bonding a handful of the guys are going “no shave November” and yes I’ve accepted.  My 2 year old is loving pulling on this beard!

 

missionary to claremore

After almost a year of dreaming and several months of praying and seeking counsel, I announced yesterday that I’m going full-blown missionary to our community.  My role, with the help of our leaders, will change to a more “missional approach”.  Most of my time will be spent building relationships with men that want to be on pursuit of God.  At the end of November I am pulling the plug on a salary from the church and relying on outside support.  If you are interested in being apart in supporting us as missionaries I would love to speak with you or send you more information!  Email me at rvanpay@thewellchurch.tv.  This will also allow us as a church to give away far more to those in need and missions endeavors.

 

parties & counseling

It was a marathon Sunday afternoon with lunch with friend, birthday parties, and pre-marital counseling. I’m looking forward to next week as we continue our series as we unfold money management as it pertains to budgeting and managing what God entrusts us with.  You or someone you know in major financial crisis?  Great time to come here what the Bible says about it.

2010 planning retreat

These past couple days I was able to sneak away and head down to Tulakogee Retreat Center. This picture was taken outside my window.  I’m so thankful for places like this that let minister’s come for free. It felt good to zero in and focus on what next year will look like. Here’s the breakdown so far in what it is looking like:

After praying and answering the question “What is God wanting Weller’s to hear?  What do we need to focus on in where we are in our journey?”  I’m going to be speaking less to itinerate some and expand our teaching team and give our team more opportunities.  I also took the results from our survey a few weeks back and here’s some of the series will be doing with more stand alone messages sandwiched between:

• Short series on personal growth & one on our church vision
• Holy Spirit
• Short series about “The Dip” and one on “Life Transitions”
• We’ll spend a lengthy series on “Life Stories”
• A women only and men only series in which will break up into separate auditoriums
• A six week series on relationships
• Sharing our faith
• Decided to schedule 8 weeks in a row going verse by verse in a specific book of Bible

Here’s a list of goals I have for 2010:

The Well

• be more strategic on Sunday nights in my relationships
• rearrange family time to spend 2 evenings a week pouring myself into some other guys
• officiate 2 weddings
• initiate a church planting network in Tulsa & here in Claremore
• work on church policies
• implement a givings team and decide how we can give more away
• expand our free garage sale and Servolution Sunday with other church participation
• planning several retreats for the men/women in our church
• spend time researching out, praying, and planning two dreams that are still hiding away in my heart

Father

• Read 15 books on various topics and study the books of Genesis, Daniel, Habbakkuk, and one other for 8 week long series
• attend Exponential and/or Catalyst Conferences for leadership growth
• once a quarter do a reconnaisance on Saturday nights so I can go to church and just be
• take an extended spiritual retreat with Amy

Finances

• Being more disciplined in our finances so we can give away more
• Pay off school loan
• Raise monthly support so I no longer have to get paid by the church

Fitness

• Participate with some other guys in the New Year’s Day Polar Plunge in Tulsa
• St John’s Indoor Sprint Tri with a friend
• Run in Sweetheart 10K with Amy
• do an adventure race in the fall with some core guys in our church

Family

• do something with Amy for our anniversary we’ve never done
• be an assistant coach on Camden’s t-ball team in the Spring
• get involved in Cub Scouts with some other men in the church with Camden
• scheduling more nights for Amy to get away

Fun Life Goals

• get my MDot tattoo
• skydive with my band of brothers
• jump off a cliff

Other than that got to read a book called “Who’s Got Your Back” and took off on some prayer jogs.  One jog led me to a fishing dock where I spent some time meditating on dreams God has placed in me.  A song I was listening to by

Sarah Reeves came out of my IPOD love the words as I took this picture “We humble ourselves and seek your face, pour out your mercy like rain.  Your sons and daughters cry for you, the waves of the waters reach for you.  All of creation reaches up and screams out your name Oh Lord.”

What are some of your thoughts for 2010?  What are you dreaming about?  What are some goals you have?

my 3rd place

The memories of staying up late during a summer when my older brother came home from college circles in my memory.  He was a huge “Cheers” fan and planted a seed in me for the show.  Being raised PK’s it probably was a little ironic that we would watch a show portrayed in a bar setting.  I’ve only really stepped in foot in one my whole life….. to be honest?  It was one of the most welcoming environments I’ve ever been and left thinking – wow what The Well could be that loving to a guest?  They didn’t pressure me to buy any alcohol and invited me to eat peanuts and play pool.

I think we all long for that place we can walk through the door and everyone yells out, “Norm!”.  One of those places for me is Java Dave’s.  I love the owner and manager Renee who is one of the most hospitable women in our entire community.  I’ve seen this place over the years with different management and she gets 5 stars!  Almost all the employees are college students from RSU and she attracts the most diverse customers you could ever see.  In front of me is a round table of business men in their 60’s, to my left is a Youth Pastor friend of mine, still further is a sales guy, still yet further friends of Renee that come in almost daily, and soon after classes it will be bombarded with the students.

A few days ago I walked in and 4 people greeted me from all across the place welcoming me with “Hey Ricky!”.  I get to hang out a theater on Sunday mornings, but M-TH I feel like a Pastor of Java Dave’s.  Last week I spent hours counseling with men, praying with others, and getting to know yet more.  I spend about 15 hours a week here with my eyes on the door for anyone that looks like they need a listening ear.  It has become a mission field.  I feel safe here to be completely myself and long for the theater to become more and more like this.  Toby Keith once wrote a song called “I love this bar” read the words:

“We got winners, we got losers.  Chain smokers and boozers.  And we got yuppies, we got bikers.  We got thirsty hitchhikers.  Broken hearted fools and suckers.  And we got hustlers, we got fighters.  Early birds and all nighters.  And the veterans talk about their battle scars.  I love this bar.  It’s my kind of place.  Just walkin through the front door.  Puts a big smile on my face, come as you are.  HMM I love this bar!”

My prayer is that as people go out into the “3rd places”, home away from home they would be themselves and find love and acceptance.  Our first place is our home, second place is our work, the other?  Not sure what it is for you, but I know where mine is and I’m enjoying be a “Norm” wherever almost everyone knows my name.

my week in a nutshell

Man this week has flown by and has been absolutely crazy, but….. one of those weeks I’d relive in a heart beat.  I truly feel like I lived this past week to the fullest!  Here’s a breakdown as I didn’t get a chance to blog anything.

01 We got to celebrate Camden’s 5th birthday party at Pizza Hutt with friends and family.  We set up a tent in the backyard that same night and got to listen to a train every 15 minutes as it passed through town and the neighbor’s dog bark

02 took Camden golfing for the first time & realized I have a new caddie!

03 went on a breakfast date with the most beautiful blonde in the world!

04 made up a nickname song for my boys on the way to school

05 got to clean the feet of our community with other Weller’s as we picked up trash after the Will Roger’s Day Parade.  I fulfilled my goal and picked up over 226 cigarette butts.

06 warmed up for my first softball game in over 5 years, only to not be able to play because they couldn’t turn the lights on grr!

07 got to eat breakfast and lunch with two Pastor friends

08 spent about 20 hours encouraging and praying for men in our community and church to go after Christ

09 lost nearly 5lbs as I continue to hook up with my running partner

10 was invited to wed a young couple on New Year’s Day

11 gave $60 to a random college student that I never met that is going on a missions trip

12 same day someone gave me a $200 check at lunch (God is so cool like that!)

13 told someone I met while jogging about the love of Christ

14 prayed over someone dealing with his divorce at Java Dave’s I didn’t know that well

15 met with my band of brothers

16 began drenching myself in the book of Proverbs & finished the book “11″

sunday @ the well

 

the bride

This morning was the nastiest illustration I think I’ve ever presented, but…… one that no one will ever forget and that was the goal.  We jammed home Christ love for his bride THE CHURCH and how every time we speak negatively of her it leaves a stain.  Thank you to Monique for being willing to endure a mess to prove such a valuable point!  We need to protect each other, protect our leadership, and protect other body of believers!

 

phone call on the way

On the way to the theater this morning I got a random call from a friend that travels a lot and doesn’t hardly get to attend The Well.  He wanted to see if we could do more for the soldiers serving across seas.  I love his idea of sending gift cards during Christmas.  Looking forward to partnering with Blue Starr Mother’s!

 

the fast clap

We started something about a month ago that I absolutely have fallen in love with!  Several of our greeters when they see someone walking up to the doors begin the “fast clap”.  I got to be apart of it today as we began clapping and yelling some friends names as they entered the theater.  It was even better to do this 15 minutes later during worship for the name above all other names….

 

prayer over the church

I think one of my highlights of the whole morning was taking the newspaper and calling out church names and Pastor’s name in our community.  This morning was all about “Protecting the Church” and how The Well is just one body of many that is the church in Claremore.  It has become a ritual on the way to the theater to text 5 other Pastor friends of mine and pray over their services as we are having ours.  I long for the day to team up with others while doing servant projects around town!

 

“cheers” environment

The 3-4 minutes right smack in the middle of our gathering was highlighted with the theme song from Cheers.  It truly is our desire that as people become apart of our church family they would come knowing every one knows their name!

 

et celebrated award

Congratulations to Tara for receiving the volunteer of the month award.  She was given the baton of ET as most of our family stood, clapped, and yelled her name!  I love that we love each other so much and celebrate each other.  The Well has so many servant hearted people and I’m so thankful for all of them that put in sweat to make everything happen!

 

Next week we start a 5 week series on finances.  If you or others you know (pretty much all of us) need more help with our money.  This is going to be a very practical series, but will focus mainly on what the Bible says about it.  Invite a friend it’s going to be awesome stuff!

 

batman and a little lion

Batman and the little lion scored huge on Nemar’s trunk or treat last night!  I can already hear the cavities forming!  I will say that car seats and halloween costumes don’t tango for crying out loud!  Amy and I were invited to a special party with some friends, but I’m glad we put our boys first in making a memory for them – this night was all about them!

Yesterday I picked up Camden from school and we got to lay hands on a friend’s house as he led us in a prayer for it to sale.  We then went to the RSU nature reserve and literally went into hunter mode on some deer.  Camden saw one and busted through the trees yelling and running after a scared little doe!  It was awesome!  My boy is turning into a savage of a young man!  I love it!  Fridays are a highlight for me as it is all about my family.  Usually our tradition is to drop Camden off at pre-school and take Cale out for breakfast.  Good times!  I love my boys and love the traditions that are forming!

sunday @ the well

1st annual survey

This morning we threw out our first church-wide survey.  I believe it will be one of our greatest ways to keep a pulse on key vitals.  It’s going to allow us to know our people, who we’re reaching, and get great feedback on how to plan for next year.  We’re not a voting church, but will be a surveying church.  I’m looking forward to reading through them tomorrow, as well as getting some constructive criticism!

prayer pathway

the fish bowl

My favorite station where I knelt the longest was as I thought through all my worries and fears in life.  It felt good to drop a marble into the fish bowl of water.  I walked away leaving it drift to the bottom symbolizing that God was taking care of it.

 

communion

Every week we offer a time of personal communion and usually once a month take part corporately.  It’s always a sacred moment and hope we will never treat this as ritual or something on our list to do.

 

scripture reading

3 Bibles were open wide for anyone that chose to meditate on some fresh bread this morning.  We placed references on the wall to help people locate scriptures based on themes they might be dealing with.

 

rest

So many friends of mine, do to the economy, are working 70-80 hour work weeks.  One friend told me he put in 102 hours total, including driving time.  This station was ideal to just sit and let God wrap his arms around us and be loved.  These chairs to sit in defined, “be still and know that I am God”.

 

the cross

I was humbled and thankful to see the cross covered with sheets of paper of sins that our church family experienced.  We pounded them to the cross believing that his blood has covered them and walked away knowing we are forgiven.  My hope is that we don’t abuse his grace and continue sinning but walk in holiness.

 

 

play-doh

I’m glad some artists were at the theater today.  It felt like we were being little kids again as we sculpted dreams and goals and placed them in the hands of our father.  This heart with God in the middle caught my attention.

 

draw a prayer

We put out a challenge to draw something that you feel like you’ve been praying for and that you feel has gone unanswered.  We once again put our faith to the test and handed those request to God.  This was a beautiful picture of a home that someone obviously was giving to God.

 

light a candle

There’s so many people in our lives that need prayer.  We lit candles for people that we love that we want to come to know Christ.

 

 

prayer partners

It was a sweet moment to agree with people that needed prayer.  I believe one of the greatest ways we can express our love one to another is by praying for each other.

 

worship & meditation

Davey and Adam led us in some intimate worship as we sung our praises to God.  We placed a rotating slide show on the screen with pictures of nature as we worshipped our creator.  Some just sat in their seats, others bowed as they spent some time in private practice.

Faithful volunteers

Week in and week out faithful volunteers make The Well environment happen.  I love these precious girls as they love and smile making others feel welcome!  I told a visitor today they can go to tons of places and hear better worship or a better message, but….. not many where such authentic love is given away!  Thank you to all of our volunteers that helped set up the prayer pathway this morning!

Brotherhood in the Making

I laughed as some of these guys were hanging out before our gathering started this morning.  We had several visitors come because they saw our signage out front, glad this raw group of guys didn’t scare them away.  As I look back at 09 we nailed serving in the bullseye, but struggled in our relationships.  As a result we’ve had people come and go unfortunately.  However, a new brother/sisterhood is forming that I’m so excited about!

Next week we are starting a new teaching series on finances.  We’ve only talked about givings one time in our first 8 months as a church.  I’m so excited to get into debt, budgets, savings, and tithing.  So many in our community are struggling with money right now and can’t think of talking about this in a more timely fashion.