2 Services Launch was Amazing!!!

Yesterday was the Launch of 2 Services at NLC, and it went great! I am so amazed at how all of the people of NLC stepped up! It was great to see so many people who have caught the vision of "Attend One, Serve One." We were able to impact more people in one day then we ever have! All told, there were over 700 people in attendance yesterday. AND we had over 20 people raise their hand at the end of the message to recieve Christ as their personal Savior.

5 ways NLC made me smile yesterday:

1. The Set Up and Tear Down Teams were ON IT like Blue Bonnet! I can't even tell you how amazing it was to "set new records" in every area of NLC for set up yesterday! This is the result of Pastor Scott and a ton of other people working for the last 4 months to completely overhaul the Systems of NLC set up! They knocked it out of the park.

2. Worship Kicked it like a Ninja! The worship team yesterday brought it, big time! They were tight and took us to the presence of the Lord! I'm so glad I get to worship twice now every Sunday. I love NLC Worship! It was amazing to watch the Worship Team pray together, pray for me, and pray for God to move before the service! There is revival in our worship team and it humbles me as a pastor!
3. Our Ushers & Greeters & Parking Teams were workin' the Shiny Happy People thing. Somewhere R.E.M. was singing and smiling along, b/c our Frontline Ministries were amazing! AND it was cold outside (55 degrees)!

4. The Kids Zone was Off the Chain! After completely renovating the entire department in one week, we successfully relaunched our Kids Zone! The new set, sound, lighting and energy was amazing! Marci and David Hendrix are Rock Stars! Not to mention all of our Babies, Walkers, Nursery, & Pre-K environments that successsfully moved into a "Double Staffing" Reality! Come on, you guys make it look easy!

5. Coffee Bar & Foyer Teams set the Stage for the whole day! Our coffee bar team stepped up and kept the relational zone of our Sunday mornings runnin' like clockwork. It was cool to see them making it happen. Great job everybody!

What a great day, NLC! I am so proud to be your pastor,

I can't believe I get to do this!!! Thanks,

Pastor Matt

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 8

(continued)

I spent 9 days in the ICU at Lutheran Hospital. I did have another blood clot form but it was small and it dissolved on its own without needing another surgery. I went home on January 16th, 1995. I had no teeth and a partially shaved head. I had lost about 15 pounds and couldn't wear my contacts. I remember seeing myself in a mirror and thinking I looked like a dead man. On the contrary, I had escaped death, and I was thankful to God to be alive. Seldom a month goes by that I don't remember those days and how God was with me on January 7th.

A good friend of mine at the time, Scott Mills, told me that "I am a called man of God, and God's gonna use my life to do something great. There's no way he's done with you yet." I've never forgotten those words. They marked my life. That and the permanent scar on the left side of my head. Every so often I'll catch myself feeling the dent that remains from where they drilled in that day.

In those moments, I feel like Jacob of the Old Testament must have felt. He wrestled with God in Genesis 32 and at the end of it, God dislocated his hip socket. The Bible records that from that day on, Jacob walked with a limp and a cane. For the rest of Jacob's life, at various times he would stop and lean on his cane as an expression of worship to the Lord. No one else could worship like that. It was a special moment between he and his God.

That's the way I feel about my scar. When I touch it, it's as worship to the Lord. I am reminded of how my life was spared and I'm destined for great things. I'm reminded that God's not done with me yet and that I've been given a testimony to tell of the power of God in my life.

Touching my scar is as worship to the Lord for me. No one else can worship Him like that. It's our thing. It's something special that I'll always share with the God who put his hand between my head and a telephone pole.

January 7th is an anniversary for me. I'm alive, and I'll never be able to forget it.

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 7

(continued)
I woke up Sunday morning, January 8th, 1995 to my head wrapped in white cloths and a tube sticking out the side. I remember a nurse telling me very loudly as I was coming to that, "Matthew, there is a tube coming out of your head to relieve the pressure from the blood clot on your brain." I just remember her yelling at me, and thinking "gall, that's horrible." She procede ever so loudly to ask me a serious of questions that at the time seemed elementary. "Matthew, do you know what day it is?" "Who's the president of the United States?" "What's your name?" All of which I answered immediately with no problem. Apparently, there was much concern about what I would remember, if there would be brain damage, and if I would even know who anyone was.

A short time later, Sarah and Alison came in. They had went to church that morning and then straight to the hospital. Before arriving in my room, they asked the nurse for an update on my situation and she had cautioned them to not be alarmed if I didn't remember who they were or their names. She gave them the heads up on the reality that I may have to learn to read and write again, etc.

They came in the room and I was lying there with my eyes closed, all bandaged up like a woman just getting out of the shower with wet hair. They said hello, or something, and then Alison began asking me questions. "Matt, what 2 + 2?" To which, I'm thinking, "Why the heck is she doing this? I just did this for the nurse." Thinking she was having fun, I decided to play along. I answered her without so much as opening my eyes, "5." She asked another question, "What day is it?" "Thursday." With that, the two of them left the room.

I just laid there. In a moment, the nurse returned with them and again began her loud question asking, "Matthew, who's the president of the United States?" Not having any idea what was going on and becoming a little annoyed at the game we seemed to be playing at my expense I replied, "Hillary!" Which is obviously Bill Clinton's wife. To which everyone in the room burst into laughter and some joyful tears.

It's an absolute miracle that I never had one bit of memory loss or brain damamge. Although my staff might tell you differently depending on the day. God was truly watching over me. What a miracle.

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 6

Upon hearing the news, mom and dad felt thankful they were still in Fort Wayne and thereby closer to Lutheran hospital where my surgery was being performed. When they arrived at the hospital I was already in surgery and so all they could do was wait. My mom has always been very private about her faith. Where I tend to be more outward in my display of faith, my mother tends to drift toward the opposite.

In conversations I had with my mom after the surgery, the only thing she really ever said to me was, "Matt, I met with Jesus that night in the chapel of that hospital." I can't imagine what it must feel like to have one of your children's life hanging on the edge. My mom is a strong women. My respect for her grew exponentially that night.

The next 24 to 36 hours would be critical to whether the blood clot would reappear or dissolve. They were monitoring my status in ICU.

Janaury 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 5

(continued)

Mom and dad had left in the afternoon to go shopping in Fort Wayne before they ended up at a birthday party for my cousin, Darcy. (I don't think my cousin has ever let me forget ruining her birthday that year.) My dad had just gotten his first cell phone the week before and didn't even so much as know the number yet. Once Sarah and her family arrived at the hospital in Angola, they took on the burden of trying to get in touch with my parents. Unfortuately no one knew how to get ahold of them. Alison, Sarah's mom, at one point asked Nick if he knew my aunt's telephone number where the birthday party was supposed to be held that evening.

With his eyes closed, and just drifting above consciousness Nick replied, "1251". To this day, we have no idea how Nick knew their phone number. It wasn't something my brother or I needed to call, until that day, January 7th. Alison was able to get in touch with my aunt Toni and told her what was happening. Should mom and dad call, have them call her cell phone immediately.

After a few hours of shopping, my dad was anxious to show off his new cell phone to mom and so he stopped around 4:30 pm in the parking lot and wanted to show her how it worked. His idea was to call my aunt Toni, just for illustration's sake on what this new fangled gadget could do. They never could have imagined the news they were about to receieve on the other end of that phone.

The only 2 sons were both in critical condition. 1 in a neck brace. The other in brain surgery.

"Hey Daddy, we have a Surprise for you!"

... were the words I heard when I walked in the door tonight. But I had to play the "Hot and Cold," game to find it. It was so cute watching my 2 boys in their "I don't do Mistletoe" pajamas leading me around our house all the while saying, "You're gettin' warmer..." or "You're gettin' colder..."

After a few minutes of downstairs rabbit trail chasing, they finally led me upstairs and into the laundry room. I opened the washer (to which Drew looked in and acted surprised to find a load of laundry). Then as I started to open the dryer door, both boys broke out in spontaneous shouting: "You're burnin' up!!!" (which I found ironic, since I was at the dryer...)

As I opened the door, I seriously had no idea what I was about to find... That's when I reached in to discover a brand new GPS! Perfect for my new found hobby... Geocaching!

I was so blown away. Apparently they had been planning all week to surprise me, and man they sure pulled it off.

I'm most excited to make some great memories with the boys in the days ahead. They'll love treasure hunting and I'll love being with them.

Thanks guys for my GPS. May the Geocaching begin!

Just a GPS bloggish thought,

Matt

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 4

(part 4, continued)

My brother was still being treated at the hospital in Angola. They discovered he had crushed the 3rd vertibrae in his neck 10%. He spent 8 weeks in a neck brace and missed a semester of college. Because of our accident, he had to stay through the next summer to finish his degree. It was during those summer months that he met his wife, Elizabeth. He would have never been there had it not been for our accident on January 7th.

Meanwhile, Sarah and her parents were now 60 miles away. "I've never seen my dad drive so fast in my entire life," she told me later. Sarah actually had a journal that she recorded her thoughts in later that night. She wrote 8 pages of some of the most raw and gut wrenching emotions I have ever heard come out of her.

The helicopter landed at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN, and I was immediately rushed into the O.R. Dr. Isa Conavatti. I still remember the doctor's name. He's the only person on the entire planet who has ever seen my brain. That's crazy for me to think about.

They shaved the front left half of my head and then cut a moon shaped incision in my skin. They drilled in to my skull to relieve the pressure and when they pulled the drill out, they later told us the blood shot out and hit the wall of the O.R. 10 feet away. They put in a drainage tube and wrapped my head. I think the surgery took like 4 or 5 hours.

I can't imagine how my parents were feeling... how they got the news was another story entirely...

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 3

(part 3, continued from yesterday)

The EMS took us to the nearest hospital in Angola, IN, a small town just a few miles inside the Michigan boarder. Once at the hospital they ran a CT scan on my brain. They discovered I had a blood clot on my brain the size of a softball and it was getting bigger. If I didn't have emergency surgery to relieve the pressure, I would die.

In Northeast Indiana there was only 1 medical helicopter in the entire region at that time. And it was presently tending to another life or death situation miles away. The helicopter was called off of that emergency to come and pick me up and take me to a larger hospital 60 miles away.

At the time, Sarah and I were still just dating. She was only 17 and a senior in high school. We knew we were meant for one another, but that was still a dream for years to come. The guys had called Sarah and her family when the EMS had arrived at the campground, so she was able to come to the small hospital shortly after I had arrived. In those days I wore a gold chain with a cross on it. I guess during the entire ordeal, they took my cross and chain and handed it Sarah and said, "You may want this."

I can't imagine what it must have felt like for her to see the man she would one day marry and dreamed of spending her life with, loaded onto a helicopter with the hope that his life could be saved. She was 17. I was 19. And because this was in the time that cell phones were a luxury not a necessity, we had no way of getting ahold of my parents.

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 2

(continued from yesterday...)

After take off, we rounded a corner and the sled slid out wide to the left going down into the ditch next to the path we were on. (Picture a water skier going out wide behind a ski boat). Unfortuately what none of us saw was the row of telephone poles lining the ditch as well. We were headed straight for a pole at 35 mph. Faces buried in the sled, eyes blinded by the snow, an imminent collision ahead.

The ski rope hit the telephone pole first and then jerked the sled up into the telephone pole. Nick's neck curled up into the toboggan sled and I struck the pole literally "head on" at an estimated 50 mph. The sled shattered and the two of us were thrown 20 feet beyond the pole. The guys came running up to us yelling and cheering until they saw me face down in a pool of blood.

Taitem, who had been a lifeguard all summer the year before, reached me first and recognized what was happening. He stablized my neck and rolled me over all the while shouting, "Call 911!" Nick was moving around but was experiencing immense pain in his neck. After Taitem pulled my ski mask off of my face he couldn't figure out what the white powdery stuff was all over my mask. The powdery stuff was my 3 front teeth. They had been smashed into the back of my brother's head. and never mind the powdery stuff, I had a golf ball sized bump protruding from my left temple, and blood coming from my ears.

January 7th, 1995 ... My Life and Death Story - Part 1

I woke up this morning with the same words that come out of my mouth first every January 7th. "I'm Alive." I'll never be able to forget what happened 13 years ago. January 7th, 1995.

It was a typical winter Saturday in Indiana. We had gotten about 4 inches of snow on the ground through the night, so my buddies and I decided to go toboggan sledding, like we had the year before. For those of you who know what toboggan sledding is, what we were talking about wasn't your typical toboggan sledding deal, with a track and an hourly waged employee helping you on and off the sled while instructing you to "keep your hands, and arms tucked inside at all times." No, we were going Extreme Toboggan sledding.

We drove to a campground about 30 minutes north of where we lived and would spend the day riding on a toboggan sled tied behind a pick up truck with a ski rope. We used couch cushions to make the ride less bumpy. When we arrived at the campground, my brother and I opened the trunk and started to pull out 2 snowmobile helmets we had from our childhood. At once, all of our friends began immediately mocking. "Did your mom make you bring those?" "The 1970's called, they want their helmets back." "What are you 8 years old?" So without another thought, we replied with a "Just kiddin'" and threw them back in the trunk.

Extreme sledding is quite an exhilarating thing to do on a Saturday in Indiana. It's got all the elements of fun 6 late teen and early 20 something guys look for. Speed, risk, adrenaline, and danger. What we didn't realize, or perhaps more accurately had chosen to overlook was just how much danger it had.

It was late in the day (around 4 pm) and it was my brother and I's turn to ride. Sled, cushions, Nick, and myself. Stacked up one on top of the other like a cold meat sandwich on hoagie bread. Nick's head was tucked up under the curl of the toboggan sled to shield his face from the massive amounts of snow flying toward us. My face was situationed facing down into the back of my brother's head, to shield my face from the snow. Little did we know that snow would be the least of our concerns in about 30 seconds.

My Geocaching Adventure!

So a pastor friend of mine from Ohio, Mike Cole, and his wife Trinda have been down visiting this weekend. Escaping the cold up north etc.

So yesterday, (Sunday) afternoon, Mike tells me that he wanted a GPS device for Christmas. To which I'm thinking, "Are you serious? Why? All is does is give you directions to places right?" But then, he whips it out and starts showing me all the stuff it can do. Oh... my ... gosh... that thing is SO cool!

So then he starts telling about this thing called Geocaching. (www.Geocaching.com) Basically you go to the geocaching website and put in the address of wherever you are (in the world), and it will tell you where all of these "Hidden Treasures" are near you! It gives you the exact GPS coordinates. It's a Global Treasure Hunt! So there are like millions of these Hidden Treasures all over the world now, and you use a GPS to go and find them.

Enter Scott Drummond. So we go over to Pastor Scott and Kirsten's last night for dinner and when we get there Mike starts telling Scott about Geocaching. To which Scott whips out his computer and we put in his address... What happened next feels more surreal then actual, but it's true I tell you. True.

After we successfully had broken the code (like Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code movie) we had what we needed for our Adventure.

Before we know it, we're running to my car like Bank Robbers! The GPS (who we named Suzi) is giving us directions to a Hidden Treasure in Scott's neighborhood! It was like the coolest thing! We get within a hundred feet of the Treasure and then we had to search and destroy on foot. MIke is holding the GPS unit and telling us the coordinates as we walk through this woods. With every step, the intensity was rising! I swear there was a mote with a dragon and an alligator in it as I crossed this rickety log bridge!

After 15 minutes of searching in the woods, Scott yells out, "Hey, hey guys right there!" Sure enough, he dives in to this clump of trees and pulls out a camoflage ammo box. We open it up and there are all kinds of Treasures in there! (Stuffed animals, golf balls, key chains, etc.) Every person who finds it leaves something behind and can take something with them as well if they want. There was a log book, so we signed our names. (All the while I was totally watching for the cops and stuff!) (I was going to leave a Next Level Church card, but Scott convinced me that would be lame.)

After a few minutes of enjoying our Global Treasure Hunt, we stood, made our way out of the forest (it was a big clump of trees) and returned to our All Terrain Vehicle (my car) victorious! The other guys only suffered a couple of wounds (read, burrs stuck to their flip flops) and I escaped without a trace on my crocs. (I could have simply washed them off had their been any mud on them).

A few minutes later we were back in the safety of Scott's house, surrounded by our wives who would never know or even hope to understand the danger we had been in, how we had risked our lives, and the adventure that would probably bond our friendship for a lifetime! We didn't even try to explain it to them.

So I think I found a new hobby... Geocaching. Talk about something that doesn't look anything like my life! Dragons, and gators, and forests and adventures and firey motes. It was all real. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I gotta run, I'm pricing out GPS units online...

Matt

Leadership Challenge #7

To view this blog as a video click here

http://www.tokbox.com/vm/11crmmdl4ivv

Proverbs 21:7  (The Message) “The wicked get buried alive by their loot because they refuse to use it to help others.”

7.  The Responsibility of a Leader.

The greatest responsibility we have as leaders is to use what we’ve been given to help others.  It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking that leadership is somehow about us.  Our career, our influence, our gain, our advancement.  But the Bible makes it so clear that the opposite is actually true.  Leadership is given to us so we can help others.

I am so grateful for some amazing leaders who are being raised up in the Body of Christ today who are using their leadership influence to help others.  Men like Rick Warren, who gives away 90% of his income.  Craig Groeschel who is leveraging his influence by giving away every resource they’ve created within their church.  By doing this, I believe that Craig is single-handedly doing more to unite the Body of Christ then anything else we’ve seen in the last century!

Joel and Victoria Osteen who have been given a HUGE platform to impact lives and yet receive no salary from their church to do it!

It’s a new day in the Body of Christ and I’m excited about it!  God is giving trustworthy leaders unprecedented opportunities for influence because they have refused to let leadership be about them.

Just another bloggish leadership thought,

Matt

Happy New Year Everybody

Hey everyone,

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this coming Sunday at NLC. We're launching a 2 week mini-series called, "Nothing like New!" It's a new year, and I've got some fun thoughts on the "NEW" that God wants to do in our lives.

10 am this sunday ...

Only 2 weeks until the launch of our 2 services! I can't wait for you to see the promo videos. The 1st one airs this weekend!

I'm glad to be through the holidays. They were scattered, crazy, hectic and great all at the same time. Sarah and I are totally pumped for all that God has for us in 2008. 2007 was a year of transition, we believe 2008 is going to be a year of expansion. 2007 was about putting the guardrails on the road and 2008 is about hitting the gas and seeing what this baby will do!

We're so excited to have a great team in place at NLC. We're excited about the expanded possibilities of coaching and mentoring church planters across the country. We're excited about the possibility of the book getting published. We're excited about seeing more lives impacted for God than ever before.

It hardly seems possible that 6 years ago this month we moved from Indiana to begin the Next Level Journey. God has truly done amazing things!

Matt