Directions to the "Invitation Only" Event at the ARC Conference

For all of you at the ARC Conference who are going to LoneStar Tuesday Night after the Ed Young Session, here are the directions from the hotel.

When you leave the church:

• Head EAST on Cleveland Rd.


• Turn LEFT at Barber Mill Rd


• Turn RIGHT at Lee Rd


• Turn LEFT at NC-1560/Ranch Rd


• Turn RIGHT to merge onto US-70 EAST


• Take Exit 326 for US-70 toward Smithfield


• Turn RIGHT at US 70 WEST

LoneStar Steakhouse is at 13049 US 70 Business Highway W. Clayton, NC 27520 Their number is (919) 359-6201

It's basically in the Wal-Mart Parking Lot.  I can't wait to see all of you tonight for some face-to-face hang time.

Thanks,

Matt Keller

At the ARC Conference in North Carolina

I am so excited to be at the ARC Conference at C3 Church in Clayton, NC this week with about 1000 other church planters & Pastors.

The ARC Conference is always one of my favorite times of the year b/c I get to connect with so many other like-minded people who are doing what we love: church planting!

Here are a couple of need to know things:

1.  Where is Clayton, NC?  That's an easy one: The church is located on Cleveland Road between Cow-Pasture Lane & Po-Dunk Township. Seriously, the church bought 47 acres of a Tobacco Farm in Rural RC about 30 minutes from Raleigh and God has raised up a HUGE church that is impacting this region like Crazy! What an amazing God thing.

2.  You can watch the entire conference live at: www.AllAccessConference.com

3.  I am teaching a breakout session today on "Invisible Keys to Making the Jump" this afternoon at 2 pm Eastern. Pray for me if you think about it.

4.  Pray for me anyway, I had an infection in my eye flair up last night at the conference so bad, that Sarah and I actually had to leave to look for an Urgent Care, (which we never found coincidentally, because we're in the middle of nowhere!!!) So I'm calling my eye doctor this morning to see what she wants me to do. Don't worry Mike Ash is ready to go with the teaching if I need him to. I"ll probably have him team-teach it with me regardless, just because he and I together is just a great thing. 7 years and counting!!!

You can follow my latest conference musings on Twitter (@matthewkeller) or on my Facebook Status Updates as well.

Thanks for praying for me everyone,

Matt

Follow Up to "Dream Again" - Part 1

As I was preparing to read Acts 3 from our SOAP Guide today, I prayed that God would show me something I've never seen before in the text. I have preached out of Acts 3 for years, but today, God showed me something different.

Acts 3 starts with Peter doing a miracle, which gets the attention of the crowd around him, and then Peter just starts preaching to them and let's them know that they were the ones who crucified Jesus just a few days ago. I mean it's No-Holds-Barred Stuff!

But then in verse 18, he makes a state and in the Message translation it says,

"But God ... knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill His plans."
I couldn't help but read that in light of our Dream Again Series that began last weekend on Easter Sunday. 3 little phrases jumped off the page at me. If you've ever looked at your life and thought, "I'm not sure this is what God had in mind..." then read on:

Phrase #1:  "But God..." There is something about this phrase that gets me fired up. Every time I read it in the Bible I am reminded of God's Redemptive Nature and Power. God is a Redeemer, plain and simple. So maybe your dream isn't what you thought it would or should be by now, well, guess what... God's a redeemer, so hold on to God's BUT!!! (get it?)

Phrase #2: "God knew..." This one gives me great comfort when I look at the stuff in my life I don't understand. Because even though I may not understand it, God does. God knows what's going on. Period. Even when I don't, and that means I can trust Him.

Phrase #3:  "God used..." I love that God is still Great enough to use all the broken dreams and goofed up stuff we do as humans. I love that He can still use us for His plans, even after all we've faced or experienced or been through.

Our Dream Again Series is off to a great start at NLC & I hope this encourages you to never let go of your dream!

See you Sunday at 9 am & 10:45 am!

Pastor Matt

Are you following me?

If we aren't friends on Facebook or if you're not following me on Twitter, you are, as of this moment, officially invited!

Facebook Link:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1092376783&ref=name

Next Level Church also has a group, join now at:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24561927638

Twitter ID:  @matthewkeller

The best way to utilize Twitter is to set it up as Text Messages to your Mobile Phone. I love it!

Statistics & Reflections from Easter

Time: Monday Morning - 11:05 AM

Coffee Consumed: Nun-ya-biznez (too much)

Flashbacks to Yesterday: Over a Billion

Hours of Sleep: 8 I think...

Baseball Highlights Watched: 15

Pieces of Toast Consumed: 2

Souls Reconnected to Jesus on Easter at NLC: 14

# in Attendance in 2 Services: 1,198

# of people who made it happen: Over 100!

NLC Rockstars: Travis Joliff & Jen Jackson who kicked it up serious in worship!

Everyone who served in our Kids Environments - seriously crazy awesome! Especially people like Leanne Ash who served both services just because we needed her too.

The new Security team, making everybody feel great back in the Kids Zone

The entire Coffee Bar team who had so many cups of coffee and so many dozens more donuts than usual.

Over 100 Neighborhoods who participating in block parties to help hungry people the week before and raised 20,000 cans of food in 1 day!!!

My wife and mother-in-law who made me look great in my new jeans and jacket outfit!

My mom for having cake and ice cream on Easter!

My dad for taking our family out on the boat so we could chill.

The Rays and Cubs for Winning on Easter!

Jesus, for changing lives for eternity! Nothing compares to that. It's like the Hokie-Pokie - That's what it's all about...

7 years ago on Easter, we had 6 people in my living room. I played guitar and sang, then preached and when the 2 toddlers woke up from their morning nap, service was officially over and we all went to Cici's Pizza for Easter Lunch.

Wow, alot has changed in 7 years. Thankful to God for His faithfulness in helping us stay the course,

Hope your Easter was great too,

Matt Keller

1st Monday of the Month - Prayer & Fasting Reminder & Requests

Hey everyone in Next Level World,

Today, Monday, April 5th is Prayer & Fasting at NLC! I want to strongly encourage you to pray and fast at least one meal today.

Here are 5 Prayer Requests to Pray Over Today:

#1:  NLC's Future Facility. One of the big reasons we're setting aside this day each month is to see God bring clarity and breakthrough for our Future Facility. We don't know where, when, or what, but we're positioning ourselves for what God has in the future.

#2:  Church Planters: ARC Planter, Darian Rains, who was trained at R9 ( Our Church Planting Residency) last fall launches this Sunday, April 12th in Prior Creek, OK. www.YourPlaceChurch.com

Continue Praying for John Youell (Norman, OK), Ashley Wilson (Lexington, KY), and Stacy Turney (Dothan, AL) Other R9 Grads we trained last fall as well. They are all New Start-ups and going well!

#3:  Missionaries: Luke Walters (Sri Lanka), Christ for India, & Mark Pyles (Dominican Republic)

#4:  Easter Sunday - Dream Again Series Begins!!! Pray that God will begin Resurrecting Dreams in the hearts of so many across Southwest Florida. Pray for Families and Individuals throughout the NLC Family who have lost jobs and are in search of new ones.

#5:  Follow Up from FeedingFortMyers.com. God showed up in a HUGE way during our campaign. Pray that neighborhoods would begin to be changed because of relationships being formed through the block parties, etc. This is the beginning of something huge. Pray also for the Soup Kitchen Downtown as well. What a great partnership God has given us! Pray also for seeds planted in people who saw our stories on News-Press, NBC, ABC and CBS or heard about it on Way-FM, The Call 91.9 FM, WRXY-TV.

See the complete story at NBC. Click Here.
Let's believe for a great day of Prayer and Fasting.

Pastor Matt

Oh My Gosh!!! FeedingFortMyers.com is HUGE!!!

So today has been one of those Historic, Monumental Days in the life of NLC!

With well over 100 parties happening all across Southwest Florida today, the preliminary reports coming in are Incredible!

So many people mobilizing so many communities to help so many people! Unreal!

Talk about living like Jesus and Owning your Sphere of Influence!

All 3 of the Major TV Networks picked up the story and ran it today and tonight. It's #1 right now on www.NBC-2.com.

Click Here to read and watch the story!

The News-Press did a story that came out in the paper today!  Click Here!

AND... we haven't seen anything yet! Sunday Morning at NLC is going to be just Ridiculous!

Come see what more than 10,000 cans looks like!!! We've got radio DJ's, a stage, and 3 huge trucks lined up to hold all the cans.

Also, I'm going to be sharing a Message on Jesus feeding the 5,000 which is going to hit home with everybody I'm sure. I believe God is going to make Himself real to people in a personal way by the hundreds tomorrow!

Come early, drink Starbucks, eat donuts, bring your cans, high five like everybody and their neighbor, literally, and then get into the Audiotirum as we meet with Jesus!!!

9 am and 10:45 am

Let's Keep Partying with a Purpose!

Pastor Matt

100 Block Parties Happening TODAY!

Hey all,

Here's the latest, the News-Press which is the largest Newspaper in Southwest Florida just released their article today about www.FeedingFortMyers.com.

Click here to view and send it on to someone else!

Also, WINK News is carrying the story live at 11 am this morning!

Also, NBC & ABC are rumored to be coming out to one of the big parties at Bay Harbor Apartments this afternoon!

You gotta be at NLC tomorrow at 9 am and 10:45 am for the Culmination and to see what over 10,000 cans looks like!

It's going to be unreal!!!

Let's Party People!

Matt