developing lifestyle worshipers

Last week we launched a whole new site for northsidebc.org.  We have heard some rave reviews of it for a few different reasons:

• Sermons on video
• SIMPLE navigation (compared to our previous)
• Mobile phone viewing
• Removal of clutter
• Changing/temporary content being moved to northsideblog.org
• You can get your Compass devotionals in your inbox early in the morning by subscribing
• And much more…

We have received some great ideas to improve a couple of elements and are working on those as well.  This site has enough information for visitors to get connected and members to get important information.  A simple website CANNOT contain everything about a church our size, but we have a plan for something that can (coming in January…).

That’s what the site is, but why did we make the change?  Previously, we had a site designed by one of the premier developers in the country.  It was snazzy, but since its been over 3 years ago since they made it, so many advances on the web have taken place.  For us to get our site updated into their system with all the bells and whistles was going to cost a pretty penny.

That had me thinking.  If the web has made such advances in 3 years that you need to do a complete site overhaul, when will the next time we will have to shell out that kind of cash again?  3 years?  2 years?  1 years?

It wasn’t sitting well with me.  I kept going back to my love for cloversites.com.  These guys see their ministry as creating clean, beautiful website templates for a low cost.  While you have to get creative on how to make it your own, it can be done.  And their pricing was going to be 1/15 of the cost that other places could have charged us.

Our church is with the times, but I wouldn’t say we’re cutting edge.  We like to be up to date, but we honestly desire to be trendsetters in areas other than bells and whistles.

We want to be known for our commitment to stewardship over uniqueness.

Why I love Clover is that we used wise stewardship principles and we still have a better website than I think we would have had with a lot more money spent.  Their commitment to excellence, simplicity, and easy updating has made a wonderful product.  There are other churches out there who have the same website frame as us, and that doesn’t bother me at all!  We have saved money (on a unique design, staff position to be a web programmer, etc.) we can put towards reaching an unreached people group, and we have a more effective tool to make disciples.  Thank you, Clover!

If you haven’t checked out the new North Side site or the new blog, make sure to do so today!

This weekend, I worked.  I worked in the yard, in the house, you name it, I painted, mowed, pulled, fixed, and so much more than I thought I could do.  We put our house up for sale this weekend.  We are not moving from Greenwood, but just decided this would be a good time for a move if we could sell our house.  Hopefully, our home will have some more children in it one day, Amanda is teaching voice out of our home, and all that would be easier if we had just a little more room.  It was kinda bittersweet because we love this house (by the way, if you are shopping for homes, you can get more info here – shameless plug, I know).

The above picture was not taken this weekend, but it was similar to the sight that impacted me this weekend.  I was mowing the front yard on Saturday, and I had already been at it for a while on other projects that morning.  I was nasty, tired, and jamming out to some Fred Hammond on the iPod, when I saw it.  Some motion in our big front window caught my attention.  It was two 2-year-old boys with their heads pressed up against the window waving at me.  As I went side to side through the yard, their little eyes followed me everywhere the mower would take me.  They would knock on the window if I wasn’t giving them enough silly faces.  They would wave at me to make sure I saw them when I got far away.  Every move I made, they followed.

In that moment, they just wanted to be next to their daddy.

As I finished cutting the front yard, I teared up a bit (because you can’t cry on a lawn mower, it’s not allowed).  As I watched these precious sons of mine and their unwavering devotion to my movement, I was ashamed I was not more like them.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).

That was how Jesus lived.  He watched what His Dad was doing.  If His Dad was into healing people, Jesus healed people.  If His Dad loved the unlovely, that’s what He did.  If His Dad forgave the most unrighteous people, He did the same.

So what should my day be about today?  Tracking with my Father.  As He moves through my life today, I want to be following His every move.  I want to be locked into His action.  I want to be so in tune with Him, that when He looks up, I am smiling and haven’t missed a single step of His.

Dear Dad, help me track You all day today.