Archive for category Thrive
Why Men Hate Going To Church
Posted by tomelmore in General, Thoughts from the Week, Thrive on October 15, 2010
We just had our first Tuesday night growth group a couple days ago. It is made up of a bunch of guys trying to figure out life and faith…and I loved every second of it.
I must say our group this week came out of the gate strong. As we sat around and smoked cigars and drank IBC cream sodas (the best soda ever made) we also shared our family background and talked about how we ended up at Thrive. We made a commitment to explore a book called “Why men hate going to church” by David Murrow. Growing up in too many churches the only man that actually practices his faith is the pastor. Lately this has really bothered me because the circle I sat in last week was filled with men ready to conquer something – ready to live out their purpose and asking God ”how can you use me”? It was stinking amazing!
As I dig through our book and reflect on last Tuesday night …Here are a few thoughts
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What I’m Learning as a Parent!
During our current series at Thrive Church called “Help I’m a Parent” I asked God to show me where I’m “hitting and missing” as a parent. All I can say is be careful what you pray for…
In reading and studying for Sundays, God has spoken to me on more than one occasion about my parenting habits. I’ve come back to center that the greatest gifts I have in my life are God’s love, my wife and kids…
Here are some of the things I’m learning during this series….
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Scream Free Parenting
Posted by tomelmore in Next Right Step, Thrive on October 8, 2010
I honestly thought parenting would be easier. When my first child Molly was younger I used to think that when she was older she would listen to every word I say. She would obey fully without ever talking back. She would do what I asked the first time she heard it.
I have since come to realize I was living in a place called “Fantasy Island for Parents.”
Parenting is as much work as it is pleasure. Setting your child up for success takes intentionality, a team and some good ol’fashion strategy. I’m excited that we have a church that can talk about these types of practical things.
I am truly looking forward to this Sunday at Thrive Church. Read the rest of this entry »
Still Growing…
Posted by tomelmore in Leadership, Thrive on October 8, 2010
Last Sunday at Thrive Church was one of our what I would call “GROWTH” Sundays. Looking back on it – It wasn’t perfect from beginning to end but it was a great opportunity-to get better and grow. The result of last Sunday is I have had no less than 4 conversations this week with leaders in our church about building people and systems. What kind of systems are we talking about…
* Celebrating our teams – volunteers are the people that are invested and are committed to moving our church forward, I believe that they deserve the “red carpet” treatment from time to time – we have some exciting plans in store -looking forward to blowing the minds of our Dream Team this fall.
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Values Need Heat
Posted by tomelmore in Leadership, Next Right Step, Philosophy, Thrive on October 6, 2010
Values Need Heat. It’s true…and it’s also a phrase that I learned from a pastor in Chicago named Bill Hybels. The things that we value need someone to excentuate, highlight or magnify them in order for them to be truly felt.
How many times have you heard a pastor say “we value this…” only to look around the church and not find a trace of it anywhere in the culture? The truth is we are better at talking about values than living them out. Here are some of ways that we are putting our values into practice at THRIVE.
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Recap from Sunday 10/3/10
Last Sunday at Thrive was a lot of fun. It was week one of our new series “Help I’m a Parent”….so glad we are taking time and talking about this topic. Being a parent myself, I often feel ill equippedi and behind the 8-ball when it comes to leading my kids. The truth is I think a lot of us feel that way….luckily God is in parenting business and wants to help. That gives me some hope -excited about sharing it with ya.
Recap from Sunday
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Answering a Skeptic
I received the email below from someone via my blog regarding the Ultimate Giveaway series at Thrive Church and wanted to share it with you and my response.
“I received your flyer in the mail recently about “the ultimate giveaway.” Sorry, but this is all a bit weird. Are these really the best things? Is this really the ultimate giveaway? It’s my understanding that the ultimate giveaway happened more than two-thousand years ago when Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. It’s sad that you have to get people to come to church by using superficial material things. I recently interned for a church in the missions ministry and i saw people coming in EVERY DAY who need financial assistance with electricity, rent, groceries and gas.
10 Things You Need to Know about the Ultimate Giveaway
Posted by tomelmore in Everything Else, Thrive on September 8, 2010
Hey everyone
I wanted to let you know that this is a “Can’t Miss” Sunday! We are kicking off our new series called the Ultimate Giveaway. What really gets me excited about this series isn’t the fact that we are giving away over $250,000 in prizes….Yes, we are going to giveaway iPads – Flat Screen TV’s – Kids Bikes – Blue Ray DVD players and even a Cruise for two to the Caribbean.
What it’s really about is PEOPLE! We believe that people matter to God! The goal of this series is to make it easy to invite your un-churched friends to church. When they come our prayer is that God will open their heart to receive the greatest prize- his incredible – life changing LOVE! That’s truly the Ultimate Giveaway – that’s what going to change families, help people overcome their past and give them real hope for the future!
Here are TEN things about the U.G. I thought you should know….
The Ultimate Giveaway
Friends,
The last few weeks I have taken a break from blogging but I’m back in the saddle now.
I’m planning on blogging every day that leads up to our new series “the Ultimate Giveaway“. We’re kicking it off this Sunday. It’s going to be a “can’t miss” series. I’m praying tons
of people connect with Ch
rist and join us for the journey. Oh yeah – We have over $ 250,000 in prizes that we are going to be giving away. (check back tomorrow -I’ll give ya the behind the scenes on it.)
Here’s our Labor Day highlights…
What is Spiritual Growth?
Posted by tomelmore in Next Right Step, Thrive on August 27, 2010
What is Spiritual Growth?
This is a blog I thought was really worth reading from my buddy Dave Nelson in Kenosha WS. I love his thoughts on what a spiritually deep church is and isn’t. Definitely something to think about and apply to Thrive Church.
Enjoy – Tom
This past week I learned that one of our initial launch team members has left Great Lakes Church over the issue of “spiritual maturity”. From their perspective, we’re lacking it. Life change isn’t happening as quickly as they think it should. If you feel this way, whether about GLC or some other church, BE VERY CAREFUL!
