Check out This Article (click the link and then scroll down to the "Hukilau Surf Camp" link) about our Surf Camps!
Nate
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday Blitz
> Attendance was one of our all-time highs at Nags Head Church this Sunday! We have more local guests attending than ever before, and with the holiday weekend, tourism was booming as well. We purposely designed a more high energy setlist just to help add the the energy and celebrative atmosphere...it was rockin'!
> Because we're taking a few months off from our F1RST Wednesday gathering, we also worshipped through communion (the Lord's Supper) for the first time on a Sunday morning in several years. Serving the elements to nearly 600 people is no easy task, but our First Impressions team (with a few extra hands) made it seem like we do it every week.
> The Kid's Zone upstairs is getting closer and closer to the finish line, which means, soon, the offices space will be available for the band to use as our "green room" before and after and during the worship gatherings...we're really looking forward to that!
> I'll be honest, with the business of yesterday, I actually missed the message during both gatherings, and although I get a sneak peak every week reading through our pastor's notes, I'm looking forward to downloading our podcast in a little while and catching up on what I missed.
> My wife tells me every week how fun and engaging her time is leading our preschoolers in worship...are church is booming with young families!
> Our 4th of July outreach event on Saturday night went very well. We opened up our parking lot for free parking for the local fireworks...we also gave away free hotdogs and sausages, free drinks and free slushies, and we had our two big moon bounces for kids. Hopefully this event will grow in years to come.
> During the event, I was able to give a tour of our church building to a young family...they were attracted to the fact that we have a modern rock band, and were impressed with our kid space. They guy also looked at me suspiciosuly when I told him most people come to church in the summer dressed just like they were dressed...in shorts and t-shirts.
> We got a few of our new, home made acoustic pannels up on the back of the stage behind the drum kit to try out...the difference was great, and our sound tech loves having more control in producing better sound quality. We'll get a few more finished this week and have the entire back wall of the stage covered.
> Looking forward to bringing in a new drummer (the son of our regular drummer) this week...he's played with us a few times, but in a long while...hoping to get him into the rotation soon.
Rock on!
Nate
> Because we're taking a few months off from our F1RST Wednesday gathering, we also worshipped through communion (the Lord's Supper) for the first time on a Sunday morning in several years. Serving the elements to nearly 600 people is no easy task, but our First Impressions team (with a few extra hands) made it seem like we do it every week.
> The Kid's Zone upstairs is getting closer and closer to the finish line, which means, soon, the offices space will be available for the band to use as our "green room" before and after and during the worship gatherings...we're really looking forward to that!
> I'll be honest, with the business of yesterday, I actually missed the message during both gatherings, and although I get a sneak peak every week reading through our pastor's notes, I'm looking forward to downloading our podcast in a little while and catching up on what I missed.
> My wife tells me every week how fun and engaging her time is leading our preschoolers in worship...are church is booming with young families!
> Our 4th of July outreach event on Saturday night went very well. We opened up our parking lot for free parking for the local fireworks...we also gave away free hotdogs and sausages, free drinks and free slushies, and we had our two big moon bounces for kids. Hopefully this event will grow in years to come.
> During the event, I was able to give a tour of our church building to a young family...they were attracted to the fact that we have a modern rock band, and were impressed with our kid space. They guy also looked at me suspiciosuly when I told him most people come to church in the summer dressed just like they were dressed...in shorts and t-shirts.
> We got a few of our new, home made acoustic pannels up on the back of the stage behind the drum kit to try out...the difference was great, and our sound tech loves having more control in producing better sound quality. We'll get a few more finished this week and have the entire back wall of the stage covered.
> Looking forward to bringing in a new drummer (the son of our regular drummer) this week...he's played with us a few times, but in a long while...hoping to get him into the rotation soon.
Rock on!
Nate
Monday, July 6, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Patriotism In The Church
Some people (church leaders) like to argue that there is no place for patriotism in a church worship service...it is never appropriate for us to mention our military, sing "God Bless America" or display the US flag in church. (don't ask me to explain it because I don't understand it)
My argument is, if there is a place for patriotism in your personal life, then there can be a place for patriotism in a corporate church worship gathering. It may not always be profitable, but it is possible.
Too often, we like to compartmentalize our lives, believing the lie that says that the worship that happens on Sunday mornings is more holy and important that the worship that happens during the rest of our week...the lie that says we must be more careful about the things we say and do in church than the things we say and do outside of church. But, if my entire life, every second of every day is purposed to be an act of worship to God, how can showing patriotism at a baseball game with thousands, in an elementary school with hundreds, and at my family cookout this Saturday with a few be more OK than showing patriotism in church?
For the record, I understand how blessed I am to live in a free country, I say "thank you" to those who have served in our military, I cheer loudly during the Olympics, I salute the flag and I hold my hand over my heart during the pledge. None of those things in and of themselves make me patriotic, but I do have a love for and devotion to my country, and I'm OK with expressing my patriotism at the appropriate times.
What say you? Is there a place for patriotism in a church worship service? Can we sing the songs and acknowledge the flag while still bringing glory and honor to God?
I certainly hope so.
Nate
My argument is, if there is a place for patriotism in your personal life, then there can be a place for patriotism in a corporate church worship gathering. It may not always be profitable, but it is possible.
Too often, we like to compartmentalize our lives, believing the lie that says that the worship that happens on Sunday mornings is more holy and important that the worship that happens during the rest of our week...the lie that says we must be more careful about the things we say and do in church than the things we say and do outside of church. But, if my entire life, every second of every day is purposed to be an act of worship to God, how can showing patriotism at a baseball game with thousands, in an elementary school with hundreds, and at my family cookout this Saturday with a few be more OK than showing patriotism in church?
For the record, I understand how blessed I am to live in a free country, I say "thank you" to those who have served in our military, I cheer loudly during the Olympics, I salute the flag and I hold my hand over my heart during the pledge. None of those things in and of themselves make me patriotic, but I do have a love for and devotion to my country, and I'm OK with expressing my patriotism at the appropriate times.
What say you? Is there a place for patriotism in a church worship service? Can we sing the songs and acknowledge the flag while still bringing glory and honor to God?
I certainly hope so.
Nate
Friday, July 3, 2009
4th of July
Here's a little OBX secret...the absolute best place to watch fireworks is on top of Jockey's Ridge...not only do you not have to fight the traffic and the crowds that invade the beaches that night, you can easily see not one, not two, but three different fireworks displays from the biggest sand dunes on the East Coast! Here's another secret...the best place to park and walk up the dunes is at Nags Head Church.
Along with free parking, there will also be free Boar’s Head hotdogs (seriously some of the best dogs ever), free Seafreeze Slushies (nothing better than something ice cold in the middle of summer) and some awesome free activities for kids (can you say two moon bounces?). Did I mention that everything is free?!?
If you're wondering where I'll be tomorrow evening, you can find me in the parking lot of Nags Head Church.
Hope to see you there!
Nate
Parking is limited, so don't be late!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday Blitz
> Contrary to how it feels, our attendance is actually up a bit from June of last year...it feels down because we know that tourism here is down, but the enthusiasm of the worshippers and the numbers, especially the kids, speak for themselves. July will be the real test, as it's always the busiest month here at NHC.
> After a few weeks of rough starts for the band, yesterday morning flowed really well from start to finish. A few minor bumps, as always, but no major frustrations like we've been having the past few weeks.
> Great message about leaders...being a good leader and praying for and supporting those who lead us...can never hear about that stuff too often.
> Our First Impressions Team may have the toughest assignment each week...while our other teams have a plan in place with little variations, the FI Team is basically always adjusting and reacting to what comes at them...big crowds, small crowds, late-comers, cranky tourists, bad weather, small parking lot, etc....they do an incredible job of meeting the challenges of a growing church during tourist season.
> Speaking of cranky tourists (and, just in case you're coming to our church soon from out of town), I really wish there was a way to explain to our out of town guests why we do everything we do...some people come to church thinking that we're here to cater to their every need, putting aside the needs of everyone else, and that's just not the case. We do everything we do for a very specific reason, and although we love our out of town guests, our target is our local, unchurched guests, and we will make the most sacrifices for them and our regular attenders. Although, we will do it with a smile on our face, even when people are cranky...
> We've yet (knock on wood) to have a bad weather Sunday this summer! Nothing better than walking out of the church building on Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and blue skys! Yesterday, we spent some time with family and friends at the beach...first time my wife and I have been in the ocean together in a few years!
> It was just one of those gatherings yesterday at 9am...a ton of little children in the auditorium (somebody explain to me why so many parents don't send their kids to do their own thing?)...which also meant a ton of distractions...once we've got our Kids Zone finished and can shuffle some things around, I'm hoping those distractions will be minimized.
> Speaking of kids, my daughter may be experiencing her first bit of separation anxiety...the past two Sundays, at 11am, when I hand her off to our awesome nursery team, she's cried. She never crys...I'm hoping it's just a combination of hunger, nap time, etc. and not real separation anxiety (although it does make my heart melt).
> Stoked to have my great friends Matt and Sylvie Glock (and family) in town with us over the next few months...I love all of our missionaries, but especially Matt and fam. Matt was in town from France a few years ago and we went and saw the Transformers movie together...hoping to see the sequal with him sometime soon.
> Now it's time for me to chord out a few new songs for the band, finalize plans for our 4th of July outreach event, and find some lunch!
Rock on!
Nate
> After a few weeks of rough starts for the band, yesterday morning flowed really well from start to finish. A few minor bumps, as always, but no major frustrations like we've been having the past few weeks.
> Great message about leaders...being a good leader and praying for and supporting those who lead us...can never hear about that stuff too often.
> Our First Impressions Team may have the toughest assignment each week...while our other teams have a plan in place with little variations, the FI Team is basically always adjusting and reacting to what comes at them...big crowds, small crowds, late-comers, cranky tourists, bad weather, small parking lot, etc....they do an incredible job of meeting the challenges of a growing church during tourist season.
> Speaking of cranky tourists (and, just in case you're coming to our church soon from out of town), I really wish there was a way to explain to our out of town guests why we do everything we do...some people come to church thinking that we're here to cater to their every need, putting aside the needs of everyone else, and that's just not the case. We do everything we do for a very specific reason, and although we love our out of town guests, our target is our local, unchurched guests, and we will make the most sacrifices for them and our regular attenders. Although, we will do it with a smile on our face, even when people are cranky...
> We've yet (knock on wood) to have a bad weather Sunday this summer! Nothing better than walking out of the church building on Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and blue skys! Yesterday, we spent some time with family and friends at the beach...first time my wife and I have been in the ocean together in a few years!
> It was just one of those gatherings yesterday at 9am...a ton of little children in the auditorium (somebody explain to me why so many parents don't send their kids to do their own thing?)...which also meant a ton of distractions...once we've got our Kids Zone finished and can shuffle some things around, I'm hoping those distractions will be minimized.
> Speaking of kids, my daughter may be experiencing her first bit of separation anxiety...the past two Sundays, at 11am, when I hand her off to our awesome nursery team, she's cried. She never crys...I'm hoping it's just a combination of hunger, nap time, etc. and not real separation anxiety (although it does make my heart melt).
> Stoked to have my great friends Matt and Sylvie Glock (and family) in town with us over the next few months...I love all of our missionaries, but especially Matt and fam. Matt was in town from France a few years ago and we went and saw the Transformers movie together...hoping to see the sequal with him sometime soon.
> Now it's time for me to chord out a few new songs for the band, finalize plans for our 4th of July outreach event, and find some lunch!
Rock on!
Nate
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday Blitz
> Matt the Intern played bass with us for the first time yesterday...he blogs about it a bit Here. I especially enjoyed his friendly argument with our sound tech about his guitar "fretting out"...
> Great message yesterday to fathers about instructing and modeling holiness to our children. Especially enjoyed the passage from the first part of Proverbs 4.
> Speaking of which, it was my second father's day, and a great one spent worshipping with friends and hanging out with family. You can read a few of my father's day thoughts Here.
> Tourism is down this summer, and it's being reflected at church...normally, this Sunday should have been our first huge Sunday of the year, with well over 200 in each worship gathering, but not so. That's OK with us, because we're still getting a lot of local guests, which is our target anyway.
> The band has had rough starts each of the past two Sundays during the 9am gathering...going to work on a few things this week to help us "fix" that, because it's frustrating for us all, even if nobody else notices.
> The band did a sweet, men-only cover of DCTalk's "What if I Stumble" yesterday...a great and timely reminder to us fathers and husbands (and future fathers and husbands) that our bad decisions affect those around us.
> We have a new check-in system for all of our kids...some kind of scanner thing that spits out a name tag and records who is there each Sunday...should help us better serve and reach families.
> Word is that our first Kayak Camp of the summer went well on Saturday, and our first Hukilau Surf Camp of the summer this coming Saturday is filling up fast!
Nate
> Great message yesterday to fathers about instructing and modeling holiness to our children. Especially enjoyed the passage from the first part of Proverbs 4.
> Speaking of which, it was my second father's day, and a great one spent worshipping with friends and hanging out with family. You can read a few of my father's day thoughts Here.
> Tourism is down this summer, and it's being reflected at church...normally, this Sunday should have been our first huge Sunday of the year, with well over 200 in each worship gathering, but not so. That's OK with us, because we're still getting a lot of local guests, which is our target anyway.
> The band has had rough starts each of the past two Sundays during the 9am gathering...going to work on a few things this week to help us "fix" that, because it's frustrating for us all, even if nobody else notices.
> The band did a sweet, men-only cover of DCTalk's "What if I Stumble" yesterday...a great and timely reminder to us fathers and husbands (and future fathers and husbands) that our bad decisions affect those around us.
> We have a new check-in system for all of our kids...some kind of scanner thing that spits out a name tag and records who is there each Sunday...should help us better serve and reach families.
> Word is that our first Kayak Camp of the summer went well on Saturday, and our first Hukilau Surf Camp of the summer this coming Saturday is filling up fast!
Nate
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Step Up
I've talked about this a bit before...one of the greatest joys as a worship leader is watching the infectious nature of joyful worship take over a room. Leading worship doesn't just happen on the stage...any one person in a crowd of people (the congregation) can change the entire atmosphere and attitude of the crowd by stepping up and leading worship.
We have several people in our church who, every Sunday, I can count on to be the first to stand in praise, raise their hands, jump, shout, whatever...and watching others around them follow their lead and step up with them is such an awesome thing.
Check out this video (there may be a bit of language in the song lyrics)...wouldn't it be cool if your church had this kind of attitude and infectious nature when coming together to worship (maybe minus the bikinis and alcohol)?!
How infectious is the worship at your church Sunday to Sunday?
Nate
We have several people in our church who, every Sunday, I can count on to be the first to stand in praise, raise their hands, jump, shout, whatever...and watching others around them follow their lead and step up with them is such an awesome thing.
Check out this video (there may be a bit of language in the song lyrics)...wouldn't it be cool if your church had this kind of attitude and infectious nature when coming together to worship (maybe minus the bikinis and alcohol)?!
How infectious is the worship at your church Sunday to Sunday?
Nate
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
A Few More Thoughts About That
I've been thinking about That all day...not like every second, because I did have a great day with my wife and daughter...but it's been, at least, on the back of my mind all day. Maybe getting a few more thoughts down on paper may help me to move on and focus. Again, although this is related to the particular situation that went down this past weekend, I'm trying to think and write in generalities that will help me keep my nose clean.
> I have no idea why any man in church leadership (or in any leadership outside the church, for that matter) would invite a woman to be his "personal assistant". If a pastor absolutely needs a personal assistant, isn't the obvious choice to invite a guy? Beyond all of the sexual crap that can be avoided, church leaders should be looking for opportunities to mentor younger men, and what better way to do so than to have a personal assistant (maybe that's what we used to call "disciples"?) at your side? Not to mention, I couldn't imagine having the guts to tell my wife that I'd just hired a woman to spend hours a week "assisting" me in my ministry...yikes!
> I must be so careful how I communicate with the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Again, big screw ups don't happen overnight, and often, in this modern culture, they begin and are fueled via online communication. Whether email, twitter, facebook, texting, etc., I've got to be willing to limit who I communicate with on a very personal level and how I communicate with them. I know some church leaders who even have a personal policy not to have any facebook friends who are young, single females, just to avoid all appearances and temptations of evil. As a former, single, college student, I know how easy it is to flirt, even "innocently", with the opposite sex online...not something I want to even come close to as a married man. If my wife wants to look at my facebook private messages, I shouldn't have anything to hide.
> I must be incredibly careful how I talk about the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Living "above reproach" means that I don't give anyone any reason to doubt my character should a rumor or slanderous piece of gossip start going around about me. If I'm ever accused of anything morally questionable, I never want anyone to be able to say in honesty that they heard or read me say/write something innappropriate about a woman. If you ever hear me say that any woman is "hot", I'd better be talking about my wife.
> I have got to learn how to kill (ie. let God kill) my ego if I'm going to be in ministry. Again, if I'm ever accused of anything, I don't want arrogant and insensitive things I've said and written (and the stuff I say and write comes out of my heart and mind) to come back and give people reason to question me further. From emails, to twitter updates, to blog comments, I've got to learn to say everything with love and grace and encouragement, even if what I'm saying comes from great conviction. Transparency can be a good thing, but not if my heart is always filled with ego and pride.
Thanks for listening...I think I can get to sleep now...
Nate
> I have no idea why any man in church leadership (or in any leadership outside the church, for that matter) would invite a woman to be his "personal assistant". If a pastor absolutely needs a personal assistant, isn't the obvious choice to invite a guy? Beyond all of the sexual crap that can be avoided, church leaders should be looking for opportunities to mentor younger men, and what better way to do so than to have a personal assistant (maybe that's what we used to call "disciples"?) at your side? Not to mention, I couldn't imagine having the guts to tell my wife that I'd just hired a woman to spend hours a week "assisting" me in my ministry...yikes!
> I must be so careful how I communicate with the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Again, big screw ups don't happen overnight, and often, in this modern culture, they begin and are fueled via online communication. Whether email, twitter, facebook, texting, etc., I've got to be willing to limit who I communicate with on a very personal level and how I communicate with them. I know some church leaders who even have a personal policy not to have any facebook friends who are young, single females, just to avoid all appearances and temptations of evil. As a former, single, college student, I know how easy it is to flirt, even "innocently", with the opposite sex online...not something I want to even come close to as a married man. If my wife wants to look at my facebook private messages, I shouldn't have anything to hide.
> I must be incredibly careful how I talk about the opposite sex, especially via the internet. Living "above reproach" means that I don't give anyone any reason to doubt my character should a rumor or slanderous piece of gossip start going around about me. If I'm ever accused of anything morally questionable, I never want anyone to be able to say in honesty that they heard or read me say/write something innappropriate about a woman. If you ever hear me say that any woman is "hot", I'd better be talking about my wife.
> I have got to learn how to kill (ie. let God kill) my ego if I'm going to be in ministry. Again, if I'm ever accused of anything, I don't want arrogant and insensitive things I've said and written (and the stuff I say and write comes out of my heart and mind) to come back and give people reason to question me further. From emails, to twitter updates, to blog comments, I've got to learn to say everything with love and grace and encouragement, even if what I'm saying comes from great conviction. Transparency can be a good thing, but not if my heart is always filled with ego and pride.
Thanks for listening...I think I can get to sleep now...
Nate
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