BLeach

Goodbye

Tonight I visited the funeral home for a viewing.  My neighbor, Peggy, passed away from cancer yesterday.  She lived in her house since 1950, the year that it was built.  As I looked across the street I realized that today is the first day in 55 years that she doesn't live there. 

When my next door neighbor Kristin moved in one month before me, Peggy introduced herself to her as the "neighborhood nose."  She wasn't kidding.  She knew everyone on the street, and everyone on the street knew her.  Peggy didn't miss anything.  If I saw her when I got home at night, she was quick to fill me in on anything unique that happened (the garbage truck was late, a pickup truck was parked in front of my house for 4 hours, etc).  I'm going to miss getting the inside scoop.  Even UPS disregarded company policy and left people's packages with Peggy. 

I'm going to miss our "faith conversations" at the end of the driveway.  She read great books and articles, and always had a challenging thought for me.  When The Passion of the Christ was released, she chased me down as I pulled out of my driveway with tears filling her eyes.  Her love for Jesus and appreciation for His cross were deep. 

Peggy was faithful to her Catholic church.  Even so, I was honored when she decided to join the small group at my house last fall.  She even visited our church a couple times. 

I came to find out that she had been through a great deal of tragedy in her life.  Most of the stories she shared with me were way beyond my ability to relate.  I was always amazed at the strength of her spirit in spite of the many tough turns her life had taken.  Looking back, I think her strength of spirit was in large part because of those challenges. 

One of the sisters from Peggy's parish was at the funeral home tonight to lead in prayer.  She made a beautiful observation.  Since Peggy was English, she pointed out that our word "goodbye" is actually a contraction of the English phrase "God be with you."  Her point was that even in saying goodbye to one another we can speak a blessing. 

So I turn my thoughts toward a fantastic neighbor, and a woman with great faith.  Phillips Ave will feel different tonight. 

Goodbye Peggy.

Transformational Church

This past summer we received a tremendous honor as a church.  We were chosen by the Assemblies of God, the fellowship of churches that we affiliate with, as a transformational church.  We were one of 13 churches that were chosen. 

In August I was invited to join the other lead pastors at a dinner in Denver.  I was blown away by what these 12 churches have done, and honored that we would be included in such a fantastic group. 

Short videos were made to tell the unique story of each church.  Here's a download link to the video for our church. 

Download 2005transchurch_11.zip

You can also click here to watch the Church of the King video, along with the other 12. 

Jesus gets tons of credit for this one! 

A Man in the Arena

Have you ever read a great quote and then wondered where you read it?  Talk about frustration!

When I was in College I was eating with some friends at a favorite sandwich place.  At the restaraunt, I read an inspiring quote while I was in...the bathroom.  That's right, it was on the wall!  Anyway, it became one of the most inspiring bathroom trips of my life. 

I've wished many times since that I had written it down.  So when I came across the quote again tonight, I thought I'd post it on my blog so I'd always know where to look for it.  (Not to mention the internet doesn't have any limitations like seating capacities in bathrooms)!

So...it's by Teddy Roosevelt.  Check it out:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.

One of my heroes, the Apostle Paul, had the same thought about ministry. 

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena (1 Corinthians 4.9).

The arena is a place of extremes; highs and lows.  But I guess if you value action and the opportunity to leave a legacy, both ends come with the territory. 

Sundays are high adrenaline days for me.  For most of the week I'm planning, praying, and dreaming for Sunday.  When Sunday finally comes, it is usually accompanied by two extremes: praise and criticism.  But at the end of Sundays I've come to appreciate something.  Whether I feel like I knocked it out of the park, or come away with ideas for how to do it better next week, I can't overstate how good it makes me feel to know I'm giving myself to a great task like reaching a city.   

And I've got another week to do it! 

Something's Missing

Have you ever had the feeling that something was missing?  That's the feeling I have had while sitting in my office at the church.  At first glance it would seem that everything was there. 

I have a chair. 

I have a phone. 

I have a computer. 

I even have some fake flowers in real water. 

But I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that something was missing.  Then, Tuesday night, I had a revelation breakthrough on the benchpress.  So I left the YMCA and drove to Toys R Us to make a 3.99 purchase.  Now my office furnishings feel complete.

On Wednesday, Ryan and I faced off for the inaugural game of H-O-R-S-E.  He gave it his best shot.

But in the end, home office advantage was too powerful, and I was looking up at the winning shot.

To all those who call COTK home, stop by my office soon if you feel up to the challenge.  We'll see what you're made of! 

Now that my office feels complete, I can really get some work done!

Burn Baby Burn

I just had a thought during an email conversation with a like-minded church planting friend.  We were talking about how easy it is to unintentionally have our time taken in firefighting efforts.  In other words, we're trying to put out fires that don't want to go out.

I understand there will always be the need for crisis management in ministry, but here's the thought I had.  For every hour we spend throwing water on on fires that WON'T go out, we should spend three more throwing gas on fires that SHOULDN'T go out. 

I think starting new churches is one of the best ways to start fires that shouldn't go out. 

Roof with a View

I spent the afternoon yesterday on the roof of our church.  Usually when I pray I'm inside the building.  God certainly still hears the same (He gets even better reception inside buildings than Verizon)!  I didn't go to the roof so He would hear me better.  I wanted "A Roof with a View." 

When I pray inside the church I'm surrounded by four walls.  When I look to the east, I see a wall.  When I look to the north, I see a wall.  There's a wall in each direction.  But from our roof you can see clearly in every direction. 

I've wondered if part of the reason God could give Peter a burden for people who were so different than him (Acts 10), was because He spent time in prayer, on the roof of a house that was in the middle of an increasingly metropolitan city. 

Our church is positioned in the population center of Metro Detroit.  That means that if I could see 30 miles each dirrection from our roof, I could see the neighborhoods, landmarks and cities that are home to about three to four million people.  By turning 360 degrees I thought of Detroit to the south, Royal Oak to the East, Birmingham to the north, and Farmington to the west.  The diversity is incredible. 

As I walked and sat and tried not to fall off, the Holy Spirit rekindled passion in my heart for Metro Detroit.  I love this city!  I love the sports teams.  I love the restaraunts.  Most of all, I love the people.  And my dream is to see Jesus change lives by filling Metro Detroit with new church plants.  I re-dedicated my life to launching a church planting movement in Metro Detroit.

I used to pray for God to give me this city.  I changed that prayer last March after my friend John Gunn shared a missional message in our church.  Now I offer God a prayer of dedication. 

"Give me to this city!"   

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

I came across a story tonight that I couldn't resist posting. 

Gaylord Perry was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 1991.  He pitched in the 60's.  Like most pitchers he didn't excel as a hitter; and he knew it.  So in 1963 he made this statement.  "They will put a man on the moon before I hit a homerun."

So when do you think Gaylord Perry hit his first homerun?  He hit it over the fence for the first time on July 20, 1969...a few hours after Niel Armstrong landed on the moon!

For better or worse we tend to either live up or down to our expectations.  But where do our expectations originate?  I wonder how much of our own perceptions of ourselves come from the perceptions that other people have of us?  In that way I think we tend to either live up or down to other people's expectations of us. 

"He's going to do great things!"  Or maybe you hear this one more often.  "He'll never amount to anything!"  Three questions come to mind as I process this. 

Do I believe what others say about my future? 

Do I believe what my personal thoughts and words predict about my future?  Or...

Do I believe the thoughts that God has about my future? 

Not many people believed in the original disciples.  Most of the time I don't even think they believed in themselves.  But Jesus believed in them.  He believed in them enough to choose them.  And somehow, by the time he took off for heaven, He had convinced them that they could change the world. 

God is the only one in our lives who is qualified to prophesy over us.  Family and friends don't know your future well enough to tell you what you will become.  You don't know your future well enough to tell you what you will become.  But God has a prophecy for your future that He wrote before you even knew Him.  Why don't you fulfill that prophecy?  Why don't you live up to His expectations?  Here is His perception of you:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2.10).

Just a thought...Perhaps part of having faith in God is accepting the faith that He has in us. 

Bigger and Better

I'm looking out the window of my home office, amazed that it can even look cold!  Is that possible?  Our Michigan weather has turned. 

I'm definitely a warm weather guy, but I also believe there is unique excitement to every season.  The cool temperatures of fall mean the frigid temperatures of winter are right around the corner.  Winter means snow.  And to a dreamer like me, snow means record breaking, gigantic snowmen. 

Last Christmas I teamed up with my sister Betsy, my brother-in-law Rob, my dad, and my three cousins Nathan, Justin and Christian, to build what I believe to have been the biggest snowman in Michigan (click on the picture for a larger view).   

In January I showed the picture to our church as a reminder to think big, and it subsequently travelled all over the state in my dad's sectional council presentation.  As a result, I have received several challenges from snowmen building contenders.  They talk a good game, but I wonder if they have the gloves guts to back it up. 

As for us, the plans are already in the works.  This year our extended family will gather in Columbus, Ohio.  There will be more uncles, more aunts, and more cousins.  In other words, I expect the 2005 Leach/Palmer/Clay snowman to soon be the biggest in two states. 

If you thought Frosty was big last year, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Monday "Sweet Spot"

I realized today that I'm the opposite of Garfield.  I love Mondays!

I am continually tweaking my ministry schedule.  Hopefully I can avoid ruts and ineffective routines.  When I worked out my most recent schedule in September, I set aside all of Monday for leadership development.  I made the change because I thought it would enable me to be more effective as a pastor, but I'm finding a second benefit to me personally.  Spending the day pouring into leaders re-charges my battery. 

I spend the morning with our resident church planter, Chris Bradshaw.  We drive to downtown Royal Oak where we dream, walk, plan, pray and drink coffee.  Ok, I'm the one drinking the coffee.  Chris doesn't seem to battle the addiction. 

Then, I meet with our three in-office team members back to back to back, brainstorming ministry with them in their specific area of focus.  At 2.30 I spend some time encouraging volunteers within our church and communicating with various ministry teams.  Then I round out the day at 4.00 with our by-weekly team meeting (pastors and interns). 

I've come to love Mondays, because God has made me to love hanging with leaders.  I think it's one of my sweet spots! 

The Bandwagon Rolls Again

The Lions win!  The Lions win!

And they never cease to surprise me.  I think the Detroit Lions thrive on being unpredictable.  They came into the 2005 preseason with a lot of hype after four straight drafts where they chose 5 offensive players in the first round (1 QB, 1 RB, 3 WR).  But after a less than impressive preseason, all the hype was gone...until they won their season opener against the evil Green Bay Packers. 

In week two the faithful found out two things.  Green Bay was worse than we thought, and the Lions were, well, the same as they've been the last 27 years of my life.  Following an impressive week, they were throttled by Chicacgo.  That's right, Chicago!  So the hype that disappeared and came back, disappeared again. 

Then today they face off against the number two rated defense in the NFL, counted out by everyone, and they smoke the Ravens 35 to 17.  The hype is back, and the bandwagon is rolling again.

I know, I know, this is the same destructive pattern that I've surrendered to all my life.  But...

...can you save me a seat on that wagon?