Yesterday I talked about the first two things I learned in our first four years:
1. Vision is everything
2. I wasn't prepared for the heart ache

Today I want to discuss two more.

3. Comparing myself and 5 Point to other pastors and churches
As we got started I wanted to fill our building with lost people.  From day one I knew we'd be a church about reaching the unchurched.  But there were weeks we didn't see anyone get saved.  There were times of no growth and I began comparing our church and myself to other guys such as, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Greg Oraham, Eddie Cox.  Through the past four years I've come to realize Dean Herman is his own animal.  God created me to be full speed ahead and to teach in the manner that I teach.  I'm not any of these other guys and don't want to be.  There were days I wondered why God wasn't blessing our church like he was those?  Soon as I quit comparing and became satisfied with who I was, we really began to grow. 

No church planter or pastor needs to compare himself to anyone.  We must continually seek God for his vision for our church and not someone else.  I love hanging out  with these guys and learning from them but I do not want to be them or have our church be like their church.

4.  You can only do as much ministry as you have money
I never talked about money during our first three years.  Didn't want to offend anyone or run them off.  How stupid is that?  I have come to realize that without money, you have no where to meet, no staff, no evangelism events, NOTHING!  Before some of you (usually those who comment and leave no name) talk about the first church and how they grew by thousands with no money, lets remember our culture.  If I had a service this winter on the streets on a 20 degree day, how many would come?  Thats right, none!  It takes money to reach people.

I don't ask God for money, I beg God for his people to get their hearts right with him and to give out of love.  When God's children give faithfully, we can change this community.  We would have the money to feed the hungry, clothe the cold, help pay rent for the needy, plant other churches, and still have money left over for the church.  George Barna said that only 3% of Christians truly tithe.  So discouraging.  Problem is that people believe in God but trust in their money. 

With that being said, what moronic pastor wouldn't want to teach on money?  I now say something about money every Sunday.  People need to understand the truth and hoping they will have a heart change will not cut it.  Oh how I wish I would have understood this from day one.

Some other thoughts:
* Randy did a great job last night teaching God's Word. 
* Had an awesome creativity meeting today with the staff.  Doing a couple things next week we have NEVER done before.
* Looking forward to seeing how our momentum from last Sunday carries into this week.  Can we get to 1,000 by Christmas with 100 salvations?  If we do our jobs we can.
* Been reading a lot again lately. 
* Going through staff evaluations now.  Don't really enjoy this kind of stuff but we all need to try and get better.
* This Sunday is finished and we'll be doing a walk through at 2:00.  I promise you you'll be challenged this Sunday.
* But, we are going to have a great time.
* About to finish next Sunday so let me get back to it.