Dave Bowman

Game On!

This weekend at NHC we’re continuing the Broken series. When we kicked off this series last Sunday it was obvious we hit a nerve across the board. Somehow, I feel like this weekend is going to be more of the same. I’m really feeling God laying this one on my heart in a strong way. I believe there will be people who will walk through our doors this Sunday who are literally giving God a final chance. They need hope. They need answers. They to know that someone loves them and cares about what’s falling apart in their lives.

We’re going to be here Sunday to tell them that there is hope in Jesus…to tell them that the Bible can speak into the darkness they’re struggling through…to tell them that Jesus is the light they need…to tell them that God has an agenda for their lives and he hasn’t forgotten them or deserted them.

If you know someone who needs Jesus…someone who is struggling with an area of their life that is broken…or breaking – a friend, neighbor, co-worker – NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO CALL THEM UP AND INVITE THEM TO EITHER THE 9:00 OR 11:00 SERVICE!

Over 1000!

So far this week I've had over 1000 visitors to my blog sight! First time over 1000 in a week!! Thanks to all you who visit!!

It's All About The Team

Last night I went to the Duke game. OMG!! Cameron is just off the chain. It always is. If you’ve ever been to a Duke game you’ll understand what I’m about to say – Crazy Towel Guy was goin’ nuts last night! I love that guy!

As I sat there last night just taking in the atmosphere I thought about something that Coach K said last week in an interview. The Dukies had a little trouble with a 2-game losing streak over the last week or so, and when asked about it Coach K talked about what he did with the team. He called every player into his office and asked a simple question: “What are you going to do from here on out to help us be a better team?” Their response was evident last night. Duke’s defense played tough.

NHC’ers, allow me to fantasize for a moment. Let’s pretend I’m Coach K (I know, I know…). If I could I would sit down with every one of you and ask you one question: What are you going to do to make our team better? We’re coming into March Madness, otherwise known as the Easter season. We have to take it up a notch and I know you have so much to offer. God has given you talents and abilities. He's given you influence in the lives of others. What can you do to make our team better?

How about joining a serving team and lending a hand? If you're already on a serving team, what can your team do to take it up a notch for Easter? What about going all out to invite your friends to Easter at NHC? Maybe you could join us for the Easter Prayer gathering on Sunday evening, March 16th? How about bringing a couple of Easter baskets for the Durham Rescue Mission? What can you do to make our team better?

OK, fantasy time is over now. I'm back to being Dave but the question is still the same...

Duke vs. Ga. Tech Tonight

Heading out to the game tonight! I don't get to go very often and when I do it's only because someone was nice to me. Tickets are impossible to get. But I'M GOING TO CAMERON TONIGHT, BABY! Look for me on TV!

Three Hours Without Starbucks

Yesterday Starbucks did the unthinkable - they shut their doors for 3 hours. All stores. Everywhere in the U.S. Any idea how much that cost them? Was there some massive coffee shortage? Was there a coffee blockade somewhere we didn't hear about?

No. They shut down for 3 hours to get their workforce realigned to their mission - making the best cup of coffee. They actually retrained their baristas and reclaimed some old methods that had gone by the wayside with more modern technology. (Read about it here.)

Howard Shultz, the CEO of Starbucks, is on a binge to reclaim the mission of the coffee maker. A huge part of that mission is their dedication to providing you with the best possible cup of coffee, and if it's not right, they'll make it again.

In other words, their dedication to excellence is huge! What if we thought that way in the church? What if we were so dedicated to excellence that we were willing to do whatever it takes to train our baristas (volunteers) to provide the best possible experience?

Here's the crucial difference - if you get a bad cup of coffee, they'll make you another one. They get a second chance. If we don't get it right that person who was giving church and God a try might never come back. We might not get a second chance.

She's Back!

My wife came home from MN tonight! Yippee!!

Pastor-Friendly Pt. 2

Last week I posted some thoughts from Craig Groeschel's blog about being friends with a pastor. If you missed part 1 check it out here, and then read on for part deux.

If you want to be friends with your pastor...

8. We love talking to the real you. Many people show us a spiritual front. Truthfully, we’d rather see your dark side than a fake spiritual one. Thank you for being yourself!

9. We are slow to open up. It is not because of you. We’ve been hurt many times by people who say the same things you are saying to us. Give us time.

10. If we can’t be close to you, it doesn’t mean we don’t truly love you. We only have room for a handful of very close friends. We simply don’t have the time or energy to be close to tons of people. Please don’t take it personally.

11. Please don’t try to use our kids (and I would add our spouses) to get to us. We love our kids and don’t want anyone to use them. Our kids also can’t go to every kid’s birthday party from the church.

12. If we ever say “no” to you, please understand that it is very hard for us. We want to serve you. We want to minister to you. We want you to like us. Sometimes, we simply can’t do everything. We hope you understand.

13. More than anything, we want to represent Christ to you. When we let you down (and we will), we pray you will show us grace.

14. We want you to know that we value your prayers more than you will ever know.

15. When you do become our close friend, you are an answer to prayer and a gift from God!

Another One Home

The original Christian-rocker, Larry Norman, passed away over the weekend. I say the original Christian-rocker because Larry was doing Christian rock before there was Christian rock. He blazed a musical trail for the Chris Tomlin's and David Crowder's of today. And his music and ministry was a profound influence on a young rocker years ago - me.

Here's a video of him singing one of my favorite Larry Norman songs...

Sunday Mind Bullets

• Awesome day today. Felt really good to be preaching after a 2-week break.

• Gary and the band did a great worship set today. Kristy knocked the feature song, Anyway, out of the park. Kristy sings in our Spiked Student Ministry band and it was great to have her on the main stage today. You go girl!

• After the second service I met a woman on the front patio who came today for the first time. She told me that when she got here she looked around the room and saw someone from work who was also attending NHC for the first time today! I love it when that kind of thing happens!!

• The response today was overwhelming! In both services I asked folks to stand if they were hurting and needed to experience God's peace. In both services I planned to ask the rest of the crowd to stand with them and pray for them, but in both services there were so many hurting people standing that there was hardly anyone left to pray for them. I take that as confirmation that we were on target with this series!

• Talked with a single mom today who just got connected to a Community Group, and she's only been coming to NHC for 3 months! Cool! Also talked to another family who just connected with a new group and they were so pumped about their group experience. If you're not in a Community Group you're missing out. I've said this recently but I'll say it again: you haven't found your church until you've found your group!

• BIG THANK YOU to Mike Allender for letting us use his story today on video. Mike recently went through a life-threatening health crisis that cost him both of his legs. The good news is his recovery is going well but I want to ask all my blog readers to continue to pray for him and his family.

• Easter is coming up fast! Next Sunday we'll be unpacking some of the inviting strategies we have for this year. Get ready to invite TONS of people to NHC for Easter!

•  Children's Ministry Update: Someone asked me this week when Cathy, our new Children's Pastor will be arriving. They'll be moving in the week after Easter.

• BTW - Gary and Andrea STILL need to sell their house, as well as Craig and Cathy. PRAY FOR HOUSES TO SELL!!

• Susan comes home for MN Tuesday...2 more days! I'm ready for her to be home!!

• OK, ready to chill the rest of the evening. Have a great week!

Being Pastor-Friendly

As you might imagine, I regularly read a few blogs too. I like to hear the thoughts of other pastors and ministry leaders so I have a list of bloggers that I regularly check in on. Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor of Life Church in Oklahoma City, OK is one of those guys that I regularly check in on.

His recent blog posts were about how to be friends with your pastor. It's so good I just had to pass it along.

If you want to become friends with your pastor, here are some suggestions:

1. Don’t be pushy. Pushy people come across as needy. We minister to needy people all day. We crave friendships not more counseling appointments.

2. Don’t tell us “God told you” we’re going to be friends. He may have, but that doesn’t work on us. Tons of people have told us that before. Friendship for us needs to happen over time, not be born because of something God told you but not us.

3. Coming to a stranger’s house for dinner isn’t the high point of our lives. (You know a lot about us. We don’t know as much about you.) We work a lot of nights. Our kids are busy. Finding a babysitter is hard.

4. Bringing our kids to your house often puts stress on us. A night at home is often more meaningful than a dinner at your house. (Some pastors will disagree with me and be very blessed by these dinners. Most aren’t.)

5. My wife doesn’t want to send our kids to your house just because you want to baby sit them. You are probably an incredible person, but we don’t know about your neighbors or your kids’ friends or your uncle that might come by. There are too many weird people for us to send our kids to your house without knowing more.

6. We are grateful for “gift cards.” Many pastors don’t have the financial margin to take their families out. Gift cards mean a lot.

7. We love talking to you about things besides church and the Bible. We have other interests like you.

8. We love your notes of appreciation. They mean more than you know. You have a way of sending them when we really need them. Thank you!

Part two to follow tomorrow...