Dave Bowman

Texas Is NOT A Vacation Destination

After traveling most of the day I finally made it to the Gulf coast of Texas for the conference I'm attending this week. I'm at a conference center on Mustang Island. (Not sure why it's called Mustang Island. Haven't seen any horses or Fords since I got here.) Frankly, I'm not too sure why this is such a hot spring break location. It's not very pretty. In fact, I would call it rather bleak. If I was looking for a vacation spot this would not be on my list of possibilities!

But hey, I'm not here to get a tan anyway. I'm here to get my heart and vision stretched.

Sunday Rewind

• A Whole 'Nutha Level...that's where it seems we have gone in the last few weeks. Today God's presence was so real and the sense of worship so intense you could cut it with a knife. I don't know about anyone else, but I just find myself lately with my heart crying out for more of the presence of God. I just want God to show up in a BIG way more and more and it seems to be happening.

• Today's message was one of those that was just burning in my heart this week. I've been praying all week that God would really use it to set people free from the sense of identity that we so often attach to our past. If you missed it be sure to check out the podcast here. And don't forget that we now have DVD's of the entire service, including the music. You can pick one up next Sunday at The Source.

• Absolutley love the new song Gary and the band did today. It's called Healer and I've been listening to it for a couple of months on the Planetshakers Savior Of The World album. It's just one of those songs that is a cry of the heart.

• Attendance seemed a little off today but spring break kicked in this week, so I guess we had some folks heading out of town. Still saw lots of new faces around this morning and that's a cool thing.

• The Uhambo kids did a really cool thing this morning. They made posters to decorate Cathy's (NHC's new Children's Pastor) office wall for her arrival this week. Cathy and her family will be flying in on Tuesday and her first day in the office will be Wednesday. Next Sunday will be her first official Sunday at NHC! We're all really pumped to have her join the team.

• I'm heading out of town tomorrow for a conference in Corpus Christi, Texas. As much as I hate being away from home, I'm really pumped about this conference. It would take too much blog space to explain this adequately, but this is more than just another conference for me. This is one of those things that I believe is like an appointment from God for me personally. So would you pray for me? I'm really expecting to hear from God in a special way over the next few days. I'll post the next few days from the conference and let you know how it's going.

P.S. Leah has a great post about letting go of guilt. It's a great follow-up for today's message. Check it out!

LOL For The Weekend

Here's a little fun video for the weekend from the "Cletus Take The Reel" guy. Enjoy...

Post Easter Buzz

We're all still feeling the post-Easter buzz from last weekend. Stories and emails continue to come in and we're all just amazed at what an awesome God we serve. In both services kids and adults were inspired, moved and changed by the power of God's Spirit. It really was the best day in the history of NHC!

And guess what? We get to gather again this Sunday for the kick-off of Identity Theft. Here's what I'm praying for - that God would continue to move this Sunday just like He did last Sunday! I believe last Sunday was very important in many lives. Seeds were planted. Big prayers were prayed. For many it was a watershed moment.

But I believe this Sunday is REALLY important too! It's when we get the chance to turn a moment into a movement. So would you pray BIG prayers for this Sunday too? Would you invite someone to come back with you this Sunday? Would you serve our guests like you did last Sunday? Would you smile at everyone around you and welcome them back? Would you leave the best parking spaces and seats for our guests? Would you clap and sing with the same passion?

Jesus is still risen so let's celebrate again this Sunday like the tomb is still empty!

Who Am I?

Here's the video for our new series kick-off this weekend...

So, who are you going to invite?

Easter Video On The Web

Check out the Easter service video on the website at www.encounternhc.com/Videos.html. And if you have a friend you've been trying to convince to come to NHC, send them the link and let them check out NHC before they come!

Sunday's Comin'

It's only 2 days after the biggest day in the history of NHC and I'm already focused on next Sunday! That's the thing about Sundays - they come around every 7 days like clockwork! Every seven days we're up to bat again. No pressure, right?

Today I took the office staff out for lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. What an awesome place to eat. All of us, except Leah, had bison and I think we arrived at consensus: bison is really good. And I hear it's good for you too! Low fat and high protein! It was just nice to sit around a table together and just celebrate the weekend. I know I've bragged on them already in the last few days, but I'm so proud of our staff. They give way above and beyond the call of duty and they do it for one reason - to see more and more lives changed by the power of the gospel.

This weekend we start Identity Theft, our new 4-week series. Part One is I Am My Past and we're going to be unpacking a powerful story about a woman who had a pretty ugly past. If the truth were known, we all have a past, and way too often we tend to identify with that past. In this first installment we're going to see that our past is not who we are.

Be sure to invite your friends back to NHC this weekend!

P.S. The series trailer is on the website at the above link. Check it out!

ER Clip

I promised I would post the video clip that we used Sunday, so here it is...

The Most Important Number

If you're a regular NHC'er you know my feelings about "the numbers." Sometimes people accuse us of being focused on the numbers and I have answered that accusation several times - YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE WE'RE ABOUT THE NUMBERS - NUMBERS REPRESENT PEOPLE! Every number is a person who matters to God and to us. So, we watch the numbers very carefully.

But as I've processed "the numbers" from Easter weekend there's another number that I've been focusing on. The number ONE. On Easter weekend NHC was ONE.

ONE church...focused on ONE vision...united together as ONE team...following ONE Savior...doing whatever it takes to reach ONE more for the kingdom of God.

And because we were ONE we blew the doors off of the numbers, and way more than ONE stepped across the line and surrendered to Jesus!

I said it in my Easter Rewind post, but I want to say it again: I've never been as proud of NHC as I was this weekend. Way to go team!!

P.S. If you want to see some pictures of the service, check out Leah's blog post here.

Easter Rewind

• Wow!! That’s all I can say!! Today was definitely off the chain. The 9:00 service was almost double it’s normal size and the 11:00 service was SRO!! I don’t have the firm numbers yet, but it’s looking like we’re going to top out at around 1750!! That’s 25% over last Easter and the biggest Easter we’ve ever had at NHC!! Yeah God!!!

• And I don’t have the numbers on this yet but if you were in either service you know there were dozens of people who made commitments to Christ today. Yeah God!!!

• To all who volunteered and made today happen: I HAVE NEVER BEEN PROUDER OF NHC VOLUNTEERS THAN I WAS TODAY! There was so much buzz in the air and it was largely due to our volunteers and the atmosphere you all created today. Every team raised their game today and it really showed.

• Loved what  Gary and the Worship and Tech teams did today. The synched music videos were really cool.

• Everywhere I looked after services today kids were running around with a TON of eggs from The Great Egg Hunt. Thanks everyone for helping us with stuffed eggs. And thanks to Joe and the Uhambo teams for giving our kids a super experience today. BTW, Cathy, our new Children’s Pastor, arrives this week! What a great time for her to get on board.

• Did you see the Security guys in their new t-shirts today? Way cool! We need more of our teams in t-shirts like that.

• The Guest Services teams did an awesome job today. Chocolate bunnies for everyone…great job getting everyone seated…lots of smiles and greetings! Way to go Jamie and the GS Team!

• Everything looked so neat and clean. Fresh flowers at the front sign. Grass freshly cut. Leah and the Operations and Facilities teams are the bomb!

• Adam was back in the saddle today after his SECOND round of the flu. Our staff needs to buy stock in Tamiflu.

• I am so proud of our staff. Be sure to take some time this week to let them know what a great job they do.

• NHC’ers, you knocked it out of the park with inviting your friends today. I don’t know how many times I heard this today: “My wall people are here!” Be sure to invite them back next week for week one of  Identity Theft.

• Got several comments on the “ER” video clip we used today. It’s such a powerful clip and it’s hard to believe it came from a network TV program. I’ll try to post it on my blog tomorrow for those of you who would like to see it again.

• Again, I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of our church, our teams, and our staff as I was today. I love you guys and count it a great privilege to be your Pastor!

• He is RISEN!!