Archive - 2009

New Year’s Resolutions are a Complete Waste

December 29, 2009 in Goals, GOD, Revolution Church with 6 Comments

I will be posting my personal goals for 2010 soon.

Today, I’ll share some thoughts on how worthless New Year’s resolutions are.

Each year I spend a week or so setting some personal goals for the year. Here are the steps I take to set and acheive my goals:

STEP ONE – PRAY: Include God in your goal setting. Pray about what you want to do this year and before you put any of it down on paper ask God to convict you of any un-pure or selfish motives.

STEP TWO – KNOW THAT RESOLUTIONS REEK: I never make resolutions. For the most part, the resolutions that I see people make are more like wishes. Wishing won’t get you anywhere.

STEP THREE – BE SPECIFIC: Goals are different. They are concrete, attainable, and specific. For example, every new year tons of people say, “My new years resolution is to lose weight.” AWESOME! But, if we could focus a little more and say exactly how much weight we want to lose, a date we want to lose it by, and what the benefits to losing it will be, we are more likely to be successful to reach our goals.

STEP FOUR – PLAN: Another important step we miss when making New Year’s resolutions is a plan. If you want to meet a goal, you have to have a plan. Write out a few action steps for each goal and as you are in the process of achieving your goals, make the necessary changes in your strategy. If part of your plan isn’t working, change the plan.

STEP FIVE – DIVIDE AND CONQUER: To often we divide our energies between too many directions. We make a long list of habits to break and changes to make…and we defeat ourselves before we ever start the new year. Narrow your list of goals down to the few that are most important to you and concentrate your energies on those. When you’ve achieved success with those, then you can begin work on other areas. When I set personal goals, I also prioritize the goal list…this helps me divide and conquer!

STEP SIX– REST STOPS: Reward yourself along the way. Some goals are incredibly hard to reach. That means, it is important to take those rest stops along the way. Rewards inspire us to success and keep us laser focused.

If we all set some New Year’s Goals each year rather than being wishful and making those ridiculous resolutions that reek, I am convinced that we would be more successful at actually reaching them.

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Decade Review Part Two: 2005 – 2009

December 28, 2009 in Family, GOD, Leadership, Life Change, Revolution Church, Uncategorized with Comments Off

Here is part two. Part one is here.

2005 – In 2005 I learned that youth ministry was NOT what God had called me to despite all the people telling me that to be a pastor you had to do youth ministry first. Why did I ever listen to that bologna?

Early in 2005 we moved to be on staff at The Connection Church in Kyle, TX. At the time TCC was a brand new church plant just months into starting. Cole Phillips hired me on as basically the pastor of everything I could possibly do. I had to raise my own salary to go on staff and learned a lot about fundraising, leadership and vision casting through that experience. Again, I had no idea, but God was prepping me to launch Revolution Church.

2006 - Up until this year, everything I did was about being a leader and leadership. I had basically been repeatedly “baptized by fire” into leadership opportunities but never had truly learned to follow. Through 2006, God moved in crazy ways by teaching me what it meant to be a follower. It seemed like every time I prayed God answered “follow your pastor Zak” (which was Cole Phillips at the time.) I can’t remember ever growing so much in my relationship with Christ during any other time in my life.

2007 – My son, Couper Jay White was born on March 31st, 2007. He was born six weeks early and we spent his first week in the hospital. Couper’s birth made the idea that God gave His ONLY Son COME TO LIFE for me. God taught me about the urgency of the Gospel message and showed me that I MUST depend on Him. Again, prep for Revolution Church.

2008 – Talk about a LONG year. God started jacking with me about my life mission at the start of 2008. I reached one of my life-goals by running my first full marathon which gave me some confidence that maybe I actually could do this crazy thing that I felt like God was calling me to do. I also felt like God was moving me out of that season that began in 2006 where I was learning to follow, back into a full on leadership role.

2009 – Over the first few months of 2009, I prayed 100 hours about planting a church after being challenged to do so by Bil Cornelius. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. To keep a long story short, Revolution Church was birthed!

To conclude this series of posts, I believe that looking back helps us move forward. I am big on goal setting; I can’t help it. I just refuse to drift through life. Most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do planning their life out. I think that’s a tragedy.

With that said, what are the top moments of your last decade? What will the next decade look like for you?

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Decade Review Part One: 2000 – 2004

December 27, 2009 in Family, GOD, Life Change with Comments Off

Yet another awesome blog idea that I am shamefully ripping off from Brett Trapp. This series of two posts will count down my top moments from each year of this decade. Check out part one:

2000 – I played in a band called CrashTestPete for many years. Early in 2000 we cut a full length album. At the beginning of the summer, I asked Amber to marry me and then the band went on tour.

The tour spanned across the eastern U.S. and we played a ton of shows. I thought for sure that music was what I would be doing for life…until about 20 days in to our tour. :)  God taught me a lot that year about growing up, relationships with friends and maturity.

2001 – I had two huge things happen in 2001. I married Amber and almost died. We got married in June which changed my life on so many levels. Then, in November, I fell off a house at a construction site breaking all of my right side ribs and puncturing my lung. I was literally drowning in my own blood. Needless to say, God taught me a lot in 2001. Mainly that I am not superman and that at that point in my life I needed to SLOW DOWN a little.

2002 – A the beginning of 2002 (new years day) my dad had a massive heart attack and triple bypass surgery. The only thing more scary than almost dying myself just a couple of months earlier was almost losing my dad.

I also learned a TON about responsibility, maturity and business in 2002 because I ran my dad’s business after he had his heart attack. It was an incredible year and looking back now I can see how God used that year to shape me in many ways to plant Revolution Church.

2003 – In 2003 I graduated college and went through the whole “what will I do with my life” thing while still working at my dad’s business. I read the Bible a LOT in 2003 and prayed a ton about starting a ministry of some sort or going in to full time ministry. It was a fun, long, dragging, confusing year. :)

2004 – On January 1st, 2004 Amber and I moved to Luling, Texas where I began my first full time ministry position as a youth minister. It was the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Leaving family stunk bad. We grew closer together through this experience in our marriage.

Second half of the decade…tomorrow!

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Christmas Present to Revolution Church

December 24, 2009 in Uncategorized with Comments Off

I have a gift for you Revolution Church! We have a worship leader!

His name is Micah Fisher. And, we have got to get him a better pic.

I am pumped up about working with this guy. He loves God, loves people, and is passionate about starting a spiritual revolution in our community!

The story of how we got hooked up is a GOD thang! I can’t wait to share it with you.

Micah is an imaginative visionary, with a desire to see people experience God personally through worship, creative arts, relationships and ultimately truth.

In 2005 he graduated from Masters School of Ministry in Atlanta GA. Since then he has been involved in leading worship from Atlanta to Texas and even as far as the United Kingdom. Through this he has gained experience with children’s, student, and adult ministries.

“I have been a Christ follower since I was a child. Growing up in a pastor’s home I’ve experienced the best and the worst of what church as usual has to offer. With this exposure I have become passionate about bringing people into a rich, personal, and life producing relationship with Jesus Christ.” -Micah Fisher

In his off time Micah enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and also hanging out at the local coffee house. He also enjoys the occasional traveling excursion, musical endeavor, and experiencing new things.

Micah, let’s do this Hoss!

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