Troy H. Jones

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

• This Sunday we continue our series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are talking talk about fighting for this generation.
• Small groups are beginning this fall.  Group link is September 25^th and 26^th.  Click HERE for more information. 
• On Sept. 13 we are beginning one of the most important series I will ever preach at New Life called “IGrow”.  What does it mean to be a growing follower of Jesus?
• On Sept. 13 I will share three burdens God has put on my heart for New Life. I can barely wait to preach. This summer God has spoken to me very clearly on the future of New Life. 
• On Sept. 13 we are doing a “Writing on the Wall” celebration.  We will write names of people we want to get saved in this new building on the wall.
• Sept. 13 is a big day for New Life.  You don’t want to miss it.
• The local church is called to preach Jesus, the gospel, the Word of God.  Not culture and not opinions. We are called to “plant seeds” of the Word of God. 
• My baby left the house this week.  Off to Northwest University.
• This Sunday Jana will lead us in a special time for prayer for this generation.  My wife knows how to pray.  
• We are officially changing the name of New Life “Membership” to New Life Orientation.  More details to come.
• We are adding a third lane to exit off our property on 152^nd.  This will make significant improvements on Sunday!
• 31 Sundays left in this building.  Our move in date is Sunday, April 4.  (Easter 2010)
• We sent out the Big Give Commitment card.  I would love to receive these by Sunday, Sept. 13. (there is the day Sept 13. again)
• We must fight for this generation.  Every parent, grandparent, uncle, niece, school teacher, brother or sister, coach, mentor-every adult in our church,—God wants to rock your world these next few Sundays. 

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind. 

• This Sunday we begin a new series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are going to talk about fighting for this generation.
• Read Matthew 18:1-10 to prepare for Sunday.
• Our Membership Orientation is this Sunday at 5:00 PM.  This is chance to hear the heart of New Life. You don’t want to miss it. Click here to sign up.
• In a couple of weeks we are adding a third lane to exit our property on 152^nd.  This will make significant improvements on Sunday!
• 32 Sundays left in this building.  Our move-in date is Sunday, April 4.  (Easter 2010)
• We sent out the Big Give Commitment card.  I would love to receive these by Sunday, Sept 6. (mail them to me or turn in giving kiosk)
• By age 60, most people have lost half their taste buds.
• If you have a twitter account, follow me.
• We must fight for this generation.  Every parent, grandparent, uncle, niece, school teacher, brother or sister, coach, mentor-every adult in our church—God wants to rock your world these next few Sundays. 
• Here is my prayer—help us fight with passion for this generation. Help us decide to parent, not delegate.   We repent for being passive.  Put in our hearts a passion for this generation.
• Go to our web site and check out our promo video.  Warning—it is emotional and stirring.  But this fight is emotional.  No apologies.
• New Life, I need you to pray.  On November 1^st I am trusting God for 60 people to give $10,000 to help us finish phase 1.  (a bunch will give less–a handful of people will give more)
• I met with the Elders this week.  I presented some thoughts I felt like God was saying to me. It was a divine moment with our Elders.  They confirm in my heart some of the new things God is speaking to me.  This fall I will be sharing a message called “iGrow”.  This may be the most important series I have ever preached. God has called the Church to fill the pews…he has called us to make disciples.
• Sept 13 is our “writing on the wall” day at New Life.  We are going to write names of people on the wall we want to see come to Jesus through this new building.

Roosevelt Hunter—His Life,  My Reflections

My friend and brother in Christ died this week. Roosevelt Hunter went home to be with Jesus. So many emotions. It is like a roller coaster. “this shouldn’t be” “why did God allow this to happen?” I have been sad, mad and rejoicing all at the same time.

My heart is broken. Roosevelt was a brother to me. An uncle to my girls. A best friend. We have known each other since 1993. My family and I are facing incredible pain right now. I went to his funeral Saturday, August 15, 2009.

Really it wasn’t a funeral at all. It was a celebration of a life. Jana and I flew to Florida and did a quick 36 hour trip. I was asked to be one of the pallbearers. Perhaps one of the top 5 honors of my life. It was sacred for me. How do you carry the body of Roosevelt Hunter and not feel like you are walking on Holy ground? Being one of Roosevelt’s pallbearers was a sacred and holy moment for me.

On the plane home I typed out five reflections and thoughts I had in the past few days since hearing about Roosevelt Hunter dying. I am going to take the next few days to share these reflections.

So often Christians don’t take time to embrace their pain and reflect on life. We are so quickly to say, “praise God Roosevelt is in heaven”. I have good theology. I understand heaven is real. I understand Roosevelt is in a better place rejoicing in the presence of God. I understand our final hope is in Jesus and Jesus alone.

With this said, “we need to learn to embrace our pain”. Pain is part of the journey of life. To say “Roosevelt is in heaven—let’s rejoice” is only part of the process to health. I think we have to go deeper than this. What is the message of Roosevelt’s life? What are the implications for our lives? How can the pain make us better? I don’t have all the answers. But we need to get real. We need to be honest. I don’t know why Roosevelt died at such a young age. I don’t get it. It hurts. It makes me anger. As we work through these emotions then we can begin to make reflections and observation that truly can shape us to being more like Jesus.

Roosevelt Hunter’s life had way to much to offer than just saying “praise God he is in heaven”. I will reflect on five of these over the next few days.

What a tough week.  One of my best friends, Roosevelt Hunter, passed away.  Jana and I are flying to attend his funeral.  They asked me to be a pallbearer.  A true honor.

• For those of you who don’t know Roosevelt, he was a brother to me.  An uncle to my girls.  A best friend.  We have known each other since 1993. My family and I are facing incredible pain right now. 
• Roosevelt Hunter was a friend of New Life.  Six months ago Roosevelt and I did a two week series called “The Perfect Storm”.  Roosevelt shared his battle with colon cancer.  Then Roosevelt came back in June for our “Man up” rally and youth rally.  We as a church fell in love with him and his ministry. We will stop and pray for his family on Sunday.
• I am so excited about this Sunday.  I am going to do a message called “Thirsty”.  I am praying that God would create thirst in all of us for Jesus.  I want to always be aware of what I call “sacred moments” with God.  I want to always be open to the Spirit of God interrupting my life. 
• Terry Kelly will be with us on Sunday.   For those of you who don’t know Terry—you will love him. He is an incredible worship leader that God is using all over the nation. We will have an extended time of worship at end of each service.
• Staring August 23, we are going to do a three week series called “Taken”.  I am so pumped.  We are going to talk about fighting for our kids.  They are being taken by the enemy and our culture. 
• There is a line in the movie “Taken” that keeps me awake at night.  “I don’t know who you are but if you don’t let my daughter go, I will find you”.  We need to fight for our kids. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this three week series.  You don’t want to miss it.  It will prepare you for fall. 
• November 1^st is our “Big Give” offering for our new building.  Turn in your Big Give commitment cards by the first of September! We need these final dollars to move into phase one of our new building.
• People are either like milk or wine…they get bitter or better with time.  Get better not bitter.
• If you have a twitter account…follow me.
• This has been a week of reflection for me.  Reflection—I am blessed way more than I deserve. Incredible wife.  Beautiful girls.  Amazing church! Good health. 
• All week we had Vacation Bible School.  300 kids.  Our children’s ministry rocks.

Every week (or most weeks) I take a moment to share what is on my heart.  Everything from what is happening at New Life, our culture, in my life and just random stuff.  I call this “New Life Ramblings”.  Enjoy! Feel free to respond back!  Give input!  Ask questions!  Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what is going on in my mind.

• I hear Ricardo did an incredible job last weekend.  I love this team!
• I am so excited about Sunday. I haven’t seen the walls yet because I have been gone for 8 days in Orlando, Florida.  We are here for a national conference for pastors and a competition for my daughter Chelsey. 
• Chelsey did amazing at National Fine Arts.  Currently she is in the top 10 of the nation.  On Friday night we will hear the final results. 
• Chelsey truly honored God in her preaching and heart. I am a proud dad.
• We fly back Saturday.  First thing I will do is drive to the church to see the walls of our new building.
• Tapeworms can grow to 80 feet.
• This Sunday we are having a “raise the wall” BBQ in between our services.  Excited to celebrate the building with the church.
• We finish “Outbreak” on Sunday.  Read Revelation 3:14-22 to prepare.
• We are doing a two-week series August 16 and August 23 called “Thirsty”.  I am hungry for Jesus.  We will focus on how worship creates an environment for us to thirst for Jesus.
• I sent you a personal letter talking about our “Big Give” offering on November 1.  I am asking that everyone would read this letter and pray about what God would have you do to be part of the New Life Story. 
• Thank you for all your responses to our online survey.  Excellent input.  Click here if you still want to take it. It should only take a few moments.
• Jana and I had dinner with Warren and Judy Bullock this week. Dr. Bullock was the former Superintendant of the Northwest Ministry Network.  I am so blessed to have leaders like this in my life.
• Getting away is so essential.  It reminds me how good God is, how much I enjoy living in Seattle and how much Jana and I love New Life.

We are just one click away from every idea in the world.  All you have to do is surf the web, read a blog, or listen to a podcast–and there are unlimited ideas to copy  and put into practice at your church or organization.

We all need to be inspired by leaders. But there is a danger.  The danger is we become parrots, not pastors.

To “cut and paste” another man’s dream in your church is being a parrot not a pastor.  Let that sink in for a moment.  God didn’t call me to copy ideas, he called me to create dreams.

This hurts for sure. I have done this.  This short cut is easy. 

What is the problem?  The problem is we limit our creativity, leadership, and personal growth.  The process of developing the blueprints for your church or organization is more important than the blueprints themselves.  We take the easy road.  Any “parrot” can copy someone. We need to stretch ourselves, get away on a personal retreat and hear from God, pray our guts out and unleash the creativity in your life, church and organziation

Here is another problem—God creates every church different.  Just like human beings have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses–so every church  God has a specific DNA…God is to creative to  just have you “cut and paste” and think you are being relevant. 

With all this said, we need to learn and grow from leaders.  I am not suggesting that we should reinvent the  wheel on everything.  If an idea resonates with you….great.  No problem. 

There is an old saying, “Give a Man a Fish, Feed Him For a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, Feed Him For a Lifetime”.  We need to learn to learn.  Don’t just take a persons “fish”—learn how he caught  it.  There is a big difference.   Leaders want to know how they caught the fish.  They don’t care how big the fish is–how did you catch it?  What are the timeless principles?

Every time you  listen to another leader, keep these things in mind.

1. Look for insights, not ideas (big difference.  Ideas are good.  But insights are better)
2. Look for principles, not programs (what are core principles to take away?)
3. Adapt, not adopt (when you take an idea…adapt it to your culture and church)
4. Create, don’t copy (Leaders create.  They don’t copy.  Let an idea inspire you to create something for Jesus)
5. Discover what questions they ask, not the answers (Listen carefully to the questions they are asking..not the answer they are giving.)

Are you a parrot or a pastor? 

For what it is worth–after I hear any speaker, visit any church, read a book or listen to any pod cast–I stop and capture on one piece of paper all the nuggets.  What are the take aways? What are the principles?  What are some insights that will help? And, yes, are there one or two ideas that can help me upgrade my leadership and ministry?