mattmehaffey

This Typepad Account is Closed

After two years of using Typepad for blogging, I am making the move to Wordpress.  I have already moved everything to my new online home.  Why the move?  Wordpress offers a lot for FREE and it has a better all around feel to me. So click on over to the new www.mattmehaffey.com and stay awhile. 

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Chase & Mickey

A couple weeks ago, Janie and I, decided to buy a few things for Chase and send them over to our little guy at The Home of God's Love in Taiwan.  This week we got a picture of him, sleeping with the Mickey Mouse we sent him.
 
When I first saw this picture, I remember thinking, "Whoa, this just got a lot more real."  That toy was in my hands just a couple weeks ago and now it's with him.

It's hard to explain how much we love someone we've never even met.

Environmentally-Conscience Church

I was reading an old blog post from Scott Hodge, Lead Pastor at The Orchard Church in Aurora, IL about the importance of creating a great environment for guests who come to your church.  I think at The Pursuit we have done the best possible job we could in this area in our first year of existence BUT ...

... it's definitely time we take a giant step forward.

Starting Sunday, February 22 (the beginning of our WITH series) as soon as someone drives in the parking lot of The Pursuit we want to make their experience with us one they will remember.  Even our regular attenders and members are going to notice a huge difference in our efforts to create a guest-ready environment. 

We have already taken one step in upgrading our road signs which I am really happy with.  The past three weeks there have been guests who have come simply because of our road signs. Scott Johnson at Brown Cow Creative knocked these out of the park.  

Other areas we are stepping up:

• Food - We have amazing Latin bakeries all around us and it's time we utilize them. 
• More great coffee -  better to have too much than not enough.
• More Guides less Greeters - Instead of saying to our guests, "Our Kids City area is over there, just follow the signs."  We will say, "Let me show you where our Kids City registration table is."
• A Hub - Our building doesn't have a great room for people to hang out, talk and drink coffee before and after the Celebration Service.  It will starting on Feb. 22. 
• Scent - To quote a shampoo commercial, "You only get one chance to make a first impression."  Why not make sure you engage all the senses?  We are going to the Henri Bendel store in Aventura today to pick out a scent that fits The Pursuit.
• Music - Upbeat and relevant tunes playing in the background.
• Time - By 10:00 a.m. the band is done rehearsing, greeters are in position, everything is done and we are expecting guests to arrive.
• Set design - Eye-catching and theme-appropriate graphics, lighting, and props that support the series.

There are more elaborate changes in the works but they won't be ready by Feb. 22 but they are coming in the first half of 2009. 

The Pursuit's Summer Interns

When I was a Student Minister, I had the privilege of getting to know some amazing young men and women who are sold out to the mission of Jesus.  Two of those students are Carl Wittrig (who I used to call Chuck all the time because I could never remember his name) and Hannah Draper. 

Currently they are both students at Cincinnati Christian University and preparing to go into ministry full-time.  I am very proud of them both.

That is why it was a no-brainer to ask them both to come down to South Florida this summer for some hands-on-training at The Pursuit.  They will be helping out with our Kids City program on Sunday morning as well as creating some summer events for Middle School and High School students.

I am thrilled to get to work with these two!

New Pics of Chase

Our Home Study is Over

A huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders now that Saturday has come and gone.  Our adoptive home study went off without any problems whatsoever.  Janie and I (and Chase) want to thank everyone for their continued prayers and encouraging notes we have been bombarded with over the over the past week.  They mean more than you know. 

Our home study was done by an agent from American Adoptions (and an agent in-training), and lasted for about 3 hours.  We were thrilled that both of them had an affinity for large dogs and even more thrilled that Jeter was on his best behavior. 

So far, we are very glad we have gone with American Adoptions to help us through the process but it's not over yet and we won't fully give them our stamp of approval until then.  It sounds like we will receive our completed home study report in about a month (which is typical).  There is not much we can do until we get the report so we will spend most of this time getting our home ready for Chase's arrival!  

Living Life without Limits

God created us to live life without limits but too often we settle for so much less. This Sunday, The Pursuit begins a 3-week series designed to challenge us to break free from mediocrity and step into a life of no-limit living.

February 1 - Loving without Limits
February 8 - Living without Limits
February 15 - Leading without Limits

Want to check out The Pursuit?  Click here for helpful info. 

Lesson from Le Tub

Monday night, Janie and I ate at the world famous Le Tub restaurant in Hollywood, FL.  A few years ago they jumped into the spotlight when "The Oprah" declared them to have the best burger in the U.S.

It definitely is worth checking out if you are in the area (the ambiance alone is a unique dining experience).  A brief paragraph in the handwritten menu caught my attention.  

"We are a small restaurant.  We do not serve fast food.  We do regret that we may not be able to accommodate you as quickly as you'd like.  But we will not let the wildly increasing demand affect the quality of our cooking. Please enjoy yourselves."

A great reminder from an unexpected place that staying on mission is crucial to The Pursuit's future.  Perhaps I'll scribble the following in our menu/programs from here on out.

"The Pursuit helps people find their way back to God.  We are not here to make Christians feel comfortable.  Sorry, we will not scratch your itch to 'go deeper' (if you had the depth you claimed to have you would be focused on helping people find their way back to God too).  There are way too many people far from God in South Florida and we aren't guaranteed another breath so get busy being the Good News of Jesus."

Star Wars Humor

If you are a Star Wars fan, you will find this video hilarious.  A girl tries to retell the original trilogy without having seen it.  

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to The Pursuit

I am still trying to catch my breath after an unbelievable day at The Pursuit.  I am so honored that God has chosen me to lead this church.  I absolutely love the people who have made the commitment to be a part of this movement of God.  Today, The Pursuit turned one-year old and we celebrated everything God has done over the past year.

One of my favorite parts of the day was overhearing so many people reflect on shared moments that occurred over the past year at The Pursuit.  We have been studying the life of Nehemiah over the last 4 weeks.  The vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem first belonged to Nehemiah but the vision HAD to be owned by many other people for the job to be done.  I can still remember the time when the vision of The Pursuit started with me but how much more fun it is now that it belongs to many, many more people. 

Here's a brief video that Alex created that we showed at today's Celebration Service:

The Pursuit is 1 Year Old! from Alex Diaz on Vimeo.

Here are some pics from The Pursuit's 1st Birthday Celebration.