Well things are for sure now.  I can't believe what God is doing in this.

I hope you don't miss the weekend. 

Remember launching five campuses in one day?  Remember our ONLY GOD response to what God would do?  Remember the excitement of being involved in something that had never been done before?  Remember the tears seeing hundreds baptized?  Remember how good, but how tiring it all was? 

That was a great memory, but what God has for us this Easter......

I look forward to sharing with you all this weekend.  DON'T MISS THE SERVICE.  Visit a campus.  Feed your dog.   Love your neighbor.  PRAY and prepare to be used by God.

me

Ever have one of those "how do it fit it all in bizarre weeks?"  I am in one. 

After the weekend "table offering" I couldn't begin to believe what God did through a second, unannounced offering.   I said you (Living Hope Church) you drive the vision by sacrificing for this Easter.  You did and we have been working all week to work some things out to be able to announce this weekend.  The amount is beyond what I expected, for sure.  Thanks for sacrificing.  For believing in the vision.  For driving the vision.  For caring about your friends and family that are not quite there yet in their faith.  For all you do.  Big vision to be announced this weekend.  Don't miss the service.  We will wrap up Church ID this weekend.  If you haven't, PLEASE visit one of our campuses.  Hockinson needs some help with KidsWorld.   Big Easter vision?  Can't wait, really.

OK, the best part of my week so far is my 12 year old daughter and me got to have our braces adjusted together at the same time.  Sitting side by side.  Ya, a bit weird, when I am always the oldest person getting braces tightened.  So different.  I love the memory, Hannah laughed and I met two people whom go to Living Hope.  So cool.    I told them about the Big Easter vision. 

Are there places you can go and not run into Living Hope?  If there are, tell me.

see ya this weekend.  I can't fathom how huge this Easter vision is.   Are you in?

john

Pastor John had an opportunity recently to interview with Leadership Network during the National Multi-Site Church Conference in San Diego, California.  It's a great interview and is available for Podcast download at http://www.leadnet.org/podcast.  Enjoy!

Happy Birthday....love your staff and friends at Living Hope!  Yes, we know you will get us for this one but it was worth the risk!

Last night I was shopping for my girls.   First of all at Fred Meyers in Battle Ground it felt like a Living Hope potluck.  I almost wanted to see if they would cook us a pizza or something. 

Every year I buy something for them and bring it to their school, and have it delivered right to their classroom.  You would think (or at least I thought) the older they got, the more they wouldn't be into it.  I was wrong, girls are a bit weird.  I am thinking I will be bringing my girls valentines presents until I die.  So I can't say 'what' I gave them until they get it.  This has to be covert.   

I guess I am a Valentine rebel.  I struggle  wanting to buy something for someone because I am told to by the media.  Michelle and I exchange gifts all year long and love to do something on Valentines day.  While we were in San Diego we both had a massage.  So there it is.  I have, for the last few years focused on my girls, Katie and Hannah.  I figure I will set the valentine bar high enough to make their possible husbands jump higher than they want to.  It is every dads job.  After all, if I don't set the standard who will?

Thanks for listening to my random thoughts.  If you go out have fun.  If you haven't bought anything yet, join the other 200 million Americans and go to the mall at lunch.  You only  have today.

Happy Valentines day.

john

Thanks for all the words about David.   I am glad to know he is in New Zealand safe.

I was thinking how ANYTHING that I have ever done, that has been significant has been with friends and other people.  I think the whole togetherness thing is one of the things I love most about Living Hope.   One of my personal goals from day one was to do church with the people I love the most.  So that has steadily become my reality.  Thank you everyone who have made Living Hope what it is becoming.  I am indebted to all of you. 

All week I have been in San Diego.  It has been a great week.  I spent time with our campus pastors and time with other pastors.  The conference we went to was about multi siting.  I was privileged to meet some of the earliest pioneers of the movement.  Really good stuff.
Best and worst parts of the week:

The best part was being with people I love the most.  Our pastors and multi site leaders work and pray tirelessly.  I loved being with them.  However, the bestest part was being with Michelle.  It has been one of the most relaxing, and recalibrating weeks I have had in years.  Seeing Michelle rest and hanging out with her has been the best. 

The worst part.  So I was interviewed about multi siting with the really cool pastors I alluded to above (Geoff Surratt from Seacoast, Larry Osborne from Northcoast, Dave Ferguson from Community Christian and Tammy from the same church).   I am the new guy on the block, so I didn't have alot to say.  What happened was a picture where they put make up on me and the other pastors.  I hated having make up put on, but loved watching Geoff Surratt and the others having make up.  It was a picture I won't forget.  Geoff, you are so pretty.with makeup....... 

OK, Michelle and I fly home early Saturday morning and will be at church by 2:00 PM for six services to talk about what it means to connect.  One of the predominant themes in Scripture is Togetherness.  You see it at least eight times in Acts.  The church was about being together.

Never stop Living Hope being the church you are becoming.  Don't get tired, don't give up and don't lose faith.  Jesus is so beautiful through your lives.   

See ya in Vancouver.

John

First  of all let me say thanks to Pastor Rick, our creative and programming teams for the last minute gear shift this weekend.  You are all the best and I appreciate how you ALWAYS respond to those "Divine Interruptions"  that God allows so many times.  I owe you all.  What an appropriate title for my week.   I am sitting at the airport in Portland, watching the Super bowl with non super bowl people.  I am typing and it is so quite in here, I feel like I am about to be reprimanded.  I am a friend, party sort of guy, so this is a stretch.  We are in the airport, waiting to leave to San Diego to spend a few days talking about multi site, hanging out with our pastors and spending a few minutes with my bride.  I took the time to be with family.

So David, my son has an opportunity to go to New Zealand and today I just said goodbye to him.  We (Michelle and I) took our family to lunch, and then we said good bye to David.  Here's the stupid thing.  He is being given the opportunity of his life.  He is so completely excited.  Michelle felt a strong leading that he should go.  It is a good and a God thing, no doubt in my mind.  It just is hard for me.  Michelle and I were able to walk him to the gate because we are on a flight today.  We were able to pray for him, hug him and pray God's best for him.  Through it all, I am realizing something about me.  I hate to say good bye.  Don't you hate when you learn something about you?  It is like looking in a mirror, seeing what is true and having a choice about what you will change.

I am not a counselor, but so many people said good bye to me without ever saying good bye (dad, step dad, friends, etc.) that I fault on the side of not letting go.  OK, that is my counsel to myself.  I must be losing it.  Maybe that isn't so bad.  Didn't someone say the way to find life is to lose it?

See you all this weekend.  I am excited for the talk God has placed on my heart. 

Pray for David...well maybe pray for me too.

A sad daddy

John

I just got off the phone with John and have exciting news to share!!! He received an email this week notifying him that we are being mentioned in an article that will be featured at a large multi-site conference this week (over 750 pastors).  I just finished reading the article and it is amazing!  It was written following a survey of over 1,000 multi-site churches, and will not only be featured at the conference this week, but will also be going out to all Leadership Network subscribers (over 18,000)!

I was filled with excitement as I read the opening paragraph of the article, "John Bishop, Lead Pastor of Living Hope Church,... a multi-site church in Washington state with seven venues on six sites, is excited about what God is doing in their communities..."  The article goes on to discuss the various ways these churches have grown, the lessons learned by these churches, and closes with these words, "After detailing the impressive growth Living Hope Church has seen in the last three years, John Bishop evidenced just such an attitude [citing the previous paragraph] when he said, “We stand in awe of what God is doing here.  Our motto has become ONLY GOD.”

As I spoke with John, I could hear the excitement and appreciation in his voice for all God has done, and continues to do through  all of you.  He told me, "Nothing I've ever done that's been successful was alone.  It's always been with a team.  Living Hope wouldn't be who it is today without the amazing staff and volunteers that work tirelessly for the Kingdom of God.  I appreciate each one of them so much!"

As exciting as all of this is, what I was most excited about, and appreciated so much, was John's humble heart which so quickly recognizes that this isn't about him, it's about what God is doing in the lives of each one of you.  I, for one, can't wait to see what God will do in 2007!

If you'd like to read the entire article, it can be downloaded below.

Download 2007_multi_site_survey_report_appendix_and_results.pdf

Thanks for letting me share!
Cheryl White
Director of Web & Radio

PS: I know many of you spend a lot of time on our website.  We are excited about launching a new and improved site very soon!  If you have any input I would love to hear it!  You can email me at cherylw@livinghopechurch.com.
Thanks!