6 months to live...

Chris and I are attending the annual Global Advance pastor's retreat in Branson, MO this week. We love Dr. David Shibley and last year we received some great ideas that we've already implemented successfully at CLC, so we're expecting more of the same this year.

Tonight, Craig Smith led worship and shared a recent health scare he had that resulted in a cat scan and the possibility of cancer. He said that fear really gripped his thoughts to the point that he imagined, 'what if they come back and say we found a tumor and you have 6 months to live?' -- only to hear the Holy Spirit say, "no, you don't have cancer. But I want you to live the rest of your life in 6-month increments, as though you only had 6 months to live!"

If we practiced that, how would life change? How would our priorities change? Food for thought...I want to make every moment of every day count!

ever wonder why....

OK.....I admit it. I'm a little frustrated today. As part of our recent series on finances, we offered a FREE seminar for first-time home-buyers - for several reasons: (a) I do believe owning your own home instead of pouring money down a rent-trap is one step toward building weath; (b) I've also been 'nudged' by the Lord that we should help CLCers in practical ways like this; and (c) I know we have several single moms and even families who currently are renting and would very much like to have their own home.

So we specifically chose a CLC realtor who could identify, having been a single mom with lots of debt and no property ownership just a few years ago herself, and now having a successful business. We advertised and promoted and had tons of phone calls and interest from the congregation. But when I showed up this afternoon to introduce the seminar, only a handful of people had come. We actually had about as many professionals on hand to 'help' as we did interested people.

I've been pastoring for a long time, but it never ceases to amaze me - why is it that people who need help the most don't take advantage of the help that is offered??? Or is that a rhetorical question? Is the reason they're in need because they don't take advantage of help? Just wondering....

this weekend with General Sada & Terry Law

WOW....was this weekend fun! Folks here are still buzzing about Iraqi General Georges Sada and his visit to CLC yesterday with our missionary partner and friend, Dr. Terry Law. The General's firsthand testimony of serving under Sadaam Hussein could only be compared to Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, and it was fascinating to hear his stories, including inside information about the WMD.

I just had a call from Jay Levine of Channel 2 News, expressing his regret that they weren't here to interview the General yesterday, but hoping they can get him on the air later tonight - so I think I'll tune in.

I'm still praising God for favor and the privilege of partnering with men like Terry Law and others that keep coming across our path at CLC!

Black History month

I wrote in more detail about Black History month last year and why we don't have any special observances at CLC (Feb, 2006 archives if you're curious), but here's something I highly recommend for all CLCers, not only for Black History month, but to be inspired by the true story of what one person can do - go this coming weekend to the theatre of your choice and watch AMAZING GRACE.

When Hollywood does get it right, it's important for us to show up, because the one thing that does motivate moviemakers is money - and opening weekend box receipts are important.

I'll be there on opening day, and I hope you will, too - as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery because of the efforts of William Wilberforce in England, and enjoy the history behind the best-loved hymn, too!

exciting news from the McQuay household

The BEST news of my year (personally) came early this morning via email: our son Brent received notification that his fiancee' visa was approved yesterday! That means we've got a wedding to plan and that Miss Susana Soledad Pacheco (Sol to us) will soon become Mrs. Brent McQuay, right here at CLC!

Stay tuned for dates and details...

more details from Shorewood opening

I'm excited about the opening Sunday at our second campus (www.clctoday.org) with the official reports that we ministered to a grand total of 1523 people last weekend (1160 in Tinley; 363 in Shorewood) and at Shorewood alone we had 22 commitments to Christ!

I know we're walking in God's favor and I'm beginning to wonder where our next campus should be located. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, lemme know-

Fun in the sun

For those of you living in Chicago, this is no joke - Chris and I picked the best possible time for our winter getaway, I guess - while ya'll were dealing with blowing snow & whiteout conditions we were hanging by the pool in 80-degree sunshine in the Riveria Maya area of Mexico - and I must say, it was wonderful!

Just got back into town late last night and it's back to reality now....but still good to be home!

Shorewood Grand Opening

Our second campus is offically off-and-running! That may not seem like a big deal to some, but it's huge for us. We first started planning this expansion about 2 years ago, and we began making serious preparation in November of 2005, so it feels like we've been pregnant a long time!

It was definitely worth the wait, though - when we saw the first of those brand-new guests walking in the door. It really took me back 17 years ago, to Tinley High School, on the opening-day of CLC and the rush of adrenalin I felt at the sight of newcomers we had never met before.

Today was even more wonderful, in that we're older and wiser and were more able to 'enjoy the moment'. I met the most incredible, sharp young families: white, black, Hispanic & Asian - just like our CLC Tinley campus. It was so neat to see everyone worshipping together (the praise team was kickin', too - props to Marcus & Monika Moore & their whole team!) - so many neat moments and great conversations afterwards. If you're a part of our CLC family, you would have been proud of the way everyone worked together to make the grand opening a roaring success.

I don't have final numbers from both campuses today, but I think it's safe to say that CLC's overall attendance grew by at least 150 people in one day - and the best if yet to come!

Oh yes - best news of all - when I gave the salvation invitation, people responded in both services, including what must have been at least 10 or 12 or 15 in the second service - I was moved to tears as I realized that God had answered our prayers and brought hungry people to us - folks who were already searching for Him, and helped us connect.

It was a good day.

TV preachers

Well, it's official....I'm now a TV preacher. Well, not quite. At least, you won't find me on your big-screen in the living room. But for the last 2 weekends we were forced to use video for the teaching time in at least one of our services; last week because Chris and I were attending a special family event in MI on Saturday and couldn't be in 2 places at once; and then this weekend because I wanted so much to be a part of our Grand Opening in Shorewood - but also needed to finish the last segment of our finance series.

Last week I preached to an empty auditorium in advance so it could be shown for the Saturday service. All of us (especially me) were skeptical as to how it would work, even though lots of other churches are using video now to expand their outreach - but we still weren't convinced it would work at CLC. Until after last weekend anyway, when several folks told me they were actually looking for me on the stage, trying to figure out where I was standing, because the video version was so 'real'.

This weekend I thought would be better (it's tough preaching to an empty auditorium, even if the cameraman was trying to be responsive!) since I could preach to our Saturday service and everything should be 'normal' (that's a difficult word to define at CLC). But for some reason I really struggled with it - I must have said "tonight" about 25 times in the presentation, even though I had coached myself to use "today", since the video would be shown on Sunday morning and my miscues would only draw attention to the fact that the teaching was not live.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset with myself and nervous about using the video for our main Sunday services. But my wife reported that some new people gave their lives to the Lord afterwards and that, again, people told her they were looking for me on stage -- so I think we've passed the test.

We still aren't planning to use video regularly, since we have a great team of teachers at CLC who can deliver the Word at both campuses - but it's nice to know we have an option if we ever are forced to use it again. And now I can call myself a "TV preacher".

Super Bowl

It sure was fun while it lasted! Not just the first 14 seconds of the
big game, but the weekend celebrations here at CLC were more fun than I remember
in church in a long time. We encouraged everyone to wear their Bear's
gear; we decorated the lobby for the game; and we even used the "Bear Down,
Chicago Bears" fight song for our offering!

Chris and I felt a little prophetic when 'our boy' Hester went all the way
on the opening kickoff (please note our jersey's in the picture), but
it was pretty much all downhill from there.

Oh well, next year is another season, right? Meanwhile, good things
are still happening at CLC!

preaching about money

Boy, several CLCers really made my day this past weekend (before the Super Bowl, that is) - preaching about money is admittedly one of the biggest challenges any pastor faces. I personally used to be very intimidated to even bring up the subject in a sermon - in fact, from the beginning of CLC in 1990, I didn't preach a message about tithing until a full year had gone by - and even then, I deliberately chose the least-attended Sunday of the year to do it! (now that's a real chicken!)

So imagine how thankful I am for the responses we've had over the last few weeks to our "Mind Your Own Business" series. I've been overwhelmed each week by folks who take time to tell me via email or in the lobby how much they're being helped, but this past weekend folks told me they "got it" for the first time in their life, and committed to our "3 Month Tithe Challenge"! In fact, another CLCer asked me if I'd consider writing a book on this whole subject of finances.... look at God!

annual Business meeting

Churches are not only family and spiritual organisms; they're also businesses. In fact, as someone has wisely observed, "if we don't take care of business, we'll soon be out of business!" So we came together a few days ago as we do every year, to review the financial and business operation of CLC.

In case you weren't there, I'm pleased to report that we broke all previous records for income in 2006, and, better yet, our expenditures for the year were actually lower than in 2005! Of course, this was necessary for us to be in a position to open a new campus in Shorewood this week, but I'm still very thankful for the blessing of the Lord upon our financial operation.

We also approved a new amendment to our By-Law's regarding pastoral succession. In the wake of the recent Ted Haggard scandal, we discovered that our By-Law's did not spell out how a new pastor would be chosen at CLC in the event of my death or dismissal. None of us want to think about such things (especially me!), but it's a mark of wisdom to be prepared, and now we are. One of the things I love about this church is that it's such a safe place for people to come, and actions like our business meeting keep us healthy.

prophetic words

I've really been behind with blogging of late, so I'm trying to play catch-up. Probably the start of my negligence was 2 weeks ago today, when Chris and I took 15 other members of our pastoral staff to Houston for the annual conference of "Reconciliation! Ministries", the network of pastors and churches led by Bishop Joseph Garlington.

Coming on the heels of our own 'First Love' conference, it was an incredible time for us - just the 'bonding' alone that took place on the trip was invaluable, as Chris and I both felt closer to our team than ever before, which is exactly what we wanted before the Shorewood launch.

But the highlight of the trip was no doubt the experience we had on the second day of the conference when Bishop Garlington called Chris and me forward and invited their 'prophets' forward to speak over us. (At CLC, we do believe the gifts of the Spirit, including prophecy, are still operative today, and we certainly accepted these words as coming to us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit).

It was unlike anything we've ever experienced, as one minister after another spoke over us for about 20 minutes! It's a lengthy transcript, but if you'd like to read and agree with us for the Lord to bring every word to pass, you can check it out here.
Grace Prophecy