“The LORD is my shepherd, I have EVERYTHING I NEED.” David’s blog post 23

I have never met anyone who could honestly say they loved God with all of their heart, passion, and emotion. I believe we intuitively know we have MORE to give. I have a lot of ministry friends. And my family, from my parents to my grandparents, have left me a great legacy of faith. But none of them would honestly say, “I have given God all the passion within me.”

So if all of our heart is what God requires…how do you measure heart?

How do you know if you are putting it ALL out there? David is the only person in history that came close. David wasn’t perfect, BUT from his early years to his last, God said this is a person that gets it. Man looks at his outward appearance, but I SEE his heart. David brings me passion and emotion and runs to me first about everything. David loves me with ALL OF HIS HEART.

Yeah, I know David messed up royally…funny how we all like to point that out…but we miss that thru it all…at each stage, from a shepherd boy, to a fugitive, to a king…God says this is a man after MY own heart.

Friends, that is the greatest compliment you and I could ever receive and the greatest thing you could ever do. Jesus said it’s the most important thing in the world.

• I wonder how much heart we are leaving on the table?
• What would happen…how would my life and your life change…if we realized we already have EVERYTHING we need.

God, I apologize for running to everything and everyone else before You…no one has ever compared to or even come close to You. Free me up to worship You with ALL of my heart. Thank You for giving ALL of Yours to me.

We kicked off a new series this past weekend: The Experiment. Pretty cool to know that you’re talking about the most important thing in the world. I can say that with total confidence because that is what Jesus said. At the end of the day, at the end of life, Jesus said it all comes down to 2 words: LOVE GOD.

I don’t know if I should blog about this because it might not come out right…but here it goes. Have you ever felt like Christianity over promises and under delivers? I have. Before you condemn me, let met clarify what I mean. God has never over promised and under delivered…NEVER. I repeat NEVER. However, what is packaged and taught as Christianity and the Church has definitely over promised and under delivered.

The older I get…I just don’t want to play games at this. I want to experience MORE. MORE of GOD, less of me. MORE OF GOD, less of religion. MORE OF GOD, less hype. MORE OF GOD, less programs. MORE OF GOD, less church growth strategies. MORE OF GOD, less conferences. MORE OF GOD, less of blogs. MORE OF GOD, less Christian celebrities. Am I in a bad mood? Becoming cynical? No. I just think we run way too quickly to the latest popular thing to get our God fix.

To love God with ALL OF OUR HEART requires that we run to Him first about everything. EVERYTHING.

Do you want to experience MORE OF GOD? What would it look like for you to run to God first with everything in your heart?

Several weeks ago, I blogged about the power of using multi media in any presentation. In just 5 years, our media at Northway has evolved and emerged to be a major part of our services. Why? We live in a multi sensory culture, and if we are going to connect with our current culture, media is a non negotiable. Our team is learning a lot, and our goal is to be the best in 5 years. So check back on this blog in 2013….and hold me accountable.

It wasn’t that long ago that I remember how frustrating it was to see other large churches leverage media…but we didn’t have the resources or the know how. So now we have decided to share what we have learned on our journey with anyone who could use it. I believe anyone who has the desire could take what we shared and accomplish the same thing we have or even better…taking it to another level. The feedback we have received has been phenomenal!. So today on Cremean’s Couch….we are putting out more free media stuff!

Live Different was our most popular series to date. We went from a church of virtually no small groups to 800 people in groups! We went from 100 middle school and high school students to 300. We saw over 150 decisions for Christ, and last week in the final week of Live Different, 119 people went public in their faith!

Pastors, leaders, communicators…anyone could use this premise: Life is short…Live Different

This is the intro that my 15 year old son, Devin, produced….pretty stinking awesome. This looks sick on our 40 foot HD screen!

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We will also share the layered logo and individual motion backs. And, if you could use them, some have even expressed interest in the video vignettes we produced for the series. I may post those next week on CC if anyone is interested.

PLEASE NOTE: If your computer does not recognize a file type, add the file extension .mov to the video file names and .psd to the layered logo file names.  To save them just right click and select “save target as”

Message Opener

5 Minute Countdown

Layered Logo

Week 1 – Live Positive Message Background

Week 2 – Live Dangerous Message Background

Week 3 – Live Spontaneous Message Background

Week 4 – Live Generous Message Background

Week 5 – Live Intentional Message Background

• One week later, I am still trying to process 119 people getting baptized
• LiveDifferent.tv has changed our church…
• I wonder what it would look like if we really loved God with ALL our heart.
• How will my life change through this “Experiment”? How will God change our church through this “Experiment”? This new series is off the chain!
• Can’t believe we got to play some old school Bryan Adams…”Straight from the heart” is the best song ever.
• Really cool to have my dad and mom here this weekend… The older I get the more I appreciate their legacy of faith!
• Dad doesn’t dig our music but he digs what God is doing! Maybe one day he will be our Senior Citizens Pastor…
• I love the new songs we sang this weekend…Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus – Love Your God, It was a little more chill then normal but I loved it.
• Mark 12:28-30 – We are going to chase this verse as a church!
• There is a freshness about Northway Church – I’m digging the vibe big time
• A guy came up to me in the bathroom today…he said he had been in church for 25 years and had been coming to NWay for 1 year. He said he has learned more in this 1 year then in all the years prior. How awesome is that!
• I apologize for the pitiful and pathetic experiment I did on stage today…Chemistry wasn’t my thing. Next week I’m brining it…I’m going to blow you away with my skills!!
• I threw Debbie under the bus today by sharing her Life verse today…might be sleeping on the couch tonight. haha…all I have to say is, stay on her good side!
• Love the way my Dad and Mom interact with my kids.
• My daughter’s Birthday is tomorrow…She will be 12. She has been talking about what the day will be like for the whole month leading up to it. Love how sentimental she is…She loves life. I love her.
• Throwin down at Cheescake Factory tonight with the Family…PF Changs was too packed.
• Kardiar…Kardior…Everytime I try to throw Greek into a message I feel like George Bush…strategery….Kardia is really how you pronounce it.
• I am excited to hear all of the stories from our Connection Groups Service Projects…Be sure to post stories and videos at www.livedifferent.tv
• Eagles won today…there is still hope!

Pretty pumped to have my dad and mom here! They just got in last night and were beat from driving from Philly . They look great! I think the combination of our last series ….life is short…live different and then my bro’s video will make this our best visit ever. It’s rare that we get to visit so this is a real treat for all of us.

Since blogging about my bro’s video and Granddad …..I think I’ll blog later this week about my Dad and Mom.  Who knows?  Maybe I can talk them into guest blogging.

I just watched one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen in my life! My brother, John Cremeans, who pastors a church in Philly, called me and said he was driving to West VA where my grandparents lived. John told me he was going to shoot a video of visiting their gravesite. As I listened, I could hear that my bro was tired so I tried to talk him out of it. I didn’t think the trip or the video was a good idea.

I was wrong.

My granddad was a preacher in West Virginia who loved Jesus Christ. Granddad was bold, courageous, and ahead of his time. He started churches and literally built them from the ground up. He also had a radio ministry that touched thousands of lives with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Granddad also had a grumpy side and for some odd reason enjoyed waking John and me up at 5:00am when we were visiting. I hated that. Grandmom loved Jesus and stood by granddad’s side, enjoying gardening and baking. She gave great hugs! Grandmom also had the best laugh and would conveniently play hooky on Sunday nights when granddad was preaching.

Watching John’s video brought back so many memories and stirred some deep emotions. To be honest, I never got my granddad when I was young…but when Jesus got a hold of my heart in my late 20s…I would drive down often to pick his brain about the whole church and Jesus thing. To me he was sort of like Moses. I’ll always remember forcing myself to get up at 5:00am just to have a chance to walk with him around the block…cane in his hand and his tobacco in his mouth…he would say, “Son, this is a great day for Jesus to come back!â€? I asked him, “Granddad, how did you get so close to Jesus?â€? He said, “Son, you can get as close to God as you want to.â€? That thought changed my life.

For me, this is a video that I will watch again and again. It would serve me well to watch once a week. Seeing Cremeans on the tombstone is sort of creepy but it is a reality check. What am I doing with my life? What kind of legacy am I leaving? For my children? My future grandchildren? For Northway Church? For the Northeast?

Each day, God is writing another page of my story. My legacy is not complete yet.

• What will you be remembered for?

Thank you John for reminding all of us what’s important in life.

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Have you ever felt the satisfaction of pouring ALL of your PASSION into one thing? Have you ever felt the gratification of knowing you did your best to utilize ALL of your intellectual property? Have you ever been so physically exhausted and yet exhilarated at the same time? What would happen if you had the synergy of all three? Imagine the POWER of ALL your PASSION, ALL your MIND, and ALL your STRENGTH mixing together towards one pinnacle point. How would your life change?

Welcome to The Experiment.

Join me this weekend as I kick off this exciting new 4 week series!

What a God, what a journey, what an opportunity. All of these statements rushed into my head as we wrapped up the fantastic LiveDifferent.tv series; this past weekend. We have come so far as a church in the past 5 years. Our church is mobilized, they are pumped up, and they are ready to serve God and God alone. 5 years ago the critics said it was impossible.  They were wrong. Our God has shown up time and time again. From the Easter service at the Saratoga City Center to Multiple Christmas Weekend services. From the Easter at the Pepsi Arena Event to developing a Multi site Church. Oh yea just one other little thing…this past weekend we topped off our five years with 100+ baptisms at both locations. God is using our church to break the mold, for our generation… a generation that desperately needs hope, passion, and a vision.

I am so excited about the future of our church, so excited that I want to share a few of my own dreams for our Church/Music Ministry in the next 5-10 years.

• Church Campuses in each state of the Northeast United States (NY, MA, NH, VT, RI, CT, ME, PA, NJ)
• Host National Worship Conferences each year at every individual Northway Church Location
• 10,000 Northway United Youth, between all locations

Each and every year God does something massive at our church, not just a light little sprinkle of a blessing, but instead something that blows us all away. I believe he will continue to do so as long as our hearts and attitudes stay true to him Are you willing to go anywhere or do anything for your King? Is God your everything? Think about it…is He really the center of your life? Often times it takes questions like these, to really gear up your heart and attitude into preparation for change. A new attitude will enable us to take more risks. It will motivate us into to rebirthing Jesus Christ’s true legacy throughout the world. This type of attitude will start a revolution. I believe our church has started this revolution. I am not talking about a trendy revolution that will soon fizzle away. I am talking about an uprising of people, a movement, and a resurgence of the local church. Are you ready?

Faithful…What else can I say? Forgiveness, Joy, Life…God is Faithful. These past five years at Northway Church have been the best in my life. I got married to a beautiful woman. I have two wonderful children, and I have experienced God like I never thought possible.

5 years ago…there were 10 people in a living room praying for God to do something different…to start a church to reach the unchurched. What a great concept…what a great commission. Northway Church!! And look how God has rained down His blessing and changed and saved so many lives. One thing after the other…you can’t out dream God!!

Just this past weekend, 119 people got baptized!! People stepping forward and saying that God has changed their lives…what a time to celebrate. One of the most memorable moments at Northway was two years ago when I had the honor and privilege of baptizing people at one of our baptism services.

What a ride, what a race, what a life!!

Ephesians 3:20-21
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.�

Without a vision, people perish. Without a vision, leaders die a slow death. For over a year, I have been in ICU…on survival mode…in critical care. I didn’t have the energy to dream. It just seemed like too many challenges…but the reality is that the biggest challenge was I was just too tired and too scared.

I love what Rick Warren said, “you can’t keep on charging without recharging.� He was right. I hit the wall in May. I like to refer to that as my “May Meltdown.� We had been charging full throttle for 5 years at Northway, and I didn’t know what was wrong. I didn’t enjoy preaching as I once did. I didn’t enjoy anything…it was a scary place to be. I had never been there before. Have you ever been there?

I thank God that He has blessed me with this incredible church, its leadership, its staff and good friends that encouraged me to get away. Thank you, and I love you guys! God renewed me and taught me so much thru that season. I’m off ICU…and thriving. I feel as if God has given me a spiritual heart transplant and new eyes to see afresh what He sees!

• More heart and compassion for those hurting.
• More heart and compassion for my community.
• More heart and confidence to keep it real and raw…I need friends and so does everyone!

I’ve learned that you can’t force it. You have to let the game come to you at times. We all go through seasons in life, and you can’t just fight your way through it. You have to embrace it…and it takes time. God has given me much greater sensitivity in this area. When was the last time you got away for a vision retreat? Do you have friends that inspire and encourage you? Have you surrounded yourself with people that you can be yourself around?

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No matter where you are or what season you’re in, I pray that you enjoy this sequel to Cremeans Couch…a highlight reel of the last 5 years of Northway Church. I pray that God uses it to encourage you and ignite fresh vision in your ministry.