Orange Families

When you hear, “It was just one of those days” it is no a good sign. But that wasn’t the case for my day yesterday. Yesterday may make it into my annual highlight reel for top days of the year. Seriously, it was just one of those days where things were firing on all cylinders.

Here’s a quick rundown…
* Kids showed off their new tats before Breakfast
* A solid time with God- nothing earth shattering, just good
* Super productive and creative morning “at the office”
* I got an email (the model of what this kind should be) from a leader offering to take a ministry o the next level… if I wanted their help/ suggestions.
* A phone call from an aunt who wanted to help her niece- (I was actually help and be pastoral)
* Another phone call from a volunteer who is going above and beyond the call of duty, not for me or for Access, but for Jesus.
* BBQ lunch with a friend that was good food, fun catching up, and went deep about life and faith.
* Got an email from a volunteer that I asked to take a leadership role. She said she had been wanting to do the job and waiting to be asked!
* Watched Gav, Sophie, and Kristen make a birthday cake and decorate it for my dad’s birthday.
* Went to my dad’s 59th birthday party- all southern food that my mom cooked and it was goooood!

What a day! I’m a little scared of what Friday will hold though.

I’m super excited about this! JohnnySwim (Abner & Amanda) have released their new EP, “JohnnySwim 1-4″. On the heels of the release, they wil be leading worship at Access this Sunday, July 20th, at 9am and 10:30am, at UNF.

Abner and Amanda have been lead worshippers at Access almost since our launch. They are amazing artists. The have a huge heart for Jesus and what God is doing through Access. It is fun to have them a part of the team.

You won’t want to miss out on this Sunday! Make sure to invite those friends you’ve been investing in because this is a Sunday you’ll want them at church… I promise.

Oh yea, you can see more about Sunday over at Kevin’s Blog.

Leaders email me about it. Guests stop me in the halls on Sunday about it. I find that I even ask myself about this. The top question I get is:

“Adam, how do you get such great volunteers?”
The best answer I can give is that our volunteers are a gift from Jesus. But that’s the story of Access: it’s a Jesus thing, plain and simple. We prayed and continue to pray that God will trust us with people who will lead others into a growing relationship with Jesus. We try to actively develop and consistently nurture volunteers into leaders.

But what makes a volunteer a great leader?
1. Jesus- Do you trust Jesus and want other to trust him?
2. Mission- Do you know and buy into your church’s mission statement?
3. Commitment- Do you own and follow through on your commitment?
4. Relationship- Are you actively pursuing the people you lead & lead with?
5. Flexibility- Do you embrace that growing, healthy things change?
6. Attitude- Do you exude joy and a “can-do” perspective?
7. Growth- Are you improving and developing your gifts and skills?
8. Apprenticing- Are you passing on what you know to a co-leader?
9. The Win- What does it means to be successful (or win) in your role?
10. Fun- Are you fun to be around and have fun with your team?

I’m sure I have left out some great qualities of leaders. What do you think? Do you have any to add? Which ones of these are growing edges for you?

Yep, vacation is officially over. But before I dive to far into my first day back “in the office”, let me reminisce about our week in the mountains…

1. I didn’t sweat once all week (we sweat on Christmas day at home).
2. A day didn’t pass without catching a fish on a fly.
3. The cousins (6 kids under 6 years old) loved 24 hour play time.
4. I desperately need a deck with a hammock overlooking a lake at home.
5. Sliding down waterfalls is fun, but leaves bruises in strange places.
6. Kids don’t like driving on winding mountain roads at 6am (only one barf bag used!)
7. God did a great job when he created the mountains.

So, I’ve started my first day back with a little time with Jesus and blogging. What do I do next? Email (hundreds of them in my inbox)?

This is the Fine Arts Center at UNF- home to Access Church on Sundays.

This fall we are going to an every week worship schedule. One of the things I’m so excited about for the fall and out new schedule is the chance to reach out to UNF students. There are about 18,000 total students and 3,000 that live on campus.

Do you know any of those 18,000 students that would want to help jump start a college ministry at Access?

Would pray for the students of UNF? Would you pray for them right now? Go ahead and close your computer and pray they would know and experience Jesus’ love for them.

Most of my heart belongs to surfing. I’ve been surfing since I was about 6 years old. But there is a special spot in my soul for fly fishing. I started fly fishing after college, and I love it.

There is something so peaceful and right about standing in the middle of God’s creation- water flowing by, the hatch rising, the trout hitting flies right over the river’s surface. A river runs through my heart. That river runs strong now as I spend a week in the North Carolina mountains with my family.

I’ll post more pictures soon. This one from Looking Glass should keep you envious enough for now…

Which of these environments is a worship “home” for you the most? Which one draws you closest to One who loves you most?

Serving? Creation (beach or mountains)? A worship service?

Nothing compares to the outdoors for me. I’m close to God in feeling wonderfully small when the sun rises over the massive ocean. I’m close to God in feeling peace when the fog rolls in over the mountains and into the valleys. I’m close to God in feeling new and fresh when I make fresh tracks down a ski slope. I’m close to God in feeling dirt underneath my fingernails after working in the yard. I’m close to God in feeling chilled to the bone in a deer stand, mosquito bitten while fly fishing ,or sunburn while running to those numbers 30 miles off shore.

Going green was so yesterday! It’s all about going orange these days. Look at everything that is orange…

So here’s the deal: send me an email (adadm.flynt@accesschurch.org) with a picture of video of you or your family going orange. We’re going to pick the best one at the end of the contest. The best one wins an Orange Machine (a Green Machine that we’ve had custom painted orange).

Some me some orange folks!

Last week our community group tried to go hang out at the beach, have a picnic dinner, and watch the sunset together with all the kids. But alas it is summer and it rains on us almost every afternoon down here in the tropics.

So we all went to Dave & Busters instead. The kids had an absolute blast. I spent most of the evening in race car games with Gavin. One of our group members hit the ticket jackpot. It was awesome to see everyone in the place staring at her. Then what did she do? She used the tickets to buy some crummy GT bumble bee (go Gators!).

What’s the moral of the story? Join a community group and you too might just hit the jackpot!