Get on the bus!

We will all wake up…eventually. 

We will drink lots of coffee.

We will get a look at our watches as we groggily brush our teeth.

We will shout angrily at the disheveled image in the mirror at how late we are to the church. 

We will clean off the mirror after shouting angrily with toothpaste in our mouth (the spouse abhors a speckled mirror!)

We will stop by Dunkin’ Donuts for more coffee and a bus-load of fine pastries.

We will arrive at the church parking lot.

We will be shunned by the non-morning people/we will shun the morning people.

We will all (eventually) feel the love again... because we remembered the fine pastries.

We will pile on the bus.

We will eat fine pastries, and drink coffee, and talk excitedly with our mouths full as the bus bumps along.

We will sing loudly, and inaccurately, with the worn out Switchfoot CD that the youth left from their trip to camp in the same bus.

We will arrive at the Celebrate Recovery One Day Seminar with great expectations.

We will laugh and talk and cry and learn and grow together.

We will go home closer to the Lord, closer to each other, and better equipped to bring the life-changing ministry of Celebrate Recovery to hurting people.

Are YOU going to a One Day near you?  What better way to encourage your ministry than to spend the day together with your CR family?  Get on the bus! 

john e



Celebrate Recovery 2010 Open for Registration

The http://www.celebraterecovery.com website has registration open for the first Celebrate Recovery One Day Seminars of the 2010 calendar season. If you open the page and go to the right margin, you will find:

January 16, 2010 – San Jose, CA – One Day Seminar

February 20, 2010 – Houston, TX – One Day Seminar

March 6, 2010 – Portland, OR – One Day Seminar

March 20, 2010 – Orlando, FL – One Day Seminar

...as the first events of the new year.

With the Christmas and New Year holiday season rapidly approaching, I would remind you to get a date on the calendar, and plan to take others with you. One of the best considerations remains the great opportunity to network with other Celebrate Recovery leaders from your state or region.

As you seek to model the best practices and dna of an authentic Celebrate Recovery ministy, it makes sense to connect with other leaders and teams that have made the same commitment to excellence in ministry. Connecting with others within a reasonable driving distance will insure a steady stream of testimonies to share.

In addition to meeting Pastor John and Cheryl Baker and other presenters from the national leadership team, the upcoming seminars are great places to meet your Celebrate Recovery State Representative or Regional Director. Each member of the team is ready, willing, and able to help you and the Celebrate Recovery ministry of your church be an effective outreach to people in your church and community.

I heard many exciting Thanksgiving events from leaders across the country, and I'm sure there will be some wonderful stories of great fellowship at upcoming Christmas and New Year events in CR ministries across the country.

May God richly bless you, your family, and your CR ministry team as you celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays!

Celebrating Recovery - each day in Christ! - Jim

Celebrate Recovery Signs - a ministry of Promotion!

When something good, something really great happens, you want to tell everyone - right???

In Celebrate Recovery we do have something to tell the world about. On a regular basis we get to see the miracle of God healing and restoring lives that were lost or confused. For those of you serving as Ministry Leaders or other volunteers in the ministry, this is an advantage and a privilege of serving on the "front lines" of recovery.

Celebrate Recovery (CR) is a ministry of promotion - telling people the good news that liberty and freedom are available in Christ. Support and accountability found at CR are tools of recovery that help participants apply God's principles to all areas of life.

Visiting CR groups in my hometown or across the country, I always look to see if they have directional signs to point the newcomer or group member to the meeting place. I can honestly say that in a few cases, I had to look for an entry with a number of cars parked outside in order to have a clue as to where a meeting might be taking place.

One of my ministry leaders recently submitted a WAVE report that points out the importance of signs. Please enjoy the story below as you consider the ease of which potential new members can locate your CR group. 

The first day, they (new signs) were out for a little over  an hour, when a man came in stating he had been driving by, saw the signs, and knew this was the place he needed to be. He had been out drinking all weekend and was at the end of his rope. It was Tuesday, about 10am. He prayed in my office to receive Christ. He has since been in CR, Authentic Men (men's ministry), Sunday services, and small group studies ever since. Celebrate Recovery has welcomed eight people who have seen the new sign. Just a sign! Thanks to our CR Assimilation Coach, Church Administrator, and Facilities Staff for working together to reach others for Him –

Ministry Leader - please be sure that your Celebrate Recovery group is easy to locate on the church grounds. Posting signs, spotting greeters, making CR a welcoming and inviting place is important to promote your ministry to the church and the community.

The next Celebrate Recovery One Day Seminar is coming up next Saturday, October 24 at Colorado Community Church in the Denver area. Please go to http://celebraterecovery.com to register, noting that today is the last day of on-line registration. There is always room for walk-ins! See you there!

Celebrating Recovery - each day in Christ! - Jim