Dean Inserra

We made it back.

Great trip, beautiful drive. Chicken and Dumplings at Cracker Barrel on the drive back is always a homerun.

Tommy is a stud. Missed that dude. He walked into the house and asked, “where is the Christmas tree?” He actually sang Jingle Bell Rock the entire drive back from my parents house.

2009 is here…I am so ready for an amazing year in Tallahassee. I cannot even begin to explain how much I love what I do. I am blessed beyond explanation. Sleeping has been tough with so much on my mind and so much God is continuing to teach me. Here we go!

I am currently chilling by the fireplace at our hotel and taking a little break from reading. We will head out early in the morning and take a beautiful drive through the mountains of North Georgia…sadly the drive get less and less pretty as you drive south (no offense Moultrie and Thomasville).

It has been a good trip. Much needed.

I have been working on our upcoming January sermon series, Character Assassins, next to the fireplace on a sweet leather couch. The verse that is really shaping this entire series is Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

The issue of true character that honors Christ is a matter of the heart. For so long Christians have been told to “control their behavior,” and as a result have never dealt with the real issue…the heart.

Youth Ministries seem to exist in order to make sure the Church kids don’t drink, smoke, and cuss. Then, of course, the kids get in college and they drink, smoke, and cuss.

I think this will be a liberating series for many who have scars from religion and engaging for those who are interested in how to protect our hearts from Satan’s attacks on what is already messed up in the first place. We will start this series on January 11th.

I am pumped about my talk, “Tally On My Mind” this Sunday, January 4th…back at Godby High School.

College Kiddies…we need you there! It won’t kill you to leave home an extra hour early to drive back to Tally!

Greetings from the Mountains! We are having an awesome time together up here. I miss Tommy a bunch, but the chance to be in the mountains with Krissie is awesome.

Contrary to rumors traveling around…I am NOT camping. I would rather read Harry Potter. We are staying at a great mountain lodge in Fontana Village.

Thank you Matthew for preaching on Sunday and blogging for me on Monday.

I am pumped to go back to Godby this Sunday night. What would it look like if we expected God to do great things in Tallahassee? I often find myself hoping. I want to be someone who expects!

What is on my mind as I sit here and have an amazing mountain view right in front of me:

-How can you not believe in the Creator? Just drive someone to Western, North Carolina.

-Gospel, Gospel, Gospel. That is what everyone must hear…we can never waiver from that. Believers must be reminded of the Gospel on a daily basis. That is the entire story of the Bible.

-Hot Chicks and Mr. Right: a series coming up soon that has me fired up already.

-A glass of wine in a mountain lodge just tastes better.

-Peddler’s Steakhouse. I freakin abused a steak there last night.

-God’s World: I am a jerk…it was the example of the corny and lame in the Christian sub-culture. I have a picture outside the store that Krissie posted. I wanted to walk inside and yell…”God’s World…party time, excellent”…but Krissie wouldn’t let me.

-I think the Church is not some random religious gathering of people. I believe it is THE vehicle that God wants to use to make His name known to the World. It is the Church people! Not our Church…THE Church. We have an amazing opportunity to tell people the greatest truth in the history of the World. Christ said that the gates of Hell would not be able to prevail against His Church. Man…that is some intense stuff. No excuses! This is bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than our preferences or taste, bigger than tradition or how you were raised, bigger than Grandma’s beliefs, bigger than comfort, bigger than opinions….it is the very calling of God on all believers to make His name known.

And I want to be on the front lines.

(by Matthew Robinson, guest writer)

 Dean and Krissie jetted yesterday morning to an undisclosed location.

Actually, “undisclosed” should read “quasi-remote.”

To celebrate their fifth anniversary, the happy Inserra’s made a trip up to North Carolina for a few days of get away to a small town 17-miles from the nearest city. Though they’re in a nice lodge, to Dean, this might as well be camping

Rest, reflection, and relaxation are important.  After preaching last night myself, I can honestly say I’m not sure how Dean does it every week.  I had a sermon on my mind and heart for a month and a half.  Every seven days Dean delivers a new one.  It’s exhausting.  And it made me, form the pulpit, appreciate the work our Pastor does even more.

I live life with Krissie and Tommy and Dean, and it’s never at a slow pace.  Mix in hyper activity, a two year old, a church full of college students (wonderful described as “needy”), a marriage, and having friends and family, and a recipe ending with a craving for rejuvenation is a must.

Plus, there’s just something about getting away…

That’s what we did at our staff retreat two weeks ago.  We got away.  We cleared out the clutter.  We prayed hard.  And we dreamed big.

And 2009 is going to rock.

We’ll always live to the fullest, each day (not just Sundays!) that mission to take an everlasting truth to an ever-changing culture.

Plain and simple: there are lost people all around us.  And they are going to spend eternity in Hell.

If that does not create a sense on urgency, then nothing else will.

2009 is a year of tightening up for the Well.  It’s a year of investing in our guests and first timers (to quote Dean quoting Perry Noble from his lunch last week: “the sermon begins in the parking lot.”) It’s a year of investing in our Kids ministry.  It’s a year of challenging people to stop talking and start acting.

It’s a year to continue to do the things no one else is doing, in order to reach those that no one else is reaching.

If you haven’t been able to tell, our team is pretty fired up.

And it all starts on January 4th.  After a month here, there, and everywhere in Tallahassee, we make our way back to the auditorium at Godby High School (home of the 2008 State Football Champion Runner Ups — Go Cougars!).

Tallahassee’s been on Dean’s mind.

And that’s where he is going on Sunday night with a sermon titled ‘Tally on My Mind.”

We live in a city of over 65,000 college students.

We live in a city with a church on every other corner.

We live in a city that’s labeled as part of the “bible belt.”

And we live in a city that’s full of stagnation.  Of comfort.  Of masks and fake-ness.

If you want to know what makes Dean tick, ask him about doing ministry in Tallahassee.  Ask him about starting a church he felt called to start since he was a teenager to try and make a city-wide impact.  Ask him what’s on his mind.

And come join us on Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. back at home to find out.

I promise that the new year blitz is only going to be fueled by Dean and Krissie’s time away.

They can’t ever get Tally off their minds!

I am currently reading Al Mohler’s book on preaching titled, He Is Not Silent.

Great book! It truly will put a fire in you to preach the Word! I will be working through this book with some interns we will be having at The Well this summer.