Performance Reviews

I used a very helpful tool that I picked up from the Catalyst conference and read about in the book Growing an Engaged Church by Albert Winseman.

When I reviewed my leadership team, I asked them to respond to these 12 questions to get at core leadership issues for 2009:

1. I know what's expected of me.

2. My spiritual needs are met.

3. I regularly have the opportunity to do what I do best.

4. In the last month, I have received recognition or praise.

5. The leaders in the congregation seem to care about me as a person.

6. There is someone in my congregation who encourages my spiritual development.

7. My opinions seem to count.

8. The mission/vision of my church makes me feel important.

9. The other members of my team are committed to spiritual growth.

10. I have a best friend at church.

11. In the last 6 months, someone has talked to me about the progress of my spiritual growth.

12. I have opportunities to learn and grow.

This produced very fruitful conversation and gave me the insights I needed to help move my team forward.  The areas that are lacking for us are: having a best friend at church and someone checking in on spiritual growth.  This means that I need to be more intentional about developing relationships among our team and in a broad way, helping our church develop relationships with other people.

If you lead a team of people, I hope that these questions might help you.  Of course, you can adjust these to fit any context besides the church-world.

Great Systems connected with Visual Thinking = Effective Worship (aka. sanity)

It's been a year since we started a contemporary service.  Some of the benefits we've experienced:

1) New Faces: this service has attracted some of our innactive members of the church as well as lots of guests from the community.  This was the main reason we started this service and it is growing!

2) A Growing Band: we continue to add new musicians.  As a result, we are experiencing some growing pains because not everyone can play every week.  We're shifting to a team-model where we mix up vocals and musicians and have different people play.

There are lots of pieces and parts to the service and there are some people on our team that would like to play different instruments.  I've made a card for each musician and vocalist and drew the instrument they would like to play (there's one guy who can play guitar, bass and drums so I rotate him through the instruments each week).

To help organize all this, I created a cork board (pictured above):

From top-down:

White = Date and Theme of the Sunday worship

Pink = musician/vocalist that is on for that Sunday

Blue = elements of the worship (readings, confession, forgiveness, etc.)

Bright green = songs

So far, the system is working great and I can instantly see what songs we're doing and who is on for each Sunday.  This also helps me be intentional about creating smooth transitions.

Whatever project you face, hopefully this helps you to literally 'see' the pieces and parts.  It doesn't have to be fancy: a corkboard and some colored index cards will do the trick!

What's on my mp3 player?

I've had an mp3 player for about a year and I'm lovin it!  It really helps recapture those "dead" moments in pastoral ministry: driving in the car, waiting at a restaurant for a meeting, etc.  You would be surprised how much you can listen to just driving for 15 minutes to and from work!

So without any further ado, here's what on my mp3 player:

*** FOR LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS, I LISTEN TO:

ANDY STANLEY - LEADERSHIP, BEST OF AND WEEKLY PODCASTS: I'm really glad Andy Stanley put his thoughts on leadership in a podcast.  It's an easy way to share his insights with my staff.  And of course, listening to his sermons are great too!

CATALYST PODCAST: Each month, these guys interview leaders and gurus in different fields of culture change.  Awesome insights here!

CHURCH LEADER INSIGHTS: Nelson Searcy, pastor in New York City, offers his insights on connecting the dots between the unchurched and the church world.

WORSHIP LEADER INSIGHTS: Jason Hatley is the worship leader at The Journey Church of the City in New York.  Working with Nelson Searcy, Jason offers practical insights on leading worship.

FERMI PROJECT: offers insights from a broad collection of innovators, artists, social entrepreneurs and other leaders who experiment with ways to advance the good in culture.  This jump started with the book they did called "UnChristian".  A powerful read that should open any Christian leader's eyes.

*** FOR CREATIVE INSIGHTS, I LISTEN TO:

CREATIVEPASTORS BLOG AND PODCAST: Ed Young Jr. is a master at creativity and connecting the dots from the Bible to the people in a creative way.  In a recent series, he brought in a full toilet to illustrate the difference between lust and desire.  In one of my sermons, I brought on a seat from a toilet and it didn't go over well.  I'm definately no Ed Young Jr, but I think the way he does!

*** FOR SERMON IDEAS AND STORIES, I LISTEN TO:

NAPKIN SCRIBBLES: These are short daily life insights from author and futurist Leonard Sweet.  I eat up (not literally) all of his books.  Great author and Tweeter.

KERRYING ON: Kerry Patterson offers illustrations from moments in his life that apply to the leadership world. Author of a simple but powerful book called Influencer.

FOREFRONT CHURCH: Vince Antonucci is the pastor but is transitioning to launch a church on the Las Vegas strip.  Hilariously funny with a Junior High school boyish humor, Vince captures people's hearts in a style that I aspire to.

LIFECHURCH.TV WITH CRAIG GROESCHEL: This guy wears me out!  Full of energy and passion, Craig Groeschel delivers and keeps my attention.

MARS HILL: Mark Driscoll is the pastor in Seattle who is a passionate Bible teacher.  He just finished a series on Doctrine which I plan to adapt and walk my congregation through.

MAURY HILLS: It's always good to explore the culture you are in.  This podcast is from a colleague in ministry, Russ Adcox.  He is leading his church here in Columbia to do some awesome things!

*** TO INSPIRE MY LIFE, I LISTEN TO:

CORNERSTONE SIMI: Francis Chan, pastor at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California brings a thoughtful message that captures my heart.  

THE VILLAGE CHURCH: What can I say but 'wow'!  This young pastor, Matt Chandler, walks through a book of the Bible verse-by-verse from start to finish.  Impressive, knowledgeable and fast-paced, Matt offers a relevant message to my generation.

What if the Church was like Starbucks?

The church is so out of touch that outsiders looking in view the church as weird, unfriendly and irrelevant.  For that reason, I try to think of ways to tap into the culture around us and use culture as a bridge into the church world.

This is a hilarious parable that shows how out of touch the church can be.

Check it out:

What if the Church marketed like Starbucks?

Finding my Strengths

I took this assesment by www.strengthfinders.com to find my strengths.  The idea is that once we know our strengths, we should live our lives out of our strengths instead of strengthening our weaknesses.  It's a concept I totally agree with.  I would much rather spend time living out of my strengths instead of being constantly frustrated by my weaknesses.

Here are my strengths in order of importance:

FUTURISTIC: I think about future possibilities and ask "What if..." a lot.

INPUT: I collect ideas and information.  I am very inquisitive.

LEARNER: I like learning new ideas and subjects.  I enjoy the journey from ignorance to expert.

FOCUS: I always have a goal ahead of me.  I filter every decision and action on the basis of whether it will help me achieve my goals.  When there's tangents, I want to get back on course.

RELATOR: I seek to develop deeper relationships with people I meet.  I'm not satisfied with a "surface level" relationships.  I want to know how the other person is wired; what their likes and dislikes are; their personal history.

Any comments?  Is it right on or totally off-base?

Building Relationships

I was listening to someone talk about building relationships with people.  They outlined an intriguing way to build relationships:

Level 1: HISTORY SHARING (sharing experiences from the past)

Level 2: AFFIRMATION (words to God about you, words to you about you, and actions to impact your world)

Level 3: COVENANT ("I can tell you what I think, feel and know and I can trust you with it.")

Level 4: DREAMING ("If I can trust you with my past [Level 1] and my present [Level 2 and 3], then I can trust you to help me with my future [Level 4].")

When you think about your relationships with other people, what level are they at?

Pick one relationship you want to cultivate and grow: What might you do to take your relationship to the next level?

Struggling to Find out What Your Kids Learned At School?

Instead of asking: "What did you learn today at school?",

I've been asking:

"What questions did you ask at school?"

It's cool to see the conversation shift.

Random Quote

"The greatest opposition to what God is doing today

comes from those 

who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday"

 - RT Kendall

Oh The Food

Jenn and I enjoyed some great food while in Atlanta for Catalyst.

We ate at the obligatory Chik-Fil-A and Moe's Southwest Grill for lunches.  On one evening, we ate at The Cheesecake Factory and caught up with some other pastor buddies for shop-talk.

But the best...

SUSHI ROLLS at Blue Fin sushi bar.

We felt a bond with this place because when we visited it last year, it had only been open for a month!  It was great to see that it was still going.

The sushi was so fresh it melted in your mouth.  I tied fried sushi.  When I put it in my mouth, the light crispy coating on the outside gave way to the delicate rice and fish.

The atmosphere was clean and fun.

And the staff were really cool to chat with.

What a great experience but we ate waaaay too much!

Andy Stanley Delivers

Andy Stanley was awesome at Catlyst! Here's a few clips and notes I took:

Andy Stanley on Nehemiah 5.6-18:

"We have moral authority when our deeds match our creed."

"Strip away titles and job descriptions and live out the answer to this question 'Who am I responsible to?'"

Andy Stanley on Leadership:

"To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing."

"Be a student, not a critic."

"If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he do? Why shouldn't we walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves?"

"When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near."

"What happens in the church house is bigger than what happens in the whitehouse."

It's over already?

Catalyst was just awesome this year and I can't believe it's over already.  I'm going back through my experience packet and jotting down the insights I came away with:

There were 12,400 people there and it was a blast!  We made one big floam ball together. We decorated the place with streamers and balloons...together.  We sang songs...together. (In case you missed it, the theme of Catalyst was "together").

When I sat down in the Gwinnett Arena, little did I know that I was going to sit next to Monte.  We struck up a conversation and I found out that Monte was the conductor for the orchestra at Catalyst 2007.  It was cool to talk to him and hear the "behind the scenes" on how Catalyst pulled off having a full orchestra.  If you were there last year, Monte was the one who gave up his baton to Lenny Donoho who had us floored with laughter.

It's great to meet other people and hear their stories.

Who haven't you met yet?  Talk to them and see where the conversation goes!

CATALYST

Catalyst wasn't just an event or another conference to go to: it was an experience.  This experience pumps me up for ministry and changes my perspective about my leadership.  I come away with new ideas and a mantra that says: "With God, I can do this!"

I've got tons of notes.  One habit I do is to file those notes somewhere: whether it's in a mindmap for a sermon coming up, in a file folder for my next leadership team meeting, or to print out inspiring quotes and post them somewhere in my office.

I'll post each insight I got from Catalyst...there are way too many ideas to put them all in one post!

My week ahead...

Got a busy week ahead:

"I'M TOO BUSY NOT TO PRAY."

Martin Luther said that profound truth.  I came across a resource that has revolutionized my prayer life.  Check it out.  At EchoPrayer, you can:

* set up reminders via email and/or txt to your phone

* random prayers pop up to avoid predictability that leads to a boring and stale prayer life

* keep an ongoing journal about how God is answering those prayers

3 phrases: Simple, Easy, Less-Prep and More-Prayer

Catch the video here.

CATALYST

Geeked about checking in with one of our college students on Wednesday and then attending Catalyst Thursday and Friday.  This is THE premier young leader experience.  I'm forever grateful for the donor in my church that makes it possible for me to attend and re-energize my heart for pastoral ministry.

FREE CHEESECAKE

While I'm at Catalyst, Nelson Searcy, lead pastor at The Journey church in NYC is hosting a reception.  Can't wait to pick his brain and his cheesecake!

THE PEOPLE'S TABLE

While I'm away, my church is hitting the streets and serving Columbia's hungry.  I wonder what storeis I'll hear about God's work through this simple act of service.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE...

I want to be this church

Hope you have a great week and I can't wait to tell you all about Catalyst!

Bailout

I've been asking myself: what if the bailout never gets past?  What's the worst that might happen?  I have researched this all over the internet and haven't found a clear answer until tonight:

WHAT'S THE 'WORSE CASE SCENARIO' IF THE BAILOUT NEVER PASSES?

Here's a plan that makes sense to me: check it out.

I'm Soooooooooo There

Catalyst, here I come!!!!

http://tinyurl.com/3vkaqv

If anyone else is going, zip me a comment and let me know.

Inspiration in times of Desperation

Quote to get you thru the week:

"When we're at the end of our rope and resources,

we've just arrived at the beginning of God"

-tweet by lensweet @ twitter.com

Things have been hopping this week!  Just a quick update:

- I'm trying to crank out a few sermons and found this website got my creative juices flowing.  Check it out:

http://mrdoob.com/lab/pv3d/dof/07/

[zip your mouse around the page...it's pretty cool!]

- Finished up Head First by Tony Buzan: I really liked the layout and the ideas the book generated for all areas of life.  Man, I am smarter than I think (and smarter than what people say ;)

- Connecting with people outside my church: I'm having lots of conversations with people about our church and how we might make a difference in their lives, especially in these uncertain economic times.  How do we solve it?

Weekend Excitement

It's going to be a great weekend!

• Clarissa lost her first tooth: tooth fairy should be very happy!  (pictures to come...)

• Parties parties parties: Southeran Fried Festival Friday night, corn maze Saturday and a picnic injects some must-needed fun time

• No sermon to prepare for Sunday: our District President Ken Lampe is coming in to preach and officially recognize a couple of guys who completed the deacon training.  But I used my time wisely this past week to prep sermons for the month of October.  It's a great feeling to be ahead of the game!
  

Hope you have a great weekend!

LA Train Wreck

My dad has worked for a train company for as long as I can remember.  At a very early age, he instilled in me a love for trains.  Because he is resonsible for routing trains to achieve maximum productivity, he gave me an appreciation to find ways to help people make sense out of life.

When I heard about the accident, I was heart-broken and I wondered what happened.  Below is a report which re-enacted the accident:

LA Train Wreck

Humans make huge mistakes and somehow, somewhere, God is in the middle of it.

My prayers are with the families affected by this disaster.

Running on Empty

I never thought I'd face this, but my gas gauge is close to 'E'. I stopped by the gas station by my church and they're out of gas.  I drove a little further down and that gas station was empty.  I went down the whole main stretch of Columbia and all the gas stations were out of gas.  This didn't help turn the red warning light off on my fuel gauge.

It caused me to change my behavior. Instead of zipping down the road at 70 mph (just kidding, it's more like 80 mph) I slowed to 40 to conserve gas. I coasted up to a red light instead of gunning it and stopping 18 inches from the white line. In short, I took my time.

Sometimes in life when we feel like we are going full throttle, we need to change our behavior. We need to slow down, refocus and remind ourselves what's really important in life. We get hung up on the little to-do lists that we forget about people and what really matters.

Slow down.

Billy Chia

I can't wait for this weekend.  A good buddy of mine from college, Billy Chia, is the Worship Arts Pastor at Chase Valley Community Church in Hunstville, AL.

GOD

This is a total God-thing.  I don't know if Billy remembers this, but we had a common mentor in college named Dan Flynn (that's a whole nother post!).  I re-connected with Billy through Facebook.  We got to talking and found out that we're practically neighbors.  What's even awesomer (yes I typed that...I couldn't help myself) is that we both have a passion to lead churches to connect Christ with those who are searching.

RISK

Billy is taking a bit of a risk and I admire him for that.  He's bring his team into a church they've never been to before (I hope they find it ok!) and leading worship in front of a congregation they've never met before.  In addition to all this, Billy raised up a 2nd team so that he didn't leave his church in a lurch.  Whatta guy.  In the end, I hope that he finds that it's worth the risk and that his team grows in this experience.

I am taking a bit of a risk too.  This is a chance for my church to see how other churches lead worship.  I believe it is good to be exposed to other ways of worshiping.  We Lutherans certainly don't have the corner market on one "right way" to worship.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

I invited Billy and his team for 3 reasons:

1. I wanted to expose my church to another way of worshiping.

2. I wanted to expose my praise team to how another team leads worship, and more importantly, to learn from them.

3. To help the congregation appreciate that our contemporary team is a total God thing. Most churches would kill (ok, maybe not "kill", but certainly "would like to have") an in-house contemporary team.  God has lifted up a drummer, bass, guitars, vocals, and keyboard talent all within our church.  It's great to see how God is working.

Safe travels to Billy and his team.  God's going to do some awesome things.

I'm Bald...Hilarious

Yesterday I had chapel with the preschool students that attend our preschool ministry.  I was reading to them "The House that Jack Built".  In the story, it introduces a character called the Priest. The picture they saw was of a priest with a bald head.

Since they didn't know me, I was explaining to them what a pastor does.  I asked the kids, "Why is the priest in the book my favorite characters?"

One little girl named Emma replied,

"Because he's bald like you."

Touche Emma. Thanks for the laugh.

Words that Work

"It's not what you say, it's what people hear."

This book by Frank Luntz is profound and practical for anyone wanting to communicate a message to people.  Dr. Luntz has the reputation of the "hottest pollster in America" and performs numerous focus groups and polling in order to discover the most effective language for leaders to use if they want to connect their ideas to their audience. Luntz's assumption is that words are not the end; people are the end and the words we use are the tools to reach people. If you want to connect with people, you need to speak their language. It sounds like a "no-brainer" but how many times have you tried to impose and force your thoughts and opinions down someone else's throat without considering how they are hearing your words?

Luntz outlines 10 rules that aid in successful communication that are based on Orson Wells' essay "Politics and the English Language":

1. Use small words

2. Use small sentences

3. You need Credibility

4. You need Consistency

5. Offer something new (which includes offering a new twist on an old idea)

6. Sound and Texture matter

7. Inspire!

8. Visualize

9. Ask a question

10. Provide context

Put another way, speak with simplicity, brevity, credibility, consistency, novelty, alliteration, aspiration, visualization, questioning, and context.

Dr. Luntz provides many examples and case studies to prove out his point. He cites day-to-day examples of how to communicate with the hostess at a packed restaurant to high-profile examples of recalling a California governor in 2003 and impeaching Bill Clinton.

One of the limitations of the book is that it doesn't dive into visual images that work (or don't work) in communication. We live in an age of visual images all around us and it would be helpful to see which images work to communicate a point.

This is a great book for leaders of any kind (including Pastors) who craft language and speak to people day in and day out.  Even though this book focuses on the political and social realm, you can make applications to the religious realm quite easily. If you pastor a rural America church and you use the big, theological, higher education words like "the non-reciprocity of the two natures of Christ" to describe Christ, you won't communicate the idea very well.  But it would be different if you said, "Christ is 100% man and 100% God."  Which sounds easier to hear?

Some quotes that are really good:

"the act of speaking is not a conquest, it's a surrender."

"numbers with the smallest denominators and applied per individual are therefore almost always the most effective."

"Lose imagination and you lose an essential component of words that work."

Crazy Love

"We go to church, sing songs and try not to cuss...is that all there is to being a Christian?"

I heard Francis Chan for the first time at the 2007 Catalyst Leadership conference and I was mesmorized by his teaching.  When I saw that he released a book this year, I had to pick it up.  It didn't disappoint.

Crazy Love is a book that goes back to the basics of what it means to be a Christian and what the Christian church needs to be all about.  The book is very conversational and challenges the reader to live a radical life that loves God.  Truly living isn't about following rules, it's about loving a God who has no end to His love.

To get a taste of Francis Chan, check out the book link 

Some quotes I took away from the book:

"Are we in love with God or just His stuff?"

"When you are truly in love, you will go to great lengths to be with the one you love."  Now apply that to God.

"Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly."

+ Krister Stendahl +

One of my friends shared with me a professor they had at Harvard Divinity School named Krister Stendahl.  He died on April 15, 2008 and was at one time Dean of Harvard Divinity School.  My friend shared with me an article that reprinted his convocation address of September 1984 after serving Harvard for 30 years.  After this speech, he left Harvard to become the Bishop of Stockholm in his native land of Sweden.  Two quotes inspire me:

"Joy is closer to God than seriousness.  Why? Because when I am serious I tend to be self-centered, but when I am joyful I tend to forget myself..."

When we learn about other religious traditions or engage in comparing religions, Stendahl presented the following 3 actions that we should take:

1. Don't compare your best to their worst.  Compare your worst to their best.

2. Talk to the adherents of the religion, not to the enemies.

3. Approach the religion with "holy envy".  What characteristic do you like or admire about that religion and how might you incorporate that in your religious life?

Trying to Be a Responsible Citizen

Last night, I was driving home from church when I received a call on my cell phone. Normally, I talk on my cell phone while I drive. But I heard this voice in the back of my head to turn off the road, stop and take the call. I decided to listen and be a responsible citizen and I pulled off into a driveway so that I didn't kill anyone on the road.

For those of you who haven't driven Campbellsville Pike, it is a narrow road that is twisty and hilly. This road is really fun to go fast on, which also makes it extremely dangerous. The phone call I took required my full attention so I knew I needed to stop driving and focus on the call.

The driveway I pulled off into was a wide drive, not like your typical driveway for a house. The driveway could easily fit 3 cars across. The cool thing about the experience was that I had at least 4 cars approach me, roll down their windows and ask if everything was ok. I answered everytime: "Thanks, I'm fine. I'm just taking a call on my cell so I don't get into an accident." I thought to myself, "Wow, there are some awesome people in the world that care." It gave me hope.

Except for the last car. While I was finishing up my phone call, another car came along, rolled down the window and said, "You're in my way; get out of the middle of the road."

Go figure.

Prayer at City Hall

Last week, I had the opportunity to give the invocation at our local Columbia TN city hall meeting. The mayor was there along with the city lawyer, city manager and various representatives. My theme verse was Philippians 4.4 "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say: Rejoice!"

I offered a prayer that our city leaders would find joy in their duties and that the constituants they serve would find joy in their elected leaders. Here's what was striking to me: immediately following the invocation, the city couldn't pass the agenda from the previous meeting because a council member felt attacked! There was unresolved tension and disagreement from the previous meeting that carried over.

Here I was talking about having joy and the council was trying to hammer through hurt feelings and going on with the rest of business.

It makes me think about the church and how we can be a place of resolution and hope so that people can experience joy in their service to others. Even for our city leaders.

If you don't already, be sure you're praying for your city leaders and ask God to show you how you might help them see the joy in their duties.

Little Reminders: Kroger MINUS card

I went to Kroger over the weekend and had to do a lot of multi-tasking while in the checkout line: unloading the grocery cart, talking to Natalie making sure she was ok, getting out my wallet to get the debit card and of course remembering to be pleasant and give a 'hi' to the checkout lady, swiping the card, signing the balance and making sure we didn't leave a sackful of groceries behind. It's high pressure!

I looked at the receipt and something was wrong. I did the math and I had paid way too much for the items I got. It took me a while but I finally figured out that she didn't scan my Kroger plus card. I brought it to her attention and she quickly refunded me the $6 I saved and I went home to tell my wife.

My wife informs me that Kroger doesn't ask for your plus card anymore. I was shocked! Why wouldn't they ask for the card? Well, they don't want to be a nuisance and pest for those who don't have a card. I can sort of relate. I get peeved at the sales pitches to open a credit card balance while I'm at a store. But I never get upset if they ask me for a plus card if I don't have one (eg. FoodLion) because it's about feeling special.

I really appreciate someone helping me out and reminding me about an offer that saves me money. That's awesome! When I forget, it takes more time and energy to fix the problem than it would to have just asked up front in the first place.

I don't know. Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I need to. Maybe I should just suck it up, add "take out plus card" to my checkout routine and be done with it. But I sure miss that little reminder.

Since I'm in the church world, it makes me think about all the little reminders that we forget to tell guests and returning guests to our churches: how do you "sign in"? Where do you go for church? Where is the Bible study class? Did anyone say "hello" and "good morning" to them? What's the offering all about? What's that stale wafer and shot of wine all about? Where do you sit? We shouldn't assume that our guests know everything about how to 'do' church...we need to walk them through it. They certainly are multi-tasking before they even walk through the doors! Little reminders help them to feel a part of the experience and relieves their anxiety.

Bee-Bop Version of "Jesus Loves Me"

My Natalie was at dance class yesterday. The class hadn't started just yet, so she was waiting in the gathering area. All of the sudden, she breaks out into a bee-bop version of "Jesus Love Me". It's hilarious!

She has great time and rhythm! I just wish I could see the expression on her face!

(BTW...she had a Coke a few hours before).

Does Broccoli Make You Fart?

Ok so my youngest daughter is a goof-ball. My wife made some pasta and was trying to figue out what veggie to cook: broccoli or corn. Natalie insisted on her making broccoli. So Jenn threw in one of those bag thingees that you nuke in the microwave (it was a broccoli and carrot mix).

When dinner was all set, we put a few broccoli parts on Natalie's plate. She wanted more. In fact, she wanted THE WHOLE BAG (minus the carrots).

She ate it all and got me thinking:

1) pick a veggie and eat lots of it

2) if the veggie you pick makes you fart, go for it! at least you can blame it on something.

3) check out my wife's blog at http://www.oczepek.blogspot.com/

Life's Too Short

I had a great night last night with my 2 girls. We turned the TV off, turned on some radio tunes and busted out the iconic games Candyland and Trouble.

We had a great time (although I cheated because I wanted to win)

What made it great was that I got away from all the stress and pressure of work and life in general and immersed myself in something where I didn't have to think or solve any problems or be so serious.

When's the last time you just unwound and played a board game for children? Go for it and have fun!

BTW...my favorite character is Gloppy the Chocolate Monster.

If You Only Had 50 Minutes Left, What Would You Say?

Just finished "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Randy is a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This book is the written form of his lecture that he gave on September 18, 2007.

This book wasn't about how to embrace and deal with death. This book was about how to embrace life and live it to its fullest. The book forces you to tap into your childhood dreams and to re-discover what those dreams were. Many times we go through life and its a routine; all dry and boring. But if we could tap back into our dreams and revisit the place where we knew no bounds then we could reset ourselves on the path of joy, peace and life.

The book is very realistic because Randy states that even though we can work to try to achieve our dreams, they sometime get fulfilled in unexpectant ways. For example, one of Randy's dreams was to play in the NFL. He never was able to go pro, but he did play football in his lifetime which taught him valuable lessons.

This book was a wake up call for not only my life but for my leadership at my church. Life is too short to go through the motions, be bored to tears, and at the end of it all say to ourselves "what did I do for the past 40 years?" Instead, let's dream and, more importantly, let's ask ourselves "how do I help someone else fulfill their dreams?"

Check out the website.

Coffee Art

Last week at this time I was headed down to Huntsville, AL to visit some good buddies of mine that I haven't seen in years. David Moerbe is a pastor at Good Shepherd in the Birmingham area and made the time for me over coffee. We caught up from our seminary days, chewed the fat, solved all the world's problems and dreamed about a vision for the church at large.

After that, I zipped off to this cool coffee place in Huntsville called Stearns Coffee. (But, as some of you know, I got way way lost and was an hour late, but I got there and it was worth it!) What a cool place! They make coffee art lattes. Check out the video. It was so beautiful that I felt guilty for drinking it.

I caught up with a college buddy of mine named Billy Chia who is a worship art pastor at Chase Valley Church. Billy is doing some amazing things and has a passion for connecting people to Jesus. And, he's got a cool blog...check it out.

As an aside: it is always a great idea to go to a different community and break up your routine. All too often, we get stuck in ruts (which are just graves with the ends kicked out). When we are in a routine, it's hard to get new ideas, a fresh perspective and a different way of looking at problems and opportunities. Leonard Sweet talks about this in his March 16, 2007 Napkin Scribble called "randomizing rituals". (it's about 3/4 of the way down on the page).

If you are in a bad rut, get outside your routine and check out a place you normally don't hang out at. You just might find new inspiration for your life.

All Growed Up

Ok, so my little girl, Clarissa, started school today. And I'm feeling excited, fearful, and hoping-she's-not-crying kind of a morning. I also hope that I can embrace change in all areas of my life. I hope that I'm open to all kinds of experiences as I grow older. I know I want that for my kids so it means that I need to lead by example.

Change happens. You can either complain about it or embrace it and celebrate it. Let it go.

Be a Better Communicator

Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley is what I needed to read back in seminary where I first learned how to preach. (Although I had Dr. Glenn Nielsen and he was awesome and put me on the right track!)

Stanley gives you the inside look on how he crafts his messages in order to provide the environment for the Holy Spirit to produce life change in his hearers. Preaching isn't about information dump; it's about producing change in people's lives and I totally line up with Stanley on that one. I just need to be better at it. If you (or your pastor) needs improvement, pick up this book.

The first half of the book is a narrative parable that imagines a conversation between a preacher and a skilled preacher (who doesn't have a church but shares his faith very effectively). The second half of the book gives you the teaching and practical advice as if you were having a cup of coffee with Andy.

I got this book Thursday and couldn't put it down! I finished it Friday night while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies. It's an easy read but I have a feeling it will be tougher to follow thru because it means changing and adjusting my preaching. But it's worth it. It's not about me but it's about what people do on Monday after they hear and internalize the message from Sunday.

How Would You Like to Change Anything

How would you get a tribe in Africa to filter their water in order to save their lives from a devasting parasite?

How would you get people to behave differently in order to eradicate the HIV virus?

How would you help 4 million people emerge from their poverty?

How would you change the culture of a business, church, lifestyle...anything?

I know what doesn't work: preaching at people.

I just finished the book "Influencer" and it was a great book on influencing change in any aspect of life. The book outlines 6 pieces of influencing change and all these must be initiated in order to facilitate any sort of change:

-Make the Undesirable Desirable
-Surpass Your Limits
-Harness Peer Pressure
-Find Strength in Numbers
-Design Rewards and Demand Accountability
-Change the Environment

The book was an easy read and the authors walk you through each of these concepts with ease. They also provide real-life examples that any leader, or I should say influencer, can relate to.

Power quote:
"Practice DOESN'T make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect."

How Should a Church Handle The Money Entrusted to Them?

I recently listened to a podcast by Nelson Searcy who is a church planter out in New York.
(by the way, I'm missing the taste of a good New York hot dog and a papaya! Yummo!)
Ok, back to money. Nelson interviewed Steve Stroop and had some excellent insights for church leaders on how to handle church budgeting and financial planning.
This podcast hit all of my convictions about church budgeting. My church has come a long ways in our financial stewardship of the offerings entrusted to us, but we still have a lot of work to do. I'm forwarding this to all my leaders so enjoy this easy to listen to podcast on Money Matters in Church

Pushups

Ok, so I've got this friend from college who's got me hooked on a campaign to get people to do 100 pushups all at one time at the end of 6 weeks.

I'm working the middle column and can't wait to see how buff I am at the end of this!

(oh, btw, he's got a cool blog and even a cooler name)

A Pastor Leaves His Church and His Church Applauds (but it's not what you think)

(I've been praying long and hard about this recent news and how to apply it to my pastoral leadership style...sry it took so long to post...enjoy!)

Check out this announcement. This pastor started this church in Virginia Beach and is making an announcement that he's leaving to start another church in Las Vegas.


http://www.vinceantonucci.com/2008/07/big-announcement.html




2 thoughts:



1) This announcement made me look at my leadership style. For Vince, his gifts are to generate excitement, gather people together, start up a church and reach people that aren't in church. For me, my style is to take an already existing church and transform it to reach people that aren't in church (I just need to work on the 'excitement' part...I'm so task-oriented; it's sad, I know).



2) Vince isn't leaving his church. His church is SENDING him. What would our churches look like if we had that atmosphere in our DNA for them to see that they're not losing a Pastor but that they are sending him out in the mission field?

I've always seen this about any congregation member that leaves my church because of a job transfer or whatever situation it is. They aren't leaving our church; our church is sending them into the field. We'll miss them, but I would hope that we've equipped them for the mission field they're headed to.

Profiles in Courage by JFK

This book gave me a deeper background of what courage with leadership means. I'm always drawn to the little guy rising up against the "big dogs" and winning.

It's also nice to read something biographical for a change.

My favorite quote:

"In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of coursage whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience - the loss of friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men - each man must decide for himself the course he will follow."

You've Got To Be Kidding Me: "A Gay Man sues Publishers over the Bible"

Heard a news story about a man, Bradley Fowler, who is suing 2 publishing companies, Nelson and Zondervan for publishing the Bible which contains anti-homosexual references. Fowler claims that passages like I Corinthians 6.9 cause the homosexual community to "endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence ... including murder."

There are so many levels to comment on. I'll leave my comments on two of them:

1) the guy was denied a court appointed attorney. It's really hard to take his claims seriously if there's not an attorney out there to take up his case.

2) it's one thing to translate the Bible and another thing to apply the Bible. There are so many groups out there that read the same Bible I read and arrive at a totally different application of the same verse. It isn't the publishers duty to apply the Bible for me and to tell me how to treat people. That's my job as I interact with the Bible.


If you're interested, below are the handwritten suites that were filed:

http://religionclause.googlepages.com/Fowler-Nelson-7-08.pdf
http://religionclause.googlepages.com/Fowler-Zondervan-7-08.pdf

Going to the Bathroom Has Never Been So Dangerous

Finished a book called "Bathroom Crime Puzzles". I bought it last year while I was in Houston, TX at a great bookstore called "Half Priced Books". (Here is yet another store I found that I can lose all my money in. It's kind of like Amazon.com but I get instant gratification after I buy the books.)
As you might have guessed, I read the short mystery crime puzzles and solved them while "taking care of business". It was a challenging read and took me a whole year to get through. At least I know that I'm not supposed to be a crime detective!

Vision

I recently came across a cool "power quote" that inspires me and keeps me motivated to dream and think about what could be....

"You must have long term goals
to keep you from being frustrated
by short term failures"

-Charles C. Noble

Desperate Pastors Wives

Mimi is looking for peace. Felicia is looking for fulfillment. Jennifer is desperate for faith. Lisa is desperate for love. 4 women, all pastor's wives, get together and talk about the frustrations of being the wives of pastors.

This is a very insightful and humurous book about the challenges of being a pastor's wife. I would highly encourage a pastor and their wife to read this book together and laugh with it and have a heart-to-heart about what's really going on in their marriage.

And, I would highly recommend parishioners of congregations to read this book and gain insight into the challenges of being the wife of a pastor who is often overlooked and whose voice is unheard.

The More I Get to Know Jesus The More I Hate Christians

Yesterday I found out that while school is winding down, there is a huge controversy building up in the religious community of Columbia.

It was in the local paper. Here's a link:

http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/articles/2008/05/21/top_stories/03cateachers.txt

Columbia Academy, a private PK-12 grade school and managed by the Church of Christ, recently adjusted the contracts of 5 teachers because they attended a church that allows musical instruments. The teachers now have to choose between being a member of their current church and lose their job or dissolve their membership at church and keep their job.

What caused this reaction by the school board? Apparently, the church that the teachers attend had a worship service where they used musical instruments in worship. What's the big deal with that? Well, the Church of Christ has a belief and long-standing tradition that states that when there is a worship service, all the singing should be done a capella. There are no musical instruments allowed whatsoever: no pianos, no organs, no guitars, no drums, no nuthin.

They base this on an interpretation of Scripture (which I totally disagree with) and the logic goes like this: stringed instruments are mentioned in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament. Since we are a New Testament church, we do not need to follow how the Old Testament describes worship. We need to follow how the New Testament describes worship. The New Testament never mentions instruments. The closest it comes to describing music in worship is a verse from Ephesians 5.19-20 which says: "Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." So that means the only instruments that should be used in worship should be voices and nothing else.

I totally disagree with this interpretation. It would be similar to saying that since cars aren't mentioned in the Bible, then I don't have to go the posted speed limit. Or, since the Old Testament mentions rainbows, then they must not exist right now in the New Testament era. C'mon!

A great worship statement that comes the closest to what we Lutherans believe is one out of Gloria Dei in Houston Texas. Link is below:

http://www.gdlc.org/upload/Philosophy%20of%20Worship.doc

The church that used musical instruments in worship is Maury Hills. They have been attacked from many members and leaders in the Church of Christ community, most notably Northview Church of Christ. I have been very impressed with the response of the Maury Hills leaders to the criticism and attacks laid against them. (a link to their worship statement is below).

http://www.mauryhills.com/pdf/hilltops/Dear%20Maury%20Hills%20Family.pdf

In the end, we Lutherans thought that fighting over traditional verses contemporary worship was a huge battle we face, but when you look at this, our battles seem like no-brainers!

Also, I can't even imagine what a non-believer thinks about the whole situation. If I were not a Christian and I saw this in the paper, it would just be another reason why I wouldn't want to be a Christian, let alone a member of a church.

I heard this thought a while ago and I share it now more than ever:

"The more I get to know Jesus, the more I hate Christians."

While this statement is a strong statement, it forces me to really look at my walk with Jesus and to re-evaluate what really matters in worship. What really matters is the focus of worship: is it about me or about God? If it's about God, then we can use any instrument, format, style, etc. to serve worshipping God.

Of course, I wonder what the students think of all this at Columbia Academy. They've created a Facebook group that expresses some of the students' frustration and anger about this action. I'm sure this has colored graduation ceremonies and celebrations. How unfortunate.

I pray that as I walk with Christ, I would avoid being judgemental and narrow-minded but that I focus on what really matters: living an authentic and genuine walk with Jesus and watching God's grace work in my life despite all the times I mess up.

A Trip to the Art Museum

A few weeks ago, I took my kids to the local art museum in Nashville called The Frist and had a wonderful time! (link below)

http://www.fristcenter.org/

They are currently hosting a wonderful exhibit called: "Monet to Dali". Monet and Dali are two of my favorite painters and it was cool to see the originals. My favorite of Monet is "Haystacks" because of all the different views, colors and tones that Monet used to paint something as simple as haystacks. It is always refreshing to see the same object from many points of view.

You might think taking a 3 year old and a 5 year old was insane, but the girls actually did quite well. There was a children's area where you could paint in the same style that Monet painted in. It was a lot of fun! Sure they may have lasted only an hour, but they played with lots of colors, shapes and materials. I hope that I can instill in them an appreciation for art and to always tap into their creative juices.

I really enjoy art because it stimulates our eyes and minds to see beyond our own little self-created world. We get so caught up in "our way of doing things" and in maintaining our definition of what our world should look like. Art helps me realize that there's more around me than what I usually see.

I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T Shirt

A few weeks ago, my church began small groups using this book. It has been amazing to hear about the lives being changed. People are beginning to view Trinity as a relevant church walking with people through their pain and struggles. It's really exciting to be a part of people's lives!

The book is fun, pushes the "traditional church" envelope, and helps you rediscover the passion of being a Christian.

Check out the website:

www.lousytshirtbook.com

Bookworm

This past month, I've read a lot. Here's an update:

"Creating Congregations of Generous People" by Michael Durall
-this book was a great read and helps leaders out of the 'pit of despair' when we face stewardship drives and raising money in the church. remember, it's not about money: it's about vision

"Prayerwalking" by Hawthorne and Kendrick
-the first chapter set the stage and the rest of the book has anecdotal stories to backup the premise. we've done prayerwalking at our church and it's very easy and effective!

"The Big Idea" by Dave Ferguson
-i would love to implement the idea of this book. we get bombarded with hundreds of messages at church and it's tough for anyone to come away from church with a central theme. this book helps to focus on a central theme for a sunday and everything else (programs, small groups, sunday school, etc) revolves around that one theme.

and my favorite one of them all...

"I Became A Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T Shirt" by Antonucci
-right now, i'm challenging my church to read this book. it helps to recapture the freshness and energy and dynamic life that we christians first lived when we became a christian. it also helps a new christian to realize that the christian life isn't all rosy all the time.

Latest Book Read: The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan (1993)

A very cool book! I was exposed to mind-mapping by Ed Young, pastor out of Texas. I have been using it for about a year to help me prepare and deliver sermons and it is a great tool! It uses the premise of free-association to help prepare and organize various thoughts about a subject. It saves time, emphasizes key words, and emphasizes new discoveries than linear notes would allow you to do.

It's much more complicated than what I can put in a blog and I'm sure I don't have it all down yet. But, mind-mapping has helped me to take a mental "picture" of any presentation and sermon and deliver key thoughts, images and stories without stumbling over a linear 5 page written essary.

If you're curious about mind-mapping, check out these links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQ

Mosque Fire

This past weekend, 3 individuals were charged with burning down a mosque here in Columbia and painting swastikas on the property. I am really saddened (and shocked!) by this recent event. I made some comments for a paper about it. See the link below:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS06/802110356

I read a few of the comments about the article and let me respond to them by saying that respecting someone else's religion is not the same as endorsing it or even agreeing with it. Respecting someone else's beliefs means realizing that those beliefs were not created in a vacuum but that there is a lifetime of experience associated with those beliefs. I shouldn't expect to change people by condemning their beliefs. I don't change my beliefs when people condemn me. All condemnation does is strengthen my beliefs and makes be even more stubborn about them. But I should seek to understand and relate to someone else's beliefs and show them that I care about their past and that I care about their future. Perhaps then beliefs and behaviors would change in that kind of respectful and caring environment.

I also don't think it's fair to lump all Muslims into one group. It is way to easy to overgeneralize and put someone in a box. I would hope that when someone sees that I label myself a Lutheran, that they don't overgeneralize and write me off as a old, 1940's, jello-eating man who chants and worships using page 5 and 15 every-other week.

Maybe I'm being too simplistic. Maybe I'm living in a dream world. But I do hold out hope that by having an open and honest discussion that hearts might be changed for Christ.

Golden Compass II

Talked about The Golden Compass to my congregation yesterday. I think it's important to talk about what is out there in the world and not isolate ourselves from the world even if we don't agree with all the views that are out there. These books/movies are what people are exposing themselves to and it's a great bridge to talk about God, souls, death, etc. Besides, if major religious organization are going to ban a movie and call me a "bad" Christian if I see it, it emboldens me even more to see what all the "hub-bub" is all about.

I'm impressed my larger church body and their approach to this controversial topic. Here are a few links that may help you in discussing this subject:

http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=12833
http://www.cph.org/cphstore/pages/resources/compass/


I believe more and more that institutional and organized religion all too often squashes creativity and imagination. Now, I may disagree with Pullman's theology and views about God, but it does force me and stretch my faith. It makes me take a deep look into what I truly believe and how I communicate my beliefs to someone else.

The Golden Compass

I just finished reading "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. It was hyped up as a book on par with Tolkein and C.S. Lewis' writings. I totally disagree. The storyline didn't capture me and it took me a while to get into it.

I have also heard many comments about how 'anti-Christian' and 'anti-God' that the book is. Actually, I think it's 'anti-Catholic church' more than anything. And let's face it: there are problems not only in the Catholic church but in all churches. If there's people in church, then there's problems.

This book brings some of those problems to light and I think we need to face those problems and not ignore them or 'pooh-pooh' them.

This book does rewrite the Genesis 1-3 Creation and Temptation scene from the Bible, but it is a work of fantasy and as long as I know the real story, I think it's ok to dream a bit.

I wouldn't recommend this book. But, if you're going to bash the movie or the book, you should read it cover-to-cover before you hold a opinion on it. (Nothing frustrates me more than people who have opinions on something and they don't check it out for themselves first!).

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I'll be preaching on this book/movie on February 10, 2008, so if you are in town and want to hear more, c'mon out.

A New Year with New Opportunities

It's a new year full of new opportunities! Over the Christmas break, Jenn, Amy, Ed and I went to an awesome Irish pub up at Oprey Mills to help us bring in 2008! The Guinness was fabulous!

My church, Trinity, is embarking on 3 services this year. 2 blended at 8am and 9:15am and 1 contemporary service at 10:45am. God's house will be rockin' and we'll be worshipping using songs that you can take with you for the week ahead.

As one wise person has told me,

"Music is the language that everyone knows."