The Idea Camp

The Idea Camp- the hybrid, free unconference.  My friend and bossman posted the other day about how excited he was about The Idea Camp.  You can read his thoughts here… I am very excited about this as well.  It’s such a unique environment and I think the organizer, Charles Lee, has done a great job of capturing the minds of some brilliant people and organizing this thing with some major potential in mind.  I was trying to explain to my wife last night what kind of conference this was, and it was hard even to describe.  I may have confused myself (which is easy to do .  It really is an organized conversation of sorts.  A collection of passionate, creative, thinking people gathering to discuss important ideas and concepts that can impact culture and make an impact on people who need the Truth of Christ.  To be honest, I feel a little out of my league, and am going to try to keep my mouth shut unless I really have something important to say!  I’m excited that they are not printing out schedules (other than ones in strategic locations posted on the wall), but rather posting them online.  I think this is a brilliant stategy!  It’s GREEN and it’s pretty innovative!  They are also using the NING platform to help facilitate a sense of community and connections.  I’m very interested in exploring using something like this at The Orchard as well.

Thanks to Charles for organizing this, looking forward to hearing Erwin McManus and Eric Bryant, Keith & Dawn Nicole Baldwin (who are a part of The Orchard community- I can’t believe the amazing diversity and talent of the people at The Orchard!), and of course, Scott Hodge.  Looking forward to meeting a ton of others and seeing what God does with this thing.  I’ll give a full report next week on what went down.  Wish you all could be there!

By the way, last night I read that there is going to be some live streaming of some of the main sessions.  Block out some time the next couple of days and check this out!  You can check in live from anywhere with a (decent) internet connection here. Gotta get ready to fly to SoCal- see you later!

 

Meet John Atkinson!

If you don’t know John Atkinson, a management team member at Bay Area Fellowship Church (I had to update the link to BAF- the link I put was to the Bulgarian Aikido Fellowship-hmm!) in Corpus Christi, TX, you’re missing out!  John and I met a couple of years ago and became fast friends.  In fact, John has become one of my very closest friends, and helped pray with us through the decision to move to Chicago.  John co-wrote a book with Bill Easum, church growth and consulting guru, called Go Big With Small Groups.  John did just that- helped grow a small groups ministry to over 200 groups at one of the most innovative churches in the country.  He’s now stepping into a new role- the Multisite Pastor for BAF- and he’s doing a great job!  John is leading a team that is doing some things that I honestly believe will pave the way for multisite in the future all around the country in smaller environments.

John is the epitome of the highly relational leader.  He leads from within a relationship with his people, and it’s obvious God has gifted him in this way.  Since I’m passionate about church leadership, and wired relationally myself (although I struggle with letting little details of my schedule keep me from being with people the way I need to be), I thought I’d ask John 5 questions about relational leadership.  Next week, I’ll do a series of posts asking John some important questions about relational leadership.  If you lead in any way in a church or organization, his responses are super valuable, so get out your pen and paper and take some notes-with John, you’re learning from one of the best!  Who knows, maybe part of what you read will end up in a book someday (hint, hint).

 

 

Scandalous Grace?

My friend David McLaughlin wrote a post that I think I’m going to have to re-read a couple of times to take it all in and it’s simply amazing.  As a follower of Jesus, it would be well worth your while to read this article to frame the rest of your day.  You can read it here.  GO!

 

All in…

This Sunday Dennis talked about the concept of being “all in”.  This concept refers to playing poker and risking your whole lot of cash on one bet.

I just finished having lunch with a local pastor.  He’s been the pastor of a church he planted for the last 17 years.  We were discussing some things he was wanting to do with small groups at his church.  After listening to his thoughts, I basically told him that he would need to completely restructure the way they do church to accomplish his goals.  Here is a pastor who has built a church, given his life to it, who easily could stay with the same-ole-thing.  He looked at me, leaned forward, and said “I’m willing to change and do whatever it takes to reach people for Christ.”  

This is rare!  Usually people understand where they should be but don’t have the guts to make what should be the primary goal.  This man reached beyond himself and is willing to change it all, willing to be uncomfortable for the cause of Christ.  I think he’s sincere and God will bless his efforts.  This was a God-ordained conversation.

He could play it safe.  He’s choosing to go all in.  How about you?

 

Blue Parakeet Coming Soon

One of my favorite authors is Scot McKnight, a superblogger, author, theologian, professor, and overall pretty incredible guy.  I have read a number of books he has written, and he always seems to inspire, challenge, and motivate me with his writings.  He’s one of the few who I think can write in a truly deep academic style as well as an engaging devotional style.  Not many can bridge that gap.

Scot has a new book coming out in a few weeks, and I’m privileged to get an advanced reader copy.  I’m digging through it, and will be posting a couple of reviews of The Blue Parakeet soon. Should women be allowed to teach?  Be pastors?  Be elders?  Should they be completely silent in the church?  McKnight’s book arrives in timely fashion on the scene when I think these questions are being asked.  I can tell you that I’m wrestling with the text, and I encourage you to order this and read it right away!

 

Permission to Speak Freely…

“Larry, can I have permission to speak into your life?”  Those words stung to the core.  I’ve been trained on this kind of language; as a “small groups guy”, I know this is the phrase that you utter to someone just before you speak about something that’s going to hurt.  I gulped.  I didn’t know where this was going but I wasn’t sure I wanted what was coming!  I didn’t want a chastising, but I respected this friend so much that I sheepishly nodded.  He continued…

“Tell me about your devotional life.”

I had just spent a couple of days with this person, lamenting over some things that I was frustrated about in my life.  Over and over, I complained about this thing and that element and this person.  So when he uttered those words, I instantly knew.  My life, my actions, my words, were not those of someone who walked intimately with Jesus.  I felt sick at my stomach.

We went on to discuss this, and I freely admitted that my time with God had been lacking.  Sometimes when you’re involved in ministry, you can get so busy doing ministry and talking about God that you forget to talk to God.  I was guilty!

I have to admit that, as uncomfortable as this situation was, it drove me to really reconsider the idea of a daily time with God.  I’m watching many around me sort of poke fun at the term, “a daily quiet time,” and I’ve done that myself.  But on the other hand, I’ve seen the damage that happens around me and within me when I’m not regularly engaging God.  It hurts.

Consider a familiar verse: Romans 12:2.  “Don’t be conformed any longer by the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  I’ve heard/read this verse a number of times, often used to describe our time with God, the change that should happen in the life of a follower of Christ, etc.  But this morning as I’m reflecting, I see something fresh.  A picture that really seems to illustrate to me the importance of regular communion with God.

Lungs.  Our lungs expel unhealthy gas and process healthy gas to help our bodies get what they need.  Think of this picture in relation to the verse.  It’s not just that we’re cleaning up our thoughts and minds, etc.  It’s that our very existence depends on being transformed.  I’ve seen someone lying in a hospital bed when they were not getting the oxygen they need, and it’s horrible to watch.  The same is true for anyone who follows Jesus: if you’re not regularly meeting with Him, you’re starving your spirit-man of what it desperately needs.  You’ve cut off oxygen.  This isn’t some abstract concept that Paul is putting forth.  He’s commanding that we be transformed by renewing our minds- and that happens by the Word and Spirit of God.

This isn’t optional- your spiritual health depends on it.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Daily meeting with God is an imperative.  It doesn’t matter if the idea of a daily quiet time “doesn’t sound cool.”  Do it.  It doesn’t matter if you think you’re too spiritual and don’t need it.  Do it.  Jesus frequently got alone with God to pursue the heart of the Father.  Do you think you’re more spiritual than Jesus?

I have to admit that this conversation has changed my life for the better.  It brought me back to chasing after God in a new and fresh way.  I now get up at 5am to sit and pray, journal, read the Word, and speak to the heart of my Father.  Sure, I miss some days, I’m still an imperfect being pursuing a perfect Savior.  But I’ve filled up a journal of thoughts that help me track an ongoing conversation between me and my Creator.  It fills me up.  Some days it’s hard and I don’t “feel it.”  But it’s worth pursuing. These past 6 months or so have been some of the best times with God I’ve ever had.

My friend told me to put God first.  That even when I get up early and think I need to study, I need to spend intimate time with God first, and He will honor that, and I’ve found that to be true.  I think this guy knows what he’s talking about.  After all, he wrote the book on it!

I encourage you, if you don’t have a regular time with God (several days a week- and no, it doesn’t have to be at 5am) to start.  One foot in front of the other.  Building a foundation.  And when tough times hit (which they will), you’ve got something to stand on.  Oh, how firm a foundation.

What about you? Can I have permission to speak into your life?  How’s your time with God?

 

Stepping Out…

Have you ever felt as a leader that what you know God wants you to do is beyond what you’re capable of?  Do you ever feel a challenge in your path that you’re not sure you’re “the one to lead through it?”  I’m in a season right now as a leader where I feel God challenging me to go beyond what I think I’m capable of.  I feel like He is calling me to lead like never before, to shed some immature ways, and depend fully on Him.  

I was reading in Exodus 3 this morning and thought I’d share this with you.  The setting is Moses encountering the burning bush.  Moses at this point was no mega-leader.  He was being faithful in simply leading the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law (one of the Beduin Hillbillies: okay, I couldn’t resist!).  I’m not sure Moses had any aspirations of being a great leader- he simply wanted to do well at leading the flock.  Then, he encounters God in a huge way: the burning bush.

God tells Moses that He’s heard the cries of the Hebrew people.  He’s coming to deliver them from the hands of Pharoah.  Then, He drops the bomb. “Come, I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring my people out of Egypt.”  Now, we’ve all heard this story a bazillion times.  But feeling uncertainty and doubt about my abilities at times, what happens next gripped me this morning, and if you’re a leader, I think it should grip you too.

Moses questions God about this HUGE task laid before him. “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  As a leader, when the seemingly impossible looms before us, when the task ahead seems to be beyond our abilities, we may feel this same way.  ”Why would they think I could lead that ministry?”  ”How could I ever do this huge thing?”  ”Of all the people that they could have asked, why did they ask me?  Isn’t there someone else more qualified?”  Perhaps you’ve asked those same questions.  Maybe you’re asking them now.

But watch this.  This is the beautiful part of the story.  Look at God’s response: “I will be with you…”  God didn’t try to convince Moses that on his own ability he’d be able to do it.  He didn’t stroke Moses’ ego or do all He could to make Moses feel confident in himself.  God simply said, “I will be with you.”  Why would Moses be able to do it?  Simply because God would be with him.  BOOM!

With the growth our ministry is experiencing, I have to change some things about the way I lead.  I’ve got to push myself harder.  I can’t lead like I led before, I’ve got to lead the way I would 3 years from now.  I’ve also got to stay closer to God.  I’ve got to press towards Him, following His lead.  And when He calls me to step beyond myself, that’s okay.  I get to go with Him.  He will be with me.  If He’s leading you to step out, He’ll be with you.  You don’t need the complete skill set.  You learn that as you go.  You’ll make mistakes.  You’ll make some people angry.  You’ll feel completely out of your league.  You’ll wonder why those God’s placed over you would even believe you could do this out of the thousands of others that could try.  You’re human.  But if you’re being led by the Spirit of God, you’ll fail forward, you’ll go far, He’ll be with you.

How do you need to step out?

 

Pastor Steve Jobs

Great post this morn from Bobby Gruenewald over at Lifechurch.tv.  You guys know I’m an Apple freak and his post marries the best of both worlds: the Church and Apple.  What would the church that Steve Jobs ran be like?  Here are my favorites from his list:

1. Incredible imagery would display behind Pastor Jobs as he demonstrated the iJesus and invited everyone to demo it immediately.
   
2. Everyone would be twittering as they were amazed by the iJesus…“I have to have that!” and “That changes everything!” would cross the twitterfeed.
   
3. Everyone would have an iPod with their own worship playlist (and if you’re new, one would be provided to you at the door).
   
4. Everyone with an iPod—earbuds in…would press play and simultaneously begin singing different songs (but no one would care, because you couldn’t hear everyone else and they couldn’t hear you…sing away!)

You can read the rest of his post here…

 

Selling my whole life…

How many of you have ever wished you could trade your entire life for another?

I saw this story yesterday about a guy who, after a divorce, is selling his entire life- including his house and everything in it (including his car, motorcycle, etc), his job, and even his friends.  He plans to walk away, hop on a plane, and see where it takes him.

I know so  many people are broken, wounded, empty, and they’d give anything to trade their life in on a new one.  They try every way they can think of to do that… every Friday night they are at the local bar attempting to use a drink to trade their life… a girl sleeps with a guy she knows doesn’t love her attempting to reach that other life… a middle-aged man leaves his wife and kids who love him dearly for a young gal he met at the office- trying to be happy, to find his place in life…

Easter is this weekend.  It’s the weekend of the year people far from God are most likely to come to your church.  Are you ready?  Can you handle the broken, the wounded, the needy? Will you do a “nice Easter service” and pat each other on the back that you pulled off “another Easter” or will you be prepared to engage everyone, to make sure they don’t get lost in the cracks?  Remember Jesus’ words when He said “I didn’t come to save the righteous but to save that which is lost.”  

People far from God often would give anything to trade their life for something better.  There’s only one life that’s better than any other- the life as a Christ-follower.  Will you do your part to help them make that trade this week?

 

What creative teams can learn from Apple…

I personally have a great interest in creative planning teams.  Specifically within the church environment, where a team meets and helps plan every aspect of a corporate worship experience. They focus on the entire environment, from the songs to the talk to the videos to the overall mood they want to convey to best communicate the truth of Jesus.  I think it’s interesting how these teams work together and the great things they come up with.

Macrumors had a post today on Apple’s design process that I thought was very interesting (you know I’m an Apple freak) and I thought there might be some applicable principles church creative teams could use.  Here is one of these principles, with my thoughts about how this might apply to the church creative team:

Speaking of Apple’s design approach in coming up with their products, they have “PAIRED DESIGN MEETINGS.”  These are two separate design meetings.  One is for free thinking (“go crazy”) without worries about any technical constraints, while the other meeting addresses implementation and practical considerations.  Both of these meetings continue throughout product development.

Hmm.  As many of you know, I used to be a worship pastor and met weekly with a team like this.  How many of you have been in a creative planning meeting and someone keeps squashing all the ideas?  How many of you have had an idea outside of the box that you were afraid to bring up because you knew it would get squashed before the team had an idea to dream a bit?  I have many times in various environments.

I think the concept of having 2 separate meetings is an excellent idea.  On a weekly basis this could look like this: Monday (or whatever day you start working on that week) have the free thinking meeting.  Nothing is off-limits.  Allow your team to dream.  ”I’ve had this idea for a series” or “I have this idea for an interesting visual for the stage” or statements like that could be listed on a whiteboard and discussed by the team.  The goal would not be to finalize anything, but rather to dream a bit and think outside the box.  A “what-if” meeting of sorts. The first half could be ideas regarding anything (new series, set design, video ideas, etc), and the second half could be dreaming about the current series/weekend/upcoming series.  Someone would be responsible for copying and organizing everything that was shared and written on the whiteboard.

The next day (or perhaps later the same day) the practical/technical meeting would involve many of the same people, but the list of ideas would be distributed and some specific decisions regarding the current week/series/etc would be made.

What do you think about this?  What can we learn from Apple’s design process that will help those trying to use creative planning as a tool to tell others about Jesus?  I love the power of teams, and I love Apple, and I love Jesus.  If we could somehow marry all of those things…