Blogosphere Vacation

I'm out on a blogosphere vacation until Monday, January 2. My family is visiting from Kentucky and we're enjoying the Iowa winter together for a few days! See you back on Monday!

One Team with One Dream

Last week a friend of mine called to ask if I could help him write a speech. He's the national sales director for Aflac and the speech was to the top producers in the company. The theme was One Team/One Dream. We came up with five commitments each team member has to make for the team's dream to come true. Here they are:

1. Commitment to the Dream
Rollins College baseball coach Bob Rikeman passed out t-shirts to his players. It was a bunch of guys hanging to a rope for dear life. Underneath were the words, "24 guys Hanging on to the Same Rope." A team shares the commitment to the same dream, hanging to the same rope.

2. Commitment to Excellence
Perfection isn't possible, but excellence is the goal: at every level. No matter the size of our endeavor, we can do it with excellence.

3. Commitment to Listening
You know it: two ears, one mouth. You do the math. If too many people are asking, "Can you hear me now?" then the organization, church, business, or family is in trouble.

4. Commitment to Improvement
A little improvement every day makes a difference in the long run: improving our spiritual life, improving our time management, improving our relationships.

5. Commitment to Each Other
One is too small a number for greatness. We've got to get other people involved for the dream to come true.

The ducks seemed to like the speech so we're going to work on another one for January. Let you know what we come up with.

Two Front Doors

Life Giving Leadership now has two front doors--you can get here from either www.pastorglenn.com or www.iowaleadership.org. We'd like to welcome other pastors from across our state who'll be joining us here in the blogosphere. We look forward to your comments, dialogue, and ideas.

Welcome aboard!

Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve

I'm excited about our first-ever Christmas Eve Service, Saturday at 4 PM. The service, Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve will last one hour and feature traditional Christmas carols, the reading of the children's story, and a special Christmas message.

Invite your family and your friends and make Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve a new Christmas tradition for your family.

Christmas Trees, Vacuum Cleaners, and a Midnight Cry

Our house began to stink a few days ago. Last night, it was unbearable. So, we got out of bed at 11.30 PM and found the culprit--The Christmas Tree. The tree started looking droopy a few days ago so we added water to give it some life.

It didn't work!

The water just stood in the stand--and got stinkier as each day passed until we couldn't handle it any longer! So, we tried to suction the water out with a hose, but we couldn't get any traction. Then, I had a great idea--the vacuum cleaner.

I hooked it up to the hose and the water began to flow. I got all the water out and the odor was gone. Then I moved my vacuum--discovering why it's not a wet/dry vac. The water--not in the bucket--was on the carpet--green, dirty water. That's where the midnight cry came in!

Is there a moral to the story? Here are a few ideas:

1. Christmas can get stinky from time to time?
2. Never get out of bed after 11:30?
3. Never use the vac to suction water?
4. Spend the extra money on the carpet protectant if you choose white carpet?
5. Creativity doesn't always work well late at night?
6. Buy artificial next year!

The Next Noel

The Next Noel was a smash hit! The choir sounded great. The actors performed great! And, the message of humbling ourselves before the manger was great!

Thanks to Pastor Rob Purcell, Michelle Purcell, Tammy Ludwick, Stacy Harmon, and Angela Davidson for all of their hard work in making it happen!

And weren't the preschoolers cute, too. You never know what will happen when you get preschoolers on the platform! Thank you to the preschool teachers for keeping them all on the platform!

Setting Goals and Achieving Dreams

Yesterday, I traveled to Iowa City to meet with three of our church planters. We talked about the exciting things going on in these new churches. Along the way, we also talked about a pattern for setting and achieving goals from Rick Warren's Leadership Lifters. Let me pass that along to you:

1. Determine Your Position

You've got to ask the questions, "Where am I and what do I want to change?"

2. Define Your Purpose

No surprise that Warren encourages us to know our purpose. To get there, ask three questions: Who do I want to be? What do I want to do? What do I want to have?

3. Discover a Promise

That's why I love the little book Speak It Out. It's full of promises to claim.

4. Describe the Profit

If you can't see the reward, you'll give up in the middle of the struggle. Remember, Those who quit remember the ordeal, those who endure remember the adventure.

5. Desire in Prayer

Prayer does two things: 1. It reveals desire. 2. It shows your dependence.

Here's the question, "Am I praying over my goals?"

6. Diagnose the Problems

There are all kinds of barriers to your God-given goals: emotional, financial, intellectual, relational. When you ask, "Why don't I have it already?" it will lead to step seven.

7. Design a Plan

How am I going to get to the goal? How am I going to tear down the barrier.

8. Discipline Your Personality

9. Deposit the Price

Every goal has a price tag. Jesus told us to count the cost before we begin to build. Are you willing to pay the price?

10. Depend on People

One is too small a number for greatness. You've got to involve people in your dream!

10 Ways to Know You're Not a Leader

I picked up this top ten list from Tony Morgan's blog earlier today. I love discovering more about leadership so this Top Ten list challenged me.

10 Easy Ways to Know You're Not a Leader

1. You're waiting on a bigger staff and more money to accomplish your vision.
2. You think you need to be in charge to have influence.
3. You're content.
4. You tend to foster division instead of generating a helpful dialogue.
5. You think you need to say something to be heard.
6. You find it easier to blame others for your circumstances than to take responsibility for solutions.
7. It's been some time since you said, "I messed up."
8. You're driven by the task instead of the relationships and the vision.
9. Your dreams are so small, people think they can be achieved.
10. No one is following you.

Starting in February, Christian Life Assembly will launch The Edge: Christian Life Assembly School of Leaders. This 27-week course will be divided into three trimesters throughout the year:

--The Source (Life Giving Leadership Principles)
--The Power (Spiritual Formation)
--The Practice (Practical Ministry Insights)

Our goal is to identify, recruit, train, deploy, and support more leaders than ever in 2006!

My Wife Likes This Picture Better

A few people asked, "Who is that clean shaven man?"

My wife said the other picture made my face look chubby.

So, here's a recent picture.

Toys for Tots and A Christmas Tale

This year's presentation of A Christmas Tale and our Toys for Tots Distribution was the greatest ever. Over 1,200 people attended our three presentations. Pastor Jonathan and the entire team did a such a great job. It was beautiful--and powerful with nearly 200 people making a decision for Christ!

Special thanks to Pastor Rob, Julie Cluney, Lori Weber and all of the volunteers who made the Toys for Tots Distribution go so well!

No Church on Christmas?

It seems the latest controversy in the media centers on churches not having services on Christmas day. I've read a couple of internet articles that all led with the same thought: Churches have been sucked into a consumer mindset and are closing at Christmas.

In fact, here's a quote from an article, "This is a consumer mentality at work: 'Let's not impose the church on people. Let's not make church in any way inconvenient,'" said David Wells, professor of history and systematic theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a leading evangelical school in Hamilton, Massachusetts. "I think what this does is feed into the individualism that is found throughout American culture, where everyone does their own thing."

Unfortunately, the writers of these stories tease with the controversial idea--no church on Christmas. In that same article, after lambasting a church in Texas for holding no services on Christmas, they finally mentioned that the church is holding 21 special Christmas services, leading up the actual day. In fact, they anticipate over 30,000 people to attend those services--just not on the day.

The professor is simply misguided. I do not know of a church that is canceling on Christmas without replacing that service with a Christmas Eve service. For us the decision came down to this: the last time Christmas was on a Sunday we had less than half of the normal attendance. However, Christmas Eve service is a great time to invite friends and family to church. Our family has gone to First Assembly for church on Christmas Eve for years.

So here's what we thought--when can we reach more people--Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? We chose to have service on the day we could reach the most people with the message of the gospel. It's just that simple.

So, let's give out those Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve invitations and pack the place out! Remember, the service starts at 4 PM.

Creativity in the Church

I have a friend, Mark Batterson of www.theaterchurch.com, who contends that the church should be the most creative place on the planet! His view is that the words "church" and "creative" should be synonyms. After all, we serve the God who created it all!

As I get ready to go see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I am reminded of how C.S. Lewis created the classic. He traced the idea for Narnia back to a picture he saw when he was sixteen years old. He explained, "the lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture has been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it'."

Here's the challenge: we begin to live out of memory, not imagination. We are taught to live inside the lines as we get older, so the creative side of our brain shuts down to get the "to do" list done.

So how do you avoid the monotony of life or ministry and keep from going through the motions. Let me give you five keys to creativity:

1. Prayer is the key to living out of divine imagination, instead of human memory. I'm reading a little book by Brother Lawrence--The Practice of the Presence of God--that challenges us to live in a constant state of awareness of God's presence. In his presence, creative ideas abound! Who else would have created zebras and lady bugs, camels and humpback whales!

2. Extended thinking times allow us time away from the busyness of life to connect to creative thoughts. That's what I did Monday at my prayer retreat. I prayed all morning and thought all afternoon! What a connection. Now, I'm trying to act on those thoughts.

3. Visiting creative places will get your creative juices flowing. Gary Cook (one of our deacons) called from Phoenix this past Monday night. He was there on a business trip but wandered to First Assembly that evening. He found himself seated on the second row for their Christmas production--filled with camels, donkeys, lions, and more animals than a circus. He loved it so much he went back the next night. I love going to places like that because they stir creativity in my own heart. I was a little jealous of Gary--a lot jealous really!

4. Reading is another way to stay creative. Leaders are readers. This year, I tried to read a book every week. I didn't make it all the way to 52, but I had fun trying! Right now I'm reading, The Practice of the Presence of God, The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, and a novel called The Spire. All of these books fill my mind with creative ideas.

5. Getting together with creative people will enhance your creativity. One idea can lead to another and suddenly good ideas are actually God ideas!

Most creative ideas come in a sudden flash of insight when you least expect it. For example, I was brushing my teeth a couple of weeks ago when the four themes for the January message series (Revolution!) hit me. I had been thinking about the series, talking about the series, and reading ideas for the series. Then, when I least expected it--here came the four themes. I'll tell them to you later.

It's Finally Here: Narnia

Grant (my 10 year-old) and I have been waiting for months, and the day is finally here. Tonight, we go to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

If you haven't read the books (which were written in the 1950s), this classic children's series by C.S. Lewis depicts how God would operate in a fantasy world. The world has been turned to winter for 100 years (sounds believable right now doesn't it) by the white witch. But, Aslan is on the move!

In the end, Aslan offers himself up as a sacrifice to atone for the wrongdoing of one of the four "children of Adam" who find their way to Narnia through the wardrobe. The white witch asks Aslan how she knows he can be trusted to keep his promise to die in Edmund's place. To that question, Aslan the lion simply roars! It's going to be great!

The book is a powerful and creative picture of redemption. I pray that God raises up more creative people who can write books and movies to redeem the arts and use them to share his message.

There are additional books in the series. My favorite book of them all might be The Horse and His Boy.. I read the books to Grant when he was little--a chapter a night. Now, he's listened to them on CD and read almost all of them by himself. Focus on the Family offers a dramatized CD version you can order from www.family.org.

If you want to read the books, you can get them at your library or we have some available for sale at the Connections Book Ministry

The Incredible Power of Focus

I love a little booklet by Pastor Casey Treat of Seattle, Washington called The Power of Focus. He talks about the incredible things we can accomplish when we focus our lives around a few clear objectives. You can order it from his website www.caseytreat.com.

With that in mind, I asked God to help me understand what my focus should be for the next year. Here are the five items of highest focus for me as I continue to lead Christian Life Assembly.

1. Developing a Stronger Prayer Base
2. Expanding our Network of Trained Leaders
3. Connecting New Believers to Small Groups
4. Finishing Strong in our Because Capital Campaign
5. Leading from Divine Imagination, Not Human Memory

These items are more than a "to do" list, they are compass for me in the next year as our church continues to fulfill the mission of "transforming people into life giving followers of Jesus."

Christmas Trees

Each week on the blog, we'll present a review of the message from this past Sunday. Last week, we talked about Christmas trees.

Each year over 33 million new trees and over 9 million artificial trees are sold in the United States. Martin Luther was the first to bring the Christmas tree in the house and put lights on it! Originally, the Christmas tree was called the Christ Tree.

As we look at the Christmas tree, this year let's see more than just the lights and the decorations, let's look at the meaning behind them.

The Lights
Jesus declared, "I am the light of the world." Then he told his disciples to be the light of the world. As we see the Christmas tree, let's remember to reflect his light this season.

The Presents
The presents under the tree remind us that God gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive: the gift of a savior. The best gifts reflect the character of the giver and meet the need of the recipient. What better gift could God have given than Jesus.

The Decorations
The decorations are what make each tree unique. No two trees are ever decorated exactly the same. God has decorated your life with talents and abilities. We are fulfilled when we use those talents and abilities to serve God and help people.

The Stand
Without the stand, the tree would topple over and crash. What kind of stand are we building our lives on? The promises and purposes of God or something of our own invention.

The Tree Itself
Jesus was born in a manger carved from a tree. He worked as a carpenter using wood from trees most of his life. Eventually, he died on a cross, made from a tree. Interestingly, Jesus never asked us to remember his birth, only his death. As we look at the Christmas tree, let's see the cross because it's the cross that brings us forgiveness and new life!

Relationships Make it Happen

At Christian Life Assembly, we've cultivated relationships with Lincoln High School (the largest high school in Des Moines) and the United States Marines. Two great things have come from those relationships in the last few weeks.

First, Lincoln High School agreed to let us present a school assembly called the Seven Project in February and follow it up with a youth event that evening. This is a great answer to prayer. We've been building a relationship for years--inviting their choir to sing at our church, having their basketball coach talk at our Men of Steel meetings, and contributing to their suicide prevention fund.

Second, the Marines just brought us 80 brand new bikes to distribute at our Toys for Tots Give Away this Saturday and Sunday. They said they immediately thought of us when they got the bikes because of what we've done to partner with them in the past!

Relationships make it happen!

We're Off and Blogging

The blogosphere is the latest in digital communication. My goal for this blog is to communicate to the Christian Life family and leaders across the country to equip and ecourage each of us as we become life giving leaders for Jesus Christ. Thanks to my friends Mark Batterson (www.markbatterson.com) and Josh Singleton (www.joshsingleton.com) for helping inspiring me and helping me get set up in the blogosphere. So, here we go! Check back every day to see what the latest blog could be. Welcome to the blog!