Why a Daughter Needs a Dad

One of the gifts Amberly got me for Christmas was the book Why a Daughter Needs a Dad. I started reading the 100 reasons a daughter needs a dad and became a babbling brook of tears as I thought of my beautiful almost three-year old girl. Here were some of my favorite reasons:

• A daughter needs a dad who doesn't mind when she steps on his shoes while dancing.
• A daughter needs a dad so she'll know what it's like to be somebody's favorite.
• A daughter needs a dad to tell her truthfully that she is the most beautiful of all.
• A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all men.
• A daughter needs a dad so that she'll have at least one hero who will not let her down.
• A daughter needs a dad so that when no one else is there for her, she can close her eyes and see him.
• A daughter needs a dad to carry her just because she wants to be carried.
• A daughter needs a dad to build a loving house on a foundation of wisdom and understanding.
• A daughter needs a dad to stand with her on the day she marries the man she hopes will be just like her father.

It's Christmas Time at the Reynolds

What a beautiful Christmas Eve service! The sanctuary was filled with candlelight and hundreds of people celebrating Christmas. I love the Christmas Eve service because it's an opportunity to invite friends and family who might not normally attend church.

After Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve, we headed over to Amberly's parents for Christmas dinner with her family--her brother Gentry and his wife Kelly along with their two kids (Adrian and Aidan) came in from Indiana. It was great. Santa even stopped by and surprised everyone!

It was a great day for celebrating with family.

The next morning we woke up and opened gifts together, just the five of us, when all the sudden the door bell rang. It was Steve Davidson bearing gifts--delicious homemade cinnamon roles from his wife Angela. It was a great Christmas morning surprise--and tasty, too!

Iowa Supreme Court

What a great honor I had yesterday to witness the investiture of Brent Appel as the newest justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. Brent has served Christian Life Assembly as our church's attorney for the past couple of years.

Governor Vilsack appointed him to the court in October with the installation yesterday. Governor Vilsack administered the oath of office in front of the entire Iowa Supreme Court, Lt. Governor Sally Pederson, Governor-elect Chet Culver, Lt. Governor-elect Patty Judge, district judges, court of appeals judges, federal court judges, and Brent's family and friends.

I had never been in the courtroom of the Iowa Supreme Court, but it is beautiful room in a gorgeous new building across from the Iowa Capitol building.

Merry Christmas!

We thought we'd have fun with this year's Christmas card. See you at Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve, Sunday at 4 PM.

A King is Coming to Town

If there is a more hilarious, high energy, high-impact children's presentation around, I dare you to show it to me. Those kids did great. And, the kid dressed up like the Elvis impersonator. Whose kid was that? I bet he got it from his mother. Look for pictures to be posted tomorrow. They did a great job. Plus, people made decisions for Christ. That's what it's all about.

The 12 Days of Christmas Have Begun!

I'm starting a new tradition this year. I'm getting Amberly a gift for every day of the 12 Days of Christmas. It started today with a $5 gift card to Sonic Drive In. There is nothing more exciting to my girl from Texas than a Route 44 Big Drink Dr. Pepper with extra ice. If she play it right, she should be able to get three with the gift card and think of me with every sweet, sugary, sip!

Toys for Tots Was Tremendous

We had over 1,700 people attend the four presentations of Christmastime this past weekend, gave out nearly 2,000 toys, and over 300 people responded to the altar calls. It was a great weekend! The presentation was filled with fun and beauty. I loved hearing the "oohs" and "ahs" when the snow machine started up. It was phenomenal!

Special thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Confessions of a Pastor

In his new book, Craig Groeschel shares some amazing stuff on dropping the pose and getting real with God.

Here are some of his confessions:

1. I can't stand a lot of Christians.

2. I have to work to stay sexually pure.

3. I worry almost all the time.

4. I hate prayer meetings.

He's so real and so funny at the same time, then he gives great lessons that he's learned to overcome the things that he's talking about. I'm loving it!

Toys for Tots

Our Toys for Tots outreach is this weekend. So far, we have registered nearly 800 kids to receive two toys each. We rented a Ryder truck to pick up the toys. We're doing the giveaway at two different services this Saturday, 4 PM and 6 PM. I can't wait!

Five Brackets for Tournament of Books

So, I need 80 books to start out with to get down to the five I'm going to read on the Spiritual Renewal Retreat. Since the purpose of the retreat deals with mind, spirit, and bodyI want books that deal with all three areas. Instead of East, West, Midwest, and South, we need five brackets to match the retreat theme, with one book winning out of each bracket. Here are some ideas for the five brackets:

Spirituality
Leadership
Personal Development
Relationships
Culture
Biography/History/Philosophy
Church Life

We'll have to first narrow down the brackets and then fill each of the five with 16 seeds and let the tournament begin.

I Love December

Here are a few things I love about December at CLA:

The Leading Ladies Tea (December 2)
The Lighting of the Christmas Tree (December 3)
Toys for Tots Giveaway (December 9)
Christmastime (December 10)
Kids Christmas Musical (December 17)
Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve (December 24)

I can't wait! We're up to 750 kids signed up for Toys for Tots. I bet we get to 1,000 before it's done! If you want to volunteer to help, e-mail Vanessa at clagsecretary@aol.com. Thanks.

Books for Spiritual Renewal Retreat

I'm thinking about what books to read during my spiritual renewal retreat, January 23-February 28. I want to do a book a week, so that would be five books. I should set up a tournament of books to get down to the final five. Here are some I'm looking at:

Off Road Disciplines by Earl Creps
Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby
A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
Christ Plays in 10,000 Places: A Conversation on Spiritual Theology by Eugene Peterson
Creating Community: Five Keys to Building Small Group Culture by Andy Stanley
Holy Ambition: What it Takes to Make a Difference for God by Chip Ingram
Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives by Leonard Sweet, Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Brian McLaren, and Erwin McManus

Well, there are the first eight for our field of 80 that will get narrowed down to five. I can't wait for the brackets to come out!

Let There Be Light

We had a great group of 30-40 people at church last night helping put up the Christmas trees and lights. We have 14-16 trees in the sanctuary and the one tree that reaches to the ceiling in the atrium.

Christmas music was playing, cider was flowing, people were laughing and having a great time together. Last year, it took the team days to put it all together. With the help of several small groups, we were able to do it in three hours, instead of three days!

Spiritual Renewal Retreat

Amberly and I are excited about the spiritual renewal retreat we’re participating in this winter. It’s going to be a time of prayer, seeking the Lord, worshipping at various churches, reading, relaxing, and planning for the future. The retreat will last five weeks, January 23-February 28. Dan Weber inadvertently said six weeks when it was announced a few Sundays ago. It really is only five weeks. And, we are putting together five great services for CLA during that time—you’ll barely miss me!

When I told my mom about the retreat, she was worried something was wrong with me or the church. I assured her, as I do you, that nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve seen more people attend and make decisions for Christ than any other year. I’m more convinced than ever that Des Moines is the city that God has called us to reach. My family loves Des Moines and Christian Life Assembly. This is one of the best boards I’ve ever worked with and our team is closer than ever. The motive isn’t that something is wrong, the motive is that things are right! I don’t’ want to mess that up by moving forward in my own ideas or my own agenda. That’s why I want to get away for a while, after the pattern of Jesus, to pray, to think, to renew my spirit about the future of our church.

I’ll be praying for you, worshipping in churches that have the type of multi-site ministry I believe God could be leading us toward, attending two very important conferences, and working on the vision master plan for the future. While part of the time will be devoted to rest and relaxing, these 35 days are not time off, they are just time spent differently—praying, fasting, reading, attending chapel at Southeastern University, and planning for the future of Christian Life Assembly. I believe the results of these five weeks will be felt for the next five years. It’s time to gear up for the next phase of what God wants to do. That always begins with prayer and seeking the Lord. That’s the point of the spiritual renewal retreat.

So, don’t be nervous like my mom. Be excited for what God will put into my heart and yours during those 35 days.

What a Weekend!

We started the weekend by picking out our Christmas tree. It's a family tradition. We head out to the Howell Tree Farm and pick through hundreds or thousands of uncut trees to find the one the five of us agree on. We went with pine, instead of fir. This is a big change for us. We're hoping it works out. We'll get the tree next week and decorate it the day after Thanksgiving.

After that, it was off to children's and adult Christmas musical practice. The boys (Grant and Corbin) are both in The King is Coming to Town. Amberly is singing in Christmastime.

After that, it was a bite for lunch at Sonic and on to Grant's basketball game. After being down at the half 12-8, we came back and won 20-14. It was phenomenal. What powerful defense in the second half!

Sunday, we gave away 500 turkeys as part of the Great Turkey Give Away. Two great services with over 800 people present between the two. We wrapped the weekend up with a movie: Santa Claus 3, The Escape Claus. It was a fun time with the kids.

What a weekend!

Risky Living

Sunday, we talked about difference makers. There were four ideas that caught out attention:

1. Difference makers live out of their own suitcase.
2. Difference makers live with the end in mind.
3. Difference makers live to be a blessing.
4. Difference makers live risky lives.

With that idea of risky living in mind, let me give you a few quotes:

"You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."--Ray Bradbury

"The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."--Winston Churchill

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."--Erich Fromm

"A rut is nothing but a grave--with both ends kicked out."--Vance Havner

"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress."--Thomas A. Edison

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Pablo Picasso

Winning at Life

Picture a baseball diamond. To win the game, you've got to make it around the bases. Home plate is the starting point and the ending. Think of home plate as your relationship with God. It's where you get your purpose and your power.

First Base--Winning with yourself. This has to do with character. To make it to this point, you've got to raise your IQ (integrity quotient). You've got to win the battle within--building your character, undstanding your gifts, living your strengths.

Second Base--Winning with people. This has to do with community. You value people. You create life giving relationships. You bless people.

Third Base--Winning with situations. This has to do with competence. Here, you win some battles. Your strategy works. Your ideas take flight. You figure out how to make it work.

That brings you back home to where you experience the purpose and power of God in your life again.

For more information on these ideas pick up the catalyst groupzine.

Confessions of a Pastor

This is an interesting post from Gary Lamb, pastor of Ridge Stone Church. What do you think?

I haven't wanted to post this...I have avoided it all day...I'm not proud of it but we all make it mistakes...I have tried hard to not do this...I gave into peer pressure that is all I can say...I am very ashamed...I could start by giving you excuses:

There are no streetlights in my neighborhood

I was lazy and didn't feel like walking

I thought what I was doing was better

But they would be just excuses and would not justify what I did.

I have always prided myself on the fact that I don't do a lot of churchy stuff and yet I did this. I actually feel dirty from this.

So what is it that I did? I am so ashamed I can barely type it.....
I WENT TO A CHURCH FALL FESTIVAL!

There I said it. I know you probably think less of me but what can I say? I fell off the wagon. I gave in. I'm a loser.

I will say this: It was awful.

I knew it was wrong. I was so ashamed I actually went to the next town over from me where no one would see me. That is sad. :)

Like most things I go to that involve church, I will say this: The church again proved why they aren't reaching people. This thing was awful. I was embararssed to be a christian and to think they thought they were reaching people without a church home.

If you would have asked this church they would have told you this was their big thing for the community. No, it was their big thing for Christians.

Why can't the church get "it."

Here were some things I noticed that were just flat out sad.

1.) Candy - To kids this is the most important part of Halloween. It is for me as well. When you showed up you registered and they gave you a little sandwich bag with candy in it. That was it. We rushed home where Ashlyn could go door to door and she got more candy on our street then she did there. That is very important for a 4 year old. After it was done she told me how fun it was and next year let's skip the festival. I want my kids growing up digging church not thinking it is lame.

2.) Christianize - Man the christianize language was in full affect. Why do people get saved and then they decide to talk weird? If I met another Bro. so and so I was going scream. If someone called it Harvest day instead of Halloween one more time I was going to punch them. Unchurched people think we are weird because we are.

3.) Excellence - It was sad. This is a large church but I could have honestly done a better job. The inflatables were sad, the games were lame, and the candy...well I already shared that. This church truly had the opportunity to show the community a great time and that church could rock but instead they showed them that the church is always lags behind the world in terms of excellence.

4.) Costumes - No scary ones. I understand they are a church BUT if you are reaching unchurched (that was their goal) then let them come and accept them and maybe let them see you aren't LAME! There was a dude carrying a snake around and security was escorting them away. Now, I don't want a snake around either but the snake seemed under control.

5.) Pastor - He was very sissyish. More and more pastors are very sissy men. They are so prim and proper and can't relate to people. I think people now expect their pastor to be that way and that is one of the reasons men don't attend church. I have A LOT of thoughts on this but I will post that on another day. I truly felt if I punched him he would break. I listened to him talk and again who talks like that? His wife had big hair too. Not cool. :)
I could go on and on but you would think I was being a jerk. I am not trying to be but I can't believe I relapsed like this.

My point is simply I am ashamed that I went to this thing instead of hanging out in my neighborhood and doing what I do best which is chilling with those who don't go to church.
I am worried about the church. Overall she just doesn't get it.

Challenge the Process

In an article in the catalyst groupzine, Andy Stanley writes, "Leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change. It is the nature of things organizationally not to change in a healthy direction. It is the nature of things organizationally to find a happy place and stay there forever and ever and ever and ever."

I think that's why most churches stop growing around 120 people. It's a happy place. You can pay the pastor full-time, afford a building, and have enough people for a viable social network. It's a happy place. Leaders, though, have to challenge the process that allows us to stop at happy places!

The trick is to challenge the process without challenging the organization. We don't want to alienate those we are attempting to lead. It's a tight rope.

What Lurks Beneath?

There is within each of us a sinful nature that lurks beneath the surface. Sunday, we discovered how this monster works and ways to combat it. There are seven steps in the temptation/sin process according to James 1.13-18. Here they are:

1. The Look--We get distracted from God and start looking at potential pitfalls.
2. The Lust--We begin to have a passion for the thing we've looked at.
3. The Lure--We are drawn away by the disguised picture of sin we develop.
4. The Conception--We conceive a plan for how we can turn the thought into reality.
5. The Birth--We do the deed.
6. The Growth--Most sin grows because we can't "each just one" as the chip commercial says.
7. The Death--In the end, sin destroys us.

There are three antidotes to the monster:
1. Focus--Resist the look and lust by focusing our spirits on the Lord.
2. Facts--Combat the lies of the lure with the facts: there is no such thing as a secret and you can't do it just once.
3. Flee--Once you are in the conception and birth stage, the only answer is to flee! Run, baby, run!

Time to go to the DMV

I looked at my driver's license yesterday and discovered that it had expired! So, I'm heading down to the Department of Motor Vehicles. We'll find out if the stereotype of a slow-moving government agency is accurate or just a myth.

My only question is this: If my license is expired can I drive there legally to get a new one?

Hmmm?

Reconnecting to God

As part of our i/e series, where we're focusing on intimacy with God and effectiveness with life. Those are the two greatest goals for every believer. Last Sunday, we talked about how to reconnect with God after we've blown. David's experience with Bathsheba served as the model. There are four steps on the road back:

1. Humility--We've got to realize that there is no negotiating with God. We come to the table with nothing. There is no reason for God to forgive us other than his grace and mercy.

2. Honesty--We've got to come completely clean with God. Most of us share as little as possible to get the forgiveness we need. We can't do that if we want to reconnect with God--we've got to get everything out in the open.

3. Heart Change--David needed a new heart so he didn't do what he did before! He asked God for a pure heart, a steadfast spirit, God's Spirit, and the joy of salvation. Those were the weapons he needed to face the challenges ahead.

4. Hope--We aren't marked by our mistakes, we're marked by the promises of the future.

Mom Cow

My five-year old is learning so much in kindergarten. In fact, there are two words he can written in addition to his name: mom and cow. Today is his mother's birthday, so he signed his card for her. Then, he addressed the front.

Amberly was very impressed when he pointed out that he had written mom on the front by himself. Then he said, "I was going to write mom cow. But then I thought that would just be silly." It was great. We died laughing.

Relevant Tour

I'm excited to be working with Central Bible College on the 2007 Relevant Tour. It's a series of one-day leadership events to be held at 15 cities across the country. We're lining up some of the most effective Assemblies of God ministry leaders to be a part of these one day events--guys like Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington, DC and Randal Ross, pastor of of Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois. I think they are going to be cool. I'm honored to be the chairman of the team putting it all together.

Smartest States

According to new studies, Iowa ranks as the ninth smartest state--ahead of neighbors in Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Illinois. Interestingly, Kentucky ranked 31st, moving up four notches from 35th last year, while Texas ranked 24th, dropping one spot from last year.

Who was number 1? Vermont.

Who was number 50? Arizona. (Too much heat bakes the brain.)

For a complete listing, here's the link:

http://www.local6.com/education/10097048/detail.html

What's Your Starting Point

Where you start has a great deal of bearing on where you finish.

Goliath started his day at the point of defiance. He came to defy God and his army. He ended his day, lying on the ground with David looking down on him. Defiance destroyed him.

Saul started his day in fear. He was dismayed by the giant. By the end of the day, he was no longer afraid of the giant; instead, he was afraid of David. He lost his future to fear.

David started his day in faith. He believed God could help him defeat the giant. And, he was right. He ended his day with the giant's sword in one hand and the giant's head in the other.

Where you start has a great deal of bearing on where you finish.

Happy Boss' Day

So, here's the front of the Boss' Day Card from our team:

Bosses are such important peopel that we have a special day for them...

So, here's the isnide of the card:

Don't get too excited though--we also have a special day for groundhogs!

They are assuring me that I am better than a groundhg, however. I may just go underground for the winter.

Happy Birthday at La Hacienda

I was sitting there eating my fajitas while talking with a couple about their upcoming wedding. We were having a great meal. Then, it happened.

The wait staff turned into a group of mariachi singers, placed a sombrero on my head and a dessert in front of me, and began to sing. It was great. I turned four shades of red. It wouldn't have been too bad, but it wasn't my birthday.

I looked around the restaurant. There were five other families from our church there! I have my suspicions!

1000 Turkeys

In team meeting yesterday, we talked about this year's Great Turkey Give Away. The tendency is for events like this to grow stale over the years. Here's what we're doing to make sure that doesn't happen this year:

• Give away more turkeys than every in three services 8.30 AM, 10 AM, and 6 PM
• Emphasize people in our church family inviting those who have made a difference in their lives to come to the 10 AM service to receive a free turkey as a way of saying thanks at Thanksgiving.
• Connect our guests at the 8.30 AM and 6 PM service to the KidsCount Bus Ministry in a significant way. We want to leave that day with 250 new prospects for our bus ministry.
• Involve more people than ever in the event throughout he 40-Hour Famine to raise funds for the event and in the event itself.
• Promote the event to various media outlets before the event happens to see if we can't leverage a little publicity for the Kingdom.

I'm excited and looking forward to the greatest Great Turkey Give Away ever.

How Many TV's are in Your House

The average American home now has more television sets than people--a threshold crossed within the past two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people, the researchers said.

In the average home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day--eight hours, 14 minutes, Nielsen said. That's an hour more than it was a decade ago. Most of that extra TV viewing is coming outside of prime time, where TVs are on only four minutes more than they were 10 years ago. The average person watches four hours, 35 minutes of television each day, Nielsen said.

I'm all for a good show, but I wonder what could be accomplished with part of those four hours, 35 minutes?

New Website

Christian Life Assembly has a new website, designed by Rich Greene, our church planter at Life Church in Iowa City. Rich is so gifted at the tech stuff, plus he's doing a great job leading that new church to life. Here's the site: www.lifenow.org. Go take a look!

Micro-manager vs. micro-auditor

In his book Never Again, former Attorney General John Ashcroft says that President George W. Bush is not a micro-manager, but a micro-auditor. That means that he asks questions that probe whether the priorities are being accomplished, but doesn't micro-manage those strategies.

Here are some questions for leaders to ask to help see if all the priorities we agreed upon are being accomplished:

• What decisions do you need from me?
• What problems are keeping you from reaching your goals?
• What plans are you making that we haven't discussed?
• What progress have you made?
• On a scale of 1-10, how are you personally? Why?
• How can I be praying for you?

Next 90 Days

My goal is to continue to move the ball down the field--in a Kingdom mindset of course. With that in mind, I constantly ask the question, "What can I do in the next 90 days that will make the greatest impact for Christian Life Assembly?" Here's what's on my 90 day priority list:

1) Select a Reach Champion to advance our reach agenda.
2) Develop the third phase of the Edge leadership training course.
3) Lead our Fall/Winter outreach events (Great Turkey Give Away, Christmas Eve service, etc.)
4) Develop priorities and budget for 2007.
5) Distribute 100 yard signs with revamped website (www.lifenow.org)
6) recruit 20 people for the Tommy Barnett Pastor's and Leader's School
7) Develop Edge retreat idea.
8) Re-vision our CLASS Night approach
9) Hire acoustical engineer to review our sanctuary and train our AV team
10) Re-invigorate First Impressions team

Can I Have the Interpretation, Please?

Here's a little recap of Sunday message.

If we want to live life well, we must interpret life correctly. Much of our ineffectiveness in life is the result of misinterpreting life. We talked about four guiding principles to help us interpret life correctly:

• God is good...no matter what!
• Eternity is the measuring stick.
• Give people the benefit of the doubt, instead of doubting their benefit.
• It's always too early to quit!

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

I just finished reading the first chapter of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by my friend, Mark Batterson. All I can say is "Wow!" This book could not have come at a better time for me. I'm ready to unleash the lion-chaser within.

Here's the scoop on the book. Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn't chase. You will regret the risks not taken, the opportunities not seized, and the dreams not pursued. Stopping running away from what scares you most and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path.

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is inspired by one of the most obscure yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture (II Samuel 23:20-21): Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it.

Unleash the lion chaser within!

Mark Batterson graduated a year after me from Central Bible College. Mark turned down a full-ride scholarship to the University of Chicago to attend CBC. He and his wife Lora planted National Community Church in Washington, DC. He is a good friend and a great writer. You can order the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590527151/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/102-0829645-4497768?ie=UTF8

Designed to Be Innovative

Of the five ideas I shared a couple of weeks ago, the one that got the least "amens" was the thought about being designed to be innovative--that we not grudgingly accept change, but we look for opportunities to change. Why is it that people don't like change. Here's what I think.

• Growth means change.
• Change means loss.
• Loss means grief.
• Grief means pain.

So, for most people, change equals pain. So, I think that's why most people resist change. I try to look at the first sentence more than the last. To grow, I've got to change. I remember the year we changed locations, changed to small groups, and changed the entire staff. There was some loss. We lost some staff. We lost some people. There was grief and there was pain. But, there was growth in our purpose and vision. Let's commit to be designed to be innovative.

Honor to Whom Honor is Due

We were excited to have John, Debbie, and Bethany Palmer with us at church yesterday. We wanted to honor them for their 21 years of service to Des Moines First Assembly and all of Central Iowa. John was an incredible encourager and mentor to me as we started Christian Life Assembly 12 years ago. I was thrilled to see the great reception our church gave them. Way to go in honoring those to whom honor is due!

Driven by Eternity

Every church is driven by something. In fact, everybody and every organization are driven by something. The question is, "What's driving you?" Some churches are driven by tradition. Some people are driven by money. Some organizations are driven to make life better for people. In our talk about what kind of church we want to be in the next 12 years, I talked about becoming a church driven by eternity.
What does that mean? It means that our decisions are driven by eternity, not time. It means our priorities are driven by things that last forever, not just for a moment. It really means that we still believe that heaven is real and hell is real, and that people still live in one of those places for an eternity after they die.

Difficult to Ignore

One of the ideas I talked about Sunday was developing a church that is difficult to ignore. The greatest fear of every pastor who desires to make a difference is this: Would anyone notice if our church did not exist?

My goal is for Christian Life Assembly to be a church that is difficult to ignore. How do we do that? Here are some ideas for the next 3-5 years?

• A complete media/technology outreach through podcasting, revamped website, TV commercials, etc.
• A greater commitment to invest and invite people to church, equipping each member to invite a guest a week.
• Events that extend our influence into more and more people's lives--such as our Great Turkey Give Away.
• A multi-site ministry with campuses in the inner city and the western suburbs.
• Servant evangelism strategies like repainting schools, distributing soda at intersections, etc.

Let's be a church difficult to ignore.

A Constant State of Improvement

Leaders are learners and leading organizations are learning organizations. My goal is for our church to be in a constant state of improvement. We need to always be looking for the next step in our journey. How do you do that? By asking this question often: What one thing could I do in the next 90 days that would have the greatest impact on my life or organization? At CLA, we apply that to all of our five purposes:
Reach
Grow
Connect
Serve
Worship
We also seek to be constantly improving through our relationships with each other and on the team and ministry champions, as well as ministry colleagues. After all, the Bible says, "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another." Let's develop a constant state of improvement in our lives.

In Oklahoma

Amberly, the kids, and I are in Oklahoma for Amberly's grandfather's funeral. I am assisting Pastor Don Barnes of Lawton First Assembly of God in the funeral. Currently, I'm working on my message. I'm going to read out of PaPaw's Bible. The cover is worn with his own thumbprint and inside is a picture of family. That's what his life was about: faith and family. Thank you for praying for us.

My 5-Year-Old Goes to Kindergarten

Corbin has ventured off to all-day kindergarten. These pics were at www.desmoinesregister.com. He's a man of many faces!

Veni, Vedi, Velcro

That's Latin for I came, I saw, I stuck around. As we approach our 12-year anniversary at Christian Life Assembly, I am so glad I stuck around. I'm glad I stuck around to see:

• The miracle of 40 acres on the Highway 5 Bypass
• The launch of elevate youth ministry and KidsCount Bus Ministry
• Over 1,200 people at last year's Toys for Tots Distribution
• Scores of people involved in life giving small groups
• Worship services that break through to God's presence
• People giving their hearts to Christ every Sunday

We've come a long way from Lakewood Elementary. I'm glad I stuck around. More than that, I'm glad you stuck around, too!

Defining Leadership

In his book Masterplanning, Bobb Biehl defines leadership as

Knowing what to do next,

knowing why that's important,

and knowing how to bring the appropriate

resources to bear on the need at hand.

As a leader, the question is simple, "What do we do next?" That question cuts through the fog and enables us to establish our priorities. Priorities, according to Biehl, are either the problems we need to solve or the goals we need to accomplish.

I'm working to create my priorities for the next four years. Why four years? Because in four years, I'll be 40! I want to reach some goals and solve some probelms by that time. What about you? Do you have priorities for the next 90 days? The next 2-3 years? The next 20 years?

Hooter's

Here's a great blog from www.perrynoble.com about men, women, and Hooter's.

"For those who do not attend NewSpring–let me explain what happened this Sunday…
We are currently doing a series on finances called Deal or No Deal; however, towards the end of the message I threw in a relationship nugget. I made the comment that I do not go to Hooters because in doing so I would dishonor my wife…and I challenged the married men in the room to ask their wives if this was dishonoring.

When I made the comment I just moved on…but since Sunday I have had several women tell me how much they appreciated me making that comment. One woman actually told me that three other women called her on Sunday night and said, “Did you hear what Perry said about Hooters?”

Guys–I know, you go for the food, right? WRONG! I am a man…I know how men think…I know what a man wants to look at…and so if you are a regular customer at Hooters…I KNOW why you go…and it’s not for the food but rather to feed lustful desires. Come on men…you can’t argue here…you know it’s the truth.

What I have discovered about my wife is this–she wants to know that she is beautiful to me. She makes an effort to take care of herself and, when we go out, to take a little extra time for me…she wants me to check her out–to tell her she is beautiful…and when she goes through this effort and I check out another woman or feel the need to go somewhere that puts women on parade to fuel my incredibly weak male ego–this hurts her. Once again men…if you don’t believe me–ask!

Men…I know we all live in a tough world. Sex sells…and beautiful women are used to sell everything from a new car to a cure for hemorroids. (Where does that logic make sense? “Hey–can I have the hemorroid medicine that the beautiful people on television use?”)
Maybe that is why Scripture tell us in Job 31:1 that he made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman…and we need to do the same.
It’s tough…I know–especially in the gym. I remember once a lady getting in front of me with some shorts that were so short that her rear end was literally hanging out! Later that day I was having lunch with a dude who held me accountable and I was telling him about it. He said, “Well…as soon as you saw her on the machine in front of you you moved didn’t you?”

“Uh, no,” I replied.

“Well Perry, how long did you stay there?”

“Uh–about thirty minutes…” I was busted–he called me out…and I never will forget that day that I taught myself the phrase when an attractive woman walks by, “That’s not my wife.” I have had to say that out loud!!! (It really freaks people who are with me out!)
Men–we need to be pure with our eyes…it matters to the woman we are married to. Single dude–it matters to your future spouse. Fathers–it matters to your sons and daughters. You are modeling for you sons how to treat women…and for your daughters how they should allow men to treat them. So…a family trip down to Hooters shows them nothing more than women being treated as objects of lust…and remember when they go down that road in the future–you discipled them.

One more thing and I will let up on this…and this is a challenge to women…the way you dress can greatly affect how a man thinks about you–or what he thinks about you. And I am not talking about those “women in Hollywood.” I am talking about women who claim they love Jesus…but also feel the need to reveal their cleavage to the world.

Ladies–if that offends you–check yourself…you don’t want to be treated as a piece of meat…then you can help yourself out by ot putting so much of yourself on display! I know this is a challenge for many of you–where is the line between being beautiful and dressing like you are for sale? My advice–ask a man who is in love with Jesus…and give him permission to be honest…and he will let you know. What might be “cute” to a group of women can be “seductive” to a group of men.

Men have a responsibility to control themselves…but you have a responsibility to help us do so…it is a partnership…and as we work together God will be honored in this.

From the Ponderosa to the Pigpen

We're gearing up for Round Up Sunday, September 10. It's going to be a great day of rounding everyone up after such a busy summer. Round Up Sunday will feature:

• The Illustrated Message From the Ponderosa to the Pigpen
• The Launch of our Fall Small Group schedule
• Horseback Rides for all children

This is one of the most powerful illustrated messages we've ever presented. Start inviting your friends and family. There are going to be some great surprises during the service that you won't want to miss.

You don't need priorities...

Here's the idea. You don't need priorities...if you don't have any dreams. If you have dreams and no priorities then all you have is despair. What are your dreams? Let those dreams determine your priorities for this day, month, and year.

Back to School Rally

Thank you to all of the volunteers for this year's Back to School Rally. We gave out more backpacks than ever. Plus, our attendance for the rally was the highest-ever at 828 people across the two service.

Again, thank you to everyon who helped out!

Back to School Rally Sunday

We're getting ready for our annual Back to School Rally this Sunday. We've had over 400 people sign up for our free backpacks. Gary Lydic of America's Family Coaches is going to be our special guest. I'm going to present the illustrated message, The Three Chairs. It's going to be great.

Don't forget there are two services: 8:30 and 10:30. The 8:30 is primarily for our guests receiving backpacks, though anyone can attend. We're encouraging you to bring guests to the 10:30 service.

If I'm not as excited about Back to School as I should be--it's because Corbin heads to Kindergarten! We moved Morgan out of her baby bed last weekend and now this! Our kids are growing up! In a year, Grant goes into the elevate student ministries. We're to young to be parents of a near-youth!

Soda, Pop, or Coke!

My dad worked for the Coca-Cola company while I was growing up so we never had any other product in the house. In fact, we called all soft drinks coke. In fact, most people were we lived would say, "Do you want to get a coke?", but that could mean Coke, Dr. Pepper, or any other soft drink.

Here in Iowa, it seems that pop is the name of choice. Somebody actually did research to find out the prevailing name across the country. Here's the link. Interesting!

http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html

Pull Up Your Stakes

What a great weekend we had at Christian Life Assembly. It was so great to be back after vacation. We had a powerful service where we discovered the need to pull up some stakes in our lives.

I am convinced that God wants to do more in our hearts and lives that what our current tents can contain. So, we've got to pull up the stakes that hold us in. Stakes like other people's opinions, our past, our bad habits, our lack of knowledge. Israel had to pull of the stakes of a shameful past and a barren present in Isaiah 54. We've got our on stakes to pull up so we can expand our tent.

Let's pull up some stakes this week. Next Sunday, we're going to continue in this Breaking Free series with a look at Running through Troops and Leaping Over Walls. It's going to be great.

Call the DOCTOR

While I was at Cape First, Gary Brothers gave me the book Masterplanning by Bobb Biehl. I've not read the book yet, but he uses an interesting acronym to describe the planning process:

D Direction
O Organization
C Cash
T Tracking
O Overall Evaluation
R Refinement

It looks a like a great way to develop a simple, but effective masterplanning process in a church or any organization.

It's Great to Be Back

What a wonderful two-week vacation Amberly, the kids, and I had. We visited our family in Kentucky, spent a week in the Smoky Mountains, and preached at Cape First with Gary Brothers in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It was awesome.

But, it's good to be back in the saddle again. When I got back, the team had "Welcome Back" posters with pictures of my favorite things: Tommy Barnett, Elvis, Dr. Pepper, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Mickey Mouse! There was also a life size, stand up picture of George Bush in my office welcoming me home. What a team.

Blogosphere Break

You may have noticed that I'm taking a little break from the blogosphere. I'll be back in about another week.

Three Paradigms for Small Groups

So, what is a small group? Glad you asked. A smal group is a:

• Party when life is great. Your small group should be a place where you celebrate each other's victories.
• Shelter when life's not so great. Your small group should be a place where you can cry with each other over life's defeats.
• Guardrail when you're tempted. Your small group should be able to say, "Hey, you're about to go off that cliff! Stop."

Do small groups always live up to theri potential? No, but when they work--there's nothing like 'em!

Promise Keepers

What a great PK event in DSM this weekend. I had a great time with 20 of the best guys in the world. We're ready to unleash the raw power!

If you weren't able to make it to the PK event, you can still catch PK Remix this Wednesday night at 6:30 PM. It's going to be a tremendous Men of Steel meeting with great food, cool fun, hanging out, and being challenged by God's Word. I can't wait!

Weekend Update

What a great I Love America Celebration. I loved all of it. Thanks to Pastor TJ, Kimberly, and their great team for making it all come together and exceed my expectations. The music, the videos, the Marine Color Guard, the picnic. Wow. It was awesome.

And it was awesome to see Pastor Jonathan and Erica back with us for the weekend. They have three more weeks of School of Missions before they start raising the funds needed to head to India. I am so proud of them.

What a great team I get to be a part of!

Communicating for a Change

I'm reading a challenging new book Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley, pastor of Northpoint Church in the Atlanta region. He challenges communicators to pick a point and stick with it through the message, talk, or sermon.

It's an interesting idea: no more three, five, or twelve point sermons! Just one point. I'm working on it for Sunday--I'm basing the message on Galatians 5.1. I think my one point will be stop the chain exchange. The idea is that we often trade one set of chains for another when Jesus wants to set us free! I'm not sure, but I'm willing to give it a try to keep learning more about communicating the greatest message ever!

Sore After Golf!

The past year, I've played golf twice. Each time at the America's Family Coaches Golf Tournament. I'm not a very good golfer, but I had a great time with my team--Kory Dammeier, Russ Hixson, and Dave Kutscher.

Together, we were able to raise $1,000 for this great ministry to families. That was the highlight. Together, we were able to avoid finishing last in the morning part of the tournament. That was not so much the highlight.

Uncle Who?

Apparently, the interns have too much time on their hands. Here's our new promo piece for our July 2nd, I Love America event!

I love it!

Be Yourself...Whoever that Is!

When our church first started, I was whatever preacher I had listened to the previous Sunday. I didn't know who I was. Being yourself is another of Mark Batterson's top ten list from below. I heard a great lesson on being yourself from Ed Young at the Buzz Conference.

He started out by imitating TD Jakes, which was hilarious. Then, he imitated Joel Osteen imitating TD Jakes. That was out of the park! I laughed and laughed. The idea is that we've got to be who God created us to be--remember, we're created on purpose and for a purpose!

Paint Your Church Purple

One of the ideas from Mark Batterson's top ten list for new pastors was to paint the church purple--make the ministry hard to ignore was the concept. I've been thinking about businesses and churches that are painted purple. Here are some examples:

• Kids at Granger Community Church enter their classrooms through a McDonald's Playland type slide. They check in upstairs and slide down to their class below. That's purple.
• Phoenix First Assembly and the LA Dream Center have such a passion to reach out to hurting people that it paints the church purple. That's purple.
• Everything at Walt Disney World is painted purple. Think about it--there was no such thing as a theme park before Disneyland. That's really purple.

What are some churches of businesses that you know of that are painted purple.

Top Ten List From Mark Batterson

Here's a great top ten list for pastors from Mark Batterson's blog--www.markbatterson.com.

I just got an email from a pastor asking my advice: what are the top 3 things every person should know before they senior pastor their first church?I haven't done a top ten list lately so here goes. Here are a few of my off the top of my head thoughts about pastoring:

#1 Be Yourself--even more important than being a pastor is being yourself. Be authentic. Be real. Share your weaknesses and struggles. Remind your congregation that you are a work in progress just like they are. Be true to the unique passions and giftings God has given you. Develop core values and core convictions.

#2 Put Your Family First--I limit my church-related meetings to one evening per week. Establish those boundaries early on. If there is ever a conflict between family and ministry it's a no-brainer. Family first.

#3 Have Fun--church ought to be the most enjoyable hour of the week. Don't take yourself too seriously. The healthiest and holiest people laugh at themselves the most. Let your congregation see you laugh at yourself. Alot.

#4 Keep Learning--readers are leaders and leaders are readers. Once you think you have it figured out it's the beginning of the end. There are ways of doing church that no one has discovered yet. Keep experimenting. Realize that if a 100 people give you 30 minutes of their time to listen to your sermon, your message better warrant 50 hours of listening time. Study to show yourself approved. And make sure you're doing both biblical exegesis and cultural exegesis.

#5--Hire people you like hanging out with--how much you enjoy ministry depends on who you're doing ministry with. Hire people you can laugh at. I mean with :) Hire people who love God and love life. Hire people who go the extra mile. Hire people who work hard and play hard. Hire the right people then let their portfolio conform to them like a new shoe conforms to your foot.

#6 Do Recon--You've got to do everything within your power to keep from going into maintenance mode. Stay in growth mode. Remain an open-source system. Go to conferences and visit other churches.

#7 Be a God-Pleaser--I remind myself of what Abraham Lincoln said all the time: you can please all the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. Don't worry about offending people. Worry about offending God. Stay true to the vision God has given you. Don't waver when people want you to conform to their vision of what the church should be. You'll spend the rest of your life contorting yourself and your church into a thousand shapes. Make sure you're doing ministry out of the overflow of what God is doing in your life. Make sure you allow God to work in you before you ask Him to work through you. The church will never outgrow you! And if it does it's dangerous!

#8--Keep it Simple--less is more. We have two goals: plug into a small group and plug into a ministry. Don't try to do too much. Be really good at what you do. Know who you are. Know who you aren't. Develop a kingdom mindset. Learn to appreciate the unique role that others churches play in your community. Then play to your strengths.

#9 Paint Your Church Purple--either you are remarkable or invisible. Too many churches are ignorable. The good news ought to make the news. You've got to do things to get the attention of your community. Do what you do with an excellence that makes people do a double-take. Make sure you print materials are aesthetically pleasing. Do outreaches that bless the socks off your community. Find the needs in your community and fill them. Dare to be different. Add a touch of creativity to everything you do!

#10 Enjoy the Journey--if you're a visionary you'll tend to live for the future, but enjoy the moment. Be the best pastor you can be during every stage.

Life Happens in Small Groups

Yesterday, we kicked off small groups for another semester. I think it's great that we have 75% of the Sunday morning worship attendance involved in some type of small group ministry. Here are the three pictures of a small group at its best:

• A party for you during the good times
• A shelter for you during the rough times
• A guardrail for your during the tempting times.

That's our vision for small groups at Christian Life Assembly. We may not always live up to the vision--but it's the target we're shooting for. Thank you to all of our great small group leaders and hosts.

Write it Down!

I have an on again/off again relationship with journaling. It's a habit I started in junior high and then really developed during my internship 15 years ago. I've picked it up again as a spiritual discipline this summer. I try to write every day. Here's what I write:

• Ideas from the biblical text that I read that day.
• Prayers for my own life and for others.
• Goals for each month and dreams for the future.
• Quotes and ideas from books I'm reading or podcasts I'm listening to.

One quote I wrote yesterday said this, "Our character is essentially total of our habits." What an amazing thought--my character is simply the result of the habits I fuel my life with every day. That fits great with our new message series "In the Zone" that says everyone winds up somewhere, few people wind up their on purpose. Habits are the winds that move our lives in one direction or another.

This summer, I'm trying to add habits that are helpful to my routine. I wonder what habits you might be trying to add to your life?

Communication Styles

I've been reading Refining Your Style: Learning from Respected Communicators. The book lists 13 styles of communication along with a featured communicator that uses that style. Here are the 13 styles, the purpose, and the featured communicator:

• Creative Storyteller (The Listener's Imagination) Max Lucado
• Direct Spokesperson (The Listener's Will) Franklin Graham
• Scholarly Analytic (The Listener's Logic) Tim Keller
• Revolutionary Leader (The Listener's Passion) Erwin McManus
• Engaging Humorist (The Listener's Funnybone) Ken Davis
• Convincing Apologist (The Listener's Worldview) Lee Strobel
• Inspiring Orator (The Listener's emotions) Kribyjon Caldwell
• Practical Applicator (The Listener's Habits) Bob Russell
• Persuasive Motivator (The Listener's Attitude) Zig Ziglar
• Passionate Teacher (The Listener's Mind) Liz Curtis Higgs
• Relevant Illustrator (The Listener's Common Sense) Gene Appel
• Cultural Prophet (The Listener's Conscience) Chuck Colson
• Unorthodox Artist (The Listener's Senses) Rob Bell

I'm not sure what category I fit into. If you've heard me speak, why not leave a post and pick a category that you think fits me. If you are a public speaker, leave a post describing which category fits you.

Get In the Zone This Sunday

It's time to get In the Zone this Sunday at Christian Life Assembly. Here's the idea: Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up there on purpose. We'll discover how to starting hitting the sweet spot of life with this new summer message series. The six messages will include:

The Only Way to Live
The Tale of Three Circles
In the Zone with God
In the Zone with Others
In the Zone with the Physical and Financial
In the Zone with Your Life

Let's start living In the Zone!

Stumbled on Some New Podcasts

Here are some new podcasts that you might interest you. You can subscribe to them through itunes:

• Focus on the Family podcasts versions of their radio program with Dr. James Dobson.
• Defining Moments from Willow Creek Community Church takes aim at developing spiritual leadership.
• Lead Like Jesus is a podcast from Ken Blanchard that equips you to do exactly what the title says--Lead like Jesus!

Each of these are a free subscription through itunes!

Take 5

We launched our Take 5 summer initiative this past week to help people have a truly great summer. Here are the five ways to Take 5 this summer:

• Invest and Invite--make a connection with people who have not crossed the line of faith and invite them to an exciting summer event at CLA.
• Have a Friend, Be a Friend--connect with others in life giving relationships through small groups, Leading Ladies, and Men of Steel.
• Make a Difference--use your unique gifts and talents to make a difference in someone else's life while bringing significance into your own.
• Shout to the Lord!--make worship a priority in your life this summer.
• Take the Next Step--If the Christian life is a walk, what's the next step for you? Baptism? Membership? Getting involved in a ministry? Small group? The Edge leadership training?

Let's Take 5 this summer!

What a Blast!

Our summer praise party was a blast. Pastor Jonathan and Pastor TJ did a great job organizing everything. Every part of the service--from the testimonies to the music--celebrated God's activity in our lives. I want to give a special shout out to Elizabeth Beckett for a great sermon. What a powerful presentation! I think she'll do great at the national Fine Arts Festival in Orlando later this summer.

What a Send Off

I am so thankful to the people of Christian Life Assembly. You guys really stepped up to the plate--giving over $11,000 in cash and gifts to the Barthalow family as we send them off as missionaries to India. All I can say is, "Wow!" What a great church family we have! I'm proud to be your pastor.

Jonathan and Erica leave tomorrow for Memphis then head to Springfield for School of Missions. They will be gone approximately nine weeks before they return to Des Moines. After that, they will live in Norwalk and travel the state raising the remainder of their cash and monthly support budget. The best estimate is that this will take about one year. Then we'll have one last service with them to send them on their way to India.

Gas Saving Tips

Here's a great website that tested all the recommended ways to save money at the pump. If you follow their instructions, they assert that you can save up to 37% on you gas. That's a big difference. Here's the website:

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/driving/articles/106842/article.html

A Timeline for Leading Dramatic Change

Here's an interesting timeline for creating dramatic change in an organization:

Stage 1 Creating Awareness (4-6 months) Through intensive communication events, leaders take people through dialogue and discussion about the need for transformation.

Stage 2 Creating Understanding (3-5 months) The dialogue and discussion serve to bring thinking and feeling modes of understanding together into a pattern of understanding.

Stage 3 Evaluation (3-5 months) What is currently happening in the organization is evaluated in light of awareness and understanding.

Stage 4 Creating experiments (3-8 months) People begin to identify actions that they believe will transform the organization into a missional organization. People will experiment through action.

Stage 5 Commit (Ongoing) People commit to getting others involved in the process of moving through awareness to understanding, to evaluation, to experimentation, and finally to commitment.

It's an interesting change model from the book The Missional Church.

Here's a basic question for all of us, why don't we like change? I'd be interested to see what you post.

Welcome Home, Joel

It was a great honor to welcome wounded Marine L. Cpl. Joel Klobnak home to Iowa last night at CLA. All three local network news teams were there to cover the story, along with a couple hundred of Joel's friends and family. Joel is home through Memorial Day then will return to Washington, DC to recuperate from the injury that took part of his left leg.

Thank you to everyone who made the event possible.

Church in a Box

I got a great idea while I was in Memphis. It's called Church in a Box. It's not something you order from The Acme Company, either. Here's the idea. I am believing God for a church of 1,000 people in the next five years. We are on the way. Our current average for the last 52 weeks is 431. So, we are almost halfway there.

So, what's the church in a box?

I want to get a box and put the names of 1,000 of your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers who have not yet crossed the line of faith in Jesus. Then, we're going to pray over that box every day. And, out of that box will come the church we're believing for as people receive hope and life through Christian Life Assembly.

Who can build me a box like that?

Walking in Memphis

I'm in Memphis this morning. I spoke yesterday at Raleigh Assembly of God. What a great service. I heard Pastor Jonathan did a great job back home at Christian Life.

Today, we do a leadership seminar for the Assemblies of God pastors of the Memphis section. I'm going to do the talk about questions leaders ask. Here they are:

1. Where are we? (Location)
2. Where are we going? (Destination)
3. How do we get there? (Navigation)
4. What's new? (Innovation)
5. Who's next? (Identification)
6. What's the atmosphere? (Culture)
7. How's our alignment? (Integration)
8. How am I doing? (Self-Leadership)

These are the eight questions leaders should constantly ask about their organization.

Great Resources for Church...for FREE

LifeChurch.tv of Edmond, Oklahoma, one of the fastest-growing and most technologically innovative churches in America, is making its media-intensive approach available to pastors and churches worldwide at no cost. The church is offering an extensive online library of materials that includes outlines from a wide variety of message series, corresponding promotional design graphics and videos, broadcast-quality opening videos and more. You can get a look at the various resources at: http://www.lifechurch.tv/open.

www.ihatemymarriage.com

New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina, took some criticism on the chin when it launched a series titled "ihatemymarriage.com." But while they were being criticized, marriages were being healed and people were coming to Christ.

Granger Community Church, located near South Bend, Indiana, used billboards promoting the website www.mylamesexlife.com to publicize a series called "Pure Sex." They were criticized by the religious community, but the series attedance almost doubled their average attendance for a series that promoted healthy sexuality, including how to break free from internet porn addiction.

A couple of morals:
1. Creativity stirs criticism.
2. Know who you are trying to reach and go for it.

On the Map!

Growing up in the South, I rarely met a catholic or a Lutheran. I guess this map of religious adherance in America explains why. It's interesting that growing, I assumed that the rest of the nation mirrored the worldview of my section of the country. Iowa looks a lot different than Kentucky when it comes to religious affiliation, doesn't it?

New Book for Potential Staff Members

Here's a new book we're requiring new staff members to read.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

I've just started on a new book--Now, Discover Your Strengths. The idea is that we will grow as we strengthen our strengths, not work on our weaknesses. That makes sense to me. No matter how hard I work on some things I will never be great at them, but if I can work on things I'm good at--I can become great at them!

Here were my top five strengths according to the book's website www.strengthfinder.com.

• Significance
• Focus
• Futurist
• Maximizer
• Communication

Hopefully, those strengths match up with my job requirements as a pastor! The test doesn't tell you your weaknesses--which is fine since I was already very familiar with them!

Take a Look at this Blog

I found an interesting blog by Pastor Ronnie Floyd of Springdale, Arkansas. It's particularly interesting for pastors. You can find it at www.betweensundays.com.

Purpose and Goals

I was talking with one of our Iowa church planters today who told me that he is focusing on 90-day goals. That seems to make sense to me. I think that I have always intuitively, maybe not knowingly, done that. The church calendar seems to rotate on 90 day cycles through the seasons.

Obviously, 90-day goals should be rooted in the purpose of the organization. I often ask, "What do I need to do that will move us the greatest distance toward our vision?" The answer to those questions become my goals for that next period of time. Those goals then must be transferred to our daily action list. Here are some thoughts about goals:

1. They must be realistic.
2. They must be written down.
3. They must be specific enough to measure.
4. They must have a deadline.
5. They must be take you closer to the vision.

Wins

Each team meeting starts with recounting of "wins" from the previous weekend. Here are four wins that came up this morning:

• Vanessa, our ministry assistant, and her husband had been inviting some friends for a very long time and they came to church for the presentation of The Passion.
• Pastor Rob reported a win regarding our outreach at the Oakridge Apartments--over 270 children were a part of the Easter Egg Hunt at this low-income housing project.
• Pastor Jonathan's win had to do with the great worship we've been having the past two weeks--including the powerful response to the offertory Sunday.
• The win I talked about centered around having over 500 people worship with us each of the past two Sundays!

I'm sure you've got some wins to celebrate, too. Why not post one here on the blog!

On the Radio

I had a great time with Maxine Sielman on 1150 KWKY this morning. We talked about all kinds of things regarding Easter, including the news about The Gospel of Judas.

What cracks me up is that the media and those opposed to Christianity readily accept this "gospel" even though it is a copy of a copy of an original that is no longer in existence, but do not really accept the four gospels. The first gospel (Mark) was written within 20-30 years of Jesus' death, while this gospel of Judas was written 100 or more years later. Which would seem more accurate to you? It seems to me that these intellectual elites just love the controversy and opportunity to discredit the historical reality of Jesus.

What a Day I Had!

Amberly, along with our 10 year-old Grant was gone for a few days to visit her family in Oklahoma. That left me with five year-old Corbin and two year-old Morgan.

We had a great day yesterday. Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. Elmo's World for TV entertainment. Playland at Jordan Creek. Happy Meals for dinner. Bike riding in the evening.

What a day! It really doesn't' get much better than that, does it?

Passion This Sunday

The set is up. We finished a great rehearsal last night. We have dress rehearsal this Saturday. The music, the drama, the set is all coming together. Now, let's keep inviting people to the Passion.

God at Work Starts Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we launch the new message series: God at Work. We'll discover how God works to meet the deepest needs in our lives. Messages include:

• How to Have the Hope You Need
• The Path to Personal Peace
• How to Live a Joy-Filled Life
• And, much more.

Our goal is to have a compelling series that entices our Easter crowd to return the next Sunday. It should be a powerful series. I'm looking forward to it.

The Passion

I'm so excited about this Sunday's presentation of The Passion. With two rehearsals to go, it's all coming together. Hopefully, we'll post a couple of pics of the set. Those guys lead by Pastor Rob and Barney Hoover really did a great job putting it together. It's the best looking set we've ever had. The musicians and the actors meet again tonight and Saturday for a rehearsal.

Don't' forget our tag team philosophy. You guys are it--so let's get out and invite people to the service this Sunday at 10 AM!

Disturb Me, Lord!

I'm reading a great new book by Craig grayscale, Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life. Chazown is the Hebrew word for vision, dream, and revelation. Here's a powerful excerpt:

"Sir Francis Drake once prayed a prayer that was later quoted by a missionary named Jeanie Curyer in one of her prayer letters. This prayer has changed my life. It went:

'Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Distrub us, Lord.'

Are you willing to let God disturb you with dreams so big the you don't know how they'll be accomplished? A vision that can only come true if He pulls it off?"

Great Fun in Newton

I had a great time in Newton over the weekend with Pastor Jeff Arp and the church family. We did a volunteer appreciation dinner with some great bar-b-que, a strategic planning session with the board, and the Sunday night service. The church is moving ahead to reach that city. There is more going on in Newton than Maytag, I'll tell you that.

Spring Forward

I hate the spring time change! Why do they have to do it on a Saturday night? Why not Friday night when there is no church the next morning? Just a thought. Pastors must not have been consulted on this! ;)

Who Would Have Thought It?

Can you believe this year's Final Four? LSU, Florida, George Mason, and UCLA. Not a number one seed in the bunch. You add their seed numbers together and it gets gaudy! Nobody really expected these teams to get there. They didn't look like that had the stuff that it takes.

That leads to two different thoughts. Nobody thought they could get there--except them! Nobody else may believe it, but if you believe it then it can happen.

Second, there are probably going to be a lot of people in heaven that nobody expected to be there, either! And, a lot of number one seeds who may not make it! Just a thought!

High Performance Teams

If I looked under the hood of a high performance automobile like an IRL or NASCAR vehicle, it would look like nothing more than a bunch of wires, tubes, pieces, and parts. In his book The Performance Factor, Pat MacMillan says thats how high performance teams look to most people. The book examines the six characteristics of high performance teams:

• Common Purpose--the power of the team flows out of each member's alignment to the purpose.
• Crystal Clear Roles--Roles are about how we design, divide, and deploy the work of the team.
• Accepted Leadership--Even great teams lose their way without clear, competent leadership.
• Effective Processes--This is the playbook that the team operates by.
• Solid Relationships--Teams don't have to be made up of best friends, but they must possess solid relationships.
• Excellent Communication--Without communication, there can be no cooperation.

41 Hours in a Wal Mart

Sklyer Bartels spent 41 straight hours living in the Windsor Heights, Iowa Wal Mart SuperCenter over Spring Break. It was sociological study and writing project for the Drake University sophomore. What he discovered is Wal Mart doesn't have it all, after all!

He was able to survive on snacks, yogurt, and sandwiches from Subway, but there was no good place to take a nap. He estimates that he slept only 4 of the 41 hours. And, there was no place to shower. After 41 hours, the store kind of caught on to him--those eagle eye greeters--and he left without incident.

So, you can't live at Wal-Mart. Who knew?

You can learn more of his story at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/OPINION01/603270342

Mental Toughness

During the NCAA tournament time, you hear a lot about mental toughness. What does that mean? According to Dr. David Cook, a sports psychologist, mental toughness is one of the two greatest predictors of success for athletes. What does mental toughness look like?

• Embrace the pressure (James 1.2-4 says that pressure can be a great ally)
• Practice the emergencies (Know your response before you start--Matthew 4.1-11)
• Put on your game face (Be prepared--Ephesians 6.10-11)
• Trust your talent (Dance. Don't count your steps. Philippians 4.13)
• Persevere (Never give up--James 1.12)

By the way, the second key predictor? Goal orientation! I think that means shooting at the right goal--something I failed to do in a 8th grade basketball game! ;)

It's Always Too Early to Quit

This Sunday marks the second message in our series It's Always Too Early to Quit. Somehow this value has always been embedded in my life:

• As a child, my grandmother would read my the book The Little Engine that Could over and over again. It was my favorite!
• When I wanted to join band in 5th grade, my parents told me that I could as long as I promised to stay through 12th grade.
• My dad didn't miss a day of work in over 25 years--when he did miss it was for cancer surgery.

You can see I come by this It's Always Too Early to Quit mindset honestly!

God wants to help us develop a never quit attitude. That's what we're going to talk about this Sunday.

March Madness is Underway!

What a great Sunday. I'm excited for the many people who decided to rebound to victory during the service yesterday! We had 420 in the morning worship service plus 85 in the KidsCount Bus Ministry.

That means we ministered to 505 people over the weekend! That's exciting!

Word Verification

Due to some inappropriate content being posted on the blog, I have enabled word verification. That means to leave a post, you'll need to verify a word that appears in a window. It won't take long at all, but automated computer programs are not able to see the word. Therefore, they are unable to leave a post. Thanks for understanding.

The Biggest Change in Worship

Pastor Jonathan and I were reviewing worship songs for the next three months. As we talked, we discussed the biggest change in worship ministry. Here's what we came up with: vertical replaced horizontal in worship.

In seems, at least, in the slower worship songs, that songs directed toward God (vertical) have replaced songs about God (horizontal). For my money, that's a good change. Praise songs are often still declarative, but worship songs have grown more personal over the years.

Maybe you could leave a post with your favorite praise song (uptempo) and your favorite worship song. You might even throw in your favorite hymn, while you're at it.

One Year Later...

It's hard to believe that it's been one year since Christian Life Assembly moved into our new worship facility. In that time, God's blessing has been obvious! I want to say thanks to everyone who is a part of our great church family. It's because of your faithfulness that our church has grown by 22% since moving into our new facility! God is on the move!

Lead from the Middle

According to Pat Williams, senior vice president of the Orlando Magic, leading from the middle is more difficult than leading from the top. When you're on the top of the pack, motivation is easy. When your company, church, or organization is in the middle of a struggle that's harder. Here are Nine communication Principles to help:

• Dispense information freely to build morale.
• Go out of your way to solicit ideas and suggestions.
• Don't just give orders, explain them.
• Rip out the office grapevine by its roots.
• Talk to those who are affected by your decisions.
• Maintain an informal atmosphere.
• Communicate simply, clearly, and with a strong point of view.
• Be accessible to your people.
• Encourage personal relationships.

I Love My iPod!

I got a new iPod for Christmas. I actually got money for it and just now bought one. I love it. I'm just getting started with over 250 songs from my iTunes. Plus, I've started subscribing to some podcasts:

• Mark Batterson at theaterchurch.com
• Brian Zhand at wolc.com
• Ed Young at creativepastors.com

Does anyone know of other cool podcasts out there?

March Madness is Getting Started

It's one of my favorite times of year--March Madness. The selection show for the NCAA tournament is March 12. I can't wait to see who's in and who's out. As a Kentucky Wildcat fan, I usually never have to worry about the Big Blue being on the bubble. Usually, we're talking about what seed the Cats will get. This year, I'm just hoping they make it into the Big Dance.

We're celebrating the start of March Madness with an illustrated message: March Madness/Rebounding to Victory, Sunday, March 12. Even the greatest basketball players miss 50% of their shots. The key is to rebound and go back at it again. This message will kick off a four-part series--It's Always Too Early to Quit! I'm excited about this hope filled series. Invitation cards are available at guest services!

Relationship Conference

We had a great kick-off to our two-day relationship conference last night. Lori Weber helped us all understand our personality by grouping us by our color types--I'm orange and green. That means I love to have fun, but like to be in charge. My wife is gold-green. That means she loves rules. What's interesting is that orange people aren't real fond of rules. Seems opposites do attract.

I heard someone say a long time ago that opposites attract, then they attack! That's why it's important to continually be renewing our love for each other.

Connections Resource Center

Starting this Sunday, we're upgrading our book and CD ministry to more of a resource center for new believers and new members. We're going to make available the Christian Life Assembly essentials:

• Living in the Tree of Life Message Series on CD
• Speak It Out book free to all second time guests
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey to help with the financial side
• Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels to help with the leadership side
• Kid CEO by Ed Young to help on the family side
• The Message Bible for devotions
• The NIV Study Bible for following along with the message on Sunday

Of course, existing members will be able to pick up CD orders, purchase any of the above, and purchase new materials when we focus on particular topics--like Purpose Driven Life. If you haven't picked up any of the above resources, let me encourage you to do so this Sunday! They're great. And, at Connections, you get them below retail!

The Most Important Question

I finished recording an e2 interview with Gary Brothers. If you are a pastor in Iowa you should get it in the next couple of weeks. In the interview he said something that really stuck with me. As leaders, we spend a lot of time answering the what, when, where, and how questions. His assertion was that the people are wanting to know the answer to the why question. Why are we going to two services? Why are we moving the organ? Why are we supposed to invite people?

He's been able to create a create culture of change and momentum at Cape First Assembly because he's answered the why questions. According to him, most people will follow the leader when they know why.

The Book-Jesus and You

I received an invitation to write a chapter in a book titled Jesus and You. The proceeds from the book will support Convoy of Hope, a great compassion ministry of the Assemblies of God. They ministered to over 6,000,000 people last year through Convoy of Hope distributions and emergency response projects around the world. I'm excited because the other authors are people I have admired for a long time--Glen Cole, former pastor of Capital Christian Center in Sacramento, California, George Wood, general secretary for the Assemblies of God, and Huldah Buntain, a legendary missionary to India!

I'll let you know more when I find out more.

The Art of Self-Leadership

In the Edge yesterday, we talked about the art of self-leadership. We asked ourselves 10 questions to make sure we're fulfilling the most difficult leadership task--leading ourselves!

1. Is my calling sure?
2. Is my vision clear?
3. Is my passion hot?
4. Am I developing my gifts?
5. Is my character submitted to Jesus?
6. Is my pride subdued?
7. Am I overcoming fear?
8. Are interior issues hindering my leadership?
9. Is my pace sustainable?
10. Is my love for God and people increasing?

You can read more about self-leadership in Bill Hybels' book Courageous Leadership.

Accussed of Drunkenness in Eloy, Arizona

Eloy, Arizona is the skydiving capital of America--at least according to the signs. After the Pastor's School in Phoenix, Pastor Jonathan, Erica, Amberly, and I stopped to check out indoor skydiving in a wind tunnel.

We were still on a great spiritual high from the conference and were laughing, joking, and cutting up with each other and the girl behind the counter. Jonathan asked if there was an opening that day. The girl responded, "No. Come back a week from now and don't stop at the bar on the way."

She accussed Jonathan of being drunk! Obviously, they don't see many genuinely happy people in Eloy, Arizona! After he breathed his watermelon-gum tainted breath on her, she agreed that he was not drunk. Still, we were offended enough not to skydive. At least, it was a good excuse. I wasn't too crazy about getting sucked up into a wind tunnel in the middle of the desert, anyway.

Fill in the Blank

Here's a great fill in the blank test to help a person identify his dream.

If I had __________________________________________________.

I would___________________________________________________.

The idea is that if you had anything you wanted--unlimited time, unlimited money, unlimited information, unlimited staff (all the resources you could ask for), what would you do? Your answer to that question is your dream.

The Big Idea from Phoenix

As I reflect back on my trip to Tommy Barnett's Pastor's and Leader's School in Phoenix last week, I come away with one big idea. Here it is: I love being a pastor! Where else can you make such a difference in the lives of people or the life of a city than in the local church. I am convinced more than ever that the local church is the hope of the world.

Our mission is incomparable: to transform people into life giving followers of Christ. I am glad God has allowed me to pastor this great and growing church. Together, we can make a difference in our city.

I hope many of you will come with me next year to Phoenix!

The Automatic Answer

Is your home, church, or business a permission giving organization? Here's the question to help you discover the answer. When someone comes up with a new idea, program, or vision what two words start your answer?

• No, Because...
• Yes, If...

The first answer automatically tells why the new idea won't work and dismisses it out of hand. The second answer gives permission...if certain criteria can be met. A permission giving organization always answers "Yes, if..." This allows creativity to begin to flow in the organization.

So, which one is your church, home, or business?

Living the Prayer Adventure

We're in our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting at Christian Life Assembly. One of our goals is to turn our lives in a prayer adventure. To do that, we're taking advantage of seven different prayer experiments. Why not try one?

1. Begin Your Day in Prayer
2. Pray the Newspaper
3. Pray for Someone or Something Specific
4. Pray for Every Person You Pass
5. Pray the Bible
6. Turn your Thoughts and Emotions into Prayers
7. Finish Your Day in Prayer

Leave a post and let me know how your prayer experiment is going!

Pastor's School Was Great!

It's almost 11 PM in Phoenix and I can barely keep my eyes open. I am as tired as I can be, but Pastor's School was GREAT!

• The worship was extraordinary.
• The vision was amazing.
• Climbing Prayer Mountain was incredible.

I've got video to show at church this Sunday. Don't miss it.

February is a Going to be Cool

I mean that not just because of the weather. Here's some exciting things happening in February:

• Leading a group of 18 pastors/spouses on a trip to the Pastor's School at Phoenix First Assembly, February 6-9.
• Stepping out to The Edge: Christian Life Assembly School of Leaders, starting February 12.
• Launching our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, February 3.
• The Seven Project, February 15.
• Holding our first-ever Secrets to Lasting Relationships Conference, February 24-25

I believe this will be a month of Kingdom expansion. What do you think?

Thursday Book Review: The Jerusalem Diet

I just finished reading Ted Haggard's new book The Jerusalem Diet. Don't let the title throw you--it's a lifestyle approach to food that the author developed in Jerusalem. There is nothing fadish about it--just a great plan for how to get your weight under control and keep it there.

I love it because I love everything Ted Haggard writes, but I love it more because I identify with his description of himself:

--A busy pastor
--Who loves food
--Who lacks self-discipline!

That made sense to me! So far, so good.

We're at Walt Disney World

For Christmas, we got our family a trip to Walt Disney World. We found airfare for $109 per person round trip and a 3-bedroom condo for $59 per night. We're splitting it with Amberly's parents! Think of it $30 per night. I know, I know. There are five of us and two of them. We should pay 5/7, but if they don't ask about it....

We fly back tomorrow. I look forward to seeing everyone Sunday.

We get to Keep the Gravel...For 18 Months

Good news. The Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 to let us keep our gravel parking lot for 18 months as we settle the arbitration with Rochon. Thank you to everyone who prayed for God's favor on these proceedings!

10 Questions Leaders Ask (Part 2)

Here are the next three questions leaders ask:

5. Who's next?
This is the question of administration. Who can be brought onto the team to take it closer to the destination? Who will move the team to the next level?

6. What's new?
This is the question of innovation. Peter Drucker said, "Innovate or die!" We've got to keep changing and moving into new ideas and strategies of ministry.

7. What the atmosphere?
This is the question of culture. The leader is the chief cultural architect of the organization. He sets the pace, but more importantly, he sets the tone. The leader constantly evaluates the atmosphere to make sure the cultural indicators of the organization are moving in the right direction.

We'll make it to number 10 next time.

Ten Questions Leaders Ask (Part 1)

Leaders simply think differently than followers--not necessarily better, just different. Leaders approach life with a series of questions that guide them and their organizations. So, what questions do leaders ask?

1. Where are we going?
This is the question of destination. The leader constantly asks the question that is driven by purpose and mission. What is our target? What is our goal? What is our destination?

2. Where are we now?
This is the question of location. Leaders evaluate their present location in terms of the destination. Are we moving closer to where we want to be. There is an ongoing analysis determined by the mission. In other words, the destination is the template that evaluates the location.

3. How do we get from here to there?
This is the question of navigation. We are at point B, but we want to get to point A. What strategies do we employ? What path do we take? What changes do we make to go from here to there?

4. What's next?
This is the question of implementation. You can't make it to point A in one step, but several. So, the leader is always asking, "What's the next step?" Leaders constantly set their priorities with this question: What next thing can I do to get us closer to the vision?

We'll stop at four for now, but there are more questions leaders always ask on the way.