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!