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!