Dick Hardy is in the Blogsosphere

My good friend Dick Hardy of the Hardy Group is blogging. Check out what he has to say at www.dickhardy.blogspot.com.

I LOVE America!

I can't wait for I Love America this Sunday at 10 AM. We finished our final planning meeting for the service. The final part of the service is a drama depicting how Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem. It is powerful. It combines live drama, multi-media, and, of course, the national anthem. I literally wept as we listened to the story. It is powerful. I'm so thankful for the men and women who have given their lives to serve the rest of us. That reminds me of another song we're doing--Freedom isn't Free.

Sunday Recap

What a great summer Sunday service we had yesterday. If you missed it, let me recap the four principles of perseverance:

1. The start is always exciting.
2. Exits come early and often.
3. You're don't finished until you say so.
4. If you don't quit, you can't lose!

This Sunday is our special "I Love America" presentation. It's going to be great! We'll keep the Fusion series going for two more weeks, including this Sunday.

Build the tracks!

Do you know why we don't have a train running through any of the 40 acres our church owns? It's really not that hard of an answer. No train comes through because there are no tracks!

If you want the train, you've got to build the tracks. Trains only go where there are tracks. The idea came to me during a meeting with a team member. I kept asking why we didn't have certain things happening that I had asked about for weeks--even months. It's not that he didn't want it to happen. It wasn't that he didn't have the skill or personnel to make it happen. There just weren't any tracks. There was no system in place to make it happen. If you want the train to come to town--you've got to build the tracks.

If you want a great marriage--build the tracks of communication, dating, etc.

If you want to create a great worship experience, you've got to build the right tracks.

If you want a train, build the tracks for it to run on. Simple, but sure helped us.

Get a Reality Statement

I read of an interesting idea in a report by the Gallop Organization. It talked about how many businesses and organizations have a vision statement, but most don't have a reality statement. The reality statement defines exactly where they are at the present and what it's going to cost to get to the vision.

It kind of goes along with the idea of orienting toward truth included in Henry Cloud's excellent book Integrity. You've got to know where you are before you can get where you're going. Too often, we live in the fantasy world of the vision, instead of the real world.

Reminds me of what Warren Bennis says, "The first priority of the leader is to define reality." Pretty good thought, uh? It's like when I was lost in Boston. I had a vision for where I wanted to go, but since I had no idea where I was...it was awful hard to figure out how to get there.

Kansas City....There I Went

Amberly and I drove to Kansas City to pick up her grandmother and aunt from Oklahoma at the airport. Wouldn't it be great if Southwest flew into Des Moines so we didn't have to do that 2.5 hour drive. It's great to have them here for a visit.

Her aunt asked, "What do you do when somebody yells 'Preach on' during the sermon." I told her we were too far north for that to happen!

A Just as Scary Thought

I've been thinking about the quote a couple of posts ago--Most Christians are a major tragedy away from giving up on their faith. I think it's true. Here's an even scarier thought--Many Christians are a minor inconvenience away from giving up their faith, or at least their church. If something goes wrong in a relationship, if the worship music isn't right, if someone doesn't call them back then they can easily give up church altogether. How do we build more commitment into the hearts of people?

FUSION Series Off to Great Start

We've had two great services the last two weeks with the launch of the new FUSION message series. We're talking about fusing seven qualities with our faith to release a new energy in our lives. So far, we've looked at goodness and knowledge. Sunday, we're taking a look at the idea of self-leadership. It should be good. I look forward to seeing you there.

What is Leadership?

Here are a couple of definitions for leadership. Do they seem to fit? What are they missing?

Robert Greenleaf
"The essence of leadership is the desire to serve one another and to serve something beyond ourselves."

Bill Thrall
"Leadership is influencing others. When one life touches another--in a family, community, organization or culture--the effect is called influence."

Joseph Jawarski
"Leadership is about the release of human possibilities."

Bobb Biehl
"Leadership is knowing what to do next, why it is important, and bringing the necessary resources to bear on the need at hand."

How does this definition change if it is for "redemptive" leadership?