Right People, Right Place, Right Plan

Read 106 pages of a new book yesterday by an author I've never read before. It's Jentezen Franklin--Right People, Right Place, Right Plan. It's about discerning the voice of God. In my prayer time today, I focused on allowing the Holy Spirit to connect with my spirit in five ways:

1. Asking God to stir my spirit--give me a holy discontent for the lost, for ministry, for the church.
2. Asking God to lead me by my spirit--to follow the gentle nudgings of the Holy Spirit throughout the day.
3. Asking God to put help me purpose in my spirit--not just decide things in my mind, but purpose eternal things in my spirit.
4. Asking God to compel me by his spirit--to so bind me to his will for my life that I don't want to and can't break free from it.
5. Asking God to give me peace in my spirit--we make tons of decisions everyday. I need peace in my spirit t show me the right decisions.

He said something I have believed for a long time, "Just because a door is wide open, it doesn't mean you are supposed to walk through it. This is where you need the Holy Spirit's guidance." Wow. What a thought.

Powerful e2 Conference

This year's e2 Conference was over the top. We had record attendance from pastors across the state and Mark Batterson really challenged us to be lion chasers. John Palmer opened up his heart and shared with raw authenticity about "Mistakes I've Made and Lessons I'm Learning." It was powerful. Thank you to these two men for hearing for equipping and encouraging the Iowa Ministry Network.

God at the Box Office--Starting This Sunday

We launch a brand new message series this Sunday--God at the Box Office. The stained glass window of the 19th century has been replaced by the movie screen of the 21st century? Is there any room for God at the Box Office? What are the questions popular movies are asking and answering and what does the Bible have to say about those questions. We'll take a look at four movies starting this Sunday:

• Sunday, September 23 Star Wars


• Sunday, September 30 Transformers


• Sunday, October 7 Walt Disney's Meet the Robinsons


• Sunday, October 14 Pirates of the Caribbean

See you at the box office!

Worship at the River

Join us this Sunday for Worship at the River at the Simon Estes Amphitheater in downtown Des Moines. Don't forget to bring a lawn chair or blanket. Childcare is available in the Potomac Room in the Embassy Suites Hotel, adjacent to the amphitheater.

It's going to be a fun service with new music, drama, and the message--Cross that River.

See You There.

Creating Culture

I'm reading an interesting new book called By Design or Default: Creating a Church Culture that Works. Of course, the principles can apply to any home or business as well. Here are four insights about church culture--whether created by design or default:

• Your culture is your packaging and presentation of the Gospel
• Culture determines who attends your church
• Whatever a culture is--it grows.
• A created culture is always evolving

In a different chapter, he talks about becoming a culture-creating leader. There he gives six practices of culture-creating leaders:

• Serve with humility.
• Endorse God's plan of abundant life.
• Exude a high value on individuals.
• Set an example of excellence.
• Proclaim that God is faithful.
• Communicate the life giving nature of God.

Barthalow Blog

Here's the link for the Barthalow blog to find out what's happening in India. There are some cool pictures. I talked to Jonathan last week and he's doing great--facing the normal challenges of culture shock with monkeys on the roof, ants in the bed, no water for days, and a 20 minute hike from your house to a car. I have an even greater respect for missionaries after talking with him.

Here's the link. You can only look--you can't post responses. Or, at least, I couldn't figure out how.

http://web.mac.com/barthalowsinindia/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

General Council Report

Here's the update from General Coucil. Our slate of officers looks like this:

General Superintendent--Dr. George Wood (new)
Assistant General Superintendent--Rev. Alton Garrison (new)
General Secretary--Rev. John Palmer (new)
General Treasurer--Rev. James Bridges (not up for re-election at this council)
World Mission--Rev. John Bueno (returned to office)
US Missions--Rev. Zollie Smith (new)

There were a couple of intersting facts in this list of officers:

Zollie Smith is the first African-American to be elected as an officer.
Dr. George O. Wood is first person with an earned doctorate to be elected superintendent.
John Palmer is the second officer to have pastored First Assembly in Des Moines (Charles Crabtree was the other).

Gone on a Jet Plane

I talked with Pastor Jonathan Barthalow just a few minutes before they boarded a flight to Newark, New Jersey and then on to India yesterday afternoon.. They are really excited about this next step of missionary service. A lady from the church in Memphis rented them a limo so they could ride to the airport in style. I'm so proud of how they are following the Lord's will for their lives. They should be landing in India in any minute now.

Quote of the Week

Here's the quote of the week--"The world is wide; and I will not waste my life in friction when it can be turned into momentum." (Frances Willard)

What a great idea--life is too short to be lived in friction with everyone and everything around us--let's turn that friction into momentum and move the agenda of the Kingdom forward in our lifetime.

Nice Post by Mark Batterson at Future A/G

Here was an interesting post by Mark Batterson at www.futureag.blogspot.com:

Here are ten characteristics I'm looking for:

1) Spiritual intensity--a raw heart for God
2) Non-conformist--appreciates our history but also challenges the Status Quo
3) Doesn't just speak in AG cliches--fresh thoughts and fresh methods
4) Imagination--more concerned about creating the future than repeating the past.
5) Contexual Intelligence--keen ability to understand the times ala the Tribe of Isachaar.
6) Proven track record of pastoral leadership--someone who's been there and done that.
7) Humor--someone who can laugh at themselves
8) Neotenic--young at heart regardless of age
9) Innovator--believes that there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.
10) Missional--huge heart for missions and church planting.

Future AG Blog

As some of you might know, the future of the Assemblies of God will be dramatically impacted in just three weeks as we cast ballots for the offices of general superintendent, assistant general superintendent, general secretary, and executive director of world missions. There is a unique blog that asks what characteristics should be looked for in a leader for our movement. It's a pretty cool way to dialogue about the future.

Take a look at http://futureag.blogspot.com/.

Men of Steel: Champions Tour

The second week of the Men of Steel: Champions Tour was just as phenomenal as the first. We have four small groups of guys that meet together each Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM. We eat a little breakfast, hear a talk, and then get coached in our small groups. The lessons come from the book Who Wants to Be a Champion by NBA executive Pat Williams. It's great stuff--all wrapped up by 7.30 AM.

Today's lesson was about speaking the right kinds of words. It challenged us to go 90 days without any negative words coming out of our mouths. What a challenge! I think I'm going to take the challenge and see what happens.

Spiritual on Your Own?

We talked about fusing brotherly kindness with our faith yesterday. I am more convinced than ever that you can't be spiritual by yourself. It's in the context of relationshps--particularly a marriage and family--that my spirituality gets worked out into my life. It's easy to be spiritual in a cave by yourself, alone with God. It gets harder when you throw people into the mix. People who disagree with you. People different from you. People who disappoint you.

I'm convinced we can build healthy relationships that spur one another on to real spiritual growth.

LIke a Lobster

Yesterday, Amberly, the kids, and I went to Valley View Aquatic Center. It was a blast. Four water slides, two pools, and a lazy river. I used SPF 50 Sunblock--but it didn't block. Red as a lobster, but it was a fun, four hours with the family.

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!