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Friday Stream of Consciousness – 77

April 19, 2013 — 2 Comments

Here are some things on my mind this Friday:

  • Sorry for the tardiness of this post. I’m at the Catalyst West conference and thus was providentially hindered.
  • If your church doesn’t have a sufficient budget for conferences and continued learning/team building opportunities for your staff…step it up. This is vital to staff chemistry, morale, recalibration, and birthing big ideas.
  • We were informed at the conference that Dallas Willard, who was scheduled to speak, was in the hospital in critical condition. When I heard the news, I was filled with grief. Though I don’t know him personally (though we have met a few times), my life and ministry have been shaped by his writings than those of any other person. I pray a speedy recovery for him.
  • John Ortberg (a good friend of Willard’s who pinch-hit for him) said he once consulted Dallas during a difficult point in his ministry. He asked Dallas Willard what to do. He paused for a bit, and responded, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” That’s a good word.
  • I don’t care what you say, it isn’t a waste to just lick the frosting off of anything.
  • Sometimes, people who seem like they feel very little feel the most.
  • Hearing Jim Collins speak at Catalyst reminded of how much I’ve liked everything he’s ever written. Great by Choice and Good to Great are my two favorites. He said he likes “How the Mighty Fall” best. There is some really good stuff in there as well…
  • Especially the chapter on “Hubris born of success.”
  • I wish I could really play an instrument well. If I could play one instrument well, I’d pick the piano.
  • A close second would be the drums.
  • I have many pacifist friends and readers of this blog…some who have taken to the twittersphere or Facebook urging people not to use inflammatory rhetoric. As you are urging people not to be mean or use ugly rhetoric after the bombings, let’s not make victims of the perpetrators. Jesus used a lot of harsh rhetoric, and I have no doubt some would be reserved for terrorists who murder innocent children and adults. Let people grieve as they must without trying to fix them—and remember who the real victims are. Having said that, encouraging people not to return evil for evil is good.
  • Speaking of pacifism, props to the Dodgers for not beaning anyone in the recent Padres series in retaliation for the Greinke-Quentin incident. Well done.
  • I think John Ortberg may be my favorite preacher alive.
  • At lunch I listening to a ministry job interview going on next to me. The guy doing the selling of the position just said, “I know you may not like _____ (the Sr. Pastor), but that’s not going to be much of a problem.” OH REALLY.
  • Jim Collins said it right here at Catalyst: “Never confuse personality with leadership.”
  • Another pearl from Collins: “In an organization, all problems are ultimately a leadership problem.”
  • There is no way Kobe is retiring. He’ll be back, and so will Phil Jackson.
  • The Pepperdine Lectures are coming in a couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to teach this class. I’ll be talking about the leadership problem in Churches of Christ. Pepperdine is always one of my favorite weeks of the year.
  • As I typed that, Rainn Wilson (aka, Dwight Schrute), just encouraged us all to spend our entertainment dollars on good, moral entertainment instead of dirty stuff if we want to see more high quality stuff come out of Hollywood. Thanks, Dwight!
  • At Catalyst, we watched exclusive clips of a new movie on Noah starring Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and others that’s in production. They look really good.
  • We all need to laugh more.

What’s on your mind this Friday?

In Church Growth, Church Staffing, Church Strategy, Current Affairs, Film, Leadership, Personal, Religion, Sports , , , , , ,
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stream of consciousness

Friday Stream of Consciousness – 75

April 5, 2013 — 4 Comments

Here are some things on my mind this Friday morning:

•This week at New Vintage Church we start a new series on prayer. I love preaching on prayer for three reasons: 1) Prayer’s power and essentiality for life with God, 2) It forces me to examine my prayer life in great detail, 3) It always strikes me how Western and achievement-oriented our vision of prayer is.

•I’ve blogged rather modestly this week…and over the last few. The reason: I haven’t had a lot to say. I vowed to myself when I started the blog five years ago I wouldn’t just fill the blogosphere with stuff just to do so–so I post when there’s something to say, or I re-post something that might be found helpful in revised form. We live in a dust-storm of useless “5 Ways to…” lists and relatively shallow stuff. There is certainly some good stuff out there–I just don’t want to add to the dust storm of weak verbiage.

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In Christianity, Church Growth, Family Life, Leadership, New Vintage Church, Personal, Spiritual Formation, Sports, Stewardship , , ,
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stream of consciousness

Friday Stream of Consciousness – 72

March 15, 2013 — 3 Comments

Here are some things on my mind this Friday morning:

  • I watched Gladiator while I was in Indianapolis earlier this week. It’s my favorite movie of all time. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is ridiculously great. “AM I NOT MERCIFUL????????” Awesome.
  • After a life of fanhood, I left the Denver Broncos for the San Diego Chargers upon the firing of Mike Shanahan. Since then, the Broncos have done everything they can to make me think that was a huge mistake.
  • I’ve come down with what I believe to be a sinus infection/cold/bronchial thing. I hate this kind of sickness because it tends to hang on to me for weeks. I would highly prefer 72 hours of good old barfing. How about you? A month of bronchitis or 72 hours of stomach illness?
  • What kind of question is that?
  • The installation of a new Pope this week has me thinking: how “sinless” should a church leader be?
  • Is there a point at which a fallen church leader has permanently disqualified his/herself from ministry?
  • If so, on what grounds? It would seem David’s murder and adultery 1-2 punch would’ve done the trick if anything. Nevertheless, David remained king and God used him for the rest of his life.
  • But surely, people must trust that a person in leadership is striving to live a Christ-like life–and see more than just striving. How do we mark that line? I believe one exists–but where is it?
  • Am I the only pumped that there’s going to be a Dumb and Dumber sequel with Carrey and Daniels?
  • Rob Bell has a new book out: What We Talk About When We Talk About God. I’ll read it and offer some thoughts on the blog. I don’t plan to do so as extensively as I did for Love Wins, but I’ll offer some thoughts when I have them. I love Rob Bell as a communicator and hold out hope for this book–though the early reviews are placing it theologically between Love Wins and mainstream evangelicalism.
  • When we talk about getting members of the congregation “involved,” what do we mean? Do we mean attend what’s on the church calendar, be involved in serving, or something else?
  • In my experience, some churches mean never let one person do anything for too long. This is a mistake if no one else is gifted for it. If we let Paul’s illustration of the Body rule the day, the Body can see better with four eyes than one. However, it goes blind when it tries to see with its elbow.
  • One common trait of plateaued or declining churches is a misunderstanding of spiritual gifts, involvement, and proper functioning of the Body. There is good reason we don’t let people sign up to be an elder. The same logic should be applied to other aspects of ministry–while leaving room for people to experiment and make some mistakes along the way.
  • I’m really enjoying coaching girls softball this year. I’m trying to be a good coach–and the measure of such is not just wins and losses. Virtually anyone can win with a team of all-stars. Who can win with an average team? Or, better put, who can get them to play together, and help everyone on the team get better–especially the struggling player?
  • Great coaches build units of players that get better simultaneously. They leaven the whole batch of dough. That’s what I’m shooting for. Now whether we get there or not, we shall see :)
  • The same is true of great church staff leaders–whether it’s you or someone you serve with. Work with a great church leader for long enough, and your ministry will rise as well.
  • Preaching wisdom from Randy Harris this week at the National Preaching Summit: “Take what the text gives you.”

What’s on your mind this Friday morning?

In Christianity, Film, Leadership, Personal, Productivity, Sports, Theology , , , , , ,
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stream of consciousness

Friday Stream of Consciouness – 71

March 8, 2013 — 4 Comments

Here are some things on my mind this Friday:

  • So thrilled Baby Faith (an NVC baby born with Hydrops) is still fighting and the mortality projection has really dropped. If you’re looking for a story of faith that will inspire you, check out the “Have Faith” Facebook page. The story is even more precious beyond the Facebook page. Greg, Chelsea, and Faith are amazing!
  • I fear the church planting model used by the bulk (not all) of church planting agencies is not sustainable. If there was in fact a world-wide movement toward church planting, we couldn’t afford it.
  • It’s also too slow.
  • One of the worst things that could happen to a new church starter would be to have abundant support provided at no cost to them personally. At the very least, they ought to have to personally raise significant funds. Not only will it create even deeper ownership in the planter–it will train them in a skill they must possess when launching and sustaining a new church.
  • Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus are getting weirder by the day. As a man with three young daughters…this is tricky. There’s virtually no way to avoid them–especially Biebs.
  • I’m reading Ron Highfield’s God, Freedom, and Human Dignity. LOVING IT.
  • A quote from early in the book I’m still thinking about: “Idolatry does not challenge our innate self-centeredness; rather its main goal is to extend our control over our lives by a kind of religious management of the divine.”
  • When it comes to the issue of gay marriage, why is it OK to boycott, railroad, blackball, and slur those who oppose gay marriage and not OK to discriminate against homosexuals? I’m not a fan of either, personally. However, this seems a worthwhile question: You who say, “Thou shalt not discriminateth, do you discriminateth?”
  • A lyric from Lecrae’s song, Gravity: “Somebody told me there was no such thing as truth
    I said, “If that’s the case then why should I believe you?” Not bad for a rapper :)
  • Rap has long had some of the deepest lyrics many Christians have never heard because its……. rap. That’s a shame.
  • I was born and raised in one of rap’s capitals (Long Beach, CA), and went to High School with Snoop Dogg (literally, I did). Accordingly, I bet many of you didn’t know I love rap–especially 80s and 90s rap.
  • Most Christian rap is no bueno. However, Lecrae–bueno.
  • I’ll let the shock of those last two points subside…
  • I’m looking forward to speaking at the National Preaching Summit in Indianapolis this coming week. This is one of those “under the radar” seminars that’s in it’s ninth year. It’s all about the practical side of preaching. Randy Harris, Rick Stedman, Mark Moore, Jack Cottrell, and others will be there. If you can get to Indy, it’s short, but sweet–and inexpensive. More information can be found here.
  • Is it me, or does nearly every Scott Boras client bring drama or have some slime on them. Big shocker.
  • Earlier this week, I tweeted, with widespread agreement: “Perhaps North Korea’s nuclear threat against us is an appropriate response to us forcing Dennis Rodman on them.” Who thought that was a good idea?
  • Can we all admit we’re at least mildly happy to watch the Yankees melting away like the Wicked Witch of the East?
  • Girl Scout cookie season is over. I’ll pay top dollar for any Thin Mints reserves you may have.

What’s on your mind this Friday morning?

In Books, Christianity, Church Planting, Current Affairs, Family Life, Personal, Preaching, Sports, Theology , , , , , , ,
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stream of consciousness

Friday Stream of Consciousness – 67

February 8, 2013 — 4 Comments

Here are some things on my mind this Friday morning:

  • I fear the game Monopoly may have finally jumped the shark. They have replaced the iron (the piece I’ve always used) with a cat. What a horrible trade. Is it because cat-lovers are such a powerful activist lobby, or because no one knows what an iron is anymore?
  • I guess I should say something about the Super Bowl. If the Ravens lost, it would have been scandal. Even though the Niners fought back valiantly, it would’ve been tainted outside of San Francisco.
  • Everyone on radio it seems to be all upset about Texas governor Rick Perry running ads in California trying to lure companies to go to Texas. It’s good to see Californians trying to have some state pride. However, I heard as Californians were attempting to muster some state pride, California voted that all wanting to have state pride get a permit to do so and pay a “state pride” tax, as well.
  • In all seriousness–this state is dysfunctional as all get out…but I love it. I’ve lived in Texas too, and it’s great for a different set of reasons.
  • So, there was no reason for the guy who did so to call up and argue Texas beaches are better than California beaches. I almost crashed my car. Sorry, Brother.
  • The syringe-filled, brown waters of Kima or Galveston aren’t Pebble Beach or Coronado.
  • However, as I mentioned, I love me some Texas–so, put down your pitchforks.
  • It’s amazing to me how many church leaders are terrified when another church grows in their city or a huge church adds another campus there. Don’t compare or be afraid. Welcome them. Be the best “you” you can be, and rejoice there are more Christians nearby to reach your community. It’s a win for the Kingdom.
  • The 10-and-under girls softball team I’m coaching is beginning to come together. We are a young, distracted, squirrely team. But, we have that freakish, “We’re gonna win some games” look about us. Our team name is “Moneyball.”
  • Speaking of Moneyball, how great was that movie?
  • Of interest to those wondering about the decline in acappella Churches of Christ, James Nored (a great guy a great thinker) has some interesting thoughts on Why Churches of Christ are in Decline. My own belief is most of it stems from dysfunctional leadership (in paradigm and functioning)–which births the other ills. I’d love to know what you think.
  • A group of men have been playing a game of tag for 23 years. I love it. Maybe we should start our own. If you ask me, our society could use a little juvenile fun that doesn’t involve a screen.
  • USC is one more 7-6 season away from a decade of them if they’re not careful.
  • Downton Abbey haters have never seen the show.
  • ShilohBaseballThis baseball was found in Shiloh, Tennesee. It’s from 1862. If I had lots of money, I would totally buy it.
  • Pitchers and catchers will be reporting in a matter of days. Aaaaaahhhhh…the good season is nearly upon us.
  • Find a really good fiction book and read it this week. I’m going to!

 

In Christianity, Church Growth, Church Strategy, Current Affairs, Family Life, Leadership, Personal, Productivity, Sports , , , , , ,
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