THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING BIGGER.

name above all names

2009-05-07T21:16:00.002-06:00

A few years back I was with a good friend and mentor at a weekend retreat in the rockies and the band there was a band from a community outreach from San Francisco's tenderloin district. The lead began to tell a story of how they often do prayer walks around the city and recently they have been gathering with homeless, middle class, rich, whoever around the district and just saying the name of Jesus...at first my friend and I both looked at each other and were like "that's kinda dumb, you are just standing around saying Jesus' name" and as soon as we got that out he made the statement - "though this may seem silly we really believe that Jesus name is the most powerful name and that his name alone cast out oppression and the forces of evil". I stood amazed and convicted. I was reminded of this today, as believers we are a part of something supernatural, I know that its not practical but Jesus did not call me to be practical he called me live by faith not by sight and that is supernatural. As I live by faith I believe that Jesus name really is something incredible and it is even more incredible that he loves me enough to let me say his name.

learning

2009-01-30T07:13:00.002-06:00

So here I am sitting in the offices of the Journey Manhattan. I am here to learn and see what God is doing in the city, I am pretty pumped. Something about this place just makes me start to think about leadership and all its faces. I am not the greatest leader in the world but I am distinct in the style in which I feel I best use what leadership gifts God has given me. I have been hanging in Nashville with Eddie at Cumberland Church, this guy is legit, I can't really get into all the details on the blog but I have rarely if ever been challenged by a leader that is so willing to listen and be humble. There is not an arrogant bone in him and I have seen his willingness to do whatever it takes and to think through whatever it takes to see God's kingdom move forward. All that to say that I have learned a great deal over the last month and am excited about serving alongside him in the coming season. What I have learned is that passive leadership is a freaking joke....let me put it this way, I used to think being humble was being passive, being positive was being Godly but from Eddie and I am pretty sure that I will see here at the Journey that being realistic is fruitful and often times comes across as negative, but most of the time "positive" people positively suck at evaluating a situation much less doing anything about it. Don't get me wrong, Eddie is probably the best I've seen in a while at taking the best from a situation but that is very different than being unrealistically positive. I am learning that 95% of being a leader is hard work, for example, I hung out with this guy Mark this morning and we drove all over new york to load granola bars into vans for a servant evangelism effort, not flashy, its just hard work, but while stacking boxes I listened to this guys heart and watched him work hard and realized that he is a guy worth following, not because of what he said or his "ministry philosophy" or witty jargon but because he worked hard. Unfortunately I have been around people who don't work hard in the last few years and at times have been guilty of that, I believe now that the only thing that is really healthy to dictate in the form of top down leadership is hard work, if the man in charge does not set the example in work ethic then the rest of the team will suffer, right? I am really in this cool leadership learning process where I am learning that sometimes I talk too much and sometimes I don't say enough, sometimes I work in vain and sometimes I dont work enough...I am sure that God is trying to teach me balance and trying to break me out of the ridiculous 80/20 rule that I heard from a guy who sits in an office all day like a fortune 500 CEO, I am not a fortune 500 CEO nor do I believe that the church should operate like one, so I am going to stop reading Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell for now and I am gonna start reading the Gospels again and see if I can learn how to lead like those cats did. Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell are great men who teach a lot we can all learn from but they are not trying to live out "thy kingdom come, thy will be done"....thats not fancy but its freaking awesome and difficult.

Thoughts?

Top Ten

2008-12-10T01:04:00.002-06:00

Here are my top 10 flicks in the last couple years:

No Country for Old Men
Dark Knight
The Departed
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
Michael Clayton
Gone Baby Gone
Transformers
Bourne Supremacy
Live Free or Die Hard

Election 2009

2008-11-05T21:13:00.003-06:00

So I have had a few phone calls today where people were asking what do you think about the election. I think this......its over. I have never seen all these note writing folks write notes about loving their neighbor or about reaching the unreached so I think that all this election spirituality is people trying to feel better about themselves not really being connected to the mission of Jesus. Read Driscoll's blog.....

http://www.theresurgence.com/in_god_we_do_not_trust

feel good about that.

RB

standing trial

2008-10-29T22:48:00.003-06:00

So tonight I was reading multiple accounts in Acts where Peter and John stood trial before the Jewish High Priest and I began to think about how they were speaking. Not necessarily what they were saying but more, How they were saying it. I then tried to put this situation in a modern day context. I imagine a hot, tense and emotionally violent room that has the 10 commandments posted behind the committee that is seated elevated and looking down on the accused. The committee is full of over weight kentucky fried Southern Baptist deacons that have been doing the same thing for their whole life and have not really given much thought to whether it was right or wrong or somewhere in between. On trial is a late twenties youth minister who has seen exciting and life breathing ministry and sits in his office all day reading driscoll and listening to chandler wondering when he is gonna get his chance. He read a book called "why revival tarries" by leonard ravenhill and decided that the best thing for his students was to venture out of the regular wednesday night schedule of :

1 game with a giveaway
3 Chris Tomlin songs played by a mediocre guitarists and some tracks off NP music.
20 minute sermon on why the students should not drink beer and that they should invite their friends.
1 invitation that he has to manipulate a little in order to keep his baptism quota headed in the right direction so he doesn't get called into the pastor's office.

and venture into 6 weeks of Jesus. Looking at pictures of Jesus, watching movies about Jesus but most importantly standing and reading the story of Jesus. He starts in Matthew 1 with a preface of how Matthew 1 really begins back in Genesis 3:15 so he takes most of the first night explaining how The Promised One got to be The Promised One....

In this series he does not explain anything with his feeble language he just reads it the way it is written for 20 minutes, gets as far as he can and then he prays asking the Holy Spirit to turn the truth over in the lives of his students until they get it. As the 6 weeks goes by he is applauded for his commitment to the bible and encouraged for thinking "outside the box".

But at the end of 6 weeks his student's are not any different than they were. They are not acting justly and they are not walking wisely. They are showing up but their lives don't look like Jesus. So Thursday morning after the last week of reading Matthew he sits in his office and prays/thinks long and hard about what he should do. He decides that the right thing is to do it again. Read the story of Jesus in Matthew and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only he can. So he does. Then he does it again. And after 18 weeks of reading Matthew he finds himself in the "courtroom" standing before Col Sanders and his infinite church growth wisdom.

Col. Sanders: Son, we applaud your love for the students and your love for the word but we think it is time to go back to the old format, students are getting bored and starting to go to young life down the road where they can play four square and texas hold em.

Young Minister: Students are getting bored because they don't love Jesus and thus don't love his word.

Col. Sanders: My son is in your youth group, do you think he does not love Jesus?

Young Minister: Do you?

Col Sanders: My son is a good kid, he does not get in trouble and he comes to church all the time.

Young Minister: Do you think that your son loves Jesus?

Col Sanders: I think he loves Jesus as much as anyone else does.

Young Mininster: Well Colonel, I believe that Jesus said that if we are to come after him we have to leave all that we know and follow him. I believe that Jesus really is the Son of God and he wants a lot more than for us to show up, he wants us to believe and act on that belief, he wants us to know that he is all that is good and not be like everybody else but be like him. I believe that Jesus say if we are in him that we will bear much fruit. Do you think your son is like Jesus or like you?

Col Sanders: This is not about me, this is about you not wanting to connect with my son and his friends.

Young Minister: I want your son and his friends to connect with Jesus, If they connect with me in the process that is fantastic but that is not goal number 1.

Col Sanders: Son, I think that you need to think real long and hard before you answer this next question:::: Are you going to keep doing what you have been doing or are you gonna switch back to what the student's enjoyed?

before the young minister can answer a pudgy little 7th grade girl stands up in the back of the room as her father grabs her arm and tell her to sit, she pulls away and grabs a red bible from the pew in front of her and holds it close to her tummy and says while looking at Col Sanders in the face:

I don't think you should judge or one day you could get judged. I mean don't you think that you do bad stuff? What is somebody one day calls you out for doing something you think is right? What about right now, can you name 1 thing that you are doing that is wrong, if so why are you trying to find the wrong stuff about him? Don't you think you need to leave him alone and maybe think about you and yours, I know your son, he could use you thinking about him."

Col Sanders: I don't think what your talking about is what we are dealing with here, I think he is the one that is here to face change, what you said is sweet and its nice that you are taking up for him but right now you need to let the adults handle this, sit down sweetie.

Little Girl: well, i would but i just want to correct you on one thing, I didn't say this, Jesus did in the beginning of Matthew 7.

At this point the young minister sits down and begins to cry because the truth had taken hold of one little girl and that meant that his effort was not in vain and that the Holy Spirit again had been faithful to produce fruit. Col Sanders stammered a little trying to break the gut wrenching silence that had befallen on the crowd gathered there. He dismissed the young minister and called a closed session for deacons to consider the best course of action for the youth ministry of their church.

Know this does not exactly match up with the extremity of Peter and Johns situation but it helps their situation make a little more sense to me.

the meaning of the statement

2008-10-16T23:11:00.003-06:00

I often use the statement "It is what it is", and so I thought I would clarify what exactly this means to all you people who use it and don't really understand the power of the statement. It is complex and deep, simply put "it is what it is". It means that whatever the topic up for consideration is strong enough to stand alone. It is most commonly appropriate in conversation that revolves around people who don't understand something about a situation. For example,

person: I don't understand how ___________ has any friends, they are socially awkward and people don't connect with them at all, it seems that they get a pass because the good christian thing to do is to be nice to everyone"

me: thats a great question but at the end of the day it is what it is.

or

person: What is the deal with people who are really fat that just keep eating crap?

me: I don't know, you would think they would put down the fork but it is what it is.

or

person: Why do people go to churches that are boring but stay there because they have always gone there?

me: At the end of the day they are more interested in maintaning the status quo than they are in the advancement of God's kingdom. (this doesn't have anything to do with the topic at hand but its still true)

or

person: What is up with people who think they are good at doing something but they really are only good at copying what someone else is doing?

me: not really sure but it is everywhere and everyone seems to be okay with it so I guess it is what it is.

hope that helps clear up the right way to use the statement!

Daddy's should protect their daughters. This guy is the man!

2008-10-02T09:05:00.000-06:00

NDIANAPOLIS — A convicted sex offender died Sunday during a struggle with a father who found the naked man in or near his 17-year-old daughter's bedroom, police said.

Police responding to a call from the city's northwest side about 3:20 a.m. found 64-year-old Robert McNally on the hallway floor with his arm around the neck of 52-year-old David T. Meyers, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Mount said Meyers had a heart condition and may have had a heart attack. An autopsy was planned.

Police said Meyers was naked except for a mask and latex gloves and had entered the home through a window near the girl's bedroom with rope, condoms and a knife. He was familiar with the home's layout because it belonged to a relative, police said.

The girl awoke and screamed when she saw the man in her room, police said. The father responded and struggled with the intruder while the girl's mother phoned 911.

Police did not anticipate any charges against McNally.

"If a person breaks into your home, you are justified in using deadly force in defending your family," said Mount. "In this situation, I don't think he was trying to kill him, he was trying to hold him down."

Meyers had served 10 years in prison for criminal confinement and sexual deviate conduct and was wanted in Boone County for failure to register as a sex offender. He was registered as a sex offender in Marion County.

Police said Meyers lived with his mother and had recently lost his job.

The death is under investigation and will be reviewed by a Marion County prosecutor.

Barack Obama

2008-09-28T22:29:00.002-06:00

Now I know that politics is a touchy subject and I have been studying up on both candidates and while neither is perfect and I don't think Barack is the Anti Christ the amount that he flip flops is pretty unsettling:

Here are some places that Barack has shown MAJOR changes in his word:

1. October of 07 "no longer wearing american flag pin" declaring that he wasn't in support of america's action.....yet he puts it back on when he starts campaigning for public financing and then 2 months later when he makes no money on public financing he comes out and declares that he is not going to support any action for public financing when he had been pursuing public financing to no avail.

2. Jeremiah Wright: Wright's explosive remarks lead Obama to say "can't disown him because he is family" 2 press conferences "I am withdrawing as a member of Wright's church"

3. Obama promised to immediately withdraw troops claiming to "bring this war to an end in 2009".....2 months later "the pace of this withdraw will be dictated by the safety of our troops and accomplishment on the ground no matter how long it takes"

4. He is star supporter of Gun restrictions and then supreme court shoots down gun ban and he says "supreme court was right and that each person has a right to own and bear arms"

5. In an effort to gain momentum with evangelicals he supports faith based initiative of Bush administration yet last month he spoke out against tax breaks for non profits.

6. June 08 he votes for new fiza bill which exempts government from lawsuits for wire taps....Until this point he states " I will always stand against immunity for government for what I believe to be an invasion of privacy"

7. Told ammerican israeli alliance that Israel "will not be divided"...less than 24 hrs later....."obviously its up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. Jerusalem will be a part of these negotiations. I believe that it will be very difficult to execute."

8. Promised to meet with leaders of terrorist nations without preconditions, 3 months later "I will only meet with Iranian leaders if it advances interest of U.S."

9. NAFTA- pledged to renogotiate Nafta and possibly opt out. Fortune magazine interview "I don't plan to reopen Nafta agreement".

Here is Obama's reasoning for the flip flop. "I think that sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified. Politicians are always guilty of than and I don't expempt myself." Well, I guess that if everyone is guilty it makes it okay.

Sheesh. Open your eyes people.

tv shows

2008-09-23T22:31:00.002-06:00

TV has come so far that now one can enjoy a tv show as much as a movie. I have to say that I am a tivo king and watch a good bit of tv after the wife goes to bed. Some shows are good for tv sake others are creatively genius and very inspiring to thought and the creative process. Here are some shows that I recommend in no certain order:

Sons of Anarchy - FX
House
Fringe
LOST - best show in my life time
Heroes
Deadliest catch
Prison Break
24 - hopefully this season won't be gay
the shield - i need to catch up but the lead in this show is insanely good.
The mentalist - new show but it has some promise
The Office - you have no wit if you don't think this show is funny
Arrested Development - i have been watching this online and it is probably the most underrated show ever
Grey's Anatomy - the writers are pretty impressive

I have recently discussed great movies with people and I always come back to "No country for old men". This movie is perfectly executed and has the best performances outside of "the departed" in the last few years. People don't understand the movie becuase they are not looking beyond what is on screen. The whole point is that good and evil are constants in the world and there are 3 types of people, 1. Evil 2. Good. 3. people who are stuck in the middle. Everybody that is frustrated by this movie wants everything to be black and white and they are most likely people who balance their checkbook and have a planner. The truth is that the practical world is gray not black and white and there are some things that we can not explain and there are some that are obvious. This movie is Tommy Lee Jones' life acheivement, there is a scene where he talks to a retired deputy in a run down house with a bunch of cats around and it goes like this

TLJ:
"I guess I figured that when I got old God would some how just come into my life and he didn't, I don't blame him, I'd have the same opinion of me if I was him"

Deputy:
"you don't know what he thinks

TLJ:
yes i do.

Great scene......think about that junk for a minute. Here is the dialogue from what I would consider to be the best dialogue driven scene in any movie ever:

Chigurh stands at the counter across from the elderly proprietor. He
holds up a bag of cashews.

19

Chigurh
How much?

Proprietor
Sixty-nine cent.

Chigurh
This. And the gas.

Proprietor
Y'all getting any rain up your way?

Chigurh
What way would that be?

Proprietor
I seen you was from Dallas.

Chigurh tears open the bag of cashews and pours a few into his hand.

Chigurh
What business is it of yours where I'm
from, friendo?

Proprietor
I didn't mean nothin by it.

Chigurh
Didn't mean nothin.

Proprietor
I was just passin the time.

Chigurh
I guess that passes for manners in your
cracker view of things.

A beat.

Proprietor
Well sir I apologize. If you don't wanna
accept that I don't know what else I can
do for you.

Chigurh stands chewing cashews, staring while the old man works the
register and puts change on the counter.

20

...Will there be somethin else?

Chigurh
I don't know. Will there?

Beat.

The proprietor turns and coughs. Chigurh stares.

Proprietor
Is somethin wrong?

Chigurh
With what?

Proprietor
With anything?

Chigurh
Is that what you're asking me? Is there
something wrong with anything?

The proprietor looks at him, uncomfortable, looks away.

Proprietor
Will there be anything else?

Chigurh
You already asked me that.

Proprietor
Well... I need to see about closin.

Chigurh
See about closing.

Proprietor
Yessir.

Chigurh
What time do you close?

Proprietor
Now. We close now.

21

Chigurh
Now is not a time. What time do you
close.

Proprietor
Generally around dark. At dark.

Chigurh stares, slowly chewing.

Chigurh
You don't know what you're talking
about, do you?

Proprietor
Sir?

Chigurh
I said you don't know what you're
talking about.

Chigurh chews.

...What time do you go to bed.

Proprietor
Sir?

Chigurh
You're a bit deaf, aren't you? I said
what time do you go to bed.

Proprietor
Well...

A pause.

...I'd say around nine-thirty. Some-
where around nine-thirty.

Chigurh
I could come back then.

Proprietor
Why would you be comin back? We'll be
closed.

Chigurh
You said that.

22

He continues to stare, chewing.

Proprietor
Well... I need to close now -

Chigurh
You live in that house behind the store?

Proprietor
Yes I do.

Chigurh
You've lived here all your life?

A beat.

Proprietor
This was my wife's father's place. Ori-
ginally.

Chigurh
You married into it.

Proprietor
We lived on Temple Texas for many years.
Raised a family there. In Temple. We
come out here about four years ago.

Chigurh
You married into it.

Proprietor
...If that's the way you wanna put it.

Chigurh
I don't have some way to put it. That's
the way it is.

He finishes the cashews and wads the packet and sets in on the counter
where it begins to slowly unkink. The proprietor's eyes have tracked
the packet. Chigurh's eyes stay on the proprietor.

...What's the lost you've ever lost on
a coin toss?

Proprietor
Sir?

23

Chigurh
The most. You ever lost. On a coin toss.

Proprietor
I don't know. I couldn't say.

Chigurh is digging in his pocket. A quarter: he tosses it. He slaps it
onto his forearm but keeps it covered.

Chigurh
Call it.

Proprietor
Call it?

Chigurh
Yes.

Proprietor
For what?

Chigurh
Just call it.

Proprietor
Well - we need to know what it is we're
callin for here.

Chigurh
You need to call it. I can't call it
for you. It wouldn't be fair. It wouldn't
even be right.

Proprietor
I didn't put nothin up.

Chigurh
Yes you did. You been putting it up your
whole life. You just didn't know it. You
know what date is on this coin?

Proprietor
No.

Chigurh
Nineteen fifty-eight. It's been trave-
ling twenty-eight years to get here. And
now it's here. And it's either heads or
tails, and you have to say. Call it.

24

A long beat.

Proprietor
Look... I got to know what I stand to
win.

Chigurh
Everything.

Proprietor
How's that?

Chigurh
You stand to win everything. Call it.

Proprietor
All right. Heads then.

Chigurh takes his hand away from the coin and turns his arm to look at
it.

Chigurh
Well done.

He hands it across.

...Don't put it in your pocket.

Proprietor
Sir?

Chigurh
Don't put it in your pocket. It's your
lucky quarter.

Proprietor
...Where you want me to put it?

Chigurh
Anywhere not in your pocket. Or it'll
get mixed in with the others and become
just a coin. Which it is.

He turns and goes.

The proprietor watches him.

If you read all of that then you need to ask yourself 2 questions: 1. How much have you ever lost in a coin toss? 2. What have you been putting up your whole life?

............

systems that change the world

2008-09-15T21:46:00.002-06:00

So lately I have been obsessed with systems. I want to create a well oiled machine in anything that I lead and in order to do that I have to create good systems. Systems are the not easy to perfect and require a lot of attention to small details but they are worth it. Everything within an organization operates based on some kind of system but healthy systems are rare and to be honest I am still learning how to create a healthy system but here are some thoughts I have on the subject:

What is the key to a healthy system:

1. Professionalism- no system can sustain if there is no line between friendship and professional relationship. If confrontation is avoided because of feelings then the system will fail, if encouragement is assumed and not given then the system will fail, if the lines are not clearly drawn then the system will fail.

2. Expectations- I believe that each employee has to have clearly defined expectations that are driven by clearly defined goals. If employees are allowed to float on their own agenda then the health of a system is inoperable. Accountability is derived from goals that are set and expectations can only be met when they are clearly communicated to the team.

3. Communication- for a system to sustain then communication has to be clear and followed up It can not be based on informal modes of communication (i.e. texting, hallway conversations, coffee talks, random phone conversations,) Communication has to be a formal email or set meeting in an office with a specific agenda. Each different realm of an employees responsibilities needs to get due attention and more than 1 thing does not need to be covered per conversation. A meeting can cover mulitple topics but each topic needs to be addressed independently. Each formal communication that is sent out needs to either demand a response or it needs to be followed up with an alternate mode of formal communication. (if i email someone, then I call them later to make sure they got the email and see if they have any questions). Assuming things are clear and are accomplished is the great demise of any system.

4. Information- Information is liberation. If the employee is informed of the organizations goals then they will take ownership and begin to create a system of their own. I have found that people get negative if they feel they only get limited information. There is an old school mentality that operates under the "need to know" mentality. I believe that the more people who are in the know, the better for the organization because the more they know the more they are equipped to help with and to inform others of. This obviously is organizationally speaking, personal information does not need to be shared with the entire team except in rare cases, keeping what's personal personal helps draw the line of professionalism.

5. Operational freedom- each system has to have clear channels of communication and clearly defined goals but the path to reach that goal has to be based on an employees gift set. If an employee is doing 10 things they enjoy and 2 things they dont then the 2 things will consume far more thought and energy then the 10, I am not sure why this is but people seem to focus on the things that they don't like far more than the things they do like. If the employee has the freedom to reach goals on their own and are not managed but challenged then they will reach the goal and they will embrace the tasks needed to reach the goal.

I am learning how to design and sustain healthy systems, I definitely don't have it figured out but look forward to the challenge.

By the way, if you did not know.......Ray Boltz is gay, its a fact.

light from dark

2008-08-26T22:26:00.002-06:00

Genesis 1:4 - "And God saw that the light was good. And God seperated the light from the darkness". Since the beginning God has been separating light from dark. This is His plan, to seperate that which is good from that which is void. See being in darkness does not always mean the manifestation of evil as in bad deeds or malice but it is often just being void. Is there anything worse than being void? Sometime I feel void of things such as purpose or direction even though my mind knows I have purpose and direction. For me finding the balance between now and later is very difficult. I want what is to come to be now and when it turns to now I want what is to come. I don't think that this is necessarily the worst thing in the world but I do think that it is a recipe for discontentment and I don't want to be discontent. I want to love every minute and love every conversation but the truth is that sometimes I don't. I am sure that the light is contentment and peace and that the darkness is confusion and corruption and often my heart is corrupt. Not corrupt in a way that I want to hurt people or take from anyone but just corrupt enough to keep me distracted from being full. I am not the most disciplined person in the world and often times creative people are not but that is no excuse, I think that in my life I constantly have to ask God to separate the light from the darkness because if he doesn't then all I can come up with is darkness and that is frustrating. I know some of you theological neatnicks are reading this and having a field day but if you were ever really honest you would admit that you need him to do some separating.
Things that = light for me: (light being defined as things that fill the void, Jesus obviously being the light, these are things he uses to fill the void in me)
WIFE, church, family, meeting new people, pushing things hard, sprinting in life (not physically though I should a lot more), seeing others tap into all that is good, listening to people who know more than me, discussing, preaching, creating something, accomplishing tasks, cool music, some art, college sports, dynasty's, good ice cream, good movies, talking to Dad and Jay, tucking my wife in.........
Things that = Dark (the void)
Monotony, mental boredom, poor leadership, immature people, justifying things, the as is, busyness, money, past mistakes, death (i fear the death of those around me often, not sure why but it makes me pretty apprehensive sometimes), people telling me how to do something, unfulfilled promises (both the ones I make and the ones I know have been made), not doing better, poor communication, things that require patience, being left out, my wandering mind......

That definitely does not cover it but those are some things that are fresh in my right now. Talk to ya later.

ldr 102

2008-08-24T22:39:00.003-06:00

leadership according to a nobody continued.

1. Dream together- Every good leader has dreams and every dreamer has the problem of dreaming all the time and never doing. Great leaders are able to dream with people and not just dream alone. A dream that is not shared is a dream that will not be touched. Allowing people who are not dreamer the opportunity to catch your dream and make it their own is key to accomplishing positive influence within your organization.

2. Sacrifice- Some say to value the organization over the person, some say to value the person over the organization. I am not sure who is right but I am sure that at times the personal agenda's have to be sacrificed for the greater good of the organization. A lot of people cop out of hard work and sacrifice because they "don't want to neglect their family". Some neglect their family because they "have to get stuff done". The balance is within the family and within the organization. If a man is truly called to a thing then God has confirmed that within his family. Nothing is more painful to see than a man trying to accomplish greatness within his organization and his family pull him away instead of empower him.

3. Know when- Knowing when to speak and when to act and when to reveal and when to conceal are huge. I chalk a lot of this knowledge up to intuition but it can be learned. There are men who believe that they should reveal everything and call this being "authentic". I think this is a mistake. Obviously issues that would comprimise integrity don't need to concealed but things such as finances and marital function should not always be common knowledge. I am old school in the belief that weakness is state of mind and is crippling. Now everyone has weaknesses but if you allow yourself to operate in weakness then no one will ever follow.

4. Emotionality- having a steady emotional balance is important in how other's respond to us as leaders. Being jacked up all the time will eventually wear everybody around you out, being quiet and meek all the time will not translate well when casting vision. Being a man that is charismatic and concerned is what I have found to be a healthy balance. Being charismatic allows you to rally the troops and being concerned allows you to hear the opinions of others further empowering them to get excited in their pursuit of the organizations mission.

5. Self awareness- The worst organizations in the world are the ones that has leadership that believes it to be healthy while in fact it is floundering. If your employees are unhappy but you believe them to be happy then you are arrogant and unaware, if you think everybody is happy then you are mistaken because no one or no institution can please everyone all the time but being aware of what you are doing and figuring out how that is affecting people is key to awareness. This one is tough and I will write more about this when I can get all the thoughts together because it is extremely involved.

live well my friends, live well.....more to come.

leadership

2008-08-16T22:37:00.003-06:00

I don't know much but I am learning and here are some things that I have been contemplating in the area of leadership. Lets call this ldr 101 according to a nobody:

1. Pay Attention: listening and observing in order to be educated on any given topic is a key to possessing strong leadership qualities. If you don't listen then you don't know.

2. Believe: people follow passion, you don't have to be right you just have to be passionate. This principle is a double edged sword but it is the truest thing that I have ever learned.

3. Understand environment: if one does not understand all the things that encompasses their environment then the landscape from which they try to lead will be murky leading to wandering instead of empowering.

4. Create: take every opporunity to do something or say something that you have never done or said. Be creative in conversation and in exploration. Seek that which is uncomfortable and challenging.

5. Communicate: The key to any successful platform is one's ability to communicate clearly. Communication does not alway have to be practical but needs to be attainable. If we always focus on whats practical then people accomplishing things outside of their natural endeavors will never be attempted much less accomplished.

6. Confront: If you were born with leadership then you were born with intuition and often times intuition gives you insight into things that will eventually be a great strain on your organization. Using this intuition to honestly confront situations in order to push forward the mission will enable both you and your team to operate in freedom and clarity.

7. Cut bait: if there is a person or situation that needs to be removed, remove it. Waiting for people to become something they can not be is the number 1 reason that organizations fail. Move people and move on, this is not easy but it is worth it for both parties involved, after all if a person is in the wrong position then that position is inhibiting them from doing what could be great for them.

Computer is dying......more to come.

2:18am

2008-08-09T01:16:00.002-06:00

It's 2:18am and I am watching the olympics. I just got done watching air rifle shooting. I am torn because air rifle shooting is in the olympics and golf nor Football made the cut but still the olympics are here and I am pumped. If you missed the opening ceremony then you missed one of if not the most amazing visual spectacle ever. Anyways, the olympics will pass the time nicely until the Dawgs play! Gotta go, badmitton is coming on!

It's August

2008-08-01T23:18:00.002-06:00

It is August already, I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by. I am not going to be sad to see the 95 degree weather go away but I am pumped about a few things.

1. Georgia plays Georgia Southern on August 30th and that is the beginning of the best time of year. In case you missed the USAtoday article this morning the DAWGS are ranked pre season #1, that hasn't happened in like 28 years so today is a good day. College football brings joy to my life that not many things do, now I know there are all these tree hugging musicians that read the blog and are thinking "how can somebody really look forward to football" and I ask you, "How do you look yourself in the mirror with respect?" When you can answer that you can debate the majestic nature of college football.

2. My Anniversary- Jenn and I will celebrate 2 years this month, we have come a long way and we have a long way to go but so far it has been pretty awesome mostly because she is awesome.

3. Auburn Church- Not to let out any secrets or anything but the Fall should be pretty slammin at our church, I believe the Fall will be one of the most memorable times I have ever had in my ministry career.

4. My Niece- I have new niece on the way this month and since we have not had girls on the britt side of the family ever it should be cool to hold and kiss a little girl that has the last name Britt.

What are you looking forward to this fall?

Question for Everyone

2008-07-28T21:50:00.003-06:00

So I am starting to work on a new talk that deals with the questions we ask. On a day to day basis what is the most important question that you have to answer? I would really value any input. Thanks.

Friday, September 23, 2005

2008-07-25T22:16:00.003-06:00

I posted this when I was on the road in 2005 on my old xanga account, I read it tonight and began to wonder if any of these questions or accusations have been remedied, it is alot but welcome to how my brain works. hope you get something out of it!!

Friday, September 23, 2005

Sitting in hotel rooms in random cities has become a reality in my life that is ever present and ever challenging. Watching debates on CNN and listening to the immortalization of endless babble that people vehemently believe in has become captivating thought that opens the door to relative questions. Understanding our world and our system of faith is the challenge that breeds dissention in my soul. How do I grasp an absolute truth in a relative world? The insertion of sin and the redemption of man is no longer grasped in a holistic society as natural law, it has become a bartering tool for late night ratings and the birth of confusion in the dark hallways of our culture. Did God intend for man to wonder? Are we the blind leading the blind? Is there a hope to wake up to? I wish for one moment to love God with all my heart, my mind, and my soul. The constant dichotomy of my goodness vs. my nature is perplexing in its simplest form. To hate sin would be such a freedom. Embracing who I am as a man bound to his nature and a saint freed by a savior is the open-ended conversation between my heart and my mind. Does the pain ever go away? Can I pray and be heard? Do we ever just release the petitions to God and grip the reality that God is going to move when and how he wants too? All questions that I don’t have answers for but drive me to be better at becoming complete. The intrinsic value placed upon justice for incompletion has corrupted our endeavor as believers. It has predestined through generations the conceptual relevancy of self and has in turn bred a systematic rising of people of habit instead of people of creation. The jargon of desperation has created the idea that God is our sole means of survival, while this is true in a spiritual realm, it is not true in a physical. We need air, food, water, and other amenities granted to us by God but not hand fed into our mouths. The act of reaching forward in force to achieve a goal is the necessity created by an individualistic view of God. It has eliminated the sweeping movements of God’s wind that won’t be pushed nor hindered, we can only hold on and get lost in the motion. Once we were captivated by the presence of a holy God and in reverent awe of the true king, we are now bound into a formulaic gospel rendered upon a tablet of allegory and alliteration.

Dogmatic replication of strategies and approaches to “kingdom work” has resulted in a man made definition of success, diminishing the value of an individual and increasing the value of the number in attendance. Something is astoundingly obvious about the corruption of the not for profit entertainment law firms that we call churches. There is hope and that hope is in Christ’s redemption of his church. To claim redemption in matters of the soul is to gain a life full of moments that are saturated with the promises of God. It is opening the windows on a dry and desolate heart and feeling the winds and rain of Christ’s love remove all that is dead and spring new life. The inevitability of condemning the mind of the corroded soul is obsolete in comparison to the supernatural invasion redemption provides to the soul of humanities spiritual inadequacy. Opening the gateway to the half-truths of mans incessant pursuits to build their own kingdoms is a dangerous reality that is being forged into our generation as well as the generations to come. Engaging a real God in a way contrary to the created sacraments of democracy within the American church has become the challenge that is worth pursuing and the question that is worth discussing. To be captivated by our dreams and be motivated by our creativity to redraw the lines of relevancy and set a stage for spiritual advancement within our culture should not only be our hope, it is our calling, our command. Returning to the spiritual revelation of grace is the sole means by which we will once again find our mission, it is how we will be able to get the right hand and the left to unify and the body to run at the whisper of the head. Following the whisper and, advancing in unison together in joint harmony with the purposes of God will be our liberation, it could also be our death, but what is the mystery of death without risking the mystery of life.

Do our failings remove the cooperative effort of the soul and the mind? In the wake of the absent delusion of the hope of glory we find an innate force standing on the edge of reason. We try to bind up the movements of God into a logical explanation of our inept capabilities, but he remains on the edge of understanding. “No eye has seen, No ear has heard, No mind can conceive”….. If it can’t be seen or understood, is it feasible to passively pursuit? An aggressive retreat from the doctrines of movement are the one impregnable response that provides clarity to the problem that we currently face. The retreat into the fort of reason has replaced the charge to the battle of the unknown,
It leaves us in a place of safety, removed from any ambiguity, removed from communion with God.

Bachelor for 2 weeks

2008-07-25T21:53:00.003-06:00

So my wife went to Africa a couple of weeks ago, she gets back Monday and boy am I ready for her to be home. At first your like, 2 weeks no biggie......i was single for 24 years and did alright....but after being married to the right one 2 weeks seems like an eternity, I am not the kinda guy that gets lonely and I don't think lonely is the word I would use to describe me now but I am definitely incomplete when Jenn is not around, its weird how that works. I talk to people all the time who complain inadvertenly about the marriage or spouse but I don't, seriously. I think she is pretty awesome, I like being married, I like being with my wife. I like alone time as much as anyone but if it came down to it I would always choose to have her here vs somewhere else.

What do enjoy about your spouse?

like a maniac

2008-07-22T21:01:00.002-06:00

http://www.youversion.com/tniv/2Kgs.9.20

Read the story in that link. Every now and then I stumble on to something that is sweet action and this is one of them. This dude (Jehu) was the Lord's annointed and he was known as someone who "drives like a maniac"......now thats what I am talking about. I knew that all these years that when people grabbed the Oh #%## bar in my car that I was not the one that had the problem, it was them.....I am supposed to drive like a maniac because I am just following the lead of one of God's chosen Kings.

I just got back from Nrich at North Point, it was a good deal, I am always challenged by the thoughts of others and many times I feel alone in my thoughts because I have so many ideas about church all the time and I don't know how or to whom they need to come out. I live in an interesting world between people who love NP and I also know a lot of people that have had some pretty serious issues with me joining up with the NP model, but Andy spoke to our teams yesterday and it really shook me up in a good way because he said that he has learned that programs and environments are GREAT but that you can't just put on a cool environment and think people will come and that assumption is true and untrue at the same time. I am excited to see how all the minds in the NP world will get together and figure out how to take people deeper into spiritual and tangible relationships and how to assimilate people quicker and more effectively. Now if you know anything about NP you know that they have always been pretty dang good at getting people to move from attenders to investors so for them to say they need to reinvent this aspect to be more efficient is an unbelievable thing. I will say that I have been around some strong leaders in my life and though I think my brother and dad are the best leaders I know I grow more and more convinced that Andy Stanley is a prophet and one of the, if not the best organizational leader in the world (Dr. Wes Stafford from Compassion International would share the top spot)....I am pretty impressed with him.

Been a while

2008-07-19T11:44:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I posted on here so I figured I am due. I read today Matthew 22. This is a conversation between Jesus and all the pharisees (herodians, saducees, all of them) and they are bombarding Jesus with questions trying to trap him into an unlawful response but as always Jesus owns them. The last verse says "And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question him anymore". Now that is unbelievable. At some point everyone who really asks Jesus questions seeking to find him to be less than the Truth will run out of questions and end up in the place where they "dare not to question him anymore". In my life I often don't ask questions because of the blanket belief that he has everything under control and I find it very easy to trust him with all that is outside of my control, but what about the things that are in my control. I struggle often to even take the small things to him because "I got it". This is an area in my life where I need to give up some things, all things. I know that what is best for me is Him. I have been in relationship with some people since being in Auburn that don't really have clear understanding of what the gospel is. It is amazing the answers you get when you ask people "What is the gospel". Most of these people have been in church their whole life and their answer is "Jesus died for ME". While this is true, it is not the entirety of the Gospel message. If the cross were just for Me then it would be about me and it is not. It is about God and his order, his justice, his relationship, his pursuit, HIS GLORY. If living is about me then there is not much to live for. Of all the mistakes that I have made in my life, if I look back there are a lot more mistakes then I would like to remember, but in spite of all of them I see Jesus using our family to be a part of restoring things from the big mistake. For that I am grateful.

Jenn is in Kenya right now doing some Medical relief with her dad and she is doing well. I love my wife and I miss her but I am glad that she is honoring Jesus with her faithfulness to go and love people and heal people in His name. Things at our church are going well, we are preparing for the Fall which should be a really exciting time for us. This is the first summer since high school that I have not been on the road doing camps and though I miss it I know I am where I should be and doing exactly what Jesus has for me. Some guys that I love have taken the mantle of leadership from me at camp and seem to be doing a really good job, these guys are my heroes. Men who sit and learn and then go and lead - there is something that is very biblical about that. I don't know all that the future holds for Auburn Church and Jenn and I but I am positive that it will be a sweet ride. Pray that God gives our church influence in our community to see His name reclaim things that have been stolen. Pray that he give our mission the financial and personal support to accomplish all that he has set in front of us. Pray for Jenn that God guide her steps and words as she encounters tribes that need the hope that is only found in Jesus. Just pray.

Till next time........it won't be 5 months for sure.

Life Update

2008-01-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

Well the last 2 months have been amazingly nuts for Jenn and I. We have started the process of moving out of Student Life into helping plant a church at Auburn University (auburnchurchonline.org). To say the least we have seen God's hand all over the situation especially in the way that Student Life has affirmed the call that God has on us. It is great when you work in a place that is more interested in the movements of God than they are in a loss they may sustain. I know that I have been led to and am passionate about the local church especially church planting so this will be one step toward the desires that God has given me which is always exciting.

My prayer has been simple: God, I pretty much suck so today I need you to show me how I can be more like Jesus and live the way that he lived. That is pretty simple but it has been revolutionary in my life. I do believe that deep saturated prayer is very necessary and that I need to do it more but I also know that when Jesus taught us about conversing with the Father he kept it pretty simple.

I will be at SL until after the Bham tour stop. Tour has been going well, I will definitely miss being in rooms with students who are waking up to the great story of Christ.

I have been studying Genesis 3 the last few months. God preaches the first gospel message to the enemy. "You will strike his heel but he will crush your head". Through this I have come to a deeper understanding of how all scripture is about Jesus and how it all works toward his physical incarnation and then his glorious return. If you have not studied it go to theresurgence.com and look up spurgeon's article on it, it is pretty amazing.

Jenn and I both are very pumped about the new opportunities we will have in Auburn. I will have more of a chance to preach again so after a much needed break to develop the message that God has for me to share I am really pumped about that as well. If you are reading this there is a good chance that you are a close friend b/c most aquaintances don't read notes on facebook so........as a friend please pray for us and let us know what is going on with you.

P.S. I lost my cell in Peru so if I have not talked to you in the last 2 months please call me so I can put your number in my phone. Peace out.

pondering

2007-11-25T02:31:00.000-06:00

Have you ever been in a place that was new but familiar? I find myself there often. Not necessarily a physical place and not always a spiritual place but a place none the less. I wonder how that happens. Have you ever been in a place that is routine but it feels new or uncertain? This is the place that drives, prods, disables and connects. It drives us to ask good questions, it prods us to move beyond doubt, disables us from being normal and connects us to who we really are. I am not sure that we can plan these places or avoid them. These moments are certainties that will show up and how we respond often dictates our understanding of the path that we are on.

E.M. Bounds said: "The church is looking for the next great method; but God is looking for the next great man". I wonder if men have lost the ability to be something great due to the pursuit of creating something great. The truth is that God has placed Greatness in us through Jesus. If men were what men are empowered to be this world would be very different place.

The Father has bestowed on us the power to be and beseeched us to become.

yep.

A few reason I follow Jesus

2007-08-16T00:07:00.000-06:00

1. Imputed Righteousness- though I am dirty, sinful and deserving of hell he clothes me in his righteousness that allows the Father and I to be one as he and the Father are one.

2. Sacrifice of Atonement- Under the law I am condemned. His sacrifice fulfilled the law so that daily/annual sacrifice is no longer necessary. Because God hates sin and blood has to be shed as a remission for sins. Jesus' blood covers my sins and sets me free from the condemnation that comes from the law.

3. Prize fighter- Jesus is the greatest warrior and victor of all time. He carries a big sword and has a sweet tattoo that declares him the King of all. He is not some 2 bit panzy but a Glory revealing and wrath treading bad man. I can follow a King that can whip me at anytime!

4. Freedom- Through Christ's freedom in his sovereignty he has seen it fit that I am free from darkness and sin. He delivers me from myself making me free to love, live, dream, serve and hope according to his plan and his will.

5. Love- Outside of him all my attempts at love are feeble and limited. In him I can have a perfect love that casts out fear and by him love knows no bounds and keeps no record of wrong.

6. Truth- In a world full of lies he is the truth. Truth through him is not blurry and is not contradictory. He does not tell truth but IS truth. Outside of him all his broken and understanding is impossible.

7. Restoration- I now get to walk in community as the trinity has community. Perfect, untainted and authentic restoration to the creator and to the created is given back.

8. Hope- though I do not always understand or even see I am no longer only privy to speculation but I can have hope. Hope for glory, hope for life, hope for eternity. Hope that I can taste and see, Hope that I can walk in and Hope that inspires big dreams.

9. Power- In Jesus there is power to save, heal, repair, realize and conquer. I don't have lay victim to circumstances of this world but I have the power to be a conqueror. I have power to claim and loose him things that I should not have access too.

That is just a few, there are many, many more but these are the reasons that have shown themselves to me in a real way over the last few months and I thought I would write them down. Why do you follow Jesus?

extreme calamity

2007-08-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

What if we did stuff that caused calamity all the time? What if people met us and walked away a little scared because they are not sure what to do with us? What if people ran to us and ran from us? What if we spoke in satire's and raised questions of peril? What if we looked into people peoples souls through the lanterns of their bodies? What if we sliced and diced culture instead of empowering it? What if we turned culture on itself? What if we dreamed horizontally instead of vertically? What if we injected truth with no regard for the consequenct? What if we embraced that our life is a constant dichotomy? What if we thought about others before we thought about what others thought about? What if we passed our conscience off as a doorway to something deeper? What if we lived in the deeper? What if........................????????

Our Hope

2007-04-26T21:05:00.000-06:00

It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

I recently heard Dr. Wes Stafford the president of Compassion International speak. It was very inspiring, he talked of the relief effort to end poverty in the world. It raised a bunch of thoughts. So many times when we think of the hope that is in Christ's glorious return we think of no more pain, no more tears, no more suffering. How magnificent will it be when the trumpet sounds and the heavens split open. Christ will wipe tears from our eyes, he wipe the lifetime of suffering from the eyes of the Africans and the rest of the world, he will tread the winepress of God's wrath, his eyes will be fire and his robe will be dipped in blood. He will unite us with himself and the purity he set out for us. I pray that he will not only wipe the tears from my eyes but as Dr. Stafford said "He will wipe the sweat from my brow"!!! He will use his blood stained grament to wipe the sweat off our face from our relentless labor of love. He will look at those who have clothed the naked, quenched the thirst of the dry, feed the hungry and restored the broken and he will smile with peace, he will smile with understanding and most importantly he will stand proud in approval. The narrow path is hard to find and even harder to walk but it is all that we have. I am very challenged to labor while we still have light for the night is coming!!!

Friends make the world go round

2007-04-19T07:47:00.000-06:00

It is true that Good Friends are hard to find. I think this is because most everyone has a personal agenda and only do things based on what they can get out of it. I am blessed to know a lot of people but have a few friends. I like it that way. These men keep me accountable even when it sucks and they push me to become something useful and attentive to the Spirit of God. I am praying through a lot right now and I am glad that I have people that listen to me without an agenda. I am stoked that people dream with me pure and untainted dreams. I don't thing true friendships can exist without trials and I don't think trials exist in friendship without authenticity. Don't you hate the holy rollers who think God is responsible for the $5 bill they found in their pocket this morning? These people are not real, they worship a conjured spirit of human emotion. Real people know that God takes just like he gives that he is silent as often as he is speaking. Real people have real problems and real joy's they have real relationships not surface smoke blowing yuppy yes men who surround them to boost their self esteem and lower their self awareness. Anyways I am going off.....All that to say REAL friends are hard to find but when you do find them they are worth all the trouble.

The importance of Priesthood

2007-04-06T20:59:00.000-06:00

First, I do not claim to be the authority on understanding or explaining the depths of what the responsibility the called have to the calling of priesthood. However, I have been witness to some pretty pathetic displays of priesthood over the last several years. It is sin and an insult to the pulpit when men who claim to be worship leaders get up to lead but they forget the words to the songs, talk about scripture out of context, challenge people with something they read in a book because they have never heard an original word from God. It is crying shame that the church of america has made it acceptable for men to travel around disguised as itinerant ministers that are nothing but money grubbing whores. Years ago when AROD got signed to $252 million dollars people were up in arms because his salary alone would raise ticket prices to the ballpark. This is what is happening because itinerant speakers and worship leaders have decided that they are worth thousands of dollars a day and base their acceptance of ministry invitations based on how many people are gonna be there and how much they are gonna get paid. These men have no real understanding of biblical priesthood and according to James 3 they will be judged for it. I am a firm believer that if God has not gifted you in something he is NOT going to call you to it. For example, if you can't preach then shut the freak up that is not your roll. If you can't write songs then get out from behind the mike because all you are doing is being an artistic cannibal. I am not saying that you can never sing someone else's songs but I am saying that if you do not have a song of your own your not called to lead people because you have not tasted the depths that come from intimacy that the called have experienced. People will debate me on this because they do not want to face the reality that they are chasing worship rock star or Louie Giglio pipe dreams. 6 years ago I was sitting at a Sonny's bbq with a guy that wanted to be a speaker and he said "I want to be like Louie, I want them to respond to me the way people respond to him". I looked him dead in the face and told him to get a job at home depot because man had become his idol and God would never put the desire in him to be like another man. God puts the calling in us to be like Jesus. It is very easy today to have a platform without being Godly. With the exception of 2 men that have somewhat of a name (1 of those being Louie), the Godliest men I know and have been able to work with are people who no one knows, they are kingdom minded not whores, they are about the advancement of God's kingdom not the prostitution of the church. They want to see imputed righteousness create innocence not pervert ministry and say that it is business. Anybody who is out to make a buck off the church will one day stand before Jesus and be highly disappointed. This is a reality I have come to and is driving me to make some significant changes in my life. I am burned up over the things I see, I am sick and hacked.

thought of the day

2007-04-03T07:27:00.000-06:00

So I have been milling a lot lately about the future and about the church. Can a person be called to vocational ministry and not be called to the local church? The parachurch exists because for decades the church lacked creativity, leadership, and all the other things that it has turned to the parachurch for. This ought not be reality. The church should be the epicenter of all creativity. So many times we see the church imitate culture, it should set the standards in culture, it should lead the way after all we serve the Creator (he would have to be pretty creative to gain that title). Romans 1 tells us that the the power of the resurrection we have been assigned to apostleship to call men to obedience that comes through faith. I find it interesting that obedience has been reduced to legalism and that faith has become some 2 bit illustration. I also find it very difficult to seperate faith and obedience biblically. Now that is a thought.

common disease

2007-02-22T09:03:00.000-06:00

I have spent much of the last few months traveling the country talking to people interested in doing ministry for the summer, more or less interviewing them for summer positions. I have learned that APATHY is the common disease among college students. I often sit and act like I am listening to people as they attempt to communicate a coherent thought but all I can do is be stupified with how shallow and degenerate spiritually they are. Now, Who's fault is the common diesease? I believe the answer is a tricky one. Parents- ABSOLUTELY. What is wrong with parents? They let their kids walk around with no clue socially, dress however they want, take them to church and feel like that is the extent of their responsibility in the development of their kids spiritually. Church Leadership- If a student has been a part of your church for more than a year and they still think that Jesus exists for them, that God needs something from them, that Christ died so the we can be happy, that they have any gift that God could want, that being connected to Jesus' mission is going to BSU then you need to evaluate your life because you are a putz that is communicating extreme inconsistencies and probably don't have a fat clue who the Son of God truly is. It is a crying shame that so many "nice little christians" are walking around thinking they have it figured out because they have friends that are just like them and they all make each other feel good. I am gonna stop this blog now because I am getting really hacked off.

My wife

2007-02-06T23:12:00.000-06:00

I have been married for coming up on 6 months and it has truly been the best 6 months of my life. Marriage offers such a new perspective on life. I have come to value more things in my wife than I ever thought I would value in someone else. She is fantastic. Here are some things that make her fantastic, She is: beautiful, brilliant, diligent, patient, relentless in her pursuit, caring, connected, interested, interesting, practical, funny, generous, willing, accomplished, honest, true, wise, grounded, hott, good at guitar hero 2 and involved. All this is true on a daily basis. Of all those things the one thing that sets my wife apart is her work ethic. She is the hardest worker I have ever met. She does not live in the clouds like I do. She sets out to be good at something and does it. Last night I missed an art show at her school because I am out of town but I am sure that everyone was impressed with what she has lead her students to create. She works hard at everything....even knitting. I can't wait to see what God does through her in response to her approach to him and the people around her. Who knows where the Lord will take us but as long as she will be there I am sure that great things will be accomplished.

yes

2007-01-29T08:52:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about the whole fearfully and wonderfully made thing? If we were made by God and are fearfully made then does that mean there was something about creating humans that caused God to fear? It does not make a lot of sense does it. God does not and will not fear any man or any being. The only thing I can come up with is that God knew how much pain and suffering his creation would bring and what the road to redemption would be filled with and this caused him to fear on our behalf not his. He was afraid for us, for those of us who do not accept redemption for those of us who never learn what he intends to teach. Fear is such a paralyzing thing for humans, fear of failure, public speaking, being different, change, etc. All these fears are very real to a lot of people but there is 1 fear that is not real to most people I know and that is Fear of the Lord. The Fear of the Lord is very complex and goes much farther than respect for the Lord. I am trying to figure out the meaning of Fear of the Lord so if you have any thoughts please post them so I can hear other ideas. I will say it is not just about being afraid of his punishment I know it goes much, much deeper than that.

the problem with self

2007-01-19T10:33:00.000-06:00

Accurate self assesment is probably the thing that is lacking most among young christian leaders today. I claim this problem as 1 of my own. I am not sure if I see myself the way everyone else does. I am working at it, I do believe that accurate self percerption/assesment is vital for anyone to be a good leader. I KNOW some leaders that believe themselves to be good at what they do because people listen to them and do what they ask, the reality is they are poor leaders but have established position requiring all with lesser position to do what they require. Position does not = good leadership. The question is how did these people get the position. Well, 9 times out of 10 it goes back to positioning, they have positioned themselves in ""The Big Chiefs" blind spot. "The Big Chief" in some cases is a CEO and others is a Board of Trustees, Deacons, or Search committee. Manipulators get in the blind spot and whisper and sneak and end up getting what they want. This is why I firmly believe that Good Leadership and self assesment can be accurately seen based on the product coming forth. Are Good Leaders coming from under me? Am I creating healthy leadership scenarios? Do I desire to have my thumb on those under me or have my heart in conjuction with OUR dream? Not everyone is always going to like me as a leader, that is fine. The question is not am I liked or loved all the time but am I promoting healthy reproduction, are people connected with vision, these are the questions that each leadership opportunity presents.

New Thought:
Jennifer and I watched Grey's Anatomy last night....MAN!!! What a tear jerker........ It really took me back to a former time in my life when my mom was sick. At the end George and Christina were talking about death and George said....."I can't imagine a world where my father is not alive"....Christina replied "You'll never be able too". This has really caused me to think. Mom has been gone for 11 years now and it is still difficult sometimes to imagine a world without her. I still hear her laughing over the top of everyone else from time to time. I am not a grief expert or claim any knowledge about dealing with suffering but I am at a point where I agree. I don't think there is a world without those who pass. It is the same world. Perspective is what changes. Perspective is what always changes.

2007-01-18T08:35:00.000-06:00

So I have been preaching and helping out in this little town about 45 minutes outside of Birmingham. Last night I got invited to a valentine banquet that is being held by the social committee full of "suprise activities" at this little church. For those of you who know me you know that a church with committees (a lot of committees) is the last place I would ever look to go but somehow I go there and do the deal. The people there for the most part seem to be pretty good people with pretty decent intentions but I am not sure that decent intentions are the mission of Jesus. I Love most of the people we have met and been able to minister along side. After looking at the situation there and other situations around the country I am firmly convinced that healthy ministry that reproduces has very little to do with formulaic structure, existing church government, democratic establishment and everything else that 90% of churches use as their backbone, it is all about GOOD LEADERSHIP. I do believe that leadership can be taught and skills can be molded to a certain degree, but I also believe that the best Leaders are born with it. The ability to control a room within minutes of entering it, the ability to move forward and get others to move with you at an alarming rate. The lack of fear that paralyzes most people is essential in good leadership, the desire to take risks, the courage to lay it all out there and fail, the ability to promote change. Change is key in any healthy ministry, the reinvention of self, constantly evaluating where you are going and more importantly how you are going to get there. Change is probably the most feared reality in this little town we are connected with. It is difficult for people to imagine church differently than they have always known it because they don't realize how different it is around the country. God is truly stirring some great works in pretty small towns as well as big cities. Who knows what he hold for this town? Or any town for that matter!

Books

2007-01-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

Here are some suggested reads for all you naysayers out there who think reading blogs is the same as reading books:

In a pit with a lion on a snow day by Mark Batterson

Confessions of a Reformission by Mark Driscoll

Bias by Bernard Goldberg

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

U2 by U2.....

Thats a good start. Currently I am reading and preaching through Colossians and I will say that Paul's dedication to the declaration of Christ's supremacy in all things has been very revealing. Why is christ sitting down in heaven? What do you do when you get done with a major workout or a fight or any strenous activity that you conquer? You sit down. Jesus fought for like 33.5 years, then the cross, hell, death, sin and back to life again.....I am pretty sure supremacy in all things is just part of the deal for him. The tragedy is that it is not always part of the deal for us, don't get me wrong he is supreme whether we live that way or not, but if we truly lived in a manner that exalted Christ as supreme over all it could be possible to see a lot more than we do.

Churches to look up on the web/podcast: (These guys are pioneers)

mars hill community church (seattle)

newspring community (anderson, sc)

Grand Parkway Baptist (Neil Mclendon) (richmond, tx)

Theater Church (union station)

Apostles Church (manhattan)