Leaders and Character

I came across some great thoughts on Leadership from Andy Stanley. An excerpt from his book Next Generation Leader was in the Catalyst Groupzine I am reading. Enjoy.

Character is not essential to leadership...But character is what makes
you a leader worth following. Integrity is not necessary if your
aspirations as a leader end with simply persuading people to follow
you. But if at the end of the day your intent is for those who follow
to respect you, integrity is a must. Your accomplishments as a leader
will amke your name known. Your character will determine what people
associate with your name.

Having character does not make you (or me) a good leader. Being a good leader does not require you to have good character. We've all had teachers, bosses, mentors who could gather a following, but people did not respect because of serious character flaws. And we've all had teachers, coaches and bosses who might not have been the best leaders but we would go to wall for them because of their integrity and honesty. So what type of leader are you?

I came across a blog that had an update on the Ted Haggard story. He is the Christian leader whose sexual indescretions were made public and he was publicly removed from his leadership role. It relates because his character cracked while his leadership skills did not. The church has done the right thing and it has also facilitated his communication with the church. Read this entry on the Haggards. In the entry you read a letter Ted Haggard wrote to the congregation and one that his wife wrote as well. Here are my reactions to his letter.

1. He betrayed his wife, his family, his church and God. Not that I don't. His sin was simply an act of betrayal.
2. He said what he did. I like that. He calls his actions for what they are and nothing less. How freeing (in a sense) that must feel, to have no secrets.
3. He owned his sin. He did not blame anyone or deny its degree. He took all responsibility for its cause and effect.
4. He took the consequences. He did not say he COULD not longer lead (he's a born leader), he said he WOULD no longer lead, he is not a leader worth following. There are consequences to actions and he in a sense leads the way (in a way worth following) of stepping down from formal leadership. How ironic.

Sunday morning "i"Tunes

I came across an interesting article about the common themes of "I" and "me" in contemporary worship music. The article is from blog.worship.com and refers to a book by Matthew Ward, former Christian rocker and member of the band 2nd Chapter of Acts. Ward comments in his book...

I took note of what types of worship songs we sang. Several groups from different parts of Europe led worship, singing their songs in their native tongues, with English translations projected on a screen. The vast majority of the songs European Christians had written were "we" and "us" songs. But the groups also threw in some songs from the United States—and I was surprised to discover that the majority contained lyrics centered on "I" or "me."

You can read the rest of the article here. Pretty interesting observation, huh. I think that this is an easy trap for us to fall into. Me & God. I and He. Not Us and Thee. Next time you are at church check out the theory that American Christians are into singing lots of "I"Tunes. It's not that these are bad, because each individual is accountable to God for their own life. But that it's incomplete in that God is primarily into gathering a people. In our small group last night we saw the same idea come out in Paul's writing.

Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple (singular) and that God's Spirit dwells in you? I Corinthians 3:16

What if Christianity were more about WE than ME? What if Christian discipleship meant repenting of my individualistic tendencies? What if confession of sin was more than a me&God private thing, but was God's tool for creating intimacy within his people? What if conversion to Christianity also meant conversion to Christian community?

Sing about it on Sunday, then weigh-in with your thoughts.

seven27 Christmas Party

Jordan came up with a pretty witty add for our 2006 Christmas Party. I hope the party lives up to the hype! Thanks Jordan.

Saturday, Dec. 9
6:00pm - Caroling here
7:30pm - Games, Food, $5 White Elephant Exchange here

High School....Again

I came across a really creative youth pastor from Indiana. Scott Greene from Warsaw Community Church decided that to better reconnect with the students that he was serving he needed a fresh perspective. So at the age of 33, with a wife and a kid, he decided to go back to high school for two weeks. Find out more about his experience on his web-site "Two Weeks Back". How creative is that. Not only was he able to reconnect with students, he also created such a huge buzz that national media picked up on the story. Check it out.



What dream is God laying on your heart?
What out-of-the box idea have you shelved?
Are you afraid of trying something risky and creative?

Viva Scott Greene

The Dome of Heaven

I have never been to the Sistene Chapel (pictured) but I bet it would be breathtaking. This weekend I did go a catholic wedding with full catholic mass in Chicago. I paid close to attention to the prayers and homily by the priest and was encouraged by the truth about God and marriage that I heard. I can be quite critical of other pastors efforts, I guess that makes me feel better about myself. The worst wedding I ever attended was at this small baptist church in the country.

But this church in Chicago was ornately decorated, I mean beautiful. I did find myself following the different story lines that were portrayed in the artwork. At one point the priest noted that we were gathering in God's presence under the dome of heaven. I looked up and saw a dome at the top of the church. In the center was Christ, around him were angels and under them were pictures of the saints. The priest said something like, "we are gathered under the dome of heaven just as this architecture reminds us that we are joined today by God his angels and a cloud of witnesses."

I rather liked that thought, and since I am quite a visual guy I appreciated that the architecture of the building did paint a picture of the reality that God, his angels and his saints are witnesses to our living out the Christian story until the consummation of time. It made me think of Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Kan you play at work?

Have you ever heard of Kevin "Katalyst" Carroll? I hadn't really until last Friday. He was featured on this episode of the Catalyst podcast which I listened to on a drive to Chicago. Boy is this fella inspiring. If you like work to be work, don't listen to Kevin. If you don't like to play, don't listen to Kevin. And if to you dreams are childrens playthings, don't listen to Kevin.

He's got a bit of a rags-to-riches story that is featured on his website. He worked as an internal consultant at NIKE and was one of the influencers behind the LIVESTRONG yellow bands. He's authored a book that is a runaway award winner and is printed by ESPN books entitled, "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball." He's got a great list of inspiring books that I have never heard of.

Listening to him is truly infectious and inspiring. It makes you want to do more and to have more fun doing it...not in an everyone look at me sort of way...but more in a lets make the world a better place sort of way. And on top of it, he has a quote on a Starbucks Cup...that was the clincher for me.

DREAM ON!

God works through systems

Here is our staff (sans Brian) at the Drive Conference. What you see is pastors, men, sons, husbands, dads and one grandfather. What you also see is a network of relationships and a conglomeration of systems. Systems was the focus of session #2 at the Drive Conference. I guess I would describe systems as the intangible influencer's within an organization.

Andy Stanley suggested that not only does God work through systems but systems create behavior. I like this string of phrases that he tossed out...

Your church is a conglomeration of systems. Those systems determine how your church functions. You can't pray, fast, preach or inspire that away! This is as spiritual as anything we'll talk about.

These systems can impede ministry and obstruct leaders or propel ministry and launch leaders. Systems affect hiring, firing, decision making, starting new programs, stopping old programs and what we will and will not do in our services. Sometimes we are frustrated by the systems that slow down our ability to lead and sometimes we frustrate others by the system that we allow to slow down their ability to lead. It seems rather unspiritual to talk in such a way about church, but quite honestly it does put words to things that all church leaders feel and attempt to navigate. These are difficult waters to navigate that is why most churches simply don't or won't address them. Systems are the elephant in the church office.

Our church, has a burden to see people in our community come to Christ and grow up in the gospel. If systems create behavior, it begs the question are our systems getting in the way or clearing the way? We will often talk about dates and programs but do we ever push deeper to address the systems that affect such decisions? These are challenging thoughts for me.

Here are some diagnostic questions to ask:
In light of this, is there anything that we need to stop doing?
Is there anything we need to continue doing?
Is there anything we need to start doing?

Drive at Glance

Many people have asked about the Drive Conference. Mark Waltz at Granger Community Church has provided great overviews of the main sessions. So here are his re-caps.











DRIVE Session 1: Andy Stanley "Does Church Get in the Way?"
DRIVE Session 2: Andy Stanley "Liberating Your Organization"
DRIVE Session 3: Andy Stanley "Recruiting and Retaining Great Volunteers"
DRIVE Session 4: Charles Stanley "Dealing with Conflict"
DRIVE Session 5: Andy Stanley "Building High Performance Teams"

Shawn McDonald and Vomit

This has got to be a great post with that title right? Well I hope it lives up to your expectations. It was just another night in my average life. I got to go see Shawn McDonald last night with a few friends (Cory, Sean & Ed). He was playing at Bethel Presbyterian. I really enjoyed the show, although I don't know his new stuff. The band seemed tired after 3 months of traveling and it showed. At one point Shawn even apologized for coming across as ...well, tired.

My favorite song wash HUSH. He set it up by saying that he grew up fatherless and lived with grandparents. But that even his grandpa was never around. He seemed to choke up a bit as he told the story, betraying the pain that he has felt for not knowing a Father. The song talked about a fatherless boy's struggle to relate to a fatherly God. Sort of like Don Miller who thought having a dad was like owning a dragon, read my thoughts here.

I was reflecting on my boys and how much I love being a Dad. Many things clamor for my attention, but few compare with my relationship with them. Because I realize how powerful a father-son relationship is. It will propel them onto manhood or suck every ounce of manhood out of them. Dad's do you realize that? Don't cheat your sons by pursuing things for you. The money isn't worth it. Your reputation isn't worth it. Your achievements aren't worth it, if they rob your boys (and girls) of you. Others can do your job, but no one can be a father to your sons.

So I arrive home with this epiphany of love for my boys. Griffin is sick so I go upstairs to give him medicine and he proceeds to puke up a tummy full of milk. I strip his sheets, change his jammies, feed him juice, comfort him and lay him down. I head down stairs and every ounce of my being wanted to sit on the couch, read the sports page and watch the news... but I looked at his puke covered sheets and jammies... and fatherhood kicked in. Instead of focusing on me I scrubbed out his sheets and put me on the backburner. That is what dad's do.

And I thought that is what God does with us, over and over again. We constantly vomit all over ourselves and he stoops to clean us up, change our clothes and tuck us back into bed... because he is our Father.

God hears

This morning at 4am I awoke to the cries of our 2 year old, Griffin. He normally sleeps like a log (thankfully) but he has been sick for a day. I shot up and went in to his room to check on him. He was on-fire, as in really warm. I told my wife...and we went into action. She went into his room to comfort him while I ran downstairs to get the medicine and his milk. I returned to give him the milk and mom the medicine. He slurped them both down, then I took them back downstairs while my wife tucked him in. We were both back in bed in just minutes. It was true teamwork. And it all started because parents hear the cry of their children.

If you are a parent you know that is true... you hear the cry of your kids. If you are a kid you know that is true... because your parents heard your cry. And it reminded me of a biblical truth that I heard in a Rob Bell sermon recently, that God always hear the cry of those who are oppressed.

Now if you ever are in situations of suffering or oppression that is a truth that will comfort you. Remember what God said to Moses before delivering his children out of Egypt...

I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land (Exodus 3:7-8)

Egypt was the place where the children of God suffered and were oppressed. If you ever find yourself in Egypt... where you are personally taken advantage of or oppressed. Where you are maligned or pushed out to the fringes. Where you are disregarded or discouraged. Know that you are not alone and that God always hears the cry of those who are oppressed.

God is a loving heavenly father who wants to rescue us from our own Egypts and to restore us to a place of wholeness and health. If you will cry out to him he will send a deliverer to redeem and repair you, because he is a father and he cares for you as a child.

Caden's Masterpiece

Yesterday when I finally returned home after a ministry lunch I was approached by my 3 year old son, Caden. It appears that he had been drawing while I was out and had made a special picture for me. He said, "Daddy I want to give it to you and don't lose it"... isn't it supposed to be me who does the life coaching? Oh well...when I looked at it I was quite impressed, because this is the first picture he has drawn with arms and legs. After gloating over his "masterpiece" I asked him who it was and he thought for a moment and offered "Cowboy Woody." So Cowboy Woody it is.

You know, at 3 1/2, I see that he is growing up. He is drawing pictures with legs on them. He wears underwear and can pee standing up. He can almost brush his own teeth and has a great way of making little babies laugh. He can speak in whole sentences and knows how to use a computer mouse. He's growing up. But I can stop time when I look at this picture. It is a freeze frame of where he is right now. So I cherish it and thank him and look forward to what he will draw next.

Andy Stanley on Teams

In the last session of the DRIVE 06 Conference Andy Stanley talked about Building High Performance Teams. He started off with the comment, "Most people in the workforce don't feel like they are part of a team. They feel like employees. Team involves chemistry and that makes it hard to define and even harder to develop."

Thank goodness the days of solo-ministry is dying method. The days when pastors spend 27 out of 28 nights away from their family out doing ministry are all but history. The power of team is finally being brought into the church. Yet church staffs still struggle to build true teams. That type of chemistry comes from debating, playing together and depending on one another. That is why Andy drilled down on the benefits of truly doing ministry in teams and how to address the obstacles to building teams. He shared the following lists.

Tips for leading the team meeting (that is building a team)

• Prepare.
• Pull members into the discussion.
• Don't interrupt a debate...listen.
• Don't attempt to resolve tension - it won't really be resolved.
• Don't allow team members to interrupt each other.
• When you sense someone isn't listening...only waiting to talk...address it.
• Keep the discussion focused.
• When a sensitive subject is going to be discussed, give those who may feel threatened a heads-up.
• Conclude with assignments.

10 Ways to Kill a Team:

• Meet only when there is a crisis.
• Allow the strong personalities to dominate the discussion.
• Allow team decisions to be undermined by private meetings after the team meeting.
• Have your mind made up before you get input from the team.
• Remain inflexible in the face of new information.
• Cut off debate.
• Don't hold team members accountable for their assignments.
• Ignore the intangibles.
• Expect more of the team than you expect of yourself.
• Take individual credit for the accomplishments of the team.

I pulled this last list from Mark Waltz's blog. Mark is one of the Granger guys, who himself is a great team leader and future thinker. I've been to a couple of his "First Impressions" conferences that Granger hosts.

DRIVEing Tunes

Dave Barnes performed at Drive on Tuesday night. I had never heard of him before and I loved his music and his show so much that I just had to support the guy so I picked up his Chasing Mississippi album. He was absolutely hilarious on stage. And his music ranged from New Orleans Jazz sound to soothing acoustic ballads. It proved to be good driving music. You might check him out, here.






The worship from the Northpoint Band throughout the Drive Conference was memorable. We learned a bunch of new tunes with a mix of a few old ones. We just had to take it home with us, so I picked up the first North Point LIVE album and the worship continued on the DRIVE back. If you check it out you won't be disappointed.

The Drive Back

Well I've returned from Drive '06 and am still decompressing. Tuesday turned into Wednesday which bled into Thursday. Once the conference kicked into 5th gear, it did not slow down. As I continue to work through the principles and insights that I took away from the conference I will share my thoughts. I commented to the guys in our van that I felt like I was returning from Summer Camp for grown-ups. We did everything but trade e-mail addresses with the friends we made while at "Camp". On the way back we jammed to some of the CD's which I picked up from the conference (which I'll highlight) in a future post.

I thoroughly enjoyed returning home and spending the evening with my boys. While at the conference Denny caught a DVD of "Cars" that Drive was tossing into the crowd. He gave it to me to give to my boys. We will watch it many times.

25-50-25
I've come to a bit of an opinion on the value of leadership conferences like this. The conference itself is only 25% of the value. The conference is really just a dump of information and principles. So you typically walk away from such experiences with a notebook full of useless information... unless it proceeds to the other steps. Half the value of the conference (50%) is the discussion that it causes or starts with those to whom the ideas apply. This is where the notebooks come to life and is internalized and contextualized. It can be tempting to jump to implementation without having necessary and difficult conversations. The final 25% value of the conference is the execution and implementation of the principles into the local context. This is the bottom-line return-on-investment of going to the conference.

I'm not sure, but its seems like there are steps somthing like this to the conference experience.

Changing the Plugs

I had a really inspiring post on my deep insights on the conference today, but I lost the post. So let me say that Andy Stanley says out loud what every pastor thinks but is not really comfortable saying. It is quite endearing, even if you don't agree with everything that he says. But I often find myself agreeing with him. So hear are some pics of (a) Andy on the Drive stage, (b) Matt giddy before checking out KidStuff the 1-5 grade foyer environment, (c) the 722 band leading worship for 1,500 20-something singles.

Gearing up

The Drive '06 conference geared up today and boy are we having fun. Why would a bunch of pastors at a pretty successful church spend their time and money to come to a conference like this? Great question. We want to do what we do ed. Ibetter. We really believe that the local church has the most important story to tell and it is a matter of life and death. So we while we don't take ourselves too seriously, we take what we do very seriously. We want to be challenged to improve and excel. And Drive has not disappointt is quite a challenging place to be. Here are some highlights...

What I did today
I went to a session by Lane Jones called Communicating for a Change. It challenged us as pastors not be information disseminators by life-changing communicators. In the Q&A Lane talked about how Andy Stanley spends a typical week...quite insightful. Then I caught Getting Singles Engaged by the Singles pastor Joel Thompson. It wasn't so much about engagement it was more about ministry (sorry to disappoint) but Joel candidly shared the successes and struggles of their very successful ministry. Tonight in the general session Andy Stanley challenged all churches to consider how we might be making it difficult for people to connect with God. How we as the church in the way we do things might actually be an obstacle in the way of non-Christians coming to Christ. It is a humbling but healthy set of questions to ask.

Favorite Quotes
"Relevance is not giving people information they don't need." Lane Jones
"Be more committed to reaching some than keeping others." Andy Stanley

Here are a few shots to show you that we aren't working too hard

Holy Roadtrip

What happens when you load 6 pastors into a van and drive for 8 hours to a leadership conference. Well not much... really. 6 Guys on our staff are heading to DRIVE Conference at North Point Community Church this week. The funny thing is that I bet dozens of people at our church would die to be a fly on the wall in our van, and here I am in the van. It's not that I'm smarter or better but just that I am here. It is quite fun.

We did watch a message by Andy Stanley from last years Drive Conference on the principle of Momentum and how it affects ministry in the local church. You know the idea that sometimes its like you are swimming with the current, you don't have to work that hard and lots gets done. But other times you swim with all your might, but the current is against and it seems that you are losing ground. That is the concept of momentum. It sparked a great conversation between me and Matt (our children's pastor) about how much momentum or lack there of we felt in our ministries. The conference has already started folks...if you know what I mean.

Oh... I would like to on record that I did drive the last hour of the trip... that was the 11:00-12:00 shift. (Sorry for the self-promotion, but my wife thinks I'm the worst late night driver and she is pretty much right). But last night I ponied up and I did it!! I'm glad I got that off my chest.

Training Day

As Christian parents Christine and I feel burdened to press into our boys the two greatest commandments from Jesus.

You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Luke 10:27

What might be simply and somewhat correctly viewed by some as participating in Trick-or-Treat we see as part of a larger core value of our family: Involvement with Neighbors. We think that for us to truly love our neighbors we must have some relationship with them, so we seek to be involved in our neighborhood as long as it does not cause us to compromise our commitment to the two great commandments.

We want our boys to grow into a love for Jesus Christ and taste of the life that he alone can offer, at the same time we want them to love and serve and know their neighbors. So when we dressed up the cutest Cowboy Woody and the coolest Buzz Light Year I know and literally ran house to house in our neighborhood, we were doing more than collecting Mars Bars...we were showing our boys that to Love Your Neighbors you must first be involved with them.

Click

Last week my wife and I finally watched the recent Adam Sandler movie Click. Any Happy Madison production is going to include its fair share of toilet humor, sexual inuendos and adolescent jokes and Click did not stray far from the formula. But I got more than I bargained for, I emotionally connected with the story.

I’m no film critic, but I know when I find a story that I can identify with and characters with whom I empathize. In the story Sandler’s character is busy climbing the corporate ladder, for the purpose of providing a “better life for his family”. He finds himself regularly having to choose between family and work. It’s funny the very family he is leaving to work to provide a better life for, just wants more of him not of this “life” he wants to provide.

The conflict in the story is that he finds a way to fast forward through the fights and the boring dinners…basically through life. And then he is laying on his deathbed realizing that he has lost his dad, his wife and his kids.

It really got me thinking about the most important relationships in my life, the people with whom I am the closest and whom I don’t want to fast forward through…. my wife and my two boys. I believe that my time with them is a gift, but honestly I don’t always treat it that way. Like when I get frustrated with the boys making messes or not going sleep or *gulp* wanting to play with me while I’m watching the game. And I often take my wife for granted and don’t cherish her or the time we have together.

I shed a few tears that night as I contemplated the possibility of not being able to spend time with my favorite people in the world. I don’t want to give my wife and kids the leftovers; they deserve more of me NOW.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

Is he that into you?

I couldn’t sleep last night and at 1:30am was flipping through the 6 TV channels that I get on my TV. As I often do late at night I settled on the DayStar Network which is a Christian station and in my opinion is a mix of weirdo tele-evangelists sprinkled with a few normal people. Beth Moore (who is one of the normal ones) happened to be on. She was teaching to a room full of woman and just happened to read a couple of excerpts from the book He’s Just Not That into You.

Have you heard of this book? I can’t stop hearing about it. It is written in part by comedian and former “Sex in the City” writer Greg Behrendt. I’ve even seen him with his own Dr. Phil style show on GTN. The book has been highlighted on the Oprah Show, in the USA Today, and by John Stossel on ABC News.

I haven’t read the book and probably won’t but I did watch the Oprah episode with my wife. In it he advises single woman of the many devices that men use to string them along as “friends with benefits” or “booty calls” while leaving the women hoping for more. On the flip side he challenges woman to step up their own self-respect and not be strung along by such men, by facing the truth that the guy “is just not that into you.”

When I saw that Beth Moore was preaching the same message I just couldn’t hold back comment. To quote her exactly she said “I’m not recommending the book and I’m not not recommending the book.” I guess that’s the way Christians give props to non-Christians who come up with a good well to tell God’s truth.

If his book frees a woman from settling for one bad relationship after another and waiting for a man who will love her and lead her sacrificially…that sounds a lot like what Jesus would be for. The Bible even has some pretty darn good advice about relationships, like here, here and here. But I’m not recommending the book and I’m not not recommending it.

King and Queen

In a singles ministry like 727, some people like to come and take a peek to see how many hotties are at our events... I know how it works. Well at our recent Red Carpet Costume Party they were coming out of the woodwork. I'd put our crowd up against Oscar crowd any day. Since I can't show all the pics, I thought I'd crown a Prom King and Prom Queen. The competition was tight. We had Mary Poppins, Justin Timberlake, Madona, Whoopi Goldberg, Superman, Bikers, Chris Daughtry, Sandra Dee and more. But the crowns go to.....

The King of the party....ladies we have a true stud in our midst.
























And the Queen gets her crown....any takers?



















See the rest of the party here.

UPCLOSE with Peep & Anna

My good friends from Estonia, Peep & Anaa Saar, stopped by our house last night to hang with our 727 crowd and update us on what is going on with them. Back in March about 12 of us from Northwest and 727 went over to help with their English Camp, what they call "The Best Week of the Year." At the bottom of this post I have links to my chronicles of our 2006 English Camp trip. Everytime I hear them share about what God is doing in Estonia it fires me up. Some have asked how they can learn more about their ministry, so here it is. We will probably take anothehr group in March 2007, so you can get in on the fun too!

Going UP is Blowing Up
These outreach events target highschool students called Going UP are as strong as ever. Peep commented that their September event on "Choices" was probably the best one they had ever done. Find out more at goingup.ee.

A New Church
Last Sunday they had their first public service for Ristee (meaing Crossroads) Church which is "A church for others, a home for everyone". They are truly church planting pioneers in Estonia. Find out more at risttee.ee.

Growing Family
Peep & Anna are expecting their first child on March 5, 2007. You can keep an eye on the family at their blog: http://www.tagahoov.ee/peepanna/

2006 English Camp Chronicles
Estonia Here we come...
Stockholm we've arrived....
The Eagle has Landed
Touring Tartu
Dinner at Craig & Reena's
Two very different Church Services
The seeds have been planted
Cory is GOING UP
Meet Small Group #7
Don't judge a book by it's cover...
Day in Tartu provides ministry opportunities
Postmodern Pastor
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