The seven27 Christmas Special

Jordan makes another hit, promoting our last BIG NITE gathering of '06!

For the Bible tells me so...

How much of what we do in the church is biblical and how much is cultural? I am personally convinced that much of what we do in church is cultural. Not that it is bad. It is just cultural. It is our expression of what we think would be most honoring to God (at least when its not "the way we've always done it"). Other cultures long ago or far away don't do life the way we do, so in some way they won't do church the way we do.

You come to conclusions about these things by asking a series of why questions? Why do we sing the way we do? Why dress this way? Why have this person speak this time and that person speak that time? You get the gist.

I used to quip (defensively)... for the Bible tells me so. But then I looked into the Bible and I didn't find much about how to do church, just a few descriptions (not prescriptions) of a few early churches....who even differed a bit on how they did things.

If this talk scares you, my next advice won't...look in the Bible for yourself. See how little the Bible prescribes for the church. The Bible tells us many important things about man and God and Jesus...life and death things, but it tells us little about how to do church. To further push on the issue of our cultural expressions of the church I sugges Dan Kimball's recent blog post Pews, Pulpits, Pastors, Preaching and other things that can get in the way of the church "being" the church.

I'm flattered

Kevin Carroll is my hero.

This has absolutely nothing to do with fact that he highlighted my blog on his blog, today. See the evidence here.

I am flattered, excited and giddy that Kevin saw my post on him and found it worth sharing with others.

I am planning on getting his book, Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, and reading it myself this Christmas (seriously). I'd suggest you do the same and get one for someone else you know, whom you want to encourage to live playfully.

Vintage21 Jesus Video #3

Is Jesus for girls?That is what a majority of people think. He was a whiny, meek, compassionate man who was...well weak. And people get this notion from Church. I came across this hilarious video designed to get us to think about the Jesus we portray.

In the Spring of 2003, Vintage21 had a four week series on Jesus Christ, taking a deep look at what He said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think Jesus is like. Thank goodness He's not.

See video

Web Worship

As I lay on my couch last night watching Sunday night football , I also tuned into the Passion Live Link over at 268generation.com , curious about what would ensue. I've been involved in a bunch of conference calls over the years but never a Live Web Worship event. And what unfolded was refreshingly simple. It was an hour of singing led by Steve Fee broken up by times of prayer... that simple.

Apparently Louie Giglio gathered his staff and friends at the Passion House in Atlanta to broadcast the event. He regularly updated listeners as to who was listening and listeners "showed their support" by commenting on the blog. I noted that at 10:14 there were 133 comments and at 10:45 there were 200 comments. I even commented to let the staff know that a Buckeye was listening in. It appears that families were huddled around the family computer and college groups were broadcasting the link to entire rooms full of people.

The event was simply an hour of praise and prayer. We prayed for the upcoming Passion 07 Event, for college campuses and for the nations. I personally felt the tension in my life. The big screen in my living room was broadcasting another Sunday Night NFL game. Fans were cheering, commentators were analyzing and players were hustling. But the small screen in front of me was broadcasting this live worship event. My attention bounced between two realities, each voice vying for my attention. I sort of liked it. The tension that is...of allowing the Christ I worship to invade my personal space and play space, but not necessarily being the center of my attention. The tension of the here-and-now fighting with the still-coming. The tension of the already and the not-yet. Prayer and football were my comfort. I appreciate Louie Giglio's creativity, leadership and God-centeredness. It was a memorable Sunday night for me.

Passion Live Webcast

I just got an e-mail from Louie Giglio. Well...that is stretching the truth abit...it was more like the generic Passion '07 e-blast. So now we are both on the same page. It announced a LIVE WEBCAST, this Sunday at 10pm. I went to Passion '06 in Nashville (and blogged it here) and quite enjoyed the teaching (John Piper, Beth Moore, Louie) and the worship (Crowder, Redman, Tomlin, Hall, etc.). If you are interested in taking a peek at where college ministry is these days, then show up to the WEBCAST. Here was the e-mail......

Live Link Unites Students for Worship/PrayerPassion
Hosts Live Web Event Sunday Night, December 3

Though college students are notorious for making plans at the last minute, we hope you know where you're going to be Sunday night, December 3. Where, you ask? Huddled close to your computer with a few friends at 10:00 PM EST as we worship and pray together leading up to Passion07.

The Live Link is going to be an audio-only stream giving students across the nation (and around the globe) the chance to link together--some connecting from Kansas, others from a dorm in Boston and somebody in Australia where it's already Monday! The Live Link will be interactive, so you won't just be listening, you'll be singing at the top of your lungs (OK, maybe not so loud for some of you!) and praying with us. We'll be streaming the audio live right from our website at 268Generation.com. All you have to do is turn your computer on, get to 268Generation.com and click on the Live Link Banner.

It would be amazing if everyone on the journey to Passion07 gets connected on December 3, so tell everyone you know who's coming, and even those who aren't, and join with us Sunday night for the Live Link.

The Passion07 Live Link
Sunday, December 3
10:00 PM EST

Visit http://www.268generation.com/ for more info
Click on "Live Link" to test your connection

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.