Amazing Sand Painting

Take 8 minutes and watch this all the way through. Art is powerful. I believe art is at it's best when it speaks to real feelings and when it engages more than one of the senses. This is simply amazing!

Pharisees and other thoughts

Wow... I thought my alma mater was strict. I was poking around on the website of a local Bible college and in the FAQs I find this rule:

What are the music standards?
Music should glorify God and be a direct reflection of the life of a Spirit-filled believer. Songs or styles which are strongly identified with unbiblical movements or worldly practices are not allowed (Romans 12:1-2). Such music includes rock, rap, country, new age, jazz, and any "Christian" music that borrows these styles (I John 2:15 ). We do not wish to lead students toward music which is questionable or which might violate believers' consciences.

Seriously? How far can I carry a cup of water on the Sabbath, oh Bearded Ones?


In other news...

• Here's a shout out to some people who really stepped up this week: Nicole H, Trevor T, & Mark S... you guys rock, literally! I arrived at rehearsal Sunday am only to quickly realize I could not sing a note. Nicol stepped up to lead and Mark did a fantastic job changing keys at the last minute. Trevor smiled and rolled with the whole thing. Thanks, team... you're the best!

• GREAT time in Granger, IN last week attending the First Impressions and Lasting Impressions workshops, both led by Mark Waltz. He has written books by the same names. READ THEM if you serve a church and think that people matter!! Much love to my traveling buddy (and driver) Chad W.

• Looking forward to the Bob Castelline band leading worship at Crossroads on Dec 6. I'm not going to preach or speak or anything... just going to worship and enjoy!

• November 29th we begin the Advent Conspiracy. So cool! We're not just "remembering the reason for the season." We're remembering the reason we exist... Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All. Hope you'll join me!

Peace.

Factual or Inspirational

This story comes from Kem Meyer:

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so blessed that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

We can choose to give just the facts or we can choose creativity. We can relay information or we can inspire. As we write, draw or speak, we can simply show what is, or we can invest ourselves to take people to a different level... a different understanding of what's already plain to them.

Be inspirational!

Cultivate'09 & Story Chicago -Making Up For Lost Time

It seems like forever since I've attended a ministry/leadership conference. I may just go to two next week. I've been kind of eyeballing Story Chicago for a while now, wondering if I could get away for it. Today I finally did some checking into Cultivate '09 and it sounds like a perfect compliment to Story. Add in the fact that one is Tuesday and the other is Wednesday/Thursday and both within 45 minutes of each other... I smell a road trip!

I also smell a need to hit up some relative/friend in the Chicagoland area and avoid the cost of a hotel room... not that Crossroads wouldn't pay for a hotel room, but that's money that could be spent on ministry.

So who wants me? Honestly the closer to Aurora/Chicago the better as I'd rather spend my time catching up with friends than driving an hour home.

If you're within a decent drive of Chicago, and care about communication in or around church, check these two out. They both look amazing in their own rights. It takes a lot for me to want to be away from my family for three days, but this might just be the ticket.

Thinking like a guest

I read a great post by Dawn Nicole Baldwin over at the Connect blog. Dawn writes about "seeing through new eyes [again]." It has really bothered me, and so I've been trying to think about what would most add value to the experience of a guest at our weekend service. Don't get me wrong... the most important thing that can happen is for a person to be confronted with the furious love of Jesus and to find out that the Gospel story is his or her story.

But while that may be our intent on every weekend, how often do our methods become barriers to that event occurring?

So I've tried to put myself in the place of a guest... a guest unfamiliar with typical church environments, and I've made a list of what I believe would most impact a guest on a typical weekend at Crossroads, or any other church for that matter. Here's the list:

1. Quality signage at entrance to parking lot.
2. Close parking spots clearly marked as reserved for visitors.
3. Helpful, friendly greeter opening door; offering help.
4. Second layer of reception coupled with helpful lobby signage.
5. Helpful, friendly, confidence inspiring helpers registering children for class. Someone offering tours of children's ministry rooms.
6. Friendly, helpful usher prepared to confidently help find the right seat.
7. Seating that helps a guest feel close to others (not isolated on a row) but not too close (no one really likes someone they don't know in the adjacent seat).
8. Activity in the auditorium that is easy to understand and capable of keeping an outsider's interest. (like the trivia questions at a cinema before the feature)
9. A service that is engaging, easily followed by a novice, and not full of elements that are too cryptic or understandable only to insiders.
10. Not too long... leave them wanting more, not dreaming of the door.
11. Give them a reason to leave slowly... Encourage conversation and connection following the service.
    
12. Friendly, knowledgeable greeters thanking them for coming and ready to answer questions or inform about possible next steps.
13. Let them leave with something in their hands that they appreciate and that reminds them of Crossroads.
14. Polite, respectful, warm follow-up, giving them a reason to want to come back.

What do you think of my list. What did I leave out? What is off-base? I'd love to have your feedback in the comments section of this post.

Book Review: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

Bottom Line: I liked it and my wife liked it.

Important footnote to be placed somewhere above the bottom line: It may not be the revolutionary solution to all your problems as a wife and mother.

A few years back I picked up a copy of Marcus Buckingham's Now, Discover Your Strengths. Loved it. Took the Strenth Finders Online test and got a pretty good look at the themes in my life that are potential strengths.

So when Thomas Nelson contacted me about reviewing Find Your Strongest Life, I was definitely interested. I got the book in the mail and an odd thing happened. My wife Tricia picked up the book before I got a chance to, and read the intro and the first few chapters. She brought it to me, impressed by the info she gleaned just from those first few pages.

Buckingham's basic tenet is that women can draw enough strength from life to feel fulfilled, loved, successful, and in control. He states that the SIGNs of a strong life (mind the acrostic) are:

1. Successful
2. Instinctively looking forward to tomorrow
3. Growing and learning
4. Needs fulfilled

Here is Marcus Buckingham talking about the book:

Overall, Buckingham echoes the lesson learned in his previous books which is: Focus on your strengths -- the things you do well, easily and that make you glad you did them -- and you'll be happier and more successful. This makes an incredible amount of sense when we're talking about a work environment. I'm just not sure that it can always be that simple when speaking to the non-negotiable requirements of motherhood.

Still the principles are solid and will benefit the working wife and mother who can put them into play in her life. This book is definitely for the woman who is frustrated by her attempts to juggle career, family, marriage, and her other relationships and responsibilities. For the older CEO-type whose kids are already out of the nest... skip this and go read Now, Discover Your Strengths.

From a Movement to a Museum

So how does a movement avoid becoming a museum? Unfortunately that's the general progression. At some point, the focus on "where we're going" becomes a focus on "where we've been," or even worse, "what we used to do."

From the Protestant Reformation to the Great Awakening, there is a history of Movements in Christendom, mass + velocity + direction, to steal an idea from Dave Ferguson. But benchmarks are reached, goals are achieved and what was once an all out striving to do what is unthinkable, becomes a satisfied glance backward at the already accomplished.

And we start saying things like, "That's too risky..." "That could bring the whole thing crashing down..." or "We have too much to lose."

And then we start naming buildings after people.