We spent the day at Disney today!  What an awesome experience.  I've only been to Disney once and it was probably more than twenty years ago, but it was amazing the way the memories came flooding back.  It was almost like I rode the Pirates of the Caribbean yesterday!  It's amazing the way a single ride can make such a lasting memory!

I enjoyed my kid's enjoyment as much I enjoyed Disney.  Josiah was hilarious.  He was scared of everything!  But fun and fear are close cousins! 

Ten hours flew by!  By the way, the fifteen dollars we spent on a double stroller was the best $15 investment we've ever made :)

The thing that amazes me about Disney is that all of the theme parks and movies and characters can be traced by to one man's amazing God-given imagination!  Billions of dollars of revenue and million of tourists all started in the imagination of Walt Disney.  I think it's an example of one of my conviction: imagination is our only limit!

I heard a fascinating message by Daniel Hill on the parable of the prodigal son. The two sons represent two paradigms or worldviews. The younger brother is a relativist. The older brother is a moralist.

The moralist tries to save himself by obeying the law. The relativist is an "anything goes" person who does whatever he wants. But neither approach will save a person. Hill said there are two ways to be lost--the relativist way and moralist way. The Pharisees are a great example of the way a moralist can be lost.

When you look under the hood, both the relativist and moralist want the same things and make the same mistake. They are trying to save themselves.

There is a third way--it is letting God do for you what you can't do for yourself. It is simply embracing the Father's embrace.

Hill asked a couple of intriguing questions. In North America, is the average church more likely to attract older brothers or younger brothers? The answer is obviously older brothers. But who did Jesus attract? Primarily younger brothers!

It makes you think!

The subject says it all--poopy swim diapers! We're in Orlando, Florida for a few days at the Futuregen conference and doing a little recon at a couple churches in Orlando. I took a little time off to take the kids swimming this morning. I knew I smelled something.

If there's one thing I've learned as a parent of children in diapers--trust your nose above all else. But I didn't. So we got out of the big pool and went to the hottub and Parker said, "Ah, Dad. What's that stuff on your swimming suit?" The stuff was Josiah's stuff. It was a royal mess. To make a long story short, the hotel had to clean the pools and I had to clean myself and Josiah.

Oh joy oh bliss!

All you can do in a situation like that is plug your nose and laugh!

I got my first royalties check for ID: The True You--a whooping $110.43. I'm not retiring early :) The book sold 57 copies in its first month. I met with Dick Foth yesterday and I told him it had sold 57 copies. Dick he told me that Rick Warren's book, The Purpose-Driven Life, had sold 20 million copies. Thanks for the encouragement Dick!

I'm not threatening any best-seller lists, but I keep hearing stories about the way God is using the book to influence people's lives. I've got to share part of one story while respecting anonymity. Someone emailed me this week about someone who had gotten a copy of ID and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting during a pivotal time in their life spiritually. She said it seemed like the book was written for her. One story like that is worth all the time and energy invested. If it can change the trajectory of one person's life one degree it's worth it.

It was a healthy reminder that it's not about receiving royalties. It's about changing trajectories!

I got my first rejection today. I floated the ID manuscript with Relevant Books, but it's a "no go." I obviously want everybody to love what I've written so there is a level of disappointment. It's almost like a low-grade fever! But it's also a badge of honor. I'd almost feel guilty it was easy to get my first book published. I probably wouldn't appreciate the process as much.

The key is emotional jujidsu--finding a way to let rejection fuel resilience. I think some people make the fatal error of personalizing rejection. They experience a rejection and think they are a reject (there's an eighties word). This rejection has strengthened my resolve!

I had a conversation with an NCCer today about philosophy of church and I realized how much philosophy depends on personality. Here are a few of my random thoughts.

I think everybody relates to God through the filter of their personality. We're all wired a little differently. I think John and Peter are a great microcosm. I can't imagine John cutting off Malchus' ear or Peter leaning on Jesus at the last supper. Peter and John related to Jesus very differently.

Oswald Chambers said, "Let God be as original with others as he was with you." I think we've got to appreciate the fact that different people relate to God in different ways.

We have different personalities. I'm an ENFP. That affects the way I preach and pray and counsel and think. It effects everything! And we have different temperaments. I think there are seven primary temperaments: intellectual, emotional, mystical, ritual, sensual, natural, and experimental.

One of the greatest mistakes we can make is to think that God wants all of us to worship him the same way. The truth is that your personality and your past affect the way you worship. Gary Thomas says, the problem is that "we prescribe the same spirituality for the farmer in Iowa and the lawyer in Washington, DC."

I Corinthians 12:4 says, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men."

Worship was never meant to be "one size fits all." Just as there are different kinds of gifts, different kinds of service, and different kinds of working, there are different kinds of worship.

Spiritual maturity should not result in conformity! Spiritual maturity should result in diversity--different expressions of worship. Spiritual maturity should result in originality.

Paul uses a musical metaphor in Romans 12:16 to make the point. It simply says, "Live in harmony." What's harmony? It's not everybody singing the same note. It's different people singing different notes. The bottom line is that you can't have harmony without diversity!

I think churches have different temperaments. NCC may be an ENFP organism. That doesn't make us better or worse. It's just who we are. I think we need to feel comfortable with who we're not! And we need to feel comfortable with who we are.

We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people. Praise God for churches with different personalities. Can you imagine a world where everyone was alike. How boring!

Posted by Batterson at February 10, 2005 10:58 AM

Parker had a basketball game today and all season long they've been getting clobbered pretty good. Today was no exception! They lost about 40-5, but Parker scored the first point of his short and unillustratrious basketball career. I cried tears of joy! I know that sounds awfully sentimental, but let me put it in context. I've been practicing free throws with Parker for two months. I think he's hit the rim twice! And he's never made a free throw in his life. I repeat. He's never made a free throw in his life.

So he got fouled in the game today and to be perfectly honest I felt bad for him because 98% of his free throws are air balls. I thought it would be embarrassing. I prayed like nobody's business. Plus his Uncle Joel and Aunt Nina were there so I wanted him to feel good about his game. Do you remember what Al Michael's said at the end of the 1980 USA victory over the Soviet Union in hockey? "Do you believe in miracles." Parker made the first free throw of his entire life. And he did it in a game. We exploded. I was jumping for joy! It was a hallelujah moment. I think I was more excited about his first made shot than all of my shots combined!

Sorry if I'm going overboard, but this is a blog!

I was reading about Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY City today. I love their approach to ministry. They have a church planting school and in 2005 their alliance will launch 125 new churches across New York City and an in "crossroads cities" around the world. Right now we have one church-planter-in-residence and one church planter who is "in the field" planting a church, but I think the time will come when we've got dozens of church planters in residence who we're equipping and resourcing to plant emerging churches.

There are hospitals and teaching hospitals. I feel like we're called not just to be a church. We're called to be a teaching church. That doesn't mean we've got everything figured out. Far from it. But we've got to help others learn from our successes and failures!

Modus Operandi

Jeremiah 29:7 says, "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you." I think that approach to ministry--bless everything that moves--never fails. Worst case scenario, the blessing returns to you if the person you're blessing is unworthy. Luke 10:6 is our modus operandi. "Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. If it is worthy of the blessing, the blessing will stand; if not, the blessing will return to you."

I think we confuse "blessing" and "endorsing." I think we're so worried about not endorsing sinners that we fail to bless them. I think we ought to be in the blessing business. That is why we do the Easter Eggstravaganza and Live Nativity! We want to bless our community!

Purple Churches

One random thought. I was talking to a church planter last week and I recommended the book Purple Cow by Seth Godin. Godin says if you've seen one brown cow you've seen them all. But a purple cow, now that would catch your attention. I told this church planter, "The world doesn't need another brown church. There are something like 400,000 churches in America, but if you've seen one you've seen almost all of them. They are brown cows. We need more purple churches."

I'm not talking about being different for difference sake. I just think that maturity doesn't equal conformity. Maturity results in originality. We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people!

I had a few thoughts this morning in a meeting with someone that I thought were worth capturing.

If God were finite, heaven would be boring! It'd be like reaching the end of the Internet. I think the thing that excites me is that God will continue creating and we'll continue exploring. Heaven is the eternal adventure. We'll continue discovering new things about the Creator that will make our spirits soar to unbelievable heights! It'll take our breath away. Brian McLaren says, "You've never had a thought about God that is as good as God is." The same will be true in Heaven, but we'll have glorified minds and spirits that will be able to take in more of His glory. I think we'll also have glorified imaginations. I can't draw stick figures, but in heaven, I think I'll be able to imagine things and they will come into existence. I'm not trying to reduce heaven to some kind of superhero paradise where we have superhero powers, but I have a feeling I'll be able to draw without my kids laughing at me!

Wind Factor

One more thought. I think life is an ebb and flow. We all have high tide and low tide moments. We've got to ride the wave when we're at high tide. And we've got to sail the shallows without running aground during low tide.

I think it's about learning to set your sails the right way. You've got to approach sailing very differently depending on which direction the wind is blowing. A headwind and a tailwind require a different tact.

There is an old poem. I can't remember all of it, but I remember one line. "It's not the strength of the gale, but the set of the sail" that determines where we end up. I think that's true. We love the wind at our back, but a headwind is what strengthens us. It's a universal rule. Strength is developed via resistance. The thing that makes an oak tree strong is the wind factor. Without strong winds an oak tree would be flimsy and weak.

I have to admit I'm fascinated by wind. I have an entire book on wind titled Defining Wind. Part of my fascination is theological in nature. John 3:7 likens the Holy Spirit to wind. I love that metaphor! Wind is mysterious. Scripture says you don't know where it comes from or where it is headed. And so it is with everyone born of the spirit.

A couple hundred years ago, wind was oil. It fueled exploration by helping ships sail into terra incognita. The world ran on wind! The fuel has changed, but there is still a wind factor that effects everything. How do you stop wind? You can't resist it. All you can do is harness it. Same with the Holy Spirit.

May the wind of the Spirit blow on your dying embers and light a fire in you that sets you ablaze!

I tend to think of churches in human terms. Every church has a unique DNA. Every church has a unique personality and identity. And every church has a unique destiny to fulfill.

Churches go through life cycles just like people. NCC is a nine year-old. That means we haven't even hit puberty yet! We've got alot of growing to do. I think churches have their own quirks and idiosyncracies. And churches are wired in different ways.

I guess what I'm saying is that different isn't better or worse. It's just different. I think we need different kinds of churches because there are different kind of people.

But I have a growing conviction and here it is. We need more right-brain churches. I'll explain.

Right-Brain Churches

Sometimes I feel like saying, "It's the right-brain stupid." That sounds harsh, but I'm amazed at how naive we are as churches sometimes. And there is no excuse. Jesus told us to be innocent as doves yet wise as serpents. In other words, we ought to be beating the world at their own game. But most churches are losing. Instead of creating culture we're attacking it. Instead of being the pacesetter we're playing catch up. We're playing defense instead of offense. Jesus told us we have to "compel" them to come in. It means to demand attention. And here's the thing. We have the good news--news that is better than good. It is almost too good to be true!

So what does that have to do with the right-brain? I've been fascinated by the right and left hemispheres of the brain for years. I love neurology. The left brain is the linear, logical side of us. The right brain is the creative side. We need both/and. But I think the modern era emphasized the left brain. We ended up with "systematic" theology yet there is nothing systematic about theology. All we've done is pigeon-hole the Kaleidscopic One. God was reduced to a proposition and Christianity was reduced to a formula. I'm not against making things simple, but we've settled for near-side simplicity instead of far-side simplicity. We need to recapture the mystery and beauty and creativity. They are all reflections of the Creator. Ian Bradley said that most of our problems are the result of half-formed imaginations. I think He's right. The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. But we've divorced our right-brains. We check the right-brain at the door of too many churches. The end result is an passionless, unimaginative faith. And we wonder why people are bored by church. We wonder why people are uninspired. It's because the church is left-brained. Where's the creativity? Where's the imagination? Where's the mystery?

I was reading Daniel H. Pink's article, Revenge of the Right Brain, in this month's Wired magazine. And it lit my fire again. He said, "The future no longer belongs to people who can reason with computer-like logic, speed, and precision. It belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind." He's referring to the right-brain. He said that the capabilities that businesses depend on today "are now closer in spirit to the specialities of the right hemisphere--artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the transcendent." I think it applies to churches!

I think postmodern churches will become right-brain churches or they will die a slow, painful death. The way I think about it and talk about it is 5S/3D. We need to create experiences that engage all five senses. And we need them to be three-dimensional. That means using our right-brain to communicate truth. There is no question that Jesus' left-brain and right-brain were exceptional. He could use his left-brain to maneuver out of every verbal trap the Pharisees set. But most of his teachings appealed to the right-brain. He told stories that painted pictures! We've got to get back into the narrative business. There is nothing wrong with expositional preaching, but anybody who claims it is the only form of biblical preaching has missed the forest for the trees! Jesus wasn't expositional. He was narrative. He used stories and metaphors and current events to teach truth. He changed his stories to communicate the unchanging truth in changing times.

We need to cross the corpus collosum--the mason-dixon line between the left and right brain. We need engage the right-brain of those that are unchurched and dechurched. It's our only hope of competing for our culture!

I got a call at 7:22 AM this morning and it was the construction superintendent at the job site. He told me that the bulldozer was starting demolition. By the time I got down there at 7:33 AM it was almost gone! I can't believe we waited all these years and it only took about twelve minutes to demolish. It took them most of the morning to remove all the debris, but the place looks very different. I can't even explain how I feel in words, but I wish I could bottle the emotions!

This is another one of those "Ebenezer Moments"--"Hitherto the Lord has helped us." It's a one small step and one giant leap moment. I can't wait to show the congregation some of the video!

I also met a girl at Bagels and Baguettes today who started attending NCC a few months ago. She said that she works in the neighborhood and she was really annoyed at all the noise coming from "some construction site"--the pile driving, jack hammers, and tractors. At church she kept hearing about Ebenezers, but it wasn't until now that she put two and two together! She realized that the annoying construction was Ebenezers! Pretty funny!