Evotional.com - Originality, Authenticity, Creativity

Book Prayers

I continue to be inspired by our prayer team that is strategically praying for In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. The focus this week is the readers who will pick up a copy of the book. I can't wait to see the way God answers these prayers. I'm posting some prayer excerpts so that God gets the credit when they are answered. I really feel like these prayers are carrying me write now :)

Father, you know exactly who is going to read this book, who is going to tell a friend about it, who is going to be walking through an airport and spot it, who is going to find it on a train left behind from someone else, who is going to get it as a gift, who is going to read it unknowingly of its contents.

And Lord, you know who is going to read it for answers, for healing, for truths, for knowledge, for encouragement, and for new life.

You know who is going to read it out excitement, out of curiosity, or out of desperation.

Lord, we ask you to meet every reader where they will be in their journey with you. Lord, that they would read it knowing that you planned for them to read it, that you planned for them to hear your words, and your truths in this unique way, and you planned these truths to be spoken to them at that particular time in their life. Father, let every reader know, that it is no accident that they are reading this book. That it is part of your plan for them, part of you working in them, and part of their transformation in you.

Lord, we don't know the stories of the people who are going to read this book, but we thank you Lord that you know them, because you are the author of those stories. Father, I ask you that a new chapter would be penned in each of these stories because of the transforming effects of this book.

One of the cool things about writing is knowing that you have the potential to impact people you'll never meet this side of eternity.

I just got two emails this week telling me about a college group and a group of neurosurgeons who have read ID: The True You. One reason I write is because I feel like it allows me to have an impact across time and space.

You never know how God is going to use a book or who is going to read it!

The Neurology of Faith

I'm fired up about our next sermon series--The Neurology of Faith.

The Great Commandment says, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind."

What does it mean to love God with your medial ventral prefrontal cortex?

I know that is a burning question that keeps you up late at night right? Me too!

The series is going to juxtapose neurology and theology. I have this conviction: every ology is a branch of theology. That is based on Romans 1:20. Every branch of science reveals a new dimension of the Creator. So the more we understand the human mind the more we understand the mind of God. And vice verse :)

This series is similar to The Physics of Faith series we did a year ago. And I've got The Mathematics of Faith and The Anatomy of Faith up my sleeve for future years.

So why neurology? I honestly believe that the spiritual battle is won or lost in the mind. Spiritual maturity is mind over matter.

I think this series is going to help people think about everything from obeidience to prayer to sin in new ways! I'm hoping the neurology will stretch our theology and help us appreciate God even more!

French Television

I just got an email from a reporter with TFI French Television. Looks like they are going to come and film our services on June 11. I think there is a level of intrigue about the American Church in France and other European countries.

These aren't the kind of things we seek out, but I always pray that God will use the media in some small way to change the negative perception so many people have of the church. You never know who might be watching :)

Memorial Day

Had a great Memorial Day break. Just what the doctor ordered. I needed a mental and emotional break.

We drove out to my in-laws in Virginia and chilled out.

I love living in DC on Capitol Hill, but I also need to get outside the beltway to decompress. It was pretty wild waking up in a suburban neighborhood without the sounds of the city. Josiah and I got up early. Actually, Josiah got up early and got me up early. So we took a little walk and he talked the entire time. I got an overdose of four year-old theology. We talked about everything from eternal life to creation to healing. Very interesting theories :)

We hit the pool. Played some basketball. Grilled burgers. And had a little homemade ice cream.

That's what I'm talking about :)

Weekend Reflections

I've been a little under the weather the last few days so I feel great about making it through the weekend. We did a video shoot at the World War II memorial this week, but the audio track didn't turn out so I preached the old-fashioned way :) Behind a pulpit. Well actually, next to a metal truss and behind a music stand.

I really felt like this was a back to basics message. No bells and whistles. No fanfare. Just a simple reminder of what Christ has done for us. The goal was to take people on a pilgrimage back to the foot of the cross. What a powerful communion experience!

We did a baby dedication in the 9:30 @ Union. Man, I love baby dedications. There are few things I enjoy as much as dedicating babies! It's just an awesome privilege to pray a prayer of dedication.

Just Shoot Me

I never ceased to be amazed at the creativity and diversity within the NCC community. We have a photography group with a name I love--Just Shoot Me :) I just saw their photography display at our coffeehouse.

Wow. Double Wow.

It was like looking at life through the eyes of each of them. The pictures gave me a window into their minds.

A picture is worth ten million words!

Book Prayers

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the book prayers. So many friends and NCCers have been praying for me and encouraging me along the way. Much appreciated.

I know Terry Storch and Craig Groeshel are working on books as well so they are praying emphathetic prayers :) I'm doing the same for them.

It's hard to describe, but I've felt such a writing anointing these last two weeks. Looks like I'll finish the 50,000 word rough draft this week. Then we have one week to make revisions. I still can't believe we're writing and revising this book in one month's time, but I honestly work best up against a deadline.

Anywho.

One thing is for sure. This book is 90% different than the original manuscript. And I hope it's 90% better. The thing I feel good about is that the book is really becoming my life philosophy. I think it's one of those kinds of books that will give people a new way of approaching their life and thinking about God.

Can't wait to preach the series in October!

Still have lots of writing and editing, but I just wanted to say thanks for prayer support! I said two weeks ago that I need to write like the wind. It feels like the wind is at my back and that is the byproduct of prayer!

Mucho Thanks!

T-Shirt

So I got a funny surprise today. An NCCer had a couple t-shirts made up for me.

A few weeks ago I talked about boredom. I said boredom ought to be spelled boredumb. But I think I like boredum even better.

If you're following in the footsteps of Christ you should be anything but bored!

Soren Kierkegaard said boredom is the root of all evil.

I'm anti-boredumb.

Must See

You've got to watch this video.

My friend, Trey Hicks, sent me this link. The video is 35 minutes short. Every once in a while we need something like this to recalibrate our spirits. This is some good old-fashioned preaching! It rocked my world.

A Perception Problem

The church has a serious perception problem. I posted last week that the enemy is us. I think some of the comments really proved the point I was trying to make.

I just don't think we can afford to point the finger at the unchurched and say what's wrong with them. The real question is: what's wrong with us?

I was surfing www.bloggingchurch.com and the dynamic dou of Brian Baily and Terry Storch cite a statistic that is pretty mind-boggling. According to the latimes.com, a recent national poll found that just 17% of adults view the local church as essential for developing faith.

17%? Are you kidding me? Can you say perception problem?

Maybe we've been answering questions no one is asking?
Maybe we've been focused on what we're against for too long?

Maybe it's time to touch lepers, confront Pharisees, wash feet, cry like a man, throw a temple tantrum, pray all night, go after lost sheep, befriend prostitutes, take up our cross, resist temptation, believe for miracles, lose our lives, and storm the gates of hell.

By the way, you change the perception of the church one person at a time.

The Blog Effect

So we're over at the World War II memorial shooting an on location video for Sunday. And a couple of guys come up to us and ask us what ministry we're with. I'm guessing my so far so God t-shirt was the tip off that this video shoot was a church deal.

We told them that we were with National Community Church and one of the guys says, "I read your blog."

Turns out these two pastors from Alabama happened to be in town for meetings. How crazy is that? Very cool to meet Ed Litton and Scott White from First Baptist North Mobile.

The blogosphere is shrinking the world.

Prayer Support

I just got an email from our prayer team at NCC. It was a serious gust of wind in my sails. A team of people is praying for me as I write In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. I was so impacted by the strategic nature of their prayers that I wanted to share what they are praying for:

Their prayer theme this week is creativity, energy, time, peace, flow of words--every word, every paragraph, every chapter to be measured by God.

The theme next week is for readers--transformation and God-sized breakthroughs from this book.

The theme in two week is for my editors. They are praying for divine editing--adding and changing only what the Lord wants, favor upon Pasotr Mark and the manuscript

I feel like that email was a 1000 miligrams of confidence. I wanted to post these prayers because I can't wait to see the way God answers them!

I think sometimes we pray for something, but we fail to give God credit because we forget what we prayed for in the first place.

Summer Semester

We're getting ready to kick off our summer semester of small groups. Here's a picture of the small group guide we handed out this weekend. I'm amazed at the creativity and diversity of our groups which is really a reflection of the creativity and diversity of our leaders. I honestly think we've got a group for everybody. I thank God for visionary leaders who are making a difference week in and week out.

Our approach to leadership is pretty simple: get a vision from God and go for it. We obviously have systems and structures in place. Props to our Pastor of Discipleship, Heather Zempel. She really steers the disciple ship. Did you like that play on words :) I honestly think our corporate growth hinges on our discipleship and leadership development. As we launch more groups it allows God to send more people our way because there is a place for them to plug in. So discipleship is really the driving engine of growth.

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but I would hate to be in an environment where leadership = serving on a committee. We've tried to create a culture of service. A leader is someone who serves more than others! They may or may not have a title. They may or may not have a position. But leadership is producing more than you consume! So in that sense you can't keep people from becoming leaders!

Summer semester here we come!

Third Place

Thanks to sociologists, the phrase third place is part of most people's lexicon. It refers to that place away from work and home where people can hang out. Think of third places as postmodern versions of ancient wells. In a sense, coffeehouses are wells. They are the natural gathering places in our culture.

I just read an interview with Howard Schultz, Starbuck's chief global strategist. He said, "The physical environment has become as important as anything we do, including the coffee."

Think about the profundity of that statement. Starbucks isn't in the coffee business. They are in the third place business.

Schultz said, "The environment and the experience is the brand. It's a very important distinction that people use our stores all over the world as an extension of their daily lives, and sometimes the coffee is subordinate to that."

One of the ten buzz commandments is Thou Shalt Hang Out At Wells. We need to find creative ways to turn our churches into third places. I know there is a fine line here. But I'm hearing about more churches building community centers and restaurants and coffeehouses and gyms that serve a dual-purpose. They serve the community and the church.

For what it's worth, we haven't started renting out Ebenezers but we have about forty requests sitting on the table! We have created a place where the community can congregate.

Here is the challenge we face as churches: how do we become part of the daily routine of people's lives?

One reason why we built a coffeehouse is because we didn't want it to be a place where a few hundred people gathered once a week. We wanted it to be a place where hundreds of people gathered every day of the week!

And the cool thing is that every penny of profit goes to our community outreach and missionary endeavors.

I think part of being shrewd as snakes is learning from business models. We can't let Starbucks beat us at the Third Place game! We need to find creatives ways of turning our churches into wells.

Coffee for thought.

Batman and Robert

If I blogged everything funny that Josiah is saying these day I'd never stop. Josiah just informed me that, "Batman is the most powerfullest super hero of them all." And did you know that Batman has a sidekick named Robert? And here I thought it was Robin. But Josiah assures me his name is actually Robert.

Safety Net

I just did a phone conference with my editors today.

We're t-minus three weeks till my final manuscript has to be done.

Working with editors is a new experience for me. It's hard to describe how it feels, but here is my best attempt. Writing is like walking a tightrope. Having editors is like having a safety net below you. I don't have the fear of falling because I know my editors are going to catch things for me.

I'm at the front end of this writing gig so I'm still finding my voice. My books have to be an expression of who I am. But it is such a blessing to have a couple brilliant editors backing me up on this project. Their insights are so dead-on. I'll be a much better writer and much better preacher because of them!

Why We Podcast

Just got a cool email from a former NCCer who is working in the US Embassy in Madagascar. Here is one more reason why we podcast.

I spent six months this past winter working in the Arlington area and attended NCC @ Ballston Mall. I am currently working in the US Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar and after three months have finally been able to receive internet access.

I am currently listening to my just updated ipod w/ back podcasts of the past 3 months. You have no idea how exciting it is to be able to hear the word of God preached & to hear a little bit of home. Thank you for the work that you do, the encouragement you give & for sending just a little bit of the US to the island of Madagascar.

It's a small world after all :)

Lions Have Sharp Teeth

Josiah came up to me while I was working on my manuscript and informed me, "Lions have sharp teeth." Just thought I'd pass that little tidbit along. He also told me they have sharp claws.

That information is invaluable as I work on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Or as Josiah refers to it, "Your lion story." I think Josiah is going to be seriously disappointed when my book is published and he discovers it's not a picture book :)

Why We Do Church

I just got an email from an NCCer that reminded me of why we do what we do.

I thought you should know something about your church. I have gone to church accassionaly throughout my life and on special events. But I have never been grasped and pulled to the idea of lets go to church every Sunday.

I decided that I wanted to go to church the first weekend back in January, so I went to your church at Union Station. EVERY SUNDAY since that day I have gone to church. EVERY WEEK I learn something new about the bible. EVERY DAY my faith becomes stronger and at the end of every week I look forward to walking to Union Station to listen to the service and sing the worship.

Today was my last sunday being able to go to your church. However, I will be listening to your service through the podcast program you and your staff have set up. I really just wanted you to know that your church has started me in a very new and exciting path to travel and I can not thank you enough.

It's so easy to become immune to the miracles that happen week in and week out. But I'm reminded today that we're in the business of changing one life at a time! And as one of our core values reminds us: everyone is invaluable and irreplaceable.

C.S. Lewis put it this way: "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, exploit."

So I'm praising God for one life changed.

Phoenix Theaters

I just met the CEO of Pheonix Theaters. They just assumed the lease @ Union Station and he is here helping with the transition this weekend. What a nice guy. He had actually read about NCC in the National Cinema magazine a few months ago. The story was about the growing trend of churches meeting in movie theaters and it featured Theaterchurch.com. I could immediately tell that this is going to be a win/win relationship!

I'm also thankful that one of our current managers we've worked with for years is going to be the General Manager.

I'm counting our blessings! What a smooth transition.

Innovative Church Conference

Totally fired up about speaking at the Innovative Church Conference this year. It's scheduled for September 21-22.

I think Granger Community Church is one of those churches that is pushing the creative envelope. And I love their team! I got a chance to connect with Tony Morgan, Tim Stevens, and Jeff Peterson when they were at Buzz.

I'm really looking forward to hearing Mark Beeson. And Perry Noble from Newspring is speaking as well. By the way, if you've never heard Perry preach you're in for a trip! It is as enjoyable as his blog :)

By the way, I still think the dance silhouette in the graphic is Tony Morgan busting a move!

Spirit of Ingenuity

I picked up a copy of Black Enterprise at the airport this week because the cover article was titled The Business of Faith. It focused on the ministries of T.D. Jakes, Kirbyjon Caldwell, and Eddie Long.

I was blown away by the ingenuity.

They are getting movie deals, renovating shopping malls, and starting businesses. I really appreciate the holistic approach to ministry.

Obviously, preaching the gospel is at the heart of what we're called to do. But I'm not in the camp that thinks that ingenuity is at odds with the gospel. We ought to be the most creative people on the planet.

So I find myself praying that God would unleash an ingenuity anointing.

Not exactly sure what that anointing looks like. But I think we get a glimpse in Exodus 31:2: "I have chosen Bezalel, son of Uri, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts."

Our understanding of the anointing of God is far to ecclesiastical. The anointing of God isn't just something that preachers need. It is something that entrepreneurs and parents and teachers and musicians and politicians and movie directors need.

Ingenuity is a supernatural byproduct of spiritual maturity.

The Writing Jungle

Because I'm rewriting my entire manuscript for In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day it feels sort of overwhelming. But I'm beginning to get some traction.

It's hard to describe, but at the beginning of a book it feels like you're in the middle of a dense forest surrounding by thick foliage. You have no idea how to get out. So you take your machete and start hacking in one direction. Then you change directions. And you change directions again. But eventually you come to a clearing where you can see your way.

I think that is beginning to happen simply because I'm been swinging my machete like a crazy jungle guide. I've got a long ways to go to get out of the jungle, but I'm beginning to see the clearning.

Back to the jungle!

Interruptions

I'm reading a fascinating article titled Making Work Work For You in Fortune Magazine. A University of California at Irvine study on work habits found that the average person is interrupted every eleven minutes. And it takes twenty-five minutes to return to your task after being interrupted.

For what it's worth, a few of the ways I avoid interruptions are working offsite and turning up my iPod really loud :) I'm also trying to schedule stratetegically. Monday and Friday are focus days where I try not to schedule appointments. I've also found that need to intentionally not check my email. Sometimes I'll mindlessly check email and get totally derailed mentally.

Blog Review

I got a book in the mail the other day from Dave Stone, one of the teaching pastors at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. I met Dave briefly at Buzz. To be perfectly candid, I was super impressed that a preacher like Dave from a church like Southeast Christian Church would even come to Buzz :) They are one of the largest churches in the country doing some amazing things for the kingdom!

On my plane ride home from Illinois I read his book, Refining Your Style. It is one of the best books on preaching I've read. The book describes about a dozen different styles of preaching--everything from creative storyteller to engaging humorist to practical applicator to unorthodox artist.

What is cool is that the book does an interview with preachers who fit in the different categories And it comes with a CD of samples. The preachers include Max Lucado, Erwin McManus, Rob Bell, and Gene Appel.

Here is an amazon.com link.

Write Like The Wind

I have a motto for the next month: write like the wind.

I'm essentially rewriting my entire manuscript--In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. Just thought I'd blog about some of the writing process. To me, writing is all about rhythm. Some days you can't get any traction and it feels like you're writing upstream.

I'm really trying to bath this book in prayer. When I preach I try to think about that person who is going to come to church for the first time and I may have one shot to make a difference. When I'm writing I try to think about the person that randomly picks up my book at the bookstore. I want to turn it into a divine appointment. I've had divine appointments with authors whose books I have read. That is what I want my books to be.

For what it's worth, the entire book revolves around an obscure ancient hero named Benaiah in II Samuel 23. I prayed last night that God would help me get inside Benaiah's head. I really want to feel what he felt when he was chasing the lion. I want to think what he thought. I want to see what he saw. I really feel like God is giving me new insights. Nothing gets me more energized than thinking things I've never thought of before! That energizes my writing.

Enough writing about writing.

Back to writing!

The Enemy Is Us

One of my passions is reaching emerging generations.

I said something yesterday that I'd never said before. And it wasn't in my notes. But something crystallized for me.

I cited a study that found that 58% of college grads who grew up going to church stop attending church for one reason or another. I've actually seen studies that peg the number as high as 86%.

These are church kids. And we're losing at least six out of ten. That attrition rate is going to kill us. It's like we're losing a generation. It's Judges 2:10: "After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel."

I felt such holy conviction when I was speaking yesterday. I said, "I'm not in the camp that says what's wrong with them. The real question is: what's wrong with us."

If the church was doing it's job--incarnating the gospel in relevant ways--I honestly don't think we'd see so many twenty-somethings leaving the church. They long for community and authenticity and meaning as much as any generation. There is a spiritual hunger. But evidently they aren't finding what they're looking for in the churches they grew up in.

As the infamous Pogo once said, "We have seen the enemy and he is us."

Irrelevance is Irreverence!

Zany

I was driving my kids to school today and I told them that the LA Times called their daddy zany. So I asked them: am I zany?

The response was quick and decisive. A little too quick and a little too decisive :) Summer said, "Uh-huh!" with a big smile. And Parker said an elongated, "Ohhhh yahhhh!"

I just looked up the word zany and I have mixed feelings :)

I don't think I like one who acts like a buffoon or subordinate clown. But I can live with goofball.

I'm just glad the reporter only saw the riverdancing video. Who knows what adjective would have been used if they'd seen Mr. Incredible or Wild Goose Hunter :)

For what it's worth, we take two thing seriously at NCC: God and fun. And if you take those two things seriously you can't take yourself too seriously :)

I'm convinced that the happiest and holiest people on the planet are those who laugh at themselves the most. But some of us have an unfair advantage. There is so much to laugh at :)

MinistryCom Conference

Just wanted to put a conference on the evotional radar.

I'm going to be speaking at the 2nd annual MinistryCom Conference September 7-8 in Phoenix, AZ. They've got a great lineup of speakers and I love the focus of the conference. It'll cover everything from branding and marketing to graphic design and technology. I'm going to take some of our team to the conference to help us sharpen the saw.

For those of you on the East Coast, there is a regional event in Philly on June 14-15. Here's a link.

Theater Church Survey

Leadership Network has posted their theater church survey for free download on their site. Thanks to Warren Bird and Stephanie Plagens for coordinating this project.

Leadership Network rocks! They are pushing the envelope in so many ways. And they are such great people. Everybody I've met at LN is a class act.

Wall Street Journal

I did an interview with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal Online a few weeks ago. The article was published today. Interesting insights about the way different churches are redeeming a variety of technologies to create buzz.

Here's a link.

Creativity Commandments

I'm thinking about a new blog series.

I did a series called the Buzz Commandments a couple months ago. I'm thinking about a new series on the Creativity Commandments. Here are the five creativity commandments I talked about yesterday:

#1 Thou Shalt Throw A Temple Tantrum

Creativity is being predictably unpredictable. One of our primary responsibilities is keeping church from becoming routine.

#2 Thou Shalt Not Use Old Wineskins

Creativity is redeeming new mediums to communicate the ancient message. I talked about "on location" videos, podcasting, and blogging.

#3 Thou Shalt Preach in Parables

Creativity is a byproduct of cross-pollinization. Right-brain preachers redeem metaphors and use them to communicate truth in cognitive categories that people can understand.

#4 Thou Shalt Not Wear Long Tassels

Creativity is a byproduct of authenticity. Be Yourself.

#5 Thou Shalt Be Shrewd as Snakes

Creativity is a byproduct of cultural exegesis.

I'll expound on these, but I promised to post them so there they are.

I'm Back

What a day.

I woke up without alarm assistance around 6 AM today. Despite the fact that creativity is one of my passions and I've been speaking on the topic quite a bit, I still need several hours to "feel" it and "fine-tune" it. I spent several hours working on five creativity commandments. Then I had lunch with Scott Hodges and Joe Dascenzo from Change Design. I love hanging out with those guys!

I spoke from for 90 minutes this afternoon. What a time warp. I can't even put into words how much I enjoyed speaking to this particular group of pastors. I was credentialed in Illinois twelve years ago. So this was a pilgrimage back to Nazareth for me. Thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends.

I'm always a little concerned about speaking in afternoon sessions. Circadian Rhythm. But what a responsive group. My only regret is that I didn't have more time. I had to cut out huge chunks of notes that I wanted to share.

Hopped a flight from Springfield to Chicago. Hopped another flight from Chicago to DC.

Good to be back home!

LA Times

You check out of the blogosphere for 24 hours and the next thing you know the LA Times is calling you zany :)

I've been called worse.

Here's a link to the online article.

I'm Off

I fly out this afternoon to speak to about six hundred pastors in Illinois. Really excited about this opportunity. I sort of feel like I'm headed home. I know alot of these pastors because I grew up, went to Seminary, and got credentialed in Illinois.

And I'm talking about a couple of my passions: how do we reach emerging generations and the church ought to be the most creative place on the planet.

Peace Out.

The Medici Effect

I've been diving into some great books this past week. One of them is The Medici Effect put out by Harvard Business School Press.

I've been talking about right-brain preaching alot lately. I think one key is cross-pollinization. Jesus used agricultural concepts to package spirtual truth into unforgettable metaphors. Jesus was juxtaposing two disciplines: agriculture and theology.

Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect, says, "When you step into the intersection of fields, disciplines, or cultures, you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary new ideas."

I think my recent post, Preaching is a Culinary Art Form, is a great example. I had never thought of preaching in terms of cooking. But that juxtaposition helped me think about preaching in a new vein.

For what it's worth, Leonardo Da Vince said that to truly understand something you must view it from three perspectives.

Truth is kaleidscopic. Different disciplines give us different perspectives. At the end of the day, every ology is a branch of theology. I love studying physics and neurology and psychology because they reveal something about the God who created everything that is. They add depth perception to our theology.

Delving into other disciplines also keeps us from thinking the same thoughts. It is so easy to get stuck in a mental rut. We develop associative connections.

Johannson cites a cool advertising campaign that was targeted at challenging some of those associative connections. He was walking through the tunnels at Heathrow airport in London and he noticed some prominent advertisments for HSBC, one of the world's largest banks. One of the posters showed three identical yellow squares. The first square was labeled USA and it said cowardice. The second yellow square was labeled Malaysia and it said royalty; the last square was labeled Venezuela and it said lucky underware.

Yellow has very different associative connections in different places.

There were also a poster with three pictures of a grasshopper. The image labeled USA said pest. The image labeled China said pet. And the image labeled North Thailand said appetizer.

For what it's worth, expertise can limit creativity. Why? Because we develop such strong associative connections that it becomes difficult to think outside the box and make new associative connections. Johansson says, "Expertise, for all of its strengths, can make it more difficult to break out of establish patterns of thought."

Long story short, study lots of ologies. It is one key to creativity.

Weekend Reflections

We continued our God @ the Box Office series with Robots. We try to mix up movie genres and pick one movie that is either animated or kid-oriented. So we picked Robots for Mother's Day. The big idea this week was chasing your dream.

C.S. Lewis said, "Every life is comprised of a few themes." I think chasing your dream is certainly one of mine. I could preach on it every weekend. I just think the church has focused too much on sins of commission--not doing anything wrong. And neglected the fact that you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right! We've produced half-Christians.

Stewardship is making the most of our God-given potential. When we fail to chase God-given dreams we rob God of the glory that rightfully belongs to him! At the end of our lives we won't regret the mistakes we made nearly as much as the God-ordained opportunities we missed.

The Saturday Night service @ Ebenezers was electric. We need to do a research study on the impact of caffeine on church services :) The Saturday Night crew was wired.

I had the opportunity to meet and greet a few new NCCers this week. I met a guy that used to be on staff at Saddleback Church where Rick Warren is pastor. He said that NCC felt like Saddleback. That is a high compliment.

I also met a girl who had never been to church in her life! She said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. That is really our target at NCC so it was pretty gratifying.

Mom's Day

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the moms on mom's day.

Tony Campolo tells one of my favorite mom stories. When he was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania his wife was a stay-at-home mom. At faculty functions she'd invariably get asked what she did and she'd say she was a full-time mom. The reaction was always the same. She felt patronized by the intelligentsia so she redefined her role. The next time she was asked she said, "I am socializing two homo sapiens in the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition in order that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the teleologically prescribed utopia inherent in the eschaton." Then she paused a moment and asked, “And what is it that you do?”

Props to moms!

Big News

For the past eighteen months we've had a low-grade fever of concern about the movie theaters @ Union Station. God opened an amazing door of opportunity nine years ago. We love meeting at Union. But AMC has been on a month-to-month lease and we knew that time was running short.

Long story short, a new theater chain will take over operations on May 19. I met with the VP of Operations and we just signed a lease with them. Not only does that give us a "new lease" literally, but they are going to upgrade the theaters which makes it a win/win scenario.

It's hard to put into words how critical this development is. But I'm rejoicing right now!

I've always claimed Revelation 3:9. "What he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open. See, I have placed before you an open door."

God opened an amazing door of opportunity nine years ago. We prayed that God would keep the door open and he has!

Praise God and pass the popcorn!

New Trailer

I haven't posted a vlog in a while. Here is our new trailer. We kick off our services with this call to worship.

Serious props to Dave Clark our Pastor of Media. I also have to give credit where credit is due. We got the idea from lifechurch.tv and Christ Fellowship.

Watch the Trailer.

105.1 FM

Just finished a forty-five minute radio interview with David Stokes on our local Christian station, WAVA 105.1 FM, in the Washington, DC market.

David brought his team from Fair Oaks Church to the Buzz Conference last week. So we talked about some of the buzz concepts. What an enjoyable interview. We just "talked church" and let people listen in.

I've actually admired Fair Oaks from a distance for quite some time. They are one of the churches in the DC area that knows how to create buzz. David has a radio spot called beltway blog.

My voice is shot and I didn't even preach today! I did a long interview with Ken Walker who is doing an article on multi-site churches for Ministry Today. And I had lots of meetings! But I must be out of voice shape!

Long day. Good day.

Forums

Just had a conversation with Jim Tomberlin, formerly of Willowcreek Community Church. Jim oversaw Willow's multi-site efforts and regional churches. Jim is the one who invited NCC to be part of the panel at the Multi-Site Conference hosted by Willowcreek last summer.

Anywho.

We had a great conversation about some possible synergies with some other churches across the country. I think we'll host another theater church forum, but we'd also like to do a church planting forum and multi-site forum.

We'll keep them smaller and make them highly interactive. I think our coffeehouse is the perfect environment for it. They will probably be one day events. And we'll try to tag-team with some multi-site and church planting gurus.

We're still recuperating from Buzz, but I'm already excited about hosting some additional forums.

Everybody Needs an Uncle Ed

We've had lots of drama around our house the last two weeks. Our dryer stopped working. We've actually been drying our clothes the old fashioned way by hanging them out on a clothesline.

We called a repair guy, but it was so much money to fix the old one that we ordered a new one. One problem. The new one won't fit down our stairs. Not even close! And we can't even get the old one out since we renovated our basement.

Oops!

Uncle Ed to the rescue!

Ed Schmidgall found a replacement belt, flew out to DC, and fixed the thing!

Everybody needs an Uncle Ed :)

Preaching is a Culinary Art Form

So we're having dinner last night. Great meal. But the corn was absolutely tasteless. Lora checked the corn can and it said no salt added.

Hold that thought.

Then I read an article in Fast Company about one of the most innovative chefs in America, Homaro Cantu. The article said, "Cantu and his passel of wacky young chefs are coming up with fresh ways to tweak the restaurant's wildly innovative menu at a rate that would make a corporate creativity consultant lose his lunch."

They have weekly brainstorming sessions where they dream up new ways of cooking and serving food. Let's just say that they use everything from a Class IV laser typically used for surgery and liquid nitrogen.

Cantu is a rebel chef "who loves to challenge a diner's assumptions about how food should look, taste, and feel."

You've heard the phrase test kitchen?

Cantu has taken it to new extremes. They have a "quirky lust for the unexpected--the desire to push the culinary envelop by combining flavors, texture, and temperature in previously unimagined ways."

For example, they serve donut soup. It tastes exactly like the inside of a Krispy Kreme donut. One chef is experimenting with how to cook ice cream so it becomes powder when you eat it. Another chef is trying to fry ketchup so it's cuttable. And Cantu is experimenting with edible menus.

Diners are asked to "abandon their preconceptions about food." Cantu and his rogue chefs are even experimenting with utensils! Who said a spoon or fork is the best utensil with which to eat?

So what makes Contu such a remarkable chef? He combines the fresh and the familiar. Cantu is all about "imagining starlingly original ways of presetnging and reconstituting food." It is all about "the deconstruction of a comfortable, memory-evoking food and its resurrection in a totally different presentation."

So what's my point?

This is our task as preachers! We are spiritual chefs aren't we? We are dieticians who must create fifty-two meals per year. And that spiritual diet must not just nourish. It must taste good.

My modus operandi is simple when it comes to preaching: say old things in new ways. I want to deconstruct comfortable truths and resurrect them in ways that make people think in new ways. Isn't that what Jesus' parables do? That is what creative incarnation is all about. That is at the heart of hermeneutics and homiletics.

Maybe we need to approach preaching with the same level of intensity and ingenuity as Homaru Cantu?

Think of preaching on a spectrum. A saltless can of corn on one end. Homaru Cantu on the other. Where are you at on the spectrum?

We need to salt our preaching. We need to add flavor to our preaching. We need to give as much attention to our menu as a master chef.

What did Jesus say in Matthew 5:13?

"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?"

Pass the salt.

Blog Review

Just wanted to throw out a book recommendation for pastors. I just read the multi-site church revolution by geoff surratt, greg ligon, and warren bird.

Serious props!

First a word about the authors. Geoff Surratt is part of the Seacoast Community Church gang. They are definitely on the leading edge blazing a multi-site trail. Greg Ligon is a huge inspiration to me. He has been leading the multi-site gatherings convened by Leadership Network. And Warren Bird spoke at our theater church forum. What a kingdom player! When Warren Bird speaks I listen :) All three of these guys are shaping the future of the church.

There are currently 1500 multi-site churches across America. They predict that there will be 30,000 multi-site churches within the next few years. I honestly think this multi-site movement is a God thing! The tectonic plates ae shifting.

Here is what I love about this book--it tells the actual stories of actual churches. I love reading about how other people are doing church. For what it's worth, it tells part of our story in chapter 6.

If you're thinking about going multi-site this book is a must read. Think of it as a multi-site map.

Here's an Amazon.com link.

Writing Mode

I'm transitioning into writing mode this week.

I've got to finish my manuscript for In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by early June. I feel the pressure of an editorial deadline, but I'm fired up about the book hitting bookstores! That's the dangling carrot. I'm going to have some early mornings over the next four weeks--my prime writing hours are between 6-9 AM.

I'm beginning to work on my second book as well. It'll be a survival guide for twenty-somethings. I want to tackle some of the major challenges that twenty-somethings wrestle with. It is one of those booksI feel like I have to write. It is the byproduct of pastoring twenty-somethings for the better part of the past decade. It is one of my primary passions.

We Came. We Saw. We Got Buzzed.

We came. We saw. We got buzzed.

Here are a few more buzz pictures.

Mark Rodriquez and Ben Arment Got Buzzed

Mark Rodriguez got buzzed. Really enjoyed hanging out with Mark and Bob Franquiz. Great tag-team from Calvary Fellowship.

And I see you trying to hide Ben :) Ben Arment is blogger extraordinaire, an incredibly gifted church planter, and all-around great guy!

By the way, we'll definitely have some "I got Buzzed" t-shirts next year :)

The Best Advice I Ever Got

I just got invited to partcipate in a book project called The Best Advice I ever Got. I have no idea why they contacted me. It's a veritable Who's Who list of successful people--athletes, politicians, businessmen, entertainers, and authors. I'm definitely lowering the bar, but I love the concept. They are asking people who are successful in a variety of fields to share the best advice they ever got. Isn't that a cool concept?

I have to admit it was really hard to narrow it down to one. I thought about one of my professors in college who said something I'll never forget: catch people doing things right. I thought about Clark Griswold's advice in Christmas Vacation: do it right and do it big. I thought about my favorite philosopher, Jack Handy, who said: if you drop your keys in a river of molten lava let 'em go man 'cause they're gone. And I thought about quoting Qui Gon who said, "Your focus determines your reality."

But I decided to go with some advice I got from a bottle cap.

The Best Advice I Ever Got

I've gotten lots of great advice over the years, but the most unique was a life-changing bottle cap. I was drinking a Nantucket Nectar one day and the saying on the bottle cap became a personal mantra: if everyday was a good day there would be no good days.

Not bad for a bottle cap! All of us want every day to be a good day, but if every day was a good day there would be no good days because there wouldn't be any bad days with which to compare the good days to. It's the bad days that help us appreciate the good days! Sickness helps us appreciate health. Failure helps us appreciate success. Debt helps us appreciate wealth. And the tough times help us appreciate the good times.

God can even turn our worst day into our best day.

July 23, 2000 was the worst day of my life. My intestines ruptured and I should have died. I lost twenty-five pounds in one week. I spent two days on a respirator. And I have an eighteen-inch scar on my abdomen. It was the worst day of my life, but I can honestly say that it is the best day of my life as well. I wouldn't trade the lessons I've learned from that experience for anything in the world. I have an intense appreciation for life that few people can comprehend.

Here is what I know for sure: God is in the recycling business. He takes our pain and uses it for someone else's gain. That is precisely what Christ did on the cross.

So whether you're having a good day or a bad day, remind yourself that God is God and God is good.

Ed Young Got Buzzed

This is one of my favorite buzz pics--the shadow of Ed Young :)

We got buzzed by Ed Young.

His creativity is infectious. He's a little larger than life, but he's absolutely down-to-earth. And he's definitely got the gift of encouragement. I've never had an interaction with Ed without feeling better about something.

Tony Morgan Got Buzzed

Thought I'd share a few pictures from Buzz. Tony, I couldn't resist. I don't know how we captured you in this shot. But Tony Morgan is about to get buzzed with some buzzbuzzbuzz from Ben & Jerry's.

I'm trying to decipher the look on Tony's face :) It's almost mischievous!

Size of Budget = Size of Dream

We went over first quarter financial reports with our Stewardship Team today. I was praising God through the entire thing. I'm amazed at the way God has made such miraculous provision. We budget pretty aggresively and we were at 120% on our income projections. And below budget on expenses!

We were talking about what factors caused that spike in giving and I'm not 100% sure. I'd like to say it all traces back to my Y Give message :) And those kinds of messages do present a financial challenge that many people respond to. But I think it boils down to this: provision is the byproduct of vision.

If you want people to give more you've got to dream more. Or to put it in equation form: size of budget = size of dream. The size of your budget and the size of your dream is the same!

I think our coffeehouse has had a psychological affect on NCC. People can see the vision and it inspires them to give.

I also think God has blessed us because of our desire to bless others. We were in the "red" on the Buzz conference. But we really viewed it as an investment in the kingdom. It is part of our missions. I think the increase in giving is God's way of making provision for that vision.

A Keg, A Limosine, and A Staff Get Together

About a month ago we started joking about how relaxed we're going to be on May 7th after the Buzz Conference. We decided to do a little staff get-together to celebrate our first conference and first coffeehouse. We started joking around about getting a keg. Of rootbeer, of course.

The dream became reality last night! I'm not sure what our neighbors thought when they saw us unloading a keg and taking it into our backyard :) Man, that was some good rootbeer! Fifteen gallons of foam.

We have a core value at NCC: do it right and do it big. I really wanted our staff to know how much they are appreciated. They are always going the extra mile so I wanted to "pimp" our staff get together. I wanted to do something memorable. So we got two SUV Limosines to take us to dinner at the Charthouse in Old Town, Alexandria.

FYI. The limosines weren't on the church dime :)

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Book Prayers

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Neurology of Faith

French Television

Memorial Day

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Weekend Reflections

Just Shoot Me

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Book Prayers

Friday, May 26, 2006

T-Shirt

Must See

A Perception Problem

Thursday, May 25, 2006

The Blog Effect

Prayer Support

Summer Semester

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Third Place

Batman and Robert

Monday, May 22, 2006

Safety Net

Why We Podcast

Lions Have Sharp Teeth

Why We Do Church

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Phoenix Theaters

Friday, May 19, 2006

Innovative Church Conference

Spirit of Ingenuity

The Writing Jungle

Interruptions

Blog Review

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Write Like The Wind

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The Enemy Is Us

Zany

MinistryCom Conference

Theater Church Survey

Wall Street Journal

Creativity Commandments

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I'm Back

LA Times

Monday, May 15, 2006

I'm Off

The Medici Effect

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Weekend Reflections

Mom's Day

Friday, May 12, 2006

Big News

New Trailer

Thursday, May 11, 2006

105.1 FM

Forums

Everybody Needs an Uncle Ed

Preaching is a Culinary Art Form

Blog Review

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Writing Mode

We Came. We Saw. We Got Buzzed.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Mark Rodriquez and Ben Arment Got Buzzed

The Best Advice I Ever Got

Ed Young Got Buzzed

Tony Morgan Got Buzzed

Monday, May 08, 2006

Size of Budget = Size of Dream

Sunday, May 07, 2006

A Keg, A Limosine, and A Staff Get Together