Evotional.com - Originality, Authenticity, Creativity

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Crossing Paths with a Lion

Writing and preaching are alot of like. You say what you think God wants you to say, but you're never quite sure what people are going to hear and how it is going to impact their lives. The cool thing is that somewhere between words leaving our lips and sound waves hitting their ear drums, the Holy Spirit takes over!

I'm beginning to see the way God wants to use In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. My sixth sense is that God is really using the book for people who are in transition. I've gotten a lot of emails from people who are graduating or moving or changing jobs or planting a church or beginning a new chapter in life. There is something about transitions that make us feel like we're crossing paths with a lion. Part of you feels like running away. But you know God is calling you to give chase.

One of the greatest feelings as a preacher is when God uses your message to minister to someone in a way you never intended :)

The same is true with writing.

$20 to wait 90 minutes

I'm getting a cyst on my finger surgically removed tomorrow so I had a pre-op appointment with my doctor today. I paid $20 to sit in the waiting room for 90 minute!

I must have watched two dozen patients who got there after me walk in and get taken care of. I felt invisible. I wanted to wave my arms or jump up and down just to let them know I'm here, I'm here, I'm here! After waiting for 90 minutes I finally asked for my medical card back and left.

Here's a novel idea. What if doctors paid us to sit in their waiting rooms? Talk about health care reform. It would revolutionize the medical industry :)

I can think of so many ways I'd rather spend $20 or 90 minutes :)

Thanks for letting me hyperventilate :)

PS. These kinds of circumstances are why I never go anywhere without a book. The 90 minutes wasn't wasted.

Pumpkin Man

You've carved pumpkins. You've made snowmen.

Now there's pumpkin man. Sort of a double combo if you will. Love carving pumpkins with my kids except for the slimy stuff inside the pumpkin.

Learning Curve

This whole book thing is so new to me! Steep learning curve! But I've really approached the entire publishing process as an education. I'm trying to learn as much as I can and enjoy it as much as I can.

Here are a few writing observations.

Certain books strike a nerve and I don't think an author can control that. Books like The Prayer of Jabez or The Purpose-Driven Life or Blue Like Jazz or Wild At Heart seem to take on a life of their own. I'm learning that it's a supernatural thing. It seems like In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is striking a nerve, but I have no idea how the book virus will spread. Few things are as difficult to manage as our expectations! All I can do is continue to live out one of our NCC core values: work like it depends on you AND pray like it depends on God.

Because I'm a first-time author bookstores didn't buy many copies and I'm a no name in authorial terms. But I really believe that books sell books! In other words, while I don't have a large pool of readers, if the book is good I've got to trust that readers will tell other readers. In fact, some people will be so excited about what they read that they'll tell everybody they know. So first generation readers will tell second generation readers. Basically, this is a grassroots book. It's not going to work its way down via marketing. It has to work its way up via word of mouth. I've been so encouraged by the way first generation readers are embracing the book!

Ultimately, I can't control outcomes. And I really do write for intrinsic reasons. I'm learning that the best thing I can do is simply pray that every book is a blessing!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Book Interview

I did a blog interview with John Smulo about In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Here's a link if you'd like to check it out.

Video Shoot

It was a beautiful afternoon in the nation's capitol. Went over to Roosevelt Island to shoot the first video in an eight-part series for our Chase the Lion series.

Whenever possible I love getting out from behind the pulpit and preaching on location. It takes a ton of effort, but I think it adds flavor and variety. We're going to make these videos available for other churches to use and may package it as part of a small group resource for other churches.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Lion Chasers, Church Planters, & A Free Book

So here's the deal. My birthday is November 5th. And to celebrate I want to give a reverse birthday gift. I want to give a free copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day to any church planter who emails me before November 5 because I remember what it was like to have zero resource budget as a church planter.

Shoot me an email with your address to mark@theaterchurch.com.

Had a little email dialogue with J.R. Briggs last week. He's the author of When God says Jump. J.R. asked me a great question: who do you think are some of the most courageous lion chasers in the Christian faith today--famous or not?

I didn't have to think about it: church planters.

Planting a church is such a quantum risk occupationally, emotionally, and financially. It ranks as one of the scariest things I've ever done. I'd honestly like to get a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day into the hands of every church planter in America. Not sure how to do that. But this is a start. Feel free to spread the word.

Keep chasing lions!

Pentecostal Handshake

I'm not sure if it is a pentecostal thing or not, but there is something called a pentecostal handshake. Have you heard of this?

Someone shakes your hand and they have some dollar bills conscipcuosly hidden in the palm of their hand. When they shake your hand there is a transfer of funds.

The highlight of my day was walking out of church and one of our little NCCers had a birthday so I decided to give him his first pentecostal handshake! The funny thing is that he looked very confused. Evidently, taking money from pastors is very similar to taking candy from strangers :) It took a little effort to get him to close his hand and accept the gift!

A Lizard in a King's Palace

Heather Zempel preached a great message today. One thing rocked my world. She said we're just lizards in kings' palaces. It was such a healthy reminder that we are where we are by the grace of God.

Check out Proverbs 30:28: Lizards--they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings' palaces.

I totally feel like a lizard in a king's palace! God has opened doors of opportunity I had no right walking through. And I have met people I have no right knowing. But the bottom line is this: when you follow Christ you never know who you'll meet or where you'll end up.

But don't forget: we're just lizards in kings' palaces!

Selfish and Foolish

I was reading Relevant Magazine last night and I saw a full-page ad for Rick McKinley's new book, This Beautiful Mess. And the selfish part of me was like: Oh man, I wish they'd done an ad for my book.

Then I turned the page and there was a full-page ad for Craig Groeshel's new book Confessions of a Pastor and I was like: Man, where do I rate?

Then I turned the page and viola :) A full-page ad for In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and I felt selfish and foolish. I had no idea they were running the ad. Pretty surreal to see your book advertised for the first time.

For what it's worth, Rick and Craiq and I all write for the Next Gen division of Multnomah, a division of Random House. One of the reasons I wanted to join the Multnomah team is because of the respect I had for their authors. If Andy Stanley publishes all of his books through Multnomah that's good enough for me :)

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Relaxing Weekend

Buckle your seatbelts. Hold on to your seats. Ready?

I had a relaxing weekend.

I don't get to say that very often :) In fact, Craig Groeschel and I were emailing about that foreign concept a week ago. By the way, if you think you're stressed out try pastoring a church with 36 weekend services like they have at lifechurch.tv. Imagine how relaxed Craig would be if they only had 35 services :)

Relaxing weekend is the ultimate oxymoron for pastors!

But I was the oxymoron this weekend.

Our pastor of discipleship, Heather Zempel, took The Office series across the finish line with Confessions of a Capitol Hill Staffer so I could gear up for our Chase The Lion series next weekend!

I think momentum and rhythm are the keys to ministry. And part of rhythm is an occasional relaxing weekend. Thoroughly enjoying it :)

Cause Marketing

Just got an email from my friend Brad Abare. Brad is not only one of the masterminds behind churchmarketingsucks.com. He has another endeavor called Personality: The Cause Marketing Agency.

Brad is one of those guys that makes you think. I think cause marketing has huge upside potential. In fact, no one was better at cause marketing than Jesus.

When we opened our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill we were very intentional about the motto: coffee with a cause. We want our coffee to taste good and feel good because every penny of profit goes to great causes like our local outreaches and international humanitarian efforts.

All I know is this: people want to be part of a cause.

Christ is The Cause.

wiredchurches.com

Just thought I'd let you know that we've started making some of our sermon series available via wiredchurches.com. Excited about tag-teaming with Tony Morgan and the Granger crew.

Here's the press release:

WiredChurches.com announces a new partnership with National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C. and NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. This partnership will make NCC and NewSpring's innovative message resources available through WiredChurches.com. Downloadable audio files and message transcripts from these churches are part of WiredChurches.com's strategic launch to provide even more practical, creative resources for pastors and church leaders.

Friday, October 27, 2006

El Faro

Had dinner with my brother last night. He works for a law firm in Chicago. Talk about perfect timing. It was his birthday! Total blast seeing my three neices. Too cute!

Afterwards I drove to a little hole-in-the-wall in Summit called El Faro--home of the giant burrito. I discovered the place when I was in high school and we used to drive an hour round trip just to get a burrito. Their burritos are so good that I have a friend who drove about four hours round trip from Illinois State in Bloomington, Illinois just to scratch his burrito itch in the middle of the night!

Long live El Faro!

Christianity wihtout Christ

Erwin McManus shared some thoughts in the final A2 session.

This is a paraphrase, but Erwin said: nothing is worse than christianity without Christ. So true! Erwin said the Acts 2 church was full of heresy and immorality. Read Corinthians. He said, "A perfect church is a dead church." It seems like one of the subplots of A2 was a simple reminder that church is messy! If we're really being the church then we'll be dealing with real people with real issues!

I think I'm walking away from A2 with a renewed desire to be more authentic. We need to be a place where people can wrestle with doubt and deal with issues!

FYI. I bumped into Erwin McManus and Steve Saccone as I was checking out of my hotel. Evidently we have the same taste in hotels :) Steve is heading up the Mosaic Alliance.

Really excited about Ethos in New York City, November 27-29.

Check it out.

Redefinition of Evangelism

Erwin McManus is in the A2 bullpen.

He redefined evangelism in a way that is so thought-provking! Ready? "We think evangelism is telling people what they need to know instead of getting them where they need to go."

Things that make you go hmmmmm....

No Perfect People Allowed

I'm loving A2! The Friday AM case study was Gateway Church in Austin, TX pastored by John Burke.

They have a motto at Gateway: no perfect people allowed. John quoted one of their guests who said, "I thought had to get well to come to church, but I discovered that I had to come to church to get well."

Such a powerful statement.

You don't have to get your act together before coming to church. Church is a place where God helps you get your act together!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

The Cringe Factor

Mark & Nicole Conner from Citylife Church in Australia shared in the Thursday afternoon session at A2.

Nicole said they try to remove what they call the cringe factor. I think most church goers know what the cringe factor is intuitively. Here's my definition: it's something you do that is totally out of touch with culture or you couldn't get by with outside the four walls of the church.

Nicole said we blame alot of the things that make people cringe on the Holy Spirit.

True dat.

I think our gatherings ought to have miraculous and mysterious elements that aren't understandable to people without spiritual intuition. But those things don't make people cringe. They produce awe.

We need to be diligent in removing human stumbling blocks. We need to do what we do with excellence. You know what makes people cringe? Misspelled words on worship slides. Sound problems. A irrelevant sermon. Off-key voices or off-rhythm instruments. Cut and paste graphics. Weird hairdos.

I sure hope our services drop jaws instead of making people cringe!

I think I Corinthians 14:25 is the holy grail for spirit-led-seeker-sensitive churches: God is really among them.

Remember the Slide

Yesterday we went to Cox Farm in Northern Virginia with our extended family. Good times. Good times. They had unlimited apple cider. I drank 12 cups!

We fed goats and went on a hayride. They had a rope swing. But the highlight was the giant slide. In fact, I had a flashback. The last time I went down a giant slide in a gunny sack was the Minnesota State Fair as a kid.

Bottom line: Josiah was scared of the slide. Granted, when you're half as tall as your dad the slide probably looks twice as big. So Josiah boycotted the slide, but it was killing me because I knew how much fun he was forfeiting! And my job as a father is to help my kids face their fears. So finally at the end of the day, Josiah went down the slide as I held him tight. Guess what? It was hard to get him to leave. He wanted to ride the slide over and over again!

Afterwards I said to Josiah, "You wouldn't have had all of that fun if you hadn't faced your fears!" I told him I wanted him to remember this experience so we came up with a little motto: remember the slide. I'm really trying to help Josiah face his fears!

No fear = No fun.

We forfeit so much fun because we allow our fears to keep us at bay!

PS--I did have 12 cups of apple cider but they were dixie cups!

Planks

Gene Appel shared an awesome right-brain idea in his session @ A2.

He did a message on holding grudges and used the "plank in the eye" parable from Matthew 7:3-5.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Gene Appel said they gave people planks during the message. Some people gave the plank to someone they had been critical of as an act of confession. Others broke the plank at the altar as an act of repentance. What I love about that object lesson is this: it turns an abstract principle into a concrete action.

I think one key to right-brain preaching is finding the right word picture or object lesson that leads to more than information. The goal is transformational truth.

Shadowland

I was driving out to Willowcreek Church for the A2 conference and I once again thanked God for our failed attempt to plant a church in the Chicago area. Not sure how to say this, but I really feel like our move to DC allowed us to be ourselves.

Lora and I thought we'd be in the Chicago area forever. But our inability to get a church plant to take root forced us to consider other options. Long story short, after completing two masters programs at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, we packed all of our belongings into a Uhaul and moved to DC.

I think some calls are vocational--you feel called to do a certain thing. Some calls are demographic--you feel called to a certain people. And some calls are geographic--you feel called to a certain place. I think our call was geographic. I really feel like DC is my parish. I honestly cannot imagine being anyplace else!

A little backstory.

My father-in-law, Bob Schmidgall, planted and pastored Calvary Church in Naperville, IL for 30+ years. It's a high-impact church in the Chicago area. And he cast a huge shadow. And I mean that in the most positive sense possible. But sometimes it's hard to be yourself if you're in someone else's shadow.

My father-in-law cast an amazing ministry shadow, but I wonder if staying in the shadow would have short-circuited our personal growth and ministry calling? I'm obvioulsy in reflective mode, but maybe chicagoland would have been shadowland.

I'm so grateful for my spiritual heritage, but I don't think God has called any of us to live in the shadows! It sort of reminds me of the Israelites who asked Moses to go up the mountain for them! They were content living in the shadow of Moses. But God wants to shine His light on each of us so we cast a unique shadow that is a reflection of His glory!

Our move to DC was scary, but I think it gave us the freedom to be ourselves; the freedom to fail; the freedom to do church the way we felt called to do church.

DC was terra incognita.

No Map. No precedent. No shadow.

Are you living in shadowland?

Step into the light.

FYI--This kind of post makes me feel a little vulnerable, but that's what is going on in my head and in my heart today!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A2 Conference

I'm headed to Chicago for the A2 conference.

I didn't want to miss this conference plus Paul Braoudakis (communication director for the willowcreek association) is persuasive :)

A2 is blazing a conference trail. They are highlighting half a dozen church models. Hearing about other church models not only inspires me, but their best practices help me rethink theaterchurch.com.

Chicago here I come.

A Church of Lion Chasers

I continue to be inspired by the way In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day seems to be impacting people. The first email I opened today was from someone who wants to buy 250 copies of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day--a copy for everyone in their church.

Imagine the potential impact of a church of 250 lion chasers!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Emotional Intelligence

Thought I'd blog an excerpt from this week's evotional. Here's a link to my weekly evotional--an email version of my weekend message.

Emotional Intelligence

According to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, IQ factors only account for twenty percent of career success. The other 80% depends on emotional intelligence (EQ).

There is a fascinating example in Scripture. In fact, I would suggest that the nation of Israel owes its existence to one act of emotional intelligence.

Check out Genesis 40:5.

One night the cup bearer and the baker each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. The next morning Joseph noticed the dejected look on their faces. "Why do you look so worried today?" he asked.

Joseph had zero EQ as a teenager. Read Genesis 37. If you're still a tattle-tale at seventeen you've got EQ issues! Plus he was so self-absorbed and emotionally oblivous that he told his brothers about two dreams that anybody with any EQ would know would tick them off. I'm not excusing what his brothers did. They sold him into slavery. But Joseph was totally out of touch with the feelings of others. But there is nothing like a little suffering to produce a little emphathy. Slavery and imprisonment educate Joseph emotionally.

In Genesis 40:5, Joseph notices a discreet facial expression that seems to reveal an ounce of anxiety. Not only does he discern that subtle emotional clue, but he is compassionate enough to get involved. He could have thought to himself: I have enough problems of my own. He was sharing the same prison cell after all. But Joseph had developed an acute emotional sensitivity to the people around him. And that emotional intelligence saved the nation of Israel and changed the course of history.

Let me explain.

Joseph interpreted the cupbearer's dream and the dream came true. The cupbearer went to work for Pharaoh. Several years later, Pharaoh had a dream and the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph not only interprets Pharaoh's dream, he lands a position in the administration as the Prime Minister. Because of Joseph, his family finds safe-haven in Egypt during a seven-year famine. And the family of one hundred turns into a nation of more than a million people during 400 years of slavery. Then God delivers them. The Israelites occupy the Promised Land. And hundreds of years later, a descendant of Jacob named Jesus is born in Bethlehem. And as they say: the rest is history.

One of my favorites branches of history is counterfactual theory. It asks the what if questions. What if Joseph hadn't noticed the dejected look? He wouldn't have interpreted the dream! And what if he hadn't interpreted the dream? He would have never met Pharaoh! So the nation of Israel owes its existence to one act of emotional intelligence. Joseph noticed a dejected look.

Don't underestimate the importance of emotional intelligence!

Lou Malnati's Pizza

I'm so happy right now. Someone sent me Lou Malnati's pizza via UPS :) Thank you mystery pizza gift giver :) My prime suspect is Joe Dascenzo from Change Design!

Love the gift message: In a Theater with a pizza on the hungry day :)

I feel like Pavlov's dog right now. I'm salivating!

I'm a Fruitcake

I had coffee today with a friend and former NCCer that now lives in China and works for the World Bank. It was his first time seeing Ebenezers--our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill.

The cool thing is that he was part of the leadership team that I pitched the vision to about five years ago. And he said and I quote: "I thought you were a fruitcake." Hey, he's not the only one :) And I can't blame him. Our coffeehouse used to be a crackhouse. But I've learned over the years that the more God-ordained the dream the crazier it will seem.

Pretty cool for my friend to finally see the fruitcake dream that has turned into a coffeehouse. He was one of the early shareholders.

Maybe I'll send him a fruitcake for Christmas :)

Monday, October 23, 2006

National New Church Conference

Just wanted to put a conference on the evotional radar. I'm speaking at the National New Church Conference next April 23-26, 2007 in Orlando, Florida.

Some of the speakers include Wayne Cordiero, Bill Hybels, Dave Ferguson and Tim Keller via video. Really excited about hearing Tim speak. He pastors an amazing church planting church in New York City called Redeemer Presbyterian.

In case you're interested, I'm doing a pre-conference intensive called Creative Communication in the Church.

I'd love to hang out with some blogging compadres!

An Army of Lions

In his book, You Don't Need a TITLE to be a Leader, Mark Sanborn quotes Philip of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great: "An army of deer led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer." Sanborn says, "An army of lions led by a lion is to be feared most of all, for it is unstoppable."

I would simply add the word "chasers" :)

One of my prayers for In a Pit with a Lion on Snowy Day is that it would have a trickle-down effect. I really believe that God wants to raise up a generation of lion chasers that don't just run away from evil but chase God-sized dreams! But that starts with lion chasing leaders!

I keep thinking of what Tommy Barnett said this past weekend: you can't reach people who have more vision than you. The same is true of courage. If we as leaders chase lions then our people will have the courage to do the same! If we don't they won't.

The Art of Reframing

Leadership is the art of reframing.

Let me explain.

If you put a green frame around a picture it will accentuate the green in the picture. If you replace it with a red frame it will draw attention to the red.

What does that have to do with leadership? Leaders are really good at putting the right frame around the right picture! Good leaders are good framers!

A good coach knows how to reframe a game at halftime. A good psychologist knows how to reframe a problem. And a good parent knows how to reframe spinach--the vegetable that will give you bulging biceps like Popeye.

Leaders are really good at putting the right frame around a vision. Good preachers frame their messages with an organizing metaphor. They frame biblical truths in ways that make people say I've never thought about it that way before. Good worship leaders know how to frame a worship set in a way that will draw people into God's presence.

FYI--I touch on the topic of reframing in my book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.

When you cross paths with a lion do you see a 500 pound problem or a Big Hairy Audacious Opportunity? It all depends on the frame!

I honestly believe that every problem can be reframed as an opportunity if we're genuinely living to glorify God.

Books, Divine Appointments & Answered Prayer

Just got an email from someone who is reading In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. So encouraged by the way God is using the book before it even hits bookstores. I share stories like this to help me mark the trail and give credit where credit is due! These stories are testimonies to the sovereignty of God.

One of the things we prayed for before the book even went to press was that the book would result in divine appointments. We prayed that the right people would read it at the right time. And we prayed that God would use it as a spiritual catalyst--a spiritual conversation starter if you will.

I'm in my final year of law school and merely by having your book present on the desk in my office at school, I have already engaged in conversations with three different people about the premise and extended metaphor of the book. I wasn't trying to reach anyone, I never realized that you're book was even visible in my office, but it was, it jumped out and caught several people's attention, and as a result I had the privilege of discussing God's plans for our future with three of my close friends.

Absent your book leading them to ask questions, I would never have been able to orchestrate or plan on having those conversations. I've never seen people actually drawn to something the way they are drawn to your book. It has to be a combination of (1) the title, (2) the cover artwork, and (3) the premise of the book.

Chase the lion!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Honorbound Conference

Just wanted to give a shout out to the guys from the Honorbound Conference. That was one of the most enjoyable speaking experiences I've ever had. A ton of adrenaline and testosterone when you get 1500 guys together! Plus I got to wear a football jersey while I spoke.

I'm really new at this book thing so I brought several cases of books hoping we'd sell a few copies, but we sold out awfully quick. O ye of little faith :) Should have brought more books. The good news is that you can get a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day on amazon.com.

I'll blog some notes on my session this week.

By the way, if you'd like to use In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day as a resource for your men's ministry shoot me an email at mark@theaterchurch.com.

Be happy to hook you up with a bulk discount.

Dick Dobbins

One of the other speakers at the Honor Bound Conference was Dick Dobbins. I've heard his sex talk before, but it's so good.

Here are a few notes and thoughts.

"If you're sexually faithful before you meet the person you marry it'll be much easier to be sexually faithful after you marry them."

"Sexual sins aren't more evil than other sins. They are more life complicating."

"The devil doesn't want us to experience a pleasure greater than orgasm. He wants you to think that is as good as it gets."

I honestly think this is one of those issues the church can't afford to remain silent on. There is so much sexual brokenness in our culture. We need to be good stewards of our sex drives just like we need to be good stewards of everything else. We're thinking about doing a series on Sex Ed in 07.

Sex is sacred. We need to celebrate and educate!

Tommy Barnett

Tommy Barnett, pastor of First Assembly in Pheonix, Arizona, was one of the speakers @ the Honor Bound Conference I spoke at up in Baltimore. I couldn't believe he is 69. He looks 50. And I don't know that I've ever listened to someone with more vision or passion.

Here's an observation: the more vision a person has the longer I can listen. I could have listened to Tommy Barnett all day long.

He shared two dream tests:

1) The dream is God's dream if it's bigger than you

He shared the story of the Dream Center in LA now pastored by his son, Matthew Barnett. Total inspiration. One of the things Tommy said is that we seem to be afraid of big dreams in the church. We have no problem with Trump's 70-story skyscraper dreams or Steinbrenner's $3 billion Yankee Stadium dream or Hollywood's $150 million movie dreams. But the church seems to second-guess dreamers. Here's what I think: no one ought to dream bigger dreams than the church.

Tommy also said you can't reach people with more vision than you. That was absolutly fascinating and convicting. Pastors have to have big dreams so they attract people with big dreams!

2) The dream is God's dream if you can't shake it

Most dreams have a five year expiration date. That statement struck me because my writing dream took about 13 years to come to fruition. Our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill took 8 years to become reality.

Habakkuk 2:3 says:

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

A few odds and ends.

"You should never catch up with your dream."

"I'd rather have drug-dealers than dream-killers in my church."

"Fear is a negative vision."

I Don't Want to be A Lion Chaser

If you have a copy of my book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, you may have noticed that I dedicated the book to my three kids with these words:

may you grow up to become lion chasers.

So Lora took the kids to the zoo this week and maybe it was the lions that scared him, but our little guy, Josiah, informed Lora, "Mom, I don't want to be a lion chaser when I grow up. I want to be a chef."

I didn't mean it literally :)

A lion chaser is someone who doesn't run away from fear or risk or adversity or uncertainty. It's about an approach to life that seizes God-ordained opportunities even when they look like 500 pound problems!

Besides, those guys on iron chef look like they could chase a lion :)

Friday, October 20, 2006

14,000 Uses for Salt

I'm preping for a conference I'm speaking at tomorrow. My topic is how we as Christians engage culture so I was thinking about Matthew 5:13: You are the salt of the earth.

Only seven words. But it's one of those kaleidscopic sayings of Jesus. According to the modern salt industry, there are over 14,000 uses for salt. Who knew? The uses include melting of ice; removing rust; fertilizing agricultural fields; keeping cut flowers fresh; making soap; softening water; sealing cracks; putting out grease fires; killing poison ivy; and seasoning food.

I had no idea :)

That totally reframes that verse for me. Wow. 14,000 uses for salt.

Pass the salt.

Bookmark

We're starting to brand our chasethelion.com series.

We always try to put invite cards into the hands of NCCers. Invite cards help turn attenders into inviters.

We decided to do bookmarks as our invite cards for this series since we're actually giving away a free copy of the book to everyone in attendance @ NCC on November 4-5.

Invite a friend.

Chase the Lion

The Eagle has landed.

Our t-shirt samples have arrived. We're designing t-shirts for our Chase the Lion series based on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. We'll kick it off November 4-5.

Once we get them ordered and in stock we'll let you know how you can order them.

Totally digging the design!

I love wearing my faith.

Facing the Giants

Have you heard about all the buzz surrounding the movie Facing the Giants? The film was actually shot and produced by a church--Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA.

They happened to have a meeting @ Ebenezers today so I met a foursome who are in DC promoting the film. Way to cool. My heart skips a beat when I meet people who are creatively sharing the gospel via new mediums!

These people are lion chasers.

They shot their first film back in 2002 with a prosumer Cannon XL-1 on a $20,000 budget. The genesis of this vision was a study that named the top ten entities that influence people in American culture. Movies were in the top ten and the church was no where to be found. So they decided to make a movie. Here is a cool thing. They involved their entire congregation! Babysitters and meal-makers were in the credits. The church was cast and crew!

What a redefinition of what it means to be a missional church.

Future Seminars at Ebenezers

Just thought I'd post some thoughts about future seminars we're thinking about hosting at Ebenezers--our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. We don't have them scheduled yet, but they are on the reticular activating system.

Church Planting Seminar

We may do it in partnership with some other church planting networks, but we want to host an event exclusively for church planters. Church planting is part of our DNA at NCC.

Small Groups Seminar

This seminar would be led by our Pastor of Discipleship, Heather Zempel. She is one of the most gifted leaders and communicators I know. I recently told our congregation that small groups are the most important thing we do at NCC. I believe that. We'd like to share our learnings about everything from internal marketing for groups to free market system to leadership training.

Multi-Site Seminar

So many churches came alongside us and helped us when we were launching our second location. This seminar is one way we'd like to give back. We'd share our multi-site model for better or for worse. This will be a tag-team event.

Lead Pastor Only Seminar

This would be a smaller gathering of Lead Pastors. I envision a no-holds-barred conversation about the issues facing Lead Pastors. I'm sure the issues would range from staff management to leadership principles to family to preaching strategy to time mangagement to spiritual disciplines to vision casting. I just think we need more healthy conversations about who we are and what we do. In case you haven't noticed, pastoring can be lonely. So we'd get together, put our egos on the table, get past superficiliaties, and talk about the stresses and joys of being a Lead Pastor for a day.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Hotsoup.com

A few months ago, one of the co-founders of hotsoup.com, Ron Fournier, invited me to be one of the contributers to hotsoup.com which launched today--October 19.

I certainly wasn't expecting this week's press release. Let's just say that Lora and I had a good laugh. I never expected to see my name in the same press release with these particular names. Too funny!

HOTSOUP.com Announces Lineup of 80+ Nationally Known Opinion Drivers Who Will Join the Conversation

October 17, 2006 -- HOTSOUP.com today announced that former President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, Governor Mitt Romney, and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, will join the Web site’s discussions in the coming weeks and months. Also joining the lineup are entertainer Jon Bon Jovi, Producer/American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and Lead Pastor of the National Community Church, Mark Batterson.

How funny is that?

It's sort of a what's wrong with this picture deal or which name doesn't belong :)

The cool thing is that I really feel like this is an opportunity to give expression to one of my core convictions: the church is called to compete in the marketplace of ideas.

Paul didn't boycott the Aeropagus. He competed for the truth.

I'll be able to remain apolitical--that is part of our DNA at NCC. And I can comment on issues I choose. With the diverse array of influentials I really think hotsoup.com is taking social networking to the next level. It has huge potential to shape the culture via conversation.

ABOUT HOTSOUP.com

HOTSOUP.com is the premier online community for the millions of influencers who want a say in how to improve America. Harnessing the power of social networking technology, HOTSOUP community Members discuss and debate the topics that are relevant to their lives and critical to our country's organized institutions – from politics and business, to religion and the media. A community comprised of involved, passionate, and concerned individuals, HOTSOUP will turn the pathways of influence in this nation upside down as community Members help rewrite the national agenda and leaders engage with their constituencies in new ways.

Right-Brain Preaching

Had a blast tag-teaming with Nelson Searcy and the Journey Church today! I have to admit. I'm wiped. Got an early start today :) And afternoon sessions are challenging because of circadian rhythm. But today's seminar gives me a vision for what this coffeehouse on Capitol Hill can become! Very cool to connect with local pastors and lots of church planters. We'll experiment with some more seminars in the coming months. FYI--we'll make the right-brain preaching seminar available via DVD and CD asap.

The Entertainment Medium

I met with Randy Swanson from Bearing Fruit Communications today. They put out the movie, The End of the Spear, that came out last January. Very cool to hear the vision of sharing the gospel message via the entertainment medium.

I put my faith in Christ after watching a movie so I'm all over redeeming the movie medium. Plus I think movie screens are post-modern stained glass.

No one shapes culture like the film industry. We desperately need some Christians who feel called to be culture-shaping movie-makers.

Simple Things are Important Things

It's amazing how much of assimilation comes back to very basic principles! The simple things are the important things! It's how to win friends and influence people.

Give people ownership.

Ownership is the best path to membership! The Journey involves non-believers in ministry. Nelson said, "I'll let an unbeliever take the offering. I just won't let them count the offering."

Write personal notes!

Find creative ways to say the same thing over and over again.
"People say no to what is unclear."

Help people identify next steps!
Give people the opportunity to sign-up!

If you prepare for guests God will send you guests!
"Buy the umbrella before it rains!"

Make the path straight!

Assimilation Notes

Thought I'd blog some notes from the Assimilation seminar.

These are mixed in with some of my personal thoughts. I give Nelson and Kerrick from the Journey credit for the good thoughts :)

Hospitality is a biblical value. That's the bottom line! How seriously do we take hospitality in our churches? In fact, we need to treat people like angels. What if we really lived that out? Check out Hebrews 13:2. One version says we need to entertain strangers. I know entertainment is a dirty word in some church circles. I think we need to redeem it.

The Ritz Carlton Credo: learn someone's name the second time you meet them.

I love this part of the credo: The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.

We need to know the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests!

The first thing you need to know about assimilation is how not to abbreviate it. Nelson said it. I didn't :)

People get greeted in two ways when they walk into our churches: personal greeting and inanimate greeting. Before someone meets someone, everything is greeting them! Everything says something about you. What does your parking lot say? What does the church sign say? What does the bulletin say? What does the landscaping say?

Aesthetics are important.

One danger we face as leaders is inattentional blindness. We have blindspots. We turn a blind eye to those things we're familiar with!

Don't put unhappy people at the door and try to make them happy!

Journey has two qualifications for greeters:

1) They have to smile
2) they have to have all their teeth.

People experience high-levels of anxiety when they visit a church. It ranks up there with a Junior High dance. People want to be greeted. People want to be directed.

Rick Warren says every church has a temperature. How do you take the temperature of the church? Put a thermometer in the pastor's mouth.

"Everyone has a next step to take every week."

One of the things I'm realizing is that networking is hugely important, but most churches don't take that seriously. We need to be serious about developing connectors. I love the way Malcolm Gladwell frames the concept of connectors and mavens in The Tipping Point.

How you manage your database is a stewardship issue!

That's convicting to me!

The Assimilation Seminar

Sitting here at Ebenezers listening to Nelson Searcy, pastor of the Journey in New City. Man, I like this guy. We met several years ago and I love every opportunity we get to cross paths.

On one level, tag-teaming with the Journey is one of our dreams becoming reality. We really feel called to be a teaching teach. We still have a lot to learn. I think we know how much we don't know! We also know what we're not good at. But we want to be very intentional about sharing our learnings with others who are on the same journey!

The other cool thing about hosting this event is that we we feel like our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill and Washington, DC has such potential as a conference or seminar destination. Hopefully this is one small step and one giant leap.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Umbrella of Authority

I talked about submitting to authority in my message on epic integrity last weekend. One of the concepts--the umbrella of authority--is in my spirit.

I saw Ed Young from Fellowship Church do a message on authority using an umbrella and that picture was so powerful to me.

I'm so grateful that when we submit to God's authority we come under His umbrella of grace. That is such a cool mental picture to me. When we step outside God's will we're outside his covering in a sense. For example, if I'm not tithing then I'm not under God's financial umbrella. I'm mine own advocate. But when I'm tithing I have confidence that God has my back covered or in keeping with the metaphor--my head covered. God acts as my advocate.

I used this mental picture to extend an invitation in our weekend services. I invited people to come under the umbrella of God's authority. That's a cool way of thinking about what God does for us when we put our faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. And it's a pretty accurate metaphor. Atonement means covering.

I actually pulled out an umbrella for a family devotion today. It was a little goofy, but I think it'll leave a lasting impression with my kids. I said, "What happens when we sin?" And I moved out from under the umbrella. "What happens when we confess our sin?" And I got back under the umbrella.

All I know is this: I'm awfully glad that I will be under God's umbrella of authority when I stand before the judgment seat. My advocate will come to my defense!

I know we all have a rebellious streak. But I'm thanking God for the privilege of submitting to His ultimate authority!

Thank God for His umbrella!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Book Clubs, Small Groups & Church Book Stores

Just sent several boxes of books to lifechurch.tv for their church book store. Not sure how many evotional readers have church book stores, but I thought I'd pitch In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.

Really encouraged by the pastors who are buying my book for their staffs. John Bishop from Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington bought a boatload of books. His staff is larger than most churches :)

If you want to buy bulk quantities for your book store, small group, book club, or staff let me know.

Shoot me an email at mark@theaterchurch.com.

7 Habits of Highly Unorthodox Leaders

Just sent off a draft of a magazine article on 7 Habits of Highly Unorthodox Leaders.

Here's an excerpt:

Jesus was anything but orthodox. Don't get me wrong. Certainly no one was more orthodox in belief. After all, Jesus didn't just know the truth. He was The Truth. But he was anything but orthodox as a leader. Not only did he break tradition. He broke the law. That is why the Pharirazzi despised him!

In the words of Dorothy Sayers:

To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary; he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies.

Jesus touched lepers, washed feet, hung out with prostitutes, talked with Samaritans, partied with tax collectors, and healed on the Sabbath.

Jesus wasn't just an out of the box. He smashed the box to smithereens!

So here's a thought: the more like Jesus we become the more unorthodox we'll be.

We must strive for doctrinal orthodoxy while practicing leadership unorthodoxy. The message of the gospel is sacred, but methodology is not. The moment we anoint our methods as sacred, we start repeating the past by doing ministry out of memory. Jesus set a much higher standard than that.

Habit #1: Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees [1]

In the venerable words of Abraham Lincoln: "You can please all of the people some of the time; some of the people all of the time; but you can't please all the people all the time."

I have to remind myself of that truth all the time. No matter how good a leader I am, someone is going to take offense at me. It's inevitable. The question is this: who am I going to offend. And who you decide to offend is one of the most important leadership decisions you'll ever make. Jesus decided to offend the religious establishment.

Let me remind you of this simple truth: if you're following in the footsteps of Christ you might offend some Pharisees along the way.

Permission to speak frankly?

I've never had any unchurched or dechurched people complain about the way we do ministry at National Community Church. The only complaints have come from people with church backgrounds. In fact, it seems like the more church history someone has the more potential problems they'll have with NCC. I'm certainly not suggesting that we're beyond criticism. I see imperfections everywhere I look. Especially when I look in the mirror. But I've discovered that many of those complaints trace back to one root cause: NCC isn't doing church the way their old church did church. We're a little too unorthodox for their taste!

Here is a lesson I learned early on in my pastoral ministry: all the churched people who walk through our doors have an internal picture of what our churches should look like and it's often based on whatever their last church looked like. So if we aren't careful, pastors can become professional contortionists who try to be all things to all people. I'm certainly not suggesting that you don't listen to good ideas or process constructive criticism. But you also have to come to terms with who you are and who you're not.

Be yourself.

Dare to be different.

A few years ago I heard Erwin McManus give some great advice:

"Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture."

If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then we need to repent. But if it doesn't pass the filter test, then we need to deflect the criticism. That is what Jesus did with the criticisms leveled at him by the Pharisees. He didn't get defensive. He didn't apologize for who he was or how he taught or when he healed. He didn't let their criticisms keep him from being himself.

Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from radically loving prostitutes. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from healing on the Sabbath. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from hanging out with Tax Collectors.

Unorthodox leaders aren't afraid of offending Pharisees!

[1] Matthew 23:1-36

Wired Churches

Just thought I'd let you know that we're starting to offer some of our sermon series @ www.wiredchurches.com. I think Granger Community Church is one of the most innovative and creative churches in America. Thrilled to be part of their online offerings. You need to check out some of the resources they offer!

Lots of downloadable messages and transcripts.

Epic Integrity

Every week I send out an evotional--an email version of my weekend message. For a free subscription follow this link.

Just thought I'd share one story from this week's message.

One Stroke

Bobby Jones is considered one of the history's greatest golfers. He won thirteen majors before he retired at the age of twenty-eight. And he is the first player to win four majors in one year! But even more than his winning record on the golf course, Bobby Jones is famous for a one-shot penalty at the 1925 U.S. Open.

Jones inadvertently touched his golf ball and assessed himself a one stroke penalty, but no one else saw him touch the ball. Not the tournament official. Not his playing partner. Neither of them believed he actually touched the ball.

Bobby Jones could have so easily justified not taking the penalty. No one saw it. It didn't affect anything. The tournament official said, "Well, Bobby, it is up to you. Do you believe you touched the ball?" To which Bobby responded, "I know that I did."

Bobby Jones lost the 1925 U.S. Open by one stroke!

When reporters tried to interview him about the self-imposed penalty, Bobby Jones forbid them from writing about it. He said it would be inappropriate because there was nothing extraordinary about playing by the rules!

Is it just me or does that