Need your creative brains

They say that 92.5% of protestant and Catholic churches in the U.S. have one race representing at least 80% of the congregation. We've become acquainted with some people who are trying to change this by creating more churches where people of all ethnic backgrounds can come together.

I'm possibly going to be helping these people with producing a vision-casting video and I need to find a great song for it. So.... question for you...

What's the most powerful song you know about racism, coming together, and love? It could be directly about racism or it could be a song that paints a picture of diverse people joined. I'm looking for something on the edgy side.

Speaking of videos... I was looking at this again this week and I still think this Invisible Children Global Night Commute video is one of the coolest videos ever.

Tourist in Space

Do you know that a woman from Plano, Texas paid $20 million to fly into space as a tourist on a Russian mission? She's in space now at the international space station and is blogging from space. Pretty wild...

Check out her blog at http://spaceblog.xprize.org/.

Creating Culture

For the past few months, we've been concentrating on what our values are as a family. We are still fleshing those out but we know they include: respecting and honoring all people, loving God's Word and following Jesus, and sticking close together as a family.

This week I started thinking about another aspect of leading my family. One of the functions of a leader is "culture creator". So... what kind of culture am I creating in my family? What kind of culture should I be creating? What attributes of family life fall into the "culture" category and what falls into the "values" category. I'm thinking that maybe culture is the "soft" stuff or the fertile ground where values can become increasingly strong.

I'm just starting to think about this. Anyone have insight on the relationship between culture and values in the family or elsewhere?

It's been a while

Man... things are busy. Someone told me this week... "you need to find a job so that you won't be so busy!" :)

It's late, so I won't write much. But I would ask you to pray for me. I had a phone interview today with a church I'd REALLY like to work for and the job is REALLY something I'd like to do. I knew the role there was solidly in my interest area but during the interview today I realized that it is even more in line with my passions than I had thought it would be.

Early to mid next week will be the critical time for decisions on their end concerning whether to continue with me to the next step of the interview process.

Appreciate your prayers for God's direction and for the right doors to open.

Emerge City Church

Our family attended a brand new church plant today... Emerge City Church which meets off Custer in McKinney, TX. It's a cool group. The pastor and his wife moved here from Brisbane City Church in Australia to plant the church. Lots of life and passion. Being from Australia, his message related Steve Irwin to Jesus' disciples. Very cool.

It's great to have these missionaries from Australia coming here to help move the kingdom forward. But, I hope increasing numbers of established local churches will also join in and plant some of these new high-energy, high-influence communities. Churches have life cycles -- we must reproduce ourselves!

The Tower of Babel ---- and cheese dip!

Continuing to look at the stories of the Bible. Yesterday was the tower of Babel - Genesis 11:1-9

The people were building the city and tower for two reasons:
1) to make a name for themselves
2) so that they could have a strong place to live and thus not be scattered

God said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." I don't think God was saying "Oh my God :) ... if I don't do something they are going to get too powerful." I think God wanted to rescue people from thinking that they could do things without Him.

Someone might use this Babel story to argue against having ambition or drive. I don't see it that way. I think ambition is fine. It's the motivation that was the problem here. These people wanted to make a name for themselves and a place of safety. I think ambition is good if our goal is to make a name for God in our culture and to "be scattered" wherever He leads.

Jesus was certainly driven but it wasn't to do his own will but the will of the Father.

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On another note...
A while back our favorite favorite favorite Mexican restaurant of 30+ years closed it's doors and the owner passed away. We didn't think we'd ever get that chili con queso (in Arkansas it's called cheese dip) or salsa (in Arkansas we call it hot sauce)again. Well... a few weeks ago my dad's friend gave him a recipe for the cheese dip and hot sauce. So... when our whole extended family converged on central Arkansas for a mini-reunion last weekend we made a big deal out of cooking the dip and sauce and trying it together.









Stirring flour and butter into roux...


Stirring in milk...


Melting in Velveeta and adding spices...


Stirring... stirring.... stirring... heating.... turn up the heat.... stirring... stirring... will this stuff ever thicken up????

YES! Finally thickened up!!

We bought chips from a local mex restaurant and heated them in the oven to simulate the restaurant experience.

And............... it was GOOOOOOOD!

I wonder how I would have felt on the ark

For personal Bible study lately I've just been revisiting the stories of the Bible and doing SOAP on them (read S-cripture, Observe, Apply, Pray)

Yesterday I was on Noah and the flood.

I wonder what it would be like to be floating on a big boat for months with family and a gazillion animals. I would imagine that everyone was ready to find some land and get off of that ship. The thing that caught my eye upon this reading of the story was that Noah didn't disembark on the first muddy hill he saw sticking up out of the water. He waited until the "earth was completely dry" and until "God said to Noah, 'Come out of the ark'."

Noah did his part. He kept an eye on the situation outside the ark and he did his part in sending out the dove three times to gain intelligence. As much as he probably wanted to rush things, he must have been tempered by a weight of great responsibility. He was in charge of getting the remnant of God's living creation back to safety on land. He wasn't hasty. He wisely waited until the land was completely dry, and then he heard the confirming voice of God.

How does this apply to your life?

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On another note... Getting into tennis again! I've played a few times lately and I'm loving it. This morning I rented a basket of balls and worked on my pathetic serve for about an hour. Getting better... need to find some people to play.

Busy............

No time to post much... but here's a quick update.

-- We are heading back to Arkansas for the second weekend in a row. Some extended family decided to fly in this long weekend so we're going back up there to see everyone.

-- I believe God wants me to find a place of impact working on a church staff again instead of searching for a job in the secular marketplace... looking for a role as media pastor or community outreach pastor... more on this soon.

-- I'm having a fun week shooting and editing a video for a company where some of my good friends work.

Gotta run... have a good holiday weekend.

Vacation

We're in Arkansas for the weekend at my parents' in Little Rock. Fun except I've got just about the worst stuffed up head and nose I've ever had. Blahhhhh!

We're going to the circus tomorrow. Should be great for the kids.

Have a good weekend...

Thanks family!

Flash Slideshow

Leadership Summit - 2006 - #4

Peg Neuhauser spoke about "Tribal Warfare".

Here are a few highlights for me in regard to resolving conflict:

1) Think a lot BEFORE a meeting aimed at discussing a conflict. Before the meeting, work to be able to state the other person's position or feelings as clearly (or even more clearly) than he or she can.

2) Each time there is a conversation aimed at conflict resolution between two people or between groups of people there are four possible impacts to the relationship. You are either:
- building it
- maintaining it
- repairing it
- damaging it

Those are the only four choices. Ignoring that a conflict exists is in the "damaging it" category.

3) DISCIPLINE yourself to LISTEN

A Dad Moment

OK... so my daughter is out walking around several streets of our neighborhood with her friends selling something for their school's fundraising campaign. She's supposed to be home at 5:30pm but at 5:37pm she wasn't home. I'm not worried but just feeling the foreshadowing of things in years to come.

Dinner was ready at 5:30pm so I had to decide whether were we going to wait on her and eat as a family or go ahead with our meal.

Should I "ground" her for missing "curfew"? Should I sit in the living room chair with arms crossed waiting for her to walk in LATE?

So weird... feels like I've fast forwarded to the teen years.


(In case you are worrried... she's home fine... at 6:02!!!)

-----UPDATE-----

So she had to eat cold dinner and got no dessert.

Imagine an angry, whiny-voiced daughter...

her - "I don't see why it's such a big deal" pout pout

me (fatherly) - "Keeping track of the time and getting home when expected is a skill you need to learn"

her (more animated and whiny) - "But how can I know what time it is?"

me (semi-sarcastically) - "You look at your watch."

her - "But it's easier for you... your watch is on your wrist... mine is in my pocket where I have to reach in and dig it out!"

Stomps upstairs...

Alex tattles giggling: "She had 'whatever' eyes."

Turkish Delight

After a great lunch at Cici's (visiting my friend Donnie who is training for his new marketing job there and eating Cici's yummmmy new buffalo chicken pizza dipped in ranch dressing) we went next door to the India Bazaar. Cool to look through all the Indian spices and foods (as long as I don't have to eat them!!) We bought a candy bar of Turkish Delight, since we remembered it in the Narnia movie. We cut it in five bites and each tried a piece. Interesting... that's all I'll say... interesting.

Anyone have a Hershey bar?

Leadership Summit - 2006 - #3

Andy Stanley spoke about what he calls the best leadership decision he ever made. He had always been plaqued by the following fear:

"I'm afraid that if I don't _______, then ______".

If I don't work 70 hours a week, then the church won't make it.
If I don't visit the lady in the hospital their family will leave the church.
Or whatever...

Stanley realized, though, that Matthew 16 in the Bible says "and on this rock I will build my church". It is God's responsibility to build the church. What a relief!

He also saw that Ephesians says "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church". Men and women need to work on marriage and family; loving the Church is Christ's specialty.

When Stanley planted North Point Community Church he decided he was going to work no more than 45 hours per week. He felt that God would have him cheat the job... cheat the church... rather than cheat his family. He's stuck to that and led his staff to do the same.

When you limit your work and your staff's work to a certain number of hours per week you do several things:
- you focus on your strengths... there's no time to mess around with your weaknesses
- you prioritze the things you do as a person and learn to say 'no'
- you focus the organization and learn to say 'no' to new opportunities
- you create incredible loyalty from staff and the people you lead (because they are healthy, focused, and protected from overwork)

One final Andy thought...
Never violate the principles of God in order to gain or maintain the blessings of God.

Reunion Church

Today my family visited Reunion Church which meets in downtown Dallas at the convention center. What a refreshing time! I love meeting people of different cultures and backgrounds. This church is such a diverse group. Their vision is to have lots of races, ethnic groups, colors, social backgrounds, etc worshipping and growing together now... not just to wait for that to happen in heaven.

As the pastor said today, there is no "South Heaven" or "East Side" of Heaven. We'll all be together in a beautiful crowd. Why can't that start here and now?!

The other refreshing part about Reunion was their authenticity. Though some would think the congregation is too large to do it, each week they pass around a microphone for people to share about their life and journey. The pastor said basically "If you came just to hear a message, listen to it on the radio... we are here to care about each other." People shared about their lost friends, their search for direction, their sister desparately needing wisdom in a tragic situation, their friends who started back into drugs and alcohol. I started to think... man, these people have some serious problems. Then I quickly realized... these people may have different problems... but they don't have worse problems than anyone else. It's just that they know they have problems, they are willing to share their problems, and they know God can handle their problems.

Leadership Summit - 2006 - #2

Session 2 of the Summit was James Meeks. He is the pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago. He talked about church growth.

One of his biggest points for me was when he said, "You've got to preach the annoucements."

We can't expect a great food collection or evangelistic push or service day in the community to happen just through a plain annoucement made at the end of the servvice. We have to PREACH the annoucements. Passionately put the annoucement in terms of a great biblical story and make the sermon application be "MEET US TOMORROW OUT IN THE COMMUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!". Words written in all caps is the best I can do at capturing the intensity of this great African-American preacher, leader and visionary.

Also... before I forget to say this... if you are having any type of difficult times in your life, go buy the song "Call on Jesus" by Nicole C. Mullen and listen intently to it at high volume on a great stereo system. She sang it live at the Summit... amazing.

Leadership Summit - 2006 - #1

I'm attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit today, Friday and Saturday.

Thought I would post some of the things I noted...

Session #1
Bill Hybels talked about the Life Cycle of a Leader

Hybels believes a leader who changes and grows can continue increasing impact until his/her dying day.

In your 20's you can lead with mostly heart and passion.
Soon, though, you need to develop skills.
Next comes raising up leaders to take on significant roles... but don't stop there, or your best leaders will leave!
Elevate a few great leaders to lead at the top with you... give them huge responsibilities... morph your role to accomodate new leaders.

Good leaders aren't power hungry, but they are impact hungry.

Pointers on learning:
1) Read all you can on leadership (always have two leadership books in your briefcase)
2) Go where leadership is taught
3) Be around great leaders and ask questions
4) Keep leading something or you'll lose your edge

Random thoughts

I had a lot of fun playing tennis today (for the first time in ages) with the boyfriend of Kris' daughter. He beat me 6-1 in the first set. In the second set we went to 6-6 but opted not for a tie-break. The set ended up 10-8 David. I'll get him next time.

Lots of mixed emotions today. I was listening to a song that we had done at our church a while back -- "Stained Glass Masquerade" by Casting Crowns. I was wishing all of the people who were together then were still together now. But at the same time I was also gaining a peace that we are all on the right path.

I continued today to reflect on who I am. I am seeing big revelations on how to categorize my work and clarify what it is I want to do.

On networking with people... two things I'm learning are these:
1) Work hard to get a meeting with people, but don't be aggressive using the meeting to ask for a job or for job connections. First of all this takes the pressure of the person you are meeting with. Today, I saw another side to this though. I think this approach, one genuinely based in learning and seeking wisdom, instead of moving toward a job "ask" retains our humility and leaves room for God to work and bring about his plans. Humble yourself under God's hand and he will lift you up in due time.
2) Think before you meet with anyone! The meeting will go much better. (not just in networking but anywhere)

Like I said... just random thoughts

Not seeking a job... but a place of impact

I know that title may sound naive or irritating or dizzy with spin. As I make this transition in my career, I don't want to just get a job that I can do. I can do lots of jobs. I want to find the place that is right. The place I'll care about and be passionate to improve. This is not to say I would not be thankful and content wherever God takes me, but I do think God made us with a purpose. If I'm going to spend 40+ hours and a large part of my energy at a place, my desire is to be operating in my purpose -- helping people and organizations create and deliver excellence in places where creativity and technology meet.

That's just me... others may look at the job/purpose thing differently. Do you think we are just spoiled Americans if we seek to earn a living doing what we love to do?

Strange Day

Wow. Interesting day. I'm not sure if I've written it here but yesterday was my last day officially working at my church. When I decided to move on, the end date I was shooting for was Sept 1. The church is honoring that date, but they were gracious to allow me this month to just focus on my job search. (for those not in church work: churches are weird... they let you resign and process for months) :)

So.... today I didn't get up and drive to church... very weird... Instead went to Starbucks... Met a great friend there (comment on his blog so that maybe he'll start posting again) and then spent most of the day working on what's next.

I'm very excited about this process. I'm talking to lots of fascinating people and believing that I am going to find a great place to make an impact.

My days this month are going to look like this:
A good amount of time in the Bible and prayer
A lot of time meeting with people and thinking about my direction
A little time working on getting our house ready to sell since we don't know if we'll stay here or move far away