My Weblog

A Strange Occurance

I went to lunch on Pac Ave in downtown Santa Cruz and was surprised by this strange occurrence. To borrow a word from Star Trek, it was an anomaly! Santa Cruz is like far left and the usual sign that you see  at the same spot is an Obama sign. This dude is risking his life.

This is Too Much

I found these on another blog. This is not the Obama Campaign, this is the Obama Craze! I wonder if there is Obama underwear?

Backroads Santa Cruz

Last Sunday after our morning gathering I took off on a short trip on my motorcycle up Highway 1 and East through Ben Lomand and home. Here is the clip I put together for your enjoyment.

Catalyst Conference Download

We got back late Friday night from the Catalyst Conference. My mind is still buzzing and there lingers a "wow" feeling in my heart. Here are some speakers and significant points from the conference:

Wednesday Labs:

TIM ELMORE
There is not just one right way to lead
Great leaders will change styles, but not principles
Lasting leaders determine their style by observing people

21st Century Leaders:

    Style: Poet/ Gardener
    Poet – Puts into words what the culture is saying
    Gardener – Primary job is to cultivate and grow
    Key Value: Connection/growth

SALLY MORGENTHALLER
We have been caught in a Christianity of moralism – "I have to become a better person!"
Shame and moralism are twins
Shame – I am bad and I need to fix it
What is the fix? "I have got to be better!"
“We really don’t have grace here. We are about doing the right thing.”
“Engineer your own soul” – Making ourselves good Christians
What did Jesus die for?

Catalyst Sessions

ANDY STANLEY
Influencing Others is all about “moral authority”, the alignment between your creed and deed.
Moral authority is easy to lose; hard to gain and maintain.
Moment I see a discrepancy between your creed & deed, you have no influence/respect from me.
Nehemiah 5.6-18 covers moral authority

3 Ways to Establish Moral Authority:

    FORGIVENESS
    No excuse for angry, revengeful church members – we loose our moral authority
    Boldest leadership move you could ever make: Get on your knees and release all of that crap

    FAMILY
    Problem: The church becomes the mistress

    FINANCES
    Do you want to serve generous people? You be generous
    Give first, save second, live on the less
    “If you had lived on the financial principle of the bible we would not have the fear we have right now.”

JIM COLLINS
A leader should have a “To Do” list as well as a “Not To Do” list.
It is a lack of discipline to not have a “Not To Do” list

TO DO’S
1.    jimcollins.com
2.    What are the right seats with the right people and what are you doing to fill them with the right people.
3.    Personal board of directors – guidance mechanism
4.    Get young people in your face
5.    Get out of the way of this next generation
6.    You want the right young people in your face
7.    Build a council – Key to leadership is to ask the right questions
8.    Invest more time in being interested, not interesting
9.    Take time to think – white space days
10.    Engage yourselves in a worthy cause to endure the pain to see it happen
 

SETH GODEN
There used to be only three tribes: 1) Church, 2) Work, 3) Community.
Now, everyone gathers around tribes.
People don’t do stuff because they want to, but because they want to be with their tribe.
A tribe – a group of people, self-selected, often with a leader, all with a common purpose.
There are tight tribes and large/open tribes.
    LA Lakers = a tight tribe. It takes a lot of qualifications to be in it.
    A fan of Oprah = large/open tribe.
Your job is to find the people who want in your tribe.
No one is seeking a safe leader. You have to do something people will criticize.

Tribes want…

...to connect
...to create meaning
...to make a difference
...to be noticed
...to matter
...to be missed (if they don’t come back)
...a movement

4v2... Are you doing something 4 the tribe or 2 the tribe?

AND MUCH MORE....

 

Catalyst, End of a Day

What a ride I am have been on for the last two days. I am at Catalyst in Atlanta with Bobby and Brandon. As a pastor I have been to a mass quantity of conferences, retreats, workshops, and gatherings. This is the sweetest of all. Also, I go away from this conference thinking, "If only every leader in my church could experience this!" It began with Andy Stanley and from there it went to William Paul Young, Jim Collins, Brenda Salter McNeil, Seth Godin, Steven Furtick, and bring up the final leg was Craig Groeschel. It was all inspiring, but the most challenging was Craig.  His text was Joel 2:12. The message was all about allowing God to heal you, stretch you, and ruin you so that you could be in a place where he could use you. Three heart piercing questions that he asked concerning what we deliver to our people on Sunday mornings were these:

1. Will this sermon bring people to God?
2. Will this sermon bring people back into the seats?
3. Am I wanting people to like me?

Today definitely was a valuable day. Check out a few pixs...

In Atlanta at the Catalyst Conference

Hey, check out Brandon on the floor!

Bobby, Brandon, and I landed in Atlanta about 5:30 pm (8:30 Eastern). Headed off to our hotel. Hangin in the room right now before bed. Tomorrow we have some awesome labs at Catalyst.  More late.

Sunday Night Mind Dump #3

• Personally, for me our Sunday gathering was upbeat and meaningful. I usually print out my sermon and try to get most of it into my head before Sunday. There are even times when I change things right before the gathering. This morning as I was speaking I noticed that I had misplaced the last two pages. I was able to remember most of what was on those pages. I like to believe that God was their helping my memory because usually my memory sucks.

• I met some awesome new people at church today.
• After the gathering Julie, Silvia, and I had sushi. I love sushi. After sushi we went shoe shopping. I hate shoe shopping!

• Our new youth pastors were in church today. Wooohoooo!
• It is cold in our house, but I don't  want to turn on the heat.
• Looking forward to traveling to Atlanta this week with Bobby and Brandon for Catalyst.

• Read a blog by Tim Stevens concerning the amount of money given in charitable contributions by the presidential candidates. He stated that if the four candidates were given a gradebased solely on their charitable giving (considering all tax returns released), it would look like this...

The average American family gives about 2% of their income to charitable organizations. Should we expect our leaders to lead the way in giving? What do you think?

Who Owns the Day?

I am amazed that it is already October. I can tell it is October because Christmas stuff is already in the stores. I can also tell it is October because Halloween candy is also in the stores. It is also time for us as a church to gear up for our Kid's Harvest Party. This year it will be on Halloween.  Through the years I have heard people tell me that Christians should avoid having any kind of party or celebration on Halloween because it is honoring the Devil and participating in satanic religious rites. I see numerous problems with this line of thinking. First, who created the days, time, the world, the universe? The answer is God! Just go back to the beginning in Genesis 1 and you can read about it. Even Psalm 24:1 tells us that the earth and everything in it belongs to God including October 31. If we assign a day once a year over to the enemy are we not honoring the devil by forgetting who owns everything? Second, by enjoying good clean fun and loving our neighbors by throwing a party on October 31 is in no way honoring Satan. The Bible describes the way people honor Satan and dishonor God. It is by living a life in rebellion against God and following our own selfishness.
Tell me what you think.