Archive - April, 2008

Do we risk enough?

April 14, 2008 in General with 0 Comments

Most people fall in one of 2 camps when it comes to risk.  They either like to take risks, or absolutely hate to.  Tony Campolo did a sociological study with people over the age of 95.  The survey asked them, if you could do life over again what would you do differently? Most responses fell into three categories:

1. Reflect more
2. Risk more
3. Do more that will live on after I’m gone
{read more here}

I think it’s obvious why risk was in the top 3…… the reason people don’t risk as much is because there could be a lot to lose.  But, when looking back after a long life, you think about what could have been.  Plus, by that time everybody has probably experienced some failures and realized that failing every now and then isn’t the end of the world.  So, the risks don’t seem as great when there’s less to lose and therefore not as much fear.

I hope I take enough risks in my life.  It would be great to look back and not have to regret being afraid to take chances.  At the same time, that desire to take risks has to be balanced with wisdom and discernment.  For me, that primarily comes from my wife.

Friday Five

April 11, 2008 in Friday Five with 2 Comments

Here are my 5 favorite blogs from this week:

Ed Stetzer – Update article about the study that showed that unchurched people preferred more traditional church exterior 2:1. 

Jay Hardwick – Jay shares his plan for reading the Bible daily – what’s yours?

Craig Groeschel – One Prayer update

Planting Space – Things to consider when building a launch team – be sure to click the stats link in the first paragraph

Ryan Fitzgerald – Posts a hilarious video

Here’s a bonus….these 3 dudes clearly read way more than I do:

http://www.brianjones.com/2008/04/pop-goes-church.html
http://blog.buckheadchurch.org/?p=204
http://evotional.com/2008/04/sideways-energy.html

Trust, Leadership & Agendas

April 9, 2008 in Leadership, NFL, Ravens with 0 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge NFL fan, so I follow aspects of the game that most people would be bored by.  One such thing that came up recently was Matt Stover (best kicker ever, for my beloved Ravens) wrote an email to the NFL Players Associate (executives and team reps).  What I wanted to highlight was how he concluded his email:

As I make this suggestion, I will only hope that every one of us will put any personal agenda aside and remember who each of us represent. Both the old and young players in our locker rooms have voted us in because they trust our judgment. This is about the future of our organization. Not now … not 1 or 2 years from now, but 5, 10, 15 years from now. Thanks.

I think we all need a gut check every now and then to remember who we represent, what our agenda is, and how far into the future we’re planning.  I liked how he said that the players voted them in because they trust their judgment.  Everybody has people who are trusting in them in some way.  Are we setting our personal agendas aside and setting them up for success 15 years down the road? 

By the way, if you follow the NFL as closely as I do and want to read the rest of Matt’s email, click here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3336021

Systems & Processes :: Quality 4

April 8, 2008 in CCC, Strategy, Systems with 0 Comments

Portable

Great systems are portable.  They don’t just work in one context or environment.  A system that is portable can be used in different contexts or environments – such as different locations, buildings, regions, economies, cultures, etc.  A great system doesn’t have to work in every context, but it should be portable enough to work in many. 

Take fast food chains, or any other franchise for instance.  They’re basically a system that has been nearly perfected, and then ported to places all around the country and even the world.  They might have different prices, people, settings, sizes, customers, etc. but it’s all still the same system.  There are probably tweaks here and there, but the base system is the same and it works because it’s portable. 

At CCC we’re going multisite.  What that means is that most of our systems need to become portable.  In multisite terms that’s usually called reproducible.  We need to be able to reproduce our systems across any number of campuses in order to achieve the goal of becoming one church in many locations.

So, those are my thoughts (probably not even worth $.02) about what 4 qualities make up a great system.  They’re effective, efficient, flexible and portable.  I’m sure that’s not it, so what do you think?   

Does your preaching kill?

April 8, 2008 in Preaching, Scripture with 0 Comments

In my journey through Acts I read this:

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.  Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.  There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.  Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.  When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.  Acts 20:7-9

They were on the 3rd floor of the building and Eutychus fell asleep and then fell out of the window while Paul was talking.  Fortunately Paul was able to raise him from the dead and we can tell from the scriptures that Eutychus wasn’t bored.  It was clearly less like preaching, and more like discussion, and the group was grateful to have that time with Paul and "were greatly comforted" as we read in verse 12.  So, it probably wasn’t that Paul was boring, but maybe Eutychus was up too late playing Playstation 3.

Sunday Observations

April 7, 2008 in Church Culture, Leadership with 0 Comments

Yesterday I helped a friend out by visiting his church to observe their Sunday morning experience.  Like me, he believes the church is for everybody (not just churched people), and the Sunday morning experience should be planned keeping in mind that guests will be there.

I had been to his church one time before, over 2 years ago.  He indicated in our conversations that he believed his church and taken steps backward since then, in terms of their ability to reach people who aren’t a part of any church.  He was hoping I could observe from an outsiders perspective and share my thoughts.  After my experience I can definitely say he was right.  Here are some general thoughts after my experience:

  • Any church can become completely insider-focused no matter how outsider-focused they were at some point.
  • Designing a Sunday morning experience with guests in mind affects every aspect.
  • Becoming insider-focused happens over time, and it’s usually not planned.
  • When a church has become insider-focused for too long the people in the seats contribute to it almost as much as the people on the stage and in the planning meetings.
  • Being outsider-focused takes intentional planning as well as seeing unchurched people come regularly.  Seeing them regularly helps keep everything in check, because you continue to hear their opinions and see it through their eyes.
  • Language, the specific words we use, is probably the biggest of all the factors that determine whether or not a church is relevant to somebody who’s not a party of any church.

I hope and pray my friend’s church will find their way back to their original mission.  I’m so thankful for everybody at CCC that works hard to make it a church that people who aren’t a party of any church love to attend.

Systems & Processes :: Quality 3

April 5, 2008 in Strategy, Systems with 0 Comments

Flexible

Great systems are flexible.  They can adapt and change to the current environment in order to continue working well.  Obviously every system has limitations but great systems are flexible enough to continue living on. 

About 6 years ago a friend of mine’s dad found out that he had over 95% blockage in one of his arteries.  What the doctors then discovered, was that his body (vascular system) had already begun creating a new artery around the blocked area in order to fix the problem.  It was almost complete and resulted in him not needing surgery.  That was a great system being flexible.  Now most of us know of similar stories that went the other way (surgery needed), but even in those cases the vascular system still had to be flexible and adapt to new conditions. 

It’s hard to change systems we didn’t create and fortunately most of the systems we may have to change are not God-sized in their complexity (like the human body).  No, most of the systems we work with were man-made but still need to be flexible in order to be great.  Because great systems work for a long time and most systems can’t go that long without changing in some way. 

Friday Five

April 4, 2008 in Friday Five with 1 Comment

Here are my 5 favorite blogs from this week:

Seth Godin – Thoughts about taking opportunities rather than waiting for them

Orange Famillies – Great post about how environment matters

LiveChurch.tv – Big Announcement about One Prayer – a really cool idea to unite churches

LiveChurch.tv – 10 Questions Every Leader Should Ask – just one part of the great blog series Craig Groeschel is posting this week

Jay Hardwick – Good thoughts about blessing back, showing gratitude to those that have blessed you

Systems & Processes :: Quality 2

April 4, 2008 in CCC, Strategy, Systems with 0 Comments

Efficient

Great systems are efficient.  Efficient is being effective (the first quality) without wasting time or effort or expense.  An efficient system gets the desired result with the least amount of wasted time and energy.  When a system is created, by accident or on purpose, it usually isn’t efficient.  Primarily because the people that create them are not experienced enough yet to know what will make the system efficient.

Once the system is created the way to make it more efficient is to use it, evaulate it, and tweak it.  By going through that cycle a few times (or more if necessary), the system will become as efficient as it can possibly be.  At CCC we want all our systems to be efficient.  We want to be wise stewards of our finances, our time, and the gifts that people have that help make CCC what it is. 

Acts 19

April 2, 2008 in Scripture with 0 Comments

There were 2 parts of Acts 18 that really stood out as I read them, and I’ll share one with you:

The message of Jesus was spreading through Ephesus (as it was elsewhere) and part of that message was that "man-made gods are no gods at all".  In other words, idols were worthless.  A silversmith called together other workman in related trades and got them angry because they were losing business because of this belief.  So, a riot broke out and…

"The assembly was in confusion:  Some were shouting one thing, some another.  Most of the people did not even know why they were there." Acts 19:32

That’s hilarious, but not suprising, to read that many people were there and didn’t even know why.  They were just there for the show.  It was like a first century Jerry Springer episode.  People will always gravitate toward things they don’t fully understand, but eventually support them.  Churches have to deal with that on both sides, being sensitive to beliefs (or disbelief) that someone may have from following a crowd while making sure the church itself doesn’t follow a crowd and end up standing strong for something the Bible doesn’t specifically take a stand for (or against). 

What do you strongly believe in, or against, but have never examined why you believe that?

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