Contagion

The other day I said I would post some of the comments we've been getting. These are meant to be more of an encouragement to the people of TXC than anyone else. God really is doing something unique and fresh through TXC. I can't really put my finger on it (obviously "it" is God) because a lot of the time it feels like we're doing the same old thing and nothing out of the ordinary.

These letters are just a snippet of what God is doing and it's anything but ordinary...1 from someone that was not raised as a Christian, the other from someone who's been in church for 20+ years.

(I've removed names but kept everything else as is...)




#1 --

“I came to church with some friends a while ago, and I've been coming back for I guess It's been three weeks now, and, Honestly I've been enjoying it a lot, I feel welcome, and I think that you connect well with everyone, and there's a lot of unity within the church That Is awesome! I always grew up with religion in my home, I've always known a lot about the bible, and my mom would have us study the bible on a regular basis. The problem is that I'd always been taught the bible within a religion that I personally don't feel is right for me. Anyways I feel much better coming to TXC and I love it, and It really is welcoming, I've even invited and spoken about it with my sister, and some friends of mine, THAT'S how comfortable I feel. That's how much I've been enjoying it.

So because I will be there on Sunday... and I plan to come more, and I'm setting very Christian goals for myself weekly, (just things that I've let slip the last year or so that I have been lost and confused in the world), And Because I'm choosing to re-discover Jesus, Hopefully with your help and Through the help of TXC. Thank you.”

She goes on to say in another email…

“I feel like I'm being served a kid's meal, when I'm like a 300 pounds and hungry for more. It's funny how much more i want to know, ive really never felt so moved.”





I love that...a 300lb kid. On to #2...








#2 --

“A Few weeks ago, I decided with my Husband to go and visit your church. I have to admit I was a little sceptical of the whole thing, after all - can God show up in a movie theatre?

I was amazed and excited to have the experience of enjoying Pastor Dan as he spoke on Jonah and the Whale. Wow I loved the idea of a real boat in the service. The message was alive, and it challenged me , motivated me, and I have not forgotten those words - SWALLOWED BY GRACE - what a powerful sermon and to think I still remember it 3 weeks later.

As I sat during the worship time (which consisted of one drummer, a base guitarist and one lead singer with a guitar) I was amazed that the presence of the Holy Spirit was their, in a theatre - wow! it seemed a little weird, As you can imagine, I am use to a church building, pews and all, but this was a totally out of the box experience.

I want to thank all of you who have worked so hard to get this ministry up and running, I am sure that God is thrilled with you all, keep at it, this is the place and God is so with you.

Hey and the added bonus, Thanks for the Cinema Ticket. Blessings to you All"

This is what it all about! It really does blow my mind that, in light of who we are, God is rocking people's worlds.

And the stories continue...

My previous pastor's gave me some wisdom over the years and one of those pieces of advice was to never let someone vent at you before you preached. Well today I had that experience but it wasn't something I could avoid.

Every Sunday we meet in SilverCity Mission to have our Sunday worship gatherings. As you can imagine, that sucker's a beast and someone's gotta clean it. The company that cleans it works extremely hard to get it cleaned for us but over the last few weeks we've been having some altercations with our paths crossing at the wrong time and things said that were taken way out of context.

This morning it all came to a head.

Last week I emailed the theatre and told them what was going on and requested that the cleaning crew be out by 9. I knew I could potentially stir the pot and open a can of worms and sure enough, it opened this morning...just what I needed.

So the manager comes to me and tells me that we can't use the right wing where we usually have UpStream Kids and that we just need to stay away from each other (the janitors and us). So as you can imagine, a wrench got thrown in to the morning at that point and I was set off. It just screwed my whole line of thought up completely.

The head janitor came and talked with me and we ended up getting things smoothed out to a certain degree but I was still off.

Needless to say, when it was my time to get up and speak, I felt like I was in a padded room all by myself. It had nothing to do with the people that were there, it had to do with the fact that I was distracted. It's hard to explain and only those that do any sort of speaking know that focus is everything, especially when you are trying to speak from memory. There are just some days when things flow out of me so smoothly and then there are days like today when I feel like I'm dragging it out and just slapping it on the table.

But you know what is interesting about this? As I sit here, I'm reminded of the fact that we were talking about the fact that God works best in weakness. Interesting. Maybe if I'm always trying to serve a gourmet meal with my words, God doesn't have as much opportunity to show himself strong.

This is verified by the stories I heard from people after the gathering that said that they feel like TXC is helping to resuscitate their faith and that God really spoke to them in the gathering. I'm trying to learn to not have a false humility by saying "Dude it wasn't me...trust me". I'm trying to just say a simple "Thank you". I never said it but it definitely wasn't me today. It never is but today I was just reminded even more that I really don't know what I'm doing and that what happens through TXC is definitely not a reflection of how cool I am or how skilled I am. The day I start thinking I'm something special is the day that TXC starts to crumble.

That's what someone asked me once what our focus was at our Sunday gatherings.

My reply - both!

I'm not sure how you can be one or the other and be a gospel central church.

If you are just discipleship focused, it can turn into a "Feed me!" fest with a bunch of "obese" Christians walking around with all the answers. When a guest visits, everything is over their heads and they don't see how anything applies to them.

If you are just evangelistic, you will end up with a bunch of shallow Christians that don't know the Bible.

Our goal on Sundays is to disciple people to be outward focused with their faith. We want those that follow Jesus to see that their faith is not for them. It's so easy to think this and then do everything we can to feel good about everything in our lives. It just doesn't work that way. Following Jesus is hard at the best of times!

We view our gatherings as a time for equipping missionaries to live in the culture throughout the week. That our faith doesn't end with us...we are supposed to be a catalyst that continues the process.

Does it always work seamlessly? Hardly. But we're determined to be both.

When we are dreaming for the future of TXC, the people that are at the forefront of our minds are those who are far from God...not the Christians. It's not that we don't think about those who are already following Jesus and contributing to our church...we love them and try our best to invest in them as much as we know how right now. Our goal is to equip those that follow Jesus to be about reconnecting others to Jesus. We aren't Christians to live a fat and happy life with Jesus on our own, taking everything we can for ourselves...our faith isn't private. (I'll post more on this later)

But here's our reasoning...

If some of our methods offend a Christian, they're still going to be a Christian if they leave our church. Now, if we do something that offends a Christian to the point that they are ready to call it quits on God all together, then we need to make it right. We will also try to avoid that at all costs.

However, if our methods offend someone who doesn't follow Jesus, they may never come back. And for us, that is unacceptable. Where the Christian can skip down the street to the next church on the corner, the person who isn't connected to Jesus may never give Him another shot. We aren't going to soften our message just so that people will like us, but we will adapt our methods on a regular basis in order to more effectively reconnect others to Jesus.

So if it comes down to choosing who we focus on, we choose those who aren't connected to Jesus...everytime.

"In the world of marketing, the church takes one of two stances. It stays away from it totally, or engages in what I would call cheesy church marketing. Bottom line; they’re not very effective.

But why don’t we market? We have the greatest news in the whole world; something everyone needs and everyone should know about. The good news is relevant to everyone’s life, every day. So why don’t we let people know more effectively what we have to offer? There are two reasons why we don’t market. One, we don’t know what promise to make. Two, we don’t know how to make good on the promises we do make." Read the rest here

For what it's worth, we do market ourselves, but we try not to make promises. In the beginning, we were gonna jump on the bandwagon and proclaim "Not your grandma's church" until my friend who isn't a Christian told me that it was lame. In retrospect, I'm not even sure we could make good on that promise just because I have no idea what your grandma's church is like!

Every church markets itself, whether it thinks it does or not. One of the ways this happens is by people talking about your church. What are they saying?

Every week, we understand that people are going to leave and they are going to talk. We don't candy coat anything or tell people that Jesus wants you to have that escalade and feel good about life all the time to manipulate them into telling their friends about this amazing church that just wants me to have the best things in life.

Every week we challenge people to follow Jesus...wherever that may lead with everything that comes along with it. I would expect people to say negative stuff...some do. But for the most part, I hear story after story about people who feel more confident now than they ever have in the past to talk about their faith and tell people where they go to church. In fact, at our All Access night this weekend with our volunteers and leaders, I'll be sharing some of these stories and once I get permission from someone who just sent me one this morning, I'll post it here.

"Given the power of media, becoming conversant with its mixed messages is an essential tool for Christian life. This involves the process of inculturation—discovering where Christ is already active within a given culture. Inculturation has traditionally been about uncovering Christian resonances in faraway places and exotic rituals. Yet the risen Christ sends us out to our media-saturated culture as well, and in it we labor with Christ to expose the signs of God’s saving love already present there. We cannot speak to a culture we do not know or one we despise…we have to learn its language and discover how Christ has already gone ahead of us, inculturated in some of media’s values, stories and style."

As said by Richard Leonard, a Jesuit priest with a PhD in film and theology, in his book Movies that Matter: Reading Film Through the Lens of Faith.

Thoughts?

"Don’t ever settle for getting someone’s attention. Channel attention into action if you want to change the world." ~ katya

It's so easy to fall into the trap of just getting people's attention. I love our church. I really do. I love the community. I love the creativity. I love the freedom. I love the location. I love the music. I love the lead team I get to work with. I love it all! If we are going to gather together, I believe that to bore people to death with the most exciting message ever is just ridiculous. People can slam the churches that "entertain" all they want but if boredom and being lame is the other choice...I choose the captivating and engaging route everytime.

I was just talking with someone yesterday and they were telling me that they have never felt as confident as they do now in inviting their friends to church. Before they used to be embarassed but now they know their friends will like it. That is always one of our goals - to give people the confidence to invite their friends by making sure what we do at our gatherings doesn't suck.

But if all we are doing is getting people's attention, we aren't doing our job. If people are just saying "Wow...that was fun!" then we are missing the mark. The whole point is reconnecting people to Jesus and I know that doesn't always happen in a moment and so our goal each week is for all of us to take one more step in the direction of Jesus. One of the ways we gauge whether this is happening or not is through the stories we hear. If we're not hearing stories, there is no action taking place. But when you hear story after story of the changes happening in people's lives, it makes you want to get their attention and call them to action even more.

Did I mention I love TXC?

"I could literally go on and on…people–it DOES NOT FLIPPIN’ matter what is worn to church…as long as you are there!!! I Samuel 16:7 says that God is looking at the heart…and I honestly believe there are some very well dressed people in churches all over America who are on their way to hell because they are so caught up in looking good and playing the part that they have never trusted Christ with their salvation!!!

It’s time that Christians people that go to church STOPPED this crap! Dressing up does not make you godly…for many it simply means they are good looking hypocrites!!! The REAL question is how is your heart…are you and I doing what Jesus outlined in Matthew 22:36-40? THAT matters!!! (Once again please note they asked Jesus about what was most important…and He never mentioned a dress code!)"


Read the rest of the post here

For what it's worth I was pretty intent on letting people know that it's okay to wear whatever they want to church in the beginning of TXC. I came out of the "If you don't dress right, you don't love Jesus" tradition and it honestly grated on me. So I would rant about that. I totally agree with Perry on this issue and yet, I have no reason to even talk about this because it's an unspoken rule at TXC that it's okay to come however you want (just try to cover up the parts that need to be covered:). We've got people that wear suits and people that wear t-shirts and shorts. I love the fact that it's not a "high end" fashion show each week.

It's a breath of fresh air. We can focus on becoming like Jesus and not worry that we're being judged because we don't dress a certain way. And for the record, I don't own a suit. Actually I do but I'm too fat to fit into it so I'm considering having a burning ceremony sometime soon!

I read this over on Tony Morgan's blog and totally agree! Why does Starbucks get to be excellent while the church stays mediocre?



"Ken (who by the way has one of the coolest looking blogs in blogland) passed along an interesting article from a recent issue of Psychology Today. The article talks about the rapid growth of Starbucks and, among other things, attributes that growth to the "Starbucks experience" rather than the coffee. Here are some highlights from the article and the questions and thoughts it raised in my mind:

Vision. "From a base of just 100 stores 15 years ago, Starbucks has grown into a 13,000-strong coffeehouse armada. It operates cafes in all 50 states and in 37 countries... The company now opens more than 2,000 coffeehouses per year, an average of six new stores a day."

The company's current goal is to have 40,000 stores worldwide. Does anyone else read that and think our vision for the Church pales in comparison? We complain about and try to discredit the ministry of churches that are approaching 40,000 people while this company (that's just trying to sell more coffee) is trying to open 40,000 unique locations. Aren't we thinking too small?

Intentionality. "At Starbucks, nothing is accidental. Everything the customer interacts with, from the obsessively monitored store environment down to the white paper cups, is the product of deliberation and psychological research. The coffeehouse as we know it is a calculated creation..."

It ticks me off that Starbucks has demonstrated this much intentionality in selling coffee while the Church embraces a passive (or maybe it's just lazy) approach to spreading the Gospel.

Community. "Starbucks filled America's need for a public gathering spot--...a 'third place' with home and work being place one and two. This became Starbucks' community rallying cry: It wasn't a coffee company, but a place for bringing people together through the social glue of coffee."

Here's an example of a need that people had that could have easily been filled by the Church. Maybe we're too focused on arguing about what we're against instead of being what the Church was intended to be in people's lives.

Atmosphere. Starbucks interviewed coffee drinkers and found that they "talked very little about the coffee itself, but quite a bit about feelings and atmosphere... The coffee wasn't the point--the feel of the place was."

Here's the reality--Starbucks just wants to sell more coffee. But, we don't hear blogging baristas complaining about how Starbucks has watered down the coffee because they're actually paying attention to people's feelings and the atmosphere of their stores.

What if God gifted artists to create an atmosphere for people to be more receptive to hearing the Gospel? What if God created some people with the gift of hospitality to design a welcoming environment for people to hear the Gospel? What if God gifts people and directs them through the Holy Spirit to think about effective building design, sound systems, video capabilities and children's ministry so that more people might hear the Gospel? Is it possible that we're trying to put God in a box by limiting how he chooses to reach people?

I happen to believe God will use methods we've not seen before to reach people who have yet to commit their lives to Christ. As I've read through the Bible again, I'm amazed at the variety of different approaches he used to get people's attention and transform lives. I don't think God's done creating. And, I don't think he's done redeeming people's lives."

Our UnderCurrent relaunch this Sunday but we cheated and started ours a week early. Reason being, we are watching Survivor. I know...it's pretty spiritual. Chicken farmers, grave diggers, professional wrestlers, lunch ladies with mullets...it's deep. But I'm stoked. There were 7 of us without any pre-sign up and we had a blast. We're having our own mini competition throughout the season and the winning team will get treated to a movie on Bek or I.

I gotta be really honest here. I'm an awkward person. I KNOW! You're shocked! I try to keep it a secret :) But when it comes to a traditional bible study I just can't hide it. Sitting in a circle. Reading a section of Scripture. Then....the part that makes me want to crawl into a hole and not come out..."Soooooooo Hank....what do you think about that? Nothing? Okay then...next." It's at this point where I just start talking and it moves from a bible study to a mini sermon. I just don't do well with it. On top of that, I've found that the most meaningful conversations have come out of having a coffee with a friend with no pre-set plan.

That's why I love our concept of UnderCurrents. It's not new by any means but it just fits who we are. Some go with cells, small groups, g-12, etc...some make it mandatory that they review the sunday message. We just can't mandate a set structure and be true to the culture of our faith community.

So we've got survivor nights, movie discussion nights, bible study, recreation, youth, singing and looking to add some more. I have some ideas but ultimately, Donovan is the point leader for the UnderCurrents.

We are experimenting with the semester system as well. So the present Undercurrents will go until Christmas and end for a few weeks. Then in January some time we will once again relaunch to give new people the chance to join up, for us to launch new Undercurrents and for regulars to switch if they want to. This is an experiment so we're going to test it out and see how it works. But right now it seems like a better option than having a group of people meet together for the next 20 years and have no way for a new person to break in, even if they wanted to. I think with switching it up every few months helps to keep things fresh. It keeps UnderCurrents on our radar all the time and as we will do a big push every few months. Afterall, these are going to be a very strong undercurrent (lame...I know) in our church.

All in all, I'm stoked. I'm looking forward to connecting with people that I haven't had the chance to connect with yet. I'm looking forward to the community that is going to be formed. We see the strong friendships that have formed among the ladies that meet for recreation on Wednesdays...it's just undeniable that this type of community makes it much easier and more fun to navigate through life and the christian faith.

We aren't meant to walk alone.

"God's church falters from exhaustion because Christians erroneously think that God has given them a mission to perform in the world. Rather, the God of mission has given His church to the world. It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world. The church's involvement in mission is its priviledged participation in the actions of the triune God." - Tim Dearborn



It's very easy to get this confused and I think it happens to me all the time. I constantly have to be on guard because this can easily lead to arrogance. God's mission can easily turn into "our" mission. We can easily get a complex and think that we are the ones that are doing the saving. The reality is that God is already at work, bringing people closer to Himself...we just get the privilege to be invited along for the ride.

So, today I choose to be grateful to God for inviting me.

from John Laeger at a Minnesota Wild game:

1. When you make a call, you will be booed and cheered at the same time. Thousands of people will watch as you make the call and they will immediately let you know if they like the call or not. There will be no private decisions when you are a leader. Every decision will be seen and evaluated. Some will love it and some will hate it. Some will even be angry and get up and leave. And when they leave, they will call you all sorts of names. But, you don't make the call based on who will like it or not. You make the call based on playing the game right.

2. There is no Hi-Def, Slo-Mo, Instant Replay from 17 different angles BEFORE you make a call. If there were, you would never make a mistake - right? I have lost count of the decisions I have made in strategy, marketing, staffing, budgeting, and even teaching series that had I knew then what I know now AFTER the decision, I would not have made that decision. When you make the call, you make it on what you see at that moment in time and you make it with confidence.

3. You follow through on your call and then keep going. Regardless of getting booed or cheered, you keep going. You keep focused on the game. You stay doing what you are good at doing. You don't second guess your call in the middle of the game.

4. Decisions are best made when there is wild rock music playing, teeth are getting knocked out, and human bodies are flying and crashing into the wall. Okay, maybe this one doesn't have much of a connection to decision making as a leader - but hey...

It's interesting how it takes a guy who hasn't been to a game since the NorthStars were in town to think of this stuff!

Via Vince Antonucci:



"Imagine a few friends decide they want to go deep sea fishing and catch sharks. These guys go to Wal-Mart, buy some poles, drive down to the marina, pick up some bait, get in their boat, drive out where some other people are fishing, and drop their lures. Fish start biting instantly. By the end of the day these guys catch 92 Grouper, 37 Sea Bass, 11 Tuna and … 2 small Sharks.

By chance, another group of buddies also decide to try and catch some sharks. This group gets together the night before to study up on shark fishing. The next morning they drive to a specialty fishing store and purchase 80lb. class rods with 100 lb. fishing line. They get the right size hooks and a gaff. They also buy a flat of mackerel and some fresh bluefish to use as chum and bait. They go down to the marina, get in their boat, and drive southeast to a pre-determined spot, approximately 30 miles out. This area has a dip in the sea floor and a certain water temperature, both making it a far more likely home for the type of shark they have elected to target. They discovered that different species of shark prefer varying depths of water. On the way out they troll for fresh bluefish, knowing it will be even more effective in attracting sharks. Two of the guys begin preparing their bait and chunks for the chum. When they arrive, they create a big chum slick. They have learned that sharks are smell driven and will follow a slick to its source. Then, knowing that shark fishing is drift fishing, they chart their drift, based on the wind and tide, to follow the edge of the chosen structure below. Next they set their four baits, putting the deepest the furthest away from the boat, keeping their drags very loose so they can hear the clicker start to move. By the end of the day this boat returns to shore with 7 Grouper, 2 Tuna … and 29 Sharks.

Who was more successful? Well, I guess it’s debatable, but if the goal is to catch sharks, I’d say the second group. Sure, they ended the day with 104 more fish, but they had 27 less sharks. If it’s all about “numbers” the first group can brag, but if the deal is really shark fishing, I’d rather be with the second group. In fact, the first group can say they went out shark fishing, but really the truth is … they’re grouper fishermen.

So it’s no surprise where I’m going with this. A lot of us say we’ve heard Jesus’ call and we’re fishing … for lost people. But the truth is that we have no idea how to fish for lost people. And it turns out the bait is more expensive, and where they swim is more difficult to get to. So we go fishing, but we don’t go far and we use the wrong bait. And we may catch people, maybe even hundreds or thousands. But what kind of people? Perhaps we came up with a few lost people (basically by mistake) but just about everyone we reached are saved people. And so really the truth is … we’re saved people fisherman.

So how do we truly become fishers of lost people? Well, maybe it starts with understanding them. Who are they? Where do they hang out? What might attract them?"


So my added question is...are we fishing in the right places? And if we are in the right place, are we actually sticking our poles in the water or are we just merely trolling around, making it look like we're doing something?

Part of our culture at TXC is doing all we can to connect into the greater culture of the community. One of the ways we do this is by being involved in community events. This gives us a chance to rub shoulders with other people who are also a part of the same community, but we may not have had the opportunity to meet them otherwise.

Yesterday we were involved in the Celebration of Community. And to be honest, we weren't sure if we were going to do it again next year. This was completely an experiment. We spent enough money that we really don't have in order to make being at our booth a great experience. I was a little nervous - afterall, who would even want to come to a church booth (maybe it helped that people had to ask what we were cause church is nowhere in our name!) But we pushed ahead and decided that the risk was worth taking.

We ended up getting a money spot for our booth (it pays off to show up early I found out!) It was in a high traffic location and we were all by ourself. The potential to have a really boring booth that people would probably equate to the vibe of our church was high, so we tried to make the whole thing as interactive as we could for this year. Some of the experiment included:

1. -- Thousands of pieces of candy and chocolate in a massive bowl for people to take for free. The kids absolutely loved this. We had so much candy that we were telling kids "You can only take 5!" Their parents started to laugh and we would say "No...serious - take 5!" What do you think the parents did? That's right! "Okay...take 5!" What was funny was people's reaction to the word "Free!" They were asking, "What do I have to do for the candy?" What do you have to do? Huh? So we would play along and ask them to do some Criss Angel stuff and totally confuse them...little did they know, their confusion was enough for us to want them to take some free candy :)

2. -- A fish pond for kids to "go fishing" (Yep...the cheesy carnival type game with the "fish" attaching high end toys to the clip (a.k.a big sweaty guy attaching cheap little toys to fishing rod...okay...I'm joking about the cheap little toys) This was a huge hit! Dave, Charlie and their grade 1 class weren't too sure about their paintjob on the high class cardboard "pond" that they created, but in the end, no one cared! We had close to 600 toys and we got rid of all of them! Towards the end of the day, a lady came up to our booth and said "Do you realize that your booth is the talk of the park? The kids are so a happy!" Now I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it sure is nice to hear...makes you wanna give 'er even more...well not really cause I was spent by the end, but it makes everything you've done up until then worthwhile.

3. -- 2 free movie tickets to SilverCity every hour, on the hour. I can't take credit for the first two ideas - that would be props to Charlene. But this one was one of those experiments that paid off. Originally it was just two movie tickets but then I thought it would be cool to get people coming back to our booth every hour...and if we gave away two movie passes they would for sure come back...Sure enough...they did. Every hour, we would have tons of people put their name in the draw. And on the hour, they would all come back, hang around our booth, waiting for their name to be called. I think this created a "Hey what's going on over there? It MUST be cool!" vibe about our table.

4. -- Church @ the movies postcards and Sneak Peek cd's. This was just to get our information into the hands of everyone. This went really well and people seemed happy to take the cd. If they watch it, I guess we'll never know! However...today, we had one of the families that came to our table show up at our Worship Gathering. And to me, that made yesterday all worth it. she said they'll be back next week so I'm stoked about that!

All in all, the day was incredible. We are already dreaming about what next year will look like. We're going to add some more things to the mix that will help us connect with people easier...make it easier for people to find our table.

After yesterday, it was just confirmed in me even more that we are in the right place at the right time. I really do love this city. It was also nice to recently hear that Donovan is moving to Mission and Dave and Charlene are going to be moving here in the near future as well. I'm stoked...we are only getting started!

Like I said before...we are fools...because we really do believe that God is leading us to do something that others will think cannot be done...I guess the God that I follow is also bigger than their opinion! :)

Yes...I know...good 'ol Avril....cheese. But Seth Godin has a great post on the alarm clock and being remarkable:

|For twenty cents or so, alarm clock manufacturers can add a chip that not only knows the time (via a radio signal) but knows what day it is too. Which means that they can add a switch that says "weekends." Which means that the 98% of the population that doesn't want to wake up on the same time on weekends as they do on weekdays will be happier (and better rested.)

This isn't as complicated or expensive as my idea four years ago.

So why doesn't every alarm clock have this feature? Because most people in that business are busy doing their jobs (distribution, promotion, pricing, etc.), not busy making products that people actually want to buy--and talk about.

There are very few products and services that wouldn't get a lot better if people just tried to make them better."

My question is this...is there something as simple as this that can help the church be even more remarkable? It doesn't need to be this massive pyro technics show or thousands of dollars spent on something crazy. In fact, the answer probably isn't found in something big like that...it's probably small, simple and slipping right through our fingers because we're not looking in the right place.

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done." (From a Franciscan Benediction)


Wow! This is everything I dream for myself, my family and TXC. That last line sent a chill down my spine..."do what others claim cannot be done." I still remember some of the looks and responses of people when I told them that we were planting TXC. "Ohhhhh...that sound good?! (Interpretation: what makes you think you can pull that off? Good luck!)

I guess I'm just a really BIG fool!

As "the Griz" would say "TESTIFY"

It feels thick.

It's as if we're in an enclosed room and if a match were to be lit, there would be a massive explosion. The question is will this explosion be a good thing or a bad thing?

Now I'm not one to get all crazy and over spiritualize things...usually.

But today, something is different. I can't deny the spiritual world. I can't deny that Ephesians 6 is real.

I feel it.

I sense.

I see it.

I see the lives of people very close to me being ravaged and ripped apart. I see others even closer that feel like they are on the brink of shutting down.

The only way I can describe it is as an attack...an onslaught...an all out war. No one said that planting a church would be easy. But right now, I feel like I have to stop playing games. Stop praying little wimpy prayers.

On the way home from the gym this morning something snapped inside of me...It was a "I can't stand this anymore" kind of snap. A "I can't stand this anymore and we have GOT to do something about it" kind of snap. I literally raged out in the spiritual realm and started to pray like I haven't in a while. It's hard to explain. I was yelling, crying, listening...you name it. And all I can attribute this sudden change to is one thing...

I asked for God's heart for this city and region. I know...it sounds weird. But I've come to realize that I'm very selfish and greedy and arrogant and if TXC is going to reach ANYONE and reconnect them to Jesus, then I, as the "lead" leader, have got to see our region through the eyes of God and feel his heart for the people.

So I asked for it. And this is what I got. The anger I felt this morning and am still feeling is not anger towards people that don't follow Jesus. It's anger towards Satan (Yes I know...some of you think that even mentioning his name is giving him to much credit) It's anger at the injustice that is going on in the lives of people in this region...people in our church...my friends. It doesn't have to be this way!

Part of the problem is that I think too many of us are sitting on the sidelines...watching. And as we watch, we are getting taken out. We are watching because we are afraid. But the reality is that whether you choose to watch or whether you choose to run into the war head on...you are a target. So do you want to be a target that is fighting or a target that is watching?

For anyone that reads this and is a part of TXC or is in support of TXC, I want you to do something. I want you to get off the sidelines. And right now, you do this by starting to pray. Start praying that God would continue to give us his favor with anyone that is disconnected from him. Pray that our influence would continue to expand that those seeking God would find him. Pray that those in our church and community would find the freedom that God says is already ours. Pray that God's kingdom would forcefully advance in Mission.

I know I might sound crazy to some of you. You may even be laughing. You might think I'm over spiritualizing this...that I sound like a wing nut.

But I've come to this conclusion...

I DON'T CARE! We are always going to have critics - if not more when this starts to pick up like it will. Why not get started now! This is far too important to pussy foot around living in fear of what people will think. I can't care what other people think about me because it will paralyze where we go as a church. The lives of thousands and thousands of people are at stake and I'm choosing RIGHT NOW to run into the war with everything I've got.


And when this match is lit, I am believing that the explosion we see will be thousands of people running towards God, not away.

I read the following post over on Steven Furtick's blog:



Wow! I can't agree with him more! Read Ephesians 6...we are in a war whether we like to admit it or not. and the thing I fear is that a lot of us just think it's a big joke. The "spiritual" world, especially when we talk about the devil and demons, is just too weird. So what do we do, we ignore it! We read our bible's and pray when we "feel" like it - which probably isn't very often and then we wonder why we don't "feel" like following Jesus wherever he takes us. We wonder why we feel beat up all the time - maybe it's because WE ARE GETTING BEAT UP!

Maybe it's time we start living life offensively (proactively) rather than defensively (reactively). Or as my dad always taught me, punch him in the nose and make sure he doesn't get back up! Maybe it's time to offensively punch the devil in the nose, stop living a yo-yo life of constantly being beat down and life in the freedom that we already have - we just have to walk in it!

I read the following post over on Leading Smart this morning:

On Saturday it was my goal to stay home all day, but just after lunch I had to run down to the corner nursery to pick up my fertilizer. I was on my way back when I noticed something very strange. At the gas station across the street, there was a car that was pointed at a 45-degree downward with its back wheels in the air. The driver had tried to jump a curb not realizing there was an 18-inch drop-off between the gas station parking lot and the lot next door. His car was perched on the curb and he was in deep trouble. My first thought, which I said aloud, "Oh my. Sucks to be you."

I watched for a few minutes as two guys circled the car considering their options. I was going to drive on home but needed gas anyway, so I pulled over to a pump where I could lurk from behind my car.

The two guys circling the car were punks. They had body piercings everywhere, tattoos all over. I'd guess them to be about 20-years old. I'm just staring, amazed, wondering what these idiots were thinking when they tried to jump the curb.

Then I noticed the car model. It was a newer model, luxury car. It was easily a $50k car. Then I got even more disgusted. These punks are driving around in daddy's car and just messed it up. I even said it to the guy pumping gas next to me who just returned from walking over closer to the crisis: "A couple punks messed up daddy's car, huh?"

That's when I started realizing how wrong I was. He replied, "Nope. There are three little kids still in the car and their dad was driving." I looked past the "punks" and saw a young Hispanic man and his wife, very shook-up, trying to figure out what to do.

These young white "punks" had stopped their car to help the Hispanic man in distress. I'm ashamed to say that stopping to help had never crossed my mind. It was my day-off. I was working in my yard. I was busy. Plus I was consumed by my judgmental thoughts toward the jerks who got themselves in that position. Besides, what could I do? They needed major help. Like a crane or a tow truck.

As I finished pumping, one of the "punks" called out at me. "Hey, can you give us a hand?" They had analyzed the situation and figured with 4 or 5 men they could lift the car off the curb and get this guy on his way. I would never have attempted that or even thought it was possible. But within about 10 minutes, 4 of us (through the very capable leadership of the "punks") got the Hispanic family on their way. The driver quickly grabbed his wallet and offered to pay the "punks" but they waved him off, got back in their car, and drove away. They didn't want money or recognition. They were just there to help.

I got back in my car, not feeling good about helping the helpless--but feeling guilty for my quick judgmentalism. I wasn't happy I could help--I was aware that I would have just watched from behind my car if the "punk" hadn't called out.

Pride is so subtle. It twists its way through our hearts and makes us less than Jesus-like. I'm just glad that I got to witness Jesus this weekend through the actions of a couple punks.

Proverbs 29:23- "A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor."

I don't know about you but I have found myself in this position more than once...this was a great reminder to keep myself in check and not to jump to conclusions before I know the full details.

I was having a conversation with Dave the other day and we were talking about affairs. Now before you jump to any conclusion we were NOT reminiscing about previous affairs we've had! We were discussing how easy it is to think that you are invincible when it comes to affairs and divorce. I honestly can't imagine my life without Bek or my kids. I can't imagine what it would do to our kids. I NEVER want that to happen EVER!

But I have to face a reality: I'm not invincible. I may think it could never happen to me - if I did...I would be a fool. As we've all seen, it can happen to everyone - even the most respected Christian leaders of our time!

But hoping and praying that it doesn't happen to me isn't good enough. That's right...praying about it isn't good enough. I have to take drastic measures that will help to ensure that I stay away from that fire. Part of that is not finding myself alone with other women. This is a very difficult thing to do some times and logistics can be hard to work out - especially when you have women on your staff. But, in all honesty, I don't care how hard it is or what the perception of me is. I may be viewed as a sexist pig- so be it! My marriage is far to important to me than what other women think of me. I belong to my wife and I will do whatever it takes to make sure it stays that way till the day I die!

Donovan did an awesome job preaching this morning on Jonah 3 and nailed what we are all about as a church. He basically stated that if you are looking for a sign to see that Jesus is real, stop looking for the "huge" supernatural sign - a crazy healing, someone being raised from the dead, etc. If you need a sign, just talk to the person sitting next to you or behind you or in front of you. Hear their story and you will see the sign. Because the reality is that Jesus is changing peoples' lives like crazy in our faith community. We keep hearing story after story and if you actually took the time to hear someone's story, you'd get your sign. How can you deny that?

It's hard for me to put into words what's happening at TXC. There is this invisible vibe of crazy of anticipation that just isn't normal. My buddy came to check our worship gathering out for the first time and as I customarily do, I asked him what his experience was like. His response was kind of odd. He said he can "feel vision" in the place. What's funny is that to the rational mind, that doesn't make any sense. But it made complete sense to me! (what does that say about me?) He said that it feels like there is no limit to what could happen through TXC and that there was a feeling of actual belief that God was going to do something huge, not just a simple "I hope so". And all of this with no understanding of our vision or how we think. He also had no idea that we've had multiple people saying the exact same things. Scares the snot out of me AND gets my blood ripping through my veins at the same time!

The reality is that as a lead team...we are freaking crazy! We seriously believe that God can do something huge through TXC, in our community and across the world. I have no intention of leaving EVER and plan on investing every minute of the rest of my life to see our vision lived out.

We had our UnderCurrent leaders' meeting tonight. We are amped! We have some amazing leaders and are set to get this movement underway. We already launched in February but that was more of a test run and this is more like a re-launch and it's a little more intentional. At this point we have the potential to have around 50% of our church in an undercurrent for the next few months. Our goal is to get to 60-75% in the coming months. I think this is key for us strengthening the network of community and friendships that we've already seen building.

Needless to say, we're stoked for the coming days of TXC.

When I was just a young punk (has that changed?) Mark Moody took a chance on me. I had just come out of a year of being pretty messed up and then God radically got a hold of me again. It was at this point that I was offered my first job as a youth director. No experience. No brains. Nothing. Just a 19 year old kid that knew God wanted him to do something with his life that pointed others to him as well.

For the next two years, I attempted to lead a youth group (the first of those years was alongside my best friend). When I think back it's actually quite frightening because I don't think I tried to learn anything from anyone that knew what they were doing. We just plowed ahead and hoped that it worked.

Part of the deal was that, for every year I worked, they would put aside $4k to go towards Bible college. After two years, my time was up and I left for Summit Pacific College.

I wish I could say that I left the place in running order, but in reality, it was a mess. I had no concept of leading other leaders. Nothing was structured or set up and the next few years were a time of picking up the pieces that I left laying on the floor!

What an encouraging story hey?!

I say all this because the person who took a chance on me came to TXC for the first time. Their encouraging words regarding their experience were much needed and were far more detailed that what I have written and were a total confirmation to what we have felt since the beginning.

In essence for him, it was a confirmation that the risk he took by taking me under his wing 10 years ago was well worth it in the end. I'm sure it frustrated him way more than he let on at the time but he kept on encouraging me and letting me make my mistakes.

It was kind of surreal speaking in front of him to be honest. He is known for his incredible preaching and to have him say how much he enjoyed it just blew me away. But it also challenged me to take risks on people, even when I think they are hopeless. I know I won't always have "success stories" where everything works out the way that I think it should, but that shouldn't stop me from seeing the potential in people and allowing them to develop and grow into the person God dreams for them to be.