History in the Making

Your Dream by Way of Nightmare

God doesn’t allow one, single experience to be wasted on you.  What you think might have been a worthless endeavor, a big mistake, or a pointless job was exactly what God needed you to experience for what’s coming ahead.

What if heartbreak and setback were qualifications for your dream? What if your dream required thick skin and you didn’t have it? Would you be okay with facing letdown after letdown if it helped prepare you?

Oswald Chambers says, “Before God can use a man greatly, he must wound him deeply.” Are you willing to accept pain for greatness?

How They Started: Oak Leaf Church

Oak Leaf Church is a prodigy among church plants. Michael Lukaszewski started the church in Cartersille, Georgia in August 2006, and it has grown to over 1,000 people

But you need to know the back-story. Because there are conditions that make or break a new church before it starts.

Michael was a youth pastor in three different churches over 12 years in Florida and Arkansas. He heard about West Ridge’s church planting program and moved to Georgia to become part of it. Michael spent 4-5 months looking for possible locations, but West Ridge kept recommending Cartersville.

At first, Michael thought the town was too small with just 20,000 people. But he realized that NO churches were doing what he wanted to do. Cartersville was full of traditional churches. It was a sleeping spiritual giant.

The great revivalist Sam Jones grew up there. In fact, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville was built for his preaching. The iconic missionary Lottie Moon was also from Cartersville.

This town was ready for a fresh, new expression of church. It was a case of GOOD GROUND. There was a tremendous spiritual heritage, but nothing for the next generation.

Oak Leaf Church exploded from 0 to 800 in one year. Now, there's 1,000 attendees and 10 people on-staff. Since then, at least 4 planters have tried to start something similar, but they missed a critical window of opportunity. They were too late.

oakleafchurch.com
twitter.com/heretolead

This is the first in a series of posts based on my book Church in the Making (B&H, April 1) which explains what makes or breaks a new church before it starts...

1. GOOD GROUND
2. ROLLING ROCKS
3. DEEP ROOTS

Look at the Church in the Mirror

You can't have expectations in your church without systems.

If you have unmet expectations, you probably have insufficient systems.

If you're people aren't growing spiritually...
If you don't have enough volunteers...
If you're not assimilating visitors...
If your small groups aren't multiplying..

You may not have the right stepping stones in place.

Calling All Angels

A 28 year old man was pulled from out of the rubble in Haiti today, four weeks after the earthquake. It is humanly impossible to stay alive for this long without water.

From CNN:

"The man told doctors that someone was bringing him water while he was trapped, but doctors told CNN that he sounded confused and at times appeared to believe he was still under the rubble.

Connelly said the man must have had some water during the past month to have survived, but Connelly wasn't sure how he would have had access to it."

"Reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the 28-year-old man was severely dehydrated but that he survived because a man in a white coat brought him water time to time. Officials are checking the veracity of the man's story.

Gupta said the man "must have had water" to survive for nearly four weeks pinned in the rubble."

I'm outing myself as a believer in angels.

[source]

Eye Candy From Whiteboard

Ainsley announced the winner of two FREE tickets to Whiteboard on the WIBO Facebook group. The group went from 0 to 200 in just three days... and is still climbing!

Barton Damer's speaker bumpers from Whiteboard 2008 still remain my favorite from any conference. Here's some fun eye candy to remember...

Unfetter the Artists

Love this from Mark Driscoll on the Mars Hill Church blog...

Right now our creative team is shooting a special thirty-minute short film for Good Friday that we will use across all of our Mars Hill Campuses this year and also simulcast live online for free.

As we have been working on the script, God has been lining up incredible additional talent who are excited to take part in this project.

The filming is happening on the Spartacus set at Universal Studios; the production designer for the TV show 24 will be doing the set design; and an incredible, well-known makeup artist has signed on to do the makeup and special effects. He is an Oscar winner who has worked on films such as The Passion of the Christ, No Country for Old Men, Flags of Our Fathers, and Ocean’s Eleven.

Behind the scenes, a team of volunteers is working late into the night preparing the costumes, scoring, and other aspects of this multimedia event.

Faithfulness to the medium is not the same as faithfulness to the message. Truth repeated in the same way over and over again loses its impact.

The Cardinal Rule of Dreaming

Never say no for other people. That’s their job. In the pursuit of your dream, everyone has a job. Your job is to dream audaciously, act courageously, and make the ask. Their job is to say yes or no. And this is their job and their job alone.

Five Hours Left...

Only 5 hours left to win 2 free tickets to Whiteboard on the WIBO 2010 Facebook Group.

Behind Every Great Event...

When my wife Ainsley was in the middle of delivering our third baby boy naturally 6 months ago, she leaned over in the birthing pool and asked me if I was doing okay and needed something to eat. The midwife's eyes got really big and she said, "You're loved, Ben."

And so I am.

Now Ainsley is leading the charge on a Whiteboard Facebook group. She's running a little contest to win 2 FREE tix to Whiteboard:

1, join the Facebook Group WIBO 2010.

2. update your status encouraging your friends to check out our page (including link) and become a member, too.

3. leave a comment on the group wall letting us know that you did it.

You'll have until Friday, Feb 5th at 5pm EST. We will conduct a random name drawing from the comments, and announce the winner on Monday.

Wednesday Morning Run-Down

• If you register for Whiteboard before Feb 28, you'll be automatically entered to win a new iPad from Apple.
• Ainsley started a Facebook group for Whiteboard. Just began yesterday, so good stuff to come.
• Started Dream Year calls again this week, which is my favorite part of the month. Yesterday, I spoke with two church planters and a filmmaker. Always end the day exhilerated by their dreams.
• "We are a nation of dreamers," according to this USA Today article.
• My kids have cabin fever in a bad way.
• And my wife needs a vacation.
• Lining up speakers for STORY 2010 right now. God is shaping this event to be very different than last year. Some unexpected creative leaders.
• Creator of Twitter will be at the 99percent conference.
• Seth Godin's Linchpin is a dangerous book if you work in an office. Leader or lackey. Artist or cog.
• If you're a producer (like me), you've got to find investors for your art. If you're an artist, you've probably got everything you need to create great projects in your basement. One of the big topics we're going to cover in Dream Year is being a producer vs. being an artist.
• If you're a new author, sending out free copies of your book might not the best way to promote it.  Everyone sends out a free copy. There's got to be another way.
• That's all I've got. Busy today...

Blog Tour: Guerrilla Lovers

My friend Vince Antonucci just released his second book, Guerrilla Lovers, this week. If you go to his site, you can download a ton of resources for your own message series - graphics, posters, even complete manuscripts:

Me: Vince, why do you think this book is important?

Vince: So many reasons, I’ll share two...

One is that Christians have a real image problem.  We’re known as being judgmental, intolerant, rigid, too political.  We’re known for what we’re against rather than what we’re for.  We need a facelift.  And I think the answer, what accurately represents God’s heart to the world and creates an image that will draw people to Jesus, is guerrilla love.

The other is that Christians have a living problem. The Bible gives us the idea that following Jesus should be an exciting, abundant adventure, but so many Christians are missing the excitement, missing the adventure.  And I think the reason is because they’re missing the mission. They believe in Jesus, they’re just not really living like Him. And, again, I think the answer, what will wake Christians up and get them really following Jesus, is guerrilla love.

Carbon Copy Leaders

This isn't a new concept, but it bears repeating. There are two ways you can go into a conference:

1. "What is your model and how can I copy it?"

2. "Why did you do that and what principles can I learn from it?"

Your community needs an original vision from your church, not one copied from elsewhere.

The Anatomy of a Crowd

Sometimes the gospel's movement is propelled by the social phenomenon of a leader's extraordinary talent. We try to spiritualize everything in ministry, but sometimes they were just born with the right vocal chord formation, nurtured with greater self-confidence or gifted with a superior intellect. I write about how crowds come together in Church in the Making...

The legendary preacher George Whitefield was famous for his ability to address thousands of people in outdoor preaching venues. His speaking ability was a social phenomenon. In fact, it prompted Benjamin Franklin to write this about him:

“He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be heard and understood at a great distance…. I had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by [walking] backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice distinct till I came near Front-street, when some noise in that street obscured it. Imagining then a semi-circle, of which my distance should be the radius, and that it were filled with [listeners], to each of whom I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand.”

Think about that. Whitefield’s voice was so powerful that Benjamin Franklin spent the entire message, not introspecting, not listening intently, not searching his own heart... but trying to calculate its reach.

The good news is that you can be the best in the world at your one thing.

Little Blizzard of 2010

This was the craziest weekend. I prepared my brains out to speak at my home church on Sunday, but we got snowed out. No reschedule on the map, so that message will be just for me I guess. =)

Worst part is, I studied until the 11th hour, only to realize the cancellation was on my voice mail from hours earlier that day. Think of all the Mario Kart I could've been playing. =)

Loved taking moments to play in the snow with my kids. We built a monstrous igloo made out of packed snow from buckets. It took me at least two hours and then Wyatt and Dylan knocked it down. Lovely.

This is Dylan in the window. He's just as much fun as he looks.

I spent Sunday evening putting finishing touches on book proposal number two, which I shipped off this morning to Yates & Yates. Everyone needs a good blizzard now and then to get projects done.

No twitter and snow blizzards help you "ship."

Guerrilla Lovers Book in Stores Today

I'm working with Vince Antonucci to help launch his book Guerrilla Lovers, which is in stores today. Vince is one of the best communicators in the church, in my opinion. Besides launching a new church in Las Vegas this spring, he's speaking at Gateway Church in Austin and NewSpring Church among dozens of other places. His speaking itinerary reads like a phone book. Here's more about the book in Vince's own words:

Win an iPad from Whiteboard

When you register for Whiteboard before February 28th, you'll be entered for a chance to win a new iPad from Apple. Whether you love it or hate it, you'd still take a free one, eh?

Register for Whiteboard [HERE].

It's Not You, It's Twitter

I'm still trying to figure out Twitter. I enjoy it on layovers in airports, but it hasn't served me in the same way it has others. Sweet vindication from Seth Godin's book Linchpin:

"Don't even get me started on Twitter. There are certainly people who are using effectively and productively. Some people (a few) are finding that it helps them do the work. But the rest? It's perfect resistance, because it's never done. There's always another tweet to be read and responded to. Which, of course, keeps you from doing the work. Where did your art go while you were tweeting?"

"We check Twitter because of our fear of being left out."

"When I put myself on an Internet diet (only five checks a day, not fifty), my productivity tripled. Tripled."

Yay.

Stick a fork in me.

Wednesday Morning Run-Down

• Love Seth Godin's thoughts on the rise of artists and the death of the resume. I haven't used one in a while. But there's a huge segment of the population that just wants to punch in and punch out and drink beer on weekends
• I'm three days away from submitting book proposal number two. Writing like a fiend.
• Headed to Knoxville tomorrow to work with Pastor Chris Stephens on the LIT conference coming on April 29. Amazing line-up and event: Pete Wilson, Johnny Hunt, Pat Summitt and tons of surprises
• I'm going to the 99 percent conference in NYC in April. Speakers get announced on Feb 2, but they said: "We confirmed are one of THE leading voices in the design world, a ground-breaking pioneer in the field of design & education, one of the most respected entrepreneurs and VCs in the industry, a world-renowned storyteller, and an amazing social entrepreneur."
• Website for the Whiteboard Sessions is now live! Seeing lots of groups sign-up to make it a conference AND staff retreat in Virginia Beach at one time.
• Our northern Virginia home comes up for availability to rent on April 1. If you're a suburban DC-er, let me know if you're looking for a little homestead
• @ShaunKing needs to start a Blackwater Humanitarian Rescue organization. What an incredible guy. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."
• Listening to John Stott's preaching this week. Legendary.
• I can tell how stressed I am by how much UFC I watch.
• If I were Perry Noble and witnessed 15,000 people in my church coming together in an arena, I'd be really tempted to shut down the multi-sites and do it every week.

Whiteboard Promo Graphics

If you're interested in helping me spread the word about Whiteboard, here are some cute little buttons that might help. If you use these, you can link to: TheWhiteboardSessions.com.

And would you let me know? I'd like to thank you in person.