History in the Making

I Got Rid of My "Pastor Car"

Ains and I are living in the "perfect storm" of pressures ~ starting a new job, moving to a new state, trying to rent out our home, finding a new one. So my plan to get rid of my "pastor car" (a 2002 Honda Civic) involved driving it over to CarMax and taking whatever they gave me for it. I just didn't want to deal with the haggling.

But my amazing wife announced on Sunday that she was going to put it on Craig's List. Within hours, we had 5 prospective buyers coming to see it, and she sold it for thousands more than Blue Book. There were people from all nations standing under our porch waiting for a chance to test-drive it. Quite a sight to behold.

Continue your mission, pastor car, bringing joy and wonderment to those who take mobile shelter within you. I will never forget the times of shoving audio gear, church signs and pipe & drape inside your surprisingly roomy interior.

Announcing a Window into Whiteboard

Whiteboard is going to be a like big social networking party among leaders. But... Todd Wilson of Passion For Planting has created an incredible web portal for people to experience the event virtually. He's lauching ConferenceChannel.org, with Whiteboard as the premiere event... Twitter feeds, live video, blog feeds, you name it.

Airport Serendipity

So I'm strolling through the Atlanta airport and a Delta employee warns me to look behind. I turn around to see an extremely large security detail surrounding an eldery Korean man. Large assassins in black suits with ear-pieces... all bearing down on me. No clue who it is. I'm thinking sheesh... if you're syrupy beveragy drink is that important, take a private jet. But as I watch them all pass by, I look down to see the front-page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "U.N. Chief in Atlanta." Nice. But again... sheesh, take a private jet.

List of Bloggers at WiBo

Terrace Crawford has listed some bloggers coming to Whiteboard... not all of them... but man, this is a who's who if I've ever seen one.

Someone Hijacked My Name

Okay, let's say I did get into Twitter... How do I get my name back? Someone hijacked my name and streamed my blog feed through Twitter... as if it were me... prompting ridiculous posts like this one. But I had nothing to do with it. So how do I get my name back?

Go Summize Yourself...

Found a way to actually enjoy Twitter --- Summize. It's like Technorati for Twitt-land.

Gathering for Leaders' Leaders

Will Mancini, author of the book Church Unique and founder of Auxono registered for WiBo the other day. I'm continually amazed at the caliber of leaders coming to this gathering...

Inside the Studio for the Catalyst Podcast

Got to sit-in on a Catalyst podcast recording session yesterday with Brad Lomenick and the hilarious Ken Coleman. I've been listening to Ken's voice for months now and had no clue what a trip this guy is. Insanely funny, a straight-shooter, and has a vocabulary that's simply unnatural. We were having lunch at Chili's, and he informed the waitress to remove the nachos because he was eating them "at an alarming rate." =) I've been laughing all night... Anyway, Catalyst's 50th podcast is coming up in about two weeks, and you don't want to miss it. Tons of well-known guests and live, in-studio music...

Love Quote

"There are some people who think that the world will know we are Christians by how we defend truth." ~ Reggie Joyner.

What I'm Doing Now...

Whiteboard at Whiteboard after all

Okay, I'm putting an actual whiteboard back into the event. Jeff Shinabarger busted my chops about not having one, so I called my talented friend Shawn who designs for NAMB and asked him to do "live illustrations" on a whiteboard during each speaker's talk. I was blown away by some graphical notes he took at an event many months ago and thought they'd be great on a whiteboard. Well, he's on-board, so prepare for the crazy madness.

The 'Why' Behind the WiBo Speakers, pt 5

I read No Perfect People Allowed just like everybody else and marveled. How gutsy of a pastor to not only call-out the elephant in the room, but to build stalls for more elephants to come in and get comfortable...

John Burke just stripped all the religion right off Jesus and built a church around him.

I first met John at a meeting with a consortium of pastors in Centreville, Va - big-time pastors all coming together to start high-capacity church plants. When introduced to me, he thought a moment and then asked, "Doesn't Mark Batterson live around here?" (blog + dc - ben = mark batterson. =)

But I loved hearing John talk and sensed a truly genuine heart in this guy. John neeeeds to speak at events like WiBo because there's an eager audience of young leaders who won't travel up to Willow to hear him speak amid the mime and flag waving workshops. =)

Anyway, he's going to be a highlight of the event. Very sharp guy.

What would you do with more zeroes?

Senior software engineer Christophe Bisciglia challenges every Google job applicants with this question: "Tell me, what would you do if you had 1,000 times more data?" He's trying to see if they have the ability to work - and dream - on a vastly larger scale.

As I go from Whiteboard to Catalyst this June... I have the chance to work and dream on a vastly larger scale. I've been meeting with the Catalyst team all this week and get the chance to dream a bit with Reggie, Lanny, Brad Lomenick, and Jeff Shinabarger this Friday.

The 'Why' Behind the WiBo Speakers, pt 4

I used to think Ed Stetzer was one of the most sarcastic people I'd ever met. But now that I've grown to know him a bit through e-mail exchanges, I KNOW he's one of the most sarcastic people I've ever met. =) Seriously, God has put a great head on this man's shoulders, and he's using it for the betterment of the Gospel and the Church.

Ed was, by far, the hardest "get" for Whiteboard. He went a few rounds with me before finally agreeing to come on-board. In fact, I was announcing the other speakers long before he committed. But this event needs Ed. He's the hub of an 8-spoke wheel. He's an ambassador and spokesman to each of the ministry tribes represented at WiBo, but they've never all been on the same stage at once. Ed will conclude the day...

Someone's Already Doing Your Next Great Idea

The best ideas are almost always transferred from some other context... sometimes totally unrelated. That's why it pays to be a cross-discipline student of culture. If you're in ministry, don't just read ministry mags. Read SEED magazine, HOW, Fast Company. Don't just listen to Hillsong and Chris Tomlin, but Radiohead and Kanye. Take an idea... and then redeem it. Howard Schultz took the stand-up coffee community and sweet concoctions of Italy and brought them to America to create Starbucks. Most progressive church services are the transference of what Amway meetings have been doing for years.

The 'Why' Behind the WiBo Speakers, pt 3

Whiteboard taps into so many ministry circles that it wouldn't be complete without Acts 29 representin'. Darrin Patrick is Vice President of the organization and an amazing church planter in his own right. I've actually never heard him speak live, but Darrin's writings are some of the most thoughtful and engaging in the church world today.

Of all the WiBo speakers, Darrin has drawn the most lighting for his church's outreach in a bar. We've actually gotten calls on it from angry people in Missouri. But anyone who gets heat for doing the same thing Jesus did is fine in my book.

Darrin is the only WiBo speaker I haven't actually had any personal interaction with... so I'm looking forward to meeting him.

At Drive with the Catalyst Team

I'm in sunny Atlanta for the week with my new Catalyst peeps - got to hang out at Drive for the afternoon. Fun to see old friends and make new ones. It was my first time meeting LV - the man-agon behind the van-agon. Very fun guy. North Point continues to astound me with their creativity and commitment to excellence. Their set design was a three-dimensional skyline... like the Letterman set.

It's Like the 9th Speaker at Whiteboard

More shots of Whiteboard's location in Reston Town Center

The 'Why' Behind the WiBo Speakers, pt 2

You can't live in DC without hearing the name Mark Dever. He's the pastor known for his Cambridge-trained intellect, his historical understanding of the church, and his unrelenting boldness. I got the chance to meet Mark through my friend Mike McKinley who served as a pastoral assistant at Capitol Hill Baptist.

Mark invited me to drop-by a staff meeting before having lunch, which was a remarkable experience. Almost 20 young men sitting around his office, listening intently, answering questions on-the-spot, and thinking deeply. Very rabbinical. It was like sitting in Thomas Jefferson's office at Monticello with eager young University students gathered round.

Mark is the founder of T4G and author of numerous books. He rejects the idea multiple church services; shuns cultural relevance; and elevates church membership. Yet he is a passionate evangelist and an extremely likeable man... though a contrarian. In fact, Mark is such a contrarian that he even ruffles the feathers of people who think they've come to believe everything he does. Gotta love him.

The 'Why' Behind the WiBo Speakers, pt 1

Last year, I was privileged to join a small group of pastors at Craig Groeschel's home in OKC for two days of learning. I was the riff-raff of the bunch, totally out of my league. But I assumed God had a big reason for it, so  I embraced my Moses moment and went for it. =) Anyway, I got two days of playing 'Jane Goodall' to some of the most influential pastors in they country... Perry Noble included.

You'd expect Perry to be the kind of guy who would control a room by the sheer force of his personality, dim the light-bulbs with his charisma, and charm everyone with his sense of humor... all of which he's got in supernatural supply. But I was amazed... I saw Perry asking questions, taking notes, and soaking up wisdom from other leaders. He struck me as one of the most humble but passionate leaders I've ever met.