History in the Making

TV commercial audio

Matt, Jesse, and David [yes, almost our entire band has biblical names] did an incredible job scoring, recording, and producing [on ProTools] the background audio for upcoming tv commercial currently in production. Matt is going to KILL me for posting this link to the MP3 so you can listen... but I'll ask for forgiveness later. I'm just so proud of this team and what they're accomplishing for Jesus Christ. [please no stealee the music] or should I say... copyright 2006 History Church. all rights reserved... member FDIC.

Small Church Quirks

While browsing Borders, I came across a great book called "The Little Blue Book of Advertising" which presented a great statement about marketing: "Quality is the absence of nonquality signals." This is one of those statements that puts into words the feeling I've always had about marketing. For example, TV commercials can look terrible really easily because it's hard to disguise nonquality signals without money [or talented friends].

Same goes for church plants ~ these nonquality signals can stunt growth. Here are some nonquality signals that I've observed in churches and have worked hard to avoid. I only mention these because we've violated ALL of them at one point at History:

• Hour-long sermons
• Inappropriate humor or inside jokes
• Dialogue between the pastor and the people during the service
• This includes people giving announcements from their seats
• Microphone glitches or volume checks during the service
• Ear-jolting feedback from the sound equipment
• Showing the cursor, the computer desktop or the word "play" on the video screen
• Asking guests the same questions over and over by every person in the church
• Not starting the service on time

There's more, of course, but you get the point...

If you don't like things the way they are, stick around for 6 months

On Sunday, someone who hasn't been to History for a long time came up to me and said, "I can't believe how exciting it is here. I've gotta get back here." This confirmed something I tell Christians who find some reason for discontent at History [you don't have this ministry; you don't have that ministry, etc]: And that is... "If you don't like the way things are, stick around for 6 months. Things'll change."

Change is inevitable. We've never been able to stop it. People leave. People come. Ministries die. Ministries start. Funds are not available; suddenly, there's a surplus. But by God's help, all of these changes have made us into a stronger, more exciting, growing congregation. You couldn't pay me enough to miss out on the blessings that come from holding on, as God shifts and shapes this church into what he wants it to be. They don't give out medals for "quickest person to escape in a lifeboat."

History Church band hits the road

I'm excited to speak at London Bridge in Virginia Beach next Sunday morning in both morning and evening services. But even better news... our worship band will be in full force during the 6:30 PM service. They're going to hit the road after History's morning service to play for my home church in the evening. We're even carrying along a few of our tech guys to make the night special. London Bridge is currently making some big transitions in the area of worship in order to reach more people for Christ, so this is a great time for our band to make an appearance.

Not only are these guys talented musicians, but here are a few other reasons we're so blessed to have this amazing team...

- They all have a genuine relationship with God and live it out
- They're committed to History Church, not just the worship leader
- They all served behind-the-scenes for months before playing
- They play every week, all the time, and arrive on time, every week
- They follow Matt's leadership and hold each other accountable
- The all serve with the set-up team... with no complaints
- During the service, they sit with our congregation, not in the back on the floor

Not just because we covered Bon Jovi this morning...

This morning's service was one of the most exciting days I've experienced at History. The band played a rocking worship set that had everyone moving and clapping... even the stuffy people =)... it was simply joyful. We had so many teenagers in attendance ~ [which is shocking because we have no organized ministry yet] ~ that it looked like a bus had pulled up and dropped them all off. Two fathers of the teenagers gave their hearts to Christ today! On top of this... Chris & Jen Anderson set-up some of the new preschool equipment to cast vision for completing the technology portion, and we got a hefty contribution toward our new Mac.

Message length - one of the factors of irresistibility

As I've been scanning sermon audio from various churches throughout our area, I've been surprised at how many pastors run 50 minutes to an hour in message length. I understand that those of us who are called to speak, want to share everything we've gleaned in our study of a text. But I've come to see message length as one of the factors that make a service irresistible to spiritual inquirers. Saying one thing well is a gift not only to our listeners [for the sake of retention] but also to our children's ministry volunteers [for the sake of attention]. Even as seasoned preachers, we can't ever give-up the ongoing study of being a better communicator.

Yes, I said this...

There is no one more hip than a hip Asian. [here]

Arlington Va has got it going on

I have never seen more young adults in one hip place than Arlington, va. For years, it has been begging for churches to come in and make an impact. And now... Mark Batterson's NCC launched their Arlington multi-site campus... The Presbyterian church Grace DC came in and exploded with growth... the largest young adult ministry in the country, Frontline, is starting a service in Arlington on Monday nights... and my good friends Anthony & Bethany are leading a young adult ministry out of a United Methodist Church there as well. Anthony has mastered the art of fisheye photography, which is featured brilliantly on his site. For any videophiles out there... here's a fish-eye lens for use with any video camera to make shots more interesting.

Random Ministry Thoughts you probably don't care to read

Why doesn't someone do a ministry conference via vidcast?
I think Bill Bright did one before he passed a way...
Outreach Mag has a great article on church planters this month.
Why doesn't someone produce a mag for church planters?
If you're not getting Dan Reiland's The Pastor's Coach... missing out.
Mclean Bible is unleashing a stunning multi-site initiative.
Every church presents a model of a disciple's life; what's yours?
Tonight, Phil and I shot a video about camping for Sunday morn and a deer wandered into the shot.
History's worship band will be playing at London Bridge in va beach on Sunday pm, Aug 6.
I love the word 'yurt'
We have a French au pair in our small group this semester, and we love asking her to pray in her native tongue.
You can listen to Matt's background music for our tv commerc by listening to the intro of sundays sermon

Leading with a Limp

Yesterday, I walked into our house to find some empty drawers lying around. "What's this?" I asked Ainsley. "You won't believe this," she said. "My mom bought us a dresser for Wyatt's room ~ the rest of it is in the back of the van." It was gorgeous, the perfect motiffe for Wy's new cowboy-themed domicile. "It's pretty light," she said "because the guy brought it out to my car like it was nothing."

I casually strolled out to the van to bring in the empty dresser... and I swear I've never lifted a piece of furniture by myself that heavy in my entire life. "How big was this guy?" I huffed and puffed. "Well," said Ainsley sympathetically, "He was a little smaller than you... but he's probably used to moving furniture like this all the time." ... ouch.

Here's a parallel... I got into leadership because of my strengths. I had some really great experiences early-on that confirmed my calling. But over time, any leadership role will expose our weaknesses and inadequacies. Many of mine have been rising to this surface particularly this year.

As leaders, we can spend a lot of time trying to hide our weaknesses from people, which only makes things worse... or we can learn how to lead with a limp. Dan Allender has a new book by this same title which talks about talks about leading with imperfections. Since I relate to Jacob more than any other character in the Bible, this'll be great reading.

Hurting people hurt people

I used to be confused about why some bloggers turned comments off on their blogs... but I have to say that I'm really on the fence about whether to keep them active myself. It surprises me how many hurting people there are out there who are looking to hurt people. Some of them include people who have taken issue with me in the past, but can't help but stay glued to this blog. Listen, not every church is for every person, and not every blog is for every reader... It's okay to move on. It really is. I can keep deleting comments and banning IP addresses... but I really need to recapture that time.

Presidential Campaign Documentaries

Part of my fascination with presidential campaign documentaries has to do with the grassroots nature of church planting... the other part of it is... I interned at the White House in the summer of 1995, which birthed the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I spent the following year fielding phone calls from Hard Copy, Current Affair, CBS news... and was even pictured in a full spread Newsweek photo featuring all the interns, including the lolita herself. I did meet Monica at the intern orientation... but from that point on, she had a little bit more access than I did to the Oval O. Three of the best...

The War Room ~ Clinton, Carville, Stephanopoulos
Journeys with George ~ Bush, Karen Hughes, Alexandra Pelosi
Inside the Dean Campaign ~ CNN Presents, Howard Dean, Joe Trippi

The process of fulfilling God-given dreams

Here are Rick Warren's "Six Phases of Faith." He says, "If you don’t understand this process, you’ll get discouraged when problems arise and wonder, 'Why is this happening to me?' But if you understand and cooperate with what God is doing in your ministry, your faith will develop great strength." [whole article]

Phase 1: A dream
God gives you a dream – an idea, goal, or ambition. Every great accomplishment first begins as a God-given dream in someone’s mind.

Phase 2: A decision
A dream is worthless until you decide to do something about it. For every 10 dreamers, there’s only one decision-maker. This is the moment of truth where you decide to invest your time, money, energy, and reputation and to let go of security.

Phase 3: A delay
There is always a time lapse before your dream becomes reality. God uses this waiting period to teach us to trust him. Remember, a delay is not a denial. Maturity is understanding the difference between "no” and "not yet.”

Phase 4: A difficulty
Now the problems start popping up. The two most common types: critics and circumstances. Don’t worry. It’s all a part of God’s plan.

Phase 5: A dead end!
Your situation will deteriorate from difficult to impossible. You are backed into a corner, you reach the end of your rope; it looks hopeless. Congratulations! You are on the edge of a miracle.

Phase 6: A deliverance
God provides a supernatural answer. Miraculously, things fall into place! God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections so you can see his greatness.

Ode to texture (aka: my OCD tendencies)

I don't use an electronic organizer;
I like the feel of paper calendars instead;
Those whole week ones, not those lame daily ones;
I've actually returned pens to Bic in the mail after they stopped flowing smoothly;
I ask for heavy starch on my shirts at the dry cleaners;
I need a fan blowing directly on me while sleeping at night;
I give myself scalp massages with my fingernails in the shower;
I return chai lattes that don't slightly burn my hand without a sleeve;
I keep my e-mail in-box to 33-44 messages exactly and have no use for the features of gmail;

Beautiful Day... in September

I'm too po' to be a collector of anything... but I do have a little stack of DVDs consisting of presidential campaign documentaries, Garrison Keillor DVDs, and U2 concert footage... and now something else to look forward to this Christmas: U2's Zoo TV tour released on DVD in September. Nice.

Next song... "Freebird!"

Occasionally, I request special songs from Matt and the worship band to complement our message series... such as our current one: Who Says You Can't Go Home [it's about the life of Jacob and his journey back home to the Promised Land]. Obviously, this request was a Bon Jovi cover and our band haaaated doing it... But Matt coaxed them along, came up with some great motion visuals of traveling... and the band did an amazing job. It worked out a lot better than the time I asked them to do Rascall Flatts for Christmas Eve. =)

If History had the Benjamins...

Our children's director, Jen Anderson, is ordering all of the features for our new preschool environment this month in preparation for the fall launch of "Genesis." It's exciting to hear about the portable playground, the 12-foot tents, and the video components. If it were possible... I'd order one of these in a heartbeat. They've got one at a local mall, and we can't keep Wyatt out of it.

Why is this happening to me?

When God calls us to something... or answers our prayers... the road to his blessing is not always paved. This from Genesis 25:21-22

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the Lord.

I've been living out God's calling [and my dream] as a church planter for the past 4 years. In fact, I never want to lose the title of church planter... but the one question I have asked God more than any other through these years is... "Why is this happening to me?" =) I say that tongue in cheek, but... God's calling can be difficult.

I think God has extended a call to many of us... and is ready to answer our prayers... but we are unwilling to pay the price that obedience requires. Birthing a dream is very difficult. There's lots of "jostling" going on... but ohhhhh the sweet day of delivery is worth the struggle. The labor pains are soon forgotten as they make way for the joy and blessing. And I say this with the impending arrival of our second baby.

God uses frustration to shape a vision

I relate to Jacob more than any other person in the Bible... even though I like Joshua better [hey, what can you do?]. One instance occurs in Genesis 31:2:

"And Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not what it had been."

I have never experienced great revelations from God that moved me toward his purposes, including History Church! Rather... God's direction has mostly come from the souring of an experience that caused me to move on. However, wherever God allowed frustration, he always provided a means to fulfill his purposes. Here are some examples...

In a former church staff role, my heart was so heavy for reaching unchurched people that I could barely open my lips during worship. History exists today because of this burden.

History Church moved out of a movie theater because the managers kept forgetting to show up... and I saw mice while preaching on Sundays! We meet in an incredible location today.

We were moved by frustration to hire a full-time worship pastor because our "hired guns" never worked out.

And... God's provision of a new house follows this same pattern. In the last two months, we've had infestations of squirrels, bees, mice, mold, you name it...

God is such a good God, and he is completely sovereign! I believe that God uses frustration to shape a vision! Frustration is the fuel we need to go after his plans with our whole heart!

Google Nooma

Found the latest Nooma video on Google video... #13 . rich