History in the Making

The Tragedy of Trying Only What is Proven

The other day, I was talking to a friend who is immensely talented at what he does. If I said his name, you'd know it, and you'd certainly be familiar with his work. But he told me that his risk-taking finally caught up with him... and he has to receive benevolence from his church to survive.

I can't tell you how much my respect level for him went up...

I would rather be known for glorious failures than for ordinary achievements.

Free Movie Ticket Winners so Far...

There's still time to win the free movie tickets provided by NCM Fathom which helps churches meet in movie theater... until 8pm EST. Keep twittering anything with "StoryChicago.com" The winners so far... Thanks for spreading the love.

@prose101
@followjon
@NatalieSpera
@martyholman
@dkorff
@changeisgood4u
@StuHodges

Win Free Movie Tix by Twittering StoryChicago.com

Starting at 12noon EST today, you can enter to win a pair of FREE movie tickets every 30 minutes by twittering anything with the domain "StoryChicago.com." 

Our friends at NCM Fathom are supplying the free tix because they love churches and want to see more of them in their theaters on Sundays.

You've got 8 hours to win today - from 12noon to 8pm EST. And yes, multiple entries increase your chances of winning. I'll announce the winners here on the blog.

When the Internet No Longer Works

We've come to define "viral" or "buzz-worthy" as what happens on the internet. But if you're anything like me, you've become numb to the goings-on at Facebook, the blogs and Twitter. Oh and HTML e-mails - don't forget about those. The internet is full, as Seth Godin would say.

To create something buzz-worthy, it has to defy normal convention. And these days, normal convention is the web. It's time to return to actual paper... snail mail... old fashioned in-hand collateral. Can't tell you how many social media campaigns cross my desk each day, but a Fed-Ex package stops me cold. I blindly delete a dozen e-newsletters a week, but a full-color piece of mail grabs my attention.

And yes, I'm doing a Twitter give-away today, so I'm speaking out of one side of my mouth. =)

Free Movie Ticket Give-Away TOMORROW

I've been the pastor of a church that met in a movie theater -- twice -- and I worked with NCM Fathom both times. Tom Doyle and his team have a huge heart for helping churches penetrate the marketplace through these digital cathedrals, which is why I'm excited they're a sponsor at STORY. You can reach Jeff Wright at 303-792-8878 or Jeff.Wright@ncm.com.

And...

And... in partnership with them, TOMORROW I'm giving away 2 FREE movie tickets EVERY 30 MINUTES between 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm EST.

For a chance to win, simply twitter or blog anything about "StoryChicago.com" on Tuesday, September 29 between 12 noon and 8pm EST.

Multiple tweets will improve your chances of winning... and of course, anything favorable. =)

Who Would've Thunk it

I always cringe at companies trying to engage in social media or create content engines, but I've gotta admit... American Express' Open Forum website is solid. I'm on it every week to find nuggets. I actually forget that they're trying to make a business card user for life.

Selling the Enigma

Not a Mad Men watcher, so this isn't an endorsement. Although I admit I booked some hotels under the Mad Men package for a chance to win a trip to NYC. But I read something interesting in the New Yorker a few months ago...

The marketers behind this breakaway show realized they didn't have the star-power to cut through the TV clutter, so they decided to... sell the enigma.

The enigma included the the smoke-filled pressure cooker of the 1960s advertising culture. The straight ties and big accounts and booze in the filing cabinets. Apparently the strategy worked. Loads of attention for the new TV series.

I had to do this with STORY. At the very heart of it, it's a conference to help ministry leaders communicate the Gospel more effectively. But it's the first year; I'm not a suckle-my-model-church and I'm launching it in a very saturated conference calendar (at least this year).

So I amped-up the enigma...

...of CS Lewis and Tolkien and the pastor who likes his leather-bound study Bible because of its smell and feel to the fingers... The illustrator who hopes his pencil sketches on Moleskine will come to life someday... The filmmaker who likes analog rather than digital because she can tell the difference even if no one else can... The orator who wants to mobilize the English language as a tool of persuasion... The leader who wants guests to walk into an experience, not just a lobby...

It's not for everybody. But if it's for you... you know it.

Excellence Makes You Appear an Idiot

I feel bad for my team at STORY. They're almost all volunteering, and I've pushed them and pushed them until it hurts. There are days when I felt like my reputation and our friendship is in question. I came across something that blew fresh wind through my spirit this morning.

It's an e-mail that STORY designer Kevin Sterner sent me early in the process of shaping this event. He quoted...

Excellence can be obtained if you:

- care more than others think is wise;
- risk more than others think is safe;
- dream more than others think is practical;
- expect more than others think is possible.

That describes an idiot.

I think I'm there. =)

I'm Surrounded by Valiant People

I was having a late-night conversation with STORY's stage producer Sherri Meyer last night and she was telling me about all of the amazingly talented production people who are bending over backward for this event... doing things that defy logical, rational, human behavior. =)

This is the first verse that came to mind from 1 Samuel 10:26:

"Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched."

If God calls me to a vision, truly his vision... then he will assuredly touch the hearts of valiant people who will come alongside it and take it to a whole other level.

That's never my doing.

God has a purpose he's intending to fulfill through their involvement. They will stretched for it. They will shaped by it. And they will be blessed from it.

I'm Naming Names

I've been so blessed by the contributors to the scholarship campaign to get 400 urban pastors to attend STORY for free. To be honest, I've already invited a bunch of them. Now I'm just trying to play catch-up. In fact, we've got a ways to go before we cover the cost of the event.

You can help by purchasing even just 1 ticket on our website and putting the word "Scholarship" in the comment section at the end of the process.

Normally, I wouldn't list donors' names, but I figure the telethons must be doing something right. Here are the people who have given so far:

Daniel Decker - big-time author-preneur in Florida
Jud Wilhite - Central Christian Church in Vegas
Mark Batterson - National Community Church
Brad Abare - Center for Church Communications
Anne Jackson - Flowerdust.net and followers!
Pete Wilson - CrossPoint Church in Nashville

If you can't give the whole $189, why not invite a few friends to join you? That's what Anne Jackson is doing through her PayPal account. You'll bless the socks off an inner city pastor.

The Human Condition in One News Story

Attorney, Benjamin Brafman said the conviction and imprisonment of Plaxico Burress was a "tragic day for a decent man." After leaving court, Brafman lamented that Burress made a mistake but did not deserve such a strict sentence. "You can violate the law... and not be a criminal."

huh?

The Las Vegas Church Project

My friend Vince Antonucci is launching a new church right on the strip of Las Vegas. Vince LOVES people far from God. I'm pretty sure that if Vince could plant a church in hell, he'd do it. j/k =)

He recently found a space where they could hold services at all sorts of ungodly hours to meet people in sin city right where they're at. But they need $50,000 to do it.

So they're going to do it $100 at a time. They're looking for 500 people who would give $100 each. Would you consider being one of those people? To learn more, and to give, go to www.verveventure.org.

Friends In High Places...

Anne Jackson just unleashed her writer's gift on the plight of STORY.

The All New Deadly Viper Character Assassins

I love everything Mike Foster does. I keep waiting for him to make me the assistant manager for the Virginia Beach branch of Ethur.

He'll be speaking at STORY. But he's also launching the all-new edition of Deadly Viper Character Assassins through Zondervan. This is the trailer.

The Trouble with Conviction

It feels almost indistinguishable from personal offense.

It comes from people we'd rather not listen to. In fact, we'll search for any way possible to disqualify them from truth-speaking in our lives.

"They're not on my level."
"They have it out for me."
"I knew I couldn't trust them."

When I was stepping down from Reston Community Church in February 2008, I asked a group of five local pastors to assess our church. My friend Mike McKinley was sitting on that panel, and he said something to me that stung like a bee: "We need to make certain you're not leaving because of sin in your life."

I've never told Mike this, but that made me angry. "You don't really know me," I wanted to say. "How about if we look for sin in your life!" was another thought. "You didn't plant a church!" But now I realize that Mike was the only real truth-speaker in my life. God used him to help me do a little inward analysis.

If we don't pray, "Search my heart Oh God," he will do it anyway.

Have you ever noticed that God never used kings to speak truth to other kings in the Bible? He always used grungy vagabonds who ate insects and lived in the desert. (Doesn't make me feel so bad to be just a blogger these days. =)

But seriously. Disqualifying truth-speakers because of personal achievement would be like the entire Washington Redskin offensive line telling Joe Gibbs to sit down and shut up because he never played pro football.

It pays to at least process our emotional flare-ups. That should tell us something. Conviction feels almost indistinguishable from personal offense. Remember what Paul told the Corinthians:

"Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us."

Besides, when we ignore the prophets, God has to send in the real jackasses. (Numbers 22)

Faster... Stronger... Cheaper...

So two people have told me about this check-list in the last week. The first was Roy McKinnon of Kaleo and the second was Mandy Campbell of Crimson Ink. You can get things two out of three ways...

Fast and Cheap... but not Good
Fast and Good... but not Cheap
Good and Cheap... but not Fast

What's your modus operandi these days?

Where The Sidewalks Have Already Been Tread

I can't remember where the story originated...

But a college president built a campus extension and didn't install the sidewalks. His reason? He wanted to see where the students naturally walked... and then add the pavement. In other words, the sidewalks already existed. He just needed to wait and see where.

You can't overcome social convention.

These are small examples... but my favorite smoothie shop, Tropical Smoothie, is actually called Tropical Smoothie Cafe. In fact, the word "cafe" is the most prominent part of their logo. Yet I have never heard anyone call it by its real name. Society has essentially re-named it. Same goes for Cheesecake Factory. I've never heard anyone call it by its rightful name, "The Cheesecake Factory."

Great churches are built on social movements that already exist. The Gospel spreads by social movement. And some of the most promising church plants - with lots of money and staff - have failed because they missed this principle.

I spend an entire section of my forthcoming book on this subject -- coming in April.

The Starbucks IV is Official

They were actually giving these out at the counter today. Starbucks IV packets. You can carry them around easily in a pocket until you're getting tired... then slip in the needle... and get an instant fix.

Disturbing, but ingenious.

Unless I've misunderstood what these are, of course.

Watch for STORY in Outreach Magazine

Watch for the full-page ad for STORY in this month's Outreach Magazine. This issue is their annual 100 Largest and Fastest Growing Churches in America, which is a fun read.

Miracles that Fall Below Expectation

We have this preconceived notion about how miracles should go. When we expect God to show up, we imagine it going a certain way. And when God acts differently, we risk missing the miracle.

Take Naaman who was sick with leprosy and went to see Elisha in 2 Kings 5...

"Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy."

If you're walking on water, it's still a miracle, even if you're up to your neck in water. God just may not have selected the surface.