paulurban.blogs.com

Story Conference

Matt and I were in Chicago all day yesterday for a conference called "Story".  We were there with all the other Christian conference celebrities:  Ben Arment, Tim Stevens, Tony Morgan, Carlos Whitakker, Todd Rhodes, etc. (not that most of you would know them), but I thought that it's funny how small the Christian ministry world is.

Anyway - it was an interesting and helpful conference.  I believe it reignited some creativity in both Matt and I, and gave us a lot to think about in regards to how to tell, share, live the story of the Bible.  It was a long day though.  8:30-5:30 conference, lose an hour, get lost for 40 minutes, and get home about 11:45 pm.  Good day, but I'm not going to sit for the first 8 hours of the day, today.

Mile markers

Well, my baby blue, my grandma car reached a milestone on Sunday after church.  See the evidence below.

 
 Ride on big blue, ride on!!
 

the more the better?

Chip & Dan Heath, co-authors of a GREAT business book called Made to Stick, made a very relevant and brilliant observation, that Tim Stevens was talking about on his blog:

The more choices you have, the less participation you have.

That runs counter-intuitive, doesn't it?  You would think that the more choices the more participation, but it actually works exactly the opposite.  The more choices people have, the more difficult it is for them to make a decision, and the more apt they are to walk away making no decision.

In the context of the church, it's often more difficult for people to participate when they have to choose between 40 different programs, versus knowing that what we do are Journey Groups, Sunday gatherings, and serving in our community.  They know their options, they know the next steps, and they can step into participating. 

What are your thoughts?  

When?

When does the "honeymoon" wear off?

When does a newleywed just become "wed"?

When does that new couch that you love so much, just become the sofa?

When does a church plant become an established church?

When does a new Christian become an old Christian?

When does creativity become "the way we've always done it"?

When does learning about Jesus go from being a passion to a chore?

When do you realize that you're there, and it's horrible, and you dream of the days when it was new and fresh?  And, how do you change that?  OR, how do you keep yourself from getting there?

What in your life, used to be new and exciting and fresh and challenging, but has gotten old and stale?  When did it happen?  Or are you still holding it off?

change of perspective

Heard this from Ben Arment , the creator and designer of a conference called STORY , that Matt and I will be at next Wednesday.  It calls for a change of perspective for most of us:

"When we go through difficult times, and God doesn't deliver us, it's not because he's forsaken us; it's because he wants us to walk through it."

What do you think?  Do you agree?

Leading is a team sport

Leading can be lonely, as I talked about, yesterday.  Many times it's just you and God.  And because of that, you can end up isolating yourself from others' good ideas.  The truth is, as much as people love The Journey, I would venture to guess that no one has poured in as much time, energy, or personal sacrifice as Matt and his family and Me and my family.  That provides some leverage.  That also bears some responsibility.  We're going to answer to God one day for how we led this church.  That's a weight that I don't take lightly.

That weight, also means that I don't give a rip how much you make and want to give to the church, or how influential you think you are, or how many people you know and can sway.  We're going to follow what God tells us to do, regardless of what "man" says to do.  Plain and simple.

BUT, that can also present a danger.  To think that I know everything there is to know about leading, about The Journey and the needs of the people here, well . . . that would be foolish.  We need all of us.  And, we as leaders, need to be able to listen to what others have to say and how God might be speaking to them.  It's a team sport, and we don't know everything.  That's something I'm continually working on.

Leading can be lonely

Leading is often a lonely place to be.  You might not think that, right?  After all, leaders are up front, they're communicating passionately, they're in the mix of what's happening, everyone knows them.  But, leading means that you're often out in front, alone, the first-adopter of something, or the initiator of something brand new.  You're pushing into new territory, and dreaming new dreams.  As a spiritual leader, it's often you and God.  That's it.  He tells you to do something, He speaks into your spirit, and you move forward.  No one else is with you . . . yet.

You often live in failure AND success.  People will cheerlead, and they will also question.  They will wonder if it's a good decision or not.  And, sometimes you don't even know.  You just know that's how God seems to be leading and so you need to pursue it.  You could look stupid, or look like the hero.

It's good news to know, that it's "God's power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).  And, although you might be the point person, out front, isolated - there's no better place to be than leading, when you're FOLLOWING Jesus.  Ultimately we play "to an audience of one".  It's following Jesus that counts.  And, if you're following Jesus, you're always going in the right direction.

Leading

The thing about leading someone or something, is that most often you're leading others somewhere that NONE of you have ever been before.  That means, you don't totally know where you're going either.  You just have a vision and a dream and you HOPE that one day you'll get there.

I am consistently blown away that so many people have joined us as we pursue this dream of a different kind of church along the lakeshore.  Because (shhhh . . . don't tell anyone . . . ) we haven't been here before and we don't always know what we're doing, because it's new to us too.  We're simply striving to follow Jesus and do what He calls us to do.

What will tomorrow bring?  I don't know.  You don't either.  But, I am confident in the One who has called us to this great mission.  So, we continue to follow Him wherever He leads.

Missing Virginia

With Virginia not around as she recovers from her brain surgery, there’s not the balance of power between sane and others around The Office.  The coalition for reason is severely compromised right now.

 

P.S. That's my favorite quote from last nights episode of The Office.

How do you connect?

How do you best connect with God?  Praying, reading the Bible, walking through the woods, singing, something else?  I think I need variety in my life when it comes to connecting to God.  I don't think I "connect" with Him all the time - it's less than it is more.  I still meet with Him (prayer, reading the Bible, etc.), but sometimes it can seem like He's not there.  Like I'm not really connecting - and then other times, it's like I'm hearing Him speak into my heart in pretty profound ways.  How about you?  How do you best connect with God?