THRIVE - Day Three

Yep, this is a day late, but that's what happens when you end the conference in Sacramento and drive like a mad man back across the Sierras to Carson Valley for the 4:30 service back home. :)

So, final day at Thrive. I was totally looking forward to hearing Ephrem Smith, having heard so much about him over the past year. I was jacked up. But I had one thing to do first.

I ended up in the Green Room backstage, once again thanks to my friend John Jackson, Executive Director of TCI and main dude for the Thrive Conference. Beth and I were back there for prayer before the session, then I got to say 'hey' to Pastor Smith. Over in the corner, sitting on the sectional with her husband Leif was Margaret Feinberg. As you might have read, I owed her an apology.

So I walked over, introduced my wife and myself, and told her that I owed her an apology. Her husband leaned forward, grin on his face, and said, "Unsolicited, this ought to be good!" I like Leif. Margaret looked surprised, but she motioned for me to sit down, and I began my apology.

I told her that I was not looking forward to her talk, that I was trying to be a good leader and set the example and pay attention, but nothing about her bio, her book titles, or her introduction made me want to hear what she was going to say. Then, she started in on her topic, which was from her book, Scouting The Divine. It was all about farming images from the Bible, like shepherds and sheep. I told her that I was a city kid that grew up on a farm and couldn't wait to leave. She laughed and understood. Then I told her that her words just broke me. I was moved by the description of how God knows our voices as distinctly as a shepherd knows the bleating of each individual sheep. God hears me when I cry to Him.

Then, as she rolled around to the time she spent with a vintner, learning about growing grapes, I lost it. She talked about how grapes needed bad soil, and how in some places, they will look at the soil around their grape vines and add more rocks. More rocks. After all the pruning, there would be fruit to make wine, but from initial planting to the first glass of wine will be way over a decade. I told her that the rocky places in my life and the pruning over the years were just slammed into perspective for me. I didn't tell her the specifics of cancer, meningitis, angry parishioners, hard transitions, relational struggles or financial setbacks, but each one was clearly in my mind when I told her that she helped me once again see God's hand in my life.

I thanked Margaret for her amazing words that touched my heart, even when I was not expecting them to. She was amazingly gracious, and Leif got up, went out and brought back the last copy of her book for her to sign and give me. I thanked them both profusely. We talked for about an hour, and had the best time. She's looking at a writing project and we brainstormed some ideas to help her talk to some folks she'd like to meet. Leif had a college roommate from Pocatello, so we talked about Poky stuff. Beth and I both tried to give them an easy way out of the conversation, in case they needed some time away from people, but they were happy to talk, so we did.

Finally, Leif looked over at my watch and asked what time it was. I told him, and they both jumped up in a panic. They were late leaving for the airport. Like really late. So Margaret hugged Beth and I, we exchanged info, and they bolted out the door.

In a bit of a daze, we walked out to sit through the last part of Ephrem's talk, and as he was bringing it home, it was once again the voice of the Holy Spirit confirming, pushing and encouraging me to lead ahead with the missional focus here at LifePoint. I was nodding my head and feeling my heart beat faster as he talked about serving in the community and making a difference to the vulnerable and overlooked in society. One more time, God is saying it loud and clear.

I'll give a final wrap later, but it was an amazing time, an amazing experience, and real confirmation of the calling and the direction of God in my life and at LifePoint Church.

Big thanks to Ray Johnston, John Jackson, David Harris and the gang at Thrive, Bayside and TCI. This was a great event, and done well.

THRIVE - Day Two

At the risk of being too honest, here's the day in light of expectations blown:

• I expected to get a lot out of the preaching breakout this morning. Mission accomplished. Ray Johnston nailed it, totally encouraging, totally strategic, and yet, in case anyone was not clear on the subject, totally biblical. Yes, you can (and should) be all three.
• I expected (not proud of this, actually) to not get a lot out of Margaret Feinberg's talk. She started in talking about all the agricultural research she had done, and I was reminded how fast I wanted off the farm when I was growing up. I was a city kid raised on the farm, no doubt. But when she got rolling, so did my tears. I'm man enough to say that, and this: she ruined me. I was totally dashed against the rocks and heard clearly from God. I will buy her book, and if I see her, apologize in person for my low expectations.
• I expected to meet Tony Morgan. Mission accomplished. He's a cool dude, very humble and super smart. I got to talk to him a bit, and he's just a great leader and communicator. He took some time to sign a book for one of my staff. Just cool, plus great info on leadership and strategic thinking. Take away - simple and clear need to be values. Always.
• I expected the talk by John Ortberg to be great. Mission WAY accomplished. I'm again in awe of how God keeps talking to us about how He's not going to be put in a box, no matter how hard we try, and spiritual formation is no different. God has a plan, trust the plan, and "burn grace like a 747 burns jet fuel." Love that.
• I expected to laugh at the comics during the late session. My. Sides. Hurt. Great stuff from Bob and Bob.
• I didn't expect to cry in front of the team from LifePoint at lunch today. But God is making it so clear what He wants to do, and I'm just in awe of His amazing plan as it unfolds. So much of what we're looking at is being echoed so loudly in everything we hear while we're here. Can't wait to see what happens next.

I know there's more to come, but this has been great. Great connections with the Lifers that are here, meeting lots of new folks from Bayside and other churches, and just enjoying the experience.

More tomorrow.

I Need A Do-Over

Ever have one of those moments you wish you could get back? If you read my last post, I said I was worried about going all 'fan-boy' on John Maxwell, a hero of mine and the speaker at this dinner I was invited to before the Thrive Conference. So now, hours after the event, I can share the news:

• Good News - I didn't fan-boy on him. I was cool, calm and collected. I did notice that he's amazing at working the room, totally saw him connecting before he communicated (yes, I'm buying his new book!), and when he did speak, he was powerful, poignant, pertinent and whatever p-word means "he encouraged the daylights out of me!!" It was great to be there, to see him do his thing, to hear him pump up a room full of leaders, and leave us all wanting more.
• Bad News - I believe I now understand the phrase "Epic Fail" in a personal way. Let me explain:

My friend John Jackson is one of the key leaders of this event, and he had saved me a seat with him at one of the front tables. I walked over, and there were indeed three seats saved. I assumed (rightly) that one was for me, one for John Jackson, but I wasn't sure who the other one was for. So after introductions, they dismissed us to go through the line and get food. I did, and soon I'm eating with the other three guys at the table. John J. was still talking, so I was still sitting next to two empty but saved seats.

So when John Maxwell walked over to the table and looked at the empty seat... it happened so fast... I couldn't believe it was over before I could take it back... I'm such a rule follower... GGGHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

John Maxwell asked if he could sit at the table with us, and I said, "I'm sorry, but John Jackson was saving those seats, and I don't know who they are for, Mr. Maxwell."

Like I said. Epic Fail.

He was gracious and kind, walked to another table and proceeded to enrich the lives of everyone there while I sat and drank my iced tea and wallowed in my epic fail-ness. John Jackson came over and sat down, and yes, he had wanted to save that seat for someone else, but that person never sat down, and he would have been okay... I'm going to stop there.

So, like I said. I didn't fan-boy. Nope. Not me. I obeyed social etiquette to a fault. A huge, epic fail of a fault.

Sigh...

The talks were great, I got a lot out of them, then went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. More on THRIVE tomorrow.

Easter At LifePoint, Part 1

I'm so excited about what God did at LifePoint Church this weekend, I want to sing and jump up and down, but I'm my throat hurts and I'm wiped out, so my heart is dancing (or, as my friend Stacy likes to say, "my heart is pink and full of Spanish!")!!

So the first of six services was Friday night, and everything had come together. The message was done, and I got to see the dance number I in it's entirety that morning, and it looked great. A few tweaks to the order of service, and we felt like it was ready. All week we had been praying for the light board to work, and it was working great. So, 6 pm rolls around, and we start. The first song, then the dance number go off amazingly well, and the crowd was into the experience.

Then the lights flickered hard, like they wanted to go out, but came back up. All that did was take out the media and jack up the lights, but it all got put back in place pretty fast, so by the middle of the next song, it was all up and running like normal. All through it, the band played on, and the congregation sang, or tried to without the words on the screen. Pretty cool, and just a great bunch of work by the band and the team working sound and media.

So I got up to start the message, and it's rolling along well, the crowd was following right along, when suddenly, about 2/3 through, the lights flicker hard again... and stay out. Totally. Pitch. Black.

The emergency lights come on, and the crowd all laughs at the predicament. They start telling me to keep going, so I joke, "I can't see my notes!" Someone in the crowd comes up with a flashlight, and I kept going, pushing my voice a bit to get to the back row, but not too bad (years of football coaching comes in handy!).

The kids ministry folks do an amazing job keeping the kids calm and still focused, and word was that five kids received Christ in their service. Wow.

So after the service, I'm super proud of the team and all the work to get through what was obviously a difficult situation with more than just grace, but also with great presence of mind and real ministry hearts. But I'm feeling a little down that people will walk away and remember what a great job we did to finish out the service, but they won't remember Jesus.

Then, Saturday morning, I'm at the gym when a lady comes up and introduces herself to me. She tells me that she had three people she invited who had either never been to church or never been to LifePoint. She said they had a wonderful experience, and they were really excited about coming back.

I was stunned. Turns out God works, not only in the dark, but in my moment of doubt. I was worried that folks wouldn't see Jesus in all that chaos, but the truth is, He shined brighter than ever for those who needed Him the most.

That story did more to stoke my fire than anything else could have. Every service after that, I walked to the platform knowing that God was there, whether people were there to see the dance, hear the band, listen to me or for any other reason they might have listed. God was there, and He was making Himself known to people far from Him.

Such a blessing. Thank you to all the Lifers for praying, inviting, serving, giving and showing up to see Jesus be famous in our valley. And thanks to the guy who loaned me the flashlight. :)

More later...

Could NOT have said it better...

Mark Driscol, Pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I love this guy, he challenges me, he pushes me, and...

he's funny.

Enjoy!

Doing What You Love

I love to laugh. I love to make people laugh. I like the sound of laughter, and I think that Heaven is going to sound a lot like a comedy club at full roar. I may be on thin theological ice, but I'm pretty sure that the angels laugh a lot, and Jesus has had to laugh at some of the stupid things I've done in life. Laughter is good for the body (it exercises your insides) and your soul ("A cheerful heart is good medicine," Prov. 17:22).

So when I get to make people laugh, I feel good. That's part of why I use humor on Sundays in my messages, because it's a part of me and who God made me to be. If I was a better story teller, I'd do that. If I was great at writing poetry that connected to people, I'd do that. I'm not either of those things; God made me funny. The fact that it helps people to relax and to pay attention when I'm talking about the challenging and difficult issues of faith in Christ is a bonus. I'm just trying to be true to how I was made so that I can bring glory to God. Not everyone likes a funny pastor. For some folks, like slugs and rock salt, the two just don't go together. I get that. I'm not everyone's cup of mocha.

But here's the great part: when God gives you something that you're good at, and something that can bring glory to Him, He's also going to give you opportunities to use it. Count on that. For years, we've done a Comedy Night reach out event at our church, but because of financial constraints, we couldn't do it this year. That bummed me out, because I think it's a good way to show the community that we Christians have a sense of humor (Okay, some of us do...).

But God has given me other outlets for the 'gift of comedy' He's given me. Two weeks ago, I was asked to do a stand up set at a church in Oak Harbor, WA. It was a great time, the church was fantastically fun (Clint Webb, you rock!), and Beth and I had a great time. One lady who was there was dealing with stage 4 brain cancer, and a friend of hers told me afterward that she and her husband hadn't laughed that hard in a long, long time. God used my humor to bless those precious people while they were dealing with the darkest time of their lives. Praise God.

I was just asked to do some stand up at the annual National Cancer Survivor's Day celebration here in Pocatello. I'll share details later, but I'm jacked up about it. I can't wait to make people laugh, and bring glory to God for His healing work in my life over the past 5 years. Please pray for me about this, I want it to go well. Thank you to all who are praying for me right now, it's been a tough season, and the prayers are making a difference. Keep it up!! And if you're a survivor in town that day, make plans to be there!