History in the Making

Savoring Criticism

Something happens when you leave the world of pastoring, where people feel it's their God-given right to criticize the church...

You have to dig really hard for constructive feedback.

When it comes to non-church endeavors, people don't readily offer their thoughts. They simply don't shop there anymore... go there anymore... return there anymore.

At STORY, I was monitoring the #Story09 feed on Twitter for constructive comments. There were a ton of great things being said. But it was the few "I wish" or "If only" nuggets that grabbed my attention.

Like, the wi-fi sucked. We used prayer too much as a transitional element. A small few thought we'd tell more stories like in Nancy Beach's talk.

I didn't agree with all of them. (Hey, if you're not hated by some, you can't make raving fans out of others.) But duly noted Twitter friends. Duly noted.

Because people don't speak their opinions; they act them.

Selling Out

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend who described an opportunity like this:

"It fit my economic statement, but it didn't fit my mission statement."

What a statement of clarity.

I've gone through life hearing people say, "Well, you've got to pay the bills," as a resignation from their calling. But I wonder if what they're really saying is, "I don't want to sacrifice my standard of living for my God-given purpose."

Just thinking out loud.

Movements Happen Through Friends

I'm in awe of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams, and the others who met at the Eagle & Child Pub to write great literature...

The friends who sat around Henrietta Mears' kitchen table in California - Bill Bright, Dawson Trotman, and Billy Graham...

The childhood friendship of Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio...

The long-time friendship of Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Clayton King...

Dino Rizzo, Chris Hodges, and Rick Bezet...

When God creates movements, he seems to work through leaders who are friends. I don't spend enough time cultivating my friendships, but I am indeed in the company of world changers.

Wednesday Morning Run-Down

• I'm starting to interview church planters for a free PDF I'm releasing in January called "How They Started." Talked to Michael Lukaszewski yesterday. Amazing story. Much to learn from it.
• Read this remarkably story from Janet Oberholter. Such an inspiring gal. Really wish I could have met her at STORY. Next time. =)
• About 40 leaders are gathering this week in NYC for the exclusive, $7,000-a-pop Exchange event. My friend David Hoyt runs it... If you live in Atlanta and haven't taken David to lunch, your quality of life is less than it could be.
• My 3 year old and my 5 year old have MASTERED Pirates of the Caribbean on-line. One of them runs and turns, while the other fires a pistol at the undead. I love it. Some 40 year old nerd is getting smoked by preschoolers.
• Love that I live near @benkomanapalli and @DavidEOsborne from Calvary Revival Church in Norfolk. Great up and coming leaders in the Church. Looking forward to hanging with them over Indian food next week.
• I think most of us go through life thinking that we exhaust "favors" or "asks" of other people, when, in fact, the very people who help us really believe in us and love to invest in us over and over again.
• Love the new Sting Christmas album at Starbucks. And the red cups. Not to mention the chai latte inside.
• I've got 160 unanswered e-mails that I can't even crack.
• Can Mike Foster do no wrong? Has he ever had one bad idea in his life? Loving the Man Cave show on Tuesday nights. And I love Jud Wilhite. I'll admit it.

Mike & Jud in the Man-Cave Tonight

Tonight at 6:00p and 9:00p PST! On Mike's new Media Social site... which is amazing in its own right.

Photos From Mark Beeson

Mark Beeson, pastor of Granger Community Church, had his camera at STORY, and some great shots are starting to appear on his blog. It was my first time meeting him - such a great leader. Maybe we can convince him to post his best-of from the event...

Glorious Click Track for 'Broken'

We progressed STORY through the four themes of the Gospel - creation, fall, redemption and restoration. For session two, the fall, we wanted to play "Broken" by Lifehouse before Dave Gibbons' talk on "pain stories." Photo of performance above.

I went to the brilliantly talented TK McKamy to create a click track for Trace Rorie and band. What resulted was amazing.

TK went to downtown Nashville and filmed this footage from the darkened streets. Here's the actual video, but with the original song overlaid. If you'd like to buy the click track to play in your own setting, e-mail TK at tkmckamy@gmail.com.

STORY DVD Available for Limited Time

For a limited time, the STORY DVD is available [HERE]. It'll feature sessions from the main event on October 28 at the Paramount Theater. Delivery date is shortly before Christmas.

New STORY Photos up

By Bjorn Amundsen on the Flickr site

You've Gotta See This...

Amazing STORY photos from Daniel Stancil and Josh White on Flickr. More photos from Bjorn Amundsen coming soon... And Integrity Music had over 41,000 hits on one day at StoryUnfolding.com

The Great Hope of the Pastor

In almost every church I visit... which are mostly church plants... there he is. The pastor. Standing in the front row during worship. Giving his whole heart to it. Feeling the presence of God. Stretching for it. Yearning for it. And he's overwhelmed by it.

Because his great hope is that everyone else will feel it too.

This is why he stands in the front row.

So that by looking ahead, he will block from view all of the passive worshipers behind him and perhaps kedge them forward into the presence of God by his own leadership.

He does church every week with this great hope.

I did this for eight years.

And now I'm doing it again for STORY.

I'm sitting here in rehearsal, being blown away by the presence of God through Jonathan and Candi Shelton and the Granger worship team...

Because my great hope is that everyone will fall victim to the presence of God on Wednesday.

Best Church Venue

Goes to my friend Paul Stewart who just launched Gateway Church in Des Moines, IA. They use the Temple for Performing Arts which looks absolutely gorgeous. And just look at those mounds of muffins and pastries. This is like the Willy Wonka Factory of church plants. Paul is bringing his crew to STORY by the way.

100 Words

If I could have anyone else's blog, it would be Blaine Hogan's. Everything he does drips with excellence. Here's my 100 Words on his site today...

"We are motivated by two conflicting fears in life: the fear of failure and the fear of insignificance. What we endeavor to do is determined by which fear is the strongest... [read on]

Wednesday Morning Run-Down

I'm running 100mph this week, so only a few thoughts today...

• Hard doesn't mean God's saying "no." It means he's saying "grow."
• Oh my gosh, did that just sound like Rick Warren? I think it did.
• I'm so ready for T'hanksgiving.
• Integrity Music and Carlos Whittaker are taking over StoryUnfolding.com for the event.
• We're picking the finalists for the Oxford trip give-away this week... with the winner to be announced at STORY. I'm thinking of winning it under a pseudo-name. =)
• Blaine Hogan is running a really cool "100 Words" series on his blog. I sent him mine today.
• I've responded to over 12 people's inquiries about my out-of-the-box church website idea and heard back from none. Changed thinking is soooo hard.
• The John Ortberg lunch filled-up with 200 people in about 5 hours yesterday. Wow. People like them some free food... or some free John Ortberg. =)
• Went to my son's elementary school this morning to see him get an award for "citizen of the month." Which basically means he rocks. =) Ainsley and I were horrified that we had to put this sign in our yard though. We're simple people. We don't like to brag. About our son. And how he rocks.

Free Lunch with John Ortberg

For those attending STORY next week, we're giving away a free lunch with John Ortberg on October 28. By the way, John just won best Christian book of the year...

The lunch venue is right across from the theater - sponsored by MONVEE. Seating is limited... and this form will shut-off when capacity is reached. STORY attendees only please.

Top of the Tuesday

- This is beating a dead horse, but... If you want to be an author, you have to first be a platform-builder. Some people, a tiny few, can get away with just great writing. But the rest of us need a following.

- I heard that Rob Bell announced the end of NOOMA. Love that. Bigger is not always better. And to create better, sometimes we have to sabotage our own success.

- If I e-mail you and ask for your address, I promise it's going to be a gift... or something of value. Someone asked for my address last week and sent me an advertisement for a $675 conference. Double negative.

- Something I'm learning: 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.

- Something else I learned about myself. A ton of my Christian faith was propped up by being a pastor for 10 years. If you want to see how authentic something is, take away the paycheck.

- Tomorrow, we're sending out an e-mail to all registrants with "everything you need to know about coming to STORY," but until then, here's a sneak peek at Paramount Theater parking options.

- I can't wait to meet a lot of people next week, but especially Thomas Fluharty. Such unashamed passion for Jesus. And he can draw LIKE THIS! My kids love his new children's book Fool Moon Rising.

A Culture of Frugality

Love the story of how Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com in his garage and laid an old door across two saw-horses for his desk. Today, the culture of frugality continues. Many of Amazon's employees have constructed their own "door desks" to keep with the spirit of the company.

They've become a door-desk culture.

Lights

Miss dreaming up Christmas Eve experiences. We're not just creating an opportunity for the Gospel, but a cherished tradition for families. Always loved that role...

If I were doing it again this year, I'd go outdoor lights.

Lots of them.

The church should have the monopoly on outdoor lights. The heavens declare the glory of God... through light.

Man Training

I'm in serious need of decompression I think. Wyatt and I played an exorbitant amount of Pirates of the Caribbean on-line this weekend, watched Where the Wild Things Are - which contained an unnecessary amount of screaming - and capped it off with some ribs at Chili's.

Next week's lesson: How to treat a lady.

If You're Not Already a Scott Hodge Fan...

I heard from several pastors who thought this was the highlight of The Nines.

I concur.

Love the Scott Hodge. Love his heart... and his charisma.