People fascinate me. Stories fascinate me. Listening to people tell me their story fascinates me. I am intrigued by what makes each one of us different. I wonder what shaped you. Who shaped you. What drove you to be who you are today. What are the tensions that create your beliefs? I am not the guy to argue theology. I am not the guy to argue politics. Actually, I’d rather stay far away from both of those two. However I do like the discussion. Not the debate. Not the argument. The discussion. I’m “friends” on facebook with a few people … Continue reading Losing The Argument

Rather than flooding twitter with a full stream of posts all day, I’m moving it over here. I’m virtually attending “The Nines” leadership conference today. Well, I actually have it running while I do all of my other duties of my day job and am trying to hear as much as I can. It’s been on for 38 minutes and I’m catching great stuff all ready. Below is a full, live notes from the sessions throughout the day. Keep checking back for more.

-Don’t judge success by seating capacity, but by sending capacity

-Andy Stanley says that vision is a picture in our mind about what could be, a passion in our heart about what should be

-Market to the church! We can’t always afford to market well to the community, but we can effectively market to the audience we already have.

-Motivate the people on your team to leverage their own networks (facebook, twitter, etc)

-It’s important to not only study Scripture, but also to be a student of popular culture

-Be Biblical, practical and radical

-It doesn’t matter if you’ve won the heart of the city. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won the heart of the nation, if you lose the heart of your wife.

Continue reading “My Nines Notes”

  Several people I know are attending the Global Leadership Summit this week in Chicago. It is an incredible collection of speakers with significant leadership and influence within the Church and marketplace today. Reading the tweets from those that are there was so inspiring. When I looked at todays lineup, one name jumped off the page right away… SESSION 8: 4:00 – 5:00 – Erwin McManus – “Chasing Daylight”.  I don’t want to say that jealousy ran through my blood for those that will be in that building tonight to hear Erwin speak, but jealousy ran through my blood for … Continue reading Road Manual

This past weekend my wife and I had the privilege of spending a few brief moments with Carlos Whittaker. Now (please don’t miss this), while Los is “all of that and a bag of chips”, I am honestly not name … Continue reading Stepping Into It

Have you ever been in a season of waiting? I bet if you were honest, good or bad, there was at least something you learned in that season. My guess is that it wouldn’t take much thought to immediately point to specific lessons learned. It doesn’t mean you enjoyed the season, but the lessons learned were (gulp) worth the journey. Here’s just few I have learned and continue to learn: HOPE. No matter the season, no matter the reason, each and every one of us need hope. We need to know that there is a chance that this season will … Continue reading Learning in the Waiting

I’m not sure if you’re following the Cross Point Church Summer Slam Series, but we attend their online services weekly. This sermon hit me on so many levels. It goes straight to many of the things I have been wrestling with (the Summer Slam is appropriate). I love his thoughts on Nashville, their service to that city and missions. Love me some Cross Point Church! This weekend, Jon Acuff, author of “Stuff Christians Like” and most recently, “Quitter” is speaking on “Today vs. Tomorrow”. Follow the service @ 7:00pm (EST) HERE. Click HERE to watch the sermons thus far in … Continue reading Discontentment vs. Change

When I was growing up, I had a tile floor in my bedroom. It was red tile with an off-white square block around the inner border that looked like a big white highway (to a child anyway). I would take all of my Hot Wheels and line them up perfectly next to one another. I was like the worlds smallest valet. To say I had a touch of OCD is probably an understatement. While my friends were smashing their Hot Wheels together, I was lining them up with great care. I like things in order. When you visit our home … Continue reading In Order

I was out for a night run tonight which usually leads to some great “thinking time” and doing business with God. Coming off of a week long vacation, you would think I might have done enough of that already, but I’m still thinking. I’m thinking a lot. I’m praying a lot. I’m discerning and waiting. But I know what I want. I want to spend my days working for a greater cause. I want to rise knowing what I will do that day moved whomever I am doing it for a little closer to a greater goal. I want to … Continue reading I Know What I Want

We’ve all seen it. We know the movie by heart. The opening sequence of Top Gun and “Cougar” is loosing it during a battle in the air. He looks at the picture of his wife and kids and he disengages from the moment. His plane glides quietly while the battle goes on around him. Maverick comes to the rescue and the rest is movie making history. Let’s stay focused on Cougar though… After the episode in the sky, he says “I’m holding on too tight, I’ve lost the edge” and turns in his wings. He was number one. The best. … Continue reading Feeling Like Cougar

The older I get the more I realize I have a lot in common with “Uncle Rico” from the movie Napolean Dynamite. I don’t live in a van or sell tupperware, but there is one thing we have in common… The desire to have a time machine While Uncle Ricco always wanted to go back to 1982 (which wouldn’t be all that bad by the way), I would like to use mine to move ahead about 6 months. Just for a quick “look-see”. I promise I wouldn’t stay. Especially if I didn’t like what I saw there. Wouldn’t it be … Continue reading Blind Runner

If I was to show you my prayer list, right now there are two words fixed at the top. “open doors” Seems easy enough right? Oh how I can (and do) complicate those two simple words. I place conditions on them. I blanket it in “if/then” statements and requirements. I want to control exactly how wide the door should be open and the exact conditions of how it should go. Am I praying for open doors or my will? Open doors can be a scary thing. It’s where faith demands application. It requires the vision to see what they look … Continue reading Praying For Open Doors