“My word… I now know for certain. My church has lost its collective mind…” - Bob, the cowboy commentator and church consultant

My friend Bob looked up from reading the blog on his laptop. He pulled off his reading glasses with some drama as he does when miffed (an effective technique - you might consider picking up a pair of spectacles whether you need them or not).

Bob explained his ‘Mad-as-a-hornet, can’t take no more’ response.

He wasn’t one bit negative. Deep love and pain was emerging.

“I’ve always thought when someone takes their own life that they are out of their mind - at least at that moment. Maybe this holds true for groups when they do the same…”

Bob’s words hung in the air - like a slow moving indoor cloud hovering in the room. Bob spoke a drop dead amazing truth.

One thing is certain - 100% of the innumerable groups who succeeded in a suicide attempt - not one was thinking clearly at the moment of the ultimate deed.

Is there a pattern that leads up to a church or a spiritual movement to self-destruct? Ponder these common patterns that lead up to what lemmings do each spring.

•Celebrating The Tragedy of Others… other leaders / churches!

“They finally got what was coming them them / him / her. Yep, God got ‘em good. You can’t fool Him…”

If you haven’t thought this or said it you likely aren’t thinking back hard enough. Human nature makes such behavior tendencies natural to us all. Call it “The Martha Stewart Effect.” She goes to prison without protesting the initial sentence dished out to her. Amazingly, the vast majority of Americans decided they hated Martha - they decided to enthusiastically believe the worst about her. There is something particularly savory about believing the worst about those who have been highly successful in life. This goes double for the leaders of large churches. ‘They are large because they are doing something that’s not kosher…’ (No names here please…)

Recommend: Start praying for a church each week like this, “God we ask you to bless this other church today - we ask you to profoundly touch them today more than us…”

•Church Suicide Comes From The Passive Condoning of Toxic Attitudes
Rarely will leaders in the local church clearly say aloud what is as negative as what is carried about in the heart. “We really don’t like people who aren’t like us…” Who in their right mind would cop to that?… especially official leaders. Yet can you explain how it is that great public efforts are taken to increase attendance yet the ‘backdoor’ siphons more out than in?

Recommend: If you are one who speaks or has a voice into the leadership, be candid about your heart. Fear keeps us stuck and away rather than toward people. To like people is more costly than to love people very often!

•Church Suicide Begins With Bombastic Attitudes
“We really are all that - and more!” No comment necessary.

Recommend: Pray with an honest, open heart. Start with confessions. When God shows up honesty tends to happen.

Bob never told me what upset him that day. That wasn’t the point. He loves his heritage. Even more he loves the Church at large - as do I on both points. Maybe we are on the same boat as it works in fellow-ship.

The Stand Up Guy for ‘Lost Causes’

The Power of A Magnificent Loss(es)

I am a lost cause

Every city I have planted in has been antithetical to a place that has potential

The people we attract are nearly all lost causes

My friend Tracy couldn’t believe his eyes. There before him was a twelve foot tall mountain of undigested… vitamins!  The idea of “One a Day” took on a whole new meaning at that moment (sorry, couldn’t resist the beg for a pun). This was just seven day’s worth of vitamins the good people of Omaha had ‘deposited.’

The understanding with all vitamin ingest-ors is simple.
- ‘I invest in my health by adding supplements to my diet’
- ‘Supplements are vital’
- ‘These supplements, though expensive, and a bit inconvenient, will pay off in the long run…’

Maybe. Then again, probably not.

There are a lot of undigested things put into our systems today - things we have decided are good for us or our people.  Again, maybe yes, maybe no.  The pressing question - “Is the healthy stuff being assimilated into lives?” OR “Are people going through the motions for whatever reason…”

Religion we all say we are against is often being conveyed though we miss when it happens just like the unuseful vitamins.  Information without life change produces cocooning.  Cocooning separates people from the presence of the change God’s Spirit desires to bring.

Want to see change take effect? Dismantle the mountain of complexity - operate by the power that has the ability to change lives for good.

Take James’ words to heart:
Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. James 4:10, The Message

Have you noticed that power and influence most often seem to only be in the hands of a few who use this influence for personal gain or the destruction of others? There is a smaller percentage of influencers who genuinely seek the betterment of others.  These are “Ideators” - a simple word to capture the strengths of these inspired influencers.

Ideators are those who realize that the world is really all about ideas being lived out (not just put on paper or talked about around a big table). 

One challenge is that many ideas are simply “brain burps” that aren’t very inspired (“inspired” is an idea we’ll dig into more soon).  Also, some inspired ideas are left on the whiteboard or the cutting room floor – they aren’t lived out.  The further this age is lived out the more common this occurrence becomes.

Ideators know that good intentions aren’t worth much and so they strive to bridge the gap between intention and application.  These are the leaders who move the world and actually change things. 

If you ask me, seek to become the most rare of whatever potential that Jesus has put within you. Go with that potential strength. Develop that profoundly with all your might. Ideators - we need many.  Here’s to all who can chew gum and bounce a basketball at the same time!

My grandma from Paris, Texas was full of colorful expressions.  She didn’t so much speak English - she communicated in one metaphor after another.  One of my favorites was:

Nana instilled in me a respect for authenticity and skepticism for the fake. 

There is a bit of fake in you, me, all of us (fake = aspiring to define ourselves by something / someone we are not). (Thus far, all the people I have met on the planet are of those offspring - if you meet someone beyond that please call me at once - I’ll figure out a way to get there immediately … I really need to interview them.) 

To be a ‘cat standing on its hind legs’ is a site to imagine. 

Mainly she told me this ditty was in reference to people trying to behave properly when they were not wired that way deep down.  That is, one way inside, but trying to behave the opposite on the outside.  Life just doesn’t swing that way - at least not for long, for any of us. 

The prayer of former walking cats:

"Here I am God. Love through me - the real me. Ignite me - the real me. Invite many through me - the real me. Thank you for your invitation to me that I am - as I am!"

Let the filters fall.

Notice what is going on through me … I cease hesitating, I engage with you - let the world change. 

Yes Gerald, it really is that untangled … thank you for asking!

First you must make a deposit.  There is a period of waiting until the initial check clears.  Then if you choose, a withdrawal can be made.

I have never heard of a bank that allows a withdrawal before a deposit has been made. (If you know of such a bank, you really owe it to the rest of the planet to let us in on this amazing institution…  This deal must be advertised a bit.  How they would stay in business is not important to us - it’s just important that they allow people to withdraw from a nonexistent fund!)

This routine of “Deposit First - Withdraw Later” is violated continually, by regular church people - and without realizing what they are doing - church leaders-teachers-pastors are encouraging this pattern.  How so?

We model and strongly encourage people to approach virtual strangers with a call to a dramatic life change.  This is akin to not just a spiritual drive-by.  Think drive-by with a rapid fire bazooka and you are close to the reality here.

Am I suggesting one ought never to call a complete stranger to conversion?  Not in the least.  What I am saying is that a dramatic encounter such as this is the exception to the norm.  The norm is that we ‘bring’ the gospel.  We don’t ‘send’ the gospel.  To bring anything has everything to do with personal connections, relationship, a touch, and the word we love to use around Christmas - ‘Incarnation.’

It’s funny how we love to talk about ‘Incarnation’ around Christmas, but shun that word / concept after December 26th.  We bring the message of Jesus every time we connect with people.  If you continue to ‘send’ the message - well, you will continue to see lots of rejections. 

When those rejections come, do all of us a favor - for Pete’s sake, don’t sit back and glibly mutter something about the hard-heartedness of this generation.  You may be partly right.  Then again, you may be referring to your own hard-heartedness.

Here’s a switcharoo as an entry for today.

My greatest asset on the planet is the lovely and talented Janie Sjogren - we just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. I wake up each morning now with two spontaneous thoughts - "Jesus, thank you I have one more day… thank you for the indescribable gift of Janie…" 

As you read here you will see why I use some of these adjectives.  My life has been immensely shaped by her heart.  She is the most remarkable person I have met.  (No kidding, many have told me the same thing!)  Since she doesn’t have a blog (yet) here is some of her heart…

Have you noticed how often the ‘right now’ thing God is up to happens on the way to what we thought was the plan?  If we are open to noticing what he is about, a steady stream of adventures cross our paths. 

New Friend - James C., 75 Years Young

“So you can read better now?”

This was a rhetorical question. I was just making conversation during the long silence.  His eyes lit up - his demeanor said the rest. 

It isn’t ‘cool’ for men to tear up, but he got a little misty - kind of surprising even though we had just met a couple of minutes before. 

This happened in the Ybor City section of Tampa - an older, gentrified area with nice restaurants.  Several dozen friends from CoastlandTampa were together to give away a few thousand bottles of water at a half marathon. What better excuse to connect with people, both runners and the crowd, than walking out a practical expression of Jesus’ love through bottles of water!  Sometimes Jesus ‘cup of water’ - Matt. 25 - is literally what is needed at the moment.

This elderly black man was reading his newspaper as we walked by.  What was unusual about him - he held the paper so close that his nose nearly touched the print! 

“You look like me when I don’t wear my glasses!”

He asked me to repeat myself so I did.  With that we had a conversation going.  I happened to have an extra pair of unisex reading glasses on me.  As he slipped them on, I couldn’t help thinking that they looked pretty good on my new friend. 

Who Gained The Most? Easy Answer

Not too long ago I was intimidated at the notion of approaching a stranger with what was probably an inspired ‘notice.’  Today I couldn’t walk past James without addressing his obvious need. Honestly, the thought that came to me was, “How badly can this go? At worst, I will never see him again!  At best, this could be the beginning of the dominoes toppling in his life until he becomes a Jesus follower… if he isn’t already in love with Jesus.”  Either way there is nothing to lose.

It wasn’t long ago that this encounter would have gone differently. 

A. I would have not noticed him in the least, OR

B. I would have had no idea how to connect with him. 

I now realize God does his noticing through me.  I walk past lots of people with needs - the noticing is not occurring with all who have needs - it is just with those being pointed out by God. It’s very simple really.

This I know - the invitation from on high is being picked up on by me clearly now.  I remember now how I started out noticing when I first began following Jesus, but somehow I lost my ‘glasses’ along the way.  I convinced myself that it is complex and difficult to read God’s eye chart.  Not true at all! 

This noticing thing is contagious and ironic.  The one who picks up on what Jesus is up to is always touched / blessed more than the receiver of ‘glasses’ of any sort being handed out.  Yes, they begin to see, but more importantly, the glasses giver remember how it is to see and how to notice our way into the lives of those God so loves…

Those around me are gaining courage as they see how uncomplex this all is.  Those previously fearful of noticing - noticing myths bite the dust. 

This is downright viral!

Consider this handful of agreements about this discussion: 

1.  Each item on this list is a tool for efficiency, not a ‘gadget.’ 

A gadget is something silly and unnecessary.  Someone once gave me a 99 cent green dart gun with a round fly swatter where the suction cup is usually located.  It was supposed to be a more efficient fly swatter.  Of course, the flies flew faster when this green contraption was shot at them, only now they were laughing as they flew.  This is a bona-fide gadget. 

A tool for accomplishing vital work more efficiently is something one uses exactly the way any professional uses a needed tool to accomplish their craft.  Hammers, scalpels, laptops of the right make and size - they are all necessary tools. 

2.  There are specific tools shared here (not any laptop, but a specific laptop for example) on purpose. 

This is based upon years of personal experience as well as coaching hundreds. 

3.  The assumption with all tools mentioned here - start up leaders realize it is essential to be ‘among the people’ as was often observed of Jesus and the Apostles. 

There is a need for mobility.  With the ability to move fluidly to and fro between appointments among those being connected with is essential.  What can be done now as launchers is amazing compared to our counterparts twenty-five years ago. 

If you are not yet convinced of the need to be defined by being ‘among the people’ constantly, perhaps you need to do some more reading on that matter first before tackling the specifics of which piece of equipment to purchase first, etc. 

Smart Phone

First in line in your tech investments is a smart phone. 

For many reasons this is an absolute must.  With the ability to receive emails, type emails, take notes to yourself, make calls and even take photos - many of these skills are essential for a church starter. 

The name of the game in effective starting is connecting - networking. 

I will later make a very strong case for going with a Mac laptop (the more recent ones with the Intel chip that will allow you to run both Windows and all Mac software on them).  All things considered, in light of the probable thousands of contacts you will have within a few months as you meet people and their friend’s friend’s friends… you will be spend a good amount of each day simply adding names to your database then syncing smart phone with laptop to stay current. 

Thus, I highly recommend going with the iPhone specifically.  At this writing there is an 8 gig memory - many times larger than the next largest memory around.  This will probably be raised to 16 gigs shortly.  My current listing of close to 6,000 names I need quick access to has never come close to working on any phone system previously in spite of many promises from phone salespeople (avg. age 18.5 years - trained to say “Sure we can” to any question asked of them…) 

So iPhone it is.  You won’t be sorry. 

I move that we take a break from using the term ‘Innovation’ for a while. 

When we use words that cause others to stop, listen and ask,

…often we are making progress in our communications. 

‘Seminal’ is a great word that is similar to the “I” word, but it gives room for God to get the glory - as well it removes the focus upon the human element. 

As we enter into the new year I move this:
 

To achieve effectiveness in our various leadership capacities we need God’s Spirit to deposit his original applications of everlasting truth in the mainline culture we are reaching - that culture that is evolving continually.  Never in Church history has a generation of leaders more needed to be aware of the seminal heart of God than now! 

There is a great increase in the chatter with people who are expressing the same sentiment these days about the word ‘innovation.’  Outreach Marketing, Inc……., the highly lucrative advertising business based in the San Diego area, has unilaterally stirred this term with their frequent uses of it their publications in recent years. 

Ubercreative C.E.O. Scott Evans and his writing staff have promoted the "I" word over and over, even listing the "Most Innovative Churches in the U.S." 

(Could someone explain to me what distinguishes the 27th Most Innovative Church from, say the 24th Most Creative Church in the U.S.?  I get confused easily these days…) 

I am certain Outreach Marketing, Inc. has had all great intentions in their heart of hearts with their most recent promotion drive.  Yet, backlashes are popping up on the radar screen with increasing frequency.  This reactions are not occurring simply among  extremist watchdogs on the blogging scene.  In just the past week, a number of ‘Reader’s Digest’-ish types have asked me about this matter. 

A couple of thoughts to ponder:

1.  Perhaps the word ‘Innovation’ is not what most of us aspire to in fact.
"Innovative" means "To take what is and improve upon it."  But in fact, is that all we aspire to do in our lives as we walk in this life, in the Spirit, in sync with God’s word?  Not me. 

Innovation is a great word for people who are operating on their own strength with the assumption that God is not going to show up. 

In the landmark business book The Japan That Can Say No, author Shintaro Ishihara  points out that the key to the Japanese business success is this word - ‘innovation.’  The classic Japanese success model, according to this Ishihara, is to take an original idea created elsewhere (Ford Motor Company), and simply improve upon it (Toyota Motor Company). 

Innovation is wonderful when it comes to improving upon a car, but we are ultimately dealing with that which is everlasting - people.  I’ve read somewhere in the scriptures that God is madly in love with people.  He is highly interested in providing the wherewithal needed at every level for us to be effective in seeing his kingdom move strongly forward. 

2.  As we walk in the Spirit, we can do far better than mere innovation. 
When Moses was overwhelmed with his oversight job of the judicial issues at hand, his father-in-law, Jethro, invited him into a simple but seminal concept of delegating this oversight to men who were capable of doing the easy tasks.  This thus allowing Moses to do what only Moses could do.  Jethro’s idea perhaps added years to Moses life - and certainly added sanity to his personal life!

The key idea here - he was given a seminal idea.  This was in no way an improvement upon an existing practice or idea. 

A similar New Testament Church seminal concept was apparently revealed to the leaders of the Jerusalem church.  Set up ‘deacons’ to oversee the work they were made to do - the work they were passionate about.  This freed the various Apostles to do what each of them were called by God to accomplish.  Again, a seminal idea, not an innovation. 

3.  Talk of innovation can easily become a derision to God. 
When we over-talk about the power of innovation we are, wordsmithing aside, we begin to tread upon thin ice with God.  We come very close to insulting God when we overly trust in our creativity.  God is interested in receiving glory and credit for what is accomplished in his church as momentum occurs.  His nature is to draw attention to himself.  That is worship.

Over-dependence upon pseudo-creativity versus the God-inspired seminal factor looks like this: 
When the focus begins to shift onto the style versus the content with our message, we have likely crossed the line of appropriateness. 

If we are doing a series built loosely around the TV series “Heroes” (as thousands of churches have done in the past eighteen months) we need to ask:
“What is the ‘eye roll factor’ present here?”  That is, how many are going to groan when they see the elements of the TV show we are inserting each week in this series? 

At the end of the day ask, “How many had to choke down the corniness of what we tried to convey, even though we convinced ourselves that this was a ‘culture current’ metaphor… when the most culture-current people present were so embarrassed they stopped bringing their friends during this series?  (This is a real example I am aware of that happened in several churches across the U.S. with series based upon that show…) 

4.  We cannot violate who we really are. 
People can see who we are.  We cannot hide our stripes.  Oddly, the longest term ones present are the only people who have convinced themselves that something ‘innovative’ is going on.  As old-timers, we can try so hard to reinvent ourselves, we nearly hypnotize ourselves into believing we no longer need deodorant… that we are now unique… we don’t stink like everyone else!  Yet, the truth is the truth.  Look in the mirror right now and say, “You need Right Guard!  That’s the truth.” 

If we do violate who we are, we simply look utterly foolish and like robots marching forward. 

If you haven’t seen Steve Martin’s The Jerk lately, rent it, better yet, buy it and force yourself to watch it somewhat regularly.  This classic comedy is a metaphor of innovation that is false.  “I was born a poor black child…”

When you are the only “black child” who cannot clap in syncopation, something is up!  The truth is you are actually Norwegian!  The straight blonde hair was the first sign of the truth.  The clapping impairment was another sign. 

The God of heaven and Earth, the God who created all we see, dwells in each of us as the simple followers of Jesus. 
As I ponder this profound truth, my anticipation for seeing seminal ideas appear in my life rises greatly. 
“God, we must hear from you or we are sunk!”  Now let’s walk in expectancy.

Christmas, age 13.
“Not again! All you want for Christmas is more fishing stuff… you already have lots of fishing stuff. Why don’t you get a baseball glove like normal kids your age…”

“Can’t help it Mom - all I think about is fish. When you are serious about the fishing world - you can’t have enough equipment to help you become more effective Mom…”

My dad would have understood that truism, but he had died the summer before. Mom got this much - there was something deep inside of me that was nourished as I helped lots of fish encounter their destiny - to come home with me - attached to my stringer!

Jesus came to Earth to gather a planet full of fish. He knew fish. He loved fish. His passion was fish. Hang with fish and you will pick up their odor. When was the last time you heard someone compliment another with a ‘You smell of fish’ remark…

He was not a technique person. His only plan was

• find fish
• hang with fish
• love fish
• accept fish
• heal fish… (you get the idea…)

We do Jesus’ stuff and the atmosphere of the kingdom will change everything.

He endorsed netting.

While we do Christmas over the next few days, I encourage you - sponge up the love around you. Healing is near. Take it in! Let the love around you sink in deeply. Even more, let the nearness of God’s love and those nearby fill you with all that is broken. Let the contagion of Jesus overflow.

It’s way more fun than being ticked off at unchanging relatives!

I lift my eggnog cup (non-fat, low sugar) to you! See you soon.