1. That all of our sermons are online…
Free…
For download or streaming or podcast (I’m not sure if I’m using these terms correctly… )
Just click here and I’ll be yelling at you before you know it.

2. That this Sunday’s service is going to be our most creative ever?

3. That I’m in Lynchburg, VA, with some of my boys, about to preach at Liberty University?

4. That Larry Brey and I are currently watching a Jerry Falwell sermon, I think about Global Warming, on a station here in Lynchburg that apparently plays Falwell sermons 24/7?

5. That our staff is about to start a blog for church planters? In the next few days, I’m told… I’ll keep you posted.

6. That I could eat my wife’s tacos for dinner almost every night? At least 6-8 of them per serving…

7. That Chunks drives way too fast in my Maxima and we got from Charlotte to Virginia in about 15 minutes?

8. That Holly won’t let me name our next kid, if it’s a boy, Clem, so that I can call him Clem, son?

9. That we took up our biggest offering ever at Elevation last Sunday? In fact, we took up more in the month of March than we projected for our entire first year…

10. That when it snows, my eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen…
(The first person to send an email with the name of that song, the artist, and the movie it was featured in gets a prize. A relatively good one.)

When my folks and I went to see this flick I was 5. I thought Big Bird was actually going to be there live. I was pretty dang disappointed. I really do remember it vividly.

Now we’re trying to get Elijah to love the movie as much as I did.
It’s working. We know it’s working because he pitches a fit when Holly turns it off. Elijah communicates love for something by crying and screaming when it’s taken away. We’re working on that.

Through my son, I’m learning that the ancient axiom couldn’t be more true:
Every virtue carries with it the seed of its own destruction.

Put another way, an unguarded strength is a double weakness.

With Elijah, here’s the breakdown:

STRENGTH: He’s determined.
WEAKNESS: He’s demanding.

STRENGTH: He’s cuddly.
WEAKNESS: He’s clingy.

STRENGTH: He’s fearless.
WEAKNESS: He’s reckless.

All parents could fill a notebook with the general lessons they’ve learned about life and God through observing and raising their kids, I’m sure.

But this is a very specific thing God is teaching me through my 20 month old boy right now:
The very characteristics that have the potential to make him a great man of God
have the potential to ruin his life.

The flipside of the attributes that make us extremely effective can also make us very vulnerable if not submitted to the authority of Jesus and the control of the Holy Spirit.

The same passion and focus that makes my son obsessed about Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch as a 20 month old will make him an incredible instrument in the hands of God… if that energy is directed toward Jesus.

And that’s what we’re praying for… .

I love the people in my inner circle right now.
I like them and trust them too.
You need to be able to say the same thing.

Because of the way I’m wired as a leader, and because of some past experiences (I’ll be more specific about this some other time), loyalty is more important to me than any other single factor in deciding who to really let into my life.

I mean die hard loyalty. I give it, and I require it of my staff and close friends.

This concept is often met with an argument:
“So you just want to be surrounded by a bunch of yes men?”

I’m not sure how to answer that.
If the opposite of a yes man is a no man, then the answer is yes, man.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

I want people around me who say yes to the freakish possibilities that God has laid on our hearts.
People who will cut off Malchus’ ear in the garden rather than just standing by and watching the enemy attack. After all, Jesus can put the ear back on if they made a mistake. At least they were willing to fight.
People who get a gleam in their eye and a twitch in their leg, and who bob their heads when I’m passionately describing what I think God wants to do next.
Not people who stare out the window thinking about lunch.

People who will also challenge me appropriately if I’m settling for less than God’s best for our church and in my life.

People who will cover me when the bullets are flying.

The story of Elevation so far is the story of this kind of people.

To all leaders: Where are your peeps? Who are your peeps?
Do they have your back?
Do they really?
If yes, treasure them and bless them.
If no, confront them and remove them. Now. Life’s too short.

To all my peeps: Thanks for having my back. Thanks for blocking for me, even when I don’t know about it.
I’ve got you covered too.

WARNING: What you are about to read will disillusion you beyond repair if you ever thought that we, the staff of Elevation Church, were an intellectually superior assembly of theologians who spend our staff meetings refuting Karl Barth’s neo-orthodoxy and developing new angles from which to substantiate the hypostatic union.

See, we have a quote box on the white board in our conference room.
The game is simple. If you say something funny, dumb, confusing, pointless, random, or any combination of these 5 in our Monday morning staff meeting, I get up, grab a marker, and write your quote on the bottom left hand side of the board.

I know you want examples. I’ve got plenty.

“Once we get ‘em there, we’ve got ‘em there.”
-Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor, on what time we should hold our New Year’s Eve services. Deep huh?

“I just never realized that I was a part of something so big.”
-John Bishop, Small Groups Pastor, reflecting on his time as…
a McDonald’s Employee.

“That’s just the color of the sky in the world where I live.”
-Larry Brey, Assimilation Pastor/Minister of Optimism, explaining why when we guess how many people are going to show up for something he guesses 3 times the amount that everyone else guesses.

“I’ve seen people die early because they were just sorry. They were just sorry.”
-Chunks Corbett, yet again, on death and sorry people. Harsh. Second sentence gives a special, extra harsh emphasis, I think.

“Bring your fresh cornbread.”
-John Bishop on how to give more effective invitations. I think.

“We can’t get to week 2 without week 1.”
-Me from this morning. I don’t even know what I meant. It was early and I only slept 2 hours last night.