If you were at Elevation this morning for 2nd service, you get it.
Pastor Terrell Murphy rocked the party.
And he’s got some moves.

Let me catch you out-of-towners up: I had my friend who pastors a thriving church on the other side of town preach for me today. He’s a protégé of Bishop Eddie Long, who pastors the largest church in Georgia.
(Bishop, I’m packed for Vegas.)
We had some Holy Ghost church.

My top ten thoughts on having an African American pastor from a megachurch in my same city from an entirely different ministry background preach at Elevation this morning:

1. It was freaking awesome. Not just awesome. Freaking awesome.
2. Thanks Pastor Murphy for taking a Sunday away from your 6,000+ member church to come preach for me. It’s rare, it means a lot, and I won’t forget it.
3. The people of Elevation church are BIG and BROAD.
What I mean is that you’re open to different experiences and approaches, and you’re not into nitpicking a preacher, or waiting for him to say something you disagree with. You’re too busy listening for God to speak truth to you. Let’s stay that way. It honors God.
4. I wasn’t kidding about Cricket Arena. Let’s see what happens. Why not? I’m just saying, why not? You feel me?
5. If you can’t see that the favor of God is all over our church right now, your eyes are closed. Stilettos, eh? (Had to be there… )
6. I’m so glad that what God is doing in our city is bigger than our church. Our partnership with men of God like Pastor Murphy is priceless.
7. I’m so glad that what God is doing all over the world transcends style and culture. And our preconceived notions. Aren’t you glad God isn’t boring and boxed in?
8. Ya’ll did good talking back to the preacher. Now that I know you can do it, I will be expecting it. Bet.
9. If I hollered like Pastor Murphy did, I wouldn’t be able to talk again for 3 years. Ouch.
10. I think I’ll wear another suit on Easter. Murph inspired me. Mom will be proud.

And now, another shorter, unrelated list to wrap things up:
1. How did I get back on top @ Technorati?
Seriously, how? And when will the madness end?
2. I preached at a great event called Impact ‘07 in Gaffney, SC this weekend. Over 100 students made public professions of faith in Christ. Glory to God. And you middle school girls really were scary. And that drummer’s head really did look like it might fall off.
3. Our Union Campus is lit to pop. The sky is the limit because there are already 150 fired up Union volunteers who are ready to kick the devil in the mouth ‘til his gums bleed.
5000 door hangers in 2 hours? Really? Amazing, guys.
Let’s do this!
4. I’m more excited about this coming Sunday’s worship experience, top to bottom, than anything I’ve ever been a part of planning. Yes, I speak in super exaggerated terms (such as super exaggerated) way too often.
But in this case, it’s true.
I guarantee you, there are two moments in the service that will take your breath away and/or give you chills.

They laughed at us.
Almost everybody did.
The ones who didn’t laugh in our face must have been laughing behind our backs.

And with good reason, mind you.
We were laughing too.
It was a dumb idea, and it shouldn’t have worked.
But it did work.

Last Easter, with a fledgling 2 month old congregation of about 200, we pulled off an Easter event that made headlines.
It involved 50,000 Easter Eggs falling from the sky and thousands of dollars in prizes.
2,500 people showed up.
No one went to the hospital.
No drunk moms pulled each other’s hair out fighting over the prize winning eggs.
And we made a statement to our community:
We’re here to play ball. Happy Easter Charlotte.

We’re going to do it again this year.
The 2nd Annual Elevation Egg Drop.
Bigger and better than before.
You wait and see.

BONUS: This year, we’ve already heard of at least a dozen other churches who are going to do the event in their own cities.
We’ve been able to help many of them.
That makes me thankful.
Thankful that our stupidity is contagious and is going to help lots of other churches reach their communities with their unique (and hopefully better) versions of this Easter Egg Hunt on steroids.

I remember more than one pastor telling me what an unwise move it was.
It had never been done before, and it could flop.

True, but it could also not flop. It could be a monster success, and possibly even catch on all over the country.

Don’t you think every mammoth concept was downright laughable until it was a reality?
Inherent in any vision that has the possibility of really taking off is the possibility of really tanking, right?

Do you even think that maybe if people aren’t laughing at your ideas, you aren’t dreaming big enough?

Abraham and Sarah laughed at God’s idea.
Not a good move, guys.
But understandable.

When you think you have a good idea, and the people you trust are behind it, and you believe the best you can that God is the author of it…
Let people laugh.
Laugh along with ‘em.
And go for it.

The more the idea makes you laugh, the better the chance it’s from God.

If it fails, laugh even harder and learn something from it.
(By the way, the more expensive the failure, the more you’d better learn.)

If it succeeds, laugh at that too.
Because you know that without the blessing of God you would truly be a laughingstock.

Bottom line:
If it isn’t worth laughing at, is it really worth doing?

Due to my recent Technorati fame, some of the wizards of the blogosphere seem to imply that I’m the master of the publicity stunt.
Not so much.

But I am a man on a mission.
And since a few thousand new friends have stopped by over the last few days, we’d like to take the opportunity to introduce ourselves.

My name is Steven Furtick, and I pastor the most wonderful people in America.
And we’re drop dead serious about this thing called the Church.

8 families sold our houses and quit our jobs and moved to Charlotte, NC just over a year ago. Not for better pay or a more pleasant climate.
To start a revolutionary church in a city of strategic and increasing national influence.

You may think we’re looney tunes, but we think the local church is the best thing going. When it’s done right.
Our church has grown from those 19 folks just over a year ago to a current weekly attendance of over 1600 people.
God is blowing our freaking minds. We’re having a blast. And we’re not slowing down.
We’re recklessly passionate about presenting the Gospel of Christ with boldness and clarity in every pocket of the Charlotte region and beyond.

That’s who we are.

We’re not sitting around forming carpet color committees or mobilizing to picket video poker.
We’d rather be known for what we love than what we hate.
We’d rather focus on what we’re for than what we’re against.

That’s who we are.

We’re don’t feed turkey to the homeless on Thanksgiving and flip them the bird the rest of the year.

But our generous people will invest over $100,000 back into our community this year through established partnerships with the top 5 organizations in metro Charlotte that serve the underserved.

That’s who we are.

We believe that since our God is the author of all things creative, the Church of Jesus Christ should be the most creative entity on the planet. Our worship experiences should overflow and ooze with life and passion.
And they should represent the epitome of excellence, more than MTV, VH1 or American Idol.

That’s who we are.

We love our city.
We’re on a mission to dominate. To manifest the Kingdom of God in every sphere of our influence.

We are not content to live in the confines of the ghetto that is sub-cultural Christianity.
We are image bearers of God, determined to represent Christ in all things: educational, medical, legal, industrial, financial… we proclaim Christ in all things.

That’s who we are.

And we’re not alone.

There are thousands of other pastors and churches all across this country who are rejecting meaningless methodologies and refusing to back down in the face of a changing culture.
We embrace, harness, and ultimately shape culture.
And we are building the Kingdom of God together.
Our message, the message of forgiveness and grace in Jesus Christ, is the most relevant message in the history of the world, and we won’t be silent about it.

This new generation of pastors is not a bunch of bumbling backwoods barely literate inbred rednecks, despite what you’ve seen on the news.

We know what we believe, why we believe it, and we’re determined to live it out with all of our hearts. We’re not perfect, but our passion is sincere to the bone.
We’re not here to merely survive or condemn the world, but to transform it for the glory of God.
And we’re here to stay.
We’re the living, breathing, forcefully advancing Church of Jesus Christ.

That’s who we are.

Thanks for asking. Pleased to meet you.

How did a suburban, 27 year old, Charlotte, NC preacher become a bigger Technorati celeb than Paris Hilton and Antonella Barba without even taking his clothes off?

Did Jesus make him number one?
Did he sell his soul to the devil for 15 minutes of fame?
Or did Elevation Church’s super sexy sermon series take the country by storm?

One thing’s for sure…
This is one pissed off pastor that you don’t want to mess with.
He’s got connections…