Jun 2009
Archive

I’m not a profound writer by any stretch. And I’m no C.H. Spurgeon in the pulpit. But communication is what I do, and there’s one master tool in my chest that has helped me clean up sentences and craft spoken words. It’s the simple and grueling process of revision.

When you’re about to write or say something, I suggest you revise it at least 2 or 3 times before posting or verbalizing. For example, even if you’re just tweeting about your plans for the night, think of a better way to say it than: Going to dinner. Gonna be fun. Personally, I think the less interesting the activity, the more you should dig until you find an interesting angle to communicate from. At least, that’s the kind of stuff I like to read. Not so clever that you come off like you’re trying too hard. But focused and measured enough to get my attention.

When you’re about to have a difficult conversation, it’s well worth the investment of your time to rehearse what you want to say mentally, or commit it to paper if necessary. You owe it to the person you’re confronting. And you owe it to yourself-a few moments of preparation on the front in may save you hours and hours of explanation afterward.

I can’t tell you how long I’ve thought about certain sentences in my sermons, and how ruthlessly I’ve hacked away at them until they were concise and sticky. A simple sentence like: Between the promise and the payoff is the process-and the process is the point may take me weeks of on again, off again mental energy to perfect. But I suspect that my finished product packs more punch than: life is tough, but hang in there. It’ll be worth it.

Whether you’re preaching, blogging, or speaking a hard truth, the principle is golden: If you think it over, you’ll say it better. Everytime.

Everybody wants to be an original. Lately, I’m concluding there’s no such thing. Don’t get me wrong, you’re unique. One of a kind. Just like everybody else.

When God made you, He encoded a temperament, skill set, passion, and anointing in a measured and distinctive combination. But through the years, that DNA is enhanced and affected for better and worse through your influences and experiences. And over time, you become a mixed breed of sorts.

Let me come at this another way:
People who stand out as unique aren’t original. They’re just really interesting hybrids.

Musical styles that are hailed as groundbreaking typically just fuse certain elements of several existing styles in a way that is fresh to us. Ska is reggae meets punk. Hip-hop is the bottom of the funnel that started with R&B and rap. Before that blues and jazz.

There’s no such thing as an original preacher. Just a preacher who combines all of his influences and inspirations in a way that sounds new to us. And the richer and more smoothly blended the influences, the more tasteful and flavorful the interpretation will be.
Methodist upbringing + Baptist college +
Interdenominational traveling ministry + Black preacher wannabe=
me.

There’s nothing original about my leadership style (yours either). I’m a the product of 5 million different influences, some good, some bad, some potent, some barely discernable, filtered through the Holy Spirit, changing every day.

You can’t be an original. But you have potential to be a really fascinating hybrid. Internalize and integrate your influences-and see what comes out in the mix.

It’s that time again. So kick back and cool off from the summer heat with this special recipe for tasty frozen fun and a bit of sensory overload. Yum yum.

-Ryan “Bobby Flay” Hollingsworth & Chris “Paula Dean” Brown

Guest Blogger: Wade Joye

Recently, our service programming team sought to come up with a good way to evaluate our worship experience each week. How could we determine both on the front end, when we plan, and on the back end as we evaluate, whether or not a worship experience captured the spirit and vision of Elevation Church?

After being inspired by a conversation with Pace from Fellowship Church, we developed the following 5 elements that every Elevation service should have.

These elements are all built on the foundation of worshipping in a way that lifts the name of Jesus high and making Him the center of our time together.

We know that these may change, but right now they are …

Energy – Is the worship experience full of life? Both in the stage dynamics of our band and in the tone of the songs picked, are we boldly celebrating the life we have in Christ? A song doesn’t have to be super fast to have energy either. Hillsong’s Stronger is a slower tune that absolutely explodes in our worship experiences.

Flow – Does every element of the worship experience seamlessly fit together as one, or does the service feel jumbled with a lot of different elements that have no consistent theme? Do the spoken transitions by the worship leaders, the videos used, announcements, etc. all work together in a smooth and meaningful way? Are there any awkward silences or elements not executed well that kill the mood and become a distraction?

Creativity – This category is pretty broad, but is there at least one fresh element in the worship experience? Recently, we took Chris Tomlin’s My Deliverer, a song we have done a lot, and put a Radiohead hook in it to make it come alive in a new way. It reminded me that you don’t have to pull out all the stops to be creative and have a powerful moment.

Far from God focused – Are we too insider with our language, or are we thinking about the person who is far from God that is sitting in our service for their first time at church in years? Do the creative elements we choose speak more to the first time guest, or to “our people.”

Intentionality – Are we taking people on a purposeful journey in each worship service? We always want to have one “payoff” moment where no matter what frame of mind someone was in when they entered the service, they are now engaged in worship and ready to hear the preaching of the Word of God when Pastor Steven steps on stage.

While these standards work well for us, they might not be the best for your church. Pull your team together and work through what the essential elements are for your services. The exercise alone will be well worth your time.

Guest Blogger: Meredith Brock, Executive Assistant to the Lead Pastor

Just made some upgrades to the blog that we didn’t want you to miss out on.
You can get the blog delivered right to your computer everyday through subscribing via email or RSS feed.
Its simple, just navigate to the bottom of the side bar and choose which option you prefer (email or RSS), it will guide you right through the process.
Enjoy!

Never used my blog as a birthday card before. But I wanted to give honor to one of my best friends today.

Today is Pastor Perry Noble’s birthday. Send him a Happy Birthday Tweet, why don’t you?

It turns out that most people will meet with you when your church reaches a certain size. Perry met with me way before then. I mean way, way before then. Like, when Elevation Church was 4 people strong (6 if you count unborn children.) He and Morehead used to take me and Chunks to this restaurant in Anderson, answer questions, and pay for lunch. The perfect combination. Never asked anything in return.

Sometimes you may see a highly visible, highly confident, highly successful pastor like Perry and wonder if he’s the real deal. He is. And I could say the same for many other pastors you’ve heard of. I’ll do that another time.

For today, I just wanted to tell one of the guys who believed in me from the beginning thank you. I’m glad Clayton (one of the other top influential people in my life who bought stock in me at the IPO) hooked us up P. Thanks for checking in with me every (almost) Sunday and caring how my day went. Thanks for answering the questions I didn’t know I needed to ask before I even asked them. And thanks for going first. It’s nice to walk a path that’s a little clearer because you’ve been there.

Our best is ahead man. Happy Birthday. Don’t swat at gnats this year. You’re too big for it. And don’t worry about getting older. I’ll keep buying you shirts-keep you looking young. Just be careful where you wear them. I take no responsibility for the results.

Third and final (for now) Exclusive Leadership Interview installment. I think we’re putting together a CD set of every audio blog from the last 2 years as a prize for a few attendees at Impart, by the way. I hope you’ll be there.

Now, onto the topics at hand: using every season wisely. Turning low times into high times. Spreading out and digging down. How to avoid going suicidal during the summer when attendance falls through the floor and everyone takes their tithe check to Disney World. Stuff like that.

If you’ve enjoyed these audio blogs, you should tell us. We may decide to do them again. Thanks for the opportunity to invest some of our insight into your life. It’s an honor.

[audio:2009-06-23.mp3]

In honor of Fathers Day we have interrupted Pastor Stevens regularly scheduled message:

We love you Daddy!

Love – Elijah and Graham

Pastor Steven’s out of town. But a few old friends from across the tracks stopped by to give a little summer tour of the nooks and crannies of our current office space. The visual mindblow begins in 3…2…1.

-Ryan Hollingsworth & Chris Brown

You need to act fast on this. We’re only going to offer it once. And it’s only for the first 20 people.

Today and today only 20 of you can sign up for our Impart event -
For half price.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.

All the event details are right here.
It’s a very expensive and exclusive event. It’s worth every penny. But some of you can’t afford the full rate. So you’re sitting around making excuses instead of figuring out how to make it happen.

Today I’m rewarding those of you who are decisive enough to pull the trigger and commit to coming-if you’re one of the next 20 to sign up. Consider it the early-early bird rate.
First 20 to respond get the deal. After that the offer is dead. No exceptions.

Hurry. You might be too late already.

June is E.L.I. month here at stevenfurtick.com. (That’s Exclusive Leadership Interviews for you rookies.)

The microphones were rollin’ as we told all about how we imagine and implement the sermon series here at Elevation. You’ll probably enjoy the inside scoop on this whether you’re a leader in another church or a part of Elevation.

Here’s the series briefing questionnaire I mention in the audio blog. Hope it’s a helpful enhancement to these Leadership Interviews-our gift to you.

[audio:2009-06-16.mp3]

After he was restored, Peter started speculating about the future of John. You’ll recall that John was the only apostle who stood by Jesus at the crucifixion (incidentally, he was also the one who actually referred to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved”-bold!). So I suppose Peter and the others were concerned about John getting preferential treatment and advancing past them in position based on performance.

Jesus set them straight with a response that we would do well to internalize:
“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
-John 21:22

When you’re tempted to compare yourself to another servant of Christ, heed the words of Jesus:
What is that to you?

If God sees fit to bless someone else with a greater measure of success than me, what is that to me? I’ve got my own race to run, and my own abilities to account for.

If someone else makes some decisions I disagree with, or if another brother stumbles and falls, what is that to me? God knows, I’ve gotten way off track in my own attempts to follow Christ.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. John 8:7
Let each servant stand or fall to his own master. Romans 14:4
Let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12

We wouldn’t have time to misjudge the motives of anyone else
if we were fully engaged in following Jesus ourselves.

Guest Blog: John Bishop

I wrote my Dad a Father’s Day letter the other day. Here are some of the lines from that letter:

“I have a deep respect for you dad.”

“You taught me the value of hard work. You challenged me. You passed on a great appreciation for the irony of life. You put in hours upon hours of work so that I could have food, clothes, a place to live, security and comfort.”

“Whatever dividends are paid out as I spend my life will always be linked to the investment you made in me. Thank you Dad, happy Father’s Day.”

The purpose of the letter was to let my Dad know that all of his sacrifices have been noticed and appreciated by me.

Father’s day is just over a week away. My guess is your relationship to your Dad could use a fresh infusion of life. So rather than writing a bland vanilla note in a generic card that will serve as a nice gesture but will make very little impact I challenge you to honor your father this Father’s day.

Tell him how much you appreciate him. Highlight the things he’s done right. For those of you who feel that your Dad isn’t worthy of honor, I would challenge you to reconsider your stance in light of Matthew 15:4, “For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and mother.’”

Pastor Furtick said in his sermon on James 3:1-12 on week four of Essential James back on April 5^th that taming the tongue was about so much more then not saying bad stuff. “Instead,” he challenged, “Employ your tongue for a purpose that is useful!”

This Father’s day I challenge you to honor your father. Speak life into that relationship. If that relationship is broken perhaps your words will start a process of healing. Either way, it is a great opportunity to obey God’s command.

Whatever you do, don’t miss Father’s Day this year!

Got a real special gift for you. In the month of June we’ll be releasing 3 exclusive leadership interviews (E.L.I.s, as the kids call ‘em) here on stevenfurtick.com. Regular Elevation podcast subscribers, you’ll get them delivered straight to ya. A little icing on your weekly sermon cake.
Oh, if you’re not subscribed to the Elevation podcast, go ahead and take care of that. I’ll wait.

This first installment is all about big events-How to dream them up, maximize their impact, and ride their momentum.

Me and 3 or 4 staffers, one concept, lots of fun. Enjoy.

[audio:2009-06-11.mp3]

My faithful trainer Buck always makes me do 2 things after each workout: stretch and drink a recovery drink. He says a good stretch is vital to avoiding injury. And the protein shake helps maximize gains.

Got me thinking about my post-preaching routine. And I think the implications are appropriate following any intense spiritual activity.

After I preach, I need to get in a good stretch-to engage in activities that will help me avoid injury. This might mean taking my Bible on the deck and just reading for a half hour on Monday morning. Might mean sleeping in. Might mean doing yoga. (Stop laughing..it’s P90x yoga, man). Eating breakfast with my wife. Listening to a favorite preacher or watching a game on the couch Sunday afternoon.
Or it might be what I don’t do: make important decisions. Engage conflict.
Schedule too many meetings.

Then I’ve got to figure out how to nourish my spirit to maximize gains. A few Monday mornings ago, I found a little book of Scriptural confessions of faith. Good ole Pentecostal confessions of faith. I read them out loud in my attic. It was powerful and effective. It helped me flush out my hangover. Hair of the dog.

Remember when Elijah was coming down from the Mount Carmel experience? The angel made him sleep. And fed him. Then God spoke to him. And it kept him from giving up. And it will keep us from giving up, too.

Stretch well. Nourish yourself.
Avoid injury. Maximize gains.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:19

The depth of your need regulates the level of God’s supply. The more need you have, the more possibility and potential there is for God to supply. He can’t meet a need that doesn’t exist.

So often our prayers revolve around reducing and eliminating the physical, emotional, and financial needs in our lives. If our prayers were answered, and our needs vanished, we would forfeit the opportunity to ever receive from God again. He can only fill empty vessels.

Our needs create demand. Demand creates supply. God’s supply is endless, and He measures out His resources on the basis of our capacity to receive.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

If you want more of God, you need more need.

When conflict comes, you’ve got two options:
Fight it or Ride it.
And those are your only two options, the way I see it. Because the conflict is coming whether you embrace it or not.

If you choose to fight it-that is, resent that it’s happening and resist its implications-I promise you’ll end up frustrated, sore, and no closer to closure than you were at the start. Obviously, this makes for a terrible strategy. But you’d be surprised how often people opt to fight against the wind.

Many churches fight technological and methodological advancement, pining for the good old days. Meanwhile their pews get less crowded, offerings dwindle, and infighting increases. It’s a losing battle.

I often fight against relational conflict, wishing the other person would just get their act together so I wouldn’t have to deal with this intrusion upon my peace of mind. So far, my wishing away the perceived inadequacies of another has never affected relational change.

So, I suggest we resolve to stop fighting conflict. Instead, we’ll learn to ride it. Look at it like a wave. It’s going to come crashing whether we welcome it or not. So we might as well let it take us somewhere.

“I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
-John the Baptist, John 1:23

Most people have a voice. John the Baptist takes it a step further:
I am the voice.

Wow! The expression of his passion was so singularly focused that his message and identity were one and the same. You could read it this way:
“My whole life shouts: prepare the way for the Lord!”

Your life shouts something, too-whether you mean to communicate it or not.
Today’s question for reflection:
What are you the voice for?
What comes through loud and clear in the way you live?

What does your whole life shout?

I heard a famous blues guitarist interviewed one time, and he was asked to share his opinion on a few other guitar players. The guys in question were neo-classical shredders: they played really really fast-lots and lots of notes.
The blues legend made a funny face, thought for a second, and admitted:
“I’m not a big fan of that style. When it comes to guitar solos, I’m a minimalist. I think the notes you don’t play are the really important ones. That way, the ones you do play really count. They stick, man.”

This applies to leadership on so many levels:
Often, it’s the notes you don’t play that make the biggest impact.

The angry words you don’t speak.
The superfluous ministries you don’t do.
The sketchy staff members you don’t hire.
The mild compromises you don’t allow.
The detail oriented meetings you don’t sit in.

If you want to be heard more clearly, play less notes. Make every one count.

I love what I do. The Pastoral calling and mantle is so much more than I deserve. Yeah, it’s a fishbowl, high stress, and diabolically intense at times. But don’t let the negatives fool you-it’s a sweet gig.
And I feel funny expressing this, but I think I’m getting better at it every day. Which creates this insatiable desire to keep getting better. And better. I want to become a pastoral virtuoso. I want to advance in skill, precision, and ability.
In short, I’m unapologetically ministerially ambitious.

Ambition is almost a bad word in the world of ministry. It’s usually regarded as carnal when it comes to spiritual leadership-as if it’s wrong for a pastor to want to be the best at what he does. Trust me, I know all about the dangers of selfish ambition-I have to keep motives in check minute by minute.

But, to all those who think that the desire to be the best at what you do is a forbidden sin for pastors: I think that’s a cop-out. A justification for mediocrity.

NBA players aim to be the best.
And at the end of the day, what they do amounts to-money and entertainment.
I refuse to let their ambition exceed mine.
At the end of the day, what I do amounts to-life and death.

Ministerial ambition isn’t some new-fangled vice for new-school pastors who have allowed business paradigms to taint their ministry philosophies.
The apostle Paul was ambitious. Really ambitious.
Richard Baxter (the Puritan) wrote about and heavily endorsed ministerial progress. So did Spurgeon (take that theologues).

And so will Furtick. And so should you, Pastor.
Be ambitious for the Gospel. For the right reasons. With all your heart.
Live a life worthy of the calling you’ve received.
It’s the highest ambition we could ever embrace.

Okay. Okay. I give. After endless harassment from my friends and an unbearable barrage of peer pressure, I’m gonna give it a try.
I’m committing to Twitter for the next 2 weeks. I’ll give it my best and see if I’ve got what it takes to keep myself (let alone other human beings) interested.

You can follow me here. I think Chunks is taking bets on how long I’ll last.
(Don’t tell anybody, but I did it three times today-and I kind of liked it.)

See you in the Twittersphere. I have no idea if anyone says Twittersphere. Gosh I feel like an old man.

Proverbs 12:27
The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

You’ve got to give the lazy guy in this Proverb a little credit. At least he took the initiative and went hunting. He even killed something in the process. But apparently, he stopped short. What good is it to kill an animal if you’re not going to cook it and eat it?

Many of us succeed in obtaining information and knowledge, but we fail in applying and utilizing it. In other words, we make the kill but don’t roast our game.

What good is it to attend another conference if you’re not going to make a major ministry decision based on the wisdom you collect?

What good is it to read the Bible or hear a sermon if you’re just going to let it sit in the same notebook as the last sermon you heard and did nothing about?

What good is it to ask for advice from a trusted friend if you’re not willing to put it into practice unless, of course, she gives you the advice that lines up with the decision you already determined to make anyway?

What good is making the kill if you’re not willing to roast your game?