Archive for the ‘Innovation’ Category

Originality is Overrated

There’s an overwhelming obsession with originality going on today.

Everybody wants to be an original. Or do something original.
This is especially true when it comes to any creative endeavor.

Writing.
Film.
Art.
Preaching.
Pretty much anything that requires even a hint of creativity.

Basically the line of thinking says that if something isn’t completely original, it isn’t a bit creative. Which translates into the idea that you have to do things no one has done before and say things no one has said before.

I’m not buying it. In fact, I’m increasingly finding the opposite to be true:
True creativity is fresh, but not always original.

Let me come at it this way. A truly creative sermon isn’t where you say things no one has ever said before (In fact, if you’re saying things that no one in 2000 years of Christendom has thought of, you shouldn’t be proud. You should be a little worried.) A creative sermon is one that takes a truth that has been heard 100 times and makes you feel like you’re hearing it for the first time. It’s not original to you. But it’s made fresh by you.

Truly creative movies aren’t movies that are completely original. They’re movies that provide fresh takes on themes that are in any great movie: conflict, loss, overcoming adversity, etc.

Perhaps the greatest enemy of creativity is the quest for originality.
There’s only one person who has ever created ex nihilo. We’re not Him.
Our creativity lies in making the original creation fresh.

Originality is overrated. Fresh is where it’s at.

Resource of the Day: When it comes to people, I’ve concluded that there’s no such thing as being an original. That may rub you wrong when you first hear it, but keep reading here for my explanation: You’re Not an Original.

Daydreams and Sweatshops

I was recently reading Robert McKee’s book on the process of storytelling and came across a sentence that really challenged me. He was discussing the hard work of the creative endeavor and constructing fictional environments and he said:
Worlds are not daydreams but sweatshops.

It got me thinking on a different but similar vein about how we often misunderstand the concept of having a vision from God. For our lives, our ministries, and really for everything in general.

I think when most people think or talk about getting a vision from God, it’s more along the lines of a daydream. We associate receiving a vision from God with being passive. We think that God speaks to you with candles lit and music playing.

He often does. But that’s not where the vision comes to life. It’s simply the moment of conception. The vision really comes to life when the candles go out and the music stops. It’s when you have to get down to the hard work of actually making it happen. Visions don’t come to life in daydreams but in sweatshops.

If you’re a church planter, it’s in the hours you spend setting up your portable location just to be able to preach for forty minutes.
If God has called you to be a doctor, it’s in the years of school and interning that you have to endure to get those two simple letters, M.D., attached to your name.
If you’re a writer or filmmaker, it’s in the days and months of brainstorming, executing, and editing that it takes to make your project a reality.

Being a visionary or receiving a vision isn’t defined simply by what you can think of. My five-year old can think of a lot of things that have no chance of becoming real. Being a visionary has to do with what you can bring to life. God is the Creator not because He imagined or envisioned creation. But because He acted and brought it into existence.

Why should it be any different for the creation that was made in His image?

Resource of the Day: The idea above also applies to the creative process and what it means to be creative in general. For more on this, especially for anyone that is involved in creating anything, check out this blog post: Imagination is not Creation.

Think inside the box

When it comes to our limitations, most people operate out of an if, then mindset.

If I had __________, then I would ___________.
If I could __________, then I would ___________.

So…
If I had more money, then I would buy a nicer house.
If I could sing, then I would be a musician.
If my children were in a different stage of life, then I would move.
If my church had a state of the art facility, then we would grow.

You encounter this same kind of thinking in the corporate world. It’s called thinking outside the box:
What would you do if you had unlimited money? Could sing? Had children who were at a different stage? Had a state of the art facility?

Sounds nice, but this mindset is a breeding ground for frustration. Why?

Because you don’t have unlimited money.
You can’t sing.
Your children aren’t in a different stage of life.
And your church still has the same building.

In other words, for now you’re stuck with your limitations. And while it might be liberating to think about life as if you didn’t have them, they’re still there and you have to work with them.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t plan ahead or that you shouldn’t dream. Of course you should. But your box is never going to expand to the place where you’re thinking outside of it until you learn to live in it.

I would challenge you to think inside the box. Stop waiting for what you want and work what you’ve got. How much money do you have? What talents has God given you? How can you maximize your church or corporation with the assets and resources you currently have in place?

Your greatest limitation is God’s greatest opportunity.
If He wanted you to have ________, He would have provided it to you.
If He wanted you to do ________, He would have made you able.

But He didn’t.

So there must be something greater in mind that He wants to do through your limitation. He must have something in mind He wants to do with what you actually have and actually can do.

Most of us are so focused on what we don’t have that we’re blinded to what we do have. If you had what you think you needed you wouldn’t be able to use what God’s actually put inside of you.

And what He has put inside of you is all you need to accomplish all that He’s called you to do. It’s all He needs too.

Even if it seems limited to you.

Resource of the Day: One of the biggest areas people need to learn to think inside the box is in their finances. Check out these two sermons from The Real Change Campaign series for a new perspective on handling your money and some tips for thinking inside the box: 1) Think Inside the Box. 2) Enlarge the Box.

Where Are They Now?

I saw Stephanie Tanner from Full House on some Where Are They Now type show recently.

Turns out the former child star went on to struggle with serious drug addiction after leaving the show. That’s not uncommon for kid actors. It’s hard to navigate the pressures of growing up, period. It must be nearly impossible to navigate the chaos of growing up in front of the paparazzi or a camera crew. (Although Rev Run’s kids seem pretty down to earth and relatively balanced.)

A friend told me a while back:
“I hope Elevation Church doesn’t end up like one of those Where Are They Now? stories.”
I asked him to clarify.
“Yeah, you know, you guys are really getting a lot of attention at a very young age. Kinda like one of those child stars. I hope it doesn’t spoil you.”

I hope so too. I think about that a lot.

I’m so grateful for the platform God has given us to encourage other churches and pastors all over the world. If something about our journey can accelerate your progress, we’ll gladly give you a lift.

But just because God has given us a platform doesn’t mean we’re stars. In fact, we’re nothing more than the road crew to set the stage for Jesus. He’s the only star in this show.

Every chance I get I challenge our staff and volunteers not to take our platform for granted, or to pervert the purpose of it. We’ve experienced a lot of blessing in a little bit of time. We thank God for it. But we’ve got to be careful of it. Otherwise, our greatest asset will become our greatest liability.

I don’t want to have a few years of good public ministry and wind up in a Where Are They Now? spiral of mediocrity and inertia. By God’s grace, we’ll keep setting the stage for Jesus to act in power and shine in His spotlight.

Please be patient with us

I think there’s a tendency for people to conclude that because Elevation Church has grown at a very fast rate, we must be experts on all subjects related to church leadership.

Ha.

I fear that every time I hit post on a blog entry (ok, I don’t actually know how to post them. I hit send, MBA hits post) I reinforce this misconception.
Hey, check out my insight! We’ve cracked the code to save the world! Here’s how you can do it too!

And that’s not our heart. If you only knew how much we know that we don’t know much at all. I’m not playing humble pie here. I do recognize that I have certain gifts, abilities, and skills, given by God for the good of others. Our church has discovered, borrowed, and occasionally invented some concepts that have helped us reach our city well. And we take immense pride in what Jesus is doing through Elevation. We share our philosophies with passion because we’ve seen God bless them. No apologies there.

But, to paraphrase something Bobby Gruenewald told me the first time we met:
Outside of the Bible, we don’t have ministry philosophies. Everything is a theory.

When we share something about ministry or leadership, we’re not saying:
This is how you do it.
We’re simply saying:
This is how we did it before or this is how we’re doing it now.

Any ministry paradigm that is not clearly prescribed by the Word of God is subject to change: by the Holy Spirit, increased revelation, or cultural shifts. We reserve the right to disagree vehemently with ourselves if and when we learn a better way to do something.

So let me be the first to tell you:
I have said, and will say, some dumb things. I’ve said some inaccurate things. Sometimes, I’ve said accurate things in dumb ways. If it ever sounds like I’m schizophrenic because I say one thing in August and another thing in November, it’s because I’m learning. I’m progressing. I know it’s uncomfortable to watch me change clothes right in front of you. But at least I’m fresh.

Be patient with me. I’m not preaching, teaching, blogging and tweeting because I think I’ve got it figured out. But I figure our church owes it to you to figure it out in front of you. To learn out loud.

We’re bound to hit some bad notes. But at least we’ll have ‘em recorded for playback. Should make some fun blooper reels.

Imagination is not creation

Let’s define creative. Cause it seems like to me that the way we often use the term in church work today misses the point.

Some people fancy themselves as being “creative”, or “creative-types” because they have a lot of ideas. Cool. You have ideas.
So does my 3 year old.
That doesn’t make you creative.
An idea without implementation isn’t creation.
It’s imagination.

By definition, being creative requires that you create something.
True creative people don’t just dream it-they do it-or oversee the strategy to get it done.
True creativity results in a product. Not just an idea.

We’ve all met people who shy away from the hard work of action steps because they “don’t do the details”. They’re “more into the creative side of things”.
But as far as I can tell, the Chief Creator didn’t just think about light, stars, and human life-the proof of His creativity is the tangible detailed expression of His vision.

That’s what I appreciate so much about our creative team at Elevation.
They imagine-then they implement.
Otherwise, they know they’d just be playing make believe.
And we don’t give paychecks to big boys and girls for playing make believe.

What will you create today?
Don’t settle for conceptualization. Bring it into existence.

Bad form

Larry Hubatka (of Joybatka fame) made a good point the other day. He said our staff often reverts to bad form when the pressure’s on.
It’s like we grew up playing street ball, and now we’re trying to make it in the NBA. Playing at this level requires embracing correct fundamental technique.
And we try our best to do that-in practice. But come game time, we’re quick to throw finesse out the window and go right back to our street ballin ways.

How’s that?

We’re often forced to violate our systems because we didn’t prioritize to meet a deadline.

Other times we lean too hard into talent to overcompensate for a lack of preparation.

On a few occasions we’ve compromised a long-term value to satisfy a short-term demand.

When you start a church from scratch, you can imagine how you develop some habits that are effective in the start up phase, but limiting in the long run.
The trick is to structure sustainable systems, while making sure to stay scrappy.

How do we play pro ball without taking the fun out of the game?

No back door

It’s amazing how innovative people become when there’s no back door-and no option to quit.

One of the primary factors that contributed greatly to the success of Elevation (particularly in the first year) was the “come hell or high water” commitment of our core team. We were going to birth a powerful church or die trying. But giving up and trying something else was never on the radar.

These people had burned the proverbial bridges when they moved to Charlotte to start the church. No plan B. No diversification strategy. No escape route. No back door.

So we had to make it work. Which meant we had to innovate.
When you leave yourself the option to quit if it gets too rough, it switches off your innovation mechanism. Because when you run headlong into the kind of severe frustration that has the potential to spark a breakthrough concept, you start figuring out how to get out instead of how to fight through.

I know sometimes it’s wise and appropriate to cut your losses and move on.
But many people miss the blessings and breakthroughs born only by perseverance because they keep one hand on the back door.

Innovators, Imitators and Idiots

Warren Buffet says that whenever there is a great new idea, there’s a natural progression to how it goes wrong.
The idea originates with innovators, is picked up by imitators, and is ultimately abused and misappropriated by idiots.
Innovators-Imitators-Idiots.

Of course, he framed this progression in reference to the current economic crisis.

But don’t we see this happening in the church world all the time?

A breakthrough concept emerges out of XYZ Church’s sincere desire to reach people for Christ. The idea is wildly successful for that particular church and word gets out in the Christian community: “did you hear about what XYZ Church did?”
Since it worked for them, the logic goes, it will work for us.
And sometimes it will.

If-
You internalize it (pray-God, is this the right move for us?)
analyze it (understand what they really did and how they pulled it off)
contextualize it (adjust and revise it to reflect your particular situation)
Hey, imitation isn’t often a great ally! I learned to play guitar by imitating Jimi Hendrix (albeit not very well).

But don’t be an idiot.
Don’t start a 2nd campus when your 1st campus is 55% full at one service just because multi-site is sexy and en vogue. Start another service or two first.
Don’t do a rap cover that you saw them do at Catalyst because it was cool-unless you have someone who could rap proficiently, and you think your people will dig it. The 14 year old glow in the dark white boy who leads worship for you with an acoustic guitar probably won’t pull it off-and you’ll look like an idiot.

Examples of this abound. I’ve/We’ve been idiots many times.
Hope this post keeps you from going there.

(Special thanks to the Mavericks at Work guys for passing on this profound idea!)

It

It

We all need to pick up a copy of Craig Groeschel’s book “It”. I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but anything this guy says deserves our full attention. In my opinion he is one of the greatest men of God in our generation. Nobody is more qualified to speak on the “it factor” than Pastor Craig. He is leading one of the most revolutionary moves of God in the world and I can’t wait to see what he has to say in this new book. Go pick it up.

Visit his church at Lifechurch.tv.

Not this…but something like

Here’s a surefire way to come up with better creative ideas:
Start disciplining yourself to say your bad ideas out loud.
When you’re in a brainstorming meeting, the natural thing to do is to try to get your idea perfectly formulated before you risk embarrassment by verbalizing it. Nobody wants to expose himself to unnecessary ridicule. And make no mistake, some ideas are better left unsaid.

But when you have an idea that you know isn’t quite there, yet it seems to be in the right zip code, here’s a phrase that can help you get it out there for further input and development:
“Not this-but something like (insert idea).”

I learned this trick from my songwriting days. In co-writing situations, I often found myself having the right idea for a lyric, but I couldn’t figure out a great way to phrase it. So I’d just put it out there:
“I have an idea for the next line. Not this, but something like (insert clumsy line).”
This is where a good co-writing partner will jump in and see it from a different angle, providing a different perspective, and, over 50% of the time, refining your mediocre idea until it’s actually a feasible line.
This phrase has helped me solicit help for sermon illustrations. I’ll tell my team: “Hey guys, I have this idea for an illustration for tithing using piggy banks. This isn’t exactly it, but something like (describe idea). How do you think we could make this work?”

Putting this phrase into practice has enabled some of our most celebrated ideas, like our Egg Drop, Bless Back Project, and Community Outreach strategy.

The first step to birthing a great idea is having the guts to share the bad idea out loud with at least one other person.
And the introduction: Not this, but something like-. is a great place to start.

One Prayer

To say I am excited about the One Prayer series would be an understatement. I actually think it’s going to be a history making event and Elevation couldn’t be more proud to be a part. I answered a few questions on today’s Swerve blog about my sermon in particular for the One Prayer series. Check it out here.

There is one more thing God has laid on my heart to offer as a resource to churches participating in the One Prayer series. If you are participating in the One Prayer series and using my message, I would be happy to record a one-minute roll-in video in which I specifically address the senior pastor and the congregation as a way to personalize the message to your church.
I know this may be a little awkward if we have no formal relationship, but I believe that affirming the senior pastor and addressing the particular church can add great value to the sermon. I hope this will help to make the One Prayer experience as powerful as possible for all those involved.

Here are the details:

  • Your email request to Elevation should include: Church name and address, name of the senior pastor and how he likes to be addressed (Pastor, Reverend, etc.), city and state where your church is located, a few fast facts about your church (for example, your church is 2 years old, you are in the middle of a capital campaign, your vision statement is-, etc.), anything specific you would like to be included in the roll-in video
  • You will preview and download Elevation’s message from the One Prayer website as instructed by LifeChurch, but you will receive your roll-in video in the mail by Thursday, June 5th from Elevation. Do not email LifeChurch for your church specific roll-in video
  • On the technical side of things, all dvds will be exported in standard definition in a 4:3 format. If you need something different, please specify that in your email

We hope this is a help to encourage your church during the One Prayer series!

Talk about kingdom minded

When Craig Groeschel told me about his idea for the One Prayer series, I had two simultaneous thoughts: 1) this guy is a genius, 2) why haven’t we thought of this before?

The idea was so simple. The conversation went something like this:
Craig: Do we really believe that video teaching works?
Me: Yes, I think so.
Craig: Then why don’t you be my teaching pastor through video and I’ll be yours?
Me: Um, OK.

Several months later the idea is reality and now hundreds of thousands of people across the country will get to be a part. Elevation Church is very excited to be a part of the One Prayer series. I’ll be contributing a pre-produced sermon as will tons of other (much better) preachers. I can’t wait for Elevation Church to get to experience world class preachers and be a part of something so kingdom minded.

I won’t go into a lengthy explanation about what the project is here. Go watch Craig’s video, or catch up with the details on Perry’s blog. Suffice it to say Elevation, we’ll be a part of a history making initiative in the month of June that will unify the body of Christ like never before.

open-prayer-swerve.jpg

Inspire & Innovate

What do Inspire and Innovate have in common (other than being two very hip words that start with the letter I?)

They’re both very cool conferences I’ll be speaking at later in 2008.
Now I promise not to turn this blog into a billboard for my conference schedule, mainly because I’m not going to speak at many this year. In fact, I’m planning on keeping it to 4 for the whole year. I’ve got 2 in diapers, a wife I can’t stand to be away from, and a staff and church made up of my favorite people in the world. So I really have no desire to get on a plane too many times this year.

However, when my good friend Carl Cartee asked me to do a keynote at his inaugural conference for worship leaders, I couldn’t resist. Carl is an excellent brother who will host a first class event… plus, I have a heart to speak to worship leaders. I used to be one.
What’s more, it’s in Gatlinburg, TN… the Myrtle Beach of the winter time. How could I resist?
Worship leader types, check out the event details here.
That’s in May…

… In the fall we’ll join the good folks at Granger Community Church for Innovate, an annual conference for church leaders. I’ve heard so many good things about Granger, it’ll be fun to see for myself. I’ll probably learn more on the trip than I’ll teach.

Maybe we’ll see you in Tennessee or Indiana this year. As always, thanks for your prayers as we try to leverage what God has given us to build the Kingdom beyond Charlotte.

Made

The church should be more like the mafia.
That’s what I said Sunday to set up this trailer for our next sermon series.

Check it out. I’m very proud of our creative department on this one, and anticipating a move of God on this first Sunday of the new year.
I’m counting on you Elevation…
to prove the presence of God by inviting people who are far from God to experience Christ this Sunday, and throughout this series.
Click here to see the trailer.

Here’s the Providence and Butler Evites.

Never done that before

It used to be that when I had an idea about something crazy we could try at Elevation, my first and primary filter about whether we should do it was whether other churches that I knew about and admired had ever done it/would ever do it.
I’m asking that question less and less these days.
I’m learning that in order to see the types of radical results we’re praying for at Elevation, we’re going to have to veer from the beaten path more and more often as we grow.
And now, when another pastor tells me something is a bad idea, I don’t allow it to stop me in my tracks.

For example: Several pastors told me our Egg Drop event was a horrible idea and would be perceived as gimmicky.
It was a raging success. It introduced us to the community in a larger than life format, and provided us with a preview of our future.

One or two pastors tried to talk me out of our spontaneous baptism services in May, saying that our young church would perceive the intensity as too much, too soon. But we felt God urging us, and 426 people are very glad we followed through. And it was a spiritual watershed we’ll never forget.

Most recently, several pastors told me the Bless Back Project was too risky, and too expensive. And after weeks of prayer and conference with our team, I felt God pushing me into the deep end, so we took the plunge. And it’s probably created more excitement and momentum than anything we’ve ever attempted, or ever could have imagined.

As I’m typing this, I’m thinking of more and more examples. Going to two services in the month of May… starting a 2nd campus in less than 30 days within 14 months of our existence… the list goes on.

Please understand, I always want to have the humility to receive the wisdom of others, and weigh it carefully. But when God says do it, I want to have the guts to do it… even if a few folks look at me, roll their eyes, and lament:
We’ve never done that before…

In fact, when someone tells me something’s never been done before, I’m starting to get excited rather than discouraged.
Because maybe the reason it’s never been done before is that it was meant for us to do.

Dirty Sermons

I love our church. I was preaching in Florida last Sunday (and saw over 70 students give their lives to Christ-praise God!), and being away from you Elevators makes me realize how much I miss you, and how special our church is.

So I was fired up today. The joint was packed, the band was blazing, and I went way over my time limit in all 3 services, effectively creating a terrible mess in the parking lot (sorry… really, I am).
Holly said my message wasn’t cute today. She said it was a dirty sermon, and listening to it was like taking a shower. And she really liked it. I have no idea what to make of that.
But 46 people gave their lives to Christ at our Central campus today!

So maybe I’ll preach more dirty sermons.

Beat the System

Remember the Nintendo game Duck Hunt? (I lost my high school and
younger audience… they think World of Warcraft is hi-tech, they just
don’t know do they?) I feel sorry for Duck Hunt. It was kind of an
afterthought/add-on to Super Mario Brothers. The two games came on
the same game cartridge, which came free with the Nintendo if you bought
the Nintendo version that came with the gun. And getting to shoot a
gun at your TV screen was a pretty exciting proposition.

I’ll get to the point.

Duck Hunt was a relatively challenging game, if you played by the rules:
Sit at least 6-8 feet back from the screen, aim the gun and shoot the
ducks-from a distance. Those dang ducks were pretty elusive.

But…
Most of us found a way around that really quickly, didn’t we?
Instead of sitting 6-8 feet away, we positioned the barrel of the gun
directly on the screen. And we blew those ducks’ heads off point blank.
Poor ducks.

How did we make a frustrating activity foolproof?
We found a way to beat the system.

One of the reasons Elevation has grown and advanced:
We keep finding ways to beat the system.
Not the system defined in the Scriptures. We’ll never beat that.
Wouldn’t want to. Wouldn’t dare to try.

But ineffective man made systems? Stupid programs? Pointless processes?
“We’ve always done it this way?” kind of systems?
Models of doing ministry that don’t fit our vision, context or current
needs? Beat ‘em, cheat ‘em, break them in half.
Put the gun directly on the screen and pull the trigger.

I’ll share two examples of conventional ways of doing things that we’ve
obliterated. Then you can think of your own… In your church, business,
family or personal life.

We’ve replaced the traditional emphasis on church membership
with and emphasis on participation.
Before we launched, I asked Larry Brey, our Assimilation Pastor, what the
point of membership was. Why not just stress participation in Groups,
Giving, Serving and Evangelism and remove the formal barrier of
membership? We’re more concerned about getting people plugged in than
signed up. In the South, where church membership is sacred and social,
this was a pretty rigid rule to break. But we broke it in half like Daniel
LaRusso breaks boards. Sorry, that was dumb. All this Nintendo talk is
giving me flashbacks.

We offer very little formal pastoral care outside of Small Groups.
But don’t you care about people? Yes. We care the most about people
who are far from God. So we keep our primary focus on them. We do
try to help people get hooked up with good professional counselors as
needed. And certainly our staff steps in to help folks with personal and
family crises, to the best of their ability. We just decided from day
one not to be a full service pastoral care church, where hired guns visit
all the hospitals and pray for all the problems.
We believe the most Biblical and replicable model of pastoral care is
getting people to commit to community (in our context, through small
groups) so they can minister to each other deeply and consistently.
This keeps our staff focused on creating experiences where Christ can
be worshipped and the Gospel can be preached every Sunday.

There are many other examples, but you see the pattern.
When you change the rules, aim the gun and zero in at point blank
range, you shoot more ducks. You win the game, because you beat
the system.
And, in our case, you reach more people. A lot more.

Spiritual Dividends

Ok, I’m no financial planner, so forgive me if my terminology is embarrassingly off on this one. But the concept is good.

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that I can make my money work for me. Through the magic of compound interest, I can put money in a mutual fund, not touch it for years, and, if the fund is good, the amount will increase exponentially. I don’t have to add any money to it. It just grows, and grows, and grows. Pretty cool.

This past Sunday after the third service at our Central campus, they told me 25 folks gave their lives to Christ at our Union campus. It’s an interesting phenomenon. 25 minutes away on the other side of town, the sermon I prepared and preached over a week ago was playing on a video screen, earning compound spiritual interest for the Kingdom. Our Union Campus director, his staff, and the amazing volunteers were the fund managers, making sure that the investment was perfectly positioned for maximum yield. And God’s Word didn’t return void.

We show the sermons on a week delay at our Union campus. While there are a few drawbacks to doing it this way, there are also some advantages. We’re kind of able to forecast what’s going to happen at Union based on the response at Central the week before. So when 71 people gave their lives to Christ at Central last week, we told Union: “Get ready! The wave is gonna hit your shore in 7 days!” Of course, God ultimately determines the results, but it’s kind of like seeing into the future.

I know there’s a lot of controversy surrounding campuses that use video preaching exclusively. I’ll simply say this: it’s pretty neat to see God use the same sermon in two different towns on two different weekends to bring almost 100 people to faith in Christ.
Isn’t the Bible the ultimate example of compound spiritual interest?
Thousand of years after being written, John’s Gospel is still paying dividends, glorifying Jesus, changing lives.
And with the technological advancements that are ours to harness, the market is hotter than it’s ever been in the history of humanity.
I’m going for broke.

Take it Up

For the first 6 months at Elevation, I led the music.
I know that most of the time when lead pastors say that, the follow up line is something about how terrible it was and how relieved everybody was when that day ended because they had no musical talent.
But music is actually something I love and am pretty good at. I credit all my musical abilities to my mom. She sang to me all the time when I was little, bought me my first Psalty tape, started a youth choir at our church, made me take guitar lessons… I have been passionate about music since I can remember… thanks to her.
I was leading bands made up of college students when I was only 14.
And there’s rarely a silent moment in my office or car these days… music is always playing…usually loud (right now it’s Pearl Jam, Corduroy).

Churches reflect the personality of their leaders in a lot of ways…
So it makes perfect sense that music would be a big priority at Elevation.
We buy good sound equipment, only use talented players (sorry LB), and turn it up really loud. Really really loud.

But a few months ago, I started feeling like it was time to take it up a notch musically at Elevation.
Part of the vision that God gave me for our church is that our music would have a national and worldwide impact. I believe thousands of people all over the globe will one day be singing songs that were birthed in this house.
I think we’ll release worship CDs that will inspire a new wave of excellence and creativity in the body of Christ way beyond our four walls.

I always knew that was the ultimate destination, but I was unclear about who God would use to take us there.
So in August, we’re bringing on 3 guys to be a part of the team full time and take the musical experience at Elevation to a whole new level.
Wade Joye, Chris Brown, and Mack Brock are three guys who I have worked with in ministry over the last few years. And I’m excited to announce that over the next 2 months they’ll be moving to God’s favorite city and uniting their superpowers to dominate the musical landscape of Charlotte and make sure that the best music that happens anywhere in town happens every single Sunday at one of our campuses.
I had a meeting with them last night about how they’re going to take this thing from good to great in the Fall.
Let me just say… Elevation, be afraid. These guys ain’t playing. And they’re very good.

Welcome to the team guys. Looking forward to the ruckus.

Full contact pastor

I never knew being a pastor was a full contact sport before Sunday.
Baptizing over 200 people left my lower back and right bicep way more sore than any wrestling match or weightlifting program I’ve ever been a part of.
I’m still feeling it.
I love it.

A couple of times a year I do a devotion for 300 or so employees at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association here in Charlotte.
I rolled out there with a crew this morning, shared Isaiah 49:6, the verse I’m currently addicted to, and spent a couple of hours hearing about some cool projects and strategies they’ve got going on.

Afterward, I was riding home, talking with Chunks on the phone about a property we’re looking at, and remembering what a high and holy privilege it is to be a leader in God’s church.

The combination of being at the Billy Graham offices, still being sore and ecstatic from Sunday, praying over the possible near-future home of Elevation Central, and the thought of dozens more people who will be baptized at one of our campuses over the next couple of weeks overwhelmed me in a very positive way.

Think about it:
In the last 3 days, Elevation has baptized 209 adults, received a financial gift that is over 3x our current total weekly offering (!), and identified a possible facility that may enable us to have 4000 people in worship weekly at our campuses very soon.

I personally feel like I’m alive at the greatest time in human history.
There are more resources than ever before for the propagation of the Gospel.
The most innovative leaders in the history of our planet are alive right now, ready to be thrust into places of strategic importance for the Kingdom of God.

Further, there is no city I’d rather do ministry in than Charlotte, NC.
Yes, Charlotte is laden with pseudo-spiritual religiosity. But this is also a town with an enormous spiritual heritage and a rich Christian bloodline.
And increasing national importance.
I’m not going anywhere.

And today God has hit the refresh button on the vision he’s given us to dominate this city for Christ.
I know that kind of brash and bold plain speak turns some of you off.
No problem.
You can have prayer meetings for Sister Helen’s big toe and have committee meetings about generic vs. name brand spaghetti noodles for the Wednesday night supper all you want to.
As for me and this house, we’re taking over.
For the sake of Jesus and His Gospel.
In His power, and in His name.

We have no clue what we’re doing, but we’ve committed to keep on doing it!

Two hand touch ministry is a waste of time.
We’re fully invested in full contact spiritual leadership, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us next.

3 key decisions

Here are 3 key decisions we made when starting Elevation:

1. We will be staff led.
Some people leave when they figure out they’ll never rise to a power broker position at Elevation by graduating to a deacon board.
And you want them to leave. I promise you do.

2. We will keep our focus.
We won’t try to have a ministry for every sub group that ever walks through the doors.
(ie. We don’t have a Single males between ages 27-28 who grew up Episcopalian, like archery, and have visited Canada in the last 12 months Ministry.)
This has allowed us to unite and aim all of our heavy artillery at the same target.
We have gotten so freakish about simplicity during the start of our new campus that we now proudly boast about only doing 2 things as a church:
a. Worship Experience
b. Small Groups
That’s it.
Yeah, but what about…
Nope, that’s it.
But at my old church…
We’re not your old church.
But I have a passion for…
God bless you, go do it. You don’t need our sanctioning.

3. We will be over the top.
This is the one I really can’t explain. It’s harder to quantify.
All I can tell you is that when we’re trying to make a decision about which sound system to buy, we usually get the better one.
Because our worship experience is priority, and it has to rock very hard.
When Heather or Rachel need something for the children’s ministry, they get it. Even when it’s expensive.
Every time.
Because children aren’t JV around here. They’re first round draft picks.
When we’re trying to make a decision about whether to dump either a jar or a wheelbarrow of Runts out on the stage for a sermon illustration, we go with the wheelbarrow.
(You had to be at Central campus yesterday. Very amazing. Very messy.)

These 3 key decisions have paid off handsomely for us.
I don’t know why I just used the word handsomely.
I felt it, and I just went for it.
Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. It was a little awkward for me too.

In other news:

Yesterday we had our largest non-holiday attendance yet.
And I preached a hit ‘em high hit ‘em low message about money.
It was exciting and slightly controversial. The two often go hand in hand.

Then we blessed our volunteer staff with a volunteer only Evening of Worship.
I ordained 6 of our guys and talked about what Isaiah 49:6 has meant to me lately, and what it should mean to these guys.
Leaders, you’ve got to find those outlets when you only let people in the room who you know have your back and are sold on the vision.
These gatherings are priceless, because you don’t have to qualify everything you say.
Tell them you love them, you appreciate them, and then sling some mad vision.
Let it fly.

After 3 fever pitched services at Central, a breakneck speed trip to Union for their first ever Newcomer’s Lunch, an ordination meeting and an over the top worship experience with 300 of our best and brightest peeps, John Grisham and Tylenol PM put me right to sleep.

Happy Monday loyal readers.
I’m back tomorrow with a harrowing entry entitled:
It’s your fault.
Subtitle:
Do something about it.

See you then.

Egg-ceeded Egg-spectations

If the weather would have been any warmer, the crowd might have been a little larger.
And if the crowd had been any larger, we couldn’t have handled it.
There would have been ambulances involved.

Well over 4000 folks came out to the 2nd annual Elevation Egg Drop this morning at Porter Ridge High School.
It was freaking pandemonium. This is twice the amount of people we had at the event last year.

And we only had about half the space on the field that we had last year.
Whoa.

Plus, we had to 86 the hot air balloon (from which we had planned to drop a couple thousand of the eggs) at the last minute because of the violent wind.
Dang.

So it was more like the Elevation Egg Rush.

It reminded me of Thanksgiving. You know, when all the ladies spend 8 hours cooking this incredible meal, and then in 5 minutes, it’s gone.
Once our bouncers released the 10-12 year old section to run onto the field, there was a cloud of dust and poof… 10 minutes later the eggs were gone.

I think we introduced ourselves to Union County in quite a memorable fashion.
It was a fantastic event.

Since we’re launching our Elevation Union campus at Porter Ridge tomorrow, it was amazing for me to see the traffic backed up and cars parked all over the sidewalks, and to imagine what God is going to do through our team. Maybe we’ll break fire code on day one. The possibilities are staggering.

One more thing: OUR VOLUNTEER TEAMS ARE AMAZING!
The sea of orange shirts and the spirit of hospitality and service blew me away.
You guys never cease to amaze me!

Tonight we tape the Easter message for the Union campus. Then 3 services tomorrow.
Then maybe we’ll hibernate til August.
Yeah right.

Let ‘em Laugh

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?