We have some remarkably good men at Elevation Church.
I met with a group of them last night to discuss the most exciting opportunity our church has ever had, and afterward I told them:
“It is extremely rare for a pastor to have a loyal and fiercely dedicated group of men like you holding his arms up.”
One of the men in the room who was the son of a preacher growing up said:
“Pastor, I second that. After all I’ve seen in my life, I can say that it is very rare… “

An unofficial core value of Elevation is respect and honor for spiritual leaders.
It is part of my DNA, and consequently, it is in the gene pool of our staff, volunteers, and small group leaders.

It makes me sad that so many pastors are forced to waste their spiritual vitality sitting through agonizing 4 hour meetings several nights a week convincing boards and committees that repainting the baseboard in the women’s bathroom in the Fellowship Hall isn’t an excessive “waste of God’s money”.
It’s heart breaking that so many wonderful gifts inside of powerful pastors lay dormant because they are not given any room to run or latitude to lead.

I am truly thankful today for all my fellas at Elevation.
Like my staff guys, who I honestly believe would (and could) jack your jaw if you started any stuff with their Pastor. Just try it.
Like the hardcore heavy hitters on the production team whose alarms go off well before 5am on their only day off.
Like Nick Griffin’s single guys small group that prays for me every day and gave me a gift card to Outback yesterday. (Hey Holly, wanna go on a date?)

There are hundreds more… and I want you all to know I’ve got your back.

I couldn’t lead a church made up of manipulative passive aggressive girly men.
Thank God I don’t have to.
The men of Elevation cover me, fight for me, pray for me, believe in me, receive from me, honor me, and speak courage into me.

And it makes it easy to lead the charge.