Recently I sat with all of our worship leaders at Elevation and asked the question, “What are the keys to creating a worship ministry that is in line with the vision of the church and the senior pastor?”

Senior Pastors, you might want to grab your worship team and gather around. Worship Leaders, I think you’ll find this very insightful and challenging.

By the way, one of our worship leaders, Chris Brown, recently released a fantastic solo project called Starbore. You can get it on itunes, here.

Also, the guys are releasing an Elevation project this summer that is going to blow your mind. It’s really, really good.

I have a love/hate relationship with my blog.  I’m pretty committed to posting no less than 4 times a week, usually 5.  And I try to post stuff of substance, the best I can.   Sometimes it’s a very energizing outlet for me.  It gives me a platform to flesh out ideas in a different way than my journal does, because I’m forced to refine my thoughts until they’re coherent enough for the general public.  I’m also able to broadcast concepts that may not get airtime in a sermon.  My blog also opens a window into my life for the people who are a part of Elevation.  It provides them with access that would just be impossible otherwise.
I look at it my small investment in other leaders, and I’m always amazed at how many of you tell me that you’re refreshed, encouraged, and stretched by the things you read here.  Nothing makes me happier than to hear that. 
And the connections God has brought about for Elevation through the ministry of this blog kind of make me chuckle…I never imagined.

Other days, I regret ever starting the stupid thing.  On weeks when I have several sermons or leadership talks to prepare, a runny nose, complicated leadership decisions looming…I fantasize about hiring a ghostwriter, smashing my computer, or decrying blogging as the devil’s platform. 

But I probably won’t.  Not anytime soon, anyway.  In fact, I’ve got my core staff brainstorming ways that we can take this blog to the next level over the coming months.  To make it more helpful and insightful: for the people of Elevation, first and foremost, and to all of those who God has blessed us to minister to around the world as well.  I want to keep showing up and speaking up…it’s as good for me as it is for anyone else.

I’m not sure why I wrote this today.  Since many of you who read this blog also have a blog, maybe the purpose was to encourage you: you should probably stick with it and be as consistent as possible.  You never know what your words might mean to someone you’ll never meet.  I swear, every time I have a substantial thought about hanging it up, Lori brings a stack of emails, and on the top is an email from a staff member in Connecticut who was going to quit the ministry and didn’t-because of something they read on the blog.
So I grab the laptop, stare at the blank MS Word document, and rack my brain for the 25th time this month:
What the heck am I going to blog about today?

Great leaders always seem to be on the lookout.  What mediocre people consider everyday experiences, they approach as a sort of safari:
Can they spot a new idea to implement while waiting in line at Starbucks?  A good title for that sermon in a series that’s coming up in 3 months while browsing in Borders?  They’ll have a sub-par experience with a waitress at Chili’s, and rather than letting it ruin their day, they take notes and come back and revamp 4 things to improve their own business or ministry based on that bad encounter.

The more I live life on the lookout, the more I like it!  Entire sermon series have been birthed by one line in a movie.  I have been inspired to make a major change in a standard operating protocol by something I experienced in Target.  My friend Perry  got an idea for a sermon listening to 80s rock during a workout-and during that sermon, hundreds of people were saved.  My friend J.D. would sooner be caught naked than to be caught without his little notebook to jot ideas that come to him.  It kind of makes him look nerdy, but dang, the boy is smart.  And I’ll bet he gathers enough scraps during any given day to create quite a spread when it comes time for him to write, preach, or lead in new directions.
Jesus would take a disappointing interaction with a fig tree and preach a hellfire and brimstone sermon that His disciples would never forget…again, always on the lookout.
Other examples of this in the life of Christ abound.  Do a study.  It’s fascinating. 

Extraordinary ideas are hiding in ordinary places.  Train your eyes to envision them and your spirit to sense them.
Living life on the lookout is a lot of fun.

We took the title from Seth Godin, but the idea is something God has been working up in my heart for quite a while now.
This Sunday, we start a 2 week mini-series at Elevation called Small is the New Big. I’ll be making a connection between Malcolm Gladwell and Nehemiah…sharing a pretty profound reality that has its Genesis in the Word of God.
I’ve taught some of this material to my staff, 400 leaders at a friend’s church, and two groups of men I meet with. The feedback has been so positive that I felt compelled to cancel a series I’ve had planned all year and spend 2 weeks on this instead.

It starts this Sunday, Elevation. Thesis statement: Big dreams start with small steps.
I hope you’ll invite someone to experience the next two weeks with you.

Here are your evites (Providence, Butler).
One small invite could change someone’s life in a very big way.

Sunday night I preached for our student event at Elevation.  Before I became a pastor, I traveled and preached to thousands of students all over the country every year.  I’ve retired as a youth speaker, but I can’t seem to stay away from the students at Elevation.  They fire me up. 

I didn’t have to tell a single joke to get their attention.  Or make a single pop culture reference to earn credibility.  I just stood up, shucked the corn, and watched as hundreds of students filled the aisle for an old fashioned altar call as the night drew to a close. 
It’s very refreshing to see such a large group of students honor their senior pastor by giving careful and respectful attention to the Word of God. 

I’m finding that these days, every time I get up in front of the students at Elevation to address them specifically, I seem to deliver the same message in various packaging:
God has a divine destiny designed for you…don’t miss it.

It’s amazing to watch the students light up as they collide with the concept of their high calling in Christ! 
Senior pastors, youth pastors, parents, teachers:
Spend as much time as possible teaching the kids you influence to fall in love with the future God has planned for them.  If you do this, saying no to drugs and staying sexual pure will take care of itself.
I know of nothing that motivates students to live God honoring lives than to speak to their potential, and to cast a compelling vision that they wouldn’t dream of abandoning for the passing pleasures of sin.

We’ve got big plans for our students this Fall.  I leaked a little about it last night.
And if you don’t know, you’d better ask somebody: 
Awakening is an event that is going to shake the foundation of our city.

Elevation students: your pastor loves you and believes in you more than you’ll ever know. 
Come out of your winepress and take a bold stand for the glory of God!

I’ll tell you what’s helping me a lot in my leadership and preaching right now:
I’m giving myself permission to explore my rhythms more than ever before.

In some ways, it’s a new luxury that wasn’t possible when Elevation was smaller.  Back then, my rhythms revolved around the schedules of the volunteers who were serving as staff members, and whatever urgent need demanded my time.  But the development of a capable full time staff has made it possible for me to freely experiment with the cadence of my life.  And it’s breathing new life into my creativity. 

Here are two ways I’m changing up the flow these days:

• One of my mentors recently encouraged me to regularly change the meetings that I’m in, who’s in those meetings with me, when they happen, and even where they happen.  The phrase he used was: experiment until you find what energizes you.  And if what energizes you changes, change it up again. 
• I’m not feeling as much pressure to force it when I’m tired.  For instance, I preached 4 services live, back to back, at Elevation yesterday, and a student event last night for over 500 of our middle and high school kids.  I’m depleted.  My voice is shot.  I’m recovering from a cold, to boot.
  So I slept in this morning.  I’m going to go easy today.  A few hours or a whole day of recovery seem to be more effective than muscling through my exhaustion.

I’m a little apprehensive posting this because I realize that unless you’re the senior pastor or senior leader of an organization, your rhythms are largely dictated to you.  But there’s probably still an area (perhaps in your personal life) where you could discover new energy and fresh vitality by exploring a new rhythm.  Could you change the rhythm of your devotional life?  Your workout?  Your drive home?  Your evening activities?  Your family dinner?
A small change in your rhythm might enable a major shift in your outlook.

Someone paid me a meaningful compliment recently:
“I’ve noticed that you give your very best every time you’re preaching…whether there are 5 people in the audience or 5000.”

It meant a lot that he noticed that, because it’s a practice I’m very intentional about.  It’s a part of my theology:
God deserves my very best every single time. 
Since He’s my only true audience in ministry, I’m always playing to a packed house.  Every show is sold out.

I can’t think of a more sure fire way to attract the power of God in your life and ministry than to bring your best to every single encounter.  Every single experience.  Every sermon you preach, every song you sing, every diaper you change, every lawn you mow…God is always worthy of your most worthy offering.
And Jesus gives assurance that your heavenly Father, who sees what is done in secret, also knows how to reward you openly-when you bring Him your very best…every single time. (Matthew 6:2-6).