I was listening to Bill Hybels speak the other day about leadership, the gift of leadership, and the development of our leadership gift. Bill is the senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church - a great teaching church north of Chicago. Here's what he said...
"What's your leadership development plan? Who's responsibility is it for a plan to be put together and for the plan to raise your leadership level up to the fullest potential? Who's responsibility is that? It's your responsibility. You have to take responsibility for the development of your leadership gift. It's something you'll stand before Christ some day and give a response to him about - he put a gift in you. He called you, Romans 12:8 - to develop it to the zenith of its potential, lead with all diligence, lead to the peak of your potential."

You are the leaders of Charter Oak Church. You make this place special. God has called you and gifted you to be leaders. Jesus will build the church, but he will do it through people like you. So what's your plan for developing your leadership gift? What are you reading - I would really like to know. What conferences are you attending, even work related. And here's one I never thought of but Hybels pointed out in his talk - what are you leading that is pushing you beyond where you are right now? If you are only leading in the places where you are comfortable, then you probably are not growing. Send me your answers, I'd love to hear from you.

Movie Trailer

This is a link to a short film trailer that is being put together to celebrate Kyle Lake's life.

Great Quote

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile." - Billy Sunday

Tracking What's Important

This morning I received an email from amazon.com. They have some book suggestions for me, just in case I want to make an order any time soon. They don't just randomly throw a handful of books at me. They don't just send me a list of what's on the best seller list. What they do is track what I have purchased in the past. Then they put my name together with all of the other people's names who have purchased that same book. Then they look for a pattern. If the same people who bought this one book also bought another book, then there must be some kind of connection between those people. So Amazon sent me a list of books that I might be interested in based on my previous purchases and the link made to people who also made those same book buys.

This makes me wonder about the connection for the church. Can we track what classes and events our people are attending? What if we started sending out emails to people suggesting up coming classes, small groups, or events that they might be interested in based on previous interest? This seems like such a simple idea to track what's important to every one of our people. If Amazon can do it for millions of people, can we do it for our congregation? I definitely think it's something to explore.

The Rollercoaster

I am so blessed to be at Charter Oak Church. I can't imagine getting to do what I do any where else. How cool is it to be a part of a church that is growing and is becoming more and more known in the community. There is a buzz about what we are doing at our current location and an even bigger buzz about our new church.

It was awesome to have 6 families join us this past weekend as first time visitors. I met one family after one of our worship services and it was amazing to hear how they found their way here and what their response was after being here just one time.

It was also heart wrenching to see such a huge drop in attendance this past weekend after such a great Easter celebration. I'm still trying to work out in my head and heart what my reaction should be to this drop off. I don't know.

I am also dealing with the reaction of some people as I was speaking this weekend when I talked about some of the really tough things Jesus taught about forgiveness or the lack there of. I could see in some people's faces just a sense of disbelief that this was true. When I said that when we pray the Lord's Pray we are asking God to forgive us the same way we forgive other people, there were some jaws dropping. Then when I said that the parable of the king and the servant represents us and the way the king treated the unforgiving servant is the way God will treat us if we are unforgiving - there was one lady who looked like she was ready to walk out. God's word is sharp as a sword when it talks to us personally. Going deeper can be painful.

This past weekend I also was priviledged to witness the launching of our First Impressions Team and the training that went on with it. What a great display of a group of people who are gifted by God and passionate about a ministry. I've done all the reading on this ministry and went to the church that started it, but I was wowed by our people. You guys rock!

There are so many awesome things happening around here. There are also a handful of things that make me...just...wonder...how does all of this come together and what is God trying to teach me? I'm spending a lot of time in prayer this week.

Monday Morning QB 04/24/06

Here's this week's Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: Collateral Damage (I preached)

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Service Highlights: I started the message by telling the story of a dog who was leashed up to a park bench that he dragged around and caused a ton of collateral damage. Then I connected that story to being leashed up to unforgiveness and the damage it causes to ourselves and to our relationships. We heard some scripture that was very tough, like in the Lord's Prayer where we ask God to forgive us like we forgive others. When you think about it, that's really a tough prayer.

Stats: 477 in worship and 229 in Sunday school

Final Notes: Why the let down after Easter? I know it was a terrible rain storm, but to be reduced by 423 in worship seems crazy. My heart broke.

Rest

After a great Easter weekend, I took some time off on Monday and somewhat on Tuesday. Monday was totally a family day. We just hung out and had fun. We even played Risk. Do you remember that game? We stopped playing after, I don't know how many hours, we realized that it would take almost a month to finish the game - it was a ton of fun (I lost)!

Tuesday we had our staff meeting, but we ended early and went for a tour of our new church. It was great seeing how far along they have come in the last week. It was the first trip down for many on the staff. After the tour, we went out to lunch to celebrate Pastor Dave's 60th birthday. We finished off the day by going to see a movie together - Take the Lead. I thought it would be a total chick flick, but I actually enjoyed it.

Now I am back to work - but not really. I have poison ivy in my eye. It is swelled shut and I can't really see all that well. So I am waiting for the doctor to call and see if there is anything that can be done.

Monday Morning QB 04/17/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: Why Follow Jesus? (I preached)

Scripture: John 20:1-18

Service Highlights: It was Easter! What better highlight than that? We had some great music - Jonathan Cooper closed us out with a great song called "A Place Called Grace" - Way to go! We had lots of other music and I kicked off my series "Paid in Full" about the forgiveness of God.

Stats: 903 in worship + 133 in Sunday school

Monday Morning QB 4/10/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: A Life Saving Week (I Preached)

Scripture: Read through the Passion in Mark

Service Highlights: Yesterday was Palm Sunday. We changed things up a bit from previous years. We had a great deal of music and scripture reading, but I also spoke about the impact this week has on us as followers of Jesus and what impact we will have on those who do not have a church home. I gave everyone a Life Saver and challenged them to invite people to meet the ultimate Life Savior - Jesus. We closed with what I thought was one of the best dramas we have ever performed here - two guys talking about Jesus as they are cleaning up the streets after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. It was perfect.

Stats: 622 in worship + 254 in Sunday school

Final Notes: Holy Week schedule:
Tuesday is the Meal in the Upper Room
Thursday is Communion
Friday is the Tenabrae Service

A Faith Deepening Prayer

I just read on another pastor's blog a prayer that he found from Sir Francis Drake. It's a powerful prayer that deepens faith just to utter the words.

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord."

Then I read today after being reminded by one of my friends, Ephesians 4:20, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Those are faith stretching words from Paul.

Monday Morning QB 4/3/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: The Life Giving Power of Hope (Dave Preached)

Scripture: 2 Kings 25:7-12 & Ezra 1:1-4

Service Highlights: This concludes the series "A Life that Makes God Smile." Dave looked at the exile of Israel. He brought it home for us in a very real way by exiling the last three rows of people out of the sanctuary for a time. Then we learned about joy in the midst of it all when we welcomed them back into the sanctuary, much like what it would have been like when the Israelites came home from exile.

Stats: 475 in worship + 171 in Sunday school

Final Notes: As we conclude the Old Testament Challenge, we enter Holy Week. We start with Palm/Passion Sunday, then during the week we have the Meal in the Upper Room on Tuesday, Communion on Thursday, Good Friday worship, then Easter weekend.

It's Open!!

Starbucks is now officially open at Greengate Mall!

I love this coffee.

Learning from Mistakes

" Our wrong assumptions led to the best learning."
- Alex Lee, president, OXO

Mistake No. 1: All bagels are alike.
Mistake No. 2: You solve one problem but create another.
Mistake No. 3: Solving problems that people don't want solved.
Mistake No. 4: Thinking your done.

Read the Fast Company article.

The End of Old Testament Challenge

Pastor Dave just finished 36 weeks on the Old Testament. In today's message, he brought it all together.

I can't think of a better way to launch us into Holy Week starting next weekend. He has laid the foundation for who God is and who we are in relationship to Him. Now we get to take a very intense walk through the last week of Jesus' life.

Way to go Pastor Dave! You truly have a heart for seeing the people of Charter Oak Church experience the fullness of God. It is an honor to serve beside you.

Monday Morning QB 3/27/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: When God Gives a Hard Assignment (Dave Preached)

Scripture: Jeremiah

Service Highlights: This was a powerful sermon where Dave laid out the truth about the calling that God places in our life - being obedient to God has some hard days along the way. Dave weaved the life of Jeremiah into our lives as we struggle to understand what it means that we have a hard assignment from God. In the end, Jeremiah was faithful, even though he wasn't "successful" in most people's eyes. That is what is most important for us in our walk with Jesus.

Stats: 584 in worship + 235 in Sunday School

Having What It Takes

Last week I spent a little bit of time thinking about the question from John Wesley, "How is it with your soul?" I challenged each of you to ask yourself that question, and I went a bit farther by questioning whether we would be willing to ask that question to each other. When Kelli called from Willow Creek, I heard Maxine in the background say, "ask him how it is with his soul?" I don't know if I also heard Maxine's evil laugh behind the question or not. I have been thinking a great deal about this question this past week, especially as I am trying to order my own soul.

One of the things I am doing as part of my spiritual formation is to read through the Bible this year. I am right on target. I have never read from cover to cover like this before, well, I have attempted it many times, but I have never made it this far - I just finished Judges. I have read every book in the Bible many times - especially in seminary. But I am really trying to make this daily through the Bible in order a central part of my development as a follower of Jesus and as a leader.

The leadership of Israel during the time of the judges was either really good, or really bad.

Gideon - Good guy. Lessons learned - God uses us in spite of our limitations. Even when you make great spiritual progress you can still easily fall into sin if you aren't consistently seeking God. Leaving a legacy is very important. Gideon's was not good.

Abimelech - Bad guy. Lessons learned - Power hungry and ruthless - killed 69 brothers. Leadership isn't about power, but about serving. He didn't get it. The whole nation suffered.

Quotes from Henry Blackaby:
"Leaders do not have to prove God is guiding them. God's presence will be unmistakable."

""The definitive measure of leaders' success is whether they moved their people from where they were to where God wanted them to be."

"If your place is not great enough to suit you, make it so. The minister who is unable to make a place great is too weak to hold a great one."

"Society-shaking, world-changing, history-making thought is not produced by lackadaisical, lazy minds."

How is it with your soul today?

Monday Morning QB 3/20/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: Doing Justice (Dave Preached)

Scripture: Micah 6:8

Service Highlights: Dave challenged us to think about justice from God's point of view. If we are wronged, we expect, we even demand justice. The problem is most of us live with a double standard. We want justice when it comes to us, but we forget to extend justice to others. We are called to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Stats: 591 in worship + 236 in Sunday school

How Is It with Your Soul?

I have to admit that when things get busy, that my first reaction to create more time and space in my life is to eliminate the things of the Spirit. My spiritual disciplines drop significantly. My to do list is long and prayer, Bible study, fasting, being quiet just don't make that list. They aren't those quantifiable activities that show productive ingenuity towards completing a project. They are practices that are just always there. And they will continue to be there tomorrow and the day after that. But this to do list is glaring at me right in the face and I must mark through these items before the end of the day.

John Wesley used ask his pastors a very important question when he met with them. He would ask them, "How is it with your soul?" A knee jerk reaction, might be to say fine, now let's get on with our meeting. But doesn't that just compound the problem?

Whose responsibility is it to order your soul? Is it Pastor Dave's job because he is the spiritual leader of our church? Is it Maxine because she is the head of Grow? Is it your spouse or your small group leader? Whose responsible to make sure that you are more like Jesus today than you were yesterday and especially more than last year?

It's your responsibility. As we move closer and closer to transitioning into our new building, we are going to be working longer and longer hours. The to do lists are going to get much longer. The time for things of the Spirit will decrease every day. Tension and stress are going to increase. Patience with each other is going to be on edge.

This is what I want you to hear - you were made for relationships. First with God. Second with each other. You were not created to transition Charter Oak Church from 214 Frye Farm Road to 449 Frye Farm Road. This is something that God has called us to do. He wants us to do it at the very best of our ability. But first and foremost comes your growing relationship with God through Jesus. Don't forget the spiritual disciplines. If you have to, put them on the to do list - at the top. Second, comes your relationship with each other. We have to protect the relationships we have with each other so carefully. If you need to go to someone and apologize do it sooner than later.

I will be the first to admit it - I am a driver. I'm not happy unless I am going a thousand miles an hour with my hair on fire. And when I do that, I leave relationships to the side, because I have stuff to do. When I have a project that I am working on at home, like putting together some furniture or one of my kids' bikes. They know what their role is - get as far from daddy as possible. That is my natural tendency. I'm working on it.

Our natural tendency needs to be in the care and development of our souls. I know I have a long way to go. But I am starting each day by asking, "How is it with your soul?" I hope you will too.

Monday Morning QB 3/13/06

Here's the Monday Morning QB for this week:

Message: Radical Trust (Dave preached)

Scripture: Isaiah 7

Service Highlights: Dave walked us through the difference between trust and fear. He used the example of Hezekiah to show us that in the face of uncertain odds and even the possiblilty of death, God is faithful. Here's a verse that is not in the Bible: "God panicked!" The great truth is you are never alone. There was a powerful drama and song that finalized the message and brought the point home for so many people.

Stats: 559 in worship + 258 in Sunday school

Leadership and Servant Training - 3/7/06

What is leadership? Are leaders born or created? Can anyone learn to be a leader?

The development of Peter

1. Matthew 4:18-19 - Peter is called to be a "fisher of men" by Jesus
2. Matthew 16:13-19 - Peter proclaims that Jesus is "the Son of the living God" and Jesus says that he will be build his church and the gates of Hades will not stand against it.
3. Mark 14:66-72 - Peter denies Jesus three times
4. Acts 2:14 - Peter preaches after Pentecost
5. Acts 2:41 - 3,000 people come to faith in Jesus after Peter's message

What we learn from Peter:

• God can use anyone
• God has a plan - it's God's plan (not yours or mine) & it's God's church (not yours or mine)
• God chooses to use people to fulfill his plan
• Jesus poured the majority of his time into developing the leaders around him to multiply his work and to ensure that it would continue going forward

I met with Nancy Ortberg about a year ago and I asked her what was the decisive factor that helped the Axis ministry at Willow Creek to grow from 500 to 2500 while she led it. She said the one definitive factor was the development of leadership. She was so completely sold out to developing the leadership of that ministry that the first thing she did was hire someone to preach, even though that was a part of her original expectation as the senior leader of that ministry. She wanted to be free to pour time, energy, and value into people's lives so that they could take the ministry to the next level. And it worked.

At Willow Creek they use the formula x + y = z to explain the model they use to develop leadership in their church. The z = God's will (that none shall parish). The x = the paid staff (a very small percentage of the church). The y factor is the leadership of the church.

It is only as the "y" factor increases that we will see the fullness of the potential of the body of Christ revealed. There is no other factor in this world that will have a greater impact on this community than when we release the full power of the leadership of this church. God works through people. God will work through you as the leadership of this church to fulfill his will. God is already working through many of you and wants to do so in a more leadership intensive way.

Peter went from a fisherman, to the first person who "got it" about Jesus, to a denier, to a leader of the church. Look at what he became because Jesus poured value into his life, he poured encouragement, and he poured discipline. Here's what I want you to hear tonight - staff and I will give our life to adding value into your life. We will give whatever it takes to help develop you to the zenith of your potential. We want to partner with you to help Charter Oak Church to reach the zenith of its potential!

There is something going on here. Our average attendance is way up. People are finding us and staying. We have a youth group that is exploding. We have more people in small groups than ever before. God is at work here. God is moving and I want us to join him where he is at work. For us to make a kingdom difference, it means we are going to have to develop our leadership. We are going to have to set the bar much higher. We need leaders who are sold out to Jesus. Let me tell you straight up - we need leaders who will take a servant's towel, put it over their arm, and serve. Will you respond?