So many things I could say about this picture.  The first thing that came to my mind was, is this what your church looks like?  Add the four bases, add some front door living room, kitchen, get your purposes in there, and of course you need to launch multi-site right now.

Just because you can add it doesn’t mean it fits.  Seriously, take a minute to determine what makes the church you serve in unique and build on that. Don’t Jerry-rig something into your system that should never have been added.

Spectator or Contributor?

I hate to watch baseball, but I have fun playing baseball. I suck though so you probably shouldn’t invite me to be on your league team. I love to watch football, but I’d rather play.

Bottom line is I would rather be a contributor than a spectator. I would rather know that I had a hand in the process of creating something. Contributing creates ownership and community.

I listen to a show called TBTL (it’s on 97.3 KIRO 7-10 pm weekdays or you can podcast it). To me the brilliance of TBTL is that they allow the audience to contribute. And it’s not just about making an argument about something like most talk radio. TBTL allows people to participate in creating the actual content of the show, and their blog.

Case in point, I sent a video to Jen the producer today:

Jen not only posted it on their blog but she emailed me to tell me she like it and posted it.  I’m not a contributor to TBTL-dom.  This is not the first time I’ve submitted something to TBTL, but every time I submit something and they use it TBTL stock goes up in my mind.  I feel like I’m part owner of TBTL.  That makes TBTL more fun for me, and I’m sure other folks who have contributed to the show feel the same way.  Just ask Doug Shrecengost.

What are you contributing to?  Your Church, Community, the company you work for?  How can you contribute to making it better, stronger, more fun?  Don’t just spectate and criticize, contribute.  That’s the best way to make your mark on something.

In the Church world, this is my area of knowledge, the people who are most invested in the church are those who contribute, not just money, but time and energy.  They are the ones who are your key indicators to health.  They are the ones who bring life to organizations that are struggling.  The contributors are key to the future.  So my challenge then is to not just raise up leaders or volunteers, but to raise up contributors.

Thanks TBTL for the life lesson.  (Cue the more you know music . . . Flying star . . . )

Thoughts

  • Creekside is awesome. God is doing some amazing things in our community and I believe more awesome things are yet to come.
  • Looking forward to the fall’s E3 launch, launching another sunday morning gathering, and all that is going to happen at Creekside.
  • My family is amazing, and Kathy has been such an encouragement to me over the past few days especially.  I don’t know why anyone would do ministry without being married.  Kathy just builds my confidence and encourages me and speaks life.  And she’s also the most honest person in my life so if I need to be told the truth about myself I can always trust Kathy to tell me and I know that she has my best interest in mind.
  • Mike Brandow is an awesome youth pastor already.  Lisa and Mike are such a great team.  So glad I bumped into him at the Apple store last september.
  • God is amazing and he always has a plan.  The question is are we being attentive to his actions.  Even little decisions can make an enormous difference when we are listening to God.
  • E3 is going to be off the hook.  We had such a great turn out last night, and I think we are going to see lives changed.  Look out Satan we are training up some missionary warriors and we’ll charge the gates of hell with a squirt gun if we have to.
  • I’m stoked!

Judah is Super Famous Now

This video of Judah got posted to the Too Beautiful To Live blog.

Judah is saying, “Carol Hold My Calls” which is from an SNL sketch, which TBTL made their free ringtone of the week.  Which I downloaded, and judah then learned.  You can get their ringtones here.

TBTL is a radio show on Kiro 7-10 pm.  To explain it simply would be impossible.  But it’s my favorite podcast for driving around and when I am doing administrative stuff in the office.

Here’s the thing that makes TBTL great, the audience is a contributor to the show.  I feel like I have an investment in the show, because I’ve sent them ideas.  Instead of just saying, “this is the show that we want to do . . . deal with it Cate Blanchett.”  They turn to their audience to help make the show.  Love it.

(There is so much that the church can learn from this kind of model.)