May 2007

I found “Buzzmarketing” for a buck (That’s right, Borders had it in the clearance rack for $1 tonight).  Now I have something else to read!  I’ve really enjoyed Greg Stielstra’s “Pyromarketing” book (You can get it as an audio book for a FREE download) and this one is based on similar data.  How does it apply to the church?  Simple…You have to get people talking about your church and bringing new families in.  While these types of books are end-alls in our quest to build a church, they do provide some meat to pick out that can be applied to what we’re doing to make our marketing efforts more successful with less expense. (As I’m sure most churches DO NOT have thousands of dollars sitting around in their budgets for a mass marketing campaign).

Anyway, I don’t know if other Borders will have this on clearance this weekend but if you’d like to check, it’s always worth a browse through the clearance rack!

I just don’t know about this blog thing sometimes!  I know the rule is to post frequently but somehow, I just can’t seem to manage the time.  Oh well, for those of you who do stick around, I appreciate you checking in and commenting so I know I’m not just typing into the nether reaches of cyberspace!

Our worship guy is quitting.  I’m bummed.  He turned in his resignation Tuesday effective July 8.  He’s been a great help to our work in the past year since we’ve launched.  There was nothing personal in his resignation.  His secular job is promoting him to a new position and with the new position comes increased hours and responsibilities.  He just didn’t think he would have the time to devote to our work and his new job.  I don’t blame him.  Family should come first and he was stretched pretty thin already.  Now the task of finding someone new begins.  I have a few resumes on my desk but I still need firm commitments from those folks that they would be able to start in a couple of months.  Pray for me!

Sometimes it’s discouraging when you don’t see much response from people.  It makes you go back and re-look at what you’re doing.  I’m confident we’re on the right track but Satan has a way of getting in your head and messing things up.  It’s amazing how easily he can make you feel like a failure when you’re not up to your own standards.  I just need to go back to God’s standards first.  People need to be saved.  I think we’re so afraid to say that sometimes in our “don’t offend anybody” world that we’re just content to use the PC terms like “life change”, “committing their lives to God”, and “taking the first step on this God journey”.  Those types of phrases all sound great to me but I also sometimes wonder what’s behind them?  People need to get saved and have a real encounter with Christ.  I think then I’ll be encouraged.  I talked to my pastor (Yes, I still call my old church pastor MY pastor–he is!) today and he awoke this thought in me when he was telling me about an older man he led to Christ in an auto dealership back in Missouri yesterday.  To hear the old phrase “He needed to get saved” sounded good in my ears for some reason.  It’s been a while since I heard it.

I’m reading a book on prayer by one of my favorite authors, Terry Glaspey.  Terry and I met when I was in the broadcast business and I interviewed him several times on my radio show about his work in the literary field.  Terry is a committed Christian and one of those guys who challenges your thinking.  His books have never been best sellers but in today’s marketplace, deep thinkers rarely get the publicity they deserve.  Anyway, this book is nearly 10 years old now and I’ve read it before but felt the need to pull it down from the shelf again since it dealt with prayer.  According to today’s rankings on Amazon, you can pick it up new and used for $0.63!!!  That’s a bargain by any stretch.  The book is a collection of thoughts regarding the nature and power of prayer.  Quotes from great Christian authors and closing prayers in each section by Glaspey himself challenge you to go ever deeper in the power of prayer to God.  I’m preparing myself to write a devotional that our church will use in the month of September for 30 days of prayer.  I’m hoping that when I’m done with Glaspey’s book, I’ll be ready to write my thoughts down in earnest for the booklet.

I’ve been reading the book “Go Big” by Bill Easum and Bil Cornelius to give me some additional inspiration as we move forward with plans for the next phase of growth for our church plant. I had to laugh at one comment that was made in the book. Apparently, Bil C. was having a conversation with Ed Young Jr. of Fellowship Church in Grapevine. As the two were comparing notes, Young told Cornelius “Bil, I have the same problems as you. It’s just that there are more zeroes on the end of mine!” Interesting indeed!

I talked to a church planting friend of mine who’s a few steps ahead of me further north in Colorado. Great guy. He just signed a 1.3 million dollar loan for his church for the first phase of their building project. His church numbers 300 at current and meets in a school much like ours does. Talk about a faith building experience. I was impressed with his commitment to see the project completed. God directed him to some land and they got it at below market value several years ago and now, he’s building! There’s hope!!

Music wise, I’ve been all over the map. I’m currently listening to the new “Maylene and the Sons of Disaster” album simply titled “II”. My 13 year old son is heavy into this group and had me listen to a country flavored instrumental at the end. These guys are Christians but not of the garden variety you find at the local retail outlet. Dallas Taylor who fronts this band is very up front about his struggles and the realness of his faith. They play at clubs and secular spots all over the country. They have a great field to reach. I was impressed with this guy and his friends from the moment they befriended my son at a local club where they played. They noted my kid was only 12 at the time and wondered what he was doing there. They were impressed when he rattled off their music and then spent the next few minutes teaching him some riffs from his favorite songs. (he plays guitar). Cool guys. Some of the stuff here is quite loud but I enjoy them. Knowing them makes it even better. These are the type of guys you want to hang with on a porch somewhere in Alabama with catfish frying, cornbread cooking, and a HUGE jug of sweet tea on ice!

For those of you checking out my other blog, “The Productive Pastor”, it’s been a busy week, I’ll add some new stuff there very, very soon!

No, I didn’t attend NHCC in Orlando. Given the silliness of the flap that’s developed in the blogosphere over the Mark Driscoll video that was shown there, I’m glad I wasn’t. (If I could’ve left, I would have attended the “Q” conference anyway). It appears the more feminist wing of Christianity feels the need to point its finger at Mark every time there’s a supposed slight. Check the video out, here’s a link:

Driscoll Video

So please, tell me where Driscoll slights women in this video? I asked my wife, who knew nothing about the controversy, to watch this and give me her opinion. She smiled at points and said, “Boy, he’s raw but he’s dead on…more men should watch this!” Wow, so here’s my wife agreeing with the guy. I asked her if she felt this was a knock at women in ANY way and she said, “NO, why?” I told her and she just shook her head and said “People are going to hell every day and we want to make an issue with this?” I agree. Like him or not, Mark Driscoll makes you think. Men do not like an emasculated Jesus. Jesus was not that way. Despite all of the efforts of certain sects of Christianity to make Jesus this feminine type, touchy feely type of savior, this was still the same guy who cleaned out his Father’s house with a cat of nine tails and took a beating none of us could ever take. He was a man’s man and truth be told, most women want that type of a guy. They don’t want some limp-wristed, soft-spoken sissy that can’t keep up. That’s not the Jesus I see in the bible. He was caring when he needed to be but he was also firm and to the point when he had to be. He got angry, shouted at the religious leaders, and let’s not forget, he built things out of wood for a living. He did this back in the days of no power tools. His physique was probably pretty solid.

So why the fuss? I respect Bill Hybels but from what I’m reading, he decided to poke at this video when he came up to speak at the conference after it was shown. His response, and the pressure from the left-side of the table, resulted in a ton of DVD’s being sent home with the Acts 29 guys (Driscoll’s Church Planting Network) who spent a considerable amount of time and money producing, replicating, packing, and hauling this 8-minute piece only to have Hybels and his politicos keep it from being distributed. For that, I’m VERY disappointed. If I were Driscoll, I would sue the group for my expenses if they don’t reimburse him. This was an open conference and he was asked to do this. The NHCC officials had time to review this and could have come to a decision prior to what was done. If Bill Hybels had a beef with Driscoll, then let them talk about it privately in Matthew 18 fashion. Not from a public forum at the NHCC. Some may defend Hybels comments as generic but given their content and the manner in which they were presented, I would have sent him a letter encouraging him to NEVER do that again if he wants to be a part of this event.

As for the controversy itself, other blogs are presenting a video featuring women in it sprinkled with quotes from men to make them look like sexist pigs. I’m amazed that these more gentler souls who want to take the high road would go to the trouble to make a video, claim the moral high ground, and then say what a shame it is for Driscoll to be doing what he’s doing. Men and Women were made different. They physically ARE different. Thank God! I don’t want to be married to a lady that resembles LOLA from the Kinks rock song of the 60’s. Why can’t we celebrate our differences and relish them as God’s creation? As for women serving in the church, I have countless women who are wonderful servants and care-givers, truly pastoral in their duties and I recognize them as such. The bible clearly outlines this ministry but our church doesn’t recognize women as heads over a church. Is that so bad? Why is that so horrible? Many churches still believe this way and it’s not a sexist thing. It’s an interpretation of the bible and I tend to subscribe to it. I fellowship with women pastors. I had breakfast with one this morning and prayed for her leadership and her church even though I don’t agree with her position, that’s her denomination’s preference and I’ve got bigger things to worry about. So do the Driscoll bashers who want to crucify this guy every time he opens his mouth.

Folks, show some Christian grace and love and leave it alone. He did nothing wrong. He said nothing wrong. If anything, he said many things that needed to be said to church leaders about gathering their men. We need more of this in our churches to have the kind of Godly leaders in our homes that the bible speaks of. Good words Mark!