I wanted to have a huge shout out to Apple! Since there new update this weekend for the iphone, (…and the new 3G Iphone release) I have had great joy connecting with my social networks. I am able to connect with facebook, twitter and other media with ease. What is great with the iphone update on the new applications, is it is very easy to upload pictures and any add commits within seconds!
The great part of social media is the great opportunity we have as a church to develop community. We have the ability to continue conversations and interact right where we have left off in person. I know that some don’t like that fact that people can know what you are doing as we reveal our status or twitter, but for me it opens the pathway for conversation and allows others to share in my life as I am experiencing life. So whatever your preference, the ultimate goal is to develop community. Though social media can be a low level community, it has the ability to bridge towards high level relationships and for me, it is just another way to stay connected to those I care about.
I was listening to Ed Young being interviewed by Brian Houston. One of the things that Ed says every leader should do is “go after the ask.” I’ve also heard him say, “the big ask question.” So what is ask? ASK means….Always Seek Knowledge. The way I phrase it is that we should be “life learners.” None of us have reached the place in our life where we need to stop reading and learning from others. We should seek out people who are being successful in their field of expertise and learn from them.
Ed Young continued with this thought by saying, that is why he is always trying to engage in conversation and to ask the right people the right questions to continue to grow as a leader. So what are the right questions. Well each field of business is slightly different, but the main question should be “how do you reach your main target goals.” This could be people groups, finacial goals, or as simple as golfing - if that is really simple. (For me, not so much.)
I remember there was a time in my life where I tried to learn something new everyday….and it’s time for me to continue down an old path and be a “Life Learner.” (I think the second part to this blog should be about filtering what we have learned and applying successful principles without loosing our own identity. ) What are your thoughts?
This week immediately following our family breakfast I read a children’s book entitled, “It Could Always Be Worst.”
It is about a poor man that lived in a hut with his wife, mother-in-law and six growing children. Due to their tight living conditions they were frustrated with life and took it out on each other. So one Day the poor man when to the Rabbi and said I’ll do whatever you ask me to do, but please help us, we’re all going crazy! The wise rabbi asked it the man had any chickens and the man said yes, I have chickens, a rooster and a goose. Good said the Rabbi, go take all of your chickens, rooster and goose and put them in your hut! The man was a little hesitant, but he did. Now everyone in the hut was even more frustrated, including the chickens! So the poor man goes back to the Rabbi and shares that things are even worst then before and now feathers are getting in our soup! The Rabbi ask, do you have a goat. The poor man answers, yes we do. The Rabbi says, Go home and bring the goat into your hut. With much apprehention he goes home and brings the goat into the house. Now there is much more quarralling, feathers flying and now a butting goat! So he again goes to the Rabbi angry and up set. The Rabbi agains sends the man home telling him to bring his cow into the house! After doing everything the Rabbi has requesting…the hut is FULL and everyone is dissatisfied with life…so the poor man goes to the Rabbi expressing his explosive anger! Finally the Rabbi says, go home and take all of the animals out of your hut! The poor man returns home and takes all the animals out of his hut. That night everyone was satified with the small hut and small living conditions in the hut.
The implications are many, but the bottom line is…whereever you are in life, it could always be worst! Tough we may be stressed out, on top of deadlines, and in the middle of fragile relationships, each of us can find peace in knowing, “We are not alone.” God is with us, giving us His strength to see us through our difficulties.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. -Phillipians 4:11-13
Do you remember the Apple“Think Different” campaign? As I begin thinking through church development, I notice that many churches take the approach of memicing churches that they are modeling their churches after. While using principles and ideas to enhance what we are already doing as a church is fine in my opinion. To mimic and try to reproduce to scale what successful churches are doing is limiting our creative ability that God has given each of us and lowers our divine potential.
The key to church development is not to be like or even out do other churches. We must begin creating environments within our church that forces us to be creative and think different. We don’t think different to just be different. We think through different applications of ministry concepts to be more affective in reaching people. Imagine how affective our churches could be in reaching people within our community if we begin engaging our creativity within our church community. Within TrueLife we have creativity teams that we use to help our ministry teams. In doing this, the creative potential is unleashed and new ideas and concepts are birthed.
We were all created to be different, so let’s be the original people God created each of us to be. We can change our world one creative idea at a time. Think Different!
We have just started a new sermon series that we have entitled, “Wii - Life Together.” One of the main ideas were “You hold the key to relationships.” Healthy relationships don’t just happen, we must take an active role in cultivating healthy relationships.
Since I have been working at TrueLife and also at UNC Healthcare I have been away from my little ladies - Sam and Hannah in the evenings. So this past Friday we had a late night family movie night. It was so exciting to watch both of the girl’s excitement build as they anticipated staying up late with their dad on a Friday night. (They probably were more excited about being able to stay up until midnight.) The night was full of memories and the next day we did sleep in, which was great.
It would be so easy to passively live life and go through the motions of working and coming home, but there are times when we need to take steps to create memories in our relationships. We must think of ways to interact and make live life together with those we love. Whether it is a movie night or a special day at the park with your family. Healthy relationships don’t just happen, we cultivate them.
I’ve been thinking a lot about community within the local church. What does it look like? I know some central values must be in place: Trust, honest communication, care and acceptance of diversity. Due to us being imperfect people, it seems like we mess up this thing called community, but maybe community is suppose to be messy. It’s an environment filled with individuals who look, think, and act different then we do.
The key to community is accepting and caring for everyone. This is where I think community gets difficult. It is esaier to accept people who are like us, but how about people who are marginalized, hurt or the polar oppisite, secure - strong energetic leaders? Community says that everyone belongs. Though we don’t always agree with everyone within community, we can communicate that we care for each other. But how? The first step is showing that you are interested by interacting and engaging in conversation. Go out of your way to meet people. Then we must take the next step and include those within community in our lives. Spend time together, eat together. At least that is what I like to do. Many of us get stuck here. We develop a relationship with a person or a couple that we like and we stop trying to build other relationships. Community is an ongoing process where we all engage in building relationships and continue to be an extention of God’s love to those within our community.
What are you experiencing within your community? How is community being built within your local church?
TrueLife has been going through a message series that we have just finished, “The Original March Madness!” It was a great series. As I was thinking through the series, I was thinking what were some key thoughts that have been communicated.
#1 TLC Core Value: “You can belong before you believe.” You can be part of community and experience the love of Christ through the Church before you commit your life to Christ. What I love about this core value is that Jimmy Long has said in his book Generating Hope that there will be two conversations for the postmodern. A conversion of community and then a conversion to God. Our core value opens the door to reaching the postmodern generation.
#2 “Chasing the miracle moment instead of experiencing the miraclous life.? We meet a lot of people chasing after a miracle moment instead of expecting God to work through our lives everyday. The miraculous life is being a source of encouragement to those who are in dispair, it is praying and believing that God is with us and working out the details in our life that are beyond our control. The miraclous life is allowing Christ to be part of our life everyday.
#3 God has called us to share our life with others and to not to live life alone. I really believe that we cannot make it the long haul with our journey to follow Christ without joining with the community of believers and being involved in each others life. I need you just as much as you need me. I think it is key to point out that being involved with other believers means that we share what God is doing in our lives and also extending to others support and exceptance.
I know in the series other things stand out like: being pentecostal - which means to be in community, be inclusive and live missional lives, but my real question goes out to other TrueLifers:
- What stands out in your mind as we went through The Original March Madness?
- Second, Do you have any stories of what has happened in your life through the series?
It is finally here! I’ve been waiting for a week for my new i-phone and this morning at 9:25 A.M the door bell rang and there stood the Fed Ex man! I could almost reach out and give him a hug, but after filtering the consequences of such an action I withstood the urge. All I can say is Wohoooo! This is a great day!
It is quite interesting; once a person starts church planting everything in his world begins to change. Scheduling, office work and communication is no longer done within the pristine white walls of an office. The environment shifts and you begin the adaptation process of your new world that is being formed. When working out of your home office, you must set aside office hours VS family time. Communication is done continual with emails and by mobile phone. (May I add, I just ordered myself an I-phone and I am exited how it will help my communication base to expand while I am mobile? I should get it by the end of the week! Yeaaa!) Everything is done in motion, on the go open for all to see.
I guess I am trying to say that though everything is changing and shifting continually, it is exciting to be part of what God has called you to - that being, people who desire to experience God in their world. To me, that is living!
Today I had oriantation for my new position with UNC Health Care. Since our family decided to partner with True Life Church in their church plant, this position will help me supplement my income for our family.
One of the values that UNC strives as a public health care facility is customer service. I really like their definition of first impressions. Basically they said that first impressions is “the consumer’s reality of who an organization is.” Great first impressions is vital as an organization for health and growth. We need to continually evaluate how we respond to our customer base, identify barriers that inhibit our customer to connect to our facility and create an atmosphere where team members go out of their way to make sure that everyone is able to receive the full benefit of the organization. If you were to evaluate your customer service, how would you rate your organization? Here are some questions to help:
- Is my facility easily visible? If not, how can you help your customer have an easier time finding you.
- Once your customer arrives do they have a clear idea where they need to go? This is where we need signs and team members to help direct individuals.
- Once our customer reaches their destination, do they receive prompt friendly service? Do they know that they are valuable as a customer? How do you communicate this through your team members?
- Are my team members positive and well educated about the organization and its services?
I’d like to keep this open ended. What other questions do you ask yourself when evaluating your customer service? I know for us who are in ministry, we don’t call this customer service, but the principles still apply. I’d love to hear your comments!
