iTunes
Fade lights to 50%
Announcements by hot chick on screen
Fade lights to 30%
Really good or Really bad cover song
Really good singer leaves stage and replaced by worship leader
Lights fade to 15% so no one can see anyone else
Upbeat song
Mid tempo song
Big bridge song
Pray
Same video you played the last 4 weeks to get the pastor and his table on stage.
Lights up 80%
Blind crowd.
Sermon.
Closing song.
See you next week.

One question.
It is a simple question.
Is this the most effective use of our time when we gather the saints once a week?
The above flow pays my bills, but I don’t care.
Is this the most effective use of our time when we gather?
Los

Into your buildings.
Into your spaces.

When you start to feel the tension.
Hand over the keys.
At that point churches will stop dying and becoming museums from centuries past and we actually may have a shot to fulfill the great commission.
We may actually have a shot at revival.
Megachurch or minichurch.

y”OUR” Kingdom come.
That “Y” in your makes all the difference.

It’s ok to fix something that isn’t broken now but will be in 20 years.
It’s better that way…Right?
Los

You might be a megachurch is your green room looks nicer that 95% of your attendees living rooms.
You might be a megachurch if you film sermon video illustrations on location in other countries.
You might be a megachurch if people take celebrity pictures of the pastor during his sermon.
You might be a megachurch if you have more people on staff to run a Sunday than American Idol has on staff to run a Wednesday.
You might be a megachurch if kids throw a tantrum when the moving lights aren’t working in their Sunday School.
You might be a megachurch if your pastor has had more work done than most of the women in your church.
You might be a megachurch if your worship department has not one single ugly person in it.
You might be a megachurch if your pastors security detail mimics the Secret Service.
You might be a megachurch if there are more police officers directing traffic into your parking lot than manning the streets of your neighborhood on a Sunday morning.

Go ahead…
Have some fun…
Can you add any?
Los

I’m not a lead pastor. I have never been one. But I can only assume there are days when bouncing seems like a good idea.
Rob Bell is stepping down as the lead pastor of Mars Hill Church.
Francis Chan stepped down as the lead pastor of Cornerstone Church.
Neither of these have anything in common except for what I consider a small yet massive tie.
A call from God to step down from leading a local church to do something more.
More may not be the right word, but collectively, what I have gathered from interviews, videos, their writings, it is because their current church structure is no longer suited to support the call God has in their lives.
Something more than could be accomplished with them at the current place of leadership they serve.
I listened to Rob Bell’s sermon from 2 Sundays ago and was sucked into the story. He did a masterful job in his talk and I can’t wait to see what God has for him.
I believe whole heartily in what Francis Chan is doing.
Honestly, I left working in the local church for many of the same reasons.
I have been in conversations with some great church leaders as of late where this is a possibility in their lives as well.

I am left to wonder…
Will the church begin to loose their strongest leaders because the structure of what we call “the church” isn’t capable of adjusting to the needs of our current culture?
Thoughts?
Los

Bill Hybels is the cat’s pajamas.
That was leadership gold.
Take notes.
Then share them.
What did you learn from Bill’s response?
Los

What would Jesus do if a homeless beggar came up to Him everyday for 60 days and asked for money and a meal?
Send him to the homeless ministry down the road?
Make him fill out paperwork before giving him a hand out and tell him he only gets 500 bucks a quarter?
Send him to one of His disciples for job training so he can get a job at the market downtown Jerusalem?
Tell the beggar He doesn’t do “homeless ministry” because He is focused on his sweet spot of “Evangelism”?
Maybe?

You know what I think He would do?
I think He would give him money and a meal for 60 days.

Why do our churches react so differently when it comes to the beggars and the untouchables?
What are your thoughts?
Los

The entourage is a funny thing.
Everyone has either been in one or had one or hated one.
I’ve always been in one.
Mooching off the gravy train of my friends success.
Ain’t no shame in my game.
I once stayed in Ryan Seacrest’s condo because I was in the entourage of one of his entourage.
I roll like that holmes.
Entourages are legit.
They are exclusive.
They are protective of the Entourageeeee.
I see them as they are rolling into a club, rolling into a show, rolling into a restaurant, rolling into a store, rolling into a church conference, rolling into a church service…
You know, those places where you need to make a splash.

[Insert squealing brakes sound here]

Look. I’m the first to say there are whack jobs out there.
Willing to take out Pastor A if they have a shot.
But let’s be honest.  It just FEELS good to roll deep.
What’s that?
You say Jesus had an entourage of disciples?
I’m sorry but I can’t imagine them rolling in 12 deep.
Maybe rolling in 12 deep and then splitting up to throw some healing and love on some people.

This post was sparked by a direct message I receive in twitter…
“Trying 2 meet pastor of church we wr visiting,he was whisked away by entourage rt before R turn in line.Felt lk Disneyland & meeting Aladin”

See here is the difference.

When Jesus rolled in He had an inviting presence.
People flocked and He welcomed it.
We on the other hand, have the tendency to roll deep with a protective nature vs an inviting nature.

What has been your experience with the pastoral entourage and do you see it as a necessary evil or a maybe a bit of people drinking their own KoolAid?
Los

Dear Modern Day Church Structure…
There are people who do not fit in your systems.
There are people who do not fit in your structures.
There are people who don’t fit inside terms like greeter, worship, hospitality, teacher, small group, youth, missions, ect.
Your herding of spiritual giftings into certain ministry barns is diluting the richness of what the bride could be.
So please step back from your systems and strategies for a moment to see the millions who will never fit in your flow chart and ask yourself, what now?
Because they are leaving you for places which work within their eccentricities and creativity.
And if my mind serves me right…
Jesus was the most eccentric and creative human in history…
And I hate to say it…
But He would not have a place to serve in many of the structures we have built today.
Let’s build the mess of a church Jesus created.
The one He would fit into.
It’s better that way.
Los

News Flash.

IT NEEDS TO BE AN EMOTIONAL DECISION
God gave us emotions to feel and a mind to think.

Emotions can be dangerous just like intellect can be dangerous.
I think it is more important to take the BS out of Bible Study than it is to take emotions out of decisions.
And past scars definitely push people towards one or the other.
Just don’t lose one of God’s greatest gifts to us, emotion, because you have seen it abused.

When was the last time you got “emotional” in church and how can we lean on emotions without abusing them?
Los

I love stories of second chances. Hope restored.

Prison fellowship launches people into lives of grace and builds hope for second chances.  They specialize in removing the bars and ensuring that prison doesn’t have to be a life sentence.

Most people who survive prison are truly locked down for life.

Our U.S. prisons and jails are filled with 2.3 million people. Every year, more than 700,000 are released. And within 3 years, more that 50 percent of them will be back in prison.

How do we beat those odds?

By giving second chances.

Tangible hope.

For every shirt you buy from Prison Fellowship, a shirt and tie are donated to a prisoner. A simple, practical solution for someone who typically walks out of prison with nothing.  A chance for a job interview. A symbol of dignity. Men and women can walk with their heads held high knowing that someone believed in them- even when the odds were against them.