Financial Management 101

Money is said to be the number one stressor which leads to divorce.

Here's the best way to save your marriage.

Elijah Offering Video from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

How close are you to Elijah's principle?

Lighten Up

Though it may feel like the end of your rope, it isn't.

Though you may feel like its a hopeless situation its not.

Though it may seem like you hurt too much...sometimes the best remedy is to laugh til it hurts.

Committeed to Christ

I sure do spend a good amount of time in meetings. Here's 5 things to live by in running effective meetings.

1. Have the people come prepared and you be even more prepared
I have a problem with bringing an issue to the table that was on no one's radar and then expecting wise, godly decisions to be made on the fly. Sometimes this is unavoidable. But your agenda should be out in advance and action/focal points should be very clear coming in and going out.

2. 75 Minute Rule
I have been in some marathon meetings and they rarely end on an upbeat. An hour and 15 minutes gives time for discussion, processing, decision making and action steps. If you can't get through it all...you've either got too much on the agenda or you're taking too long on each step.

3. Have Action Steps
If no one has any application/action points coming out of a meeting, you shouldn't have had the meeting.

4. Start and End Positive
Sometimes tough things will be discussed...but start by acknowledging and affirming people, teams, and end the same way. The minutia cannot trump the exhortation!

5.Start and End on time
If someone is late...they are not just wasting 10 minutes of your time. They are wasting 10 minutes of each group member's time. This is unacceptable and if it is allowed to happen repeatedly, disrespect and dissension could creep in.

What's the longest meeting you've been in so far this year?

Leadership Thoughts

The most effective leaders have as much or more depth than they have width/breadth.

In other words, if all you have is a wide range of competency and skill, you can not be sustained in leadership.

Depth is the level of character and integrity you possess.

One of the dangers we see daily in our country is the amount of people with knowledge and talent that is a mile wide, and convictions and core values that are an inch deep.

So we get corrupt politicians whose charisma trumps their conviction, we get pastors who disqualify themselves from ministry because their talent overshadowed their integrity. We get pro athletes whose muscles outweigh their morality.

Perhaps the flipside of this is equally as debilitating for people in leadership. Those who focus so much on dos and don'ts...that they never let God tap into their skills and talents that He has wired them with.

So, are you as deep as you are wide?

Sunday Reflections

-For the second week in a row, a power surge has knocked our tech out during our 9:30 service. I wonder if God is teaching us that true worship is not bound by words on the screen...or if the churches of the city have too many things plugged in at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings.

-Phrases that will stick with me and hopefully you: "If you were arrested for being Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict?" "When there is an earthquake in Haiti and there is hunger, poverty, chance of homelessness, hopelessness and despair, the church must say NOT ON OUR WATCH." "Does your family know that you are God-flavored?...How about your coworkers?"

-The key to impactful, memorable worship is to identify the one takeaway that you want the people to go into their week with and then hammer it home in as many different, meaningful ways you can. There should be no question what the point of church was for the week. (And the one takeaway had better be 1. biblical 2. cross centered 3. seasoned with grace...not self help...not opinion.)

-Preaching exhausts me. I am highly introverted. So when I am engaged with people for 3 services and all the interaction between and after services, it wipes me completely. I got home, put some comfortable clothes on and was out cold for two hours in solitude...If you are introverted...you must make time for this after being involved in intensely people oriented situations.

-God is worthy. Bottom line...He is worthy of it all and He's inviting us to live a life bigger than ourselves. So may we be God flavored...God glowing and may we glory in His glory...so that they may see it on our faces!

re: Call

This past week, we had a leadership training that was called "re:Call". It was a chance to explore the history of the Wesleyan movement with the specific question of how the past should inform and impact our future.

Dr. Paul Chilcote, professor at Ashland Theological Seminary brought a unique perspective to the floor as he used hymns written by Charles Wesley that were actually eulogies for Wesleyan women to pay tribute to their lives abandoned to Christ. He used the descriptions of these women of the faith to challenge us as leaders.

The question that was sort've at the heartbeat of his talk was, when we die, what will they sing about us?

Andy Stanley spoke at Passion 2010 the first week of January and his talk was along the same lines. What will our epitaph say at the end of our lives.

I've learned enough since I started following Christ to know that if there is an irony of repetition in messages, themes or scriptures, its because God is trying to instill a sacred echo into our hearts.

So at the end of your life, when its all said and done...are you content with the story you're living or did you trade the big story of faith in Christ and living and breathing God's way for a smaller story that will fail to echo in eternity?

Get busy living...or get busy dying.

5 Songs from Passion

Many of these songs were written specifically for the Passion Conference so they are likely new...but my hunch is that many of them will catch fire in our churches. Quality varies...these aren't released yet! Enjoy.









The fifth song is by Christy Nockels and is called Healing in His Hands...no video of this yet that I can find.

yes.

I know we are not supposed to covet. But if I could do this my life would be complete.

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

what I've been up to

Just returned this morning at 2 a.m. from Passion 2010 in ATL.

Can I be honest? Best, most God-centered worship experience I've ever had.

We got to worship with the worlds best worship leaders like Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, Kristian Stanfill, Charlie Hall, David Crowder and Hillsong United.

We got to hear from some of the best Christian speakers in the world, like Andy Stanley, John Piper, Beth Moore, Francis Chan and Louie Giglio.

But way better than either of those things...we got to honor God and laud him with praise and see his glory. I can't even begin to capture this in a blogpost, but it is amazing what happens when we decrease and allow Him to increase and be magnified and glorified...Here's the ending of the Hillsong time...The warcry you hear ended up sung in the streets of Atlanta, on public transportation, in hotels...you name it.

As Crowder sang in one of our worship sets, "Our God is not dead, He's surely alive!"