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Spiritual Practices by Henri Nouwen

"Pray It Up" is a series on prayer that starts on the weekend of August 7 & 9.  In preparation for this series many on our programming team are reading up on prayer to not only prepare ourselves to be saturated as best we can on the practice of prayer, but also in an attempt to provide helpful resources for our congregation.

I have just finished reading Spiritual Practices by Henri Nouwen.  I have read several of his many works throughout the years including, Out of Solitude, Wounded Healer, Return of the Prodigal Son, The Way of the Heart,  Life of the Beloved to name a few and yet in this most recent reading I have found some of Nouwen's most practical insight in the area of spiritual disciplines specifically in the areas of prayer and reading our Bibles.  Check out chapters 5 & 7 respectively on those two practices.

I am sure our teaching pastor Ed Noble will have his own suggestions as to books to read during the series, but for me Spiritual Practices would be my suggestion.

First I love the way Nouwen describes spiritual disciplines and spiritual formation:
"Spiritual disciplines are the skills and techniques by which we begin to see the image of God in our heart.  Spiritual formation is the careful attentiveness to the work of God, our master sculptor, as we submit to gradual chipping away ofa ll that is not of God until the inner lion is revealed."  p. 17

This understanding undergirds how he encourages us to approach the various spiritual disciplines laid out in the book.  In additon the way the book is laid out has multiple applications.  We are encouraged to read it through once -- straight through.  Then a second time around taking a chapter at a time approach and utitlizing the personal application helps at the end of each chapter that can be done individually, in a small group setting or in conjunction with a spiritual director.

Here are some further thoughts from Henri that I hope will prod you to read this book:
"To pray unceasingly does not mean to think about God inn contrast to thinking about other things, or to talk to God instead of talking to other people.  Rather, it means to think, speak, and live in the presence of God." p.61

"The presence of God is so much beyond the human experience of being near to another that it quite easily is misperceived as absence.  The absence of God, on the other hand, is often so deeply felt that it leads to a new sense of God's presence." p. 79

"As long as we red the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowlege, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives.  We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people." p. 92

New Product (RED) items from Starbucks

Today on my second trip to Starbucks of the day I picked up these two portable tumblers.  The first one is for hot drinks, the second is for cold drinks.  What I especially like about them is that not only are they visually appealing they are also part of the PRODUCT RED line where proceeds of the purchase goes to help eliminate Aids in Africa.


In addition I like the notion that I am one of the first to have these products as they are neither on the Starbucks nor the Product Red website.

What God had in mind???

From Last night:

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."  I am not sure if this is what God had in mind when this verse was written.

Leading Realites -- My New Blog

Last month I shared how I had musing about starting a new blog with more of leadership emphasis and focus.  So after much deliberation on trying to come up with just a blog name -- I decided to go with the following ... see picture below.

The idea of Leading Realities is to start a conversation of how we can lead more effectively in view of our current realities.  In addition the title is a bit of a play on words to the notion that I hope we would not be overwhelmed or overcome by life's situation, but that we would lead the realities that we are in and/or to lead through and from the realities we are experiencing.  This blog is very much a work in progress.  I am still not settled on the title.  So please your feedback is welcomed.

Here are a listing of the first three posts:

1. Leadership Learnings from Mallory Holtman
2. My Lead Reads
3. Is Your Number 2 Ready?

A Twittering Moment ... Watching Bub Get Baptized!

Bub  (Paul Stevens) commented on my blog some time around August last year.  Being unfamiliar with who he was I checked out his blog godmeandpoker.blogspot.com and I found his latest post very interesting.  He mentioned in the post how he was taking initial steps toward trying to build connections within our church (I did not know he even attended Journey at that point) by commenting on the various pastor's blogs and that he was thinking of possibly getting baptized. 

I commented on his blog and ask what service he attended so we could meet.  Well over a period of time and through his Tweets and Facebook updates myself as well as many of my friends got to know Bub as he initiated following us on Twitter and/or asking us to become his friend on Facebook. 

For those who have been critical of social networking services like Twitter and Facebook of having a negative effect on people establishing "real" relationships and friendships; or for those who have said these means are a waste of time and that foster a pseudo form of community.  Bub's story would dispell these critics.  Just ask him.  He has since attended various classses we offer and served on our weekends and special events and for all intention purposes is fully vested in the life of our church.

So this past Sunday Bub got baptized.  And standing with him was a friend he met through Twitter, Kevin, whom has had a spiritual impact in his life and Todd Tolson, one of our pastors whom Bub also met through Twitter.

And what better way to celebrate this significant moment in Bub's life than to have him come out of the water seeing the following banner (first picture in this post) and having it later signed up by those who are following him on Twitter.

Learning from Darlene Zschech at Toward Wonder

Yesterday I attended an incredible workshop lead and taught by Darlene Zschech at the Willow Creek Community Church Arts Conference "Toward Wonder."    The richness of my learning experience cannot be fully expressed in this post.  However, I can share with you some unedited notes from the session. 

Where the Real Wonder is

I am looking forward to our Programming Arts Leadership arriving in a few hours to attend the Toward Wonder (the Willow Creek Community Church arts conference) -- I got in a day early for a few meetings and was able to pop in on some of the prep that is taking place.  The place is a buzz with rehearsals; the going over details of service orders, signage and booths set up.

In my opinion this is where the "real wonder" takes place.  I am naturally curious to hear and find the intricate details of how an event of this magnitude is put on.  Most of us really have no idea what it really takes to even pull off events on that takes place on a weekly scale -- like a weekend service.

The pictures you see is of the technical arts team finalizing all the lighting cues and settings for the mains sessions of the conference.

New Format Reflections

I got home a few moments ago from New Format (Journey's college age gathering).  This was the second time that I have the opportunity to give the talk and the notion that when you give or serve you actually are the one that gets more out of it definitely rang true tonight.

I feel a real affinity toward college age students as I remember that time in my life with great joy.   It was a formidable time in my spiritual journey as I rededicated my life to Christ in my sophomore year and during this time had my first ministry/serving experience.  It was also during this time that I sensed a call to full-time vocational ministry.

It is so encouraging to see young people passionately lead us in worship music; the great conversation that takes place during the half hour mingle time; and the overall servant spirit showing in all their serving efforts.

Also tonight featuring the movie Twilight in their God at the Movies series we had various give-aways, a copy of the movie, candied red apples (courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Viejas Outlet) & hard to find Edward and Bella action figure pairing.  The winner was Andrew Moberly, only fitting since he first introduced me to Twilight.

Twilight at New Format

It is just a few moments before the olleg-age service New Format begins.  Tonight I have privilege of sharing from the movie Twilight as the college gathering is also in their version of God at the Movies.

One of the great things about working with college kids is you can have fun and tonight amongst other things -- there will be many different give-aways including this hard to get collectable.

Yet on the serious side of things ... the text I am sharing from tonight is Colossians 3:1-9.  I believe the main character Edward Cullen, a vampire by nature who chooses to live differently and not become what he describes as being a monster, is a great example of how we often need to make the choice and not give into our fleshly desires, but instead live for a grander vision of what God desires for us.

In a Twilight

This weekend at church we are in part 2 of the series God at the Movies 6 featuring the people's choice selection -- Iron Man.  In brainstorming the possible list of movies to vote on -- I made my case for Twilight to no avail.  (I do believe the main reason for the objection is that the team knew that Twilight would win and they did not want to speak from what they perceived as a teen film)

However, I am having the opportunity to teach on the movie Twilight at New Format -- the college aged service this Sunday night at 7pm.  I am subtitling the message "The Real People's Choice."

So today I am focusing my efforts in preparing for that message and I feeling some pressure from those around me to deliver.  Pray for me as  I prepare.

To understand why I have such an interest in this film click here.

25 Million Pieces of Legos

Yesterday I took my kids to Legoland for the first time.  In addition to my kids having a great time (the rides and attractions are just right for their ages 3 & 5 respectively)  I found myself marveling at how building blocks that I played with as a kids could be used to build such incredible works. 

It is said that over 40 million lego pieces have been used to build the various statues and exhibits seen throughout the park -- with over 25 million being used for Miniland alone.  I could have spent hours taking in the intricacies and details of what was on display. 

Check these out:

New York City

Mount Rushmore

Las Vegas

San Francisco

The inauguration of the President

I'm Thinking, I'm Thinking, I'm Thinking ...

What did we do yesterday?

I'm thinking ...

I'm thinking ...

I'm thinking ...

Learnings from a Leaders Gathering

Yesterday I attended a Leaders Gathering in Costa Mesa at The Crossing Church.  The purpose of the gathering  was to help encourage leaders and at the same time promote The Leadership Summit in the area as the The Crossing serves as the host site for Orange County.  The featured speaker was Dave Gibbons pastor of New Song Church in Irvine and is also one of the speakers at the Leadership Summit.

The content of his message included the sharing of his spiritual journey; sharing principles from his current book The Monkey and the Fish and a book he is currently working on; in addition to giving us a preview of what his talk will be about at the Leadership Summit.  I am really looking forward to learning from Dave later this year.

For that day here a couple of additional thoughts that he shared that has got me thinking ...

• Referencing Leighton Ford:  "We need to learn to walk slowly in crowds."  We never know who is in our crowds we may miss a future potential leader.
• Maybe creating boundaries for ourselves have gone to far ... where we have become gated in, disconnected and isolated from those whom God desires for us to reach and those who could have an impact in our lives.
• The congregation of our churches are asking: "Do you see me?"  "Do you know my story?"
• We have pimped out the Second commandment to define our neighbor as someone like me -- when the Parable of the Good Samaritan gives a definition of "our neighbor."
• Need to broaden what we look for in leader.  Most of the time we are looking for the leader who can lead thousands -- in reality we need to look for leaders who can lead ten or twenty or fifty or a hundred.
  

Programming Beyond the Stage and Screens

One of the lessons I am continually learning is that while programming for our weekend services we need to continually find ways to extend theme or elements beyond what takes place from the front.  And when I say the front I am referring to the stage and screens.

There are many other simple, creative tie-ins that can be done to enhance the attendees experience.  Here is an example from our services last weekend.  We are in a series God at the Movies and to kick off the series the movie featured was Slumdog Millionaire.

In our programming meeting there were two suggestions that were at minimal expense, involved the participation of none of the programming team members, created a great experience and was tied to the movie.  And most importantly it says to our guests that a lot good thinking is put toward our services.  (The subject matter of "good thinking" will come in another post at some point.

So here are the examples.

The main character in Slumdog Millionaire is Jamal, who by vocation is tea server, which is referenced to at different points in the movie.  So during the service we made available chai tea for people to sample by getting up and going to one of two stations at any point during the message part of the service.

The second tie-in we had was that we gave out Three Musketeer Bars when they walked in.  The connection being that was the book that was read in their school and it was also the final answer that Jamal had to answer on the game show.

Encouraged by the Big "C" Church

My day was spent visiting other churches with my friend Wesley (part of the Willow Creek Association) sharing how the Leadership Summit (August 6 & 7) could factor into their overall leadership training process.

In our 6th year of serving as the host site in the San Diego area my conviction to see the big "C" Church win continues to deepen. Through the course of our conversations today I left very encouraged by how pastors are leading through very difficult economic realities and encouraged by the beauty of the local church when it is well lead and working right.

Here are some of the ways I left encouraged and challenged by what other churches are doing ...

• One church (less than 2 miles away from us) is committing, as one of its four main objectives this year, to give 10,000 hours in community service in its immediate neighborhood through various service projects.
• In another conversation one young pastor patiently doing the hard-work of leading a 65-year old church steeped in tradition through change because it is needed to reach more people for Christ
• Another church we met with helping its neighboring church right across the street by providing people to do child care and a music team on different occasions because they were simply in need.

"There is nothing like the local church when the church is working right."
"The church is the hope of the world."
Bill Hybels
(senior pastor Willow Creek Community Church)

Ending Well (Thoughts on Jay Leno's Final Tonight Show)

I find a great leadership learning lab for me in respect to observing how leaders handle a significant life transition is watching  farewell speeches by influential people.  Here are some of my thoughts of Jay Leno's final hosting of the Tonight show.

A Crazy Church

Before our service on Friday night a long-time church member shared how excited he was that a friend of his was planning on attending our church by means of our website.  He further explained that all his friend had to do was google search "crazy church" and our church was the first website to come up. 

Now if you were to really google-search "crazy church" our church would not be listed. 

However, this was a way for this 70-year old  plus member to express his delight in how his church is willing to take risks to reach people.  This member is always giving me positive feedback about how much he liked a song or thought how the stage set or video looked cool. 

But this conversation raised this thought -- I hope on regular basis people would comment that -- "that church is crazy" for attempting something a little strange or thinking outside of the box.  And when don't get those type of comments that is when we really might be crazy.

The Calm Before the Storm (Prepping for GATM 6)

Coming off of our annual staff retreat we are launching full board into one of our highest impact/invite series God at the Movies  -- in its 6th year.

Our programming team technically, graphically and musically did an unbelievable job in getting ready on a short week.  Here is some pictures in the final minutes before our first service starts tonight at 7pm with the Oscar winning film "Slumdog Millionaire."

It truly does begin with prayer.  Today I really continually prayed Psalm 29:11 "May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!"

Help With a New Blog Title

I have been blogging for close to two years now and yet over the past couple of months my posting has been somewhat inconsistent.  Sometimes having weeks between posts. 

My original vision for my blog was to have an outlet to share leadership proddings and learnings in an attempt to open dialogue for us to learn together.  However, I have noticed that though there has been leadership content being present -- my posts have also drifted to random topics of life situations.

So I have decided to launch a blog with leadership content only.  I will still keep my current one and keep it up to date as much as possible, but my main purpose is to focus on the new one.

Here is where I need your help.  I have been toying with a few possible titles and your feedback helpful on which one you like or if you have something new altogether.

"I Pray All Would Serve on the Weekends"

Yesterday I shared at our staff huddle my ministry plan for the year which covered teams that play a vital serving function in our weekend services.  The teams I lead fall under to major umbrellas -- the Lasting Impression Teams (LIT) these teams help create provide a positive guest experience often before the weekend worship service begins; and the Programming Teams -- teams that execute the service content in our worship venue.

I prefaced sharing some of our goals for the year by stating if I had one prayer to pray for congregation ... "I would pray that each person in our church would have some weekend service involvement."  When I say serving on the weekends -- I am speaking not just of my teams but children ministries, student ministries, operations etc. etc.

The reason I say this is because from my experience, and this by no means meant to minimize any one who has serving role throughout the week, those who serve on the weekends tend to, amongst many other things  ...

• have greater buy into the overall vision of the church
• have an easier time dealing with change
• be better informed overall church life not just what takes place on the weekend
• work more effectively with other ministries
• not be overly focused in their specific area