iPhone Miami Style

The guys at the Falls are rockin’ the iPhone.

Check out the other Miami iPhone vids:

• Falls Apple Store Interviews & iPhone Hit with Hammer!?!?
• Little Havannah iPhone 
• The Falls Apple Store Line – no audio
• Miami First in Line

iJealous

Matt Mehaffey and Jeff Reed are flaunting their iPhones. iJealous.

An addition to the team

This is a great time to be at Life Pointe.  Just when things were getting comfortable and the bills were getting paid and things were getting figured out, we have decided to accept another challenge to step up in our mission to reach this city.

We just hired Jesse about a month ago.  We had to make that move to keep up with our growth and continue moving forward.  But, now we are making another hire, an executive pastor to take a more strategic hands on role in leading the ministries of the church.  That will take more pressure off of me, help with equipping, systems, and teaching.

This is a forward-looking move.  We had been looking for a strategic person to come on board with us.  We looked inside and out passing on some stellar and very committed guys.  Ultimately, I felt there was only one choice.  I’m glad to welcome Paul and Anne Hollifield to the team.

Paul will be joining us on July 15th.  Make sure you stop by his blog and give him a little welcome.

Enlighten the People

While inside the Houses of Congress yesterday, I was taken back by a statement by Thomas Jefferson. It was chisled above a doorway. He said:

Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.

Wow. What a governmental concept. Give citizens information…no… give humans information and they are freed from oppressive machines and imaginations. The truth of Jesus Christ enlightens and frees the minds, bodies, and souls of humans. May our cities be freed by the transformational power of the Gospel of Christ.

Extra-Curricular Buzz activities: Year 2

Last year at the Buzz Conference, I got this picture.

This year, it isn’t so fashionable to have the "W" grace my hand, even if it is standing next to Sen. Leahy.  So, I kept it in my pocket.  Instead, we participated as citizens by sitting in the galleries of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives, tickets compliments of Senator Mel Martinez’s office.

We were in the Senate when Mitch McConnel and Dick Durbin were acting conciliatory towards one another after the Immigration Bills failed.  Then, we hit the US House of Reps.  They party over there compared to the Senate.  There was a lot of cheering and booing.  It looked like nothing was getting accomplished…which is probably a good thing generally.

I ended up sitting next to Guy Melton from the Church at Pembroke Pines.  That was a real treat.  If I had to go all the way out to DC to meet him, it was worth it.

Follow the Buzzers

If you want to follow the Buzzers and get notes on the Buzz Conference from multiple sources, here they are:

• Ben Arment
• Todd Rhodes
  
• Johnny Roberts
• Ryan Day
• Steve Pike
• Stephen Shields
• David Foster
• Jerry McQuay
• Tim Stevens
• Kent Chevalier
• Ken Witcher
• Jess Bousa
• Kathy Guy
• Matt Morgan
• And, the unnamed tech guy that seems to be unable to connect to wifi (there seems to be a bit of irony in that)

TECHNORATI: Buzz Conference

Inspiration Day at the Buzz

I came to Buzz last year.  It was just what I needed.  We had just gone into our theater.  It gave us some umph in utilizing our space and helped us to think out of the box.  This year, I came because I wanted Jesse to see what Mark Batterson and his crew were doing and to hang with Paul. In addition to that, I’ve gotten big inspiration.  I feel re-inspired about our space and mission.

There are a lot of guys blogging their notes.  I’m going to hit my personal highlights:

• The conference opened with a great worship set.  I just found myself forgetting that I was tired, sunburnt, away from my wife, and tired.  I got bombed with tears worshiping an incredible Jesus as we were singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."
• Mark was very open with his heart, staff, and space.  He’s a generous, insightful leader.  According to Craig Groeschel, he has a prophetic voice for today.  I agree.
• Tim Stevens rocked.  I loved his reference to John 1:14 in the Message “Christ became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”
• Then, Craig Groeschel spoke.  He’s incredibly innovative.  I knew that.  I expected that.  But, I didn’t expect him to speak with such authority.  I’ll dedicate another post later to what he said.  It was significant.  I was convicted, challenged, and inspired to reach our community with more intensity by his words.

Online Social Networking Tools for the Church

From Leadnet and Stephen Shields, research on Online Social Networking Tools for the Church.

Buzz Conference – DC – Day One

Hit Reagan International in DC.  Jumped on the Metro.  Pulled into Ebenzeers Coffeehouses a few minutes late for the Theater Church pre-conference at Buzz.  Its hotter than blazes here.  I’m dying.  I’d love to get some good Miami weather to cool things down (its that hot!).  The whole temperature thing is magnified because I’m toasted.

Anyway, I’m sitting next to Jesse, Paul Hollifield, and Ken Hitte thankful to NCC for the Chic-fila and the conference.

Mind Dump before DC

I guess I should be careful using the phrase "Mind Dump."  It got my buddy Dave in big trouble with the crew from Slice of Laodecia.  Anyway, here goes:

• There’s a beekeeper at our building removing a bee hive from inside one of the walls.  Earlier, I actually goaded Casey into trying to kill them with flying insect repellent.  I think they thought it was perfume.
• McKenna hates dirt and won’t walk on the sand at the beach.  But, today she let me bury her up to her neck at the North Shore Park.
• I’m going to DC in the morning for the Buzz Conference.  I like Mark Batterson, NCC and the Buzz because it is creativity with a big vision.  But, It’s realistic and achievable.  I want my guys experiencing this stuff.
• We are just about to make an announcement on another staff member joining the team.  Its coming this week.  This is going to be a huge addition for us.  This was a really tough decision because of the quality of the people that had thrown their names in the hat.  Ultimately, we are getting the right guy.  He and his family are going to be a really great fit. 
• Adding Jesse was a reactionary hire.  We needed to fill that position.  We were actually stunting our growth because we hadn’t made that move.
• Adding an Executive Pastor is a proactive move for us.  We are getting out ahead of ourselves in preparation for this fall.

Christ Fellowship Homestead Here to Stay

We pray for God’s Kingdom to come to Homestead.  One of our "sayings" at Life Pointe is that we want to "make it hard for people to hit hell from Homestead." So, a few months ago when Christ Fellowship opened their first extension campus outside of Palmetto Bay right here in Homestead, I couldn’t have been more excited.

A couple weeks ago, I heard a rumor that CF wasn’t going to be at Waterstone in the fall.  I was really disappointed.  So, I emailed Jeff Reed to find out what’s up and heard their awesome news. Eric Geiger writes about it here as well.  Bottom line is it was a total rumor.  In fact, they were being given almost five acres ($6,000,000+) on the Turnpike!  It was given to them by the Miami Baptist Association. 

Dude, I’m just about ready to be a Baptist!  I already really dig Ed Stetzer.  You know…for 5 acres in Miami-Dade, I think I might even be willing to become a Fundie!  Anyway, great news for Christ Fellowship…great news for the Kingdom of God in Homestead!

National New Church Conference Audio

The 2007 Exponential Conference (National New Church Conference) was excellent. In case you missed it, you can get the audio to the plenary sessions here:

Plenary Session 1 with Wayne Cordeiro
Plenary Session 2 with Ed Stetzer
Plenary Session 3 with Dave Ferguson
Plenary Session 4 with Bill Hybels

For the rest of the pre-conference podcasts, click here.  Thanks to Steve Addison for the heads up.

Free Web Seminar with Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson just announced that Greg Ligon of the Leadership Network will be hosting a web seminar with Dave, John Ferguson, and Eric Bramlett on Tuesday, June 26th from 11-noon (eastern).  The seminar is based on the book, The Big Idea.

Pastors, leaders, creative planners, etc… don’t miss it.  Spread the word, people. Register here.

Sunday Wrap-up

We had our first summer slump day of 2007.  It was a good day…here’s the details:

• We had a really great, witty couple that called Flamingo Road Church to find out if they had a campus in Homestead.  They don’t.  But, whoever they talked to said that they needed to visit Life Pointe. So, they did. That rocks.  I have to throw a huge thanks to Troy for taking an interest in me…can’t tell you how much that mens to a pup like me.
• While our crowd was down, we had a good number of new people. Our attendance today is still higher than the average for the month of Easter 2006.  That’s awesome!
• I think that there was a rule today that if you are a leader at Life Pointe, you vacation on 6/24…not even kidding.
• I like to preach to our people.  Our crowd is so engaging.  I feel as much of a participant as I do the communicator.
• Like clockwork, our ratio of adults to kids (12 and under) is 2:1.  We have a lot of kids.  I just got the dashboard (attendance, guest tracking system) from The Journey in Manhattan this week.  After looking at how many kids they have, you have to know that every church is incredibly unique.
• Today, I started the last chapter of James.  We talked about money and how it shouldn’t "rot in your hands."  I don’t do that often.  But, we went directly at it.  Trusting God with our finances is a huge piece of following Christ.  We are getting this lesson.
• Finally, we are having Sunday night church back at the Theater at 7:00 PM.  We are watching a theological documentary…Evan Almighty.  Can’t wait.

Book Review: Ready for Anything

"Ready for Anything" by David Allen is the follow-up to "Getting Things Done."  I’m challenged in the field of organization.  Generally, I can mess up a garage, a desk, or a bedroom in minutes.  Yet, I thrive in minimalist environments.  So, both David Allen books worked for me.

I especially like Ready for Anything because it was 52 principles bulleted.  Like most books, there are a few too many pages, stories, illustrations.  I think I can tweak my preaching in the same way I can critique a good book.  Less is always more.

Of the 52 principles, the following stood out the most:

1. Cleaning up creates new directions.
4. Getting to where you’re going requires knowing where you are.
8. Closing open loops creates energy.
10. Creativity shows up when there’s space.
21. Perspective is the most valuable commodity on the planet.
25. Only one thing on your mind is "in the zone."
27. Stability on one levels opens creativity on another.
34. You can’t win a game you haven’t defined.
35. Whenever two or more are responsible for something, usually no one is.
41. Too controlled is out of control.
44. Your power is proportional to your ability to relax.
46. The longer your horizon, teh smoother your moves.
49. Small things done consistently, create major impact.
51. Its easier to move when you’re in motion.

I’ll leave you with my favorite line from in the book, "When you can see your target and identify with getting there, you quickly lose interest with how beaten, bloody, or muddy you are."

Also, check out what Drew Goodmanson had to say about both books here.

Stages of a Growing Church

Ben Arment shared a good post here about the growth stages a church goes through.  I’ll summarize his summary like this:

1. Growth solely from the pastor/planter.
2. Growth from core people inviting their social networks.
3. Growth from advertising and coordinated outreach.
4. Growth from multiplication of small groups.
5. Momentum Growth from Word-of-mouth.
6. Growth from sub-congregations (second service, additional locations, age specific congregations, etc..)
7. Growth from critical mass (a crowd attracts a crowd)
8. Church Reproduction.

While there’s no scientific pattern, this does explain how some styles of churches (like us) grow.

Committed to the Cause

I truly believe that the greatest hope for the world and the greatest organization in the world is the Church.  It is easy to become disillusioned with church because there are some real dummies out there taking advantage of people.  But, when the Church is functioning right, great things happen.

Before Kelly and I met and before I made the decision to be in "professional ministry," I made a decision that was going to be a real part of the Church.  I gave my heart, emotions, hands, voice, life, and resources to God and people who identify with Christ.  When Kelly and I started dating, I let her know that there were some non-negotiables in my life.  I thought some of those things might scare her off.  As we got to know each other, I was glad to find out that we were committed to the same cause, the same Christ, and with similar levels of passion.

I asked her to commit to the following things with me:

1. To be willing to go anywhere and live anywhere for the cause of Christ.
2. To be faithful with our finances, prayers, and devotional time. (I struggle more in prayer and devotional time than with finances).
3. To always love me and to always receive my love.  We pledged NEVER to threaten divorce.  Its off the table.  Through some challenging times, we’ve loved one another.  We’ve invested in one another.  During the times we both came off as unloveable, those investments have paid off big time.

I think that one of the biggest reasons people don’t make it with Christ in the long run is a lack of "all in" commitment.  We surrender areas to God and withhold areas for ourselves.  I haven’t mastered relationship with Jesus (relationship with Kelly for that matter).  But, I am fully committed to both.  I’m seeing both of those relationships really develop into something beautiful. 

I am thanking God for the transformation that is taking place in our church community.  What has been or is the biggest hurdle to you in making the decision to go all in?

Primal Porsche

I’m driving with Bob Franquiz on my way back from our coaching network in St. Pete.  It’s a turnaround, same day drive in addition to sitting in a class room environment from early to late.  I thought I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation and exhaustion when I was getting on to I-275 south.

I checked over my shoulder to change lanes and caught a red Porsche in my peripheral vision.  The Porsche didn’t startle me.  But, the monkey that was driving did.  I was passed on the interstate by a monkey doing 85 mph!  What?! 

I’ve seen some crazy stuff in my life.  As many of you know weird stuff follows me.  I’m rarely surprised.  But, my mouth is gaping and I’m waiting for Charlton Heston as George Taylor to wrestle the steering wheel from Cornelius in some sort of Planet of the Apes replay.

I put the hammer down on my silver Altima and caught up to the fine tuned Porsche which had a Florida license plate that read "Prime8."  Bob grabbed a couple pictures as I tried to keep the car between the yellow lines.  Maybe he’ll post the pictures soon.  Bizarro!

UPDATE: Here’s Bob’s picture and his rendition of the story.

John Brockman and Atlanta MC this Friday 7 PM

John and Joselyn Brockman and Atlanta Master’s Commission will be at the Life Pointe Church building this Friday at 7 PM for an awesome evening of worship.  If you aren’t familiar with our building, here are the directions.

So, what’s this about? Expect some really great worship time, drama, dance, and a great time with John.  The promotion of this event has been incredibly minimal.  So, I’m depending on you guys to get the word out to your friends.  Come early, stay late…its going to be a great night.

Reina and Diego Join the Team

My mind went racing back to Chicago when I’d see Jesse, Reina, David Lugo, and Joey Gonzalez doing their thing.  Good days.  It was nice to see Reina doing ministry with Jesse.  And, Diego is cute little cat.  When I hold him, I just want to steal him and keep him forever…awesome.  I really haven’t had the opportunity to say welcome to these two publicly.  But, here it is…welcome Reina and Diego!

My hands have come off the steering wheel

We break from our Life Groups from July until the week of August 26th.  We encourage our groups to continue hanging out, doing bbq’s, dinners, etc…  But, there is zero pressure for our groups to maintain teaching sessions in their homes.  It shifts to strictly relational connectivity over the summer.

In place of our groups, we will be hosting a leadership worship gathering for everyone that considers themselves a leader or wants to develop into a leader.  There are no requirements for coming to the gathering other than showing up.  There will be a time of worship, equipping, and vision casting/strategy formation (sharing strategy and participating in strategy formation).

The July 11th kick-off meeting is going to offer a directed, open forum type environment where we will be discussing some huge stuff that may impact a lot of what we do entering into the fall.  Some of the discussion will probably lead to a "strategic chaos." Already our creative planning session this week has caused me to shelve our summer message series until August 26th.  For those of you that heard the teaser on Sunday, get ready because our roll out is going to be pretty big.

This Sunday, we’ll announce our new series that we’ll be beginning July 15th.  We have not promoted a series since April.  The current series has lasted 14 weeks.  We’ve experienced significant growth since then to the point that we need to be adding a second service no later than August 26th.  Even this past Sunday we were over the 70% capacity mark for our auditorium. 

People that come in late have to sit either separated from their group or in the uncomfortable down front seats.  Those seats are so close that people end up looking up my nostrils which is uncomfortable to all parties involved.  I also learned in my communications classes that strong enunciation leads to spitting…hopefully you don’t see that from the back.  But, when you’re down front super close, you definitely do.  Summed up, that’s pretty gross.

Sunday seemed personally challenging for me.  I left the service feeling worn out.  But, the feedback has been phenomenal.  The offering was much stronger than our 6 week average.  And, our attendance was more than 30% higher than the same Sunday the previous year.  That’s totally God.  Because I felt like I went up to share and was just inadequate for the job.  Ultimately, I am.  But, moreso on Sunday than most.

I have to tell you that just when I think I am figuring things out, God has come in and messed me up.  I feel like I’m spinning down an icy road and in frustration with being able to control the car, I’ve taken my hands off the wheel.  Its up to God where this vehicle goes from here.

Anyway, if you want to be a part of a corporate worship time, prayer for our future, and strategy formation, Wednesday, July 11th @ 7:30 PM (in our building) is your day.  I’m asking God for one of those Upper Room experiences where hearts and minds are in one accord.  The result is an outpouring of power to impact the culture here in our city in a HUGE way.

Apple TV: What I like

About a week ago, I mentioned that I had just gotten an 160 gig Apple TV.  Today, I’ll tell you why I love it.

• I can go to church with Mark Driscoll, Mark Batterson, and Craig Groeschel’s vidcasts in my office while I’m working without interfering with whats happening on my desktop.  I’m looking for some good off the radar vidcasts as well.  If you know any good ones, let me know.  A pastor has to have some good church too, you know.
• We already started working this into our creative meetings taking content from each laptop and throwing it to the 42" LCD.
• My iTunes is playing at a tolerable level away from my workspace throughout the day…looking for good worship podcasts/vidcasts as well…not worship teaching but the straight worship sets.
• I can’t wait until we can watch directly from YouTube to AppleTV.  That will raise the level of our brainstorming sessions in a big way.

Bob Newhart: Stop it!

Sunday Wrap-up

Every time we gather, God does something unique in each of us.  I know that He had a plan and He worked it regardless of me.  I was drained by the time 10 AM came and felt like I gave everything I had and it seemed to me not to be much.  I have to say that the guys who motor through the days where things don’t come together are stars in my book.  I’m appreciative for them. Trying days really illustrate that we ARE NOT a church service but a Church Body.

During the service, I challenged us all to be fathers (as well as mothers, sons, and daughters) who will be grieved and remembered for who we were and for the legacy we left.  I thank you for hearing my heart and letting me live that message feebly in front of you.  Being in the middle of this process with my grandfather is personally challenging.  But, I’m thankful that it beats the alternative of hating a monster who hurt me.  Instead, I am grieving for a man that mentored and loved me.  I want to be that man who people grieve over one day.

In the service, I mentioned that we will be going to two morning services on August 26.  We have been poking around at this for some time and its time to make it happen.   We’ve not pulled the trigger yet.  But, it is definitely time! 

There are some logistical issues to overcome in the theater to be able to pull this off at a time that works for our community and for our lease.  So, we’re going to be going through our plan with a fine tooth comb.  Every potential solution is on the table.  Nothing should be able to hinder our growth.  If you want to be a part of our planning team, give us a shout in the office.  We could use some good quality thoughts engaging this process with us.

Takeaways from “GO BIG”

I just finished "Go Big" by Bill Easum and Bil Cornelius’.  Here is a  3 page PDF of bulleted takeaways.  They are definitely worth reading.  Here are a few of my favorite excerpts:

DREAMS and OBSTACLES
•    The problem with most pastors is that they don’t dream big enough.
•    You cannot become a great leader without encounter great struggles.
•    Big dreams will plow through the struggles.
•    The lead pastor is either the stopping point or the catalyst.
GROWTH
•    5 basic keys to explosive growth (in PDF)
•    Kill negative side or non-producing budget items to create room for marketing/outreach monies.
•    Any small group pastor/leader that does not talk about multiplication does not need to be leading a small group.
•    Start a new service as soon as you can.  Then, add another service as soon as you can.
•    The most difficult growth barrier to break is 200.
•    Pastors must do the following to help the church break through those barriers: (in PDF)
STAFFING
•    hiring sequences. (in PDF)
•    The four main roles of a staff pastor are: (in PDF)
•    WORSHIP LEADER CHARACTERISTICS: (in PDF)
•    If you aren’t capable of firing people, you aren’t capable of explosive growth.
ASKING PEOPLE TO FUND THE VISION
•    It takes faith to ask for the kind of money it takes to do ministry.
•    If a pastor is not tithing, he needs to get a new job.  If a ministry leader is not tithing, he needs to step down until he has surrender his finances as well as his heart to God (where your heart is where your treasure is- Matthew 6:21).

Check the PDF above for complete categories and the following additional bullet categories: Structure, Handling  Problem People, Service

Coming home

I’ll be back home soon.  While we were here, we went to a few church services, hung out with some old friends, and went to one of my favorite restaurants, the Columbia in Ybor City.  I love that place

It was great to spend a lot of time talking about the future of Life Pointe.  We made some strategic decisions that are going to pay off and develop a number of our leaders and more intentionally disciple a sizeable group in our church community. 

In all honesty, this is experimental territory for me.  I’m growing as a leader, learning as I go.  I believe in our mission and in our church.  I know that outside of my family and my personal relationship with God, there is nothing more important that what is going on for Christ in south Florida.  I’m very excited about the next 9 months and ask you to pray for the church and serve the people around you more now than ever.

Life Pointe Church Pastors

Ed Stetzer on Contextualization

This Stetzer moment is brought to you from an important SBC stage in San Antonio I believe.  There are not many guys I enjoy listening to or reading more than Ed.  From time to time, people want to know why we do church like we do.  He has given a great Gospel explanation.

Also, one of the last times I heard him speak, he said that the 80’s had called and wanted John Maxwell’s turtleneck back.  This time he said that when he attends the Southern Baptist Convention, he feels young and slim.  Beautiful.

Don’t give up

The thing I love most about being a pastor is the really wonderful friendships I am privileged to be a part of.  I got some really great news about one of those friendships today.  I’m not going to get into the get into the specifics.  But, I will share Paul’s words to the Galatians in chapter 6:9:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

34

I’m approaching midfield.  Another year.  Many more experiences.  God has been good to me.  Kelly wrote great virtual birthday wishes to me.   It made my eyes a little itchy.  I’m a blessed man to have so many rich relationships.