Saturday Night Mind Dump… (Vacation Edition)

• Here’s my mind dump, vacation style
• We left Friday for San Diego and so far, the weather has been amazing
• It is supposed to be a high of 78 while we’re here
• It’s true what they say, “You don’t know how badly you need a vacation until you are on it”
• We needed it
• Here’s a picture of why I love vacation
• Go here to see pictures from our adventures today
• Katie has me hooked on french press coffee now, it is addicting
• Heard tonight was a great night at Revolution
• Don’t know about anyone else, but how awesome is it to have Paul on our team?
• I’m continually blown away by the level of creativity that comes out of our creative team
• If you missed tonight, you can listen to the message here
• Got a lot of great feedback about the TV evangelist video we made, I’ll post it when I can
• Heard it was a great kick off to our brand new series
• You don’t want to miss next week, it is going to be even cooler
• Dave Ramsey will be talking about debt, something a lot of people have
• Gonna get together a few times this week with Jim Johnson, he’s been a guy who has been challenging my thinking the last few times we’ve hung out
• Tomorrow we’re going to church at Kaleo, love going to church on vacation with Katie
• I don’t have to do anything but sit down and listen, really refreshing for someone who speaks a lot
• Speaking of that, I am loving having this month off from preaching
• I am really excited about preaching our next series in August
• The lead pastor at Kaleo, David Fairchild is a guy worth reading and listening to
• His ideas on tri-persepctival leadership are really shaping how we do and think about leadership at Revolution
• If you missed our 4th of July BBQ/Baptism, you can see pictures here
• While on vacation, I’m reading two really good books: The rest of God and Leadership Gold, I’ll blog some thoughts when I’m done
• Saw this billboard today, definitely a reminder why we’re preaching on marriage and divorce this fall
• Love our schedule for the week (wake up, exercise, lunch, nap, go somewhere cool, dinner, bed, do it all over again)
• That’s a vacation
• Now I’m getting back to it
• Good night from 66 degree San Diego

Pics from Day 1 of Vacation

Below are a few pics of our first day in San Diego. It is absolutely beautiful.

Pictures from Revolution’s Baptism

Below our pictures from Revolution Church’s baptism that we had on July 4th. It was an amazing day.

Vacation Time

Today, we leave for vacation.

We’ll be in San Diego for the next 8 days. While I’m gone I don’t plan on blogging, I’ll post some pictures while we’re gone, but that’s it (there will be some posts that I wrote before leaving).

You can follow our trip on either my twitter and facebook.

While I’m gone, I’ve listed some of the more popular posts from the past and some of my favorites (in case you missed them):

• What guides Revolution (if you are new to Revolution and want to know what we are all about or need a refresher, here you go)
• What kind of leader are you?
• What they really mean (this is so true of most people in churches) 
• Meet Ashton Joshua
• My weight loss “secret”
• The role of men in the family 
• Preaching through Hebrews  (this was a great book to preach through, hard at times, but there is so much in Hebrews)
• Thoughts on Pastors making it to the end (this has been on my mind in the last few months)
• Enemies of a growing church
• Small groups (Revolution style)
• Preaching without notes
• What God is doing at Revolution (so excited to be a part of this)

Links of the Week

1. Catalyst on Key leadership principle for young leaders. This has been hard for me to do, still is hard for me to do, but being faithful with what God has called you to is so important. Stop looking at others and ahead of you, just do what you are called to do. Great reminder.
2. Sam Rainer on Signs of a struggling local church. Even though the news is grim when it comes to local churches, with what I see God doing at Revolution and other churches in Tucson, I’m excited. We are kicking a dent in hell and this list will help to keep us on track.
3. Thabiti Anyabwile on When to make changes. This is a great look at how to make changes in a church or organization.
4. Greg Despres on Does leadership skip a generation? Great reflections on Andy Stanley’s The Next Generation Leader book.
5. David Putnam on Common mistakes church planters make. This list is right on. I/we’ve made most of these.
6. Perry Noble on 10 questions leaders need to ask. Great list.
7. Steven Furtick on The power of regret. It is good (sometimes) to be reminded of the journey we have taken, what God has saved us from, the grace he has extended to us.
8. Katie had a great post on Supporting the man in your life. This came from our small group discussion, it is right on when it comes to what a man needs and the role his wife plays in his life.
9. The Daily Dish on The odd lies of Sarah Palin. Regardless of your opinion on her politically, this is a great reminder that at the end of the day, as a leader, integrity, your word is all you have.
10. Ray Ortlund on Jesus Jr. We miss what Jesus is all about and instead of seeing ourselves in the image of God, we try to make God in our image.

This Weekend: What the Bible Says about Money

This weekend we start a brand new 3 week series: Life. Money. Hope. with Dave Ramsey.

To kick off the series, Dave is going to be talking about what the Bible has to say about money. I think, if all of us are honest, we could use some different advice when it comes to finances. Many of us are in a place where we need help.

This is a great place to start. You DO NOT want to miss a week of this series. This is a series that will have people in our church talking for awhile.

If you want to invite a friend, go here to send them an e-vite.

See you Saturday at 5!

Marriage, Cheating, Football & Steve McNair

I’ve been watching with the interest since last Saturday about the death of Steve McNair. One of the best quarterbacks of our time, killed in a murder-suicide (according to ESPN).

What this shows, once again is how easy it is to cheat, but also how dangerous it is.

I think in our culture, we’ve become used to the idea of cheating and we have a nice word for it, affair. But as Mark Driscoll says, “Affairs are what you get dressed up for, affairs are the prom. Cheating is adultery.” We need to use the right words so we understand the damage they inflict. Affair/adultery/cheating, however you want to slice it, it will inflict sometimes, irreconcilable pain. Even Skip Bayless at ESPN understands this when he tweeted, “McNair findings prove once again that affairs can be extremely dangerous. The danger makes them more exciting. But it can be lethal.”

I think most people would agree that cheating whether in a marriage or dating is wrong. But how does it happen? What is considered cheating?

It happens because on some level, there is a need that is not being met. It might be a need that you are aware of and have even talked with your significant other about, or it might be a need you have not realized. When that need is not being met, you will instinctively go looking for someone to fill that need. When that happens, cheating becomes easier.

There is a great book His Needs, Her Needs that lays out the basic needs for men and women. When these needs are not met, according to the authors, your love bank is not filled, it makes withdrawals. When your love bank is empty, you look to fill it.

For men, the needs are: sexual fulfillment (this is different from just sex), recreational companion, an attractive spouse, domestic support, and admiration/respect.

For women, the needs are: affection, conversation, honesty and openness, safety and security, and family support.

What often happens in our culture is we only see the womens needs as the necessary ones. “Of course he wants sex” people will say. Or, “how degrading, an attractive spouse.”

Think about it like this, if your husband talked with you with as much enthusiasm and frequency as you have sex with him, how would you like that. If the answer is, “he already does” then you have a problem.

Katie and I sat down early in our marriage and explained to the other what each one of these needs meant for us. It is different for each person. Your husband defines what is attractive, not a magazine cover, so let him tell you. If you do this, you will actually meet the need of conversation (look at that!)

There are also different levels of cheating. It could be physical (which is what we often think about) or it could be emotional or mental. Cheating happens when we allow someone we are not married to to meet a need that our spouse should be meeting.

So how does cheating happen? It doesn’t just happen, it takes place over weeks, months, sometimes years. Slowly, your love bank depletes and it is not refilled. Then, a man shows you attention, he is easy to talk to, interested in your life and you find yourself opening up to him, wishing your husband was like that. You are right there.

Or, a woman compliments you, she takes pride in how she looks (ironically, study after study say that people cheat on their spouse with someone less attractive than their spouse, so it isn’t looks), takes an interest in you, asks about what you like and bam.

Katie and I often talk about how we don’t meet with someone of the opposite sex alone and we get some weird stares. The reason. If you aren’t alone with someone, you aren’t in the position to cheat on your spouse. If you don’t share intamite things with someone, you can’t be amazed by someone. This doesn’t mean you aren’t friends with people you aren’t married to, but it does mean you are guarded around those people.

Do you share things with people of the opposite sex that you don’t share with your spouse? Are you making memories or having experiences with someone you aren’t married to? Do you find yourself looking nice for someone you aren’t married to? Do you find yourself thinking about what someone other than your spouse is doing? How they’ll be dressed when you see them tonight? When you are talking or having sex with your spouse, do you find yourself thinking about that person?

If you answered yes to any of these, you are having an emotional affair. Which sometimes, but not always, leads to a physical affair.

See how easy it is?

What a Sermon Does

“A sermon creates a picture, a space, an image, an experience, an encounter, a world, a place that allows people to find themselves in it. It is focused yet open, said and yet unsaid, defining and yet imagining, resolute and yet unresolved. The parables are like this in many ways…they create space in which people can enter and say: “THATS ME!” The beauty of a sermon is met where EVERYONE are in at the moment in their journey and invited to the next place in their journey.” - Rob Bell

Taking God at His Word

There is a crazy story in Luke 7. A centurion, an officer in the Roman army who led and commanded men sent word to Jesus that one of his servants was sick. He asked for Jesus to come and heal him.

So, Jesus goes.

Then, before Jesus gets there the same centurion sends friends out to meet Jesus and stop him. The centurion all of a sudden feels embarassed about the way he leaves, he feels unworthy to have Jesus in his home. So what does he do? He tells Jesus to just give the order. The centurion is a man who gives orders and takes orders. So, he tells Jesus to do the same, believing that if Jesus gives the order, his servant will be healed.

Jesus’ response? In front of all the people who live there he says, “I have not found this kind of faith anywhere in Israel” and then he heals the man from a distance. What a shot to the people!

Here is the amazing thing. We know even more about God. We have more information about God than the centurion had or could have had. We have the whole scriptures, the stories of faith that we have experienced, that our churches have experienced, that our friends have experienced.

But we don’t take God at his word. We second guess. Argue. Discuss. Hesitate.

What would happen, if like the centurion, we took God at his word?

The Role of Men in the Family

Last night, we had a great discussion in our small group. We are going through Andreas J. Kostenberger’s book God, Marriage and Family. Which, if you want the most thorough book on what the Bible says about marriage, roles, divorce, family, kids. This is the book. At least outside of the Bible.

The chapter last night was about what the Old Testament says about family, but focused specifically on the role of the father/man in the family. This topic usually goes one of two ways in conversations: it either holds the man up as a dictator which is the abusive side of this, or, it says that men should not lead because that is discrimination against the women.

The book lists 9 things that men did in the Old Testament when it came to marriage/family. While all of them don’t have specific application for today, many of them do. After each one I’ll share some thoughts.

1. Personally modeling strict personal fidelity to God.Too many churches have taught a feminine version of Christianity. One that makes men out to be pansies. We have taken the adventure and risk out of faith and made it about what we know for certain and what we can control. In turn, men have run from churches. So, most men have no personal faith to pass on. So it starts with an understanding of what God calls men to and living that out. You can’t pass on to anyone something that you aren’t. Being a Christian should be so obvious that you never have to tell anyone about it. For example, I never have to say, “I’m a Steelers fan.” Everyone knows.
2. Leading the family in the national festivals, nurturing the memory of Israel’s salvation. Men need to remind their families of what God has done for them in the past. When God saved you, when you were baptized, how God has provided for you financially and protected you as a family/couple. Keep this in front of your family.
3. Instructing the family in the traditions of the exodus and the Scriptures. What immediately comes to mind is a Bible study. For us, we have tried to make this more natural. Katie and I have tried to take the ways we connect to God and share those with our kids. When we pray the office, we do this with our kids. I love music, so we use music to teach our kids about God. If you love to hike, take your kids hiking and talk about how God made everything. The lessons that stick with kids are the unplanned lessons. Pray with them, share with them what God is teaching you, talk through their questions. Ava was mad on Saturday because she had to stop swimming so we could do the baptism, so we had a natural opportunity to share with her what baptism was all about. She understood but still wanted to swim.
4. Managing the land in accordance with the law. This can be taking care of the environment or paying your taxes, house payments, bills, etc. Do you fall behind consistently on your bills? What does that say about you? This gets into how you manage your finances. Now, in our family, Katie pays the bills, but I am a part of what happens and we talk about everything. I have not abdicated that to her.
5. Providing for the family’s basic needs for food, shelter, clothing and rest. This is self explanatory, but one thought, do you make enough money to provide for your family? Sure, you could always make more money and there are more things you would like to buy. Maybe you need to tone down your budget so that you are able to live on what you make. What has to happen so you can live on one income? Here’s a great resource coming up at Revolution.
6. Defending the household against outside threats. This is not just protecting your family from harm, it’s that, but so much more. Are you protecting your family from sin or are you bringing it into your house? Are you teaching your kids about what sin is, what to avoid or are you hoping they pick it up somewhere or the church does that for you since it sounds hard? Are you keeping your family balanced when it comes to the calendar? Too many families just do everything without thinking about it. But you may say, “My wife keeps our calendar.” That may be, but I’ll explain in a minute why that doesn’t matter and why that is a lame excuse for living a frantic life.
7. Serving as elder and representing the household in the official assemby of citizens. Are you striving to be an influencer in your local church or are you sitting on the sideline? Remember, what you are, you pass on (read #1 again). If you are not involved at church in a group, serving, going to church, giving back to God financially, your kids won’t. It is that simple. If you don’t passionately follow God, don’t get mad when your kids don’t. It is no one’s fault but your own.
8. Maintaining family members’ well-being and harmonious operation of the family unit. This one gets tricky. Think about it like this, if your wife has a conflict with your mom, whose side are you on? Some may say, “I’ll try to play the mediator so they can work it out.” Sorry, but that is unbiblical. When you got married, you became one with your wife, her problem is your problem. She may be wrong, but you will defend her position to the death in public. Now privately you can tell her, “You are wrong” but in public, she is right.
9. Implementing decisions made at the clan or tribal level. When you make a decision as a family to get out of debt, buy a house, set a goal. It is your job to make sure it happens. If you get off track, you get back on track.

That list is overwhelming. We have not even discussed what a wife/woman is supposed to be and do. You may think, I don’t want to do those things. I wish you well when you tell God that. This is what the Scriptures call us, consequently, this is what God calls us to as men/husbands/fathers.

For me, it is something to shoot for, a challenge to rise to. I love that. I get to become this.

If you are single, what woman does not want a husband who does these things? If you are married, your wife is dreaming of the day you will become these things. If you don’t believe me, show her this list.

For some more great reading, The Resurgence has a series on Masculinity Reclaimed.

Testing

This morning I was reading through Luke 4 where Jesus is in the desert and is tested by the devil. I’ve preached on this passage before and have read it or heard it countless times, but the first line flew off the page.

“Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil” (Luke 4:1).

So Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit is led to a place where he will be tested. I love the phrase forty wilderness days and nights. That is what testing will feel like. It will not be pleasant, comfortable, or a place you will want to return to.

Since we know how the story ends, I wonder if the story ends differently if Jesus does not handle this testing the way he does.

In verse 14 he launches out his ministry and it says that he returned to his hometown powerfully in the Spirit. After going through testing and coming out the other side, there is this feeling that you can take on anything or anyone and do anything.

This is the sense we have at Revolution. Last year at this time, we were in the midst of severe testing. This time last year, we lost half of our launch team. It was by far, the hardest season of my life. God was refining us, proofing us, showing us whether or not we really believed the vision he had given us, seeing whether or not we would stick with it. He was sharpening me harder than I have had ever been sharpened. Asking me if I was really called to this, asking me if I was leading correctly. In the midst of that, we did some things right and some things wrong but we stuck with it.

For us, it is this sense that not only can we do anything God calls us to because of what He has brought us through, but this feeling that God is not done with Revolution here in Tucson or the world. There were countless times (and every church plant can say this) before we launched that we should have been shut down. The journey was tough, painful, friends were lost, tears were shed, but on the other side of that, because God saw fit for us to stay afloat and now to be thriving and fulfilling his vision here in Tucson, we know, He is not done with us.

Saturday Night Mind Dump…

• Tonight was our BBQ/Baptism
• I got to baptize 6 people
• I’ll post some pictures and video when we have it
• Love when we do baptisms
• Love hearing the stories of life change
• This one of the reasons I love what I do
• Definitely going to sleep well tonight
• It was awesome to see everyone just hanging out tonight and talking
• Community is happening at Revolution, which is amazing to see
• So many people put in a ton of hours to make tonight happen
• I am reminded every week how blessed we are to have the team we have at Revolution
• We simply have the best volunteers on the planet
• We have our small group tomorrow, we’re talking about families, raising kids, what that looks like
• Should be fun
• My summer break has unofficially started
• I’m still getting some things done, which is part of the plan
• Can’t believe we leave for San Diego one week from today
• So excited about that
• Started my break by reading through Mark Buchanan’s The Rest of God, so far it is great, a much needed look at sabbath and rest
• Katie’s Dad and Stepmom were here this week, it was great to have them here
• Got to grill 4 ribeye’s from Dickman’s while they were here, always tasty
• We also got to go to the Pima Air & Space Museum
• Spent all day yesterday shooting a bunch of videos for our next series
• Can’t wait to show them, they are hilarious
• In case you haven’t heard yet, Katie is blogging, so check it out
• Thinking about going to see the new Transformers movie this week
• Hope it’s good
• My big project this week is to finish writing the partnership class that we are doing in August
• Our partnership class is Revolution’s membership class
• I’m almost done with it
• I could keep going, but I am just blown away by how God is working at Revolution and that I get to be a part of it
• Tonight I’m reminded of the words of Bill Hybels, “I get to do this”

Links of the Week

1. Scott Williams on 10 things women need to know about men. This list is right on.
2. Scot McKnight on Marriage as Parable of Permanence Part 1, Part 2. This is a great look at John Piper’s new book This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence.
3. Tim Stevens on When someone says, “I’m not cut out for volunteering in kid’s ministry.” While I think legitimately God does not call everyone to work with kids, I think some people wimp out before they even try it. It is the same with student ministries.
4. Nelson Searcy on If your staff has questions, demand options. This is a great reminder for leaders to not get put into a corner and to help your leaders make decisions and do thorough research.
5. Mark Batterson on The upside of inexperience. I think too many people and leaders are holding back from doing something great because of inexperience, but that can sometimes be the thing that God uses the most.

Missional vs. Missional

What is missional?

This was the question we dove into last Saturday at Revolution. Below is the video we used to set it up.

Check out other videos at our YouTube page.

This Weekend: BBQ/Baptism

I cannot begin to tell you how excited about this weekend. In place of church, we are doing a BBQ/Baptism. I love seeing people take this next step and public say what God has done in their lives. The excitement on people’s faces, our church cheering them on as we baptize people.

This is one of the reasons I love what I do.

If you want to be part of the baptism but haven’t told us yet, please e-mail me.

For more information, time and location and what to bring, go here.

Don’t forget, we’ll be back to our normal gathering time the following week, the 11th with our brand new series that is going to be off the charts.