Stages of Life

Our family entered a new stage of life today:  school. This morning, we all got up, got dressed to get Ava off for her first day of kindergarten. On the way home, Katie and I talked about something we knew was coming, a new way of doing life. Our life now will revolve around a more defined schedule because of school and activities, homework and the list of things I don’t even know about yet.

One thing we have noticed many couples and families not doing a good job of is knowing what stage they are in. Whether it is growing older, having kids, a busy season at work. Most couples and families live as if stages are not real and life is always the same. This leads to unmet expectations, frustration and ultimately, problems. Every job has a busy and a slow season. For me, busy seasons happen around Christmas, Easter, start of school, and January. Before each busy season, Katie and I talk about what the season and schedule will be like. When it slows down, we are very particular to make sure that we recharge and rest so that we are ready for the next season. Most people just keep running during the slow seasons, which leads to exhaustion.

Last week was a crazy week in our family and church. We had our day camp and we moved to a new location. It was an amazingly, awesome, exhausting week. This week, we were very particular to have only 1 evening commitment:  our small group. To make it through seasons, you need to be aware of what season you are in, live in it and be ready for the next season. The next season could be busier or slower.

Churches are the same way. They have busy and slow times. I was talking with some church planters recently who were very discouraged by how the summer was going and how attendance was. One said they dropped by 50% and had not seen any new people in several weeks. He was really discouraged on July 4th (which is the lowest attended day of the year at a church). I told him our goal in the summer is to plateau. If you don’t lose momentum, just keep it steady, you are prepared to grow in the fall (which is a time of growth in many churches).

This summer though has been incredible at Revolution. Since last year, we have grown by 228%. In fact, this past Saturday we had our highest attendance ever. Even as I write that it is hard not to get emotional about that. I remember dreaming with 11 other people about what God could do with a church that was completely sold out to him and was willing to do anything to help people find their way back to God. To see it happening is overwhelming.

All this to say, in life, work, and church, know what stage you are in. What season are you in? Live in it to the fullest. If it is busy and you are pushing, get through it. When it is a slow time, rest and recharge for the  next season.

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)

Top Posts of June ’09

In case you missed them, here are the blogs that created the most traffic for the month of June.

1. Thoughts on Marriage Through the Lens of Jon & Kate Plus Eight
2. Recent Pics of the Kids
3. Thoughts on Pastors Making it to the End
4. Outliers: The Story of Success
5. Preaching Without Notes
6. Saturday Night Mind Dump… (6/6/09)
7. Taking a Break (Of Sorts)
8. Summer Reading List
9. My Weight Loss “Secret” 
10. Preaching Through Hebrews

Taking a Break (Of Sorts)

Many of you know that 2 years ago I decided to take the plunge and start my doctorate. It had always been my goal to get my doctorate and things seemed to line up to make that happen. I found a great program at a school I was familiar with and got a great scholarship.

That was 2 years ago.

A lot has changed in 2 years. We started Revolution. We now have 3 kids, not 1. Life is different.

As Katie and I have been talking about our pace and margin and how we are doing at balancing life it became pretty clear that we need some more margin. The first thing on the list was school. At the same time, I started to feel like the program was not hitting me where Revolution was. The program is more theory than practice (which is what you should expect from a doctorate, so no surprise there).

As we were praying about it and talking with some friends and the elders of Revolution I got an e-mail from Nelson Searcy about his lead pastor coaching network. I’ve followed Nelson, read his stuff, gone to some of his workshops, so I was immediately intrigued. In the coaching network, Nelson walks through how to implement all of his systems (every pastor should read this) in your church and how to break through growth barriers as a church. After talking with a guy who had gone through the coaching I knew it was the right thing.

It was amazing after Katie and I made our decision, she asked if I felt like a weight had been lifted. Yep.

A friend asked me if I’ll miss school. I’ll miss the friends and conversations, but for me, the win is for Revolution to be healthy, effective, growing. That’s the win.

So a new chapter begins. I’m excited because we have already implemented two of Nelson’s systems at Revolution:  small groups and assimilation. This will help us to hone those and make them better as well as how to take Revolution to the next level and beyond.

Saturday Night Mind Dump…

• Wasn’t quite sure what to expect tonight coming off our highest attendance ever last week
• Tonight was one of the hardest sermons I’ve ever preached because it is one of the blandest passages I’ve ever read, but it is such a crucial message
• Felt like garbage tonight, so that always makes it hard
• If you were grabbed by tonight’s message, check out this book, life changing
• Tonight was one of those topics that if we get it right it opens up a new world of following Jesus and if we get it wrong (which we often do) following Jesus becomes the biggest chore on the planet
• Had a new guitarist tonight who was awesome, dude can wail
• Love the energy during the music
• Paul & Jennifer have been here for 4 months. That is crazy to think it has only been 4 months. If you were not at Revolution before they came, I cannot even begin to describe the difference they have made in our community and on our team. HUGE!
• We had a bunch of volunteers away tonight, but once again, the rest of the team jumped into place and made it happen, especially Dave, way to go guys!
• Our small group is doing our missional project tomorrow
• We’re cleaning up at a home for adults with autism, love serving within community
• Watched Doubt last night with Katie, great movie
• Ran almost 10 miles yesterday, getting higher
• We’re doing our post-marriage counseling tomorrow for a wedding I recently did, should be fun to see where they’re at
• We have a LEAD Team Meeting this week, so many huge things to talk about
• There’s a lot to cover
• We need to talk through how to handle the growth we’ve had and to look ahead
• We’ll be asking, as we continue our growth, how do we handle it, how do we help get people connected in community and using their gifts and what is next for Revolution
• Great questions to work through
• I have GOT to finish my homework this week
• All I have left is a 12 page paper on what missional leadership is and my plan to become one (a missional leader), I’ve been putting it off, but it’s due Thursday
• We have our last small group on Monday, we’re cooking out fajitas, should be fun
• It will be nice to have a month off and then the summer semester of small groups start
• If you were not in one this last semester, you need to get into one
• Katie and I might be leading one, stay tuned
• I’m meeting with my spiritual director this week, really looking forward to that
• Paul and I are heading up to Casa Grande this week to hang out with some pastors from there and Phoenix, should be fun
• Next Saturday is Katie’s birthday, she’s going to be 2_, make sure you wish her a happy birthday
• I’m done
• Katie and I are going to watch Transporter 3, bring it handsome Rob

Questions Leaders Need to Ask

For the last two weeks, I’ve done a series of posts on questions leaders need to ask. This idea came from an assignment for the D.Min. class I’m taking at Biblical Seminary.

In case you missed them, here they are:

1. Is my calling sure? 
2. What am I good at? 
3. What should I delegate? 
4. What kind of church am I best suited to lead? Who am I best suited to reach? 
5. Who is speaking into my life right now? 
6. Can I continue at the pace I am at right now? 
7. How do I recharge? 
8. What is God teaching me right now? 
9. Will I do this for free? 
10. Would I attend the church I lead if I didn’t get paid to be there? 

What did I miss? What questions would you add? Would you take any away?

Questions Leaders Need to Ask #10

For the D.Min. class I’m taking at Biblical Seminary, one of the assignments I had to do was to list out 10 questions that every leader needs to work through as they think about leadership in their context. I will be posting one each day.

Would I attend the church I lead if I didn’t get paid to be there?

I asked this a few weeks ago to a group of pastors I was speaking with. Many times pastors will lament the lack of growth or visitors in their churches or the lack of commitment among the people who attend their church. I asked, “If you didn’t get paid to be at your church, would you go there?” You should have heard the gasps.

If the answer to that question is no, then why should anyone else be there? Why should anyone give their time? Their money? Their energy? Why should they get up on a Sunday or come out on a Saturday instead of doing a hundred other things if you don’t want to be there?

I get asked all the time, “Why do you always say tonight will be a great night at Revolution?” Because I believe it will be. The leaders have prayed, planned, the band is ready, I’ve studied and prayed and we believe we’ve heard from God and are on the same page as the Holy Spirit and we come expecting God to move. Why won’t it be a great night?

Do you believe your next church service will be your best? You should. You should be showing up each week believing that God is on the verge of doing something huge!

If you don’t, why keep your doors open?