rich in love

Sometimes I enjoy reading back through my journal... just looking at what I said to God and what He said to me. Reviewing the conversation we've had for the past months... years...

I came across a really cool day from about 1 year ago. I think I can actually remember the day - where I was, etc... Most of what I said is much too personal to share here, but I read something that day in the Psalms that still amazes me and I think it's one of those phrases we easily glaze over when reading...

Psalm 145:8 -> "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

YES! That is SO COOL. I mean, it's really amazing that our God is gracious and compassionate and slow to anger. Without those parts of His character we would be screwed for sure. I love God for those things. I want to be just like God = full of grace, full of compassion for everyone, and patient (not get angry)! I really want to live that.

BUT, the big thing that astonishes me every time I read it is that last phrase about God!

"RICH IN LOVE"

Whoa. What do you think when you hear that. Where does your mind race too? What about just the word "rich"? Obviously someone "rich in money" is someone with so much money that they really don't have to worry about money anymore. You know? They don't give any thought to paying for stuff. Maybe the coolest thing about being "rich in money" would be to be able to

give huge heaps of money away and not even worry about it.

***Do you really want to know what image comes to my mind when I think of the word "rich"? I'm sure at least one of you wants to know... you might laugh. Ok, do you remember the cartoon back in the day... I think it was called Duck Tales? You remember what I'm talking about right? (no, not Darkwing Duck, although I did watch that one too.) Well, there was always a part of the show where the rich uncle (can't remember his name) would go to his safe/vault to check on all his money. (He was the richest duck in the world by the way). The thing was set up like a swimming pool! The rich uncle would go diving into all his money off a diving board. He was so rich he would just swim around in his money! In fact I just found a clip of the opening of the show... watch below and you can see some shots of all the money & him diving in like I'm talking about.

I just remember thinking as a kid that that is the height of "richness". If you have enough money to make it into a swimming pool then you're definitely rich.

I think sometimes we skip over phrases in the Scripture that are HUGE and have a lot of power. (read HERE for another post about that idea.)

SO, when I think of God being RICH IN LOVE... I'm in awe. First of all, of course He's rich in love!... He invented love. Not only that... He IS love! He is so rich in love that He gives it away like crazy and will never run out... not even close. He gives so much away but won't even ever make a dent in His love that's piled up in the safe.

The amazing part is that we're the ones who get to "swim in it" (like the duck uncle)... I get to enjoy that love. I rest in it, enjoy life in it, and "swim" in it.

Now, I WANT to live that way. I desperately want to be rich in love as well. I want to give it away like an endlessly rich man could give away money. I really want to be almost "careless" with love. Not just with the "lovable" people either... I want to be someone characterized by richly loving everyone! I wouldn't even mind if that's what they wrote on my tombstone or something.

I'll take being "rich in love" over being "rich in money" any day.

dave ramsey's talk @ catalyst

Dave Ramsey is definitely one of my heroes! He has completely revolutionized me & crystal's lives! He is a financial genius and we are following his philosophy of money. I'm pretty much a nerd because I Tivo his show on Fox Business Channel every day for the past 9 months and watch it constantly. I can pretty much quote everything he says. I'm a Dave Ramsey junkie. But I won't go too far down that road because I will write a BIG post within the next 2 months all about Dave & his total money makeover & what it's done for us.

All that to say that when I got to meet Dave briefly at Catalyst this year... It was pretty awesome! I briefly told him our story of getting out of debt. Pretty cool to meet someone who has completely changed your life. 

**When his team heard some of my story they grabbed me to be in a "Dave Ramsey commercial" that they actually played in the arena the 2nd morning of Catalyst! (I actually missed it because we decided to sleep in! But I saw it later. If I ever find it on Youtube I'll post it on here.)

Anyway, all I really wanted to do with this post is write about my takeaways from his talk which had everything to do with leadership and unity and nothing to do with $... (go figure)

(Catch up on my posting of Catalyst talks HERE)

The Enemies of Unity ("Unity is a spiritual happening.")

-  Few churches or organizations experience real Unity. Most organizations DO NOT work to their full potential because there is no unity!

*Unity creates the possibility for synergy!*

- The 5 Main Enemies of Unity -> **To the extent we fight back these enemies we will have success in our organizations!

1 Poor Communication = when this happens in any form, strife sets in!

2 Gossip (he fires peeps for this... pretty cool) = it is degrading & will DESTROY a church or organization. *"If you're talking to someone who CAN'T fix it, THAT'S GOSSIP!"

*"A successful leader MUST develop & maintain a culture where negatives are handed up and positives are handed down."

3 Unresolved Disagreements = these happen when the leader is clueless or when he avoids confrontation! a Leader by definition must have a BACKBONE! [awesome quote] = "Sometimes in the name of being 'Christian' we avoid confrontation. That's not nice it's WIMPY!" haha :) very true.

A little confrontation CLEANSES THE WOUND and allows everyone to go forward in a spirit of unity! (the Leader must lead in the confrontation.)

**"When you are aware there are hurt feelings and/or disagreements, act quickly and decisively!"

- 2 GREAT quotes coming up... remember them! = "An indecisive leader is not a leader. That's squirrel theology. Leaders make a CALL." [haha, get it?... "squirrel theology"!] + "Nobody ever killed anything by saying 'Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim...'"

4 Lack of shared Purpose = this happens when the leader doesn't restate the GOAL, VISION, and MISSION early & often.

5 Sanctioned Incompetence = remember we're ALL incompetent at something so that's not a bad thing. BUT, sanctioned incompetence demoralizes.

"Team members will eventually become demotivated when someone else on the team can't or won't do their job and a leader won't take action (because they all know they're working for a wimp)."  

***[we resonate so much with Dave's statements @ Ridge church. especially this one...] = "There's 1 way to penetrate the marketplace = extreme excellence!

*So, the leader must go to battle early & often with these enemies FOR THE SAKE of UNITY!

"When unity is valued in the culture, the whole team will also act to keep these enemies from the gate."

Wow. good stuff Dave. thanks for that. They made him talk about $ after that because it was the beginning of the "economic meltdown." 

***I am flipping proud to work on a staff team that embraces unity and puts the beatdown on these 5 enemies! I never want to work in a place that doesn't line up with that again!

2 blogs I read that you should check out

I don't know if you ever check out the stuff I have linked to your right (all the way down the page) but you really should. I didn't just put that stuff there for fun. It's for you to see!

Eventually I'll probably write about all the orgs and people and books over to the right, but today I want to tell you about 2 blogs I recently added that you may have noticed. They're under my homeboys' blogs.

Ryan & Scott are 2 awesome guys. They were friends of mine in college, but (like many others) I feel like I know them better and interact more since we've been out of college. I really resonate with these guys. I feel we have a lot in common (although we're vastly different in many ways) as we've both made the journey to new places ("new places" in every way) since leaving our alma mater.

I recommend their blogs with this disclaimer: these guys are way smarter than me and both got their Th.M degrees - the biggest Master's degree that you can get and you have to be way smart for. It's like 120 credits! That's an insane 4 more years of full time school. So, you may read their blog and never return to mine. Just warnin' ya.

Their blogs are Smithers (Ryan) and the aging of a not so superhero (Scott).

***I LOVE reading their blogs (or "Christian expressions" as Scott refers to them) often. The main thing I love about these blogs is their RAW transparency. It's a beautiful thing! These authors let you into their lives in a real way. They don't hold back. They are honest in writing as if only they are reading it.

I thank them for their transparency. It moves me to do the same. It gives me permission to do the same. It makes me want to experience the freedom and amazing feeling these guys must feel every time they write one of those transparent posts.

They're both a "bit" (ha) cynical at times, which I love. I laugh often. I'm challenged to think. I am moved spiritually as well.

So, like I said before, I think we share a lot in common, but are very different. You may read their blogs and think we are miles apart. Whatever you think we are still friends with a common passion.

So, here's some good stuff I've read from both of them over the past couple months:

Scott - a proper post-election perspective, classic funny/transparent scott i love to read!, top 12 reasons he didn't vote (funny stuff), new books he's reading, thoughts on poverty, acedia & me, beautiful eulogy for a mutual friend, letter to one who left the faith, reflective thoughts on why he went to seminary, pastor or theologian?

Ryan - Longing for the Gospel, possibly one of my favorite quotes!, a funny facebook observation after the election, transparent thoughts on being consistently pro-life, thoughts on blogging, good stuff, awesome thoughts on women in the church!, crazy stuff about our crazy insane alma mater, one of my fav songs too, classic ryan that i love to read.

Keep writing guys! Your stuff makes me laugh and love God and love life & happy that you are my friends.

call & response

Call + Response is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while that I think everyone (especially believers) should know all about. It is a call to END slavery of all kinds... the RESPONSE is up to you and me.

Musician, Justin Dillon, was passionate about helping girls who were trapped in the sex slave trade, so he tried his hand for the first time at making a movie. Call + Response is that remarkable film. He described it as a "Rocumentary". 

What's the big deal about slavery? There are more slaves today than at any other time in human history! 

Justin describes Call + Response as “open source activism”… basically he doesn’t want to just leave it up to the celebrities to be activists – Call + Response is meant to inspire each of us to activism in response to the ugly INJUSTICE of SLAVERY.

HERE are some ways others have run with this open source activism... may their initiatives inspire you to activism of your own (and then you can share them on the website!)

HERE are 33 ways to be involved in ENDING slavery... you have NO excuse!

The Call + Response website is packed full of so much more awesome stuff. You could spend days (literally, I have) reading through all the awesome things that are being done to end this EVIL! please take your time & look through it all.

But if you don't have time for all that today... PLEASE check out some of these projects you can give to! I'll make it easy for you - You can click on each link below and get a full report, read stories of victims, + watch a video about the impact that project is making!!! The stuff these guys are doing is AWESOME! then... give!

Sex Slavery = rescuing girls from sex slavery in Cambodia and then helping them find jobs.

Child Slavery = this is a fund to RESCUE & then CARE FOR over 250 children (already targeted) who are currently in slavery! This link also includes stories of children rescued from a slave factory this year!

Child Soldiers = young children are commonly abducted, brainwashed, and forced to fight as soldiers for evil men and evil wars they know nothing about. When these children escape this is a project to help them get medical help, food, and education to help them get back on their feet.

Labor Slavery = There are thousands of children who are victims of forced labor slavery all over the world. International Justice Mission is partnering with Call + Response to do something about this injustice! Gary Haugen is an awesome Christian who heads up this amazing organization IJM (International Justice Mission).

+ There are 4 more projects coming very soon! & lots more stuff for you to check out on the website!

Since we as believers are called to LOVE, here is my favorite quote I remember from the short parts of the film Justin showed... "Never forget JUSTICE is what LOVE looks like in public."

*Over 2.2 million children are sold into slavery every year! That pisses me off! That has to infuriate you!!! The kingdom of God has to infiltrate every region where this is happening until there is freedom. You and I can have a part in that infiltration! I'm not sure how anyone can understand that these things are taking place (in this world that Jesus came to rescue!) and NOT be affected by it! I cannot understand that. These stats & stories MUST move us to respond.

What are YOU going to do about it?

The film is playing in theaters in over 20 cities now (not mine yet unfortunately)... you can send an email to bring it to your city. Check the trailer for the movie below and you'll see the tons of celebs who are in the movie standing up for justice -> from Natasha Bedingfield to Switchfoot to Matis Yahu...

a little preview for tomorrow

Today's post is just to get you ready for tomorrow. Seriously, be ready tomorrow because I'm going to let you know about something really cool. something that will really grab your heart.

I'm very passionate and excited to let you all know about what's going down... but for now I just want to whet your appetite with these 2 VERY short videos. check them out below.

I think this first one is so powerful. I edited it down to about 20 seconds... so no excuse!

That's what we (Jesus followers) are supposed to be about - love. I don't see it all that much though. maybe this next video can wake some of us up to what's going on in our world. and what we can/should do about it...

remember - check out tomorrow's post. I won't just leave you hangin' like that.

it's personal

Got anything going on in the morning? Yeah? already have plans? oh, it's too short notice? what about next sunday morning? or the next? or even the one after that?

@ Ridge we're starting a new series tomorrow & it goes all the way through November - IT'S PERSONAL

Come check it out if you can... & I'll promise you one thing. You won't be bored! and if you are I'll take you out to lunch... how's that deal workin' out for ya?

Here's a snapshot It's Personal...

There are many things that keep people from putting their faith in Christ. Ask a random sample of people and you will likely receive a long list of objections (suffering in this world, the hypocrisy of Christians, miracles, and the exclusivity of Jesus—just to name a few). So what do you do when the obstacles are seemingly insurmountable? This series won't make those objections go away, but it will help put them in the right context so that the big picture becomes clearer.

Every Sunday morning at the Levine Center in Matthews - 11AM (but I'll be there @ 6:30am if you want to swing by... you know, just to say "HEY".)

(*Oh, and if you're there tomorrow you can swing by Upstreet to see 3 different people catch pies in the face during our production!  and yes to answer your question you just asked in your head... unfortunately one of them is me.)

Gratitude in Upstreet

Gratitude = Letting others know you see how they've helped you.

This is exactly what Upstreet is about this month. Gratitude. Thankfulness. & I am so thankful for all of you amazing peeps on the Upstreet Team! Production crew, Small Group Leaders, Actors, Hosts, Storytellers, Worship Leaders, Host Team, Coaches, and everyone! THANK YOU!

This is just a quick 5 minute video to give you a cohesive overview of November in Upstreet. It will help you see how these 4 weeks fit together. Thank you all for making an impact!

my heart is jacked up for this city

A couple weeks ago driving back into Charlotte from ATL I was overwhelmed when I got into Charlotte. I just saw all the headlights. Headlights with people in those cars. Souls in those cars. Tens of thousands of people & souls in Charlotte and they don't know God. 

God wants them to know them. God wants their praise! I was worshipping and was overwhelmed as I was shouting along with the chorus = "Here is our KING, Here is our LOVE, Here is our GOD who's come to bring us back to Him... He is the ONE, He is JESUS!" (Crowder) I just want all those peeps to know that God came to rescue them! He came to be their King, their love... He came to bring them back to Him. I want them to know! I want them to know His name is Jesus.

I am going to spend these years of my life in Charlotte consumed with making sure they know. I'll do whatever I have to do. God wants their worship and they won't be satisfied until they're giving it to Him. I was still worshipping God and the next words of that soundtrack were so profound and my heart was beating out of my chest as I was singing the truth to God = "You should be the praise of every tongue! You should be the praise of every heart!" (Redman)

God should be the praise of every tongue in this city. There's a lot of worship He's not getting from peeps in Charlotte. There is a ton of praise that's going somewhere besides God.

I just want them to know that rescue is here... His name is Jesus and He wants their worship. I'm going to leverage my days to relevantly communicate that to the people and souls of Charlotte.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY GRAHAM!!!

Yep, it's Billy Graham's birthday on Friday! That's November 7th. How old do you think he will be? 90 years old! That's a lot of years old. So, definitely a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Billy Graham.

So, why didn't I write this on Friday? Well, he has a birthday wish and I thought I would tell you all about it early in case you can contribute. His son Franklin has put together a website = billygraham90.org

At Catalyst last month Franklin asked specifically for everyone who had been saved under Billy's ministry or called to ministry through his ministry or experienced some other life changing event directly or indirectly through the ministry of Billy Graham to go to this website and write Billy a message!

They are going to use all these messages at Billy's 90th birthday party (& I bet that will be a crazy cool paaartay!) Anyway, Franklin says that Billy will read them all & actually respond to each one personally. Don't give me that look - that's what he said. He said he may not be able to type them all because he's pretty old and all but he'll tell someone what to write & at least hit the "send" button.

Originally Billy Graham was slated to speak @ Catalyst this year. I was pumped. I've never heard him live and I wanted the chance to! looks like I never will have that chance now because he got too sick to come to Catalyst. Franklin spoke on his behalf and accepted the lifetime acheivement award for him.

I KNOW that you've all heard of Billy Graham... here's some cool stuff about him.

-  He has preached the gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history--215 million people!!! (in more than 185 countries).

-  Hundreds of millions more have been reached through TV, webcasts, etc...

-  He lives right here in NC! (and he even started the seminary I attend along with Harold J. Ockenga)

(I wanted to post the video on here they used when they gave Billy the lifetime acheivement award at Catalyst but I can't find it anywhere... it was pretty awesome. Especially the clips from when he preached in South Africa in '73... I guess I'll save those amazing quotes for another blog. For now you can check out the b-day video below.)

So, for real - if you've been affected by Billy Graham's ministry, click HERE and tell him about it.

...it's over!

...and I'm glad it's over. I just don't really care for politics. Never have really. Don't know if I ever will. I get pretty sick of hearing people talk about it CONSTANTLY. And honestly I guess it makes me sad that people get more jacked up over politics and a flippin' election than they do about JESUS. and it even makes me sad that people are more concerned about America than they are the Kingdom of God.

But anyway, didn't mean to get on a rabbit trail. I just wanted to say that I'm really glad it's over! and yes I voted... even though I don't like politics and don't like getting into it all I went to the middle school on the corner and pushed the buttons on the touch screen and voted for a few people. So, I did my duty and now the election is finally over - whoohoo (although I have to admit that it is kind of fun to see all the electoral votes coming in and the big map with the scores on the screen... it's kind of like a fun game.)

Oh, and it was pretty cool that Barack Obama and John McCain were on Monday Night Football last night talking about the BCS! Obama said something like he would enforce an 8 team playoff system in place of the current BCS system... huh, now that he will be president we'll see if he really does it (of course he was joking). And what in the world is Saturday Night Live going to fill their airtime with now? Do you think Tina Fey can imitate anyone else?

And let me just finally say that the blog post I wrote yesterday about Derek Jeter being in Charlotte last night brought about 200 hits to my blog today. That's not normal in case you were wondering. On a normal day there are not 200 people who read Renown. Not even close. I wonder if a ton of people will read this post since I mentioned Barack Obama and John McCain... or is Jeter a bigger story than Barack Obama being in Charlotte, NC yesterday speaking at UNCC? (Jeter's definitely bigger to me!)

And then I wonder how many people will read what I write on Thursday? = I think something about how Jesus loves the people of the city of Charlotte and wants to change their lives... probably not that many.

...just met Derek Jeter!!!

no, not me, but my friend Lopo did! I'm trying to figure out if I'm sinning by being so jealous of that encounter. 

If you're an avid reader of renown (which I know so many of you are) and you remember reading THIS POST (or if you know me AT ALL) then you know I am a die hard, 3rd generation, New York Yankees fan!!! If you read that post HERE you know that Don Mattingly was my favorite player from birth until about 13 when Mattingly retired and Jeter took over that coveted position of not only Captain of the Yankees, but also my favorite player.

Jeter was in town for the Bobcats game. Probably to chill with his boy Jordan who partially owns the Bobcats. Lopo (my friend) called me earlier tonight when he was valeting in downtown Charlotte and was like "I think I just saw Derek Jeter walk into a restaurant down here." We talked a few minutes trying to deduce like detectives if it was really him... If I had ANY sense about me I would have left my night security job (I could just put the tiny girl at the library desk in charge of the premises) and booked it for Blue restaurant downtown & tried to meet him when he came out.

Because about 30 minutes later Lopo called me back screaming something about how he just met Derek Jeter! Jeter spoke 2 words to him "W'sup man"... that's pretty cool. (I guess 3 words if you count the contracted word as 2 separate words, but if there are any English teachers on here I'm in trouble anyway...). I should have been there too!

[oh, and on a side note, Barack Obama was in Charlotte, NC today too. He spoke at UNCC. My friend Travis invited me to see him... even though Obama may be the next leader of our country... Jeter is way bigger to me!]

Happy Birthday CRYSTAL!!!

Today is the birthday of my amazing wife, Crystal. 25 years ago today she came into this world and the earth became more beautiful than it had ever been before. 

We had a little party last night before her birthday. It was a surpirse. Today was a crazy fun day all for her. 

I love my wife... she's the BEST! Happy Birthday, Crystal!

"If I were president" = what would YOU do?

Rusty finds all the cool stuff on the internet. Especially videos... every day he's got something cool to show me. This is his latest find. There are tons of these "If I were president" videos at the website he showed me. A lot of pretty funny stuff.

This one was my favorite though = all of you won't like all the ideas, but it will make you laugh & smile. Might even make your day!

So, that was Mos Def & what he would do if he were president. He's a really good actor. Will possibly be a great actor one day. He's awesome in what I've seen him in. Would he be a good president? who knows... but you saw what he would do if he were.

(maybe I'll write what I would do soon... or make my own video.)

Now it's YOUR TURN. 

What would YOU do if YOU were president???

halloween in Upstreet

Sunday was Halloween in Upstreet. Below is a pic of Jack Sparrow, Joe Dirt, and Duct Tape Man all on stage during the production... what an unlikely (but amazing) cast! ["Zac Efron" also made a guest appearance...]

did I mention I love my job? All the kids were decked out in their full Halloween gear... pretty awesome day as we closed out a full month on Determination. So proud to be work with the amazing Upstreet team to create some irresistible environments, vital relationships & unforgettable moments in children's lives!

FEAR

FEAR. Everyone has experienced it at some point. Everyone has certain fears. There is A LOT of fear right now in our country because of the economy for sure! People are freaking out because of their jobs, 401Ks & investments! People are driven by fear. People make decisions based on fear.

FEAR is the hot topic at Ridge the next 2 weeks. this series is gonna be off the hizzie!!! You cannot miss it. If you live in the Charlotte area you need to be at the Levine Center in Matthews the next 2 Sundays at 11AM. You won't regret it. or are you afraid???

family birthday celebration interviews (i love my job!)

A lot of people at work sit in a cubicle and crunch numbers, or serve food, or deliver babies like my wife. My job is the coolest of any job on earth!

You can catch up on what we did for our Family Birthday Celebration HERE and HERE. It was an amazing night and we got to throw a party and celebrate the spiritual birthdays of kids who we baptized that night! 

But for a week or 2 before our Family Birthday Celebration... I was in the office shooting these videos! You will have to laugh at this!

I love the kids that God allows us to influence at Ridge Church and I love being able to see God do amazing things in their lives. we obviously have A LOT of fun too. hope you enjoyed the video.

tired...

Have you ever worked so hard that you were just completely spent and exhausted? You know what I'm talking about right? TIRED (kind of a weird word if you think about it...)

Well, I am currently too tired to write a blog tonight! I have SO MUCH to write about but literally don't have the physical or mental energy to publish it here. I need a sabbath!

so, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to read something soul-stirring & brain wave-instigating. I'll be recharged soon & all this stuff built up inside of me is gonna flow...

furtick's talk @ catalyst 08 (catalyst part 3)

[FSU just won again... I think we're on the rise finally. next year we'll definitely be back!]

[catch up on what I'm writing about HERE]

really the 2nd talk was jim collins, but it was probably the "pimpest" (yes it's a word... adjective in fact) of the whole conference & may take 2 blog posts, so I need more time to unpack it.

Pretty cool to have Steven Furtick on the main stage @ Catalyst... lead pastor of Elevation Church & representin' Charlotte, NC at THE premiere leadership conference! You can read my thoughts on Elevation HERE.

Steven REALLY brought it... he seriously brought the house down. tons of passion, a little yelling, and definitely lots of laughs. The guy is just an excellent communicator. At one point he used the phrase "Andy-freaking-Stanley" = everybody laughed.

His talk was meant to be extremely encouraging to everyone & he called it "From the Promise to the Payoff". 

-  he said "The space between the Promise and the Payoff is the [often painful] PROCESS."

some other good quotes from the talk:

-  "we must keep our VISION in sight when there's nothing to see."

-  "God is preparing you for what He's preparing for you." [you follow that?]

-  "We all know there's got to be more to life than 401Ks and buying a boat one day." 

= yeah, you're dang skippy, Steven. There's way more to life than that stuff! how in the WORLD did pastors & leaders ever start getting bogged down with that crap!?!? that pursuit of stuff is killing the mission while we're still in the process... before we get to the payoff.

*So, most of us are still in that PAINFUL PROCESS between the PROMISE [what God promised He would do] and the PAYOFF [the culmination of that promise]. So we've GOTTA stick with it. stay on mission. don't give up. 

Because it's so worth it in the end... 

beats a boat & a 401K any day... guaranteed.

andy's 1st talk @ catalyst

that's right, andy is the only guy who gets 2 talks at Catalyst! he's that big of a pimp. you can read more of my thoughts on him HERE. [if you're wondering what Catalyst is and why I'm writing about it read HERE.]

*also, this talk is adapted from the 2nd talk in the series we are doing currently at Ridge = Letters to the Next President. You can listen to the 1st 2 talks HERE. Also, come check out part 3 this Sunday @ Ridge in the Levine Center at 11AM.

OK, now for my takeaways. [remember, these are my unfiltered takeaways and thoughts on what he said.]

-  "Moral Authority is what we gain as a leader. It's when people see alignment between our creed and deeds... between what we say and do."

-  This enables the people to be able to say "I don't necessarily believe what you say but I believe you really believe it."

-  good reminder = "Everybody at the end of the day is really a volunteer." - because employees can quit.

*** If my words and actions don't align I CANNOT lead people!

3 specific areas in which we as leaders MUST have moral authority:

1 - Forgiveness = this is definitely the 1 area where we as the church should nail it! we MUST have moral authority here! [we of all people should "get" this & live it! Forgiveness IS our messsage.]

2 - Family = don't lose moral authority here! DON'T ever let my wife feel like the Church is my mistress! If she "feels" neglected then I'm part of the problem! Then I have no moral authority in that area anymore.

-  ***This was a crazy awesome quote that Andy said that is SUCH a great word for all of us to remember! = *** "1 day there will be another pastor of NPCC. I'm the only dad my kids will ever get."

3 - Finances = if you work in ministry "every dollar you ever get in your paycheck is what somebody GAVE." ***So, I can't fundraise with any moral authority unless I've got my financial junk in order.

People's question will always be = "Does he really believe/do what he's asking me to do?" If we have moral authority in that area then their answer will be yes.

*Honestly if I had to sum it up in one simple CLICHE it would be to "practice what you preach!" because who really wants to listen to us as leaders if they don't believe we REALLY believe it. Moral authority is something we must EARN... and like Andy said, we cannot lead with out it!

impromptu GOD meeting at the office

we, at Ridge Church, are all about God's fame exploding in this city and we get pretty ticked at the thought of anything standing in our way.

Today Chris (our lead pastor) walked into the office while we were all working away at our desks... it was like any other normal day. Chris said we needed to pray for God to move & do something in our Church & our city that only God can do. so we did...

...and God showed up. It was intense. it was powerful. there were tears. we were on our faces. We BEGGED God to do WHATEVER it takes to get glory from us & to use us to make HIS NAME famous in this city.

We were broken for the faces, the individuals, the souls in this city who have no satisfaction because they don't know God. Our hearts LONG for them to experience what we've experienced. We begged God to move in a way only He can move and to capture their hearts and capture their worship. They are missing out. We asked Him to continue to break our hearts for each individual person we see... we want our hearts to stay broken until this entire city is a worshipping frenzy of people whose lives have been radically changed by a Savior, a King who loves them with a radical love & WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO SEE HIS GLORY TAKE OVER THIS CITY!!!

We begged God to use us to do that. We begged God to ignite our passion even more & we are determined to let nothing stop us in our pursuit of His mission. not a suffering economy, not fear, not the enemy... nothing.

Today was an amazing day. 4 guys in an office begging, hoping, and believing God to do something through us that is extraordinary for His name's sake! so stoked to be part of seeing that happen!!!

what is CATALYST anyway?

Ok, I'm back to blogging now... the Ridge team was at Catalyst last week and I had no time to write. Now that I'm back at it there has been a LOT of catching up to do as all of you know when returning from a trip!

Many of you I saw at Catalyst and gave you a big hug. We even broke some world records together! Many of you are jealous that you missed out on an amazing week. But there are still some of you who have no idea what Catalyst is. This is for you...

Catalyst is THE Premiere leadership conference in the country... hands down (whatever "hands down" means). It is about 10 years old and is touted as the conference for "NEXT GENERATION LEADERS". So, it started with mainly pastors in their 20s and 30s, but now has morphed into a huge gathering of ministry AND business leaders in their 20s AS WELL AS their 50s.

Last year was my 1st year and it blew me away. By far the best thing you could go to [besides probably a Passion gathering, but they're totally different things, so can't really be compared...] This year did not disappoint. every bit as great!

***I was overwhelmed and challenged and stretched and renewed during my time at Catalyst! I have SO many takeaways. Stuff I am still thinking through! So, I figured why not think through it and flesh it out right here with you guys at renown? Any good reasons why I shouldn't? no?well OK then... that's what I'll do. 

Be looking out over the next days and probably even weeks [like I said a TON of takeaways] as I will be writing and thinking out loud about the hundreds of takeaways I was challenged with at the Catalyst Conference = T08GETHER [took me like a day to figure that out... I also had way too much info flowing through my ADD-riddled brain.]

Now, I'm just going to give you a sneak peak of what you'll be reading in the coming week or so... An introduction of the lineup if you will. Who were the great minds who shaped my thinking last week? Drumroll please...

Andy Stanley - lead pastor, North Point Community Church. Pretty much the resident pimp of Catalyst. He leads off with a talk and ends Catalyst with a talk. The only guy who gets 2 talks. He seems to be the "Dad" figure a little bit. [Catalyst actually began on the campus of NPCC] [Andy also happens to be one of our teaching pastors at Ridge Church & the guy who's the pastor of the church we were planted by & are in strategic partnership with]

William Paul Young - author of the #1 best-selling book for 24 weeks in a row, The Shack.

Jim Collins - author of the great bestseller Good to Great and Built to Last. He is basically THE business GURU. The research King. This was the 1st time he had ever spoken to a Christian audience... His was probably my favorite talk of the week! Can't wait to unpack that one with you!

Steven Furtick - lead pastor, Elevation Church = right here in Charlotte, NC. actually it is the 2nd fastest growing church in the country! We have a great relationship with these guys, pray for them, and cheer for them. Steven is a very gifted communicator and tore it up with his 20 minute talk. Even got a standing O.

Brenda Salter McNeil - author, and leader for racial and ethnic reconciliation.

Seth Godin - Marketing Expert/Guru/King & best-selling author of Purple Cow & The Dip & 9 other best-sellers. He was also the VP of marketing at Yahoo! I'm pretty sure he has THE most popular marketing/business blog. To sum it up in 1 word, the guy is a GENIUS! Can't wait to unpack his talk.

Craig Groeschel - Lead Pastor, LifeChurch.tv & Author of one of my all time fav books Chazown. 

Tim Sanders - Former CSO of Yahoo! & best-selling author of a whole ton of books. really smart guy, but unfortunately we decided to sleep in the morning of his talk... so nothing to share with you from Tim. just go check out his website though.

Dave Ramsey - Our HERO! best-selling author & Host of the #2 radio show in the nation! + Host of The Dave Ramsey Show on the Fox Business Channel. The Total Money Makeover has totally reshaped our financial lives in the last year!!! We LOVE this guy!

Franklin Graham - Billy's son, President & CEO, Samaritan's Purse. Speaking & accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award for Billy Graham who was to sick to be with us. That would have been crazy cool.

Andy Crouch - Director of the Christian Vision Project (of Christianity Today) and author of Culture Making. Great stuff on culture!

Matt Chandler - lead pastor, The Village Church in Dallas. Also 1 of the fastest growing churches in America & part of the Acts 29 network.

The peeps leading us in worship were basically the North Point band & worship leaders = Steve Fee, Kristian Stanfill, Chrystina Fincher, Candi Pearson Shelton, and Eddie Kirkland.

Jon Foreman (the lead singer of SWITCHFOOT) also stopped by for a couple mini concerts.

The incredibly funny Lanny Donoho & his "sidekick" Reggie Joiner were again our hosts along with an appearance from Jeff Foxworthy.

OK, so I'm going to try to post some takeaways EVERY DAY for the next several days... until I'm done posting them. But remember, I have severe ADD, so I may start writing about other stuff and then come back...

catalyst was pimp...

back on the road, headed home from catalyst. It was amazing, as expected. No time to post though, i just stopped for gas. But i have so so SO many takeaways that i will be posting here in the coming days and weeks. 

Be on the lookout for some KILLER good takeaways from some amazing talks. like i said... it was pimp.

at catalyst...

we're at catalyst finally...

you'll be hearing A LOT more about it. no doubt.

Crystal wins her 1st 5K!!!

My bad, I meant Crystal RAN her 1st 5K!

That's pretty huge though and I'm really excited and proud of my awesome wife!

She ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure which is a 5K that this organization takes across the country to high profile cities like NYC, etc... It's an organization that is fully committed to curing breast cancer.

Crystal was really excited about this because her grandmother ("Nana") has been free of breast cancer for the last couple years after her surgery. She's all about supporting breast cancer research, especially if she can do it in honor of her Nana.

So, that's exactly what she did. You could run "in celebration" of someone which I thought was pretty cool. They put that person's name you're running for right on the placard on your shirt as you run. I also saw some men who were running "in Memory my wife Julia" or something like that. That was pretty sad to see, but cool that they were out trying to raise money so that other families don't have to experience the same tragedy they did.

Now she wants to run another charity 5K this month! It's not really my favorite thing to do early on a Saturday morning - get up at 7AM and take my wife to a race and then wait for her to finish. BUT, I am SO proud of her for deciding to do something and then having the determination to train for it and finish it! + for a great cause. Awesome job, Crystal!

Determination in Upstreet

This is the video for all you amazing Upstreet volunteers at Ridge Church. You guys rock. Below is the video for you to check out to give you the info on what's goin' down in Upstreet this month. It's all about Determination. It's gonna be awesome - all because of you guys!

Thanks for your investment in the lives of these awesome kids! I can't wait to see what God does through you all this month.

1 more funny quote (a political conversation)

I've got add this as a followup to my "Quotes of the Week" that I posted on Tuesday. I just thought this one deserved its very own post!

Ok, this should make you laugh. It made me laugh and made me feel better about my political ignorance... One of my best friends Ethan was here in Charlotte last weekend & we hung out & grabbed some lunch at The Fox and the Hound. We were watching some football & eating some wings & philly cheese steak when a commercial for either Obama or McCain (can't remember which) came on the massive screens...

Me:   "So, Ethan, who you gonna vote for? Or are you gonna vote?"

Ethan: "I'm not sure yet. I still want to find out what all the other candidates say about the issues."

Me: "What other candidates?"

Ethan: "You know, all the other guys besides the main 2, Obama & McCain. I want to learn what they're about before I vote."

Me: "Dude, there's only 2."

Ethan: "I know there's only 2 big name guys, but I want to give all those other guys who are running for president a fair shake."

Me: "There are no other guys. They're the only 2!"

Ethan: "So you're telling me that when I go to the polls to vote in November that there will only be 2 guys to vote for?"

Me: "YES."

Now I don't feel so bad about my lack of political knowledge.

haha... reason #5 driscoll loves piper (a funny video)

So, today is the 1st day of October... my wife's favorite month (because it's her birthday on the 30th... 1 day before halloween... 1 day from a witch. haha.)

you can read the previous post about this Driscoll loving Piper HERE.

if you know Piper you need to check this out... it will make you chuckle. Enjoy...