Hard Work

Just read Tim Tebow's book with my son. (Unfortunately, reading it has not inspired my son to do a minimum of 400 push-ups and 400 sit-ups a day, as Tebow did at the same age.) (Fortunately, reading it has not inspired my son to be a Bronco's fan. Go Raiders!)

Anyway, I love one of Tebow's personal mantras:

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard

When I was a freshman in high school, I scored the most goals of any freshman on my soccer team. When I was a sophomore, I scored the most of any sophomore. When I was a junior, same thing. And senior, ditto. And it wasn't because I was more talented. I wasn't. It was because there was a "kick wall" at the school, and I would spend hours at it every day after school and first thing on Saturday mornings, and all throughout the summer.

Today I don't use notes while I preach and people comment on how lucky I am to have such a good memory. That's funny. My short term memory sucks. The reason I don't use notes is because on Thursday I'm on our stage going through my message, and then I spend lots of Saturday making sure it's in my head.

Tebow's got it right: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

VERVE Happs

I hate to brag, but this weekend I'm quite sure I preached the greatest message ever given on Cookie Monster. I'm also quite sure I preached the only message ever given on Cookie Monster. If you missed it, we went through the story of Josiah from 2 Chronicles 34 - 35, and we learned that we need to become obsessed with God, and to do that we need to seek God, get rid of the things in our "kingdoms" that aren't pleasing to God and pull us away from Him, and make a commit to follow and obey Him with all our heart and soul. But to keep that commitment we need to practice "spiritual disciplines" - the daily and weekly habits that keep us connected to God, and allow us to receive His power to live out our commitment. Practices like reading the Bible and praying.

Excited to see the box for Dean Peterson's third graders filling up with presents. Last year we adopted one class of third graders, this year we're adopting the entire 3rd grade. 130 students - and we want to give them all at least 2 presents each. What would be crazy cool is if we end up with so many presents we can give some other needy kids gifts as well. So let's do this Ververs, get some board games, card games or puzzles that would be good for an 8 year old and bring them in this week!

For the Music, Not the Fame

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

One of the interesting things you learn about Pearl Jam is that they didn’t get into music for the fame it might bring. Vedder says of becoming popular, “I’m just not into it,” and you believe him. Years later when they became huge and won a grammy, Eddie walked up to the podium, looked blankly at the gold statue, and gave his acceptance speech, “I don’t know what this means. I think this doesn’t mean anything.” In fact, in 2006, Rolling Stone magazine described the band as having “spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame.” Pearl Jam got into music for the music, not for the fame it might bring. Maybe that’s why they’ve lasted while almost every other band from their era has fallen by the wayside.

One of the biggest concerns I have for church planters today is what seems like a quest for fame. We’d all say we want Jesus to be the one who gets famous (which I’m actually not so sure is what Jesus is actually after), but it seems like we don’t complain if we get famous along with Him. In fact, we’ll let you know just how famous we are by telling you how many people read our blog and follow us on Twitter, and we accept meaningless awards on how big or fast growing our churches are. And maybe that’s why a lot of us won’t last and will fall by the wayside.

Best College Sports Rivalries

Watching college football on rivalry Saturday got me thinking about the best college rivalries. Here's what I'd say are the top ten, just off the top of my head:

10. Michigan / Michigan State
9. Florida State / Miami
8. Texas / Oklahoma
7. Florida / Georgia
6. Kansas / Kansas State
5. Army / Navy
4. USC / UCLA (or Notre Dame)
3. Michigan / Ohio State
2. Alabama / Auburn.
1. North Carolina / Duke.  (Because of basketball only)

A bunch of honorable mentions come to mind: Syracuse/Georgetown (Basketball), Kentucky/Louisville, Mississippi/Mississippi State, Clemson/South Carolina, Harvard/Yale, Texas/Texas A&M, Oklahoma/Oklahoma State.

And, by the way, it's really sad to see that some of these rivalries are going to be lost with all the restructuring of conferences.

this weekend @ VERVE

This is the last week of the Monster/Monster series.

We've discussed Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde. So who are we finishing up with?

We can't tell you. It's not Bigfoot, or the Werewolf, it's better.

We've saved the best for last, so don't miss this Sunday morning or Monday evening at Verve!

Happy Thanksgiving

Black

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

At one point in the documentary Eddie Vedder is talking about the (amazing) song “Black” and he makes a comment I think reveals why Pearl Jam made it big initially, and have continued to make great music for twenty years. Vedder says, “It’s the true story of something I really felt, and I still feel it every time I sing it.” He wrote the song from an authentic place, and he’s never lost the passion for it.

How great would it be to be able to say that about a church planter? To start from an authentic relationship with God, to do ministry and write messages out of that real intimacy with Him, and to never lose the passion. The passion for God, the passion for ministry, the passion for helping people without Jesus find Him and find life in Him.

What a powerful thing: It’s the true story of something I really felt, and I still feel it every time I sing it.

Could you say that?

VERVE Happs

What God is doing at Verve continues to amaze me. Like seriously amaze me. This was one of our coolest weekends yet - not because the music was good or the message was practical or we had a cool vibe - but because lives are being radically changed.

Like on Sunday six people who have just given their lives to Christ were baptized. One of them was a student at UNLV who before coming to Verve had been to church I think twice in his life, and hated it, which left him with no interest in ever going back. Another was a lady who began her story by telling us, "I haven't been to church in 28 years." Another was a tattoo artist who has never been to church in his life. Another was a guy (and his wife - they got married on Friday!) who we met through his being in a freak show wrestling show. Another guy who is in a biker gang with Tommy. (Tommy would say it's not a gang, whatever.)

Six people who I'd say you wouldn't find in any other church in the country, but God led them all to Verve - and they're the most shocked of all about it. Six people who encountered the radical grace of God and His offer of perfect love, and how do you say no to that? Six people who lives are being turned upside down by Jesus. Amazing. And I can't wait to see what God does next. You talk about thanksgiving? I'm just thankful that I get to be a part of this.

Vince Recommends...

In my never-ending quest to improve your life, today I want to recommend you eat all the Corn Pops you can, and fast.

"Why?" you ask, "Is that your favorite cereal, Vince?" Not hardly. The best cereal is Cocoa Pebbles, and it's not even close. And there are a ton of other cereals better than Corn Pops:  Honeycombs, Captain Crunch, Frosted Mini-wheats, Reese Puffs, Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Life,  Fruity Pebbles, Count Chocola, and Apple Jacks all have it hands down over Corn Pops.

So, "Why," you ask again, "should we eat all the Corn Pops we can, and fast?" Because, I answer, they are going away! They will soon be taken off shelves forever. You can read about it here and here and here.

Personally, though they're not my fave, I can't imagine a world without Corn Pops (or their ancestor, Sugar Corn Pops). It would be like a world without, well, Lucky Charms. What kind of world is this world becoming?!

But here's one more reason to eat a ton of Corn Pops before they're gone baby gone. It turns out that one of the ingredients in Corn Pops is ... embalming fluid. (For real. Read the articles I linked to.) Now that may be one of the reasons they're being removed from shelves, but I think it's actually a selling point. Eat a ton of Corn Pops and when you die, all they have to do at the funeral parlor is comb your hair!

So, what's your favorite cereal? Anyone with me on Cocoa Pebbles? And if not, what's your box of breakfast food of choice?

Mookie Blaylock

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

Do you the original name of Pearl Jam? It was Mookie Blaylock. Do you know who Mooke Blaylock is? He was a basketball player, in college for Oklahoma (leading them to the championship game in 1988) and in the NBA, mostly for Golden State. Why did they name their band Mookie Blaylock? Because it was funny. Why did they change it? Because they were forced to. And why did they name their first album Ten? Because it was Mookie’s uniform number.

I love it that Pearl Jam never took themselves too seriously. Their sense of humor is obvious throughout the documentary. And I wonder if that’s a big part of the reason they are one of the very few bands to stay together for twenty plus years? Maybe humor is a part of health and wholeness.

One of the things that makes me sad about so many church planters and pastors today is how seriously they take themselves. I’m all for taking Jesus seriously, but us? We’re just not that big a deal. And maybe we need to lighten up, make some fun of ourselves, and enjoy getting to know God and the honor of getting to lead His church.

If you’re a pastor, how often do you laugh? With your staff? Is there a lot of laughter in your services?

Domesticated Jesus

To do them justice,
the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because He was a bore. 

Quite the contrary; He was too dynamic to be safe.

It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality

and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium. 

We have declawed  the lion of Judah and made Him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies.

- Dorothy Sayers

this weekend @ VERVE

We've been doing our Monster/Monster series for a few weeks but still haven't talked about him.

Yet he may be the most famous monster of all. Probably more kids have dressed like him for Halloween over the years than anyone else. He's been featured in Saturday Night Live skits, and even has his own breakfast cereal. That's right, it's time for ... Frankenstein.

We'll talk about how you were made, what to do when you feel like an ugly monster, and how your Creator feels about you.

It could change the way you look at yourself, and live your life.

Getting To Be An Author

It's 5:27 a.m. and I'm up working on my third book which I'm (almost done) writing. I've been up for an hour and a half. Today is my day off.

Almost everyone I know wants to write a book. Most won't. And if that's you, let me just tell you, you're kinda lucky.

It's not as glorious as it sounds. Not even close. You painstakingly choose words, put together sentences, and flow from paragraph to paragraph - to be told that it's not good enough. Not even close. So you write it all over again. And again it's not good enough. So you write it all over again.

Finally you finish your book, and you realize you're now only half done. Because if you want your book to sell, you have to figure out how to promote it, what kind of advertising or campaign you can do to make sure someone actually ends up reading it. And then finally it comes out and you get these statements sent to you by your publisher telling you your royalties, and the number is $0.00 - but you learn that if the book just sells 6,000 more copies, you'll start receiving royalties, at $1 per copy.

Sorry to sound so negative. Maybe I shouldn't write posts this early in the morning.  :)

Same Team

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

In the 1980’s there were a bunch of bands in Seattle (wearing lots of plaid). Two of the up and coming bands were Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. But rather than view the music scene as a zero sum game, the two bands formed a friendship and supported each other. In the documentary there’s great old footage of them performing together.

When Eddie Vedder (singer for Pearl Jam) moved to Seattle from San Diego he was new not only to town, but also to fronting a band and performing publicly, and so Chris Cornell (singer for Soundgarden) mentored Vedder. Cornell even wrote a song (“Hunger Strike”) that he ended up singing with Eddie, which became Vedder’s first recorded song.

How cool would it be if churches followed that example? Too often pastors are territorial and churches feel threatened if a new church gets started in their area. Seriously? That’s the way of Jesus’ Kingdom? What if churches partnered together? What if more experienced pastors took in the new church planter in town and mentored him?

Redemption

The picture is of one of my favorite things in Las Vegas, and illustrates well one of my favorite things about God.

It's an Art-o-mat, and there are a bunch of them in the Cosmopolitan Hotel/Casino. It used to be a cigarette machine, dispensing something that smells like crap, is horrible for your health, and tears families apart by bringing on cancer. But the people at Art-o-mat purchased the machine and made it into something different. It now dispenses original works of art. In so doing it helps out the 400 contributing artists, and brings creativity to those who purchase the art.

It's just like God. I look at my life and it used to be crap, I was horribly unhealthy, and I tore other people apart because my personality was cancerous. But God purchased me and made me into something different. He's made me into His original work of art.

And you know what? God wants to do the same in you.

VERVE Happs

This week we continued our Monster/monster series with "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde." We talked, based on Romans chapters 6 - 8, about how there are two of us in the one of us, but it's wrong to be two people. And so we need to kill the monster (what the Bible calls the "sinful nature") inside of us. Romans 6 tells us that the way we kill the monster is in baptism. We're doing baptisms this week on Sunday after the 11:35 service, and on Monday after that 7:05 service. I know of like 6 to 8 people getting baptized, and maybe you need to join them? If you're thinking about it, let us know. If you want to learn more about baptism, listen to the "Pictures of Baptism" message I did, at the bottom of this page.

We also talked about how though you kill him in baptism, the monster will still tries to reestablish his authority in your life, and so we need to starve him, and feed the Spirit so we have His power to help us. If you missed the message, you can listen to it here. 

Excited that our Cupcake Girls ministry trained a church in Portland on how to start a ministry of their own to strip clubs in that city.

Vince Recommends...

Recently read With, by Skye Jethani. I've also read Jethani's previous book, The Divine Commodity. I strongly recommend both.

In each book, Jethani makes a point I think we hear far too infrequently. In The Divine Commodity it's that the church shouldn't appeal to people's consumeristic nature and try to sell them God. In With it's that we were meant to live life with God, not so much live a life from God or for God or under God, but with God.

I actually think Jethani makes his point so in such an extreme way (in both books) that he verges into the territory of being a little wrong about it. But even still, the point is so valuable I totally think everyone should read the books.

It Keeps Getting Brighter

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one…

At one point pretty early in their career Pearl Jam is playing a concert in which Eddie Vedder (the singer) can’t hear himself in the monitors. He looks stage left and makes a motion pointing up. He still can’t hear. He looks stage left and, again, points up, hoping to get the volume increased in the monitors. But, again, no change. He tries again, but still nothing. Now he’s seriously frustrated. He walks over to stage left, and rips down the curtain hiding the people over there. That’s when he realizes that he’s been gesturing to the person running the lights, not the sound. He says, with a smile, “I wondered why it kept getting brighter in there.”

As a church planter, you’re going to have days when the mic keeps cutting out, when the video doesn’t play, when the whole thing is just embarrassing to be a part of. And when you have that day, it may help you to know that even Pearl Jam experienced that. And Pearl Jam became, well, Pearl Jam. So you might have a bright future too. Especially if the person you’re gesturing to is actually running the lights.

Absurd Ideas

"If at first an idea does not sound absurd,

then there is no hope for it."

                                                                       -  Albert Einstein

this weekend @ VERVE

The famous story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is of a man who has two people living inside him - one good and one evil - and the internal battle he faces because of it.

And maybe that story sounds a bit like your story.  Perhaps you know what it's like to have a battle between good and evil inside you.

If so, don't miss this weekend at Verve as we continue our Monster/Monster series by exploring this phenomena, and together learning how to defeat the evil within. 

Talent Isn't Enough

Recently watched the documentary Pearl Jam 20 by Cameron Crowe (I love you Cameron Crowe!), and I thought it had a ton of lessons for church planters. Here’s one...

Andrew Wood (singer for Mother Love Bone, which later kind of morphed into Pearl Jam) and Chris Cornel (singer for Soundgarden, and later Audioslave, and who has a voice straight from God) lived together when they were first starting out, and each wrote and recorded a song every single day, which they would then play for each other. Like workaholic singer/songwriter accountability.

The idea exists that some singers just have this innate talent and jump on a stage and get discovered. The reality is that even talented people have to work their butts off if they want to succeed.

Why do some guys start churches that thrive, while others start churches that don’t even survive? There are all kinds of factors, but one of them is hard work. Some people might say I’m smart or gifted, but I don’t know about that. I think what God has used in me is hard work. You can get a lot of ministry done when you put in 65 to 80 hours a week, every week.

And you know what? If you write enough songs you keep getting better at it, and some of the songs end up working. And if you do enough ministry you keep getting better at it, and some of the ministries in your church end up working.

Talent isn’t enough. It takes hard work. Lots of hard work.

So … if you’re a church planter, or thinking about starting a church, how hard are you really willing to work?

A Life Worth Dying For?

Point Break featured perhaps the worst collection of actors to ever play the leads in any movie. The story line was at least a little goofy, if not completely preposterous. But there was a line in the movie that resonated:

If you want the ultimate, you have to pay the ultimate price.

It's not tragic to die doing what you love.

Usually I don't take advice from a guy named Bodhi, but it's a great point. If there was something you loved doing so much you'd be willing to die for it, then living for it would really be life.

What could you do today to move one step closer to living in a way that you're doing what you love?

What's holding you back from taking that step?

VERVE Happs

This week we continued our Monster/Monster series with Dracula. We're identifying the monsters that live within us, and learning how to kill those monsters. Dracula is a purely selfish being who exists to exist, and believes others exist to serve him. Too many of us can live like that way too often. It's time to slay Dracula and to embrace the upside down life Jesus offers - to save our life we have to lose it and become servant of all.

Wanted to remind you about the party we're throwing employees of Las Vegas' strip clubs, and ask you to please consider helping make it happen. Read this post to learn more.

Vince Recommends...

Here are some movies you might have missed, but shouldn't have, cause they're really good. These movies all fit into the "What the crap is going on here?" category:

1. Memento
2. Magnolia
3. The Usual Suspects
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Minority Report
6. No Way Out

Warning:  Each of these movies have some adult content where you might want to look away.

And if you can overlook that ... you're welcome.

It's That Day

Turn your clocks back tonight.

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep.

Gameday!

I realize most of you probably don't care about college football, but I cannot wait till the game today! Like salivating. I think LSU is a little better, and so if it was in the Bayou, I'm picking LSU for sure. But at Bama, man, I don't know...

Here's my college football question: If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma St. on December 3rd (I expect it), and Oregon beats Stanford on November 12th (could happen), is the year Boise State gets to play for the national championship (against the SEC winner), or does Oklahoma or Oregon or the loser of today's game (especially if it's LSU on the road) jump over them?

My other question is: What makes huge guys want to paint their bodies and go around with no shirt on?

this weekend @ VERVE

This week we continue our new series Monster/Monster in which we're looking at some famous monsters, and dealing with the monster that may live inside us.

This week we're heading to Transylvania where we'll shed some light on Dracula.  Not only will you learn about the Count, you may discover that you're a bit of a blood sucker yourself.

Don't miss this weekend at Verve.

Why Aren't We Happy? - The Sequel

Yesterday I wrote that we're not happy because we're not doing life with God. But I think there is a kind of unhappiness for some who are doing life with God. It's people who are with God, but it leads to nothing.

Benjamin Disraeli (the former Prime Minister of England) said, "Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action." I think there's a lot of truth in that. People who have faith in God, but don't put it into action, tend to be some of the most miserable people in the world. It's the ultimate waste, and you can feel it in your bones.

If you're not happy, how could you put your faith in action? Do it.

Why Aren't We Happy?

In Society and It's Discontents, Sigmund Freud wrote, “Through the technological control of nature, we’ve fulfilled most of the desires that ancient societies thought only the gods could have.” 

Then he asks the question:  “So why aren’t we happy?”

And as an honest atheist he gives a simple but profound answer: “I don’t know.”

Freud died in 1939. Can you imagine what he'd think of the "technological control" we now have compared to then? But are people any happier? No.

Why not? I think it's because we were made to do life with God, but we're doing life without God. And, by the way, I'm not just talking about non-Christians. Many of the Christians I know believe in God, but aren't living their lives with Him. Not really. And so they're no happier than someone who doesn't have God at all.

Our hearts just won't be happy until our hearts get lost in Him.

VERVE Happs

I was out-of-town this weekend.  A church outside of Cincinnati did the message series that goes along with my book, I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt and asked me to come do the last message in the series. It's been really cool to see the impact that book and the series has had in so many churches.

That church is also going to be doing a mission trip to Verve next year, and thought it would inspire more people to sign-up if they could meet me first. I'm so grateful for all the churches that have supported us and have sent mission teams. If your church is looking for a great way for some people to get outside their comfort zone and to serve and make a difference in Sin City, in a way that will help them to see how they can serve more and make more of a difference in your town - contact us about doing a mission trip to Verve!

I heard Jake did an amazing job starting our Monster/Monster series, and we had a great little Halloween carnival in our lobby. Sorry I missed it! I'm excited to be back at Verve this week - talking about Dracula.