24tvThe following happens between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

“Is this Tony Morgan?” It was a familiar voice, but I couldn’t quite place it. “Tony, this is Andy Stanley. As you know, I’m a big fan of your blog and your podcast. Lanny, Reggie, Lane and I frequently just sit around drinking sweet tea and talking about your insightful ministry strategies. We also love the delightful repartee that you and Tim offer through the Simply Strategic Show. I’m so glad I caught you today.”

Immediately, I was slightly suspicious. Normally when Andy calls, he just dials my direct line at the office. Secondly, I know for a fact that Lanny Donoho, famous author of the book God’s Blog, prefers pink lemonade over sweet tea.

That aside, I wanted to see what link Andy might have to the situation I was facing. “Andy, you don’t happen to have a fake British accent, do you?”

Andy replied, “No, but I just talked with a guy that does. He claimed to be Marcus Buckingham, and he told me to call you with these specific demands. First, you’re supposed to break all the rules. Secondly, he wants you to remove the elephant with the wagging tail from the WiredChurches.com website. If you do those things, he said he won’t harm Mark.”

And then the call was dropped. “Andy, are you there? Andy?”

This is not good. The creepy guy with the fake British accent has hijacked the podcast and has Mark. But the question was, Mark “Who?” And, why doesn’t he like the elephant with the wagging tail? When I pulled into the church parking lot, I was encouraged to see Mark and…

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