One of my fake Facebook friends uploaded a picture of the High Street Elementary School (Piqua, Ohio) basketball team circa 1980 (or maybe 1981). It’s the era when the shorts were short, the socks were tall and the hair was long.

Yes, that’s me. Front row. Third from the right. Shirt untucked. (See…I was launching a trend in fashion almost 30 years ago.)

I’m just about exactly my son’s current age in this picture. He looks a lot more like a basketball player than I did in this shot.

Your history is never safe with Facebook. That’s why Facebook is evil.

Brad captured a video before Thursday’s all-staff meeting. This will give you a sense of the atmosphere:

All-Staff from NewSpring Students on Vimeo.

Here’s the scoop on how we do all-staff meeting at NewSpring:

• Meet once a month
• Anderson and Greenville teams usually meet at the same location
• Florence joins us live using Skype
• Spend the first part of the meeting just sharing stories
• Perry usually teaches something on leadership/vision
• We also give everyone updates on what’s happening next

It’s one of my favorite parts about being on staff at NewSpring. I serve with the best team around!

I’m growing more and more convinced that the worst thing an organization can do is try to reach a consenus about something. Think government. Think church committee meetings. Think declining big business.

On the surface, reaching a consensus seems like a positive thing because it means people have agreed to move in the same direction. That’s a good thing isn’t it?

Actually, I’m not convinced that’s the case. For example, here are:

5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks

1. It embraces the status quo. Change, whether positive or not, is not human nature. We would prefer for things to remain the way they are today. So, when people get together to discuss the possibility of doing something a little different in the future, it’s normal for the majority to avoid making changes.
2. It gives the malcontents an equal voice in your decision. Reaching consensus gives everyone a voice at the table. When that happens, even the negative, bitter folks that don’t really embrace the vision have the opportunity to pull the rest of the group away from what could really be the most desirable outcome.
3. It short circuits the radical ideas that lead to the biggest breakthroughs. The big, bold ideas won’t see the light of day. Yet those are the ideas that could potentially lead to the best innovations. Consensus brings people back to the middle where the majority approves but mediocrity reigns.
4. It leaves unresolved conflict on the table. At the opposite ends of a decision are distinct opinions which, if left unresolved, could potentially lead to division. Consensus prevents tough conversations from happening. It gives people the freedom to jump to compromise without engaging a healthy debate.
5. It discourages people from dreaming big dreams. Want to neuter the creative-thinkers and entrepreneurs and visionaries in your organization? Force them to reach consensus with the rest of the crowd. These are the people that make you uncomfortable. They can drive you crazy. That’s OK. They’ll just go work someplace else if you keep forcing them to compromise their dreams.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or, have you actually seen consensus work? What would you add or delete from the list?

Let’s try to reach a consensus on whether or not consensus sucks.

I’ve shared the biggest mistakes I’ve made in ministry in the past. Earlier today, I asked my friends on Twitter to do the same. Here’s what some of them had to share:

• @gsligon – “trusting a volunteer with too much influence in my ministry. can you say sabotage?”
• @menatpausecoach – “thinking that one would be ‘closer to God’ by leaving secular world for full-time ministry.”
• @teddywinter – “thinking that I can sustain it all. The need for a team is incredibly necessary.”
• @jodyearley – “calling a Jr. High event SNR (Santa’s Not Real) and then promoting in the worship guide for the little kids to see.”
• @michaelharrison – “not delegating or empowering others to serve”
• @chuck_scott – “procrastinating and calling that relying on the Holy Spirit for prompting.”
• @youcanknowgod – “student ministry services that compete with weekend services”
• @jasonsalamun – “Not raising funds prior to launching our church.”
• @kellyadkins – “caring about something less than God does. also, caring about something more than God does.”
• @dale_schaeffer – “Changing who we are as a church to fit the demographics of a community…lesson: just be who you are and watch God work.”
• @kentshaffer – “Trying to take an old school projector down from the ceiling by myself. It broke, and I almost did.”

Some of those a kind of funny, and some of those are way too familiar. With that in mind, though, here are some mistakes we can make with mistakes if we’re not careful. Here are a handful of myths about mistakes:

• Mistakes can and should be avoided. I might be preventing a great innovation as well.
• Because they were mistakes for me they will certainly be mistakes for someone else. That’s not always the case. Their situation could be different than mine.
• The mistakes mean I should stop. Possibly, but also I may be one more attempt away from breakthrough. Maybe I just need to persevere.
• Just because it was a mistake in the past means it’ll always be a mistake. Timing can be everything. Situations change.

What are you learning from your mistakes?

My friend Barron emailed me this picture of the NewSpring Anderson Campus. It looks like a very recent photo. For some perspective:

• Everything left of the bright green columns is our original building.
• Everything right of the bright green columns is the new children’s ministry building. The lower level will be for kids in grades K-5 and our nurseries. The second level is for office space. My team will actually be located in the second level space closest to the green columns.
• The building to the right is our new student ministry building.

Here are some additional details that may interest you:

• The new children’s building is 44,000 square feet. The student ministry building is 43,000 square feet. I think our original building is around 120,000 square. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.)
• We’re hoping to open both new buildings in late-February or early-March.
• The student ministry building includes a new 1,000-seat auditorium that we also plan to use as a new venue for Sunday services.
• The children’s building includes three 170-seat theaters for elementary school-aged kids.
• Our current children’s ministry space will be renovated after the Unleash Conference for preschool-aged kids.
• The student ministry building has a gym (far-right portion of the facility) and a football field with lighting (just below the facility).

Because of the space constraints we’re experiencing in Anderson, I can’t tell you how excited we are to see these two new buildings open up. As a parent of four kids that will be hearing about Jesus in these buildings, I must also express that I’m grateful to my NewSpring family for making this investment for my kids and their friends.

We covered a lot of ground in today’s all-staff meeting. During our conversations, though, here are some questions that Perry challenged us to ask about ourselves and our ministry:

1. What questions do we need to be asking?
2. What does God want NewSpring to look like in 2015?
3. Not what now? But what next?
4. When?
5. Who?
6. Where?
7. Is there anything we need to deal with that we’re trying to deny?
8. Are we understanding the proper perspective?
9. What bothered God? Does it bother me?
10. Do I understand that ministry is received and not achieved?
11. Am I placing limits on myself that God hasn’t placed in me?
12. Do I realize that God loves this ministry way more than me?
13. Are we leading with pure motives?
14. Is there any area of my life where I’m intentionally living in disobedience to God?
15. Am I walking in purity? Or am I trying to hide something?
16. Are we focused on honoring his name?
17. Will I be consistent?

Just a few questions that will be rolling around in my brain for the next days.

Here’s the deal. Things are rocking and rolling at NewSpring. On Sunday we had close to 11,000 people attend one of our 3 campuses. A couple of our services were over capacity (we mock the “80% rule” around here). Because of that, we’re calling an audible and adding two new services beginning Sunday (January 18). Here’s our new service schedule (all Sunday times):

Florence Campus

• 9:30 am & 11:15 am

Greenville Campus

• 9:15 am, 11:15 am & 6:00 pm (new time)

Anderson Campus

• 9:15 am, 11:15 am, 4:15 pm (new time) and 6:00 pm

If you plan to attend in Greenville or Anderson, please consider coming to an evening service to free up seats in the morning for new guests. They’re more likely to join us in the morning, and we want to have seats available for them. Be a good Christian and sleep in on Sunday!

That’s not all. We’ll be launching two more services on February 1. Stay tuned for more details.

Periodically, I hear a new song and think, “that has legs.” This is one of them.

Daniel is one of the worship leaders at our team here at NewSpring. He wrote this song that we used in the service on Sunday. Here’s the video of him singing it:

“Give it all” from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Check out Daniel’s Virb page for lyrics and chord chart.

Anne Jackson wrote a book called Mad Church Disease that will release on February 1. My concern is that we may have a case of the mad church disease, and we don’t even know it. With that in mind, I asked Anne about the symptoms. Here’s what she had to share:

Tony: Mad Church Disease presents itself in many areas of health…what were your symptoms like when you burned out and what did you do about them?

Anne: In 2005, I was in my second year of full-time ministry serving as a Director of Communication & Media at a large church.   I was young and thought I was completely invincible.  I worked crazy hours, never rested, never recharged…only went 100 mph 100% of the time.  Part of the problem was I had no idea what healthy boundaries were or how to establish them.  But the biggest issue is I was relying completely on my strength and not the overflow of my relationship with Christ.  I had allowed that to waste away as…

I was too busy doing things for God instead of spending time being with Him.

I went to the doctor for a check up and within a few days was admitted to a hospital because they discovered my abdominal cavity was inflamed.  At first, they thought it was appendicitis but after some tests, learned it wasn’t.  After a week of being poked and prodded and probed and…well, just imagine…the doctors finally determined my stressful lifestyle was making me sick.

Physically, my symptoms were obvious and I’d recover easily if I just slowed down a bit.  But the rest of my health (emotional, spiritual, and relational health) was wrecked.  Aside from the constant headaches and heartburn, I was having panic attacks and was so depressed that some days, I didn’t even make it out of bed.  I withdrew from my relationships with my friends and family because I was too afraid to let them see me breaking down.  And spiritually, although I desperately prayed…I was so confused in my faith I was completely ready to throw in the towel.

I ended up taking a short leave of absence to sort through some of these issues…getting on medication where I needed to.  I went to counseling (outside of my church where I felt I could be completely honest without fear of losing my job) two to three times a week for a month, and then weekly for another year.  I started exercising and eating healthy.  I intentionally asked for help from friends.  But the biggest thing was (even though I didn’t feel like it) pouring my heart out to God and responding to Scripture.

Ministry can ONLY be an overflow of that relationship.  John 15:5 says apart from Christ we can do NOTHING.  Sure “we” can “do” things…but it isn’t the life God intended for us.  He wants us to have an abundant life resting in Him…not freaking ourselves out “doing stuff” for him.

Pre-order your copy of Mad Church Disease today!

I just reread All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin. We discussed it together with the dudes in my coaching network on Friday. Here are some highlights that jumped out to me this time around [with my thoughts in brackets]:

• “Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.” [Fortunately we have a great story to tell!]
• “Stories are shortcuts we use because we’re too overwhelmed by data to discover all the details.” [Think about the parables of Jesus.]
• “People pick and choose. Everyone will not listen to everything.” [So don't try to be everything for everyone.]
• “You can no longer force people to pay attention.” [Think bulletin announcements.]
• “The best marketing techniques are the simple stories that are the most likely to break through, the most likely to be understood and the most likely to spread.” [Think stories of life change.]
• “When we encounter something for the first time, we compare it to the status quo. If it’s now new, we ignore it.” [New is better. Different is better.]
• “If a consumer figures something out or discovers it on her own, she’s a thousand times more likely to believe it than if it’s just something you claim.” [This is counter to the discipleship strategy of almost every church in the country.]
• “If you want to grow, make something worth talking about. Not the hype, not the ads, but the thing. If your idea is good, it’ll spread.” [If it requires an announcement from the platform and a bulletin insert to succeed, then it's probably not "worth talking about" and it probably won't grow.]
• “It’s almost impossible to out-yell someone with the same story.” [Think about the world and not just what's happening at your church...because normal people have a life outside the walls of your church.]
• “Your goal should not (must not) be to create a story that is quick, involves no risks and is without controversy. Boredom will not help you grow.” [If I have to choose between entertaining and boring, I'll choose entertaining every time.]
• “It’s hard to be remarkable when you and your organization insist on not changing the status quo.” [Think denominations.]

Do you agree or disagree with these statements [and my analysis]?