TonyMorganLive.com

In a dialogue over on Todd’s site earlier today, "Rick" mistakenly had me pegged as a "Boomer." In actuality I was born in 1968. That makes me part of the Generation X. I’ve never really understood that though. I’m not really what people say I should be as a GenXer.

As I pointed out to Rick, I’m a GenXer that’s optimistic about my future, committed to helping the institutional church reach more people for Jesus and I prefer not to share conversations with complete strangers at the coffee shop.

I’m not a "slacker." I’m actually quite driven. I’ve had a job ever since I graduated from college. I’ve never moved back home to live with my parents, and I don’t like to buy clothes from The Gap. (As you know, I prefer The Buckle.)

Makes me wonder, though, whether or not these generational stereotypes are really valid. Am I really that different from my peers? Or, when it comes down to it, aren’t we really just wired differently by God. We grow up in unique environments. We learn through experiences in unique cultures. Maybe it’s really not about the generation we belong to. Maybe God has just created us to be unique.

And, if that’s true, it’ll probably always be the case that we’ll need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. We’ll need seeker churches and emergent churches. We’ll need small churches and big churches. We’ll need charismatic churches and churches for guys like me who are, well, how should I say this…not very charismatic. I love that, though. Life would be pretty boring if every church was like Granger.

And, life would be very boring if every Christ-follower was like me–a Boomer in a GenXer body.

It’s a mystery, but we jumped over 100 FeedBurner subscribers for the first time. Don’t know what that says about you and me. I know me pretty well, though, so if you’re here checking things out–you should be very scared.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t have it figured out. I’m just trying to learn as I go. I’m glad you’re around, though. Maybe you’ll help keep me pointed in the right direction.

In the infamous words of Debbie Boone, "It can’t be wrong when it feels so right ’cause you–you light up my life." Thanks for picking up the feed.

I was enjoying a quick nine holes with a good friend of mine this evening. We got on the topic of finding good talent. His business is hiring several people right now. He talked about the challenges of finding the right people for the right roles.

It was probably a ploy to get me to play stinky golf (which I did), because I started thinking about the talent that surrounds me on a daily basis. This is how it works. Every time you have the chance, you just hire the most talented person you can find who loves Jesus and the church. You give them the freedom to do their best everyday. Then, seven years later, you wake up one day and realize: everyone around me is far more talented than I am. You recognize the fact that it’s only by God’s grace that they still pay you to show up every day.

Now, do me a favor. Please keep this a secret. Don’t let Tim (my boss/friend) know what’s up. He still thinks I’m actually adding value to the ministry. It’s a charade. Every once in a while, I try to razzle-dazzle him to divert his attention. The reality, of course, is that my team surpassed me years ago. I’m just along for the ride now. It’s a pretty fun ride.

By the way, I lost by 5 strokes. I hate playing stinky golf.

Here’s the "box score" for this past weekend at Granger Community Church.

Music: "Share the Well" by Caedmon’s Call; "God of Justice" by Tim Hughes

Message: "Touching the Heart of God: Reaching God by Reaching Out to Others" — Ron VanderGriend, Vice President of the Bible League (and a member of Granger), shared how we all can reach out to others by becoming aware of the situation, taking it personal, understanding the will of God and going where God is at work. Key takeaway for me: "God sometimes doesn’t want our skills. Sometimes all he wants is our presence."

Service Highlights: The highlight of the service for me was the introductory video to Ron’s message that summarized some of the key statistics from Granger’s partnership with the Bible League to plant churches in India. The numbers are staggering. Thousands of people are coming to Christ and being baptized. You would be amazed and encouraged by what God is up to in India. I’m trying to track down the numbers so I can share them with you.

Stats: 4,276 total attendance (3,339 adults + 937 kids); 5.9% decrease from the same weekend last year

Percentage of weekend attendance by service:

1. Sun 10:15 am = 27%
2. Sat 5:30 pm = 20%
3. Sat 7:30 pm = 19%
4. Sun 11:45 am = 18%
5. Sun 8:45 am = 16%

Final Notes: Next weekend we launch a series called "Bridge the Gap." Over the next four weeks we will be exploring the gap that exists between us and God. We’ll be talking about the darkness, the light, the way and the party. It’s a series designed to help our weekend crowd search for the one bridge to close the gap–forever. It’s a big series for our church. I can’t wait to share the stories that will unfold.

I think Brian Bailey writes better Top 10 lists than I do.

I’ve heard people suggest Top 10 lists are not in vogue. Yet, they seem to capture more attention on my site than anything else I share. Makes me think I need to create a Top 10 list of the reasons why people like Top 10 lists.

The things that make you go hmmm….

"It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."

Ephesians 1:11-12 (The Message)

My good friend, Mark Waltz, has recently written a few excellent posts on “life-sucking silos.” He defines these as a situation:

“…wherein every ministry of the church watches out for their interests with bulldog ferociousness, convinced that their “baby” is the precious birth and prodigy of the Holy Spirit himself.”

Ever experienced that in your church? Mark has offered some great insights on this topic in three separate posts. This is one of those universal leadership lessons that every church of every size needs to understand and apply. (Having worked in the marketplace, I know silos can be a problem outside of churches as well.)

Here are Mark’s three posts:

• Part 1 — how do silos form
• Part 2 — preventative maintenance
• Part 3 — 5 bad moves you’ll want to avoid

This weekend is completely crazy. My wife is with the girls a couple of hours aways with my daughter’s softball team. They have several games this weekend in a tournament. I’m with my son Jacob and his baseball team. They also have a number of games. Only there games are in South Bend. Much closer to home. I think I got the better end of the deal this weekend.

Between the two of us, we’re probably going to end up watching our kids play about a dozen games this weekend. I guess you could say: Tony and Emily are literally experiencing the game of life. And, that why I’ve decided to highlight National Community Church in Washington, DC this weekend. Mark Batterson’s the lead pastor at National, and their in the middle of a series called "The Game of Life."

National was one of the 10 churches Terry and I identified last week. The church meets at two separate locations in the DC area. To get a flavor for their ministry, you may want to check out the extensive video archive.

If I wasn’t sitting in the bleachers this weekend watching my son play baseball and attending a service at Granger, I’d go to National Community Church and learn about the game of life. Because of that, they’re my "Cool Church of the Week."

Got to go. I hear the phone ringing. That’s the "happy ring" I programmed on my cell phone for when my wife calls. I better go find out who won the last game.

It’s too early to reveal any details, but I may have a big announcement to make in the coming days. It’s very exciting, and I really wish I could tell you more. All I can say is that I’m in the middle of some high level negotiations that will generate a fun new twist for my blog.

The dialogue with this prospective partner has been very positive today. I’m still processing the final agreement with them. Actually, I’m waiting on "the CEO’s approval." Did I mention already? This is very big.

It’s not a done deal yet, but I think there’s a good chance this will fly. I hope it does. It’ll be fun for both you and me.

OK, maybe just one hint. Believe it or not, it has something to do with my new pink shirt.

Have a "Fun Friday!"

Here’s a great story from Wired on how blogging is changing how we get our news and how that’s impacting the conversations that are taking place through the Web. It includes a look at Technorati, a leading search engine dedicated to blogsites. Technorati is tracking over 13 million blogs–up from 100,000 only 2 years ago. That’s an amazing wave of change in how we interact with each other.