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I’m Ready for the Backyard Barbecue

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After 15 years of marriage, I finally broke down. I decided I had been a purist for too long. For all these years, I stuck with my Weber charcoal grill. Part of it was because I was too cheap to buy a gas grill. Part of it was because I think meat tastes better when cooked over charcoal. Through the years, though, I’ve battled both mocking laughter from visiting friends and many evenings of waiting and waiting and waiting for the coals to get hot enough to cook my dinner. So, today, I finally broke down and made the big purchase.

Grill I’m now the proud owner of a BBQ Grillware Model 41590 Three-Burner LP Gas Grill. This particular unit puts out 42,000 BTU with an additional 12,000 BTU side burner. That’s a lot of BTU…whatever that means. Emily thought we should purchase the smaller 35,000 BTU grill. I, of course, told her those grills are only for girlie-men. In fact, I’m pretty sure the unit she was looking at actually comes in the color pink. I, on the other hand, have a manly man’s man grill. So, when Phil or Andy or Cameron stop by for that backyard barbecue, I’m going to be ready to cook meat at a moment’s notice.

Speaking of manly men, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest associated with my new BBQ Grillware Model 41590 Three-Burner LP Gas Grill. The owner’s manual estimated assembly time would take less than 40 minutes. Anyone care to guess how long it took me? The closest to the actual time will be invited to join me for a hamburger on my new grill.

Bible Journey > Deuteronomy

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I wrapped up Deuteronomy last week as I continued my journey through the Bible. Here are my thoughts and highlights:

  • It’s important to continually develop new leaders keeping in mind that their leadership capacity will vary. Some will lead tens, some hundreds and some will lead thousands.
  • God guards me when I’m walking through the wilderness.
  • Part of Moses’ responsibility was to pass the torch of leadership to Joshua. In doing so, God instructed Moses to give Joshua courage and strength. Good mentoring involves more than teaching hands-on skills.
  • "Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live."
  • It’s my responsibility, not the church’s, to teach my kids about matters of the faith. My life and my choices impact my children.
  • "Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got."
  • God made a nation wait for 40 years in the wilderness. Sometimes I have trouble waiting 40 seconds.
  • Love and obedience always seem to walk hand-in-hand.
  • Celebrations are a good thing. They help us remember stuff.
  • "Don’t continue doing things the way we’re doing them at present… Until now you haven’t arrived at the goal." Go figure. It takes new approaches to get to a new place.
  • God promises that if I follow his plan, I will live well. He wants me to live a good life.
  • "Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures." It’s interesting how God ties how we handle our money with his blessing.
  • When I enter the battle, I don’t need to waver, fear, hesitate or panic, because God is with me. Think that includes when I walk on the golf course?
  • Timidity and cowardice are, unfortunately, contagious. "Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated."
  • When a man married a woman, he was supposed to take one year off "simply to be at home making his wife happy." Wonder what God had in mind? There must have been a lot of dishes to wash that first year.

Simply Strategic Show: Hiring

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The newest episode of the Simply Strategic Show is now available. In this show, Tim and I talk about our hiring practices at Granger Community Church. We also take a few intimate moments to discuss how in the world both of us ended up on staff at Granger. Most importantly, though, we celebrate my half-birthday! I’m 29 1/2…plus a year or two or more.

Hiring the Right Leader

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Someone from outside our organization asked me recently about the leaders we hire at Granger. I may not share the exact same view on this as the other pastors I work with, but I thought you might be interested in my response. Here’s what I said:

Let me say this up front: the reason the leaders on my team are so successful in their roles is because they first love Jesus and, in a very close second, they love our ministry. I believe, that’s the key to any successful ministry hire…especially in a leadership role. The person has to love the church. And, that’s why we typically try to hire people from the inside–people who already attend and serve at our church. We already know the stuff that’s hard to measure. We’ve had a chance to witness their faith journey. We’ve seen how they interact with others. We know their passion for what they do and their heart for the ministry. Frankly, I think it’s all these variables that don’t show up on a resume that really determine the success of someone’s role on the team.

Regarding skills, there are probably some basic skills and experiences that are required for any position. You probably know those better than I do. Here’s why I hire the leaders I hire though. I don’t hire them to do the role. I hire them to:

  • Champion the mission, vision and values of our church
  • Build teams with staff and primarily with volunteers
  • Manage significant projects
  • Model loyalty to the pastoral leadership team
  • Bring the right resources together on the right projects
  • Think strategically about systems especially as it relates to helping people connect to our ministry
  • Learn what the best marketplace leaders are doing and help us implement similar strategies to reach people for Jesus
  • Help us operate and get our message out as if we’re a church of 12,000 rather than a church of 6,000

And, this may just be me, but I love working with leaders that are confident about who they are and what they need to do, yet they are humble about who they are and what they get to do. I’m looking for that perfect balance. The leaders I work with need to have the confidence to push back when they don’t agree with a direction we’re taking. That’s a good thing. But, by the same token, I need to have complete confidence that he or she trusts the leadership. Even in instances where ultimately there’s disagreement (hopefully that’s rare), the leaders on my team will be in the trenches championing where we’re going next. Again, that’s a part of someone’s character that doesn’t show up on a resume.

What do you think? Am I hiring the right leaders? What am I missing?

If you’re curious to hear more about who we hire at Granger, that’s the topic of our newest episode of the Simply Strategic Show this week. I’ll let you know as soon as that episode is available.

Innovative Church Conference 2006

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Icc06_458Do you sense my excitement? I’m not sure if it’s possible that I can be giddy, but I’m pretty positive I’m close. I have news regarding guest artists and speakers for this year’s Innovative Church Conference…only I’m not allowed to share the details quite yet. I can’t wait to start name-dropping. You know and love these people. They’re really groovy. Man, this is going to be fun!

That’s Quotable [Satoru Iwata]

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"If all we were to ever do is just continue to make sequels and not do anything new or different, people would view us as a very conservative company and a company that is unwilling to really take new initiatives and embark on new adventures. That’s not the type of person I am and not the kind of company I want Nintendo to be."

Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo as quoted on BusinessWeek Online (April 5, 2006)

Better Than Andy Stanley

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On our trip to and from Ohio this week, Emily and the kids caught up on the Simply Strategic Show podcasts. After playing several shows for them, I played the inaugural Catalyst Podcast featuring Andy Stanley for me. Honestly, I didn’t think the kids were listening. About midway through the Catalyst podcast, though, I heard a faint whisper from the rear seat. I overheard one of the kids lean over to Emily and say, "I like Dad’s podcast better." It was the quiet reflection of one small voice, but the magnitude of the statement reverberated through the walls of our minivan. At least in the mind of one nameless child, my podcast is better than Andy Stanley’s.

Delighted, Dozing, Drenched and Despising the Desperado Dude

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I’m back after taking a few days with my family to visit more family. We had a great time, but a few things popped up while I was gone.

  • My daughter, Brooke, turned one. (I love you Brooke-a-daisy!)
  • Did you notice how boring the NCAA championship got after George Mason left the building?
  • Ice Age: The Meltdown was pretty good, but I have to admit…I dozed off during a portion of the film. I was trying desperately to stay awake. Regrettably, with the exception of Toy Story, I’ve never been able to stay awake for a complete children’s film in the movie theater.
  • I took my family to the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio. We had a blast. We really enjoyed the water slides and getting 1,000 gallons of water dumped on us.
  • We watched American Idol in the hotel room last night. Can you say, "Lame?" Now I know why every country ballad is so sad and depressing. It’s because artists who write country music also have to listen to country music. It was awful. Hey Fox execs: You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.

It’s good to be back home. The comments are live. Comment away.

Email Subscriptions

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Last week, Heather, who attends Granger, sent me this kind note:

"I am enjoying your blog with a zillion other people.  I really like the FeedBlitz because otherwise I would forget to look at it.  I am proud to be involved at GCC.  Thanks for your work."

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DaVinci Code Resources

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Michael wrote in this week asking when resources will be available for our upcoming series: Unlocking the DaVinci Code. We’re launching that series on Easter weekend. I know there are many churches throughout the country that are tackling that topic with the upcoming release of the movie with Tom Hanks. Here’s the scoop on our series resources:

  • The license we purchased to use the image of Mona Lisa in our promotions doesn’t allow us to resell our series graphic; however, Outreach has graphics available on their site for the DaVinci Code.
  • Our messages will be available after each weekend. So, for example, the Easter message from Saturday and Sunday will be available on the following Monday.
  • The other resources are typically made available after we finish the series. In this case, that’ll be after May 14. That will include any dramas, small group study guides, series packs, etc.

Hope that helps. Let me know if your church is doing a similar series in the coming months and if you have any great ideas to help address the challenging topics raised in the book and the upcoming movie.

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