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Here are some of the lines from Perry’s One Prayer message that caught my attention:

• First of all, Perry opened the message by praying by church name and pastor’s name for other churches in Anderson. In my service, those churches included Concord Baptist, New Prospect, North Anderson Baptist, First Presbyterian, High Praises, Boulevard Baptist, Carpenters Church and New Covenant.
• “We’re a church, not the only church.”
• “The world sees the Church as an organization that’s there but not really doing anything. They see the Church as being fat and lazy.”
• “Jesus was not safe. He was incredibly dangerous. The Church is not supposed to be safe. It’s supposed to be dangerous.”
• “God, make us dangerous.”
• “I don’t like cats… I hate your cat.”
• “When was the last time you anticipated God doing something great?”
• “Where there is no anticipation, there is seldom revelation.”
• “Eating is my spiritual gift.”
• “Just put the butter on the biscuit. We’re all going to die anyway.”
• “Get your eyes off of your situation and get them on Jesus.”
• “Here in the South, we love chickens. We buy them and we fry them.”
• We need to ask this question of God: “What else can he do?”

Given the fact that we’re recruiting IT staff at NewSpring, this quote on the future of the IT role caught my attention:

“Today, there still may be plenty of businesses employing ‘classic geeks’ in their I.T. Department, but that’s about to change. Don’t misunderstand - the world will always need a good engineer, but the I.T. leaders of tomorrow - the ones guiding the business in the use of their computer resources, the ones working with the CEOs to execute the vision and direction via information technology - they will no longer be what we think of as the classic ‘computer geek.’ You know the type - the stereotypical introvert, who’s more comfortable behind the glow of computer screen than interacting with the rest of the human race. The one who likes to speak in acronyms that only he or she understands. The ones who know how to do everything from a command prompt. These folks will be a dying breed…at least around the office. Instead, tomorrow’s computer ‘geek’ will be a true member of the business team as opposed to the mysterious man behind the curtain who you only notice when something goes wrong.”

If you are in IT or you oversee the IT role in your organization, you may want to check out the rest of the article on ReadWriteWeb.

I still try to answer all the email messages that are generated from my blog. Depending on my ministry and family schedule, sometimes it takes longer than other times. Sometimes Jennifer, my ultra-talented assistant, jumps in to help out. But, I do try to respond to every email message that you submit.

In an effort to help answer your questions before you even have to ask the question, though, I’ve created a new FAQ page for the site. You may want to check this out before you email your questions. It’s possible we’ve already answered it for you.

Thanks for your patience. And, thanks for joining the conversation.

Today, NewSpring will join over 1,400 churches across the world for One Prayer. In an article from the Anderson Independent-Mail, Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, shared:

“Think about Christ’s Church. By that I mean everyone who considers themselves a Christian. Now think of the resources and money Christians control around the world. Now consider the needs of the world. Think of all of those resources and money being used for one purpose. Now you begin to understand what this is all about.

“Christ said, ‘Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I will be.’ Imagine the power of prayer with thousands praying the same prayer, at the same time. That is what One Prayer is going to be.”

Check out the rest of the article on the newspaper’s website.

It’s been about a year since I changed the comment strategy on my blog, so I thought now would be an appropriate time for a little reminder. The biggest change I made was turning on the comment moderation feature. Basically that means every comment needs to be approved before it gets published.

In case you’re wondering, here are some guidelines to make sure your comments get published:

• Stick to my agenda. This is my blog. I get to decide what topics we discuss. If you want to push your agenda or talk about your topics, start your own blog.
• Don’t attack individuals (including me) or ministries (including my church). We “encourage one another and build each other up” around here. It’s biblical. And, it’s a lot more fun. Again, if you want to be grumpy and pick fights, do that on your own time. There are plenty of blogs out there that are designed to encourage bickering. I don’t have time for that.
• Don’t embarrass me. I’m trying to be a good Baptist boy. If you use inappropriate language, I’m not going to post it.
• Don’t submit anonymous comments. If you can’t honestly share what’s on your mind and let others know who you are, either you’re in an unhealthy environment that doesn’t encourage open dialogue or you’re a coward.

Because of this change in directions, you may notice that comments aren’t posted immediately. I have a day job. That means comments waiting approval will probably stack up until I have a free moment. Please be patient. Sorry for that inconvenience. Hopefully we can keep the conversation flowing.

Just in case you’re wondering, I view blogging as another way for me to learn. I don’t like “yes men” on my team…and I consider you to be a part of my team. If I know your motivation is to help me take my next step in my spiritual or leadership journey, I want to hear your push back. I love that part of blogging.

Let’s continue to encourage healthy conversations. And, let’s continue to strive for a more Christ-like dialogue. We’re leaders. We should model healthy relationships and interactions…even if they are virtual.

The world is watching.

Jott recently expanded their service to include the ability to listen to your favorite RSS feeds from your cell phone. It’s kind of like having your own personal radio station where you get to choose the content. If you’d like to try out the service, now you can subscribe to my Jott Feed. Have fun, and let me know what you think.

After months of perceived misrepresentations of the recent changes at WIllow Creek Community Church, Bill Hybels, the founding and senior pastor, has decided to let people hear the truth about his position on the future of Willow’s ministry and his ongoing commitment to the seeker church movement.

Earlier this week, Hybels sat with Jim Mellado, the president of the Willow Creek Association, and recorded a seven-minute interview addressing questions that have surfaced in recent months in both the blogosphere and in print. The video of that interview is available on the WCA website.

Specifically, Hybels addressed a recent article in Christianity Today entitled Willow Creek’s Huge Shift. Hybels characterized it as “an unfortunate article that was written without a proper understanding of what we’re actually doing these days.” He also referenced an Out of Ur Blog post from last October entitled Willow Creek Repents. Hybels reacted to the post by stating:

“I don’t think when you make a strategic adjustment it qualifies under the term ‘repent.’ I think every evangelical knows that’s kind of a loaded-up term, and I think someone wanted to get some action on a blog.”

In preparation for the release of the video through my site this morning, I had the opportunity to view the video in its entirety yesterday. Honestly, my reaction was I’m glad Hybels has finally decided enough is enough. Should he have addressed this sooner? Possibly. Has Willow made mistakes along the way? In the interview, Hybels admits they have. Is Hybels or Willow shifting away from the seeker model? They’ve never indicated that to be their intent. In fact, Hybels used the interview to make it clear:

“We have had the same one-sentence mission statement for 32 years. We’re trying to turn irreligious people into fully-devoted followers of Christ. We have never been more committed to either side of that mission statement.”

It’s refreshing to see Hybels take the gloves off. When you view the video, you’ll see that he’s in a bit of a feisty mood. He wears that well. Deep down, that passion likely comes out of his ongoing commitment to reach seekers. At the end of the interview, Mellado asked the question, “Is a leader of the seeker church movement abandoning seeker ministry?” Hybels replied:

“There’s no real worry about that ever happening… I’ve wanted everyone in my life to experience grace, saving grace the way I experienced it on a hillside in Wisconsin when I was 17 years old… I think the older I get, the more aware I am that I only have from this day until my final day to get the Word of Christ out to as many people as possible.”

My sources at Willow tell me there will be more videos like this one in the coming days. It’ll be interesting to see how Hybels and the Willow team engage the conversation and debate that this video will certainly generate.

That’s the big news in church-world this morning. You heard it here first. Check out the video and tell all your friends.

Shhh…. It’s a secret, but it’s looking like Joshua has let the cat out of the bag.

“We Are Curious about design, communications, people, storytelling, art, music, sensory experiences, delicious meals, customer service, craftspersonship, the internet, & everything in-between. We will join you on the internet soon.”

I just received the initial Killing Cockroaches cover comps. My publisher and I would love your feedback. Take a look at these comps and vote on your favorite. More importantly, please give thoughts and reactions in the comments. Who knows…we may actually listen to your advice.

Several weeks ago, I received a number of questions about how NewSpring handles follow up with people who are guests at our services. I asked Jake Beaty, our pastor of care and outreach, to provide the answers with all the nitty-gritty details. Here are his responses:

First, do you do anything to recognize visitors or get information about the church into their hands?

We have a sign as people are pulling into our parking lot to turn on their hazard lights if they are a first-time visitor. We have parking that is close to the building designated for them, and we send a greeter to their car to guide them to where they need to be and answer questions. Some people will do this, but most first-time visitors do not want anyone to know that it is their first time. Because of this, we always make a point to welcome first-time visitors during our welcome/announcement time during each service and we invite them to fill out a guest registration card in their worship guide and drop it in the offering at the end of the service. We follow up with each of these and get them whatever information they need.

If you do, what do you do? How do you connect with them?

We follow up with everyone that turns in a guest registration card.

Do people respond to this?

Over the last 3 months we have averaged 48 people a week that turn in guest registrations cards and have designated that they are a first-time visitor. Obviously, there are a number of folks who visit and prefer to remain anonymous until they’re ready to take their next step.

Is it effective/does it work?

I think it has been very effective in making people feel welcome and that even though we are a big church, we care about each of them individually. We have had lots of great feedback from people that are amazed that we contacted them as quickly as we did and said that they would definitely return to our church.

What type of information do you try to gather from your visitors?

Name, phone numbers, address, email address, children and spouses names, prayer requests.

How do you go about doing this?

Guest information card in the worship guide

Do you have a plan and system in place to track visitors that come - 1, 2, 3, . . . times etc?

No. We offer next steps outside of the Sunday services for people to connect in membership, home groups and serving opportunities. Though we challenge people frequently to take their next step, it’s up to them to do that.

Do you have a plan for helping visitors become returning/connected folks? If so, what does this look like?

We follow up with everyone that fills out a guest registration card within 24 hours. We make phone calls to each of them to thank them for coming and to answer any questions they have about our church. We also send each of them a letter which invites them back for our services the next week, directs them to our website, and tells them the best ways to contact us with any questions that they have.