why?

Why does it take 4 hours to see a doctor at an emergency room on a Thursday night when there’s only 12 people in the waiting room?

Why does the nurse, the doctor, the sign in person, and three or four other hospital workers have to ask you the same 37 questions about latex allergies and how the pain feels on a scale of one to ten?

Why does every size hospital gown leave a smidge of butt showing in the back?

Well, these questions are funny and aggrevating, but guess what? None of them matter when someone you love is in the hospital.

One moment you’re joking about the wildest circumstances, and the next you’re being told by the doctor that it’s more serious than they first thought.

Nothing else really matters at that point. Nothing at all.

Christ told us not to worry about things that aren’t important.

Boy, was he all over that one, or what?

 

why do christian movies stink?

O.K., the title to this post may not be fair. But, if you love the movie industry, you must agree that a vast majority (95%-99%) of Christian films stink.

Now, I’m not talking about the big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, such as The Ten Commandments or Passion of the Christ. I’m talking about the movies made in the past two decades produced specifically for the “church going” market. Duds like “Time Changers” and “Facing the Giants.”

Those are all well-intended flicks, but they’re awful because they are not relevant and in order to appeal to what they feel is their target market, they use dialogue that only Ned Flanders could appreciate!

peaceful easy feeling…

It’s 8am Sunday morning, and I’m sitting at my computer at church as I write this. We’ve already been here longer than an hour, and I’m listening to the worship band rehearse, and the volunteer setup crew putting the finishing on the stage. It’s a huge feat, because we meet in a movie theater, so we literally “build” a church and tear it down every single Sunday.

And right now is always the most peaceful time of my week.

It’s those few moment between disorganization and chaos.

It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. It takes that feeling of accomplishment to a new level, and it gives me the opportunity to watch a bunch of guys give a valuable block of time to their church…and mostly without complaint.

It’s the best time of my week…

what is connection?

We have got some great volunteers at LifePointe church. And, we’ve got a bunch of them! Half of our church are active volunteers, and that’s nothing to sneeze at when it comes to church statistics.

But, I often worry about connection. And by connection, I mean a deep-rooted attachment to one’s surroundings and a committment level to service that exceeds the average.

That’s what I mean by connection.

I always wonder if the people that volunteer under me are experiencing a level of connection that they deserve. You know…the one that God has in store for them.

How can i know? What are the signs? If there is no connection, will interest level stay at a high?

It’s kind of like being married, i guess. There has to be some communication. Asking, listening, lunches…whatever it takes. We only have one shot at helping someone connect with the community, with God, and we can’t screw it up. Eyes wide open should be the motto.

Do me a favor…if you think you’re not connected, or are connected and want to take it to a higher level, tell me! Just like my wife tells me when I’m not taking our relationship to the next level.

Only…I promise I won’t tell you to wait until the commercial comes on.

Is there a God?

Ahhhh…that is the question. The one question that secular humanists have been asking themselves for centuries.

You know, I think to help answer this question, i’m going to put on my “atheist hat.”

If God doesn’t exist, and man is truly all by himself on this big, blue marble, and everything we’ve accomplished up til now can only be attributed to man’s greatness, then what do we have?

Well, according to the latest count, there are 2.1 billion Christians in this world. If there were no God, then there are 2.1 billion (yes…I know that not all Christians act in a Christian way) people that are trying to be the nicest, the best humans they can be. 

2.1 billion people giving portions of their paychecks to help others, buying groceries for the needy, smiling at someone having a bad day, hugging someone that just experienced a tragedy.  

2.1 billion people building houses for the poor, risking their lives to get medicine to the sick in third world dictatorships, trying to spread hope in the most hopeless parts of the world.

2.1 billion people just trying to help.

Now, if there were no God, and these Christians were following a false hope…well, is there a better false hope to follow?

And, by the way, I think that 2.1 billion people promoting that same hope proves that there is a God.

 

Plant this!

LifePointe Church has been in existense for 16 months. That’s 69 weeks (68 if you count the week of the Great White Death of ’08). We’ve had Sundays that were successfull beyond all imagination, and some not so much. We’ve had dozens come to Christ, and many baptized. We’ve had parties and picnics that show the best of the people we have involved in our congregation. And, we’ve reached into a community looking for something “different.”

But after all of that, we still, interestingly enough, need to think of LifePointe as a church plant. A church still in it’s infancy.

And that’s a very cool thing!

We get to make mistakes. And then correct them.

We get to tweak here and there, and change things up to keep it fresh.

We get to try new and exciting ways to reach people that haven’t thought about church in years, or have never even stepped through the doors of one.

We get to wake up every day, and treat it like a clean slate. And that is very cool.

Now, for the $64,000 question: Why doesn’t every church start each day like a plant? Why does the status quo have to be the order of the day? Why can’t changes be made on the fly in order to maximize their reach into the community?

Why can’t church be a fresh, new thing every day?

Boy…if every church maintained that level of liquidity, that level of excitement…evryone would be going to church.

Did I mention how lucky I am to be at LifePointe?

Mother’s Day, Speed Racer, and the such…

As we prepare for our annual Mother’s Day service at LifePointe Church, I am becoming very nostalgic. Not prohibition-do-the-lindy-buy-bonds nostalgic…just recalling-the-great-things-about-my-mom nostalgic.

I have to ask myself “would I do the things for her she did for me?”

The answer: It’s hard to say.

Would I give up the last slice of pie? Probably not…but in hindsight, I should have!

Would I work for the government for 35 years so that I could have a spoiled kid squander the paychecks I brought home? Probably not.

Would I go to stupid plays, baseball, football, soccer and basketball games, boring PTA conferences, and the likes, without complaining…once?  Absolutely not.

You know, this list could go on forever, but I just want it on the record that I’m not half the person my Mom is.

Oh, yeah…and I saw Speed Racer this weekend and it kicked butt!

Thanks, Mom, and I hope you have a great Mother’s Day!

 

Laugh, cry…the whole gambit

Gotta be honest with you…I’m an emotion pimp.

It’s true. I want to see people cry or laugh or whatever when they watch my videos or read what I write.

So, when I create a video for the Sunday message, or choose a moving graphic for the background of a song, I always ask myself “Will this bring a tear to their eyes?”

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ve always felt my job was to add support to whatever is being said or sang on stage, and if that message or song is meant to be poignant and meaningful to someones life, how can I help to invoke that feeling?

Every now and then, I like to take a peak back thru the audience. I like to see if there’s laughter or crying because of what I helped do.

Don’t get me wrong…I never want what I throw up on the screen to be the focal point, or to take away from what the Pastor or Worship Leader is doing. I just want to make sure that what is up there can help give that extra nudge over the emotional ledge.

I am an emotion pimp.

LifePointe staff & stuff

One thing about being on a church staff is that you are thrust into a scenario unlike anything you’ll find in the “real world.”

I have been in sales in corporate America for 21 years. Each sales staff is made up of “x” amount of people, all there to do one thing…make money.  There are different & conflicting personalities, personal agendas, and huge egos. Sure, they are all there to “promote customer service” and “increase awareness of the company in the community”, but beneath that, there are always ulterior motives.

A church staff is different. Just like in corporate sales, they’re there to find ways to promote their product (God), and ways to increase customer satisfaction (keep the congregation happy), and to keep the church mission on track (to help others develope a connected relationship with God).

But, beneath all of that, lies…well, nothing else. Sure, you’ve still got some conflicting personalities and some egos to deal with…that’s just human nature. But when the agenda is the same for everyone, then the group works.

I know that many times I like to think that running the church like a business is the best way to go, but then, I step back, look at the fellow staff I deal with, and know that it could never be run like a business.

It’s so much better.

A Fresh Start

I am giving this blog a fresh start. Please view it at it’s new addres: https://lifepointemediaguy.wordpress.com/

Thanks!