The long, dark, cold winter...

The day after the Angels are eliminated from the playoffs is a dark day for me every year. There are always the questions of what if, and if they only, and wondering if things could have turned out different. This year it could also mean the departure of three long time Angels - John Lackey, Vlad Guerrero, and Chone Figgins. There is still a World Series coming - which I will watch. But more as a removed baseball fan than a fan of any particular team. I'll pretty much be rooting for the Phillies - I'd love to see a back to back champion not named the Yankees. Pretty much anyone taking on the Yankees is going to get my vote. Next year the All-Star...

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Jerel Law

Check out this great post from Jerel Law on Story. There's a conference coming up in Chicago on Story and Jerel is going. I look forward to hearing more from Jerel and from the Story Conference next we...

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Humility

Here's some more from Catalyst. It was great to hear from Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point and Outliers. I enjoyed listening to him for the first time. But for some reason I kept thinking "More cowbell."What does the financial crisis tell us about leadership?Miscalibration - thinking you know more than you actually know. Overconfidence.In times of crisis we think we need daring and bold decision making, but we don’t. What we need is humility.Andy Stanley's questions:What are the warning signs of an overconfident leader?- The potential for it is in all of us. All of us start to think we are better than we are.- We should be looking for it in everyone who is in authority.- When they stop listening to the people around them, watch out.Humility = the ability to listen to others.Can...

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Catalyst 09

I had the great privilege of going this year to Catalyst, which was last week in the Atlanta area. It was also the first time my wife has gotten to come with me to a conference in a long time (six years we think!). We left the kids at home and had an amazing couple of days listening to some great wisdom. I took notes during most sessions, so over the next few days I'll post my notes on some of the speakers that were there. My notes are kind of sporadic, so if you have trouble following them and want some clarification, let me know. First up, Andy Stanley:Leaders always leave a mark, the question is what kind of mark will you leave?You won’t really...

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Second Preview

This last Sunday was the second preview service for Story Church. Here are my thoughts about what went well and what we learned:1. Setup went much smoother - everyone was assigned a job, and there was a clear priority list in terms of what needed to get done first.2. Our new screen is approximately 1,000 times better than the original. It is no longer a jumbotron and we were able to project straight ahead to the stage.3. Tablecloths made a huge difference! Made our hospitality and check-in areas look sharp.4. The first preview was too bright on stage, so this time we turned out the lights. It was too dark. We need to invest in some lighting.5....

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Thoughts on U2

I was mowing my lawn on Saturday when my wife came outside with the phone. While I hated to stop my masterful yard manicuring, she seemed persistent. What I soon found out was that a friend was calling with news of a lifetime. He had an extra ticket to that night's U2 concert in Raleigh and wanted to know if I would please take it. Hmmm.... Let me think. Heck yes!! Oh yeah, and the seats were amazing. $250 worth of amazing. For free. A couple of years ago I got to see Coldplay in CA on the X and Y tour. It was the most amazing show I'd ever seen. For me there was only one other band that I wanted to see in my lifetime - U2. So Saturday is our...

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100 Days

Today marks the 100 day countdown to the launch of Story Church. Depending on your perspective, that can either seem like a long time, or not much time at all. For me, it's more of the latter. A couple of months ago the plan was to launch on September 13. I had a hard time giving up that date and pushing things back, but I am so glad that we did. I can't even imagine what things would have been like if we had tried to push it. We simply wouldn't have made it.So what is there to do in the next 100 days? Here are some of the things we are trying to accomplish in no specific order:1) 3 preview services - Oct. 11, Nov. 15, and Dec. 20. The previews...

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