Mar 29, 2012
POWER
I hated it. Though I know God is in control and was able to accomplish good through it, from my perspective, it ruined everything. "It", in this circumstance, is the fact that we lost all of the power to the building at our largest campus this past weekend. Two minutes before our first Sunday service was to begin...everything shut down. It was dark. Nearly three thousand people were already in the building, and everything was ready. Our staff and volunteers had worked hard. The tal...
Mar 21, 2012
Boredom
Boredom is a huge...potentially dangerous problem for all of us...in every area of our lives. Yes, even in our spiritual lives. I had opportunity to write on "boredom" in my regular column, "Leading Change", in Outreach Magazine. It was in response to a question relating to church becoming boring. However, I really do think that the principles and practices I give for overcoming it can apply to all of our spiritual lives...to every part of our lives. If you're interested in reading ...
Mar 8, 2012
Beautiful Surprise
As we were leaving work last night, my precious Roxann informed me that we were heading to my daughters house to babysit our three grandchildren. It wasn't the evening I had planned, but, as it turned out, it was far better. We had a blast with them. This small change of plans has inspired a thought this morning that may (or may not) be relevant to you today. Many of the great (best) experiences of life aren't planned. They come in the form of a surprise...an unexpected and often an...
Mar 6, 2012
Zambia…Man sized Goals God sized Results
This past weekend at NorthRidge Church, I had the privilege to stand up and cast vision toward a new partnership we're forging with World Vision to bring physical and spiritual transformation to Zambia. In order to accomplish it, I made it clear that we were seeking to fulfill a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that many felt was unreachable...actually crazy. It was a goal that had never been accomplished before by a single church in a weekend. The goal was to see 2000 children sponsore...
Jan 25, 2012
Appetite
Okay, I'm going to let you in on some of the excitement that my wife, Roxann, and I have in our private conversations. Here's a common conversation of ours. "Where do you want to eat?" "I don't know. Where do you want to eat?" "I don't know. You decide." Yes, we're boring. But, I bet you can you relate! Right?! Inevitably, as we repeat that mind-numbing conversation, one of us mentions how we wish we could go to Chick-fil-a or the Cheesecake Factory...two restaurants that we're alw...
Jan 20, 2012
Last Laugh
It's true. Following God and trusting His Word can make us a laughing stock...especially in our unbelieving, politically correct world. But, why would it be any different for us than it was for the One we're following. They laughed at Jesus. Checkout Mark 5:40. But, don't stop there because the story doesn't end with them laughing. It ends with Jesus raising a little girl from the dead. Think about it. From the human perspective, it was crazy talk to refer to a dead girl as "sleepin...
Jan 17, 2012
Why Do I Keep Watching?
I am so sick of the news. It's mind-numbing redundancy. Soap operas are fast moving and changing in contrast with the news these days. And yet, I keep watching and reading it. When I turn my TV on, I instinctively turn it to a news channel. The same tends to be true with the radio and even my computer. Are you kidding me? I keep doing what I hate, and it's making me question my own sanity. Hmmmm! Sound familiar? I'm finding this isn't a news thing...or a Brad thing. It's a nature th...
Jan 13, 2012
Appreciation without Application
Most of us love music. Though we have very different tastes, we share an appreciation for how music adds to our lives...enjoyment, inspiration, and beauty. And yet, for most of us, music doesn't define us. We listen to it, but we don't live by it. We know and even sing the words, but we don't generally apply them to the way we live our lives. And, this makes sense. After all, most music is more committed to expressing feeling than truth. It's more about creating beautiful art than shar...
Dec 30, 2011
My Best Reads didn’t make the Biggest Impact
Since I threw out the value of reading in a recent blog, I thought that it may be potentially beneficial to share some of the more impacting reads of my past year. As context, I think it's important to share a couple of thoughts. First, the better books and/or reading experiences weren't always the most impacting. In fact, this is often true. Many of the books that I enjoy the most are far from the most impacting or memorable. Of course, reasons abound. (e.g. I enjoyed them because ...
Dec 29, 2011
Just Because the Calendar Changes…
My wife, Roxann, does a whiteboard calendar for each month of our lives and hangs it in our kitchen. (Just what I need...a constant reminder of our thin-margined life.) Anyway, I'm always blown away at how quickly she has to pull it down and record the next month. It sometimes feels like my days are moving so quickly that I could cool a room with the breeze from the turning pages of the calendar. In the words of Bob Dylan, "the times they are a-changin." But, just because the calendar...
Dec 8, 2011
Less is More
For those of us driven for success or significance, we'll do just about anything to achieve it. By nature, this would include sacrificing issues of integrity and morality because getting ahead is the primary value. For those of us who have opened our lives to the nature transforming power of Christ, we tend to leverage everything we can to achieve our desired greatness while trying to maintain our commitment to integrity and morality. (The original disciples are a great example of this...
Dec 5, 2011
When the Horse is Dead…
Dismount! It's one of my all-time favorite leadership cliches! It's simple, funny, relevant, and profound. When something no longer works, we should stop wasting our time, energy, and resources working it. So true! It's in the spirit of this cliche that I'm writing this post. I'm wondering if the social media horse...(at least for me)...is dead? Seriously! My Facebook page, twitter, and blog require a major commitment of time, energy, and creativity that could be invested in a...
Dec 1, 2011
Creativity & Criticism
We just experienced our very first snowfall. And, once again, I was reminded that God's an artist....an unbelievably creative artist. And yet, not surprisingly, the immediate response from many was to pan His creative expression. Amazing, isn...
Nov 24, 2011
Thanksgiving
Though it's possible to harbor a spirit of ingratitude, it's...how can I put this delicately...DUMB! Seriously, not only does it make life miserable, it defies reality. Yes, of course, there are people who have hurt us, circumstances that have detoured us from our dreams, and realities in this world that can make sane and caring people angry...very angry. BUT, we have been gifted life. And, though it comes with some shadows, it's an incomparable gift. Today, we're alive. Serious...
Apr 28, 2011
The Power of an Invitation
Easter is behind us, but the impact is eternal. There are so many stories of life change. And, most of them thank me and/or our phenomenal team of staff and volunteers for what we did. (And, I have to admit...our team is amazing. They gave so much to make our 11 Easter services beyond any superlative I could assign it. I am so grateful to them for their passionate commitment and to God for gifting us with these awe inspiring people. I'm humbled by the privilege I have to serve with the...