Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

This was one of those days where I kept thinking to myself: I can't believe I get to do what I do. Hard to put into words, but what an awesome privilege to be part of God's redemptive plan for planet earth. The Kingdom of God is the most amazing social network on earth. Nothing compares. Not even facebook!

I'm shooting several personalized greetings for churches that are doing a Chase the Goose series. Be happy to do a thirty-second shout out if that touch point would add value to your series. If, however, the sight of me would decrease value I can have a stunt double do it for me.

Excited about quite a few churches kicking off the New Year with a Chase the Goose series.

If you need books for a sermon series, email resources@theaterchurch.com. We'll hook you up with a discount.

The videos and graphics from The Elephant in the Church series are officially uploaded. Love to see hundreds of churches do an Elephant series. We've got to be talking about "the obvious truths that everybody ignores." All of the videos and graphics are free. All we ask is this: do it better than we did it. Put your fingerprint on it. Then share it with others.

If you haven't seen the video trailers for this series you need to check them out. Must-watch! Huge props to Jeremy Sexton and our media team! My personal favorites are the political, historical, and suffering elephant trailers.

Off the hook!

I have a little formula: change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. Works like a charm! We have to disrupt our routine so we can think new thoughts. That is why we do our planning retreat off site. It gets us out of our environment and out of our routine.

Really feel like God is revealing some things on this retreat. And that is the ultimate goal. I'd rather have one God idea than a thousand good ideas!

I also feel like this retreat is a great expression of our core value: work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God. Without God's hand of favor, forget it. But we also have to work hard. And hard work is a form of worship!

Sure would appreciate your prayers for our team. Big day in front of us!

Our day started at 7:30 AM and my last meeting wrapped up around 9:30 PM. That's a long day! We've done enough planning retreats to know that it's going to be overwhelming. As our staff grows and church grows it gets more and more complicated. But I've learned to manage the tension of lots of personalities, lots of projects, and lots of dreams.

2009 is going to be an amazing year! We'll launch our fifth location in February. Hoping to open a second coffeehouse. Looking to launch a virtual location or internet campus. And we want to do a "dream center" kind of ministry. Excited about all of the above!

By the way, ate at Cheesecake Factory twice today. Spicy Cashew Chicken for lunch. Crusted Romano Chicken for dinner. And Banana Cream cheesecake with raspberry puree for dessert. Hmmmm good.

Every year our staff does two retreats. We do a play and pray retreat in the summer. And we do a planning retreat in the fall.

We'll spend the next two days in Baltimore's inner harbor. Love hanging out there. Great place to reflect about the past year and dream about the next year. We'll spend lots of time doing personal planning and team planning. The goal is to walk away with a strategy for everything we do. We'll come up with our staffing strategy, sermon strategy, marketing strategy, launch strategy and discipleship strategy to name a few.

That sounds more glamorous than it is. It's not like everything goes according to plan. But it gives us a rough draft for 2009.

I've blogged about trojan horses and purple cows. Here's what I mean by broken windows.

In the March 1982 issue of Atlantic Monthly, James Wilson and George Kelling wrote a piece titled Broken Windows. They argued that something as insignificant and innocuous as a broken window sends a subliminal message. If the window is left unrepaired it communicates that crime is ok. So Wilson and Kelling argued that the way to fight serious crime is by cracking down on small infractions.

That is precisely what happened in New York City when Rudolph Giuliani was elected mayor in 1994. He cracked down on squeegee pests; arrested fare jumpers; and cleaned up the graffiti on subway cars. Critics said it was a waste of time and a waste of money. Statistics would suggest otherwise. The murder rate was more than cut in half.

In his book, Broken Windows Broken Business, Michael Levine applies the broken window theory to business.

A broken window can be a sloppy counter, a poorly located sale item, a randomly organized menu, or an employee with a bad attitude. It can be physical, like a faded paint job, or symbolic, like a policy that requires customers to pay for customer service. When the waiter at a Chinese restaurant is named Billy Bob, that’s a broken window.

Can I share two of my pastoral pet peeves? Unevenly folded bulletins and misspelled words on worship slides! I know those things aren't apocalyptic! But everything says something about everything. Or to put it another way, little things are big things. We need to strive for excellence in everything we do. One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is when we do something really small really well. I think it honors God.

I was reading Adventure magazine on a recent plane ride and came across a great article by Laurence Gonzales. Wild Goose Chase is all about living the spiritual adventure God has called us to, so I was intrigued by the theme of the article. Researchers at the University College London have discovered what they claim to be the brain's adventure center. When subjects choose to take a risk for an unknown reward, the ventral striatum experienced an increase in blood flow. They concluded that the ventral striatum is the part of the brain that controls the cognitive process for seeking new experiences.

Studies like this are always an over-simplification. The brain acts holistically. But there are also specifics regions that exercise primary control over specific functions. So I don't doubt that the ventral striatum is the adventure center.

May God sanctify our ventral striatums. May we be a people that is always asking, seeking, and knocking. May we be a people that is always singing a new song. May we be a people that is always seeking new wine and new wineskins.

By the way, we'll have glorified ventral straitums in heaven.

Eternal Adventure.

Thought it might be worth sharing some rebranding reflections. For eight hours we drilled down on these questions: 1) What business are we really in? 2) What is our greatest passion? 3) What are our greatest strengths?

I think rebranding is really rediscovering your primal calling. And I think the genesis moment for me was a Willowcreek Conference. I remember feeling like Willowcreek gave me permission to do church differently. I think many of my core convictions trace back to that moment. Here are a few of them:

1) there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.
2) the church ought to be the most creative place on the planet
3) we need different kinds of churches because there are different kinds of people

Even our core value, everything is an experiment, is an expression of that fundamental desire to do church differently. It's not about being different for difference sake. It's about reaching emerging generations. And that requires new wineskins.

Creativity, at its core, is a stewardship issue. It's about living out of a sanctified imagination. We've probably said this a thousand times: if the Kingdom of God had departments, we'd feel called to work in Research and Development. We take an experimental approach to everything we do. And I think a kingdom mindset has released us from the lie that we have to be all things to all people. We don't. We can't. We simply need to know our kingdom niche. And thank God for the other Bible-believing churches in our city. We'll all on the same team! We simply play different roles.

Identifying our driving motivation is helping us reimagine who we are and what we're about as a church.

I think way too many churches have copied mission statements. We have what I would call cut-and-paste churches. Please don't tell me your mission is to make fully-devoted followers of Christ. Of course it is. And, of course it isn't. That is Willowcreek language. If we simply use someone else's language I'm not sure we'll ever own the mission. Every church needs its own unique words, pictures, and values.

Just thought I'd share some initial reflections.

Our executive leadership team is spending eight hours today with CHANGEffect. We are going through a complete rebranding process as a church. And we felt like it was important to bring someone in from the outside to help us get some perspective on ourselves.

By rebranding I don't mean cosmetic surgery. I mean open-heart surgery. As our church grows older and larger, I think there is a tendency to get more and more complicated. We want to drill down and re-identify values, stories, and convictions that define who we are. This is really an exercise in self-reflection. The end result will be a complete rebranding, including logo. But it starts with figuring out our double-helix DNA.

Hoping to roll out the rebrand in early 09.

I'm a corn hole evangelist. Fell in love with the game a few years ago. I don't play it all that often, but over holidays or on retreats we'll toss bags for six to eight hours. I've actually sustained a sports-related injury playing corn hole. Strained calf.

So a few months ago, Waters Edge Church asked if we'd be up for a staff-vs-staff competition. Let's just say that we did some discipleship! So cool to connect with their team. Exciting to hear about some of the things God is doing. But they need to pray less and play more corn hole.

I honestly think our staff could match-up with any staff in the country in corn hole. I'm not bragging! In fact, that might be pathetic! I think it was Jim Collins in Good to Great who says every organization needs to answer this question: what can you be the best at? I think the answer is corn hole. But I'm not sure what to do with that.

PS. I'm kidding about the "pray less" and "play more" thing!

This weekend we took our annual survey.

The survey helps us keep tabs on demographics. It also helps us gauge vision. We haven't really done any vision casting for our next launch yet, but we asked our congregation if they'd be willing to be part of our next launch team. Really pleased with the response! Nearly 100 people said definitely or probably. And we had more than 250 maybes. Pretty amazing given the fact that the next location is a little further away and we haven't cast vision yet. I think those numbers assure me that multi-site is in our DNA. And I think the willingness of so many NCCers to be part of something new says they are playing offense for the Kingdom. Really good vital sign.

I'll blog more details ASAP. But we will launch in February 09.

At the Sticks Conference I talked about Trojan Horses, Purple Cows, and Broken Windows. Thought I'd share a few thoughts about purple cows.

One of my favorite marketing books is Purple Cow by Seth Godin. The book revolves around this metaphor: if you've seen one brown cow you've seen them all. But a purple cow, now that would catch your attention. One statement in the book has profound implications: "If you aren't remarkable you're invisible."

Every church needs to paint itself purple. I'm not talking about gimmicks. I'm not talking about being different for difference sake. I'm talking about making such a remarkable difference in our communities that we are unignorable.

I have a couple core convictions:

1) the good news ought to make the news. Brown churches sit on the sideline and invite the community to come to them. Purple churches are always going and compelling. They are making such a big difference that they become a highly visible part of their community. And people drive by the brown churches--the churches that are invisible--to go to the purple church.

2) The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing. I know that marketing is a dirty word in some church circles, but does it get anybody else riled up that Madison Avenue is far better at pedaling its worthless wares than the church is at preaching the good news? I have a problem with that. We need sanctified competitive streaks.

3) The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. Too many churches look too much alike. We need lots of different kinds of churches because there are lots of different kinds of people. Every church has a unique churchprint and ought to be a unique expression of the gospel in their kingdom niche.

So how do we paint ourselves purple? For starters, dare to be different. You might offend some Pharisees, but that isn't who you're trying to reach. Secondly, disrupt the routine. I think it starts with your personal routine. Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. You need to get out of your routine so you can have some purple thoughts.

As a leader, you need to cause confusion. Jesus didn't do orientations. He did disorientations. You need to find new ways of saying old things (see the Parables). You need to find new wineskins. You need to sing a new song. Neurological studies have found that familiarity stimulates the left-brain. Novelty stimulates the right-brain. We need some Spirit-inspired, right-brained ideas that capture the imagination of the church and the world.

Really enjoying being at The Sticks. Love my pastor tribe! I talked out of Matthew 10:5-16. That passage is my philosophy of ministry. I also think of it as the First Commission. It's the final locker room talk Jesus gave his disciples before their first mission.

I talked about Trojan horses, purple cows, and broken windows.

Remember the Greek legend? Queen Helen was kidnapped. And it took a Trojan Horse to get past the defenses of Troy. Churches need to discover the Trojan Horses that will help them get past people's natural defense mechanisms and reach their community. I think servant evangelism is a Trojan Horse. So is our coffeehouse. So is technology.

We have more and more people coming to NCC who watch our webcast for months before visiting in person. It's a Trojan Horse. People can watch in the comfort of their own home. In their underwear no less. And defense mechanisms are down!

My phone camera doesn't do this justice. Here's the Mohican Castle I stayed at. Sweet digs. Love the heated tiles in the bathroom. Pretty sure we'll have those in heaven!

I live in an urban jungle. Pretty wild waking up in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely quiet. Beautiful trees, sunrise, and rolling hills.

Can I share some reflections as we end The Elephant in the Church series?

What a series! Really stressful from a preaching standpoint. Tough topics. Sensitive topics. But I think it was really healthy for our congregation. And it was good for me. Let me try to explain how.

One of the challenges pastors face is preaching to please people. You obviously want to bless, inspire, challenge and impact the people you're speaking to. But their opinion of your message isn't the true litmus test. The true test is this: what did God think of it? And that is really tough to discern. So, by default, we usually judge our messages by the positive or negative feedback we get. Right? Just keeping it real.

I think The Elephant in the Church series has been healthy for me. Not sure how to say this. And I hope it comes across the right way. But I'm caring less and less about people's opinions of my sermons. I knew going into this series that somebody would be offended with every sermon. I just try to be an equal-opportunity offender. Here's what I'm praying: Lord, help me love people more and more and care about their opinions of me less and less. I don't want to pastor defensively. I genuinely want more of a prophetic edge. I need to hear those Spirit whispers and then shout them from the rooftops.

I've learned that one of the tricks of ministry is keeping a soft heart and developing a tough skin. You'd like to think that everybody will agree with everything you say in every message. Not gonna happen! Especially as the church gets larger.

Years ago I memorized something Abe Lincoln said. It's my fall-back position when I experience criticism. Every leader ought to put this to memory. He said, "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." So true!

Here are seven thoughts on criticism:

1) If someone disagrees with something I say, I'd much rather have them verbalize than internalize those things! So I welcome emails when people have issues. If they email every week, that's a different issue!

2) As a pastor, you have to preach what God put in your heart and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the day, the only true validation is whether or not we said what God wanted us to say. The sermon your congregation liked the least may be the one God liked the most. Or vice versa.

3) Don't get defensive when you are criticized. Read those emails thoughtfully and prayerfully. If you do, it'll make you a better person and a better communicator!

4) Discern the spirit of the criticism. I've gotten a few emails during this series from people who have disagreed with the angle I took on some of the issues. And that's ok. I'm not omniscient. And you can only cover so many issues and angles in thirty minutes. But here is the real test. Can we agree to disagree? If we can, then the level of respect actually goes up despite our differences. But whether the criticism comes off as prideful or humble, your response better be in the spirit of humility.

5) As a leader, you're never beyond exhortation, correction, or reproof. If you think you're above it or beyond it you're headed for trouble!

6) Make sure the criticism passes the filter test. I heard Erwin McManus say something years ago that I've never forgotten. "Don't let an arrow of criticism pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture." If it passes through the filter, then deal with it. If it doesn't, then the criticism you received is probably a reflection of some of the issues and insecurities the criticizer has.

7) Keep a soft heart. The way you do that is by staying in the Word and staying humble. And if you have a bad attitude toward someone, pray for them.

Boom. Done.

I know I'm putting lots of things on the radar. But this is going to be a great event. Jamie Tworkowski, found of TWLOHA is going to be at Ebenezers Coffeehouse, along with musical guest Josh Moore, on Friday, November 14 @ 7:30 PM.

Wanted to put a conference on the radar. The Exponential Conference is a must-attend conference for church planters. It's in Orlando, April 20-23. The last couple years I've done a pre-conference seminar and I'm going to do it again. What I love about it is this: it's a two-day intensive. Feel like I'm able to drill down and really share best ideas and best practices.

Sign-up here. The super early bird rate ends on December 1.

Our discipleship department, led by Heather Zempel, is hosting a gathering for small group pastors and point leaders. Not a seminar. Just a conversation. What is working? What isn't working? What challenges are you facing? What successes are you celebrating?

Here are the details:

CONNECT
Thursday, November 13
2-4pm
Performance space of Ebenezers Coffeehouse
201 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

It's completely free, but we do need to know who is coming. To register, email Will Johnston.

Really excited about this weekend. We're wrapping up The Elephant in the Church with the historical elephant. Most Christians have no idea where we come from or how we got here. There is very little knowledge of or appreciation for Christian history. And that is dangerous. In the words of George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Excited about showing the video we shot at the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

PS. Love to see hundreds of churches do The Elephant in the Church series. All of our graphics, trailers, are transcripts are free. Take them. Use them. Do it better than we did it. And then share it with others!

How do you measure success in ministry?

That question has been echoing in my mind since a panel discussion at The Nova Experience a few weeks ago. One of my fellow panelists quoted Dallas Willard. "What if we stopped counting the number of people who attend and weighed them instead?" If only there was a discipleship scale!

Please don't get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with counting. Every number represents an eternal soul of inestimable value. And faithfulness and fruitfulness are directly proportional. But I'm concerned that all too often we reduce success in ministry to attendance numbers and budget numbers. I'm not sure those are the only measures or best measures.

For the record, the only number goal we've ever set is missions giving.

Too often we fall into the comparison trap in ministry. And that only leads down one of two paths: pride or jealousy. And both of those paths will destroy you!

One of my fall-back verses has always been I Corinthians 3:6. Paul was dealing with some comparisons that were being made. And he came to this conclusion: "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God gave the increase."

Just thinking out loud.

Two years ago I did a reverse birthday gift. Gave away several hundred copies of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy to church planters.Thought I'd do another reverse gift to celebrate my birthday this year. If you order a case (24 books) of Wild Goose Chase or In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, we'll throw in a free audio book. Plus you'll get a 50% discount by the case.

Email resources@theaterchurch.com for more info.

Just created a Germany Album on facebook.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church. That act of conviction and courage sparked the Protestant Reformation.

Here are a few shots of the door.

All of us have idiosyncrasies right? One of mine is that I love taking pictures at ground level. Not sure why. It started at the Grand Canyon. I just like the foot perspective. The cobblestone streets in Wittenberg were a killer to walk on, but very cool.

I fell in love with the German language last week. Or maybe I should say I fell in laugh with the German language. Love all the syllables. Life is so much more joyful when you add lauffencofferdauffensnauffer to every word.

A few of my favorite words were ausfarht, brauhaus, Schmuck & Uhren, and pfaffengasse. But don't ask me what any of the words mean! No idea!

We decided to post our webcast a little early this week. We tried to tackle the political elephant this weekend. I think this might be a good watch before the election on Tuesday.

For those outside the beltway, sure would appreciate your prayers for those of us inside the beltway. We've got a lot of people at NCC with their jobs on the line on November 4.

Today I challenged Parker to a 100 yard dash. The entire family placed their bets on dad. And I was pretty confident. When I was in the seventh grade I was part of a record-setting 4 X 100 meter relay team at Madison Junior High. I know you're laughing at me right now. A Junior High record? Well, we held that record for at least 15 years. Might still hold the record. I'm not sure. Now who's laughing! Back to my story. So I challenged Parker. And I'm still in shock. I gave the race every ounce of energy I had and my son beat me for the first time. Can't believe it. Either he's getting fast or I'm getting slow. Or maybe both? I'll keep you updated on the rematch challenge that has already been issued.

My camera died in Wittenberg so I had to borrow a camera. Won't have those pictures for about a week. I'll post them to facebook when I get them.

Here's the table where Martin Luther had his infamous table talks. I got in trouble for taking a flash photograph. Oops! Pretty amazing to think that much of our theological thinking today can be traced back to some of the theological conversations around this table. Luther's five solas and 95 Theses and Augsburg Confession reshaped 16th century theology. But his table talks were the bread and butter of a simple parish priest that was trying to be true to Scripture and true to God.

What a whirlwind trip to Germany! Thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with friends and talking about reformation. Pretty profound experience visiting the Castle Church on Reformation Day. There was a very cool reformation festival going on so it felt like walking into the middle ages.

We shot some video in front of the church doors where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses. Our high-definition camera actually got lost on the way to Berlin. Took two days to get to us! The cool thing is that a German film crew was videotaping and we were able to use their lights. They actually thought we were "American media" so they bent over backwards to help us out. The video will be part of my message next weekend.

Well, that's a wrap for now. I'll post more pictures and reflections in the coming days. Gotta get a few hours of sleep and then head to the airport. Can't wait to kiss American soil.

I'm been marveling at European design and engineering since we flew threw thru Zurich this week. Man, love so many design features. You can flush the toilet with your foot. Pretty cool. And they have these energy-conserving motion detectors that control the lights in bathrooms. But here's the deal. If someone is in the stall for any length of time and no one else comes into the bathroom, the lights go out. I know this because I was in the stall doing a little light reading when the lights went out. Pitch black. I was waving my arms like a maniac to trigger the motion detectors, but I was in the enclosed stall so no luck. Fortunately, someone walked into the bathroom a few minutes later and triggered the lights. But then I was little too self-conscious to come out because it seemed sort of weird.

One of many memorable Wittenberg moments.

Hope that isn't too much information. Just keeping it real.

I'm no historian, but I do know this: it's small acts of courage that change the course of history. One of those acts of courage happened on October 31, 1517 in the small town of Wittenberg, Germany. A little-known Monk named Martin Luther took a stand against the practice of indulgences. The church was selling indulgences as a pardon from purgatory. Luther posted 95 Theses on the doors of the Castle Church.

Pretty cool to be at this place on this day. After our sessions we're going to join the annual reformation celebration.

Arrived in Wittenberg. Here are a few shots. Love streetscapes. Saw an actual "indulgence box" that was used to collect indulgences to help pay for St. Peter's in Rome in the 16th century. And the highlight has been the connections. I've really have enjoyed hanging out with Ron Martoia and Chris Seay along with others.

Here are some reformation thoughts. Tried to capture a meta-thought from each session. Not sure this does it justice. My synapses were firing fast and furious.

Alan Hirsch said, "We've got to get to the place where we believe Jesus is absolutely right about absolutely everything." So true. All reformation is Christocentric. Oh yeah, Alan also said, "If you're not ticking off religious people you're not following Christ." Can't have a reformation without offending a few Pharisees along the way!

Chris Seay said that 50% of our church budgets ought to go to "the least of these." That challenged me. We need to put our money where our mouth is. Love the way Chris attacks consumerism and preaches compassion.

Christian Schwartz said objective reality needs to become subjective reality. Truth that only makes it into our head is informational. But truth that penetrates the heart is transformational. Reformation isn't the byproduct of good ideas. It's the byproduct of deeply held convictions.

Ron Martoia said, "Our spiritual formation efforts have focused on information acquisition." So true. And the problem with that is this: we are educated way beyond the level of obedience.

George Barna said, "Christianity has become a way of thought instead of a way of life." Ding. Ding. Ding. I think we've created a culture where we know more and do less all the while thinking we're growing spiritually. Also love the way he said: "If you don't change you become part of the problem."

Altogether, there are a dozen presenters from a variety of countries. Here is a link to the Reformation Blog.

I hate the word "laity." Always have. I think there is a false dichotomy between "clergy" and "laity." Our language has created a mindset.

Chris Seay spoke on the topic in his session. He quoted Howard E. Butt: "The greatest schism within the church is not between races, classes, or even denominations, it is between the clergy and the laity."

Should we ban the word laity?

What happened to the priesthood of believers? I sure hope I'm not part of the problem as a "pastor." I think God does call people to vocational ministry. And I count it a privilege to get paid to do what I do. But how do we get rid of that schism? How do we end the spiritual co-dependency that is so prevalent in so many churches? How do we decentralize church? How do we overcome the consumer mentality?

I think we're doing some things that facilitate that at NCC. Going on ten missions trips this year is a start at getting people living on mission all the time. I think our free market system of small groups is decentralizing NCC. We want all of our people to get a vision from God and go for it. But like every church I know, we are far from 100% functionality as a church body. I think it starts with a paradigm shift. Each of us has to own the mission.

We continue day two in our reformation conversation. I'll try to share thoughts and notes when I get a chance to decompress.

Here's a thought from The Anointing by R.T. Kendall that has always challenged me: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

I'm hanging out with two of our staff members, Dave Clark and John Hasler, on this Germany trip. Dave is going to help us shoot some video when we get to Wittenberg. And John actually lived in Germany so he's our German guru. And for the purposes of this trip, he is John Haslerhoffencoffensnauffenlaufer. Can't believe how many syllables there are in some of the names here!

Took a two-hour tour of Berlin before beginning our reformation sessions. Really profound to see where the wall used to divide East and West. There are markers throughout the city showing where the wall once stood. Straddling where the wall once stood sort of felt like straddling the equator in Ecuador a few years ago.

Also saw some significant sights like the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie.