We have a new meeting each week and it has become my favorite meeting.

Meetings are valuable for teams.  It is certainly possible to have too many meetings, too long of meetings, and probably the most common error is to have a lack of meetings.

Realizing our growing team needed additional “glue”, in January I initiated an all-team meeting called Momentum.  It’s a Monday morning meeting to start the big MO.  This meeting is for 3 things:  Inspiration, Celebration, and Communication.  It’s very positive and we avoid doing “heavy lifting”.  It may be my favorite meeting because it’s also our shortest meeting.  Great meetings don’t need to be long.  They need to be well planned and effective.

It’s great to start our week with Momentum.

What is your favorite meeting?  What do you think are components of an effective meeting?

Public ministry requires an audience.  What we do in public ministry is for the benefit of others.

First, your audience may be only one.  In fact, that is enough.  God has called us to look for “the one” and share His love and life with them.  Look for an audience today and begin to do ministry.

Secondly, your audience may be a small group or a large group of hundreds or even thousands.  But whether it is one or 10,000, ministry is not ministry if you are just doing something – preaching a message, leading a bible discussion, singing a song, or just talking to the crowd.  Ministry is only ministry when you connect with someone.

I saw someone recently “leading worship”.  Their intentions were right, and I’m sure their motives were pure, but they weren’t effectively doing ministry.  They were playing an instrument and singing a song, but there was no connection with their audience.  Even though worship ministry must be focused on the ONE we worship, if you are leading others to Him, you must first connect with your audience and take them there.  You can’t lead someone anywhere if they are not WITH you.

Think about this: Simply doing something in front an audience is not ministry.  Whether it is many or a few, make a prayerful and intentional effort to connect with them through prayer, verbal communication, eye contact, body language, emotions, and facial expression.  Help them to know and feel you’re in this together.  Ministry is not ministry if you’re just doing something.  Make sure you are connecting with your audience.

How do you get inspired and get really creative? The best way for me to create is to get around other people. I think that everyone has wonderful creative ability and I have a gift to help others tap into that ability. When I am by myself, my ideas tend to dry up, but when I get around other people, a spark happens and I begin to light up with ideas. This is called creative synergy. The first time that I was exposed to this term was through our worship team leader, Brandon Divine. He taught our team that God can work creatively in exponential ways when two or more people are gathered together creating. (Hmmm… makes me think that Jesus was onto something when He was talking about the power of people coming together in Matthew 18:20.) My advice: when you need that BIG IDEA for your next project, try getting some other people in the room and let the ideas fly!

Leave a comment: How do you get inspired and get really creative?

Often people like to disguise gossip as a concern.  Let’s expose this idea because God sees gossip as a very serious offense.  Look at Romans 1:29-30.

²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.

God places gossip right there with envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and God-haters.

Yet gossip has many participants.  Why?  Because gossip is simply “casual or unrestrained conversation or reports about other people, typically containing reports that are not confirmed as true.”   Yet even truth (concerns) being reported by the wrong people to the wrong people becomes gossip.

Sharing concerns with people who cannot “fix the problem” becomes an act of gossip.   When you have a concern, find the person who can help you, and can solve the problem.  Don’t let your concerns become gossip.

As a servant leader, remember that problems (concerns) go up, and praise goes down.  Bring your concerns to the person above you.  Take your praise to the people under you.

Be careful!  Sharing your concern to the wrong people may be … gossip in disguise.

Revelation 21:23 (NIV) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Light is so powerful.  The sun generates light and warmth to our entire planet and because of that it brings great benefit too mankind.  Although the sun brings countless blessing to creation, it is important that we never forget the powerful capability of the sun.  The sun’s light can cause blindness if stared at too long.  Man can only endure the sun for so long before he receives the repercussions of over exposure.  Light from a strong source is a powerful thing.

Some people fear darkness and its capability, but darkness has nothing on light.  Darkness can never drown out light, but light can diminish darkness.  As a child of God, there is no reason to fear darkness.

One day when the New Heavens and the New Earth is restored, God will be our light.  Since God is the Creator of the sun, it only makes sense that He outshines the sun.  Maybe that is why God said to Moses, “…no one may see me and live.”  (Ex 33:20).

Since our Father is a Father of light, let us live as children of light.  May our lives benefit others and at the same time expose the darkness around us.

I am connected.  Everywhere I go, I can get online, check email, send tweets/texts and make phone calls.  Modern technology has made me über-connected to the world around me.

I am connected.  I find myself surrounded by opportunities to network, make friends and fill my time with relational opportunities.  It seems like I get a dozen new friend requests on Facebook every week.  This number grows exponentially month to month.  The more connected I get, the more opportunities to connect to more people.  This is a salesperson’s dream.

But am I connected?  Both of these previously mentioned things can be very helpful, but also very distracting as I try to quiet myself and get alone with God.  I find the words of Jesus in John 15 echoing in my overly-connected consciousness:

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:4-5 NIV)

Even though we live in a connected society, let’s be careful today that we don’t lose the most important connection in this life.

Leave your response: What is the biggest distraction from your ability to stay connected to Jesus?

Anyone who steps behind the scenes of church ministry quickly realizes that it takes the time, talent, and resources of many dedicated people to serve a community. At The Church at Chapel Hill we are blessed to have some of the greatest Servant Leaders in the world! Tonight, January 29th, we will honor those who have committed with us to do whatever it takes to see the spiritual transformation of West Atlanta. We’re hosting the 2010 Servant Leader of the Year (S.L.Y.) Awards. It will be a black tie, Grammy’s style event, red carpet and all. This special evening will be our way of saying “Thank you!” to a high class of quality volunteers.

All Servant Leaders of The Church at Chapel Hill are invited to attend. Dress in your best (whatever that may be) and we’ll see you there!

Not able to attend in person? The event will be streamed live on our Internet Campus.

It all starts at 7:30PM EST.

Friday night, The Church at Chapel Hill will be presenting the 2010 Servant Leader of the Year Awards (The S.L.Y. Awards).  We have literally hundreds of people serving Christ at Chapel Hill and we’re going to celebrate these faithful leaders.

In reality, every Christ follower can be serving in the local church.  There’s so much to do.  Some people might say, “I’m not qualified.” Or, “I can’t speak well.” Or, “I don’t have anything to give.”

Moses gave God those same excuses, and in Exodus 4:2 God simply replied, “What is that in your hand?”  And, Moses said, “A staff.”  The Lord replied, “Throw it on the ground.”

All over Chapel Hill, people have looked in their hand and found time, abilities, energy, and maybe just a willingness to serve…and God is using them.   God can take a simple staff in your hand to deliver people from bondage.  He did it once, and He can do it again!  What’s in YOUR hand?

If you are unable to attend The S.L.Y. Awards on Friday, January 29, tune in LIVE on-line at 7:30PM EDT at churchatchapelhill.com.

From time to time I will review a book that I have recently read and share it with you.  The following is my official review of Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.

I love the books that Mark Batterson writes.  He is a brilliant author that will captivate your attention and imagination.  Primal is no different; it is a great book.

The book is very simply laid out with an introduction and four main divisions that correlate directly with the “greatest commandment” found in Mark 12:30.  He challenges us to love God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Could there every be a more rewarding way to spend our lives?

Here are some of the highlights of the book for me:

pg. 17 – “When you give your heart to Christ, Christ gives His heart to you.”

pg. 35 – Concerning personal finances: “Establish an income ceiling.  Enough will never be enough unless you determine how much is enough.”

pg. 80 – “Obedience will open the eyes of your understanding far more than any commentary or concordance could.”

pg. 83 – “The goal of knowing the Bible is knowing God.  Anything less is bibliolatry.”

pg. 113 – “Creativity breeds change.  And change threatens the status quo.  It’s far easier to find something wrong with something new than to admit something is wrong with the old way of doing things.”

In closing, you will enjoy reading Primal.  Batterson has a way of taking you to another place and time with his writing.  He will transport you from your ordinary life and lift you up to the stars with inspiration, then leave you will the ability to make your ordinary life, extraordinary.

Today, January 22nd, marks the 37th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case Roe v. Wade. This federal case overturned all existing state laws and legalized abortion at a national level. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy.

While the law has been in place for some time, our nation is divided on this moral issue. Most fall into one of two camps, Pro-Choice or Pro-life. Even our most recent Presidents disagree.

Here’s a heartbreaking statistic for you: In just 37 years, nearly 52 million unborn children have been aborted. A law protecting the “privacy” of women has legalized the killing of our nation’s future. Imagine, we may have put to death great poets, pastors, scientists, or even one of our next Presidents.

Today, 200,000+ Pro-Lifers have traveled to Washington, DC. and will March for Life along Constitution Avenue, up Capitol Hill to the Supreme Court, and to the Congress. They’ve come together to collectively make their voice heard, “Overturn Roe v. Wade!”

My prayer: “God, forgive us for what we’ve done. Give us the courage to stand up for what is right. Remove the blinders from our nation’s leaders. And bring healing to the women who have made this mistake.”

Feel free to add your thoughts below.