The Beauty of Teamwork

One project requiring 300 man hours to complete would take one individual nearly 17 days (18 hours/day) to complete. That same project can be completed by one team of 150 people in two hours. That is why I love teams. I'm super-thankful for the Discovery Launch Team and the Discovery Board. You make this journey a joy (and a lot easier).

On the blog, Indexed, you'll find lots of interesting drawings like the one on the right.

Starbucks revisits standards

I'm a Starbucks fan. After reading Joseph Michelli's The Starbucks Experience, I developed a great deal of respect for how the company tries to run its business. Starbucks' commitment to the environment, the coffee workers in the third world, and its corporate standards were inspiring. Today, Starbucks has reinvigorated my passion for them.

After noticing that the average customer was having a less enjoyable experience, Starbucks is taking a radical step. They are closing their stores nationwide for three hours tonight to re-train each of its 135,000 employees. Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schulz explains the rationale in a memo to employees. "We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us."

What a great example for the church! What are we passionate about? How do we insure that the quality of the experience for our customers (the unchurched/dechurched) is equally inspiring? Thanks Starbucks for setting a great example in how to build trust with those who visit.

mydiscoverychurch.com

As soon as we could, we began working on securing website addresses for Discovery. We were quickly able to get: mydiscoverychurch.net & mydiscoverychurch.org. Today, we finally were able to secure mydiscoverychurch.com. In the coming days, we will begin website development. Keep checking back for more updates!

Crazy Experiment

Are you up for a crazy experiment? If so, check this out.

ht: Carlos Whittaker

Launch Team Meeting Coming Up

Love at First Sound

May you have a surprisingly romantic Valentines Day.

Changing How You View Love

Have you ever encountered a Bible verse and just moved through it without really thinking about it because you were so familiar with it. Then all of a sudden something grabs a hold of you and forces you to look at it with new eyes. Today that happened to me.

Matthew 5:43-48 took on a new image for me today. The great communication experts tell us that our brain locks concepts with images. That passage of Scripture has a new image in my brain. It looks like this now:

Not what you were expecting probably. But definitely life changing. May God cause you to love others in a completely scandalous way. May love be the natural overflow of your life. May those you encounter be changed by the gracious way in which you embrace them in love.

Want to know more about the art, check it out here.

Mandles

For those ladies looking for a last minute Valentines gift...

HT: ITA

The Purpose of a Launch Team (Part Two)

So I'm not as quick on the posts lately, but round two as promised...

2. It's Your Church Plant....GIVE.

The initial start-up of a new church plant can be expensive to say the least. No one person (besides Warren Buffett, Bill Gates or Mitt Romney) could afford to sustain the effort on their own. However as a launch team working together to make a difference in a community, we can. The needs are great, but as we work together we can see the dream become a reality.

If you are not currently giving to a church, consider making regular contributions to Discovery. Just drop a check in an envelope and mail it to: Discovery Church, PO Box 6018, Evansville, IN 47719-0018.

White Board Sessions

If I could pick one conference to attend in the coming year, it would be The White Board Sessions. Top ten reasons to attend:

1) A conference in the nation's capital (or right around it). Think of the great site-seeing opportunities (and the beautiful cherry blossoms).

2) The line-up. Any one of these individuals would be worth the price of admission, but together...wow!

3) It's only one day. No need to block out a week (unless you want to make it a vacation).

4) The topics. Each leader gets 30 minutes to lay it out for you on a topic that they are passionate about.

5) It's cheap. Register through the end of this month for only $99.

6) It has a blog. How cool is that?

7) They give away free stuff. I'm all about free stuff...especially when it includes Starbucks coffee.

8) Everyone (from everywhere) will be there. Twenty-four states and DC (Washington, not to be confused with Discovery Church) are represented. Give in to peer pressure on this one.

9) Wireless internet. So you could listen and blog at the same time.

10) Casual attire. No need to dress to impress.

Check it out. Register if you can. Don't miss out (unless you are going on an already scheduled vacation to beautiful South Carolina with your family and friends).

Great Video

Everyone needs a good laugh. Here's a link to a laugh for today. Hope you enjoy.

ht: Vince Antonucci

The Purpose of a Launch Team

Over the next few days, I will be sharing the purpose of launch team members. As Discovery Church begins, these individuals will be playing a crucial part in shaping and creating the environment that allows the unchurched/dechurched to feel welcome and invited.

1. It is your church plant...invite others.
Launch team members must know that they are planting a church. It is not Trey's church plant, but rather it is yours. You have the ability/responsibility to invite others into the journey. In fact, the expectation is that you will be inviting people to the preview and launch services. Ed Stetzer recently posted a blog about how the unchurched feel about talking with others about spiritual matters. Guess what...they like it! As a launch team member, you become the biggest advocates for Discovery Church in the Evansville community. It's your church plant...invite others to join the adventure.

Being Chosen

I remember high school dances. They frightened me. Especially the winter dance, Santa Switch, because it was there that the girls chose the guys. On other occasions, I could always blame my lack of guts as a reason I did not have a date to the dance. But with Santa Switch, it became an issue of the finer, gentler sex not wanting to ask me. Ouch...I hated not being chosen.

I was afraid that I was setting myself up for another Santa Switch moment. Tim Stevens recently asked for 10 leaders to read his upcoming book, Pop Goes the Church, and to offer him feedback to make it a better book. Tim would send the selected individuals an electronic copy of the book prior to it being sent to the publisher. I quickly responded that I was excited about the opportunity and that I would love to be selected. Tim was overwhelmed and found over 100 people who wanted to read the book. Who would he pick? The waiting had begun...

I was chosen. Tim picked me! I received an e-mail yesterday from Tim's assistant, Theresa, notifying me that I had been selected to read the book. Now I sit in expectant anticipation for the book to arrive in my inbox. I might not have had a date to Santa Switch, but Tim Stevens chose me.

Launch Team Meeting Tonight

The Launch Team for Discovery Church is meeting tonight. I am really excited about the growth that is happening. We have gone from a team of 10 a month ago to nearly 25 now. Wow! God is doing an incredible work and lives are going to change. Check back tomorrow for a recap of the night's events.

Blown Away and Honored

For the past eight years (and two other years before that), I have been involved in coaching debate at Evansville North High School. We have been blessed to have some very talented students come through our program during that time. This past weekend, our students traveled to the Ben Davis meet in Indianapolis. This large tournament kicks off the second (and most competitive) half of the season. At the awards ceremony, I was recognized as the "Indiana High School Forensics Association Coach of Month."

Wow...I was blown away and deeply honored. I recognize that so many men and women give so much of their time to help students learn to think analytically and critically about significant issues. To be recognized by my peers was overwhelming. I can think of several individuals who are more deserving, but the recognition is much appreciated.

Goals for 2008 (part two)

GOAL #3: Make my girls laugh on a daily basis. I love my girls. They are by far the most amazing creations in the world. I find myself standing near their rooms watching them sleeping and completely and totally in awe. What amazing gifts from God. In Psalms 100, it talks of bringing a gift of laughter to God. My hope is to bring such joy to my little girls lives that they will laugh, bringing joy to their daddy and to their Father.

GOAL #4: Read & read some more. I love reading. I have read some really incredible books lately including: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, The Dip, The Starbucks Experience, and am currently reading Built to Last. I am really looking forward to reading some other books, including: Made to Stick, I Became a Christian and all I Got was this Lousy Shirt, and Pop Goes the Church (yet to be announced release date). The point is that readers are learners and learners are readers. I want to learn, to stretch, to grow beyond where I am right now. If you have suggestions, I would love hearing them.

Goals for 2008 (part one)

I'm not big on resolutions. They seem so over-played. No body really sticks to them, and by saying it was "just a resolution" it seems okay to dismiss the fact that you did not reach your objective. I say all that to say that I prefer goals. Definite, achievable goals.

Over the next few days, I want to share some of my goals for '08. I must confess, I'm pretty excited about this year. It will be one of the busiest, most stress-filled years of my life, but I am expecting God to do some pretty amazing stuff in the midst of it. So without further ado...

GOAL #1: Take the time each evening to have a serious conversation with my wife. Relationships are important and need to be cultivated. They do not grow through proximity, but rather through conversation and living life together. Furthermore, my wife's love-language is quality time.

GOAL #2: Read through the Bible. I read alot. I should read the Bible more. This year, I'm reading through the Bible in "The Message" translation. I figure I'll shake things up a bit by not reading a translation I am overly familiar with (particularly in the Old Testament). By the way, if you want to check a cool online resource to help you read through the Bible in a year, check out: youversion.com. It's really neat how they have put it together.

Going Tiger

The early morning news shows and the Internet were ablaze this morning with the news of the escape and attack of a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas evening. The tiger, in a manner yet to be determined, escaped from its habitat and attacked three young men from San Jose. Two of the victims are in stable condition, while the other died at the scene.

The attack reminded me of the Sigfried and Roy incident from not too long ago. Following that unfortunate event, there was great public outrage that the tiger might attack. Chris Rock, the well-known comedian, finally stated the obvious: "That tiger didn't go crazy. It went tiger."

The truth is that tigers, like many other animals, were not designed to be put on display. They were designed as predators in the wild. While we may put them in cute cages, and even occasionally dress them up in cutesy outfits (like at the circus), they still remain wild beasts whose natural instinct is to attack.

All of these thoughts made me wonder about the purpose of man. Surely we were made for more than punching a clock, surfing the web, or daydreaming. We were made for a purpose as well and until we find ourselves living within that purpose, we are going to feel as out-of-place as a tiger with a tutu, standing on its hind legs as kids scream for cotton candy.

In the coming year, may you find your reason for existence. May you encounter the purpose for which you were created. May you experience life at its fullest.

Merry Christmas

Hope you and your loved ones have a great Christmas. May these holidays bring you more in love with your family, friends, and the God who would wrap Himself in skin to know you.

In the Presence of Greatness

I'm finishing my preparation for my part of the Christmas Eve service at Olivet right now. I'm excited about the service tonight because we are combining with two other churches, Westminster (Evansville) and New Hope (Chandler). I'm always excited when the church breaks down artificial walls and begins to demonstrate what heaven will be like, when the Church is united.

In preparation for tonight, I've been thinking about the impact of the truly great have on what they do. For example, James Naismith created basketball in 1891. For nearly a century the game was played with some truly excellent players in that period. However, when Michael Jordan began playing for the Chicago Bulls, he showed us what the game could truly be like. He changed how the game is played forever.

Others that I can think of with a similar impact include: Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, William Shakespeare, and Chick-Fil-A. What about you? Who do you think has completely reshaped how something is done?