ARC (Association of Related Churches) will be doing a one day Leadership Forum for all pastors and church leaders at LifeChurch.tv. Pastor Chris Hodges, Rick Bezet, Joe Champion, and I will be contributing.

This round table is for those who are interested in church planting and for pastors interested in developing their leadership skills. The forums will be a great time of learning, sharing ideas and growing relationships in a dynamic setting. There will also be an opportunity for you to learn about the vision and mission of ARC and how you can join the team!

When: Monday, February 27, 10am to 2:30pm

Where: LifeChurch.tv/Edmond

Cost: The event is free.

Contact: Marc@weplantlife.com

Multi-Site Round Table

I will be hosting a small round table for senior pastors of churches with 2500 or more in attendance that are going multi-site or are already doing multi-site ministry.

When: Thursday, March 1, 2012, 8:30am to 4pm

Where: LifeChurch.tv /Edmond

Cost: The event is free. I’m asking that all churches make a generous donation towards church planting.  Every dollar given will be used to help start new churches. This event is limited to 22 pastors. Email lori.tapp@lifechurch.tv for more information or to reserve a spot.

We know God opposes the proud. But some forms of social media seem to have redefined what pride is and what it’s not.

For example: Imagine if I stood before our church and told everyone, “Joe Smith said, ‘Craig you are the best preacher ever! Your sermons changed my life.’ And Jill Denny said, ‘I loved your book. Everyone should read it. You are the best author I’ve ever read!’ Not only that, but Mike Mitchell said, ‘Craig, Life Church is the best church in the world! No church is as good as Life Church.’”

Chances are good most people would look at me funny and think I’m a little full of myself for saying such things.

But if I simply retweeted those exact same statements, my retweets would seem totally acceptable to most. Honestly, I’m wondering if that is acceptable to God, or if it’s just pride in disguise.

I believe we need to walk a very careful line in ministry (I am certain I have crossed this line at times). Sure we want to celebrate what God is doing in our churches. Of course we want to get the word out about a new series or a book we’ve written. Unquestionably we want to share more reasons to give praise to our God.

But at the same time, we need to be careful that we’re not drawing attention to ourselves.

Your thoughts?

Church Online Platform has officially launched!

This is the same technology that makes Church Online happen at LifeChurch.tv. What we’re making available to other churches for free is identical to what we’re using internally.

We’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time. Ever since the early days of Church Online (or the Internet Campus as we called it back then), one of the most frequent questions we received was, “How can we develop something similar?”

Through the partnership of a handful of like-minded churches, we were able to start over from square one and develop a solution that churches everywhere could use to launch an online ministry.

I can’t wait to see how different churches use their unique gifts, calling, and personality to reach millions of people around the world with the Gospel.

If you’d like to stay in the loop as we near the launch date of January 9, just enter your email address at ChurchOnline.org. And if you know churches who might be interested, please share this post with them!

For years I struggled with managing my time effectively. One tool I learned that dramatically increased my effectiveness is the “imaginary deadline.”

If I’ve got a project without a deadline, it’s easy to procrastinate or work halfheartedly. When an assignment has a hard deadline, I start faster, work smarter and focus better.

• Instead of thinking, I need to have my sermon finished before I preach this weekend, I have a Wednesday-at-noon deadline. It’s not anyone else’s deadline. It’s mine.
• Rather than saying this video needs to be finished by next week, I complete all videos by Wednesday at 2 pm. Again, this is my deadline.
• Instead of deciding to read my Bible plan some time during the day, I have mine read before I leave my house.

These are all imaginary deadlines. But when I treat them as real, my productivity and efficiency increase.

I’d love to hear from you if you do something similar.

If you register by June 17, you’ll receive a special discounted price of $79. Just enter the Rate Code, SWERVE, when you check out. It will be a great day of leadership learning. Hope to see you there!

Now, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve just launched a brand-new version of OPEN.LifeChurch.tv!

Craig shares a few more thoughts about the site in this video.

We’d love for you to visit the site, take advantage of any resources that are helpful, and share it with your friends in ministry. We also have a pretty active community for OPEN on Facebook, so stop by, Like the page, and get ideas from other churches using these resources.

I’m very excited about what’s happening with our OPEN community—lots of great momentum with a new site, resources being translated into multiple languages, and churches around the globe working together to share the Gospel. We are so humbled to be a part of what God is doing!

Last weekend LifeChurch.tv gave 39 different staff members the opportunity to preach. We called it our first “Developmental Weekend.”

In case this idea might be helpful to other churches, I’ll share what we did.

· I prepared an outline for everyone to use. The outline gave the staff members a consistent message but plenty of room to personalize the texts and application.

· I prerecorded an explanation to get our church behind the concept and motivate them to support our rookies.

· I also prerecorded a 7-minute introduction to the message and a 7-minute ending plus ministry and prayer time.

· Our Pastors selected people to preach one or more services at our 14 different campuses. We selected Missions Pastors, LifeGroup Pastors, Youth Pastors, Host Team Coordinators and more. Each speaker had about 15 minutes to speak.

Here are several of the noticeable benefits:

· 39 people got to preach.

· The Pastors spent time preparing and developing their team members.

· The church embraced the idea of developing the next generation of leaders.

· These staff members got exposure to large groups of people, increasing their pastoral influence.

· Everyone on our staff understands that your position doesn’t determine your influence. You could be called on to do more at any time.

I’m very proud of our team!

The truth about being a nobody.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to speak at a fun LifeChurch.tv event. While introducing me to the audience, Craig dropped one of those grenade sentences he’s so great at. Here is what he said:

“Three years ago, Jon was a nobody with a passion.”

I love that sentence because it’s the opposite of what so many of us think.

When it comes to chasing our dreams, to stepping out into big adventures with God, we often think we need to “be somebody.” When God puts a desire in our hearts or awakens us to a cause he wants us to run toward, we often think, “Who am I to do that?” We imagine that before God can really use us, we need to become somebody. We look at our lives and our gifts and discount them in comparison to the people around us.

“I like to write, but I’m no Donald Miller.”

“I like to serve, but it’s not like I could do what Charity Water does.”

“I like to sing, but it’s not like I’m Chris Tomlin.”

“I like to __________, but I could never _________.”

So we don’t get started. We think that being a nobody with a passion is no place to start a new mission. If we had more money, more time, more anything, then we’d begin. If we were somebody, then we could do big kingdom work. But I think the reality is that nobodies are God’s favorite people to use.

Look at Gideon, a nobody from a nobody family who was hiding when God called him.

Look at David, considered such a nobody by his own father he wasn’t even initially called in from the field when Samuel asked to meet Jesse’s sons.

Look at the disciples, a nobody crew of fisherman until they bumped into Jesus.

The Bible is littered with examples of people who were nobodies with a passion. People who God transformed. People who God called to big missions. People who God used to change the world.

I don’t know what God has in store for you. I don’t know if he’s calling you to start a non-profit or a conversation with a neighbor at your mailbox. But along the way if you ever feel like a nobody, don’t worry.

It’s OK to be a nobody, those are God’s favorite people to use.

Yesterday I asked my Twitter friends to recommend leadership and spiritual books. Thank you for your awesome suggestions. If you’d like to add your favorites, please comment!

Click here for recommendations from my Facebook friends.

Sun Stand Still by @stevenfurtick (Love this one)

When Helping Hurts by Corbett

Lone Survivor by Luttrell - leadership

When Life Isn’t Working by Merritt - spiritual growth

The Good & Beautiful God

Tribal Leadership

The Radical Disciple

Weird by Craig Groeschel (Already read that one!)

Radical Together by David Platt

A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer

Sabbath by Dan Allender

Prayer Saturated Kids by Cheryl Sacks and Arlyn Lawrence

Think Orange by Reggie Joiner

Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps

Failure of Nerve by Friedman

Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders

Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome by Kent & Barbara Hughes

Leading Change by Kotter

Winning by Welch

Missional Renaissance by McNeal

The Power of Team Leadership by Barna

How the Mighty Fall by Collins

The Spiritual Leader by Chambers

Lead Vertically by Craig Johnson

Jesus’ Plan for a New World by Richard Rohr

More Than Conquerors by Simon Guillebald

VENEER by Timothy D. Willard and R. Jason Locy

Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders

The Man God Uses by Henry Blakeby

On Being a Servant of God by Wiersbe

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos

Leadership Gold by John C Maxwell

Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel

The Called to Lead by John MacArthur

26 Leadership Lessons from the Life of the Apostle Paul by John MacArthur

Men’s Health-The Basics by @DruglessDoctor

Renovation Of the Heart & The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

Humilitas by @johnpauldickson

Happy reading!

Most church leaders believe that if they had more staff members, they could get more done. While that’s occasionally true, it’s often not.

I’ve found that a smaller staff is often better than a larger one.

Based on my experience, when LifeChurch (or a specific campus or team) is slightly overstaffed, forward progress generally slows. When we are slightly understaffed, we usually take more ground.

Here are my theories on why smaller is often better when it comes to staff:

• When you have more staff members, the roles are often clearly defined and can lead to “That’s-not-my-job” mindsets. Smaller staff teams are forced to work together and innovate creating unity and a spirit of collaboration.
• Bigger staffs take more time and energy to manage. Smaller staffs move quickly.
• When more money goes to pay staff, less money goes to expand the ministry.
• When more people are paid, it’s easier to stop building volunteer leaders, which eventually weakens the foundation of the church.
• A larger team might unconsciously not work as hard as they would otherwise.

Obviously there are exceptions and being grossly understaffed for a long period of time is not healthy.

Still, given the choice between slightly more than we need and slightly less than we (think) we need, I’m choosing the leaner staff every time.

If you listen, God will show you something that makes your heart ache on behalf of his. He will bless you with a burden.

He puts us here to be his hands and feet, his body and his heart.

Pursuing the Weird life God is calling us to is anything but normal. And completely worth it.

If you want to delve deeper into the Weird life, you can pick up a copy of the book or download it from:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

The best thing you can do for your kids is to show them God working in you on a daily basis. I love the practical teaching of Deuteronomy 6:6 – 9: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

Talk about God with your kids in the morning on the way to school, let them know when you pray for them during their day, and share a meaningful truth from Scripture on the way home from dance. Put a favorite Bible verse on the wall alongside Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Let them know the hardest part of your day, as appropriate for their age, and how you connect it back to your trust in God. Make spiritual conversations a part of how you do life.

Transparency is something I strive for, so I like the idea of leveraging that in parenting our kids.

Weird has lots of practical ideas like the above. You can get it in print or download it from:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

We’re always rushed, always on the move, never having enough time. Almost everyone I know has little room for error in their schedule. Tragically, most people have little time for the things in life that they would say are the most important to them. When we overschedule ourselves in the belief that we can do everything, we stop being human and try to become godlike — not only impossible but also incredibly arrogant. Most of us are living at a pace that is not only unsustainable; it’s also unbiblical.

God has given you everything you need to accomplish all that he wants you to do, including enough time (see 2 Peter 1:3). We don’t need more time. We need to use the time we already have differently. You have time for what you choose to invest your time in. Every day most of us say, “I just don’t have time to work out . . . to read the Bible . . . to go to church this week . . . to meet for lunch . . . to add one more thing.” But the truth is, we find time for what’s important to us. If golf is really a priority to us, we find time to play golf. If going to dinner with our friends matters, we make it happen. If tanning, working out, or getting our hair cut is a priority, we seem to find time. Catch yourself the next time you’re about to say, “I don’t have time” for something. Tell yourself the truth: either it’s not a priority and you’re guarding your time for good reason, or you simply aren’t willing to choose to spend your time on it.

Great challenge for me. How about you?

If you are tired of being normal…you should get weird! You can get it in print or download it from:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

Twitter:

@desmaw
@drbexl
@the90nine
@brettbrandewie
@timscholz
@samuelhaden
@jeffjansen64
@jabern82
@schastainrbc
@jmgreenhill

Swerve Comments:

Brittany Jones
Steven Blumer
Kristen Teaff
Andrew Novell
Billy Creech
Mark Combs
Jessica Chyzy
Adam Keeton
Ryan Rotman
Nathan Martin
Michael Cooper
Adam Buzard
William Jacques
TC Robinson
Salomon Duran
Nathan Worsowicz
Robb Haney
DJ Rose
Lyle Thompson
Brian Tooley
Todd Kemp
Kuma Turner
Lee Snyder
Douglas Baker
Blake Sawyer
Kevin Bosman
Mark Yoon Lee
Scott Thomson
Michael Goldsmith
Chad Wilkerson

Bloggers:

Kyle Dowden
Paul Stohler
Mark McIntyre
Herb Willis
Pam Matthews
Stevan Sheets
Joe Rollins
Roman Randall
Steven Doss
Austin May

Facebook winners will be announced on Craig’s Facebook page.

Congratulations to all of you! We’ll be in touch to get the book sent out to you.

We hope the rest of you still have an opportunity to read Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working! You can order now at any one of these booksellers, and if you’re in the Edmond, Oklahoma area tonight stop by Mardel to pick up a copy and have it signed by Craig:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

****Update: we’re having so much fun with this that we’re giving away an additional 10 copies! See below…

Here are the ways you can enter to win by 2:00 CDT today—that’s April 5 (only one is required to enter, but you’re welcome to do all three four!) :

Swerve (30 copies): Leave a comment below to enter, and email your contact info to Lori.Tapp@LifeChurch.tv.

Twitter (10 copies): Post or retweet the following from your Twitter account:

Weird by @CraigGroeschel is out: http://go2.lc/weird RT by 2pm CT Apr. 5 for a chance to win a copy! http://bit.ly/weirdgive

Facebook (10 copies): Like Craig’s Facebook page (if you haven’t already) and comment on the giveaway post you’ll find there.

Your blog: For the first ten people who commit to posting a review on their blog and linking it to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, we’ll send you a free copy. Just email your blog address to Lori.Tapp@LifeChurch.tv.

Though we hope you win a book, you can also order a copy right now:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

You can get your copy now:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Mardel

Description:

Normal people are stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Many of their relationships are, at best, strained and, in most cases, just surviving. Even though we live in one of the most prosperous places on earth, normal is still living paycheck to paycheck and never getting ahead. In our oversexed world, lust, premarital sex, guilt, and shame are far more common than purity, virginity, and a healthy married sex life. And when it comes to God, the majority believe in him, but the teachings of scripture rarely make it into their everyday lives. Simply put, normal isn’t working. Groeschel’s WEIRD views will help you break free from the norm to lead a radically abnormal (and endlessly more fulfilling) life.

A Sample Chapter

This book shares the way Craig has grown to embrace that label and the difference it can make in all of our lives. And I can attest that I’ve seen him make some pretty weird decisions :) But they’re precisely the ones that have led to opportunities for LifeChurch.tv that we never could have imagined.

Here are a few of the ways you can get Weird with us:

• This weekend we started a series at our church to explore the ways we can go against the grain of our culture to embrace a God kind of Weird. Feel free to stop by Church Online and check it out over the next few weeks.
• Stop by one of Craig’s book signings if you’re in Oklahoma. He’ll be at Mardel in Edmond (33rd & Boulevard) on Tuesday, April 5, at 6:00pm, and at Sam’s Club in Tulsa (71st & Mingo) on Thursday, April 7, from 6:00-8:00pm.
• Order your copy of Weird from Amazon, Mardel, or Barnes & Noble. And if you’d like to order a case of books for your staff or church, Mardel is offering a discounted rate.
• Check back here all week as we’ll be featuring excerpts, news, and some free books for a few lucky Swerve readers!

The Art of Online Ministry offers helpful details like:

• Developing content for online experiences
• Working with volunteers
• Spreading the word about your online ministry
• Equipment and resource recommendations
• And lots more…

I encourage you to check it out!