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I recently (along with 13,000 others!) attended the Catalyst Conference and was struck with the thread that connected seemingly all the speakers about commitment.  Commitment to our role, to our family, to our Savior.  It started me thinking, when did I ‘commit’ to doing this? When did I commit to the role I find myself in right now in ministry?  When did I commit to the role I find myself in as husband?  When did I commit myself fully to Jesus Christ?

I know and remember well the day I knew I was going to move to Denver to help plant a church

I know and remember well my wedding day

I know and remember well the day I realized that without Christ, I was lost

But I think I (and we) move on a little to fast from those moments and move on with life.  I think I (and we) assume too much as we leave the days of vows and promises behind and forget just what commitment really is.  Dictionary.com defines ‘commitment’ as

“The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons”

When I think of being bound to anything a certain weightiness and gravity comes to mind.  A burden, a yolk, whatever you want to call it.  And to be honest, there are a lot of times I find myself seeking to rid myself of that burden, to get rid of that weight.  What I’ve learned recently is that, it is at those times more than any other that I need to take time to sit, reflect, and recommit myself, wholly and fully, to what’s in front of me and what God has for me.

So, are you committed? Right now, look at yourself, at your station in life, at the roles you’re playing, at the faith you have placed in something, are you committed?  Are you all in?  Or has it been a while since you’ve sat back and realized just what commitment is and what in involves – because in our commitment (heart, mind, strength, and soul) is the key to living the most full, most fruitful life we ever could…

I’ve had the awesome opportunity recently to dialogue with some of the best dreamers/leaders/trailblazers in online community as it regards the Church.  We’ve talked about the progression and utilization of tools, the connection and growth of people trying to find their way back to God, and TONS of time talking about how to measure success (P.S. THANKS to Anthony Coppedge for some incredible words on encouragement/exhortation a few days ago)

In all of this, the big thing that’s been nagging at me every step of the way is the link between the power of online tools and the unity of the Church.

Follow me here…

If all the online tools we have enable people to try new things faster, free(er), and more unflinchingly than ever…

And the church is beginning to meet these people right where they are in an online context…

And we’re starting to try and meet their needs, whether they be spiritual, emotional, or physical,

Than doesn’t that speed up the need for the ‘Church’ to be better connected, less divisive, and more unified?

Is it just me, or does this ‘community on steroids’ that is online community necessitate that the church become closer-knit, not more disconnected?  If we’re really going to take on the responsibility of pastoring people online, then doesn’t that demand that we’re working just as diligently to connect them to a physical community offline?

There’s going to come a day for any church that’s doing online ministry, whether it’s just replaying experiences or running full-fledged campus’, that someone’s child dies, or their home is destroyed, or they’re sick and need someone to visit them… sometime when online won’t do, and we need offline.  And it’s going to happen more and more often, because people are less cloaked in an online context, more willing to share what’s really going on.  Doesn’t that mean that we can’t just want to but we have to (as pastors under a call, as people who are called to love) be MORE connected, unified, and focused, as THE church than ever before?

We can have all the tools, mediums, and methods we want, but if we don’t come together as the ‘Big C’ church in a big way sooner rather than later, people looking to find their way back to God online will do the same thing they do offline, and that’s walk right back out the door.

It’s a large chasm, but I believe it’s an even larger opportunity, an exciting one nonetheless.  A good friend and mentor Greg Atkinson has told me time and time again that there’s nothing he loves seeing better than churches working with churches… I couldn’t agree more…

Loic Le Meur (Seesmic founder) recently published a video message describing the change to his beloved video conversation tool, and why he felt the change was needed.

Watch it for yourself here, but a few things he said really hit home with me.  Loic spoke about the flatline of growth that Seesmic had seen in it’s previous form.  So, he decided, he would do anything it took to keep ‘growth’ the main thing.

Now, when you go to Seesmic.com, it’s actually pretty hard to find the video communication section… seriously, it’s way down on the bottom in a corner.

What’s really captivating, however, is the fact that Loic made this change after a few months of stalled growth…

Months

Not after 20 years, not after review after review after review… months.

I believe that now, more than ever, we have to be able and more importantly, willing, to change our direction as quickly as we see the need, or the stalling of growth.  And not just a slight change, but whatever change is necessary.  The key is to keep the mission central, primary, sacred.

This is one of the areas I think churches have the most room to grow – changing when the need arises, when growth stalls.  I think more than a lot of today’s organizations, churches are the worst at this kind of effective, mission-focused change.  I’m sure there are a lot of reasons, maybe it’s too many committees, too many ministries pulling apart at one another and away from the mission.  Maybe it’s that a church is based on a personality and not a purpose.  Maybe it’s that the church is the one place we have left where things won’t change, where it’s safe… dare I say where people don’t change?

So what do you think? How important is our ability to change for the purpose?  How do you think the church is doing?

Alright, like the wise Scott Williams recently said… “This adultery madness has got to stop!”

It seems like over the past month, every few days there’s a new marriage that’s over, or in trouble.  Is anyone else disturbed by how memorized we all are at the Jon & Kate impending divorce?  What about yet another public figure caught in adultery?  I don’t know about you, but personally, as powerful as all these events are, I’m one for positive reinforcement.  So, I think maybe we need to take a look at what’s going right with marriages.

All around the world, there are husbands loving their wives, and doing whatever it takes to protect them, and his faithfulness to them.  All around the world there are wives loving their husbands when they’re not perfect, polished, or the best they could be.  There are parents working at raising their children the best they can, and families fighting to stay families.

Let’s tell those stories too, let’s encourage, uplift, and as the book of Hebrews says in the Bible, “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

So what’s your marriage story? How have you struggled and pulled through? What words of encouragement do you have for the rest of us.  Trust me, right now, we really need it!

As if Twitter wasn’t debated enough, Conan O’Brien brought it into the spotlight as the new host of the Tonight Show.

As funny as it is, I think it’s a great reminder of how sometimes we can look at the oddities of Twitter like looking at a car wreck… It’s awful, but I can’t stop looking at it.

So at Forefront we’re kind of on a budget…

Something about being a ‘church plant’ and all.  So we save money where we can.  One of the big places was with our website.  Our website was done ‘inhouse’ as you say.  It’s a Wordpress theme, and we manage the hosting/domain renewal.  Brett Crimmel and myself put it together and continue to manage it’s content, along with other folks that we serve alongside.

It’s definitely affordable, but there’s more work involved, and creating teams that are comfortable maintaining/progressing the site is key.  So here’s my question for you, did your organization go ‘inhouse’ or ‘outhouse’ ? Why?  Do share with the class