Green Week

I see where the network television channels owned by NBC Universal are once again in "Green Week" status. Essentially, this is NBC corporate's somewhat annual push to encourage people to buy environmentally friendly products in an effort to save energy...and save the world.

All week long, you will see television shows, and news stories about the importance of salvaging the environment from those who would destroy it.

There's only one problem. Only one tiny, little problem. The NBC network chain is owned by a company that directly benefits from your buying "green" products -- namely, General Electric.

NBC ran into trouble the last time they pulled out this campaign, because they sold out any news credibility they had, so they could push pro-green stories. The catch-22 really backfired on them, but since the dollar is mighter than any criticism, we get blasted all week long with how we need to buy GE products.

Convenient, too, is when NBC Universal/GE chose to run this "green" campaign. It's no mere chance that this propoganda campaign hits televisions the week leading to Black Friday.

GE and NBC Universal are repulsive. They have no shame. Selling their integrity so they can coax people into going "green" right a the time of year when consumers will be spending a lot of money.

There isn't anything necessarily wrong with cleaning up our communities, but promoting environmentalism just so you can make a buck is wrong. Shame on you GE.

Monday Ten

1. Another great week and weekend. It all began with prize winning chili.

2. Our church held an event Friday night to try to get people into connect groups. As part of the fun, each group had to bring a pot of chili for judging. My wife brewed our pot, and came out a winner.

3. As a result of the win, my group gets a free meal at Red Robin in the near future. My wife will, too.

4. Our pastor was in India this week. Our church's new video campus pastor spoke in his place, and did a great job.

5. NASCAR's season came to a close yesterday. Fortunately, only three months until Daytona.

6. I guess it goes without saying that it's also only three months before baseball players report for spring training.

7. And, just under three months before the Superbowl.

8. Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet, Thanksgiving is Thursday.

9. I'm thankful for a wonderful wife. Our home would not function well without her.

10. I'm also thankful for my three, healthy, yet rowdy boys. Life would be duller without them.

Jonah - Simplified

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Who Will Your Decision Impact

One of the mistakes new leaders can make is assuming they have the inside track on all the knowledge of their position. It is easy, especially when you are inexperienced and full of energy, to convinced yourself that you know all there is to know about leading people.

I used to be such a leader. My first real leadership gig was heading up the Sunday School program at the church we attended at the time. I was into reading all the books on how to grow ministries and leading people.

I had a lot of head knowledge. But, I lacked any real-world experience.

One of the first lessons I learned was that a leader needs to be careful to include in the decision making process, the very people his decision will impact.

I made the mistake of announcing changes to the program without first consulting the teachers it would impact. The ideas fell flat, partly because the teachers and their classes weren't ready for them, and also because no one likes to be blind-sided with big changes.

To do it over again, I would have first sat down with all my class leaders and asked for ideas and discussion on how to improve and expand the program. Allowing their input would have brought probably success to the changes that needed to be made.

So, if you are new in leadership, be sure to include those people your decisions are going to impact most.

Monday Ten

Today's Ten involve meetings.

1. Staff meetings have their pros and cons.

2. They are great for communicating what is happening, and coming up in an organization.

3. They are great for breaking down what worked and didn't work in past events.

4. They are great allowing people to collaborate and share ideas on projects.

5. They are great for getting your staff to feel more like a community.

6. They are bad, because they must stay on agenda to be productive.

7. They are bad, because it is too easy to chase rabbits.

8. They are bad, because they tend to not respect people's time.

9. They are bad, because they eat into productivity.

10. They are necessary for any organization to function properly, but have to be managed well to prevent them from becoming a waste of time.

Care for the Orphans

My wife sent me a message earlier this week that said, "Isn't this a crazy thought ...
If only 7% of Christians would say 'yes' to adoption there would be no more orphans- worldwide!"

November is the national focus month on orphans and adoption. According to the Cry of the Orphan organization:

• Over 140 million orphans and waiting children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents.
• Sub-Saharan Africa, with 48.3 million orphans, has the highest proportion of children who are orphans at 12%.
• Over 15 million children have lost a parent due to AIDS, and that number is expected to rise to over 20 million by 2010.
• Without AIDS, the total number of double orphans in sub-Saharan Africa would have declined between 1990 and 2010. AIDS, however, will push the number of double orphans in the region from 9 million to more than 10 million by 2010.

The Church can cure this problem. I'll say it again, THE CHURCH CAN CURE THIS PROBLEM.

The fact that the Church has not stepped up en masse speaks to a heart issue. We aren't fully living the commands of Jesus. It's one thing to recognize a problem. But, recognition alone won't fix it. The Bible requires that we do something to fix it. Jesus requires that we do something about it.

So, here's a suggestion: visit the Cry of the Orphan website, and get your church involved in finding homes for orphans. I know this is a crazy notion, but why not give money to members of your congregation so they can pay the adoption fees, and give these children a Christ-centered home.

How He Loves

Our church praise team began performing John Mark McMillin's "How He Loves" recently. It is becoming one of my favorites. This performance is from this past weekend's Parade of Changed Lives at North Point Church.

Starting Adult Life as a Financial Slave

Financial advice guru Dave Ramsey is fond of the phrase, "Debt is Dumb." Now, while Dave likes to grab a person's attention with what he says, the truth is that debt is not just dumb, it's crippling.

Earlier this week, I saw a national report that said Missouri's 2009 college graduates left with degrees and an average debt load of $21,360. Own that number for a moment. That means that by the time these young adults set out to begin their careers, they're doing so with both feet, their knees and their hips in the ground.

Having used student loans a couple of times during my time in college, I know it is way too easy for a student to get a loan. Sure, students need a way to pay for college, but it is too easy to just sign on the dotted line, and get your check for tuition, books, supplies, etc. When you are a young adult, you don't fully understand that you are essentially signing away several years of your life trying to pay that loan back.

What this number also tells me is that there are too many parents out there that either cannot provide for their children's higher learning, or didn't plan ahead by saving for those expensive years.

Pulling a page from the Dave Ramsey book, college students should avoid debt at all costs. Work your way through college, even if it means that it will take you longer to graduate. It's far better to stay an extra year or two in school, and leave with no debt and a bright future.

Parade of Changed Lives

North Point Church in Springfield is all about changed lives. Each week, the staff and volunteers aspire to reach people by putting together a God-honoring, unforgettable experience. This past weekend was the most unforgettable one on record...at least in my opinion.

We were wrapping up our ImpACT series, and at the end, when Pastor Tommy put out the plea for people to pledge financial gifts toward ImpACT, a parade of people went to the stage. Their lives have all been changed through the work of North Point Church.

Never before have I seen such emotion, such celebration, such a standing ovation (in all six services). A definate "YEA GOD" moment. That's one of the reason's I love this church.

Monday Ten

So, my wife says to me this morning, "You need to blog." And, she's right. So, here is today's Ten

1. I write a lot about the Church, and Christianity on this blog. That's because I have a passion for the Church, and for people.

2. There are a lot of great churches in our world. Some have a lot of people who attend, and some have very few.

3. The size of a church isn't important. The strength of a church is best defined in how well they live out Jesus' teachings.

4. In my opinion, the greatest plague affecting the American church is "club-itis." This is a condition where the people inside the church focus more on their own well-being, and neglect the people outside the walls.

5. My current pastor once told me that every church, new and old, fight this. The natural tendency of any church is to start out with an outward focus. But, as the organization ages and matures, it tends to switch to an inward focus. It's at this point that growth and effectiveness plateau. Death is on the horizon.

6. One of the best ways my church, North Point Church, maintains that outward focus is through our ImpACT program.

7. ImpACT is designed to battle four giants in our world: Spiritual Emptiness, Disease, Poverty and Illiteracy. North Point is all about changing lives, and ImpACT is a huge tool we use to achieve that goal.

8. For the past three weekends, our church has been focused on this program, now two years old.

9. This year's main ImpACT thrust is to expand the outreach of North Point by opening our first video campus on East Sunshine Street in Springfield this coming January.

10. Our ImpACT campaign culminated this weekend with the most moving and wonderful moment in the church's history. As the congregation was being challenged to make a financial committment toward ImpACT, a group of people who have been impacted by the church walked on stage in a Parade of Changed Lives. Extremely moving. Every church should celebrate the victories of people, once dead in sin, and now alive in Jesus.