Making a case for exploring.

One of my life joys is teaching people to play the violin. Part of the joy comes in learning so much from my students. Take Micah and his most recent lesson. This second grader is a bundle of energy and curiosity. Sometimes that means we stop the lesson so he can run around the house a couple of times. Some weeks it does so much good, I ought to try that at my Crossroads work space!

More than his energy, it’s Micah’s curiosity and eagerness to explore that fills me with so much wonder and joy. He’s already trained me to expect that he’ll pop out some piece on me that wasn’t included in the assigned practicing for that week. I love to see what he’s experimented with. It actually seems to accelerate the rest of his skill development.

So often, I find myself thinking that a person needs to fit into my track and follow my sequence. Shari Glass, our Director of Kid Crossing was wondering why parents weren’t taking advantage of a certain take-home resource. We’re realizing that the way in which it has been presented doesn’t make a very easy, obvious, and strategic next step for parents. In an earlier day, my first response would have been to place the blame on the parents. Now I’m exploring what needs to change on our end of things so that the take-home resource will be more effectively utilized by our parents.

Exploring takes more work but it also offers the possibility of much more exciting rewards. Thanks, Micah, for reminding me that exploring can be lots of fun and can accelerate learning.

Keeping it simple and smart.

I used to dream of pastoring in a church that had at least 5 event items scheduled for each day on the church calendar. What was I thinking? We’re in the exciting and sometimes painful process of going in the opposite direction at Crossroads. You’ll hear our new informal motto often in staff, management, and volunteer gatherings: let’s do more with less. What does that look like?

Continuum Planning

We’re learning how to be intentional in arranging what we do so that we can answer 2 questions: what is this a next step from and what is this a next step toward? We are working on aligning what we do in our foyer environments with what we do in our living room and kitchen environments. Here’s a recent example. The weekend main stage topic was God’s plan for budgets, finances and priorities. People could take a next step from that foyer environment into a living room environment with a  Good $ense Solutions seminar. Participants in the seminar could take a next step one-on-one financial consultation with a financial coach. Being simple and smart, doing more with less is driving us to define our process and defend what we do on the basis of a next step continuum.

Anticipation Planning

We are also learning how to look further down the road so that we have ample breathing room to create the next steps continuum. Our weekend mainstage staff invested a couple of days this summer hammering out a mainstage topic outline that encompasses almost 12 months. As I meet with our various teams (women, singles, kids, Cruisers, students, etc.), we study that outline, looking for strategic next step opportunities appropriate to the team’s target and mission. Excitement is growing with our serving teams as they begin to appreciate the impact of doing more with less…planning with the next steps continuum and mainstage topic anticipation.

Eye-level learning

The past 2 Sundays I’ve spent time with kids during our Kid Crossing experiences. I find that I need regular time with kids to help me focus on the things that really matter. Here’s a significant thing they taught me this round: eye-level learning rocks.

I joined a 3 year olds small group. (I was impressed with the quality of their small group environment. Even 3 year olds “get something” from small groups.) Here’s what they taught me about eye-level learning: they’re eager to engage with me when I join them at physical eye level. That meant sitting down on the floor so I could see their eyes and they could see mine. One particularly delightful young lady, Olivia, scooted over and helped me learn about the color of her name. I loved Olivia’s big blue “O.”

I led a 3rd-5th grade boys small group. (Forget the small group circle. More like small group amoebas.) Here’s what they taught me about eye-level learning: they’re eager to engage with me when I join them at relational eye level. That meant expressing interest in things going on in their lives before asking them to be interested in the Biblical lesson I wanted to work with.

What types of eye-level learning are you experiencing in your life? Where could you employ eye-level learning to help improve your expression of Christ’s presence in your life?

Are you ready for The Big Kahuna?

Steaks Eatery just reopened up the road from me and with it comes an unusual opportunity to create culinary and digestive history. It’s “The Big Kahuna,” a $14.95, 2.5 pound hamburger guaranteed to shock and delight. Picture a bun as large as a Frisbee. Meat 1.5 inches thick. Your choice of condiments. One pound of fries on the side. Finish it in one sitting and your photo is enshrined on the restaurant wall.

I’ve been thinking about who might be up to a Big Kahuna challenge.  Last night my inspiration arrived during a particularly greasy Chinese take-out dinner. And so I lay down my first Big Kahuna challenge: Scott Winstead, are you up to the challenge?  I’m buying if you’re eating. If you survive and succeed, I’ll even spring for the commemorative Big Kahuna victory T shirt. I have but 2 conditions:

1. Assembling a cheering section for you during your BK challenge.

2. Video documenting this historic event.

The world awaits your reply.

Is your church a good investment?

Hang around Scott Winstead, our Senior Pastor at Crossroads, for more than 5 minutes and you’ll hear him talk about vision. It’s one of his passions and I love how it impacts what we do.

“People give to vision, not to need,” is one of my favorites. Don’t tell me about your need. Tell me how my investment can help fuel something significant, and particularly, something that goes way beyond anything I think I could do on my own.

Theresa Hoeft, a staffer at Granger Community Church, facilitates ministry experiences to help people take their next steps toward Christ beyond the weekend services. She invited friends to attend Granger with her recently, asking them to give a fresh, critical lense to everything they experienced that Sunday. Their most significant comment surprised me. It wasn’t about the greeters, children’s environments, coffee bar, or the auditorium topic. It was “If we are going to give our money and our time to this church, really, where does it go and what do you really stand for?”

They were asking for information on the Granger investment. Hoeft realized “this couple was looking at this as an investment of their time and money. This was a place that was going to impact and shape their children. This was a place that they would spend time at, which means not spending time somewhere else. Was it worth it?”

Crossroads is driven by an investment vision. We estimate that 65,000 people within a 30 minute drive of our rented building either don’t know Christ as personal savior or have no meaningful connect with any church. God has called us to target those 65,000. Our vision is no less than changing the entire spiritual makeup of our county. That’s a vision that motivates me. I’m investing.