After three intense days, I've finally caught my breath

Catalyst was awesome (it always is), and it has taken me three days to recover from it, digest what I learned, process some of my "next steps", and have the energy to write a little bit. Of course, over the next couple weeks and months, I will write more, but I wanted to share a quick thing from Dave Ramsey that we were challenged with.

"Imagine what the people of God could do for the kingdom of God, if the resources that the people of God managed were freed up to do His work." Over the last several days, I've heard of several choices that friends and acquaintances of mine are making that will put them further in the whole, financially. And, if you're reading this while you are facing the opportunity to make a really stupid financial decision, I'm begging you to patiently wait and reevaluate it through the principles that God has laid out in scripture.

1. All the stuff you have is actually His stuff . . . you don't own it, you just manage it.

2. If you use every bit of His stuff to pay for your stuff . . . you won't have any of His stuff left to invest in the work He wants to do.

3. If we borrow someone else's stuff in order to pay for more stuff for us . . . we make slaves of ourselves, our resources, and the stuff that God lets us manage.

4. And, if we change how we live, buy less stuff, and manage His stuff better, we will free up more of His stuff to do what He wants to do.

The point is... if you are about t0 make a stupid financial decision... please wait, contact me (craig@churchatthegrove.com) so I can put you in touch with a financial counselor, and make the decision that you will no longer use all of God's stuff to meet your needs and wants. Trust me: there is freedom in handling your money with God's principles in mind.


P.S. Watch for Church At The Grove's new series in November: "Rich Man/Poor Man" where we will talk about this topic in depth.

Cross Promotion Gone Wild

There's a term used in advertising called "cross-promotion" and it basically means that you create a unique link between two pretty much unrelated things in order to promote a particular product, concept or event. Sometimes it is a very effective use of resources... like getting Kelloggs to make Pirates of the Caribbean cereal and put it on the shelves a couple months before the movie hits the theaters. Obviously, pirates have very little to do with cereal, except that people that eat sugar-coma cereal like that might also want to see the movie, and the cereal will sell particularly well when 9-year old boys pitch fits in the grocery store in order to get it. Happy Meal toys are also famouse examples of "cross-promotion" and usually very cost effective... promoting movies, toys, or game systems to kids in McDonalds through 20-cent plastic toys can really boost sales of the product nationwide.

But, what happens when "cross-promotion goes wild" and advertising gurus start using money (lots of it) to promote items in ways that simply don't make sense? The result is a complete waste of resources. Three days ago, I followed a large dump-truck-type thing for about 5 miles when I repeatedly asked myself the question: "What were those advertising guys thinking?" Behind the back wheels of the dump truck were mudflaps with the "OshKosh" company name and logo on them. Maybe they were custom printed because the truck's owner really loved "OshKosh" clothing... maybe the dump truck itself was owned by "OshKosh"... or maybe even more likely - some goof-ball out there thought it would be a great way to get the "OshKosh" name out there on the highway. But in my mind, it was just a waste of money.

I'm all for trying something new or different or a little unique. I'm all for taking a risk and even spending money to do it. I'm all for cross-promoting the gospel message so that people that wouldn't normally seek God would hear about his message in unique ways. But, we've got to be smart about the resources we spend as a church. I'm thrilled that the people of Church At The Grove have the desire to use the resources we have on those things that most effectively develop people to follow Jesus and make disciples. It's great to be part of something where faithful stewardship is understood and recognized.

We put our resources into serving the local community (schools, public servants, local needs), we send resources out to church plants around the metro Atlanta region, we are looking forward to Russ' trip to Africa so we can begin to meet some of the needs of the global community. We invest heavily into the Sunday morning environment so people can continue to explore faith at their own pace. And, we try to use resources on things that streamline the ministry that comes out of the CATG office. God has blessed us so far during this first year. We believe that he will continue to bless us in the years ahead if we continue to be faithful stewards of what he gives us.

No... I don't think I can dance!

Yesterday, Amy and I went shopping... we had a few things to pick up for the kids, so we hit several stores. The stores were pretty empty and the atmospheres were pretty relaxed... perhaps a little too relaxed. As we approached the back of one of the stores, I ran across a store employee that was enjoying his work... a lot. Right at the entrance to the stock room, there was a man... a large man... dancing to the music being played over the store radio... and he didn't know we were there. It caused an instant flashback to the 96 Rock TV Commercial from the early 1990s... and the original "Joey Bag O Donuts." If you don't remember... or you were still in elementary school at the time, watch this for a quick reminder (yes, I know that this isn't the "96 Rock" commercial, but I did the best I could and you get the idea).

Sure, in my younger years, I was known to demonstrate a little rhythm from time to time... and, then of course there's the dance recital video (only a few have seen it... and it's just not the right time for a public premiere yet). But now that I've grown and matured a little (well, I've grown a lot and matured a little), I know that nobody wants to see me dance... not on a street... not in a store... not on TV... need I say more? I don't have the skill or ability to impress anyone... and I don't have the business sense to make a lot of money with commercials or getting my name on the Moe's menu. So... No, I don't think I can dance.

But, I'm okay with that... and I deal with it by choosing not to dance. It's a conscious choice I make... putting aside one thing so that I can focus my energy on other things. For me, there are lots of things that are more important than trying to do something that I'm simply not gifted at or called to do. It's called "stewardship"... taking the time, energy, and resources that are available to you and putting them toward the most important things in your life. Stewardship is important... in choosing a dancing career or not... in life in general... and in the Church. We don't have enough time, energy, or resources to do everything, so we have to figure out what God calls us to do and focus on that.

How are you doing with that? Are you focused or scattered? Are you investing yourself in those things that are most important to you or are you wasting away with unimprtant things? Can you dance?... Are you doing something with that?... Or, are you just dancing at the entrance to the stock room?

Back From Vacation

I'm back from a vacation my family and I took in Atlanta... it was a great time to relax and have some fun. But, I couldn't get to sleep last night and so I'm not very rested

While I was awake, I did catch the 9th stage of the Tour de France (it ended about 2:30am) and it got me thinking about some things. Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez of Colombia was the winner of this 99.1 mile section of the race. The race was grueling... two insane uphill climbs that were so steep and difficult, they were "uncategorized" in difficulty. And, four hours, fourteen minutes after he began, this 24 year old took the winner's jersey for this stage.

The race was impressive... or "mind-boggling" might be a better description. But, the most important thing I saw was the focus that the racers had. By the end of the race, they were throwing every unnecessary thing away so they could race their best. They knew their body had a limited amount of energy, so they cast aside everything that they couldn't support with that energy. In the last twenty minutes of the race, riders were even throwing aside their water bottles. Water... as important as it is for athletes... was being tossed away because the extra eight ounces was holding the racers back from their peak performance. They needed every bit of their energy to go toward getting themselves and their bikes up the last hill and across the finish line... and wasting energy on carrying even an extra cup of water across the line with them would have been crazy.

When Russ and I partnered with 16 other families to start Church At The Grove, we were focused. We knew we would have a limited amount of time, resources, and energy. And our goal - creating an environment for disconnected people to explore God at their own pace - was so important, that we knew we would have to toss some things to the side. The result has been a church that has an incredible environment for people that are spiritually unconvinced to figure out how God wants to connect with them through Christ.

Throwing some things aside (land and a permanent building, small groups that meet on "campus", fully developed children's ministry, etc.) has been difficult... but we've got limited time, resources and energy... so we've had to put them away for now. To put our energy toward things that don't help create the environment for disconnected people to explore God at their own pace would be crazy. Sorry if this is hard to handle... just know that we're trying to be the best "stewards" (care takers, managers, handlers) of the limited resources we've got... that's all we can do.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake...

I just got back from lunch... and I'm full. We ordered two salads and a philly cheesesteak sandwich... not much food for six people, but that's because we were saving room for dessert. Today is my middle daughter's 6th birthday... for her special meal, she wanted a Chocolate Molten Lava Cake from Chili's. So, we had a goal and because dessert was the goal of lunch, we made wise choices about lunch... we had to save room.

All of us are limited in life... by time.. by money... by abilities... by energy... and even by the amount of lunch we can eat. And once we decide what is most important, then we have to order everything else in our life to allow us time/resources/energy to apply to those things that are "most important."

We have to do the same thing... as a church and as followers of Christ. We have to take the limited time, energy and resources that God's given us and invest those into what will most effectively accomplish what's "most important"... developing people to follow Jesus and make disciples. It's called "faithful stewardship" and God says it's important. What about you? Do you think it's important? Are you living your life like it's important? Or, are you getting to the end of your day/finances/energy and finding that you don't have a bit of room left for even one small bite of lava cake?