As I travel around and visit churches, one thing I love to do is play the part of a ‘secret shopper’ and experience how a first-time guest is welcomed at a church. I thought I had seen and heard all of the tricks and styles of welcoming visitors to churches, but my recent visit to Elevation Church in Charlotte changed my perception. They literally treat their first-time visitors like VIPs.

Here’s how it went down:

• Rockstar Parking. When we pulled up to the campus there was a sign for first-time visitors to turn on their hazard lights to let the parking lot volunteers direct you to the VIP Parking reserved for guests. We did and were given a parking spot literally steps from the front door of the church.
• A VIP Welcome. As we were parking, a volunteer came to our car and welcomed us. She was incredibly friendly and genuinely acted excited that we were there. She explained to us that at Elevation Church every guest is treated like a VIP. She then handed us a VIP brochure that included a short note from Pastor Steven Furtick, notes for where to go for your first-time visit, info for families with children, and ways to connect at the church. There was also an audio CD attached to the brochure that had a few songs written by the Elevation worship team and a message from Pastor Steven. All this in the first :45 of being on their property.
• An Incentive to Get Your Info. We were also handed information cards and a pen and told that if we would fill those out and return them to a designated spot after the service, they would donate $1 to a local charity as thanks for sharing our information with them. That was pretty cool. Even though I was an out-of-towner, I loved the idea that I could chip in and help a local charity.
• Warm Greetings All Around. As we walked in, the VIP brochure I was holding was a dead giveaway to the volunteers and each one of them greeted us enthusiastically. But, I will add, it wasn’t too much and didn’t seem pushy. (I would note we were in the South; people are just friendlier there.) The volunteer that met us at our car literally walked with us into the auditorium and led us to an usher who directed us to our seat. Unreal.
• Great Welcome From the Front. We all know how awkward those ‘if anyone is new here, please raise your hand’ moments can be in church. At Elevation, they didn’t put any pressure on you to acknowledge your newness, but rather warmly welcomed all of the VIPs of the day and reiterated how we could get connected and where to go after the service to get more information.
• I Got a Free T-shirt. So after the service was over (which it was great) I went to the table we were directed to go to with our info cards. Some of the volunteers recognized me and asked what I thought of the service and wanted to know about my experience. I turned in my visitor card and then they asked me if I wanted a t-shirt. Yes, an Elevation Church t-shirt. That may have been a little over-the-top for me, but it was still cool that for every first-time guest they’d invest as much as they did. Now I can literally say I went there and got a t-shirt.

As I was driving away I was blown away by the experience. The service was great and the message was challenging, but it was the welcome I received that really made the entire experience. If I would have been new to Charlotte and looking for a church home, there’s no doubt that my reception and welcome at Elevation would have kept me coming back.

But Wait… There’s More…

• A Real-Life Telephone Call. On Monday night I was back home in Chicago and got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. By default, I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t know. About a minute later I got a voicemail notification. I listened and it was a real-life person calling me from Elevation Church to thank me for being there the night before. He noticed I was visiting from out of town and wanted to let me know if I was just visiting that he hoped I had a great time and if I was relocating or coming back to Charlotte that he hoped I’d come back and visit again. He also offered that if I needed anything or needed prayer that I could call the church. WOW! In our automated age, the simple act of a personalized phone call is HUGE. I visited a church a while ago that routinely calls me every Thursday night with a pre-recorded message from the pastor letting me know what’s going on at the church that weekend. I don’t know how to unsubscribe from that. But this personalized call was unreal. Long gone are the days of the pastor or elders going to visit first-time guests at their homes, but this is definitely a 21st century spin on that.
• A Helpful Email. Then, the following morning I got an email with the subject line, “Thank for joining us! But wait, there’s more!” The email was beautifully designed and included a video message from the campus pastor of the campus we visited and included links for information about their small groups and children’s ministry. There were also links to take a survey to get feedback from your experience and a link to spread the word and invite your friends.
• A Handwritten Postcard. The day after that, no joke, I got a handwritten postcard in the mail, again, thanking me for visiting, inviting me back to visit and letting me know that they were praying for me. More bonus points for the personalization. That’s huge.
• A Letter From the Pastor. Then, seriously not joking, the day after that I got an official welcome letter from Pastor Steven in the mail. It was more like a form letter, but after the mix of personalized touch points, it was totally fine that he didn’t personally sit down and write me a letter. He’s kind of a big deal and a busy guy anyway. But, again, it was just an incredible continued way of keeping me in the loop.

Some Thoughts

While it may not be feasible for every church to provide the rockstar VIP treatment that Elevation does for their guests, I do believe that every church should take some notes from my experience there. I can tell you that I’ve been in many other great churches in the last few years where my presence as a visitor was hardly acknowledged.

Every time someone visits a church they are taking a risk. Everyone has their reasons for NOT going to church and people have reasons for making the choice to go to a church. They are searching for something and a need to feel loved and embraced by the church. The church is a family and we need to make people feel like they are coming home when they come to visit.

It’s been said that people will make up their minds about their experience at a church in the first five minutes of being there. If their experience from the parking lot to the sanctuary isn’t positive, it doesn’t even really matter what happens in the service. You’ve got to go out of your way from the moment they arrive at the door to roll out the red carpet.

I know this all could sound a bit consumeristic but let’s face it, we live in a consumeristic society and people go ‘church shopping’ with lists in hand of what they expect. I’m not suggesting churches bend to meet what people are looking for, but that we meet them halfway and go out of our way to welcome them. People want to feel like they belong. People want to feel valued. People want to be acknowledged. People need to feel welcomed when they visit churches.

Elevation Church has grown from a small group of 40 people to over 16,000 in under 6 years. There’s a lot at play and an obvious movement of God’s Spirit and favor, but I believe their commitment to welcome people like they have has helped them grow as much as they have.

First impressions matter and they made a great one.

A Cool Sidenote…

One of my co-workers was with me in Charlotte and she went to dinner with some friends in the area. They had a great experience at the restaurant. The manager came around and she told him about how she had always said she had wanted to find a church that welcomed people as warmly as the Apple Store does, but that now she would need to add that restaurant to the list. He said, “well, I think I have the church for you, then. It’s called Elevation.”

When I was a creative arts pastor, we’d have this ongoing weekly discussion about service announcements. We’d talk about the best delivery method, the best location in the service, and the best people for the job.

During that time, I admit that I had quite the adversarial relationship with church announcements. They felt, to me, a bit like an exploratory colonoscopy. I knew how important the procedure was, but I’d rather not endure it. And while that’s too much information about me, you get the idea.

Love. Hate.

I did both.

You’re probably like me.

In my latter years, I’ve discovered that the foundational issue has nothing to do with the best delivery method, the best location, or the best people. The foundational answer has to do with David.

DAVID’S TABLE-TALK

The Psalms are written in a variety of ways. One of those ways is found in Psalm 4. And if you don’t know what’s going on, you might think David has spent too much time playing in the local poppy fields.

In Psalm 4, David starts his words out by speaking directly to God. I’m not concerned with what David says, but Who he says them to. For one verse, He speaks to God (4:1).

Then in verse 2, David starts directing his words to people (4:2-5). He does this without saying anything like, “I’m gonna redirect here”. He just switches with no warning or explanation.  It doesn’t make much sense, to be honest.

Finally, in verse 6, David returns once again, speaking directly to God (4:6). No warning or proclamation. He just switches.

Here’s what I think is happening. I think David views this conversation as happening around a table. I think he understands that there are many people around the table. And I think David is fully aware that God is taking one of the seats, too. So he talks to God, then to people, then to God. In other Psalms, God talks to people, too. The whole thing is pretty cool.

God. David. People. All around a table. All looking at each other. All speaking. All listening.

I think our worship services are just like that.

There are People-to-God Moments – Examples include music, the offering, and any commitment we make. The Lord’s Supper can fall into this category.

There are God-to-People Moments – Examples include the teaching of God’s word through a speaker, a great video or drama. The Lord’s Supper can fall into this category, too.

There are People-to-People Moments – These are moments like David had, where people are speaking to people, with an acute awareness that God is sitting there, too.

The best church announcements happen when people speak to people with an acute awareness that God is sitting there, too.

And it’s the church communicator’s job to spend time framing those verbal moments in preparation for their church services. If you buy into what I’m saying, then church announcements can take on a whole new priority.

They can actually matter deeply to people.

GUIDELINES FOR FRAMING ANNOUNCEMENTS

I’d suggest that we frame these moments using the following guidelines:

Choose Story over Details – For the upcoming Women’s Retreat, have one woman speak about how God transformed her heart at last year’s Retreat. For more details, drive people to the bulletin or website. People tell stories, but forget details. In our churches, we give way too many details, but not enough stories. We need to reverse that.

Use Announcements as Sermon Illustrations -  If there’s a big event in the life of your church, ask the pastor to weave it into his sermon as an illustration of life change, or church mission. Sometimes the best announcements don’t happen during the time allotted for announcements.

Connect Announcements to God’s Heart – It’s not a missions dinner; it’s an evening of stories about how God’s name is becoming more famous in Haiti. It’s not a Newcomer’s Class; it’s an hour discovering the God who loves us enough not to let us stay where we are. It’s not a men’s ministry event; it’s a chance for men to connect with the warrior heart that God has given them.

Script and Memorize the First Line - If you don’t this, you’ll wing it. And I promise, it’ll be marginally good.

I honestly believe that the whole announcement thing can blow up in your church. But they may need a complete shift in perspective, as well as an hour or two of intentional planning.

This stuff isn’t easy, but nothing worthwhile is.

Especially when so much is at stake.

________________

What’s your take?

How does your church handle announcements?

What do you think of the new ways Gary has framed church announcements?

________________

Gary Molander has been married to Angela for 22 years, and is the father of three daughters whom  you cannot date. Gary served as a pastor for seventeen years and has a Masters Degree in Creative Arts. He is the author of “Pursuing Christ. Creating Art.”, a book that explores life at the intersection of faith and creativity. Gary is the co-owner of Floodgate Productions, and Floodgate Creative, and is the Founder and President of The Floodgate Foundation

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• I didn’t watch the Super Bowl. I know it’s very un-American of me, but I was actually on a flight home from a weekend trip serving a church in Wichita, Kansas, with the Church Solutions Group team. I don’t really care about the game, but will for sure be catching up on all of the commercials I missed.
• Churches are taking an interest in Pinterest. I did an interview with Jake Johnson of Mars Hill Church Seattle about how Mars Hill is using Pinterest. Check it out over on Church Marketing Sucks.
• In other news… 

• Ok, so that’s old news. But in the same spirit of excitement, last week I announced I’m going to Australia in May! I’ll be speaking at a church media conference and then spend a few days in Sydney with my friends at Hillsong Church. It’s literally a dream come true. Read more here.
• Great things are taking shape with Sunday| magazine, an online magazine about the creative side of Sundays for churches. Check it out and be sure to sign up for your free subscription. It’s going to be a great resource.
• Every second over one hour of content is being added to YouTube. Have you ever stopped to think how much content that is? The folks over at YouTube put together a OneHourPerSecond.com to help illustrate it for us.
• We need more creators, not creatives. An excellent article and some great thoughts from Sam Mahlstadt over on the EchoHub is worth checking out.
• Save the dates… September 20-21. That’s when STORY returns.
• We’re going KJV for just a minute… one of the questions I asked my church communication coaching group last week was, “why do you do what you do?” Tracey responded sharing this verse and I loved it: ”How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7 KJV) What an awesome picture of what church communicators do… publishing and bringing news and information. Publisheth is a pretty awesome word, too. Let’s bring that one back.
• Holidays are coming and going way too fast. I was in the grocery store last night and there was already Easter candy out. Can we at least make it through Valentine’s Day first?
• Follow your passion. 
• Nashville and Atlanta, I’m headed your way later this month. Let’s connect if you’re around! Hit me up.
• Question of the Week >> Where do you write your best? I have a few writing projects I need to wrap up in the next few weeks so I’m planning on taking a personal retreat this weekend to get away and get some work done. Any thoughts/suggestions on where or how you do your best writing?

The journey begins all the way back in 1997. I was 15.

I had grown up in Christian home, attended a Christian school and had accepted Christ at an early age. For whatever reason, though, the connection and understanding that God wanted to have a relationship with me hadn’t clicked yet. I started going to a new youth group and one fateful Wednesday night my heart was captured by what it meant to passionately pursue Christ. That night I went forward and responded to an altar call and that’s when I say I began having a relationship with Christ.

They were playing a song during the time of response that really seemed to echo the emotion of the moment for me.

The words to the song were simple: My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You… All of my days, I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love…

I went up to the youth pastor following the event and asked him what song it was. He took me back to his office and handed me the Shout to the Lord CD. He told me to make an attitude of worship a lifestyle and gave me that CD to get me started. [There again, the influence of youth pastors!].

I pretty much played that CD until my family couldn’t tolerate it anymore. I loved it. The songs and the music were giving a theme to the new life and excitement I was experiencing. I read on the back about the church where the CD came from, it was a church in Sydney, Australia, called Hills Christian Life Centre.

Later that year, for my birthday, my parents got me a few more of their CDs and a video of one of their live worship recordings, All Things Are Possible. I was mesmerized by it.

Circa 1997

To look at it today it is a bit dated and silly… brass instruments in worship, choreographed choir in silk fluorescent shirts, the 90s hair…  but what I loved about it was that I saw church that was being creative and trying new things. There was a heart behind what they did that resonated with me and I couldn’t get enough.

The rest is history.

Hills Christian Life Centre is now known as Hillsong Church and their songs are sung by churches and believers around the globe. And if you know me or have read my blog you know how much I am influenced and inspired by the work Hillsong is doing. More than the music, though, it’s the heartbeat of a local church that’s committed to reaching people in new and creative ways and that is committed to empowering the next generation that inspires me. Their songs are literally an echo of the work God is doing in and through their church.

Hillsong Today:

So What’s the Big News?

I’ve been invited to speak at a national church media conference in May in Australia and will be spending about a week in Sydney with some of my friends at Hillsong Church.

I have dreamed of going there for a visit and never imagined it would come on the heels of having the honor of speaking to a group of national church media leaders. I’m so excited, humbled, and even more excited. I can’t wait to see first-hand what’s happening in the church in Australia and at Hillsong Church. It’s going to be surreal to have the chance to hang out with some people who have had a huge impact on my life from afar.

I’ve been bursting at the seams to share this news and am truly humbled and thankful for this great opportunity.

I’ll post more details about the conference when they are available. And believe me, I’ll be keeping you updated throughout the trip! I can’t wait!

So now, the countdown begins to my journey down unda’!

As I had mentioned in a post leading up the event, I’m a bit of a mutt theologically. I was raised an the Assemblies of God, worked for a reformed church, and have been attending a United Methodist Church. I don’t belong to one particular camp or denomination. My faith, for better or worse, is influenced by many different Christian traditions.

That being said, one of the things that frustrates me the most about Christians and more specifically, church leaders, is the endless debate and bickering that goes on about trivial things. I believe theology is important. I believe that we must defend what is true and present the Gospel with all boldness and without hindrance, but I think we can get lost in so many of the minor conversations that we miss the point.

When Jesus was asked by the disciples what was most important He could have said many things, but what He said was: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Love God. Love people. It’s pretty simple.

Too often, though, we complicate the message.

The Church Isn’t Growing… That’s a Problem

The reality is, the Church in America isn’t in a good place right now. For all of the megachurches, conferences, resources, and everything we have going on in our world today, Christianity, as a whole, in America is not growing. The numbers and studies prove it. Many people look across the ocean at Europe and say that’s a picture of our future.

I find it so interesting that while our churches continue to decline and  as faith has moved from the public square to the periphery of culture, that we, as church leaders, continue to argue. We continue to debate. We continue to point finers. We critique. We judge. We get prideful about “our way” and “our theology” and “our beliefs.” We spend so much time and energy debating and arguing about things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of what’s happening in our world today. We focus on the minor things while the major work ahead of us goes neglected.

I’m guilty of it. We all are. But it’s got to stop.

For me, The Elephant Room, offered a glimmer of hope for what our future could look like.

Around the table were some polarizing leaders who definitely have MAJOR differences. I went into the event imagining that the boxing gloves were going to come out. Instead, I found great candor and humility, and a desire among everyone there to find the common ground in the places where it matters most.

We Need to Talk One Another

James MacDonald shared openly about his friendships with pastors Bill Hybels, Mark Driscoll, and Steven Furtick. All of them have different convictions and theological standpoints, but he shared how in taking time to get to know them, he learned to not be quick about making judgements about them our their ministries.

He said,  “I’m going to get in a room with people, and I’m going to hear them before I make conclusions about them.”

How often do we make conclusions about people, pastors, ministries, or churches, without taking the time to actually hear them and get to know them? We can become so tainted in our views of people because we’re listening to what other people say about them instead of actually taking the time to get to know them ourselves.

We need to talk to each other and get inside each other’s worlds. We need to get to know one another as human beings, before we are pastors or theologians or whatever title we may claim. We need to listen before we speak and understand before we seek to be understood.

Jesus Prayed For This

In John 17, we read the account of one of Jesus’ final prayers for His disciples and those who would believe [that's you and me]. He prayed, “protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one (verse 11),” and later prayed, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (verse 22,23). 

Jesus prayed for our unity as believers and as leaders. He prayed we would be one has He is one with His Father.

Why?

Our unity and brotherhood shows world the love of Christ. It should show them a selfless, humble unity that binds us all together. It should show them something unlike they’ve ever seen before.

But is that what the outside world sees when they look at us? Or do they see us bickering and arguing over things that don’t matter? Or we known more for what we are for, or for what we are against?

Do You Want to Make a Point or Make a Difference?

Andy Stanley said, “As a leader you’ve got to always ask if you want to make a point or if you want to make a difference.”

I value solid theology. I believe we need to preach the reality of sin. We need to tell about our eternal God who was and is and is to come. We need to admit the hopelessness we have without a Savior. We need to tell people about Christ, His sinless life, death, and resurrection. We need to teach about repentance of sin and forgiveness that’s found in Christ. Those are all things that are non-negotiable. Anything else isn’t worth fighting over. Our work is too important and the need around us is too great for us to argue or critique things that are trivial.

I admire the fact that in The Elephant Room some tough issues were faced head on and in moments where the boxing gloves could have come out that, instead, there was mutual respect and understanding. Convictions didn’t change but perceptions did. There was far more talk about what matters and far less talk about the things that could have divided the speakers. We all have more in common than we think.

Modern-Day Pharisees

The sad truth is, we have a lot of modern day Pharisees in our world today. They claim they are defending the Gospel but in truth they are just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day who were defending the Law. They just substitute the word ‘biblical’ for the word ‘law.’

While they debated about whether it was lawful for Jesus to heal people on the Sabbath, He went about healing and transforming lives. He followed the will of His Father and focused on what mattered.

There’s a Price for Unity

I admire Pastor James MacDonald and the team at Harvest Bible Chapel for being courageous and modeling for us what we should do for the sake of unity among our brothers and sisters in Christ. They’ve taken some hits over all of this, and I think that’s very sad. It’s undermining the exact reason of what this event was all about. It’s sad that people are still missing the point.

For me, personally, this event was a great example of what it’s going to take for us to band together. Our world needs us, as the church, to be unified and on mission, together. Christ and His call unite us. We all have different roles to play and every church has a different function, but we are all part of the body of Christ.

The cost of unity is humility and the admission that we don’t know it all. We need each other. Along the way people may criticize you, but when you’re seeking to what God is asking you to do, you can’t go wrong.

Practicing What I’m Preaching

Ironically a few days after The Elephant Room I was in Charlotte home to Pastor Steven Furtick and Elevation Church, one of the speakers at The Elephant Room.

I’ll be honest, I thought what was happening at Elevation was pretty cool but I did think it was a bit flashy and hyped-up. I didn’t doubt great things were going on there, but I didn’t necessarily look at it all very positively, either. So while I was there I went to a service to experience it for myself. Let me tell you, I was blown away. Everything about the service centered around Jesus, the worship and message were fantastic, they treated me like a VIP (that’s what they call all of their visitors), they’ve called and emailed me since I was there to thank me for being there, and all of the staff were humble and quick to ask how they could help.

My perception = changed, for the better.

Long Rant Short

The Elephant Room modeled conversations and a spirit of humility we all need to have in our lives. We need to be willing to believe the best in one another. We need to take a stand for what’s true, but do so in way that brings unity. We need to spend more time getting to know one another and seeking the unity that Jesus prayed we would have with one another.

We need to learn shelve the silly arguments, and get about the great task that’s ahead of us, together.

Let’s be an answer to Jesus’ prayer.

• Well, January is just about over. Seems like yesterday we were just setting our goals and making resolutions for the New Year. How are you doing on your goals?
• Coaching begins! This week kicks off the start of my church communication coaching group. I’m so excited for what these next six months have ahead and am praying they make an impact. I’ll keep you posted on how things go!
• This weekend I was in Charlotte and absolutely loved it. I hung out with the team at Lake Forest Church for their leadership conference with Donald Miller and as they opened a new worship space AND kicked off a new series “Hope in a House of Blues” [it was quite a weekend!]. The team at Lake Forest is doing some outstanding work and it was an honor to be there with them. Donald Miller did three sessions talking about evangelism, pain, and the blues. Check out my notes!
• It just so happens that Ben Arment was in Charlotte this weekend for a Dream Year Weekend, so I had the chance to sneak in and catch some sessions. I was so inspired by the dreams that were inside of the people around the room and was so impressed with Ben’s heart to help them come to life.
• I’m still processing what went down in The Elephant Room last week. I’ll be doing a blog post on my thoughts tomorrow. In the meantime, be sure to download my Elephant Room Conference Notebook to catch up on what you missed.
• Communication can change the world. Check out this great post from Jeff Goins on the power of communication.
• Stuff Chicagoans Say. I know the “Stuff … say…” videos are a bit overplayed right now, but this one, as a proud Chicagoan, is pretty awesome.
• While I was in Charlotte this weekend I also had the chance to check out a Saturday night service at Elevation Church. They are kicking off a new series, inspired by Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, on the power of our stories. They built a website, MyBetterStory.com, for people to share a one-sentence synopsis of the story they believe God wants to write through their life. It connects with Twitter and Facebook, which is pretty awesome. Love it. What a great and creative way to get people engaged around a message series.
• I’m about to start drawing circles and being praying in them. If you haven’t checked out Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker yet, you need to. It’s a powerfully convicting book on prayer. Review coming shortly.
• Does your church need a private online community? Kem Meyer shares how Granger Community Church addressed growing connection and communication gaps as a church by coming around The Table. Check it out.
• In church communications? In or near SoCal? Don’t miss your chance to spend the day with me, Dawn Nicole Baldwin, Drew Goodmanson, Josh Burns, and Curtis Templeton as we talk church communication at the 77 Events Gathering for Communication/Media on March 14 at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach. Details here.
• Challenge for the week… Think about what you know God wants to you do. Now look at your to do list. Now, focus on the things that will move you closer to what you know what God wants you to do.

• If you think about the tradition of blues, it’s honest music.
• It is the root of our spirituality.
• It’s an incredibly honest, soulful dialogue.
• We’ve lost that.
• Christianity is glossy today.
• The history of our faith is incredibly soulful, angry, and cries out to God.
• The Psalms were incredibly honest dialogue with God.
• David was painfully honest in the Psalms.
• We are flawed, lonely, and have coping mechanisms so we don’t have to feel our pain… that’s a human experience.
• With God, we don’t have to pretend.
• God is familiar with our pain.
• There are so many blues songs about unrequited love.
• God’s Story is about unrequited love.
• God is crazy about humanity and He’s crying out to us.
• God came to us through Christ.
• He loves perfectly.
• There are times when God has the blues.
• You can see His longing for humanity.
• Jesus got the blues… going off on His own to be with His Father.
• Jesus has been where we have been.
• He’s felt the pain of unrequited love.
• Jesus knew we were worth it.
• There’s hope.
• There’s longing.
• When you feel that, know God is with you.
• He feels your pain.
• He has empathy.
• Be honest in your dialogue with him.

• How does God use our pain?
• I believe that God intended for us to experience pain.
• It’s the anthesis of what we understand in our culture.
• We are taughtthere is not supposed to be pain in our lives by our culture.
• That’s not consistent with a Christian worldview.
• Don talked about Toy Story 3 and how he was impacted by it.
• I think Toy Story 3 is the greatest screenplay ever on film.
• It’s not my favorite movie but it’s a flawless screenplay if you study story.
• The story is about a group of characters who are separated with their owner.
• They were created for relationship with their owner.
• They are trying to find their way back to their own.
• Pixar spends 3 years cultivating their stories before the start animating.
• The human epic we are in is reflected in Toy Story 3.
• The most traditional story structure obeys a 3 act structure.
• Act 1 is about 10 minutes.
• At the end, something happens that launches the character into the story.
• That’s an inciting incident.
• Act 2 is the bulk of the story.
• The last 5 minutes are Act 3.
• Act 2 is trying to resolve the conflict that happened because of the inciting incident.
• Something usually happens to go back to Act 1 but then is resolved and runs into Act 3.
• Something happened in our lives that disrupted our emotional stability.
• The Christian worldview says that’s the fall of man.
• When we understand the structure of story, we can understand where we are at in our lives as humans.
• There is a point in a story where all of the conflict is resolved through one single action.
• Why is there an Act 3 climax in stories when there is no Act 3 in real life?
• Conflict and Characters exist in life. The climax doesn’t
• Everything in a story is represented in a story except for the climax.
• If you can convince people that there is an Act 3 climax in life, you can manipulate and control them.
• Advertising does that. It says, “Something is wrong with you, BUT if you do this, you’ll get better…”
• The cultural scripts that run through our commercials are interesting.
• They all say the same thing: if you buy this, this will happen.
• We as humans, especially as Christians, need to accept the reality that life is hard.
• As Christians, we need to teach people that life is hard.
• The most happy country in the world is Denmark. [America is 32nd]
• The common characteristic of people in Denmark is that they have low expectations in life.
• If you have low expectations you’ll be surprised when things go right.
• When we look at Scripture we see people facing difficult, painful realities.
• Romans 8, Paul talks about the Act 3 climax that will take place in your life, when you go to Heaven.
• Most of the verses on hope are focused on hope later, not hope now.
• If you believe that you are supposed to be experiencing the climax now, your focus is off.
• You will go through life very disappointed.
• Where we are is in Act 2. Not Act 3.
• We are in the struggle.
• We are post, mid-act climax.
• That’s the cross and resurrection.
• That was the event that will engage the Act 3 climax.
• We are betrothed.
• We are engaged to Christ.
• Your troubles will never end.
• What you do have in this life is hope.
• We can climb through the mountains of life and struggle together.
• The sufferings of this present time cannot compare to the glory that’s going to be revealed … – Paul
• Christ’s glory is to be revealed. Not has been revealed.
• In the midst of our pain, we are to wait with patience and have faith it will happen.
• What should our posture be?
• How does someone act when they are engaged?
• They are excited about the what’s to come.
• They are hopeful.
• If you are 30 years old, you’ve had 12-15 significant positive and negative experiences.
• God redeems the hard things in life.
• Sometimes God embeds things in our lives.
• We are born into conflict.

• Joseph has a dream  [positive]
• Joseph tells his brothers [negative]
• Joseph is thrown in the well [negative] – “I blew this…”
• There are mistakes you can make in this life that will cause churches to exempt you from helping them fulfill their mission. But God can still use you.
• Joseph is rescued [positive]
• Sold into slavery [negative]
• Run’s Potiphar’s house [positive]
• Thrown in prison [negative]
• Meets baker and cup bearer [positive]
• Cup bearer forgets [negative]
• Joseph meets Pharaoh [positive]

Bringing it Home

• Write down the positive and negative turns in your life.
• Spend time doing this.
• Your positive experiences are points to celebrate God’s faithfulness.
• When we look at our negative experiences, we need to let God redeem them.
• What the enemy intended for evil, God can use for good.
• Mine those experiences in your life.
• Do something with them.
• Through writing the book about growing up fatherless, Don has created a non profit to mentor fatherless boys.
• The things God can do through the hard things in your life can be the things that bring hope to others.
• Create a storyline of your life.
• Ask yourself, “With these negative things, what can happen?”
• Each negative turn in your life can create a seed that can grow into something great that can bless and feed others.

Q&A Session with Mitch White

• There are different kinds of conflict. There’s conflict that God embeds in our stories.
• This idea that we can be completed in God is untrue on this side of eternity.
• Some of our needs are there because God wants them to be there.
• God took Adam’s conflict and made it worse by asking him to name to the Animals.
• God uses conflict to make us appreciate what He is going to provide.
• It gives us respect for what He gives us.
• It causes us to fear and honor Him.
• There’s conflict that comes from the fall of man.
• It’s not what God likes or wanted for us.
• Control is the root of all sin.
• God does not make you love Him. He gives you a choice.
• Authentic, real loving relationships are made between people who have a will to love one another.
• Freewill is an act of love from God.
• People fill their lives with false, Act 3 climaxes.
• Most people realize those are empty when they get them.
• Put the Act 3 climax at our reunion with Christ.
• That makes all of life about heading toward that climax and taking people with us. That’s evangelism.
• Your motives change.
• It’s less about the praise of people and more about the advancement of the mission.
• On his next book… it’s going to be a CS Lewis Screwtape-style journal of God’s account of creation and the fall.
• On the Blue Like Jazz movie… we hope it changes Christian media. It releases in April.
• The Bible is a great narrative of flawed people who chose to give their lives for the love of God that captured their hearts.
• We need to learn to accept the beauty of people’s flawed humanity.

Donald Miller became best known through his New York times bestseller, Blue Like Jazz, the story of his experience at Reed College, voted at that time as “the most godless campus in the country.” Since then Don has written other best sellers: Searching for God knows What andA Million Miles in a Thousand Years (the story of his writing of the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz-the movie).

In the fall of 2011, Don created The Storyline Conference, a two-day event to help individuals, churches and business staff write a better story for their life and work. We are excited to be a part of what Don does best—help you find your story, see how God is redeeming it and allow this to help you see the story of others that God longs to redeem. Learn more about Don at www.donmilleris.com.

• 2% of the population of Portland regularly attends church.
• Don recently relocated his office above a bistro in Portland.
• He developed a great relationship with the owners of the restaurant, and they discovered that he was Christian.
• Their reaction was, “how in the world could you possibly believe that?”
• It’s hard for the world at large to believe that Jesus is alive today.
• Wouldn’t it help you, as a Christian leader, if Jesus would come back every 5 years and did a press conference? Just to let people know He’s alive, that we aren’t crazy, etc?
• Our narrative is quite mysterious.
• Our Savior comes in a manger.
• He spends 32 years on earth.
• He only does about 3 years of ministry.
• Then He ascends and disappears.
• He’s gone.
• He leaves the rest of it to us.
• What happens when Jesus is gone?
• Time magazine asked: “Is God dead?”
• Portland is statistically 25 years ahead of the country.
• If that’s true, only about 2% of the people you know will attend church in 25 years.
• That doesn’t mean that people won’t know Christ, it’s just that their engagement with their faith will look different.
• We live in a culture that assumes God is dead.
• One of Don’s friend went to Rwanda and saw a tribute to the genocide that happened there.
• Most people would see that and say it’s evidence that God is dead.
• Rather, his friend had the opposite experience.
• She felt God saying, “See what happens when I leave? See what happens when nobody brings the light?”
• Is Jesus gone? Where is He?
• Colossians 1:27 – Christ is in you, the hope of glory.
• Every day your feet hit the ground, it’s Christmas morning.
• Jesus chooses to take up residency in you.
• Jesus doesn’t take up residency church buildings.
• He lives within you.
• We bring hope into the world because Christ is in us.
• Colossians 1:28; Colossians 3:11; Galatians 2:20
• Christ is all and in all.
• It is wrong for us to look for hope in the world externally.
• We have the tendency to take someone to church instead of taking people to Jesus that’s inside of us.
• Bring yourself, all of you, to the people in your life.
• Confession is really helping people understand the difference between Jesus and me.
• My real ministry is not writing or speaking, I love to practice hospitality.
• Last year he had over 100 overnight house guests.
• Writing and speaking is fundraising for me to do the ministry I feel like Jesus is calling me to do.
• What is Jesus doing inside of us?
• Don shared this iconographic image of Christ:
• 
• Jesus’ left eye is convicting you of your sin.
• Christ divides.
• He comes with a sword.
• And He’s the Prince of Peace.
• His right eye is designed to represent His forgiveness and grace.
• He convicts us and shows us grace.
• Why does our culture have so much trouble seeing God?
• It’s because Jesus does not look like what evangelical culture in America wants Him to look like.
• If we were to create a Jesus that would build our churches and represent our community, He would not look like the actual Jesus.
• Who do we like to have represent us as Christians?
• What do our politicians look like?
• Jesus had no form or comeliness that we should look upon him; no beauty. (Isaiah 53)
• Often in our strategy we want to say, “you can have everything the rich young ruler had… you can live your best life now.”
• I don’t think that’s true.
• When I look at pre-fallen man, there’s only one defining characteristic: he walked around naked and was not ashamed.
• He was hardly self aware.
• When we are naked, we know.
• You will not live your best life now.
• You will live it when you are reunited with Trinity.
• We invite people into hope.
• Christ is so difficult to recognize because He isn’t offering people what they want, He’s offering people what they really need.
• He’s not offering people a coping mechanism; He’s offering people hope to endure.
• When we translate our theology through the filter of the lies of marketing we make people believe falsely about their faith.
• It’s not your best life now.
• It creates false expectations.
• Jesus is operating in the world in beautiful ways.
• Evangelism no longer looks to me like the sharing of information.
• It’s not about sharing truths.
• It’s about bringing people to Jesus.
• “I set people up on a blind date with Jesus and hope they hit it off.”
• We all have mysterious relational encounters with Christ.
• But then we rationalize our experience and boil it down to a formula.
• We are not saved through right theology; we are saved through Christ.
• We don’t need to depend on a church program to bring Jesus to the world.
• Jesus will go places I don’t want to go.
• Jesus will forgive people I don’t want to forgive.
• Are we bringing Christ into our house?
• Are we bringing Christ into our neighbors house?
• Do we believe that Christ is within us, or are we looking for Him externally?
• He’s inside of you bringing hope to the world.

Read more about Lake Forest’s story here.

Lake Forest is hosting a leadership weekend congruent with the other festivities, welcoming pastors and church leaders from 11 different ministries and churches across the Charlotte area.

The goal of the weekend is to remind leaders of the power of hope and the fact that we need to not only cherish it but share it with those who do not have it yet.

I’ll be blogging notes from those sessions.

“Hope in the House of Blues” is an annual series hosted by Lake Forest addressing hurt, hate, hope and healing with an inspiring, blues-based musical backdrop. Lake Forest has literally built a ‘house of blues’ in their foyer! Pretty wild.

Stay tuned throughout the weekend for updates.

Thanks to Pastor Mike Moses and his team for the opportunity to hang with them and to see first-hand the great things that are happening here.