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Tonight's video from the RNC was my favorite of the three. I must admit that it has taken my till video #3 to realize that the narration, done by Robert Duvall, was the same for all three. The overall theme of the convention was Country First, but the theme of each night was set by the imagery shown behind the narration. Tonight's video was titled "Peace" and was very, very moving. So, take a look and leave me a comment!
This is the video that started the convention Wednesday night....similar to Tuesday nights video, but still moving to watch.
Sarah Palin sealed her place in Republican politics for decades to come
tonight. She was everything the republican base needs to get excited
about over the next 60 days. On top of that I think she connected with
the fly over states, small town middle America I think she even pulled
some of those folks who voted for Hillary and NOT for Obama. She was
gracious and tough. She was smart and funny. She was just
conservative enough with out sounding heartless. She is the future of
the GOP...weather you like her (or Republicans for that matter) or not
she represents the future. Her ability to lead this country is still a
big question and lots can happen in the next two months, but as of now
I am very impressed and very excited about this election
My favorite line of the night was during the part of the speech where she addressed her opponent. She said this line "What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?" Hilarious!
I genuinely believe that we, as a country, always pick the president that we need for the season that lies ahead. I believe that will be true of this election and I have no idea who will win this election. If the election were tomorrow… I think we would be electing the first female Vice President, but the election is 60 days out and John McCain has a big job tomorrow night. I cannot imagine the pressure.
Obama, John & Nancy -- If I were you I would head back to the drawing board...ASAP
I watch the party conventions for two reasons. First off I really enjoy a GREAT speech. I am moved by good words strung together in a great way. The DNC had some great speeches and tonight the Republicans bring out Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin...all great speakers.
The second reason I enjoy watching the conventions are the videos. Below I have embedded the video from he first night...it is about service and it is narrated by Robbert Duvall. It is simple and moving....it tells a fantastic story. Watch it and leave me a comment.
In case you missed it tonight the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Denver, Co. I watched the convention tonight for 3 reasons. 1) I miss the Olympics. 2) There was nothing else on.
3) Donald Miller was giving the Benediction! Below is the text of tonight's closing prayer at the DNC given by Donald Miller.
I am a huge fan of Donald Miller's writing and of Donald Miller personally. Enjoy.
Father God,
This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.
We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.
We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.
Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.
Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.
Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.
Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.
Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.
Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.
We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.
Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.
A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.
Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.
Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.
Lastly, father, unify us.
Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.
And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.
God we know that you are good.
Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.
I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.
Let Him be our example.
Amen."
OK, I saw this picture and I cracked up. Post your best caption for this photo in the comments section and you win a prize.
I attended the 5:00 Lifechurch.tv South OKC experience and had a great time. I decided I would try and catch the 6:30 NE OKC experience. The campus is just a year old and has a great feel. It is obvious that the development folks learned lessons from the other campuses and applied them to this build out. The lobby is very spacious and has lots of relational spaces. In case you were wondering YES everything is on wheels at this campus as well. All of there hospitality areas are on wheels...amazing! These guys do a great job in the area of hospitality, but I will talk about that in another post.
In this post I want to talk about the 5 "focuses" of Lifechurch.tv.
The picture to the right is of their lobby
and hanging from the ceiling are 5 large banners. Each banner represents on of the 5 areas of focus. Most churches have areas of focus, core values, mission/purpose statements, but these guys really put this into practice. Even as an outsider I was able to discern quickly what matters most to this church. Communicating, to an outsider, that which is the very most important thing can be very challenging in church work. Typically there is so much "great stuff" that it all becomes noise...just noise. Lifechurch.tv does more than just hang banners from the roof, their 5 focuses are the ONLY thing in the lobby. What I mean is there is no other information available for consumption other than that which pertains to the 5 focuses. In fact there is an area of the lobby dedicated to each of the 5 focuses.
There is a LifeYouth section complete with cool chairs, gaming console, iMac's and of course someone to talk to about youth stuff. There is a LifeMissions area with stuff to pick up about various micro mission experiences the campus is participating in for that season. There is a LifeGroup section complete with cards describing each group, a picture of the leader and a map to the location. Simple and smart. There is an area for "the Experience" which is your basic info about the church, FAQ's, etc. Finally, there is a children's area with info about being involved in LifeKids. This is all I, the outsider, need to know about the church and how I can get involved. Infact, if I don't have children I really only have 2 things to consider other than attending the Experience. How many churches can honestly say that when a guest hits their lobby they are only hit with 2-4 messages.
Take my own churches lobby for example. When you enter you are hit with the Cafe, then you see a series of tables loaded with stuff and lines of people, then you notice a "Guest Services" desk that appears to have info on it,then there is a bookstore and a place to but stuff...all this before you enter the worship center. I think this is typical and I am beginning to realize how ineffective it can be.
Anyway, there was one more thing I noticed in these first two campuses. There seems to be an unspoken core value. Maybe it is spoken of, but that was not obvious to me as an outsider. It seems that Lifechurch.tv values peoples ability to remain anonymous. This is interesting to me because I I have been under the impression that this value was fading in the church world. In both of the experiences so far I was able to slip in and slip out with very little fuss. In fact had I been one of the folks who raised there hands at the end of the service I would have been allowed to make my way to the "next steps" shelf and pick up a kit that is filled with encouragement for new journey with Christ. I am sure someone was available to talk if that it what I wanted, but if I wanted to self start my relationship with Christ that is appears to be ok with the Lifechurch.tv folks.
Again, I am cool with this (not that ANYONE asked). It works in this culture. This is not to say that I was ignored or not made to feel welcomed. In fact in both locations the Campus Pastor was out, but I did meet both Associate Campus Pastors and they did a great job at making me feel comfortable, while still remaining anonymous. I am not sure if that will change with the next two campuses, but as of now it seems to be a part of the Lifechurch.tv DNA.
In my next post I am going to talk about hospitality and the heart of Lifechurch.tv -- stay tuned!
So, as I mentioned in my previous post I am in OKC visiting a few churches. I started my tour visiting not one, but TWO of the Lifechurch.tv campuses. I also
mentioned in my previous post that I thought the music was going to be VERY loud, then I hit the door and the greeters we handing out "talk notes" and EARPLUGS! Take a closer look at the picture to the left. Yes, those are ear plugs in that bucket. Hilarious. Anyway I grabbed a pair, but I didn't need them. Turns out I am very used to that level of music.
I can see many benefits to multi-site churches, maybe the biggest (and the one I want to talk about first) is the efficiency at which they grow. The two most expensive aspects of church work are facilities and people. Lifechurch and others who have jumped into this multi-site movement are leveraging both. Multi-site churches have the ability to utilize recycled real estate which, I assume, is far more cost effective than starting from scratch. These innovative churches are taking over abandoned Home Depots, Wal*Marts, Lowe's, etc. They convert these buildings into worship space, kid space and relational space. This is smart use of God's resources and I dig the creativity these churches are putting into rehabbing abandoned big box space.
Lifechurch has done a great job at keeping things simple. They have kept the amenities understated, but highly effective. Everything, I mean everything has wheels! From the lobby chair to the "questions" desk. All of it has wheels, I am not sure where they wheel this stuff too, but it keeps the space flexible.
These churches also seem to leverage their human resources as well. While the Campus Pastors, Associate Campus Pastors, Worship leaders and support staff members I have met this weekend are all very talented, fantastic people...they are also young, a little under seasoned and apparently transferable. I met a few who have recently been moved around from one campus to another. Don't get me wrong, I am not being critical of this model. I think this is very smart church work. Way to many churches have allowed there compensation line items to get way too bloated. Lifechurch seems to keep the seasoned leadership at the top. The Sr. leadership team is small, lean and efficient.
In my next post I am going to talk about the 5 obvious "focuses" of lifechurch.tv and the 1 less obvious core value.
