how to say thank you

NCC is one church with 5 locations. We've got hundreds of volunteers that serve willingly and joyfully in varying capacities throughout the week.

It's tough to put into words what they mean to you. Our Union Station location has over 80 volunteers and about 50 showed up for our volunteer appreciation cookout on Haines Point here in DC.

Tough to put a dollar sign on your appreciation, isn't it? So instead of a gift certificate or a typical grill out, we splurged on them. It's in line with my thought that the 6th love language is food.

We brought out Filets, Ribeyes, and Salmon for them. It was basically all you can eat, so we grilled these steaks until nobody wanted any more.

Cool to go around and learn something new about each person that day. I love our volunteers. They are all leaders in their fields: met one girl who's working on her PhD in Political Science. Another is at the Department of Defense and just finished a high-level karate course. Another, an analyst at the CIA. On and on, you are confronted with the reality that this is a unique community of believers.

I had a thought looking around: the collective influence of this group is incalculable for the Kingdom. I feel a great burden and deep affection for this group as one of their Pastors to raise the bar, challenge them towards a radical faith in Christ and pursuing all God has for them.

Awesome day!

movement

Not sure I realized how mobilized, creative and empowered this movement really is. Invisible Children is a phenomenal modern-day case-study in generating buzz and building a grass-roots movement founded through social-networking and the idea that this generation could stop the longest running war in Africa right now in Northern Uganda.

The three original filmmakers who started it all just organized over 100 cities throughout the world have a "rescue". People from all over would go to a city and be chained up and silently march to a location and wait to be rescued from the oppressive regime in Uganda. It would be freed through money, media, politicians and celebrities coming out to witness the event. It's their belief that the government hasn't done enough to stop the atrocities of child soldiers abducted to fight a gorilla war.

Not sure how I ended up involved in this, but was honored to operate the main camera here in DC. Cool to hook up with Bobby, one of the filmmakers. Not sure I realized his influence until the over 2000 young people were frantically trying to get a piece of this guy. Nice to meet Val Kilmer and the guys of Fall Out Boy.

Felt inspired to be around people with such passion and drive. You can't lead unless you know where you're going. And you can't mobilize unless you've got a drive and an ability to inspire. These guys are doing something right.

Invisible children

Cool to hang with the Invisible Children crew for an event they are doing on the Capitol.

I'm one of the cameramen for a child abduction protest for child soldiers in Uganda.


-- Post From My iPhone

Surprise

Was saying hi to people between services on Sunday and ran into my sister who lives in Chicago but was in town for a wedding.

Didn't even know she was coming.

Random but a great surprise? Check.

My bro was in town too. It was a family affair.





-- Post From My iPhone

why I love working at NCC

Because we can randomly bust out Mariah Carey sing-along's in the office.

Just sang through her greatest hits.

Yeah, I'm man enough to admit my affection for old school Mariah albums. Every guy walked in acting like they didn't like it....by the end we're all singing out loud.

"Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let go, it's so natural...oooooooo...." (Boyz 2 Men and Mariah)

21st century family

Saw this couple at dinner watching sesame street on a DVD player with their toddler.

What was life like before without elmo while eating out.


-- Post From My iPhone

Patrewsi

Cool to hang with my best mate andrew who just flew in, and jamie kemp who is traveling to Indonesia next month to serve the Muslim population for 3 years.

Love having meaningful relationships and conversations that span over 20 years.




-- Post From My iPhone

culture of availability

Was watching a TED on "tricky moves by anti-social cell-phone users". Only 3 minutes in length, it made a clear argument:

Let's use technologies that make people more human, not less.

We're seeing three things through technological enhancements:
First, there is a rise in availability of mobile devices, second is an expectation of availability, and third is an obligation to that availability. We're still working through how to be available as a society. Almost every conversation now includes more than one interruption with your phone, right?

The delta is how we deal with this on a public level. So we've developed different tactics for this.

Here's the "lean". You wait for someone to look away then quickly look at your device.

"I love you." Nothing says I love you than let me find someone else I care about.

"The sound of one hand clapping"

When you're standing with someone and you're on your mobile device, effectively what you're saying is, "you're not as important as anything that is available on my mobile device."

Essentially, my reality is becoming less interesting than the story I will tell about it later.

As we lose the context of our identity, it becomes incredibly important with what you share becomes the context of shared narrative, becomes the context in which we live and the stories we tell. People aren't simply projecting identity, they're creating it.

We're creating the technology that is going to create the new shared experience, which will create the new world.

Let's make technology that makes people more human, not less.

Food for thought.

who do you say that I am?

Was reading in Luke yesterday and it hit the fundamental question that we must ask and many can't quite get past:

"One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah[d] sent from God!" (Luke 9:18-20)

Bono had a great interview that I read a while back and Mark actually quoted this past weekend. It's sort of an updated version of a CS Lewis quote:

"Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson ... This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had “King of the Jews” on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that’s farfetched … “When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else’s. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that’s the question...


"Who do you say that I am."

Easter Sunday

Relaxing on Easter afternoon w/ the Schmidgall and Batterson clan.

What else?

Cornhole.


-- Post From My iPhone

bringing it home

It's been a frenzy of a weekend here, as it probably should be at churches across the world. There is no question in my book this is the most important event on the Christian calendar.

We had our egg hunt in the rain and cold and though it attracted less of a crowd than years past, still love the fact that we could bless the community with no other agenda in mind other than to serve. Kind of takes the pressure off.

But tonight hit me hard. Not gonna lie, it's been a great weekend, but was kind of in task mode, so when I got to witness 9 people profess their faith in Christ and get baptized in between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.....come on now, I came undone.

Brought it home for me....as the tomb rolled away over 2000 years ago and Christ rose, he put in motion a radical and redemptive plan that we have the joy of partnering in; to become a renewed, restored people that has a hope only found through relationship in Christ. Boom. Done.

Awesome to see the visible expression of changed lives tonight. Can't describe it. Doesn't do it justice.

Happy Easter.

team of destiny.....this year

Cubs won their first game this year.

It's their year.....I think.

Inside Out

I've been reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a biography of the team Lincoln built around him that the current administration seems to reflect.

More books have been written on Lincoln than any other American President, I have been curious to see what his magic in leadership comes down to.

It wasn't his charisma. It seemed to take the whole country some time to warm to him. "His popularity almost came from the inside out. His cabinet was the first to see something unusual about him."

Inside out.

Take William Seward, who originally was a rival. Only 8 weeks into his position as secretary of state, he wrote to his wife that Lincoln was unlike anyone he'd ever known. One after the other, they came to power thinking Lincoln was rather unexceptional and ended up believing that he was as near a perfect man as anyone they'd ever met.

I wonder if Lincoln would have even had a chance in our culture? Probably not, "video killed the radio star", right? That said, he represents a kind of leadership that is often lost and found wanting these days because we place too much value on charisma and presentation in the media-centric life we're accustomed to.... inside out leadership is extinct....well, not really, but at least on the endangered list.

Holy godzirra

Am at lunch right now at "Sticky Rice" eating the Godzirra: crunchy shrimp, cream cheese, spicy sauce, tempuro crunchies and tobiko.

Freakin amazing sushi!

Cool to hang with our point pastor at Ebenezers.


-- Post From My iPhone

i've heard of you

Doing our "easter eggstravaganza" on saturday. 20,000 eggs, 2000 kids and adults that act like kids.

Last week myself and our Coffeehouse point pastor Jason Yost went around to various Capitol Hill elementary schools to hand out marketing cards for the event.

I honestly thought we'd get shewed away.

Exact opposite. Never seen so many enthusiastic school administrators. Additionally, many schools already anticipated the event (8th annual actually).

A lot of people talk about caring for the community, but how does that genuinely make a difference and translate into a level of change/transformation?

I don't think there is a silver lining or simple formula. But what is clear from scripture is that it's an attitude, it's an ethos translated into consistent action. There was a paradigm shift when we went from aiming our events to get people into the pews rather than simply aiming to bless the community regardless of the numerical outcome.

You know you're on the right track when the community begins to anticipate an event though.

just a week

For just one week out of the year, the Cherry Blossoms bloom on the perimeter of the tidal basin here in DC.

It's an amazing site overlooking the Jefferson Memorial.

In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo gave the city of DC 3000 cherry blossoms to show solidarity between the US/Japanese relations. Over 1 million people now arrive for this very narrow window of opportunity to view these amazing trees. Already, they're no longer pink.

absent but not absent

Feel like I'm still recovering from balancing my hours with Motorola, NCC and another freelance project I'm finishing up.

Good to have my parents in town for the weekend though.

Good to have a quiet night.