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Two Unlikely Leadership Lessons from Conan O'Brien

 

Conan O'Brien was interviewed in two different settings in the past week.
I picked up two solid yet unlikely leadership lessons from him.

#1.  Don't throw the past under the bus,
        even when you have been Leno'd.

This was an awesome-sauce interview.

Here's the thing: Conan didn't throw the past under the bus.  Sure, Letterman was publicly sniffing for dirty laundry to air (that's what gossips do), but Conan did not dishonor NBC. 

Leaders don't throw the past under the bus, even when they're Leno'd.

There is no honor in tearing down people and organizations... especially in church-world. 

Jesus purchased the church with His blood.  That's HUGE!  God loves the church, created the church, and declares the church to be Christ's bride!  Have you ever talked smack about another man's wife?  Imagine doing that to Jesus Christ!!

If a church has hurt you in the past, that does not give you the right to muddy its name.  If a church leader has disappointed you in the past, they are not your enemy (see Ephesians 6:12!!).  Forgive and let go. 

Leaders understand that integrity is doing the right thing even when it hurts.  Trust me, I've felt hurt a lot over the past year.  But I've found that God is honored most when we talk smack the least. 

If you're a leader who has walked through the fire, allow Isaac's experience in Genesis 26 to be your model.  Isaac was misnderstood, dishonored, and shunned over and over again.  But he doesn't fight back.  He submits to the Lord's will.  And verse 28 is a beautiful display of the gospel.

 

#2:  Amplify, Amplify, Amplify Your Message:

Fascinating Fact: Jay Leno's twitter has 376,000 followers while Conan O'Brien's twitter has 5.7 million.

Lean into Conan's analysis of social media - - crucial learnings for leaders during this tehnological shift in our culture:

- Twitter/blogs/Facebook isn't about self-promotion, it's inviting people into his world. 
It's relationship-building.

- "It's all about content.  Funny content is funny content."

- "How do you create a symbiotic relationship?  How do you get people emotionally-involved?"

- Fascinating back-story on Will Ferril's recent Anchor Man 2 announcement on Conan.  Good comedy always starts with a good plan.

- 1993: Obsession was don't give anything away. 
  2012: No surprises, it goes everywhere, creates a wave of viewership - incredible awareness.

- Audience gets information from multiple sources, making it fractured and distracted - must be willing to deliver your message in multiple ways. 

- Conan on leveraging social media post-Tonight Show: "This is not the way that I watch television, but I had to make a choice, and I think this is the way."

- Things happen quickly.

- Walt Disney never met a technology he was afraid of.  He constantly adapted: animation to talkies to motion pictures to theme parks to television.  He always embraced new things.  Adapt or die.

- Beatles on Ed Sullivan had 90 million tv viewers.  They were tuning in to see what they looked like.  YouTube solves that problem today.

 

BONUS: Don Miller recently wrote on this important topic for leaders: Some Thoughts on Self Promotion and Why Arrogant People Think It's Wrong.

Best quote: "Self promotion is not unholy. Occasionally I’ll encounter some well-meaning religious person who thinks self promotion works against the fame of God. I whole-heartedly disagree. In his day, Billy Graham spent millions promoting himself and his crusades, all so people could come HEAR HIM TALK ABOUT GOD. Those who know Mr. Graham would never see him as arrogant. He was over himself. But that didn’t mean God didn’t give him a personality and a mouth and later a microphone. Flowers bloom and mountains tower not to take attention from God, but to display His glory."

Warning: Boring Preachers Can Actually KILL You (see Acts 20)!!

Paul was an amazing Bible teacher:

• the guy studied under the Yoda of his day, Gamaliel
  
• Paul studied crazy-hours and knew his Bible inside and out
  
• He wrote a big chunk of the New Testament...
  You know you're an amazing Bible teacher when your sermons become Scripture!!

So you'd think with this resume that Paul would be an engaging preacher, right?

Wrong!

Paul was boring.  Which is fine... except when it leads to someone's death!

Seriously, did you know that dry preaching can be a health hazard?!

In Acts 20, Paul is waxing eloquently.  And he waxes on and on and on. 
Apparently he forgot Mr. Miyagi's number one rule: "Wax on AND wax OFF!"

The message was dry and stuffy.  A young guy, Eutychus, sat down by a window to get some fresh air.  He needed to do something to keep his attention during the sermon!

First a yawn, then some daydreaming.  Until finally, it happened: Paul's preaching was so boring, it put this teenager to sleep. 

And Eutychus fell out the window. 
Three stories. 
Straight down. 
Splat.

Now don't worry, the young guy came out ok.  It helps to have an Apostle of the living God handy to heal you!

But we don't have that luxury in today's world.  Listen, boring preachers can kill you!  Don't believe me?  Look around:

• Are your teens so jacked-up excited about their church that they're texting and Facebooking their friends with massive invites to Sunday mornings? 
• Do you see young people knocking each other over at church to fill all the seats and create standing-room-only space? 
• Is there a movement of teenagers and young adults swamping the church's facilities, breathing new life and great hope into the future of your church?

No?  Then maybe you're experiencing a Eutychus Moment.  If the passion and engagement is missing in the message, the next generation will be missing in the pews!

Young people WILL mobilize behind something they believe in (just google things like "Hunger Games" or "American Idol" if you don't believe me!).  The problem is that No one will ever follow you down the street if you're carrying a banner that says, 'Onward toward mediocrity.'

The lesson from Paul is simple: you can have more degrees than fahrenheit, but if you're not preaching life, your church will LOSE life!! 

I don't know about you, but I'm ringing the three-alarm fire siren over the fact that the Body of Christ is hemorraging out young people!  If we aren't fired up and passionately preaching life, we will continue seeing Eutychuses searching for life outside the church (which always leads to death).

Let's take heed, saddle up, and do whatever it takes to engage a generation with the promise and excitement of Jesus Christ!!

 

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This Sunday:  Make Mom Proud!

Start Garden for Church Planting

Today a new venture was announced (cleverly) in Michigan: Start Garden.

A $15 million fund is available to entrepreneurs state-wide.

You pitch your idea, two are chosen every week - - one by Start Garden, one by general public.

Stage 1 Investment: Start Garden gives you $5,000 to run with. 

The entrepreneur returns within 90 days to give a public presentation on what they did with that initial investment.  If Start Garden thinks they were wise...

Stage 2 Investment: $20,000.  Repeat.

Stage 3: $50,000.  Repeat.

Stage 4: $100,000... etc.

Fantastic idea that promotes entrepreneurism, creates momentum, AND creative accountability.

My question: Why don't we do this for church start-ups?

At the time, The Little Mermaid was THE standard in motion picture animation.

That's when a little known production start-up known as Pixar pitched Tom Hanks.

"You don't want me to sing, do you?"

Pixar assured him that Toy Story would be different.

They quietly wrote out their own secret rules of story-telling:

• No songs
• No "I want" moment
• No happy village
• No love story
• No villain

As Toy Story went into production, Disney bosses freaked out.

Disney contacted a well-known, established songwriter for his take.

Without knowing about Pixar's secret rules, he said Toy Story needed:

• Songs
• An "I want" moment
• A happy village
• A love story
• A villain

Pixar broke all the rules. 

And in the process, the built a better story.

One of the key areas for us as a church start-up (some people in church-world would call it a "church plant" but "church start-up" just makes more sense to me) is me staying connected with our folks with the same passon I bring when I'm teaching.  So every Tuesday, I'm going to do my best to share my heart as a pastor. 

Here's five things I want everyone connected with Life Church Michigan to know this week:

1. Life is short and eternity is a long time!  I wrote about that here, but was reminded of this again yesterday as I officiated a memorial service here in Caro.  Everyone has a date with destiny... my passion is that that date involves being welcomed in person by Jesus!! 
   
   Listen, the whole reason we're starting a church from scratch is NOT to compete with other churches or "show them" or fill-in-the-blank...  We're not here to compete with the Body, but to complete the Body in our region! 
   
   Our church's vision is to Reach the Lost at Any Cost!  We will do ANYTHING short of sin to engage people far from God.  We want to make heaven crowded!  And we cannot deny what God has clearly called us to do! 
   
   If doing whatever it takes to adavnce God's Kingdom fires you up, make plans to be at our next Informational Meeting on Sunday, March 11th at the Brentwood in Caro.  Don't worry, there won't be any Kool-Aid or anything weird.  Just me sharing our vision and bringing the thunder!  Plus you can straight up ask about ANYTHING (and I really mean ANYTHING!) - our church doesn't believe in hiding things or keeping secrets; we're really an open book.  RSVP over on the facebook (and help spread the word).
   
   
2. Pray for me this Thursday!  I've been invited to Moody Theological Seminary in Detroit as part of a panel discussion on Church Planting.  In the past decade, no county in the state of Michigan has experienced an increase in church attendance.  We need more church start-ups!



3. Pray for our strategic partnership with StoneRock Rehab!  Like Jesus, we want to meet people's spiritual needs AND physical and mental needs throughout the week.  What an impact we could have together throughout this whole region by partnering with a new Christian agency that will help people find wholeness in Christ.  I'm very excited about the possibilities we're talking about.



4. Pray for our future worship leader!  We are already looking ahead to the time when we'll bring on board someone who's heart beats faster when they think about impacting people far from God.  This will be key as we look toward preview worship services like we talked about this past Sunday night.  Pray for God to raise up the right leader who shares a love for fast, loud, modern worship combined with strong entrepreneurial skills.



5. If you're fired up to see Life launch later this year, join us in giving generously!  Listen, we don't want something from you, we want something for you: a life-giving church you can be proud of combined with God's blessing as you honor Him with your best, not your left-overs (this is the one time in the entire Bible where God tells you to test Him!!).  Online giving is available over on our big momma website.

Ok, that's all for now, Lifers.  I love you guys and am believing God's promises for our church start-up.  Now let's pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us!!

Jonathan

The Role of Testosterone in Church Planting (part 2 of 2)

Paul the Apostle was a church planter.  His writings in the New Testament are a chronicle of starting new churches from scratch. 
History also tells us that Paul was bald.  Both are symptoms of a guy with extra testosterone!

When God gives a man extra testosterone (T+), it enables him to take bigger risks for the Kingdom (starting new churches from scratch). 
The Spirit brings together biology and calling for God's work!

The lead-up to a new church builds tension.  The public launch releases a burst of excitement.  And the inevitable holy hangover is tension-free.  This powerful cycle of energy is both spiritually-driven and biologically-hardwired into men.  T+ guys will regularly experience cycles of a short buildup of tension followed by a gratifying and decisive release. 

Think about it: when a guy is faced with a challenge, stress, or threat, his body is put on major alert.  Will he fight or take flight?  Will he seize the moment or seize the escape?  This tension-release loop is part of manhood and explains the competitive nature of guys.  When a guy has T+, he will feel a higher compulsion toward the cycle of tension-release.  Whether its bar fights, debates, sex, or sports, its all tied to testosterone.

If a guy finds no creative (and legal) way to complete the tension-release cycle, he will go underground to angrily lash out later in destructive acts.  Or it will grow within him into depression, torturing self-criticism, or painful feelings of hopelessness.

This is why calling and purpose are so important:
if you're a guy with a truck-load of testosterone, you need Jesus to not just guide you spiritually, but also biologically! 

T+ is a recipe for either chaos or creativity; the intersection is God's calling.

When we look at science through the lens of scripture, we realize that God gives T+ to certain men to accomplish certain tasks.  Whether its Samson or Saul, we see mighty men wired naturally for supernatural tasks. 

The tension-release cycle helps us understand not only the launching of new churches, but also the launching of new message series and programs.  The build-up is both spiritually and biologically driven in a man as it builds tension.  The kick-off is the release and the resulting holy hangover is the result of chemical depletion in the body.

God uses testosterone for His glory and Kingdom expansion. 
Understanding the biology of T+ guys is simply another element toward predicting church planting success.

The Role of Testosterone in Church Planting (part 1 of 2)

Yes, calling is important.  God specifically grabs the heart of specific men and points them toward starting new churches.  Paul is a great example:

That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him,
"Come over to Macedonia and help us!"  So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that
God was calling us to preach the Good News there.   (Acts 16:9-10, NLT)

There is a spiritual pull to start a church from scratch.

But I want to point out a second factor: the biological pull.  God wires all men with a drug-like hormone that is one of the strongest drivers of behavior the world has ever known.  A minute drop of this potent substance, adminstered over a brief period of time, empowers the smallest and weakest male monkeys to become more aggressive in a group.  Testosterone is what fuels boys to become men in a transformation mirroring Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk.

The release of testosterone contributes to the intoxicating feeling a man feels of power and invincibility.  Its why teenage guys do stupid things: the rush of chemicals in the bloodstream inspire them to win at all costs.

According to new studies by Frank Farley, Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, some men have higher levels of this hormone than others.  Men with "testosterone plus" (T+) score high creatively, typically break new ground, challenge authority, and love to make the rules.  Sounds like today's church planters, doesn't it?

This is where I think science and faith collide: God gives a larger dose of testosterone to some men.  And time and again, I've seen the Lord use a biological pull in concert with a spiritual push to start a new church.  This isn't random chance but divine providence.  God plans and creates:

For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
   I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
    My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. (Psalm 139:13-15, NIV)

God gives some men more testosterone than others.  For example, I am a T+ guy.  God made me this way.  He saw fit to make me very driven to start new things from scratch.  T+ is the biological factor of a spiritual pioneer.  When you combine God's calling with God's wiring, you get Kingdom expansion.  It's just how God has wired many in our generation.   

And it helps explain the DNA of a church planter: there's a scientific factor in assessing potential church planters.

Tomorrow we'll talk about the role of testosterone in the Holy Hangover.

Bootleg of our Big Announcement

At the 2nd Informational Meeting for our new church start-up, we shared some exciting news with the 50+ who had gathered to hear our vision and plans.

Somebody whipped out their iPhone 4 and caught some of the action.

Enjoy.

Grab more info at LifeChurchMichigan.com.

Life Church Michigan: On Location

Got 90 seconds? Here's a quick video update:

More: Life Church Michigan

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• Amber and I were both excited and humbled by the turnout and response to our first informational meeting for our church start-up.

• It was amazing to watch an empty room organically fill-up. 
  There's something special about starting with zero and ending the night with nearly 30 people.  All night we were joking about how we had experienced 3,000% growth - - now that's a fast-growing church!  :)

• Late last night, Am & I were reflecting on our first church planting adventure in Ohio.  It took us 9 months to get to 31 people on our original launch team (only 10 showed up for the first informational meeting in Ohio).  And last night God brought together nearly that many for the very first info meeting.  Blessed.

• Honored to dedicate Shaun & Jessie Dunham's infant daughter, Madison.  Such a delight.  Life Church began with a celebration of life!

• Unpacked Luke 5 and our heartbeat as a church start-up. 
  Jesus (who attracted "pressing crowds") has gotten into our boat and is telling us cast out into the deep.  God's Agenda = Bursting Nets + Broken Boats!

• Lots of conversations about our Code - - I've discovered over the years that people love and respond to clear direction and unapologetic leadership!

• Saw lots of eyes light up when I shared a bit about our designs for kids ministry in this area. 

• Biggest question of the night: location!  God is orchestrating some AMAZING (not hype, just TRUTH!) details on this in the background, but we're not ready to announce things publicly just yet.  All I can do is echo Amber's words: God is being true to His word, doing more than we could ever ask for or even imagine!

• Our next Informational Meeting will be in two weeks - Sunday, January 22nd at 5:30pm.  We'll have more vision-casting, another Q&A time, and we'll be dedicating another infant: Angel Czykyski's little one, Ahna!  So many baby dedications - - love it!!  Register here!

• I'm flying out to Phoenix this week.  I was invited by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention to speak to a couple hundred teens over the weekend.  Phoenix in January?  Why yes, I can make that happen!

• Besides unpacking what discipleship looks like in the 21st Century, I'll also be doing a late night improv-comedy set.  Looking forward to that!!

• I'll be back in Phoenix in March for the Ignite 2012 church planting conference. 

• The Lighthouse in Caro has also invited me to speak soon to a couple hundred of their employees about biblical stewardship and financial planning.  Excited to equip the team!

• For what its worth, I understand the challenge of finding the right speaker for conferences and retreats.  What I've discovered is that a quality speaker shapes the success of an event.  I want to be your guy.

• Alright, that's enough for now - time to go.  So many giants to slay, so little time.  Thankful that Goliath is always within range of a good slingshot!