Jonathan Herron

Martin de Maat: Leveraging Laughter to Eclipse Leaders' Fears

The late Dr. Martin de Maat had a profound impact on my life (I wrote about that here).  He was not only my professor and mentor, he was a close friend (Martin was even one of my wedding groomsmen!).

Dr. de Maat taught me so much not only about improvisational-comedy, but more importantly about the joy of doing life together:

"What happens... in being with each other in acceptance and Yes And-ing each other, is that you as an individual start to believe in yourself because you begin to see yourself in the others' eyes.

Your ensemble, your group, your team, your committee, is the one that's believing in you and you pull it together to do it for them.

You know, it's simply recognizing you're not alone. It's love and unconditional acceptance.

You put yourself in a place of support, unconditional acceptance and love for who you are, the way you are and your uniqueness, and what you do is grow. You surround yourself with people who are truly interested in you and listen to you, and you will grow.

And it doesn't take much to start advancing you, it doesn't take much of that support, it doesn't take much of that love and that care and you can do it. You can play act with people. You can be in a state of play together."

This is how comedians create new material.
Yes And leads to trust leads to contagious unity leads to childlike creativity.
Its how leaders might lead teams in the 21st Century.

Don't settle for the loneliness of leadership isolation.
Dream of and strive for a team of church leaders who are accepting of one another's uniquenesses.  After all, we each bring different strengths to the table.

I love what Martin would say about the group dynamics of creating comedy through Yes And:

"There's a lot of laughter that goes on. Since we're laughing together, we're true community. It's a very safe place to confront your fears. The minute somebody says, 'Perform!' your fear comes up..."

As we Yes And, may we as leaders embrace contagious unity and laughter. 

By refusing to perform and instead choosing raw, authentic community, we may just lead at a higher, deeper, more spiritually-sensitive level than before...

 

 

Perry Noble on the Cannonball Podcast

First, thank you for the great responses and enthusiasm surrounding last month's premiere Cannonball interview with comedian Jim Breuer.

This month's edition of the Cannonball Podcast features my interview with New York Times Bestselling Author and founding pastor of one of the fastest-growing churches in America, Perry Noble!

In this interview Perry shares:

• Lessons learned from studying Jerry Seinfeld
• The personal advice Perry received from Jeff Foxworthy
• What to do when you totally blank-out on stage
• How he leverages comedy in church, leadership, and life.

And stay tuned after the interview for a heads up on my special guest next month!

 - Grab Episode 2 of the Cannonball Podcast NOW -

        (and don't forget to LIKE our new Cannonball Facebook Page)

 

 

Introducing Life Church's NEW Worship Pastor!

To reach the people no one else are reaching in our region, we have to do the things no one else are doing.  This means that engaging, super-modern, LOUD music with undistracting excellence is a core value for Life Church.

I volunteered to lead worship, but I only bring harmonica skills to the mix.  

So we knew we needed to find one of the BEST worship leaders in the country, jump him in a dark parking lot and hog-tie him... or pray that God would make a way.

So we prayed.  And posted what we were looking for.  In the meantime, my buddy Jimmy Savage graciously helped us out by leading worship at our five previews.  Jimmy is on-staff at another rockin' church in the Detroit suburbs.  His lead pastor, Jeff Forester (who also serves on Life Church's Board), graciously loaned Jimmy to us.  Jimmy helped us set the bar and guarded the bar.

We talked with lots of quality worship guys for many months.  Finally, in God's providence, we found our man.

Everyone, meet Adam Downer:

Adam is Life Church's new Worship Pastor!  Adam comes to us from Florida with nearly 20 years of experience in the music industry and ministry.  He is the former lead singer of Chasing Saturn and has a white-hot passion for raising up a new generation of worship leaders.  Adam has been married to his wife Penny for fifteen years and they have three awesome kids: Addy (13), Hannah (11), and Eli (10).

Here's what I love about Adam:

• His heart is tender before God.  Spend 10 minutes with this guy and he will leak Jesus all over you.  Being Kingdom-minded is important to me, and its important to Adam too.

• This guy walks by faith, not by sight.  Adam and Penny told me that they are making this cross-country, embracing a pay-cut, Abram-like move to be a part of Life Church based on two things: the vision and, well, the Herron's!  Loyalty means a LOT to Amber and me.  We aren't looking to "hire employees" at Life; we are looking to do life together and Life Church is the fun, side-gig we get to build together!

• Adam is a man of honor and integrity.  He doesn't come here harboring hidden motives or a personal agenda.  Like me, Adam has no time for insider-church politics.  Adam has a track-record of never throwing a friend or staff member under the bus... he'd rather get hit by the bus together!  

• The Downer family is committed to being here for the long-haul.  The last thing we wanted was a guy to come join Life Church only to leave after a year or two (that doesn't lead to fruitful ministry).  Adam shares my heart for pouring our lives into this region through Life and making life-long memories together.  How fun it would be one day to be old codgers sitting on Cracker Barrel rocking chairs, reminiscing on what the Lord did through us at Life Church!

• Adam is a HUGE Bon Jovi fan.  That makes him cool in my book.

Adam will be joining us in time for our Grand Opening on Sunday, March 17th.  The band he is inheriting from Jimmy is absolutely primed and siked for Adam's arrival (as am I!).  

Please be praying for the Downer family as they navigate all the details that come with a cross-country move: new schools, new jobs, new housing, and new opportunities!

Launching Life Church

There are many ways to begin a church start-up:

• Some guys go with a big whiz-bang! and launch immediately (which I support!).
• Some guys are given a bunch of people and money from a big momma church to start with momentum (I also support this!). 
• Our approach has been the Tortoise and the Hare.  Who wins the race every time?  
  The tortoise; slow and steady always wins the race.

Amber and I have spent the past 16+ months praying, planning, going through a thorough assessment process, gathering people, and building systems through five preview services.

Finally, all systems are go and we're ready to launch Life Church on Sunday, March 17th!  
Yup, Life is going to be a St. Paddy's Day Baby!!

We've signed contracts with Saginaw Valley State University to use their fantastic, modern theaters in the SVSU Performing Arts Center.  The location is strategic to our vision of reaching people far from God throughout the entire Great Lakes Bay Region.  SVSU is in the heart of all the action in our region of Michigan (read this, this, this, and this to see why!).

Every decision we make is filtered through and fueled by our vision:  

• Our vision is what compelled one of the BEST worship pastors in the country to choose to uproot his family in sunny Florida to join Life Church in MidMichigan!  
• Our vision is what grabs the hearts of our Lifers, some of whom drive 45 minutes from their homes across the region to arrive early and roll up their sleeves to serve others.
• Our vision is what compelled a local businessman last night to gift Life Church with a check for $10,000 and the promise of more to come.
• Our vision is what is prompting churches around the state and the team at Converge to partner with our start-up with strong prayer, encouragement, and a generous matching grant for all online donations.

This white-hot vision from God is behind bringing Life to MidMichigan!

It's going to be a fun Grand Opening next month at SVSU.  
We will do anything short of sin to reach people far from God in our region.
We're even throwing plastic eggs out of a helicopter.

We'd love to have you follow along for the ride of launching Life Church!

Life Church Facebook        @LifeMichigan        Life Church App        Giving to the vision

 

 

 

Move Fast and Break Things

When you are creating comedy on-the-spot without a script, you don't have time to pause, think about things, wish you had more props to play with, or think deeply about what your next line will be.

Because the spotlight is hot, the audience is waiting, and crickets are death to comedians.

In improv-comedy, you Just Do It.  Take a risk.  Jump.  Fail harder.

The same principle applies to leadership.  Nike was onto something when they coined the phrase, Just Do It.   It's ok (and fun!) to move fast and break things!

When I was studying comedy at Second City, a documentary crew caught up with the mainstage actors.  When the comedians asked for an audience suggestion and "Driver's Ed" was yelled back, they had to spring into action and just do it. 

No time for an actual car to sit in - just do it:

This same principle applies to leadership. 

Sometimes you don't have the car on-hand; you gotta lead forward and just do it. 

Paralysis kills forward movement.  Nobody is inspired by hand-wringing.

Don't just stick your toe into the water... Cannonball!

Because that's where the fun and the magic is.

 

How to Get a Free App for Your Church

If you spent money to create an App for your church, bummer.

Because there's a super-easy way to get a FREE App for your church (no pop-up ads).

Trust me, you definitely need an App.  In the 18-24 demographic, two out of every three American adults own a smartphone.  46% of all adults in America own a smartphone.

A church App creates:

• instant credibility with the people you are trying to reach

• puts your unique identity on their phone

• and allows for instant communication.

After researching all the possibilities last summer, I found a way to create and offer an App for our church plant for free.

Let me say those last two words again:  For.  Free.

Seriously, church leaders can get a free App for their ministry. 

 No ads, no hidden catches, and no mediocrity.  

 

How Church Leaders can get a Free App for their Church in 3 easy steps

1.  Go to AppGuppy.com.

2.  Register for a FREE account.

3.  Follow the simple step-by-step directions and BOOM! you have your App.  For free.

You can get our Life Church Michigan App for iPhone and Android here.  Since offering our App last summer, we've seen this tool open many doors for us into the lives of people throughout our region.

 

Get More Free Stuff for Church Leaders

The Cannonball Podcast is a free, monthly interview with influential comedians and leaders unpacking how to use comedy in church, leadership, and life.

The January edition came out last week featuring my sit-down with Saturday Night Live alum Jim Breuer.  You can get it on iTunes.

Episode 2 comes out soon featuring New York Times Bestselling Author and pastor of one of the fastest-growing churches in America, Perry Noble.  

This is all free for you.  

Make sure you don't miss all the freebies from Cannonball: LIKE our Facebook Page and sign up below for exclusive Cannonball email updates  (no info will be shared with any third parties and no spamming, promise).  

I think you'll get a kick out of this new Cannonball project.  It's a freebie that will help get you fired up in ministry and leadership.

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