Soles 4 Shoes | 50,000 Pairs in 50 Days Charity Challenge!

I don’t know about you but I can tend to take something as simple as my shoes for granted. I look in my closet and have several pair to choose from. For me, and probably most of you, shoes are thought of more so for their comfort and style.

But think about what it must be like to not have the luxury of shoes. For those without shoes the healthcare benefits is the most urgent reason footwear is so desperately needed. A quality pair of shoes protects their foot from scrapes, cuts, and contaminants that lead to potentially serious healthcare issues.

So I ask you to join me and thousands of others around the globe as we do our part to help put shoes on the feet of those in need. Today launches the 50k in 50 days campaign from Soles 4 Shoes, a great charity based in Nashville, TN who is serving people in over 35 US states and 50 countries. It’s a pretty simple goal. Raise funds to buy 50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days.

The cool thing is only $5 buys 2 pairs of shoes!!

It takes under 2 minutes to donate and only three clicks – super easy!

So if you think this is something you can do…five bucks, three clicks, two minutes = two pairs of shoes to someone in need, just visit http://www.50000shoes.com right now.

I did it and I hope you will too. If each of us does something small, together we can accomplish something BIG! Over 300 million people around the world don’t have shoes and are forced to walk around unsafe and in potentially life-threatening conditions. Let’s do something about that.

Spread the word…forward this on to anyone you know…the people you work with, your mom, whoever!!

Oh, and one person who donated will win a trip to Mexico to hand deliver the shoes they bought to someone who has never owned shoes before. Could you imagine giving someone their very first pair of shoes?

All donations are tax deductible of course.

http://www.50000shoes.com

No One Cares About You

Watched a great clip from Seth Godin at an American Express OPEN forum.

Seth Godin

I love the point he is getting across. It’s not that no one cares about you entirely, it’s just that they don’t care about your self serving interest, your ego or desire to always tell them about you. They want you to care about them and inturn maybe you will earn their trust enough for them to care about you.

Catalyst Quotables, Behind the Scenes Photos and More…

Amazing photos from www.scottfillmer.com

I’ve been building a list of what I think are a few good quotes from speakers at the Catalyst Conference, as shared by several different bloggers and picked up from various interviews I listened to. Some of the quotes may not be word for word but should be, in essence, pretty close. Also posting links to a few interviews, videos, and interesting photos below the quotes.

If you have links to other good photos, interviews or Catalyst media let me know and I’ll add to this post.

QUOTABLES
Matt Chandler

• “If you are teaching people about what Jesus can do FOR them, it’s idolatry.”
• “We baptized a witch. We baptized an atheist. And then we baptized a man who had grown up in the Church. I know that there are witches out there. I know there are atheists out there, but what really bothers me are the people who grow up in the Church that miss the Gospel while sitting in church. What do I do with this?”
• “The good news of Jesus Christ is not that everything is going to go well, it’s that if you get Him, He is sufficient no matter what.”

Craig Groeschel

• “To reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing.”

Andy Stanley

• “Become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep.”
• “Pay attention to people who are breaking the rules. It’s the rule-breakers who are oftentimes the problem solvers.”
• “It’s not “no pain, no gain” — it’s “no pain, no change.” Without pain, there typically isn’t any change.”
• “When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.”
• “At the end of the day, everyone is a volunteer. They can quit at any time.”
• “Authenticity is a powerful leadership dynamic.”

Seth Godin

• “No one is seeking a safe leader. You have to do something people will criticize.”
• “I am begging you to become heretics, someone who’s faith is so deep that they are willing to deal with the criticism of the status quo because their faith is so deep. Martin Luther was a heretic.”
• “Before most people commit to things they ask, “Who else is going to be there?”

Steven Furtick

• “Between the promise of God and the pay-off is the process.”
• “When you are struggling through what seems insignificant to you, hang on to the promise of God.
  Be faithful in the process. Don’t get your eyes on the “big” thing or the “successful” place—just be faithful in the process.”
• “After David was anointed, where did he go? Back to the fields to be faithful in his role as a shepherd boy.”
• “There’s got to be more to life than putting money in a 401, buying a boat, and then dying.
  Be faithful. Be faithful Be faithful.”
• “Use your platform to impact people, not impress them.”

Jim Collins

• “Most overnight successes are really about twenty years in the making.”
• “It took 7 years for Sam Walton to open his 2nd store. It took Starbucks 13 years before they had 5 stores.”
• “How do the great typically fall? It’s not through complacency. It is typically over-reaching that derails great organizations. Going too far, too fast.”
• “A great organization is more likely to die of indigestion of too many opportunities rather than starvation of not enough opportunities.”

Tim Sanders

• “If not you, then who? If not right now, then when?”
• “Together we will fix this world.”

Perry Noble

• “In order to accomplish God-sized vision, it takes God-sized risks.”

VIDEO:
Steve Furtick talking about holding on to God’s promise.
Perry Noble talking about doing things when they don’t make sense.
Catalyst Opening worship set.

A bunch of other great videos and notes available at:
www.CatalystBackstage.com

Steven Furtick at Catalyst

PHOTOS:
:: Amazing photos via Scott Fillmer (direct post link here)
:: Mike Foster has some awesome shots up, especially the Ninja pics. (also visit the Deadly Viper blog)
:: Cool backstage photos from Reid Greven
:: Kevin Bussey (good photos)
:: Great shot of Furtick via Cheyenne Shultz (more photos coming it appears)
:: Great behind the sound board shots via Dive Productions
:: Ben Arment – various shots

Thanks to all these bloggers who took great notes from Catalyst. Here are just a few that I pulled some notes from…

Brad Ruggles
Chris Martin
Tony Morgan
Will Johnston
Tim Stevens
Mark Batterson
Scott Hodge
Anne Jackson

Oh yeah, be sure to check out www.catalystspace.com for additional resources.

Quit Ministry and Go Back to Calling

I am unfortunately not at the massive Catalyst Conference this week (12,000 or so Next Gen church leaders in Atlanta). Just had too many things on my plate and had to give up something + a friend who is almost done with Bible college really, really wanted to go so we gifted him our tickets. I’m praying that God uses the experience to speak into his life by allowing him to take something from the event and let it become a catalyst in the pursuit of his calling. Thanks though to Twitter, Anne Jackson and www.CatalystBackstage.com I have an inside look into the event from a variety of perspectives.

Back to the point of this post (and sorry this one is a longer post but I need to share this thought so stick with me here)…

So I’m reading a Catalyst thought from Mark Batterson earlier today and it connected a few dots to something I have been pondering on for a while. You can read his full pull post here but the big part that stuck out to me was when he said this:

As we sat in the balcony during that last session, I felt like the Holy Spirit took me back to my initial call in college. And He said in that spirit voice: what happened to the guy that used to pace the chapel balcony for hours seeking my heart? It messed me up. Broke me. Wrecked me.

I need to quit ministry and go back to calling.

Let me set this up with some back story…

For almost two years now the story of Elijah in 1 Kings keeps being brought up to me in many seemingly random ways. Elijah and the prophets of Baal, specifically though 1 Kings 19:8-13 has weighed on me. Not just the part about Elijah hearing God in a whisper but the part about God asking Elijah “what are you doing here?” God asks Elijah that initially as Elijah was sleeping in a cave on a mountain. A while later God reframes the question and says to Elijah… “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?”

I think God really had some emphasis on the words SO and HERE. Like God was saying, “SOOOO, Elijah, what are you doing HERE? Didn’t you get it the first time I asked? Why are you in a cave and not where I had placed you? Why did you run? You started off sooo good and had amazing faith in me with the whole 450 prophets of Baal thing but then you let this one lady, Jezebel, throw you into a panic. You lost your way and now you are in a cave. What are you doing HERE???”

Can you see the parallel of this to Mark’s thought?

In the case of Elijah, he ran and ended up in a cave. But for us, it’s not always that dramatic is it? Sometimes in pursuit of things good… we fall short of things great. Sometime the best of intentions get hijacked and sidetracked. Sometimes we veer slightly off course and over time end up in a place that is different than perhaps where we should be or where God wants us to be. I think Mark’s comment echo’s that we need to make sure we stay on track, being really careful to pursue the calling that God has placed in our lives and not let the busyness and distractions turn that calling simply into hollowed out ministry.

Is God asking you, “So __(insert name here)__, now tell me, what are you doing HERE?”

Maybe it’s time to come out of the cave and renew that calling.

Stop Pretending

I just read a post on Ben Arment’s blog where he wrote about looking for a leader.

It started my wheels turning… if you are looking for a leader then I guess you could say you are also interested in being a follower.

Ben raised a great point about the need to have someone in your life who “encourages you, pours into you, and challenges you.”

Many of us don’t have that. I mean we probably have a few people who offer occasional praise and encouragement but most of us don’t have very many who can take it to the next level… the pouring into and challenging us level.

In most cases though, it’s probably our own fault. Many times we don’t want to hear it or we are too busy to deal with it. We’re not used to a deep enough relationship where we can take a challenge from another without getting overly defensive. So rather than foster deep relationships that encourage that type of intimacy, many avoid them.

How could someone pour into or challenge you if you are not open to allowing them to do so?

In order for that to happen we’d have to stop pretending.

Pretending that we’re perfect.
Pretending that we’ve got it all together.

We’d have to let go of our ego and selfish ambitions that create walls and keep others out.
We’d have to stop being afraid of others knowing about our failures, our hurts, and our inadequacies.

Guess what? They have them too and they are probably looking for someone like you to share with as well. It all starts with someone making the first move, taking the first risk of trust.

An aside… I guess you can’t be lead until you are ready to follow.

Following brings along a certain dose of humility that recognizes the need for direction and the ability to take it.

Following seems to cultivate being open and honest with who you are so that you can become who you are supposed to be.

Audio with Eric Bryant

Took part in a great teleseminar today with Eric Bryant, Navigator at Mosaic in LA with Erwin McManus. During the call Eric shared a ton of great info on the subject of moving people from brokenness to wholeness. You can listen for yourself to a recording that is now online at http://www.ericbryant.org/teleseminar/

Here are just a few notes and quotes I jotted down during the call…

PRIDE = Arrogance and/or Low Self Esteem. In both cases your focus is actually on yourself.

HUMILITY is the only way to deal with pride.

Scripture says to humble ourselves. It does not say to ask God for humility.

“I’d rather be in the parking lot of a movement than in the pulpit of a dying church.”

INTEGRITY is the ability to be trusted with followers.

COURAGE is not the absence of fear; it’s the absence of self.

“Our goal is not to create better leaders but better people who lead.”

The church is not there to feed us but to make us hungry. [so that we feed ourselves with scripture]

A disciple is someone who is reaching others.

“Faith Blockers”

What struggles (the real stuff) do people face that stop them living the life God intended?
Pastors and Ministry Leaders share your feedback here: http://tinyurl.com/5tzy45

A BIG Vision

I have to give some serious props to my friend Jason. He’s not just a friend, he’s also the new lead pastor of my church. A pretty big opportunity as he is a young guy stepping in to lead a church that is over 30 years old, has multiple campuses and several thousand attendees each weekend. That’s a great deal of responsibility and accountability but one I see Jason and our entire team stepping into with greatness.

As Andy Stanley says, “Leadership is a stewardship. It’s temporary and you’re accountable.”

Well, the leadership team decided they were going to make today a day of fasting and prayer for the church staff. The team met this morning and are being sent out this afternoon to go find a place they can pray focused prayers for our church, our leadership and the direction God is taking us so that we are the church that He wants us to be.

Although that, in and of itself, is worth praise… it’s not what prompted me to write this post.

Here’s what did.

I called Jason on his cell a little bit ago just to ask a quick question. Got voice mail and left a message. A little bit later he called back. I said, “Hey man, what are you doing?” His response was, “I’m driving the loop of interstate 295 around Jacksonville.” I said, “for what?” He said, “to pray for our city.”

Honestly, even when I type this my eyes get teared up and a little lump gets in my throat.

To pray for our city!

He wasn’t just sitting somewhere praying it. He was in his truck driving the loop that outlines the entire city limits. He wasn’t praying selfish prayers for our church. He was praying for healing and restoration of all of those we have the direct opportunity to reach.

That’s vision. That’s BIG vision. That’s faith in action. That’s saying to God that you are serious about the mission He has placed on your heart.

That inspires me. It challenges me too. Most of all, it makes me excited with anticipation to see what God is going to do next and it makes me confident that our leaders are pursuing God with renewed focus and strength.

Quote from Bill Clinton at DNC

I’ve been watching the Democratic National Convention this week. That’s not to suggest I am voting democratic or republican for that matter. I just enjoy watching good speakers, orators, do what they do best. Regardless of your individual political preference, you’d have to admit that Bill Clinton is a top notch speaker.

During Bill’s talk tonight he shared a quote that really caught my attention.

“People are more impressed by the power of our example, not the example of our power.”

So true.

This quote speaks far beyond just the political spectrum to which Clinton was framing it. It speaks to every aspect of our lives.

How we treat the cashier at the grocery store.
How we treat the person who can’t do much to serve our own agendas.
How bosses treat their employees.
How those who have treat those who have not.

It speaks to believers in Jesus.

It reminds me that it is far more important for me to live out what I say I believe. I don’t have to force anything on anyone. If I am living it, they will see it. And maybe… just maybe.. they will want to live it too.

10 Times Larger

“There is a reason the windshield is 10 times larger than the rearview mirror.”

My pastor shared this quote with our ministry team today. Love it. It’s so true. I’m thankful for visionary leadership. Leadership that is more focused on the windshield… the big window of the future, the window of opportunity and growth. While an occasional glance in the rearview is always good to see where you’ve been… you have to be careful to not let it become a distraction that keeps you from where you are going.