The Fastest Year

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Yesterday was my one-year anniversary as the Senior Pastor at Asbury Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma; I started my new job at August 1, 2022.

It’s been the fastest year of my life.

 
 

My favorite thing about being a pastor—by far—is knowing people over time. I knew when I left Munger I might never be able to have that same experience again—the great privilege of knowing people over time in such a personal way. At Asbury, I was immediately thrust into a situation in which I had to lead people without being able to know them personally. One of the major lessons I’m learning is how to lead a large group of people, many of whom I have no personal connection with. Asbury is a big church—at least compared to most American churches—and we have a large staff. At Munger, our staff was very small and leadership was always personal for me, both with regard to our staff and even in the congregation, since the congregation grew up over time; though I of course didn’t know everyone, I nevertheless had a personal connection with a sizable percentage of folks on any given Sunday. Here at Asbury, even the staff is too big for me to lead through personal connection. Rather, I’m learning that leadership is about providing clarity, and then asking and inspiring other people to get things done. For someone like me who thrives on personal connection, that could be very difficult, so I’m grateful that folks here have been so eager to follow my lead and run in the direction I’m running.

Right off, I was asked to help us over the finish line of disaffiliation, and it happened! That churchwide vote last August made me nervous—what if folks didn’t trust my leadership? When the total came back that afternoon as overwhelmingly in support of disaffiliation and the direction we were going, I was personally grateful—that result caused me to think, “Maybe this will work!”

The attitude of the Asbury congregation toward what I’m asking us to do and to where I’m asking us to go has been one of eager enthusiasm, particularly in our older members. I’ll never forget asking folks to wear running shoes to church as a sign that we were ready to run, and they did! Or the entire Administration Council showing up to an evening meeting in running shoes to show they were ready to run. Or the Ad Council surprising me in my office on Easter Sunday to pray over me. Or the congregation wearing Hawaiian shirts on Pentecost Sunday, just because I asked them to.

I’m proud of the sermons I’ve preached this past year, starting with that first Sunday. (I do remember one sermon from February in which I was walking around the stage hoping to stumble across the point of my sermon; I’m sorry to say I don’t think I ever found it! My apologies to everyone who had to listen to that one.) I never pulled any punches; in fact, I came to Asbury committed to doing my best to say what’s true, even when I’m afraid. And sometimes, being afraid caused me to double-down and be more bold!

One of the other lessons I’ve been learning is the importance of controlling and capturing one’s thought life. My wife has been on me for not being grateful enough, and she’s right—grateful thoughts don’t come naturally to me. (In fact, I preached a whole sermon in December on the connection between gratitude and happiness—I was definitely preaching to myself that week for sure.) So, looking back over the past year, I want say again just how grateful I am. Grateful to all the kindnesses the Asbury congregation has shown me and my family, and grateful to the Lord who blesses even when we don’t deserve it.

So, here I am beginning Year Two. I came back from summer vacation really excited to be coming back and really fired up at the work ahead—I looked forward all week to seeing folks this past Sunday, which is a great feeling. I’m grateful that the Lord’s not done with me yet, and he’s not done with Asbury yet. And I’m reminded again of that scene from The Hustler (from the blog post I wrote about it one year ago):

Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) and Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) have been playing pool for 25 hours straight, and Fast Eddie has been winning—he’s been wiping the floor with the Fat Man, and is over $11,000 up. There’s a break in the action, and Minnesota Fats goes to the washroom and freshens up. He combs his hair, cleans his fingernails, straightens his tie.

Then he comes out, dries off his hands, slides into his suitjacket—it’s a beautiful three piece suit he’s wearing—fixes his boutonniere on his lapel, and has the steward pour a little bit of talcum powder on his hands.

He looks absolutely magnificent, the picture of masculine elegance, calm, cool, controlled.

And then he looks at Eddie and he says,

“Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.”

 
 

The past is the past—all that matters is now. It’s time to focus, and time to win.

Alright Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.

Let’s GO.

 
 

My 9 Word Strategic Plan

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I believe that the most important thing a leader provides is clarity; if the vision is clear, it almost doesn’t matter what the vision is (as long as it’s not wicked). So, I’ve often joked that if the vision is

  • “We’re gonna be the cheeseburger church—everyone who comes on Sundays will be served a cheeseburger;”

  • And if that vision is clear,

  • Then the church will grow.

Clarity is actually really difficult to achieve, but once the vision is clear, everyone wins.

(I was joking about the “cheeseburger church” thing, but I think I could actually get behind that idea. Who’s with me? Maybe it just means I’m hungry.)

 
 

Keystone Habits

I’m a big believer in what Charles Duhigg calls “keystone habits.”

A keystone habit is a behavior that, though it might seem small, will have a cascading effect into other areas of a person’s life. So, for example, take exercise:

“When people start habitually exercising, even as infrequently as once a week, they start changing other, unrelated patterns in their lives, often unknowingly. Typically people who exercise start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. It’s not completely clear why.…‘Exercise spills over,’ said James Prochaska, a University of Rhode Island researcher. ‘There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.’”
— "The Power of Habit," by Charles Duhigg

Committing to the right keystone habits is HUGE, since those repeated behaviors will drive everything else.

 
 

I’m much more interested personally and professionally on focusing on inputs than I am on outcomes.

What are the inputs that will set me up for success?

What are the habits that will prepare Asbury for what’s next?

 
 

My 9 Word Strategic Plan

So, here’s my 9 word strategic plan for Asbury:

One psalm a day, every day, for 150 days.

It’s not exciting. It’s not glamorous. It’s not impressive.

But if Asburians develop the habit of beginning their days in silence and in scripture, if we commit to daily consistency and not worry overmuch about intensity, if we learn the practice of praying through our emotions to the Lord, in 150 days we’ll be in fighting shape.

 
“One psalm a day, every day, for 150 days.”
— What I'll say if you ask me what my vision for Asbury is.
 
 

Why I Will Never Again Cancel Worship* (for Weather or Otherwise)

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The picture above is from Ash Wednesday 2021 at Munger Place Church; not only did we have worship outside in ice and snow that day, but the Texas power outage meant that many of us weren’t even able to go home and warm up in our comfortable houses!

But you know what? That was one of my favorite worship services of these last 2 pandemic years. (And not because I preached in ski goggles.)

With ice and snow in our forecast, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of Christian worship, and thought that some of you might be interested in my conclusions and convictions.

 
 

Why I Never Again Want to Cancel Worship*

One of my convictions after living through these last 24 months of a worldwide pandemic:

I will never again cancel weekly worship* (due to bad weather or any other reason).

[Note the asterisk, however!]

These last 24 months have convinced me that nothing is more important than the gathering of God’s people to worship the Crucified Lord.

I really mean that, and though I might have said that in February 2020, in February 2022 I know it.

This means that, despite the bad weather in the forecast for Thursday, we will NOT cancel our weekly Thursday 6 PM worship service this week. (And, God forbid, if weather causes problems into Sunday, we won’t cancel services then, either.)

 
 

Now, About That Asterisk*

When I say that I never want to cancel “worship,” I need to clarify a bit.

What I mean is, no matter the situation, I firmly believe we should never completely cancel worship; we will have some kind of worship gathering. But, that does not necessarily mean that worship will look like normal. In fact, there are many circumstances that will cause us to change what worship normally looks like.

Here’s what I mean:

  • Say the roads are unsafe for drivers. Well, I live within walking distance to church; if the roads are bad, I’ll put on my boots and walk. I’ll be at church no matter what.

  • We’ve told our staff to stay home if they feel unsafe or uncertain for any reason. I trust them and trust them to make wise decisions for themselves. The same goes for our musicians and volunteers, and of course for our childcare workers. (In bad weather, we will certainly cancel childcare.)

  • But if none of our staff or volunteers is able to make it, guess what? I’ll grab a hymnal and lead the congregation present in singing “Amazing Grace”!

  • If the power goes out, then I’ll gather folks in the icy parking lot and we’ll have a worship service under the cold sky.

  • The point: I will personally ensure we will have worship somehow, no matter what.

 
 

Note That I Said I Never Want to Cancel “Worship”

I said we will never cancel “worship.” There are many scenarios (bad weather being only one example) when we would certainly cancel groups, classes, events, meetings, etc. And, although tonight I’m thinking primarily about weather, my experience during this pandemic has taught me that it is possible to make weekly worship happen even in difficult and dangerous circumstances. For example, because of the pandemic, at Munger we met outside all winter long last year. When you are committed and creative enough, weekly worship is possible. It wasn’t the easiest—and Lord knows that there are lots of folks who have strongly disagreed with my leadership during this pandemic!—but I’m so glad we worked hard to make it happen.

 
 

Why This Matters So Much to Me

I think about the saints, martyrs, and apostles who treasured the gospel and literally gave up their lives to ensure that I would hear it, and I think about that gospel and the amazing message it contains—hope beyond hope, life beyond death—and then I think about my short life and the beautiful responsibility that I have received from the ones who’ve gone before, namely to steward the gospel and ensure that a people yet unborn will hear the Good News, and I think about the underground church in China today, and the literal underground church of the Romans catacombs 2,000 years ago, and the relentless pressure we all face to lose hope and give in to despair, and about how worship is fundamental to our belief that God’s love is stronger than the forces of death, and so I conclude:

Nothing is more important than the gathering of God’s people in joyful, grateful worship around the Crucified Lord.

Nothing.

 
 

Make the Best Decisions for Your Household

Many of us can walk to church; many of us cannot. I personally can walk to church, and I’m gonna, come hell or ice water. But as I said above, we’ve encouraged our staff not to come to church if for any reason they feel it’s unsafe to do so. And, I’d say the same to you:

You should NOT come to church if it’s unsafe for you to do so—I trust you to make your own prudential decision about whether you should come or not.

There’s always another Sunday, and if I don’t see you, please know I will not even think twice about it—I’ll know that you’ve made the best decision for your household.

(And by the way, there are lots of churches that don’t have walkable streets around them, and I’m also trusting that those churches—should they make decisions to cancel worship—are also making the best decisions for them. This is about me and my circumstances, not others and their circumstances.)

 
 

No Storms Last Forever

I know that my kids—and me!—are hoping for a nice snowfall.

(As long as we don’t lose power! Please God, let us not lose power!)

I’m also hoping that all of you stay safe, and I look forward to seeing all of you at church when both this storm and the pandemic blow over.

Nothing lasts forever, and spring always arrives, right on time.

 
 

P.S. Pics From Ash Wednesday 2021

Note the orange ladder on which I am perched as I preach my Ash Wednesday message in the freezing cold.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return;

Repent, and believe the gospel.

 

I Have Become a Televangelist

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A few weeks ago I decided that a quarantine was inevitably going to come upon us, so I bought a bunch of home video equipment that would allow me to broadcast from my home office.

Tomorrow, I make my debut as a televangelist. [3/15/2020 at 9:30 AM, CDT—here’s the link.] Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be buying a private jet any time soon, so I have a long way to go in my new career.

I’ve done a few live test videos so far, and everything seems to be working perfectly, though the lights make me sweat! The photo above is from this morning and is an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the glamorous life of a startup televangelist.

I’m planning on releasing as many videos and blog posts as I can crank out in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Pray for me!

 
[Here’s a screenshot from a video I did this morning. From the viewer’s perspective, everything looks pretty good.]

[Here’s a screenshot from a video I did this morning. From the viewer’s perspective, everything looks pretty good.]

 

How to Watch

We’ll be using Facebook Live. Here’s the schedule for Sunday, March 15, 2020

09:30 AM - Live Music

10:00 AM - Live Message

  1. Watch at www.mungerplace.org/watch. We’ll post some documents with the scripture passage and song lyrics there as well.

  2. Login to Facebook and watch at the Munger Place Church Facebook page.

 

An Open Letter to Leaders in the Midst of the Coronavirus Crisis

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Friends, it is our time to lead.

By definition, leadership means going first.

Going first comes with tremendous risk.  But, why else has the Lord given us our positions if not to use them?

In a time of crisis, we cannot wait for others to lead our people: it is our responsibility, and we need to take it up.

I know we are facing unprecedented challenges, and that people’s livelihoods are at stake.

  • Do we close?

  • Do we pay employees?

  • How will our organization survive?

  • When or will life go back to normal?  Etc.

Many of those questions have neither easy answers nor any answers right now.

Lots of what’s going to happen is out of our hands, but what is not out of our hands is how we will react.

 

The Lord has given us everything we need today to be strong and courageous, to reassure our people, and to lead them well.

 

I really believe that: God has given us everything we need today to lead well.  Do we have everything we want?  No!  Do we wish circumstances were different?  Yes!

But, nevertheless, we have everything we need.

 

 Sometimes, all we have are five loaves and two fish.  What are they among so many?

 Sometimes what we have seems woefully inadequate.

 But, when we put what little we have into the Lord’s hands, it becomes more than enough:

 “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,  “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.” [John 6:8-11.]

 

We have what we need today to lead our people well.

Let’s do it.