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I followed a link on Twitter today for a youth ministry. I figured I could give  a few minutes and help whoever it was trying to gather information to do so. One of the final questions they asked was an essay question that simply asked: “What Is The Gospel?”

This is my answer. I would love to know how you would answer this question!

The Gospel is God’s ongoing story of restoring all people (available to all, given to those who accept). God has been, is, and always will be authoring a grand story, which He has invited us to play a role in. It is the story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration. We have a choice to make: Will we star in our own story of brokenness and insignificance, or play a supporting role in God’s grand story of hope, redemption and healing. To join God’s story is to play a part in advancing the Kingdom… not through rules, regulations, and religion, but through love, justice, and relationship.

The Gospel is nothing more, and nothing less than God offering everything He has to us in order to restore us to the people that we were created to be. He does this so that we may enter into a loving relationship with Him, so that He may fill us with His Spirit, so that we may be fully equipped to complete our primary task as humans made in God’s image: To reflect the Glory of God, so that others may see, and the Kingdom may advance. That is Gospel.

I had a really engaging small group discussion with some of the high school students in Journey Church’s student ministry last night. We talked about a variety of subjects, and the conversation got pretty deep. Questions were asked by me that were over their heads, and questions were asked by them that were over my head! Good stuff! Probably one of the highlights of my year.

Ultimately the conversation centered around the question why. More specifically, how would we answer questions like these:

• Why do you love God?
• Why do you go to church?
• Why do you even do this “Christianity” thing?
• Essentially this: What’s the point of God/Church/Christianity?

I have a great fear that there are thousands of people sitting in Christian churches each Sunday, who have been in the pew for a long time, but have no clue how to answer these questions. I’m not suggesting that there is ONE right answer, but I think there are some key principles and ideas that people simply fail to understand, or lack the ability to communicate about.

So… how about you? Why?

There is something about a good story that has the capability to capture so much more than just our attention. A good story can capture our hearts, souls, bank accounts, or any number of other things. Bottom line, I love a good story… as does just about every person on the planet.

I had the great privilege of going to Chicago last week to serve on the resources staff for the inaugural STORY conference. STORY is the product of one of my favorite bloggers, and good friend Ben Arment. It was truly a wonderful experience for me to serve alongside Ben and so many other great leaders as we poured into the 1600+ ministry leaders who attended STORY.

The heart of STORY was to gather and learn from some of the most gifted Gospel Communicators in the land.  These leaders talked about their stories, how to more effectively share stories, and ultimately about the greatest story ever told: the Gospel story of rebellion, rescue and redemption. It was quite an experience.

I highly recommend that any ministry leader who was unable to attend STORY purchase the 2009 STORY DVD. This DVD will include all of the main session teaching content, and some of the creative elements as well. This is a steal for $79. Also, begin making plans now to attend STORY 2010 in Chicago. STORY will be expanding to a 2 day event next year, with tickets available now for $149. You can click here to find both of these resources!

Check out the STORY Flickr photostream for some great shots from the event!

Sitting around last night before bed, I decided to check out what a few of the churches that I follow from a distance (via the internet) did for Easter. I ended up settling down on my couch, and watching the Easter message from Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This church has an incredible story, and an unbelievable leader in Steven Furtick.

I post this link to his Easter message with a couple of basic headlines.

1.) The dude can flat out preach. Like old school preach, but it’s awesome.

2.) As one who enjoys “preaching” myself, this gets me fired up… I was ready preach to the masses from my couch at midnight last night as I watched this!

3.) What an awesome telling of the Easter story. The Gospel is the most compelling truth on this planet, when communicated with passion, it’s a unstoppable force.

Check it out here: http://www.elevationchurch.org/mediaPlayer.php?sermon=168

I normally wouldn’t announce in advance when I’m preaching for Tom at Journey Church. It’s actually our “policy” to not announce the weekend speaker in advance. I can’t help myself today though. I trust that this blog probably won’t be picked up by the Associated Press, and be on the front page in any local markets.

I’m really excited about sharing with Journey Church on Sunday. We’ll be wrapping up our current series entitled: Make Change. It’s always fun to be the “closer” for a series (hey look, two baseball analogies in one post in November… when do pitchers and catchers report?). I feel like God wants to do something special in and through our community in 2009… I’m praying that this Sunday can serve as a launch-pad towards 2009.

I leave you by saying…. if you haven’t watched this video, you seriously need to.

These are the things going on in my life, and rattling around in my head at this minute. Enjoy… beware… share.

• I’m currently at my favorite local coffee shop. It’s comfortable, low traffic (unfortunately for them), and has good hot chocolate. I hate coffee, call me a kid if you’d like, I’m okay with that. The reason I’m here is because I felt cooped up in my house, and needed a new scene. One of my favorite bloggers, Mark Batterson, famously says: “Change of place + change of pace = Change of perspective”. I try to live this our in small bits daily, and in large chunks yearly (through retreat weekends, etc…)
• I’m through the first 3 chapters of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. So far it has definitely not disappointed. Francis has laid out some common things in these first three chapters that we all “know”, but don’t “know”. Things about God, life, death, and love. Good stuff! My only regret is that I’m reading it alone… any blog readers out there want to step up and work through the book with me?
• The Journey Church adult small group that Jenessa and I host at our home kicks off tonight. I’m excited to see who walks through the doors… if there is not an influx of new blood into our group from last season, I plan to make sure that’s the case by next Thursday! If you need a place to hang/learn/grow tonight, stop by our place from 7-8:30.
• This might be the last year that I can handle not being at Catalyst! Catalyst has become the premier conference for church leaders across the country. I’m following all of the action as best I can at the following sites: Catalyst Backstage, Tony Morgan’s Blog, Various Twitter Accounts. My favorite quote so far comes from Andy Stanley, talking about moral authority, he said: “As leaders you need moral authority with forgiveness, family & finances…. Give, save, live on the rest…. No one cares how smart you are as a leader. They want to know if you have the moral authority to lead”. 
• A friend of mine tells me that there are cops on all of the local interstate entrance/exit ramps, and in each of the median turnarounds. Wonder if that has something to do with this?
• That’s all… My plan now is to devote some more time preparing for the topic of Fear, and the kickoff of the Monsters, Myths & Masks series at Journey Church & BIG Student Ministries.

I was not a fan of Tim Tebow… then I watched this video. Now I can’t help but like him, even if I hate the Gators. Watch it… feel stupid about your selfishness, pass it along.

I’ve spent a good amount of time over the past couple of weeks watching the Republican and Democrat National Conventions. I’ll keep all opinions and preferences out of the discussion, because I don’t want my blog to go near that conversation… it’s often boring, hateful, and filled with predispositions that aren’t worth discussing. That said, this post is less about political ideas, and more about business ideas.

In 2003, Seth Godin wrote a now infamous book entitled: Purple Cow. Below is a summary of the book: 

Cows, after you’ve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though…now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won’t forget a Purple Cow. And it’s not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It’s built right in, or it’s not there. Period.

So here is my question: After dozens of speeches, hours of conventions, and endless debates, will either of these candidates/parties/tickets arise and be a Purple Cow? Come November, will we be able to say: “I’m voting for candidate X because he/she brings something unique to the table. Something that no one else does… something that is phenomenal, counterintuitive and exciting”.

I wish we could get past all of the rhetoric, party loyalty, and brown bag speeches. I wish a candidate would stand up and say: “I’m a Purple Cow, and I deserve your vote because I bring this to the table, and no one else does, nor ever has…”

It’s 12:30 am, so there’s no chance I can put words together to do this post justice. I just downloaded John Mayer’s new live album: “Where the Light Is”…. after 4 songs, it is simply amazing. I’d love to write a lengthy, emotive review, but I’ll just keep it short and sweet. We’ll roll with a numbered format for this one. My quick thoughts:

1.) John Mayer is the Eric Clapton of my generation… I’ll be listening to him when I’m 50.
2.) If you don’t like John Mayer’s music, you are either a.) Deaf or b.) Ignorant to what “good” music is.
3.) This CD is a journey through John’s three distinct styles of concert. The Full Band, The Trio, The Accoustic set. I don’t have a favorite…. they all make me giddy inside.
4.) The cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin’ might be better than the original (blasphemy… I know)
5.) “In Your Atmosphere” is probably instantly my favorite new JM song.
6.) There’s a live DVD that you can get along with the CD. It would make for an excellent birthday gift for the author of this blog (July 6th… that’s next Sunday in case you don’t have a calendar handy). I’ll let you come to my house and enjoy it in surround sound if you hook me up!

I know what you are thinking…. and yes, I have a full blown man crush. I’ve chronicled it here before.

Finally, the picture at the top was taken by me at the John Mayer concert in Cincinnati last year.

“Keep me where the light is…..”