Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A break

After some thought I've decided to give this blog a little time off. Obviously if you have checked it recently you know I haven't blogged much anyway. This season of planting Suncrest's second campus is so consuming that some extra things have to go. I've also realized that to make this blog something that adds value to others' lives I really have to work at it. It's a discipline all its own.

Perhaps after Suncrest-East launches I can get back at it (I'd love to blog about my experience after the fact. There's something about hindsight that brings clarity.) or I may decide that it is not something I want to maintain. Either way it has been fun and I appreciate those who have taken the time to read my random thoughts.

Blessings,
doug

Monday, July 21, 2008

Monday, July 7, 2008

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

What happens at staff retreat...

more to come....

Answered prayer

I realized this morning as I was praying through my daily prayer list that one big prayer that I prayed almost daily for had been answered. Now, in some ways it is old news because I blogged about it over at suncresteast.org. However, my practice on my prayer list is to check off those requests that have been answered. So it just really hit me this morning as I read "surpass exponential offering goal" that God had answered this prayer in a mighty way. The goal was $100,000. We have now received $108,000!

Awesome God!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I like to "holla"

So there is no doubt I get loud in my preaching. Usually I'm so revved up many people ask me how many cups of coffee I have had. In truth it was only one Grande from Starbucks ($1.96 thank you very much) that morning.

However, I've always struggled a bit to NOT preach in one speed...fast! One time someone described my preaching as "trying to drink from a fire hose." Love it. Even though I do recognize the need for some rhythm and the use of different gears.

All that to say in the evaluations that we solicit from some of our Suncresters this week, one reviewer wrote this:

I thought Doug was going to go crazy the chairs on stage. However, I thought he seemed pretty comfortable and did a good job of balancing the chairs with moving around. Always a plus when Doug doesn't yell.

Makes me laugh.

Monday, June 23, 2008

N.T. Wright takes on Stephen Colbert

Last month I had the honor of teaching on Heaven at Suncrest. One of my favorite theologians (in general and in specific on Heaven) is N.T. Wright. Below is an interview on the Stephen Colbert show. Not the typical thing you would expect to see Wright on as The Colbert Report is a show on Comedy Central. What is so great about this clip though is Wright is so poised, whimsical and clear in the interview. He is everything I wish other Christians would be when they appear on radio or television. What happens to the contrary more times than not is that they make us appear boring, irrelevant or judgemental. Way to go N.T.!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

saturday

1 man
6 kids
10 hours
No Problem

Friday, June 20, 2008

Friday's Foto


DSC00791, originally uploaded by diggity doug.

Look's like we need a dental plan.

Starbucks has free WiFi


It's about stinkin' time.

Read about it here.

I remember sitting in a Starbucks and this guy asks me about the internet there. I told him I never used it because it was like $10 and I could go down the road to Panera and get it for free. He said he would gladly pay because after all...it was Starbucks! I like Starbucks a lot...but not that much.

Now with the use of a registered gift card you get it for free. Yeah Starbucks. Here's a pic of my gift card which reminds me of my pilgrimage to mecca.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Lifechurch.tv

Those guys from Lifechurch.tv are just too cool. BTW, Suncrest is doing a God at the Movies series this fall. Can't wait. And no we did not steal it from Lifechurch.tv. We stole it from someplace else...


Anything Short of Sin from LifeChurch.tv on Vimeo.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Filming in Chicago


Filmed some video for this week's message today. It was a great experience, even though I'm pretty uncomfortable on camera and can't quite make it into my "zone" when the camera is on. This is especially true when I'm on the street and people are passing by and staring.

We filmed outside of Harpo Studios because I am speaking on "What would Jesus say to Oprah Winfrey?" this coming Sunday. We fully expected to be chased off but was only asked what we were doing by security and then left alone. That is, until we ran into Joe who goes to Suncrest and works for Oprah! Great to see him in a different context other than church.

This video effort is a hybrid in concept of most of the videos we have done. This one more than others is intended to be a part of the message rather than stand alone from the message. In fact, I teach through the first point of my message on camera. (We did something similiar in the Catalyst series with Greg on video and me in person.) I wanted to try it this week as I have been really intrigued by others doing this. Lifechurch.tv has really made an artform out of live with video teaching. We'll see how it goes this Sunday.

Thanks to Kevin for doing all the hard work of videoing and editing.

On minor prophets and their prostitute wives*

Sometimes you read through Scripture and it totally messes with you. Enter Hosea. God basically told him to marry a prostitute as an illustration for how Israel was treating God. What's more, she left him and found another "lover" and then God told Hosea to go and get her back just like He had done with Israel.

What is going on here?

First, I think it messes with us because we have this working assumption that God always acts in ways that we perceive as good. So, when something we perceive as bad happens, we ask, "Where is God?" Our perception is not always God's reality. And our perception of what is good is not always what is actually good.

Second, God's greatest goal in our life is not to make us happy. In a beautiful analogy to marriage, God said it this way in Hosea 2:9:

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

Those are God's ultimate goals for our life; Righteousness, justice, love and compassion.

Third, He doesn't call everyone to be a minor prophet. It's true that many of God's servants in Scripture had it rough. Isaiah had to walk around naked. Paul had a "thorn in his flesh" that he couldn't get rid of. Some of the things these men and women had to endure seemed very cruel. And yet, however unfair we might think it was, they seemed to think that God had a greater plan and that everything would turn out for their good in the end.

Most of us will not be called to bear the weight of something like Hosea. Yet we face our own challenges everyday. Maybe the most important thing we can learn from Hosea is not "why" they had to go through something tough, but "how" they made it through.

*Thanks to David Bazan for writing a song with that title. One of the best titles I've ever seen.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

How are you growing as a father?

I have to ask myself that question today. It's an appropriate time to pause and consider how I've grown as a dad. I've noticed something interesting with each child being born. My love for my children has grown exponentially over the years. When my first was born I did love him, but it seems I love him even more today. Along with that my desire to grow as a dad has grown.

I've had to give up some things along the way to be a great dad. I'm not going to be a good golfer. I'm not going to have a lot of hobbies. I'm not going to travel a lot.

And yet, despite all the things I'm not going to be or have, the one thing that I get to be that more than makes up for any sacrifice is dad. The one and only dad to Ethan, Daisy, Grace and Ben.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Ethan's gonna Know Sweat


My son headed off with the Student Ministry for Know Sweat, a CIY sponsored mission trip. I love it that he gets this opportunity because mission trips are the most life changing thing anyone can do. Kid or adult, they can change your life. I've seen it with teens in youth ministry. I've seen it with adults. God does something unique when we get away and serve. Maybe I should say, we are open to God doing something unique when we get away.

It was hard for Sheila to let her "little boy" go, but we both know it will be a great trip for him.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

What does this mean?

You go on a trip to see your extended family but you can't stop thinking about the new Suncrest-East campus.

It either means I really need a vacation or I'm stinkin' excited about Suncrest-East. I'll think the latter even though the first may still be true.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

3 things I love about Oklahoma...


3 things I love about Oklahoma...

1. Less traffic;
2. QT gas stations...the best in the country
3. Friendly people EVERYWHERE.

3 things I could live without...

1. People who drive UNDER the speed limit (okay, not limited to OK, but there does seem to be an inordinate amount of drivers like that here);
2. Wranglers everywhere!!!!
3. Living 10 hours from it.

On delayed gratification

"The next time there's something that you just can't live without, wait for a week and then see if you're still alive."
Guy Kawasaki
Art of the Start

Monday, June 9, 2008

On taking risks

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."
-Oscar Wilde

"Ignorance is not only bliss, it's empowering."
-Guy Kawasaki
Art of the Start

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Ahhhh..the beauty of Google maps

I realized the true beauty of Google maps this week. My wife left for a trip to Oklahoma and then on to Dallas to help her sister with a family matter. The first great use was when she called from Tulsa and could not find her Sister's apartment. Yahoo had messed it up. So I jumped on google and directer her turn by turn. You could say I was her personal GPS system.

Then later that night as they were looking for the hotel in Dallas, I provided turn by turn directions again thanks to Google. We almost bought a GPS unit before she left, but decided to save the money.

Gotta love it when technology really does help you.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee

I've blogged about them before and I'm still getting my coffee from them. In fact, I'm thinking we need Land of a Thousand Hills coffee for East Campus! Here's a video about what they are doing. I want to have some fun with this so the first one who comments gets a free bag of Thousand Hills coffee! Now just to make sure you watch the video you will have to tell me what the video says the farmers used to earn per lb when they worked alone and what they earn on average with partnership.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Daisy and Locks of Love

















It was sad for mom to do it, but Daisy really wanted to donate to Locks of Love. I loved her long hair, but she looks beautiful in her shorter dew.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Christianity vs. Buddhism

Not an exact quote, but the gist is there:

The reason someone is more likely to pick up a book on Buddhism than Christianity is because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life and Christianity presents itself as a system of beliefs.

--Peter Senge

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The White Sox and my son


2 tickets to see the White Sox beat the Indians = $0 (thanks to some friends)

Parking = $22

2 hotdogs, a drink and a pretzel = $15

A night out with my son = priceless

Monday, June 2, 2008

On being inconvenienced

I'm the type that loves to hit the day running. I don't like to get up and eat breakfast, read the paper, read my Bible or really do anything else before I go to work. To make sure I do the things that matter, like READING MY BIBLE and jogging, I set my alarm for 6 which leaves me plenty of time to be at the church by 8 (even though I'd rather be there by 7). And so today as I was jogging by my neighbor's house he asks if he can get a ride to work for his first day of training. After about 5 seconds of thinking, "this is going to make me late" I got over myself and worked it out that I actually would go in later in order to get him to work closer to his start time. And it was great to connect with him on the drive in.

Know this: I'm not bragging about a good deed. I'm confessing that I even had 5 seconds of feeling inconvenienced when a neighbor needed my help. If I don't think my FIRST job is to help my neighbor, then I'm not following Jesus of the Bible. After all, he did have something to say about our neighbor...

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Saying Goodbye

It's been a rather ironic few days of goodbye's. Not so much me saying goodbye but being around a lot of others doing that.

1st on Thursday Kevin, Julie (East Campus Children's Director) and a few others helped clean out the now closed Community Christian Church's belongings from the building they had rented for church. To me it was just stuff that was being donated to the Rummage Sale for the Women's center. But to them it represented 25 years of ministry. It's hard for them to say goodbye to it. Yet I now they are expectant of great ministry at Suncrest-East. Btw, the rummage sale raised $2000 for the Women's Center.

On Friday I went to the visitation for Steve Szoke. Even though it had just started a long line had already formed. I can't imagine what his wife, child and mom and dad are going through. Yet, I know they are held together by the fact they will see him again in eternity. His legacy will live on in his family and the church that was his dream, Impact Christian Church.

And today, I performed a funeral for the father of a Suncrester. I was very disappointed by the service the funeral home gave. This is not the first time I witnessed poor service for a family. It's one thing to have poor service over dinner. It's another when you are trying to grieve the loss of a loved one. I pray God will use something from the few moments I shared with them. I could only detect faith from a few of the family members.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Audio from The Passion Experience (Good Friday)

I am delighted that this year we are able to post the entire Passion Experience. That is cool because the whole night was designed to be experienced as a whole, not just the messages. So everything is included, even some opening instrumental music. If you are interested, you can find it by clicking here.

Bobby and Beka Jackson (aka, The Culps)

This just made my morning when we did this in our service:



I'm so glad there are others on Suncrest staff who are willing to make fools of themselves for a purpose.

Monday, March 17, 2008

People who need Jesus - Reason #1 for a new church

I have been questioned a few times on the real need for another church/campus in the Merrillville area considering there are so many churches there already. 48 to be exact. On the surface it does appear like there really isn't much need.

However, a few things have to be considered:

1 - effectiveness of those churches;
2 - style of churches - I believe it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people;
3 - the number of people yet to be reached.

One presenter today gave a "formula" for figuring out how many people in any given community there are to reach. It looks like this:

a - (b X 2c) = d

a = Population
b = Number of churches in community
c = Average church attendance
d = Number of unreached, unchurched and dechurched - people who need Jesus in other words.

If you plug in these numbers for Merrillville you get this:

32,000 - (48 X 200) = 22,400 of people who need Jesus in Merrillville alone.

I think that alone is reason enough for more new churches in that area.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

In Seattle

I'm in Seattle for a few days for a Church Planting Training event. The first item on my agenda was to make the journey to see the original Starbucks in Pike's Place Market. Not much really to look at but the live music outside of it was good. Then after strolling around Pike's Place a little while I went to Mars Hill's new downtown campus. This is their 6th campus that they have opened. What is cool is that they bought an old strip joint. So now what was used for evil is now used for good. The Bible would call this "redemption." When something gets bought back for good it is redeemed. Got to love that.

The coffee was good, but worshiping Jesus who bought us back was even better!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Email Giant

Anyone who works in an environment that uses email knows how easily this tool can become a slave master. I realized recently that my inbox had become my "to-do" list. As a result I was not using my time based on a set of priorities for the day, but letting email set the pace for my day. This was hurting my effectiveness and frankly it was no fun. This began my search for some productivity tips.

That is when I stumbled on this video from Merlin Mann who is a productivity guru in the online world. In the video he had some really helpful things to say regarding email. The video is called Zero Inbox and is at the very bottom. Be forewarned, it is about an hour. It is totally worth it though. It has changed how I handle email.

Here is what I have found most helpful from the stuff I have read:
  • Batch process email - that is to say only handle email at certain times of the day. Some only read email 4 times a day. I have adopted the personal policy of only handling email once/hour when I'm in the office.
  • NO email gets left in the inbox - it has to go somewhere. When I process email, they all go in one of 4 spots: Trash Can (becaue I've handled it and don't need it anymore), Archive (because I may need it later but I don't need it in my inbox), Read (to read later) or Act folder (I create a task out of the email and store the email here until I accomplish the task at a later time. It also gets added to my task, but is handled when I designate)
  • Another way to think of it is that with every email you do one of 5 things: Delegate, Delete, Respond, Defer or Do.
  • Remove all warnings that you just received email - I'm too tempted to look at my inbox when I get the notice.
The great thing about all this is that it has actually worked for me these last 2 weeks. I love looking at an empty inbox knowing everything is processed and handled appropriately. And more importantly I don't feel like my life is being run by Microsoft Outlook. Rather I'm running it.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Focus

I have recently been reflecting on my need to focus more. By nature I'm a little ADD. I do like to keep moving and doing stuff, so it takes quite a bit of effort to just stop and focus on something for very long. There are so many things that feed this tendency.
  • Email - it's the worst. With a little sound on my computer I am constantly distracted by new email. It beckons me to "pay attention to me because I am the most important thing you have to attend to right at this moment." Even though a lot of the time it is something that can wait on or a Forward of a joke or a "special offer" telling me how I can get 1 million dollars by sending some stranger $1 or any other number of stupid things that fill up my inbox.
  • Interruptions at the door - the culture of Suncrest is that a closed door is just a signal that you need to knock before you interrupt....not that you shouldn't interrupt at all.
  • A "to do list" that is way, way to big - okay now I'm really sounding like I'm complaining, but it is true. It's way too big.
  • Things I want to do - let's face it, we all have things we don't like to do at work but we have to do. Then there are things we want to do, but may not be the most necessary at the moment. Many times I just choose to do the things I want to do instead of focusing on the more important things.
  • Going to the bathroom - okay, maybe a personal problem...or maybe I need to cut back on the coffee. Either way, it is a distraction.
This is just a partial list, but you get the idea and I am sure you relate. Because of all this I have been digesting some productivity stuff and found some sage wisdom out there. I am currently trying out some of it as it relates to the evil monster of email...and it's working! I will post some of the best advice soon. For now, I felt compelled to just comment on the fact that for all of us the cost is high if we don't FOCUS. Focus gives us clarity to our work. Focus maximizes our effectiveness on whatever it is we are doing. Focus makes us an invaluable contributor to the teams we serve on.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Growing by Serving

It struck me last week when reading that day's 21 Day Challenge passage that sometimes I miss the boat on what it really takes to mature. When most talk about maturing in their faith they almost exclusively talk about "learning something." I think that is why so much emphasis is placed on the sermon in a service. People feel like if they learn some thing then they are growing. The reality is that just because we hear something doesn't mean we have grown. We have to actually put it into practice before we can say we have grown.

In Ephesians 4:7-16, though, a model is given that doesn't have much to do with listening to a sermon or studying. It has everything to do with serving though. In fact, in verse 13 and 14 Paul is so clear that we mature to the point that we are not "tossed back and forth" by deceit when we SERVE. I almost always talk about the motivation for service being twofold:

1. Jesus said to do it;
2. It is a great experience.

Those reasons are still valid, but Scripture also teaches that the main result of serving is that we actually mature in four ways:

1. Unity with other Christ followers;
2. Experience a vibrant relationship with Christ;
3. Have confidence in what we believe;
4. Have the ability to speak truth to other Christ followers.

Having said that, I don't want to minimize the role of sermons in our growth. I have to say that since I am a preacher. :) But perhaps, we should not forget that most growth actually comes from putting into practice what we hear. That is never more true than when we are serving.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Leadership by relationships

Found this great article over at Lifehack.org, a productivity blog.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/how-to-lead-people-for-results.html

Great perspective that is strangely familiar to Jesus' style of leadership. This is refreshing to read because I have read many things about leadership and witnessed many leaders that do not lead in this way. They choose to lead as a boss only. It is more natural to lead through relationships for me than to try and be only the "boss." It certainly takes time. And it does take a lot of effort. But with the teams I have led in this way it is a whole lot funner!

I'm speaking mostly of volunteer teams, so the boss analogy may not be the best comparison in those situations. Perhaps it is a lead through relationship versus lead through title. I'm the leader of this ministry and I love you so let's do this together versus I'm the leader so do what I say.

Ben is 1!


Benjamin turned one last week. It was a rather busy week so unfortunately his birthday was pretty lowkey. Although because some good friend's son share his birthday we did celebrate with them at Chuck E.Cheese. So, Ben got his first real visual overload experience. Here's a pic of his 1st birthday cake:

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Doesn't get much better than this

Sometimes I have to stop and think about how blessed I am to do what I do. Just considering this week I have had more interaction with people who are diving into their Bible with the 21 Day challenge and/or considering going to the East campus. It's so awesome to hear from people who want to do something significant like being a part of the new campus. To talk to some who have only heard the smallest of details about the new campus and yet they are telling me, "I'm in!"

So cool to do this for a living.

Monday, February 11, 2008

21 day challenge

So, I don't know what I was thinking. I decided to create the "21 Day Challenge" blog to go along with the Catalyst message series we are in right now. It will give all the staff a chance to share their thoughts and reflections in this journey. Now with this one, along with the suncresteast.org blog, I am managing and contributing to 3 blogs. That's crazy. Oh well, crazy is fun.

Monday, February 4, 2008

3 years

This past weekend I celebrated 3 years at Suncrest. It came and went rather inconspicuously, as it should. It's not 10 or 20 or 30 years...something grand like that. And yet I feel like I have packed 10 years worth of experiences into 3 great years. I can't imagine serving a better place than Suncrest at this point in my journey. I feel like I have grown immensely, been allowed to serve in areas in which I am gifted and found a home.

For those reading that are a part of Suncrest, thanks for allowing me to have a place in your lives. You have been a blessing.

Monday, January 28, 2008

A reproducing church

Suncrest is a reproducing church. We want to reproduce at every level: disciples, leaders, groups/ministries, services, campuses and churches. I prefer the phrase "multiply like bunnies" but not everyone is with me. Anyway, we are intentionally focusing on what this means for us. It has become so clear that this is the way of the early church and really the only way to effectively spread the Gospel.

Community Christian Church has been such a tremendous resource for us. So over a year ago to be asked to be a part of their New Thing network was such an honor. We are still figuring out what this means for us. It certainly means coaching and accountability. And now it means we have the opportunity to be a "network within a network" by getting to work with 3 other fairly new churches in the network.

This probably doesn't make a lot of sense but it is exciting to be a part of a reproducing church network with the mission of Jesus at the heart. I heard a great podcast with Dave Ferguson of CCC and NewThing today raising questions and talking about how to be a reproducing church. It was kind of cool to hear him talk about the NewThing network and then indirectly mention Suncrest. To get the audio click here.

Friday, January 25, 2008

A New Year, A new direction, sort of...

It's been a crazy and great start to 2008. I have been reflecting a lot this month on 2007 and looking forward to 2008. One of the things that has been on my mind is the fact that I have been blogging for a year now. Can't believe it! It's been an experiment all along and fun. I have wrestled with the purpose of doing this.

Is it worth it?

Mostly I think yes. It has been nice to hear several say they read it. I'm not sure if it is helpful, but hopefully I can make someone smile occasionally, reflect a little and always point them to Jesus.

One thing I have been quiet about on this blog is the fact that this year Suncrest starts a new campus and I get to lead it! It's been a huge thing in the works for close to 2 years now. I'm excited to see how many people God draws to Him through this new campus. To help pull everyone together in prep for this launch I have opened up www.suncresteast.org. This will be the place to find updates on the new campus.

Keeping that site up to date and posting here may prove to be a lot so I imagine that I will post less, but maybe what I do say will be more substantial...nahhhh.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Coffee time

This was probably the funnest video I got to be a part of. We had two guys come out of the store and ask us what we were doing. Kevin (director and cinematographer of this fine video) just told them we were making a video about how I was hooked on Starbucks. They laughed. Wonder if there is anyway I could get some gift cards from Starbucks with this...

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Oklahoma, take 2

We are trying it again...visiting family that is. The last visit, over Thanksgiving, didn't turn out so well. All of the previous day's meals being purged from 5 of the Gamble's wasn't a fun way to spend Thanksgiving when I typically spend more time eating rather than...well...you get the picture. But we are here again to actually see my family and spend a little more time with Sheila's.

It's never been convenient or fun living away from family, but it appears to be the path God has chosen for us. When we were graduating college, I had many friends who said they would go where God led as long as it was in a certain area or not in another certain area. We never felt like that was really submitting to God's Will. So we live 9 1/2 hours away from my kids' grandparents. It definitely makes it tough at times, but it makes the visits all the sweeter. As I have reflected on this I have often thought that despite the disadvantages, there have been some blessings:
  • Early in our marriage and with our first child we HAD to depend on each other and had no other family to run to when conflict arose;
  • We made more and better friends because we didn't have family to spend time with;
  • We have had other people "adopt" our kids as grandkids;
  • We always have a reason to visit the promised land of Oklahoma.
I know the road that God leads us down is not always convenient or what we would choose, but it certainly has been the best path.