I just had my executive assistant, Tim Elzea, backup my blog. Did a word count. Any guesses? Drum roll please.

I've blogged 144,820 words this year.

To put that into perspective, ID: The True You (my first book) logged in at 51,974 words. My next book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, weighs in at 42,821 words.

All of that to say this. I've blogged three books and it's not even September :) I'm not sure what that means to be perfectly honest. Maybe I need to check into a BA group--Bloggers Anonymous :)

In all seriousness, blogging is my way of processing everything I'm thinking and experiencing. A blog is a biography of ideas. 144,820 words worth of ideas :)

Blog On.

Fired up about our next series that will kick off on September 11. We try to brand every series. Here's the poster we'll hang in our theaters.

Went to see a movie with the kids yesterday and I saw the trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia movie that will be released December 9. I'm fired up. I put my faith in Christ after watching a movie (The Hiding Place) so I'm passionate about the power of film.

We're beginning to brainstorm about how we can leverage Narnia at our two theater locations. I think we will buy out several theaters and use it as a major outreach opportunity. We'll piggy-back off of the movie with a two-part Christmas series (December 11 & 18) that will play off the biblical undertones in the movie. The timing is perfect because one of the sub-plots in the movie is the spell the White Witch casts on Narnia so that it is "always winter and never Christmas." I love that line!

We'll start showing the trailer in November and encourage NCCers to invite friends. For what it's worth, we believe that church is a tag-team sport. When people come to church they tag me and say "go for it--share what God has put on your heart." When they leave we tag them and say "go for it--share your faith with your friends." We're always trying to find ways to help NCCers invite their friends. I think Narnia is alot like The Passion. It's a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Sometimes I think the church is too quick to criticize. We're known for what we're against. I'd rather be known for what we're for. I think this is a great opportunity to capitalize on a great movie with a great message.

Read an interesting article in the Washington Times yesterday on coffee. Anything having to do with coffee is registering on my reticular activating system because of Ebenezers, the coffeehouse we're opening on Capitol Hill. If you're a coffee drinker this will ease your conscience :) Coffee had some great health benefits (unless you drink it by the gallon). Here's a link to the entire article: No Jive: Java's Good for health.

A recent study of more than 100 food items found that coffee tops the list in antioxidants. The average adult consumes 1,299 miligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The next closest competitor was tea at 294 miligrams.

A variety of studies seem to be finding new benefits to coffee. Daily coffee drinkers have half the risk of liver cancer. Coffee cuts the risk of developing the most common form of diabetes.

The moral of the story? Drink coffee. At Ebenezers :)

Ever seen that Seinfeld where Jerry's apartment building has low water pressure? And Jerry's hair is "flat" as a result. And Kramer buys an illegal showerhead on the "black market" that is supercharged.

That's how I feel this morning :)

There's nothing worse than taking a shower with a showerhead that "dribbles." Well, the angels were singing the hallelujah chorus this morning. We broke down and bought a new showerhead yesterday! Who knows how old that showerhead was? At least nine years since that's how long we've lived in this house. The new one even has criss-crossing jetstreams :) Ah, showerhead technology! Gotta love it.

On a serious note. Since our missions trip to Ethiopia I don't take a hot shower for granted. The simple pleasures we enjoy as Americans would be extravagant luxuries for half the world. So today I'm grateful for something as simple as a new showerhead and a hot shower.

The Imagination Age

Let me just come right out and say it.

I think the key to leadership in the 21st C is developing the right-brain capacity for creativity. At the risk of being reductionistic, the left-brain is the linear and logical hemisphere. The right-brain is the creative hemisphere. I know that doesn't do it neurological justice, but I'll save that for another blog.

Here is one of the greatest issues facing the church: there aren't enough right-brain pastors or right-brained churches. The 21st C demands ambidextrous leadership.

Let me back up and zoom out.

If I had to divide history with sweeping generalizations here is how I would do it. The 19th century was the industrial age. It was epitomized by the factory worker. The 20th century was the information age. It was epitomized by the knowledge worker to borrow the term used by Peter Drucker. Forgive me for making such a bold prediction. But I think the 21st century will be known as the imagination age. I think it'll be epitomized by creative architects in every field who set new imagination standards.

Imagination Quotient

Here is one of the greatest dangers seasoned pastors face: doing ministry out of memory. In other words, doing what you did the day before and the day before the day before and the day before the day before the day before. You get the point. We learn how and forget why.

I think God calls us to do ministry out of imagination. I think there are ways of doing church that have yet to be discovered. Like everything else, we've got to be good stewards of our imaginations. Imagine a generation of church planters with sanctified imaginations experimenting with new ways of doing church! New Songs. New wineskins. For what it's worth, we (NCC) feel called to be part of the Research & Development (R & D) Department of the Kingdom of God. One of our core values is: everything is an experiment.

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, did a fascinating study on how much IQ accounts for career success. According to Goleman, between 4% to 10%. Maybe IQ should stand for imagination quotient instead of intelligence quotient. Imagination Quotient is the new IQ.

I think Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Contextual Intelligence (CQ) and Metaphorical Intelligence (MQ) are much more important when it comes to minsitry than IQ. Leadership is a right-brained sport. The right-brain is the locus of dreams and visions. But here's the thing: I think 95% of my Seminary education was aimed at developing my left-brain while my right-brain was left to atrophy! EQ, CQ, and MQ are right-brain capacities. The key to great leadership is developing right-brain capacities.

Three Hats

I won't go into depth, but I think pastors wear three primary hats: we are called to be storysmiths, experineers, and culturetechs.

Storysmiths are the creators, collectors and keepers of the stories. Crafting stories is the art of preaching and vision casting. Stories are lifeblood of every organization. Stories are the key to creating momentum. We're collecting stories right now to put on our webpage in a "story archive." I'd actually like to create a Pastor of Stories position at NCC whose only job is to collect and tell stories! By the way, how is the beast defeated in Revelation 12:11? By the blood of the Lamb and "the word of our testimony." Evidently, Satan hates stories! Stories, stories, stories.

Pastors are environmental engineers. Experineers are called to design everything from physical spaces to spiritual experiences. Our weekly Big Idea meetings revolve around designing weekend gatherings. The goal is I Corinthians 14:25: that people would recognize that "God is really among them." You can't "man-u-facture" spiritual expiriences. But you can facilities them with lots of brainstorming and prayerstorming.

The most difficult and most important task for any pastor is that of cultural architect or culturetech. How do you manage or measure intangibles? The key is identification of values and beliefs--the double-helix of a church's spiritual DNA. And being intentional about keeping them front and center. For example, at NCC we take fun seriously. Call me crazy, but we believe that church should be enjoyable! You ought to walk out feeling better than when you walked in. When we're shooting a video or crafting a sermon or planning a series, we're intentional about incorporating elements that are fun. Like me dressing up in a Mr. Incredible suit and doing on-the-street interviews in downtown DC! That's part of our personality as a church!

Ambidextrous Churches

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that if you designed a better mouse trap the world would beat a path to your door. Maybe they'd do the same thing if we designed a better church? A right-brain church that celebrated mystery and beauty and creativity. A right-brained church with a well-developed sense of humor!

The Great Commandment tells us to love God with "all of our mind." That means left-brain and right-brain. Theology is the way we love God with our left-brain. Creativity is the way we love God with our right-brain! When the two intersect you end up with a church that is orthodox in belief and unorthodox in practice!

Just a right-brained thought.

For what it's worth, I think the next evolution of evotional.com is turning the blog into a vlog. Actually, we'll just add a video blog here and there. We bought one of those $20 disposable camcorders at CVS and we'll try an experiment with it. I'm grateful for a pastor of media, Dave Clark, is always willing to try out my hairbrained ideas!

Video illustrations and series trailers are such a huge component of who we are (theaterchurch.com) that adding a vlog component only makes sense.

Of course, the only downside is my ugly mug :)

Vlog On.

We have a core value: do it big and do it right.

I hate to admit this, but it actually comes from the movie Christmas Vacation. That's what Clark Griswold says to Russ as they are hanging "15,000 twinkling Italian lights." Clark isn't exactly a "do it halfway" kind of guy! Here's our premise for that value: if it's worth doing then it's worth doing right and doing big!

It's Colossians 3:23. "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart, as unto the Lord." The word "heart" is the Greek word Psuche which can be translated "life." Here's my take on Colossians 3:23: whatever you do, do it like your life depended on it! Pour your heart and your life into it!

We were having lunch yesterday and talking about how I have so many ideas and I want all of them to be done yesterday :)

One of our staff members (who will remain anonymous) said we should change our core value to: do it big, do it right, do it yesterday!

Hey, I can laugh at myself :)

I love following blog links.

Toby Bloomberg, the President of Bloomberg Marketing in Atlanta, posted a comment and I had to follow the link because the name of her blog was so intriguing: diva marketing blog. If you're trying to wrap your mind around the how and why of blogging it's got some great info.

Sometimes I feel like a blogging evangelist. I know it's not for every church and every pastor. But it is such a great way to share what's in your head and in your heart. I think it ought to be part of every church's overall strategic plan.

FYI--we put together an "annual strategic plan" every year that is usually about 25 pages long. It covers everything from sermon stragegy to staffing strategy to marketing strategy to discipleship strategy. I think we're going to add blogging strategy.

For example, we've been concerned about our church website (www.theaterchurch.com) being too static. To make it more dynamic, we're going to go to a blog format for announcements. We got the idea from Terry Storch and Fellowship Church. Like everything else, I want it implemented yesterday :) It seems like we're redesigning our website all the time!!!

Blog On.

Every once in a while I like sharing facts that you don't need to know to live a long healthy life :) For example, African elephants poop eighty pounds per day. Your life probably wouldn't be dimished if you didn't know that. But it makes you appreciate zoo keepers more doesn't it? Here's to all the zoo keepers out there :)

Anywho.

This didn't make it into Sunday's message (like half of my notes), but when we were at the zoo last week I discovered that elephant trunks are made up of a 100,000 muscles. Can't you see elephants flexing their trunks in the wild? They can lift up to 500 pounds! And peanuts.

For what it's worth, I think faith is a collection of 100,000 spiritual muscle. And you strengthen them the same way you strengthen any muscle. You stretch them and exercise them. The more you use your faith muscles the stronger they get.

I never cease to be amazed at cyberspace and the blogosphere. I think it's reduced "six degrees of seperation" down to three or four :) Makes me think of Dorothy clicking her heels in the Wizard of Oz. Except we click mouses. The world is literally a click away!

For what it's worth, I just emailed a guy in India who is designing a website for me. I've never been there. We speak different languages. But it's like he lives next door!

Got an email today from one of my best friends growing up. He saw the NY Times article and touched base via email. Last week one of our neighbors saw the Washington Post article and commented on my blog. It's pretty cool connecting with people this way. It's almost like seeing someone you know while you're on vacation.

A blog is like a brain. A baby's brain goes through a process called synaptogenesis and will end up with a quadrillion synaptic connections! That is what a blog does. It expands your network. You never know who you'll bump into in the blogosphere! You'll bump into old friends and make new friends.

Blog On.

I was interviewed by the New York Times recently on the topic of podcasting. Here's the article in today's Times.

August 29, 2005
Missed Church? No Worries. Download It to Your IPod.
By TANIA RALLI



Kyle Lewis, 25, missed going to church one Sunday last month. But he did not miss the sermon.
Mr. Lewis, who regularly attends services of the National Community Church in Alexandria, Va., listened to the sermon while he was at the gym, through a recording he had downloaded to his iPod. Instead of listening to the rock music his gym usually plays, he heard his pastor's voice. "Having an iPod is a guaranteed way to get the sermon if you're going to be out of town," Mr. Lewis said, adding that he listens to the pastor's podcast at least once more during the week, usually while driving to work, even during weeks he makes it to services.

Mr. Lewis's pastor, the Rev. Mark Batterson, started podcasting, or "godcasting" as he prefers to call it, last month to spread the word about his congregation. The hourlong recordings of his weekly service, available on theaterchurch.com, have already brought new parishioners to his church, he said.

"I can't possibly have a conversation with everyone each Sunday. But this builds toward a digital discipleship," he said. "We're orthodox in belief but unorthodox in practice."

Just as Christian organizations embraced radio and television, podcasting has quickly caught on with religious groups. Since the beginning of July, the number of people or groups offering spiritual and religious podcasts listed on Podcast Alley (podcastalley.com) has grown to 474 from 177.

"Basically every church can have its own radio show," Pastor Batterson said.

Sending spiritual messages over the airwaves is nothing new. The Vatican made its first radio broadcast in 1931 and today offers worldwide programming in 34 languages (and now offers some programs as podcasts, as well). Evangelical Christians in the United States turned first to radio, then to television, to spread their message, and in the process built minibroadcasting empires like the Christian Broadcasting Network of Pat Robertson and the Trinity Broadcast Network.

New technology like podcasting updates the mission, although on a much smaller scale for now. But Pastor Batterson says he believes that podcasting will have an impact on the church as profound as that of the printing press when the first Bibles were printed in the 15th century. "If you really believe in the message you're preaching, you want as many people as possible to listen," he said. He likes the idea of "spiritual multitasking" to keep people connected to their faith throughout the week. Before his podcasts, he also used his blog to connect with the 800 members of National Community Church, who gather for worship each Sunday in two movie theaters, one in Washington and the other in Alexandria, Va.

Odeo (odeo.com), a podcast directory, plans to encourage more churches, synagogues and mosques to use them, said Adam Rugel, the Web site's director of content. Odeo lists a broad range of religious podcasts, including programs from Buddhists, Muslims and Jews.

Despite the variety of religious podcasts, Christian programs make up by far the largest segment of the category. Shows range from recordings made at the kitchen table to slick broadcasts with pulsing music and crisp audio, like that of

"RevTim" (www.godcast.org/categories/revtimPodcast/). The Rev. Tim Hohm, a Protestant minister from El Sobrante, Calif., makes two 15-minute podcasts a week about family and work issues. He said an average of 6,000 people downloaded the program from the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Mainstream religious broadcasting in the United States has long been dominated by conservative evangelicals like James Dobson and Al Mohler. Both men are hosts of daily radio programs and claim audiences of millions, and both now offer some broadcasts as podcasts.

Melissa Rogers, a visiting professor of religion and public policy at the Wake Forest University Divinity School, finds podcasting a good illustration of the entrepreneurial drive behind Christian evangelicals. Nevertheless, Ms. Rogers does not expect podcasts to replace going to church. "Podcasts provide a way for people who are very busy these days to get their religion on the fly, but for most people this will be a supplement, not a substitute," she said.

The Godcast Network (godcast.org), which began last October, offers 16 programs of Biblical readings, sermons and Christian rock. "Rachel's Choice" is a weekly show by 8-year-old Rachel Patchett, daughter of the network's founder, Craig Patchett, in which she plays a favorite Christian rock song, followed by a reading from the Bible.

Most religious podcasts can be subscribed to using R.S.S. (Really Simple Syndication, a tool for condensing information into a feed), which enables automatic downloading of a new show to the listener's computer as soon it becomes available. For godcasters who record prayers or psalms, the function is especially appealing, because it offers their listeners easy access to daily devotional readings. Pastor Batterson, for instance, is aiming to attract 10,000 subscribers in the next two years who are looking for doses of spirituality on demand.

One of the most popular Christian podcasts, Catholic Insider (catholicinsider.com), already exceeds 10,000 listeners for each program. The founder is the Rev. Roderick Vonhögen, 37, a priest from the Netherlands, who heard about podcasting from one of his parishioners and has become an avid fan of Adam Curry, one of podcasting's founders.

Father Vonhögen began podcasting during a trip to Rome in February. When Pope John Paul II fell ill he captured reactions in and around the Vatican. Since then Father Vonhögen has done programs on the spiritual aspects of the "Star Wars" films and has discussed the Christian dimensions of the Harry Potter books.

"I don't force people to take my view," he said, to which he attributes his popularity. Listeners have gone along on walks in Rome, through the airport in Düsseldorf, Germany, and across the city square in his hometown of Amersfoort while Father Vonhögen enthusiastically talks about pop culture and religion, and can sometimes be heard eating French fries or gelato while he is talking.

"Podcasting for us has been a resurrection of radio," Father Vonhögen said. "It's the connection to a new generation."

One of the my hobby-horses is originality. We each have a unique fingerprint, voiceprint, eyeprint, and soulprint. That uniqueness needs to be celebrated. There never has been and never will be anyone like you. That isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to the God who created you. It's not about being different for difference sake. It's about reflecting the originality of the Original One.

I think every church/business/organization needs to celebrate it's uniqueness by finding a unique signature. Off and On I blog about different signatures. Here are a few more examples.

We're considering a radio segment right now so I've been thinking about how to position ourselves in a unique niche. What's our signature? I've only heard it once, but Lon Solomon (pastor of McLean Bible Church) does a short segment on different radio stations. He says, "Not a sermon. Just a thought." I've heard numerous people mention that tagline. It's his audio signature. I love it! I have a few ideas up my sleeve that I'll blog about if we decide to jump into radio.

Ever stayed in a Doubletree hotel? They are the fastest-growing U.S. company in the first-class hotel category. Why? Chocolate Chip Cookies. Every guest is offered a freshly-baked cookie at check-in. What do cookies have to do with clean sheets? Not much. But the cookie has become their signature. By the way, they taste great!

We're thinking long and hard about Ebenezer's signature right now. In I Samuel 7, the prophet Samuel strategically places "a large stone" as an altar to God. He named it Ebenezers which means "hiterto the Lord has helped us." For all I know, we might just plop a large stone on a property as a physical reminder of God's faithfulness. Or find a way to integrate the verse into our stained concrete. Somehow someway I want Ebenezers to be unlike any other coffeehouse in DC.

Here's a little NCC history. For our first few years we sang "Jesus is the Answer" as our closing song each week. It got a little dated and a little stale so we quit :) But it was the way we "signed off."

Isn't a benediction a signature?

One of my favorites is Ephesians 3:20. It's a 1000 mg of hope! Whenever we've had one of those services that is tough to end I usually dismiss with this benediction: when we leave this place we don't leave His presence; we take his presence with us wherever we go.

Peace Out.

I haven't posted what books I'm reading in a while. Thought I'd share a few great titles.

I'm reading a couple Multnomah books:

i am not but i know I AM by Louie Giglio
{God's Blogs] by Lanny Donoho

I'm loving both of these books. They are turning up the BTU's under my soul and bringing it to a boil. Or something like that :)

I love neurology and anything having to do with the right-brain so I'm reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

I read Podcasting by Todd Cochrane one night this week. I don't recommend it unless you're actually going to podcast and set it up yourself. Too technical.

A few years ago I read Nuts, a business book about Southwest Airlines. I'm now reading the sequel titled Guts.

Happy trails.

Josiah took one small step toward being an official "big boy" a couple weeks ago. He went "poop in the potty." Sorry, there's no "couth" way of saying that. Tell you what. I'll spell poop backwards so it doesn't seem so crude. Poop. Is that better?

Anywho.

I was thinking about it. You should see the way I reveled in this accomplishment. I was on the phone when he told me and I'm sure the people around me thought someone on the other end of the line just shared the greatest news I've ever heard. "He must have won the lottery!"

No more diapers. That's a wonderful thing. But stop and think about it. It's not like it takes great aim :) There is nothing unique about it. Yet our entire family cheers like Josiah has won the Heisman Trophy whenever he goes #1 or #2.

That is human nature! Parents naturally celebrate the accomplishments of their kids. Even in the "waste removal department." We admire their "handiwork."

Why? It's a reflection of our Heavenly Father who revels in His children.

Think about this. God could do everything all by himself and it'd be perfect. He doens't need our "help." But it seems like God revels in our most mundane accomplishments as much as His own perfection. He loves to see His creativity reflected in us. He loves it when we "help" even though it means more work for Him!

He doesn't need us. But He does want us.

It was the kid's "last day of summer vacation" before school starts next week. I had a long "to do" list today, but Lora called and said she was taking the kids to the zoo. I decided, on a whim, to go with them. Sometimes I feel bad about how many vacation days I have left at the end of the year :) I decided to use a half-day.

Saw some amazing creatures. The first animal we spotted was an Oryx. The last time I saw an Oryx was on our Safari at Awash National Park in Ethiopia. Seeing one in the zoo wasn't quite the same as seeing one in the wild :)

I'm certainly not a "coffee expert." I did read a 300+ page history on coffee by Mark Pendergast a few years ago that was absolutely intriguing. I love learning "the story behind the story."

One of the things we want to do at Ebenezers is educate our friends about the history of coffee. We'll collect fascinating factoids about coffee and coffeehouses and share them to enhance appreciation. I think it makes every sip so much more meaningful. Here's one piece of fascinating trivia that Christina Borja (our coffeehouse manager) passed on to me.

Q: According to coffee lore, who is responsible for the spread of coffee's popularity in the early 1600s?

A. Queen Elizabeth I
B. Pope Clement VIII
C. King Louis XII of France

A: B. Coffee afficionados claim that the spread of coffee's popularity in the early 1600's is due to the influence of Pope Clement VIII (1536-1605, pope 1592-1605). Upon being pressured by his advisers to declare coffee to be a drink of the devil because of its popularity among Muslims in the middle east, he instead declared that, "This devil's drink is so good we should cheat the devil by baptizing it."

Baptized coffee.

I love it.

Thought I'd post a picture update on Ebenezers. You can't see them, but the old cinder blocks that have been in the "window sills" and "doorways" for twenty-five years were knocked out today! What a transformation. The brick is being laid at lightning speed. And a few windows were actually installed today. This picture doesn't do it justice, but I wanted to give a sneak peak.

For what it's worth, I try to schedule all of my meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I've got focus days where my hard drive space is totally free and I can think creatively the other days of the week.

Today was a marathon. Seven meetings. It seems like I never came up for a breath.

I met with an NCCer who I think has a great book idea. It's a fiction theme that would target single twenty-something women in an urban context and she wants to include evotionals spliced in. Love the idea.

Met with three local pastors. I always get energized being with pastors. There is something cathartic about sharing how and why you're doing what you're doing.

Had a consturction meeting with the architect of Ebenezers. We're at that place where "final decisions" have to be made. It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time :)

And I had a meeting with a radio rep. We're exploring possibilities.

All of that to say this: I'm tired. I love meeting with people, but I usually feel like I've been through a ten-round bout by the end of the day. I always need a little extra decompression time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Out.

A few months ago we started thinking about the "greater mission" of Ebenezers, our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. We want to serve great coffee. But we also want profits to go toward a great cause. Because of our missionary connections with Ethiopia and Colombia and because of their connection with coffee, they'd make for great causes.

Why not use some of the profits to build mud huts? Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia style! Why not use some of the profits to build a school in Colombia and give kids a scholarship. Why not use some of the profits to fund the mercy center in Addis Ababa where they feed and teach hundreds of children?

We really want to establish connections with the countries where we're getting our coffee. Our coffeehouse managers, Dairo and Christina Borja, even visited a coffee farm while they were in Colombia on a missions trip a few weeks ago. Fair Trade coffee is a given, but I'd like to take it even further than that. I'd love to know and bless the people we get our coffee from. I'm not sure exactly how we get from here to there, but we can start by using some of our profits to bless the countries where the coffee comes from.

What's cool about that is this. Then the coffee doesn't just taste good. It feels good because you know:

a cup of coffee = a home
a cup of coffee = an education
a cup of coffee = food on someone else's plate

The end result? Great Coffee. Great Cause.

It's a win/win.

I'm beginning to think of every door into Ebenezers, our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill, as a worm hole or portal. I want people to feel like they're walking into a different time and place when they walk into the main level. Museums do a great job of this with some of their exhibits. The exhibits at The Air and Space Museum make you feel like you're at Kittyhawk with the Wright Brothers or on board an aircraft carrier. They even have flight simulators that put you in the cockpit.

I developed a formula years ago that has proven true in my life: change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. I want Ebenezers to be that kind of place. A third place (in sociological terms) where they can escape the pressures of work or home and take a chill pill.

I just read Beans which is sort of a take-off on the book Fish. It's a great little book. One statement resonated: the first stop of the day pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the day. Ebenezers, along with other coffeehouses, have the opportunity to "set the tone" for customers. Actually, I'm not sure I like the word "customer." I'd rather view it as "serving coffee to old friends or new friends." When people walk through our "worm hole" we treat them as if they were in our family room.

I just finished reading Food for Thought by Philip J. Romano, the creator of 28 restaurants including Fuddruckers and Macaroni Grill. He talks alot about "point of distinction." What makes a restaurant absolutely unique? Romano strives for originality in all of his restaurant concepts.

One of my goals for Ebenezers, the coffeehouse we're building on Capitol Hill, is that it'd be absolutely unique. I want people to walk into the space and think to themselves: "I've never seen a coffeehouse quite like this." I think we'll accomplish that by celebrating the backstory of the property. The original building was built in 1907 as a diner to serve "butter and eggs" to train traverlers before there was food service on the trains. We want to celebrate the history of the property and the connection with Union Station and Trains. I'm not sure we can find one or afford one, but one idea is buying an actual caboose and retrofitting it for the space.

Beyond the physical space, I want to do the "little things" that make Ebenezers unique. I love the little sayings on Nantucket Nectars. When I work out at Results Gym they always have inspirational quotes by the water fountain. I'm thinking it'd be cool to have a "thought of the day" or "evotional thoughts" on coffee sleeves or the chalkboard or coasters that would be like caffeine for the spirit. I think a little inspiration goes a long way. I love to make people think and make people laugh. I'd like to do that via some "spirit espresso" that functions as spirit fuel--16.9 FL Ounces of Inspiration.

I want the atmosphere at Ebenezers to inspire people in subtle ways. One of my favorite phrases these days is "spiritual inuendo." I'm thinking of it in terms of what St. Francis of Assisi said, "Share the gospel everyday, if necessary, use words."

Summer Reflections: Take Off Your Sandals
08.23.05
Pastor Mark Batterson

This evotional is part of my annual Summer Reflections series. You can watch this week's video illustration by following this link: "Cow Pasture."


Over the next two weeks I want to reflect on two passages in the book of Exodus. God tells Moses to do two things: take off his sandals and put down his staff.

That's what I do during my summer sabbatical each year. Here's why: I don't want to get so focused on tending the flock that I lose sight of the Promise Land. That is precisely what happened to Moses!

Habituation

Exodus 3:1 says, "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian."

Let me say something upfront. I have nothing against shepherds. If you're a shepherd, please don't read this the wrong way. But Moses was the Prince of Egypt. He was voted Most Likely to Succeed by his graduating class at Pyramid High. I don't think staring at the backside of sheep for forty years is what Moses envisioned for his life. I don't think this is the way Moses would have written the script. I don't think shepherding sheep was part of his forty-year plan!

I don't know exactly what was going through Moses' mind as he followed his flock of sheep around. But I have a hunch. I think there was part of him that still believed he was destined for bigger and better things. I think there was another part of him that had settled for his situation.

I have a feeling that Moses got up on this particular morning, put on his sandals and picked up his staff, and figured it would be an ordinary day just like the day before and the day before the day before and the day before the day before the day before.

Hit the pause button.

One of the greatest spiritual dangers we face is something psychologists call habituation. When a new stimulus is introduced into our environment we become intensely aware of it. But we tend to adapt and awareness fades.

Have you ever looked all over for the pencil you put behind your ear? What happened? Awareness faded. A couple months ago I actually spent five minutes looking for my cell phone while I was talking on it. I kid you not.

Nine years ago we bought our first house a few blocks from Union Station. I still remember that first night in our new house. It seemed like there were sirens right outside our window all night. They kept waking me up. Now I can hardly sleep if there aren't sirens! They have that rock-a-bye-baby effect on me. But crickets! That's a whole other story. I can't sleep in the country. Why? Because I'm intensely aware of the new stimulus!

We adapt to our environment. We get used to certain sounds and smells and sights. I still remember the first time I saw the Capitol. We were driving down Pennsylvania Avenue at night. I was in awe. But, to be perfectly honest, I hardly even notice it anymore. Why? Habituation.

Here is the danger we face spiritually. God is introduced into our environment. We become intensely aware of His presence in our lives. But if we aren't careful, that awareness fades. We start taking the grace of God for granted. We stop thinking about the words and we start singing songs from rote memory. Church attendance becomes mechanical. Opportunities feel like obligations. We stop stretching spiritually and we shift into maintenance mode.

I think that is what had happened to Moses. He had a dream of delivering His people from the bondage of slavery. But the dream had faded like an old photograph. It had gathered dust. So forty years later, Moses had adapted to his environment. He was content living out the rest of his days tending sheep for his father-in-law. He had settled for his situation.

How do I know that? Because he says to God, when offered the job of leading the Israelites, Please send someone else.

Habituation.

God is calling Moses to lead the greatest rescue operation in history and Moses would rather stay put. God is calling Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt and lead them into the Promise Land. And Moses is content tending sheep for his father-in-law. Instead of living in vision mode, Moses is content living in maintenance mode.

A.W. Tozer said, If we feel that we are what we ought to be then we will remain what we are.

That's a dangerous place to be spiritually.

Every summer I take a short sabbatical from preaching. Here's why. I need a season where I'm not standing and preaching. I'm sitting and listening. I need a season where it's not about what God can say through me. It's about what God wants to do in me. I'm not saying that I'm not growing while I'm fully engaged in pastoring and preaching. But my summer sabbatical is a chance for me to disengage from my day-in and day-out duties and reengage with God. In a sense, I take off my sandals and put down my staff.

Here's why. To counteract habituation!

I don't want to do ministry from memory. I think it's so easy to learn how and forget why. You just do what you did the day before. You just go through the motions. And if you aren't careful, you lose sight of the Promise Land and become content tending the flock.

Burning Bushes
Exodus 3:1 says, "Moses led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up.' When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.' 'Do not come any closer,'God said. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground'."

Let me tell you what God is after: undivided attention.

That's what the burning bush is all about. God tells Moses to take off his sandals. Why? For starters, it's one way to get Moses to stand still.

In his book, Anam Cara, John O' Donohue's tells a story about an African explorer who hired some native Africans to help carry his equipment through the jungle. They didn't stop for three days. At the end of the third day, these hired hands stopped and absolutely refused to move on. The explorer asked why and one of the African natives explained, We have moved too quickly to reach here; now we need to wait to give our spirits a chance to catch up with us.

Most of us have moved too quickly to get to where we are. We need to let our Spirits catch up! We need to take off our sandals long enough to realize that we're standing on holy ground.

Original Calling

Over the past four weeks, God has brought me back to the burning bushes in my life. It started in July with a pilgrimage to Alexandria, Minnesota. It was during a prayer walk through a cow pasture in 1989 that I felt called to full-time ministry. Check out the "Cow Pasture" video.

I went back to where it all began for me. I went back to the place of original calling.

Did Jesus ever go back to Cana where He performed his first miracle? Did Peter ever row out to that spot on the Sea of Galilee where he walked on water? Did Zacchaeus ever go back to the sycamore tree he climbed to catch his first glimpse of Jesus? Did Lazarus ever revisit the tomb where he was buried for four days? Did Paul ever revisit the spot on the road to Damascus where he was knocked off his high horse? Did Abraham ever return to Mount Moriah where God provided a ram in the thicket? Did the paralyzed man ever climb up on the rooftop where his four friends had lowered him down?

I don't know the answer to all of those questions, but I think one key to overcoming habituation is going back to ground zero. It's returning to the burning bushes-those places where you have met God. I know that most of us have never experienced anything as dramatic as a burning bush. But do you remember when you first became conscious of God's presence? Is there a moment where the grace of God overwhelmed you? Are there places and experiences where God has revealed something to you? It may not be a physical place like a cow pasture or a burning bush. But we need to revisit those altars where God has done something of spiritual significance in our lives.

It's so easy to get all wrapped up doing things for God that you forget that it's really all about what God has done for us. During my summer sabbatical last year, I was totally impacted by one simple truth. I felt like the Spirit of God kept reminding me over and over again: it's not about what you can do for me; it's about what I have done for you. That one thought inspired my first book-ID: The True You.

C.S. Lewis said, We need to be reminded more than instructed. That's why we celebrate communion. That's why we build altars.

God is always calling us back to simple truths and original callings.

Dr. Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant intellectuals of the 20th century. He wrote countless volumes on life and faith. Millions of pastors and missionaries have been influenced by his theological writings. A reporter once asked Barth if he could summarize his greatest theological discovery. Karl Barth thought for a moment and said, Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

Leverage

Archimedes, the Greek mathematician who discovered the law of levers, once said: Give me but one firm spot on which to stand and I will move the earth.

As far as we know, Moses only saw one burning bush. But that one firm spot gave him spiritual leverage. And God promised to bring him back to that "one firm spot." God said, This will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain.

God is always bringing us back to the simple truths and original callings. In the words of Revelation 2:5, He wants us to Repent and do the things you did at first.

That is what God has done in my life over the past four weeks. He brought me back to the place of original calling and reminded me of why I'm doing what I'm doing.

We've got to be about the Father's business. We've got to redouble our efforts to reach the unchurched and dechurched, help them cross the line of faith, and become fully devoted followers of Christ.

That's what it's all about.

One last thought.

Not everybody has had a "burning bush" experience. But if you are a follower of Christ, the Cross is the "one firm spot" that gives us spiritual leverage. The Cross is the key that gives us access to the throne of grace.

Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I just read a fascinating article in Fast Company titled "The 3 Ways of Great Leaders." The authors introduce a concept they call "contextual intelligence."

I loved Daniel Goleman's book on emotional intelligence (EQ). For what it's worth, I'd like to do a book on Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) and dissect the different dimensions of the image of God. I loved Howard Gardner's research on different kinds of intelligence in Frames of Mind. Bottom line: I think there are lots of different ways of being smart :)

In their book, In Their Time, authors Anthony Mayo and Nitin Nohria found one common denominator amongst all great leaders regardless of age or industry. "They possessed an acute sensitivity to the social, political, technological, and demographic contexts that came to define their eras." They excelled at "sensing opportunities." Mayo and Nohria call it "contextual intelligence." They studied 1,000 leaders and came to the conclusion that contextual intelligence is "an underappreciated but all-encompassing differentiator between success and failure."

Makes me think of the tribe of Isachaar. Scripture says they "understood the times."

Is "contextual intelligence" another way of saying "be as shrewd as snakes"? Is it another word for "incarnation"?

The church ought to be off the charts on contextual intelligence. We've got the best frame--Scripture. But I'm afraid we barely get a passing grade. Too often we've gotten A's in biblical exegesis and D's in cultural exegesis.

That's not a slam. It's a challenge. We can do better.

I'm not suggesting we conform to culture. I am suggesting we understand it and redeem it and ultimately lead the charge in creating it.

A few months ago I blogged on faux camping. We camped out in the "backyard" of our Capitol Hill home because camp grounds were "sold out" over the July 4th weekend. Long story short, a Washington Post reporter found the blog and we hit the front page of the metro section of the Washington Post today. Pretty funny stuff.

Here's a link to the article and I've posted it below as well:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201376.html?nav=hcmodule

A Campout With Sirens And a Rat? Only in D.C.
By Petula Dvorak

Lora Batterson remembers peering down from her bedroom window, past the crisscross of power lines and the white glow of an alley light, to check on her family's backyard adventure. The tent her husband and children had pitched on a hot summer night in their tiny Capitol Hill courtyard was glimmering with yellow lights. It looked like Christmas or a fancy outdoor wedding. "They'd set their jar of fireflies free inside the tent. And it looked just beautiful," she said. Then, a really long ziiiiiip. And Dad came tumbling out, waving both arms madly." It looked nice, but after a while, we realized it wasn't the best idea to let all those bugs loose inside the tent," recalled Mark Batterson, a Capitol Hill pastor, the dad and chief architect of this escapade.

The summertime ritual of backyard camping usually means the musty smell of an old pup tent, the wetness of summer grass and the blue glow of the next-door neighbor's television, replacements for the sting of campfire smoke, the scent of pine trees and the moonlight of real camping. But when the adventure goes urban, campers face a new brand of outdoors that can include the wail of sirens and the scritch-scratch of scurrying rats. Never mind. The kids think it's great."It's kind of like a vacation. But not really," 9-year-old Parker Batterson said as he prepared for an evening in the tent, armed to attack the backyard insects. He wore shin guards, Dad's fingerless biking gloves, blue plastic "X-ray night vision" goggles and the look of a hunter as he emptied two cans of spring-scented spray. "It tastes kind of like bubbles," he said, grimacing as he sampled the clouds he had released over the petunias.

For the Battersons, urban camping began as many great inventions are born: out of parental desperation. They are a busy Washington family, and it was just before Fourth of July weekend that Mom and Dad realized they didn't have a plan. They called every campground their trusty gray tent has seen, from Maryland's Rocky Gap State Park to Delaware's Cape Henlopen State Park. No vacancy, booked, filled, out of luck.So Mom suggested they camp right in Northeast Washington. She fired up the grill and cooked hot dogs. "What about dessert?" she wondered.The answer: "banana boats.""They're reaaaaallly good," said Summer Batterson, 8. "You take a banana and open it up and put all kinds of stuff like chocolate and marshmallows in it," she said, doing a jig that sent her legs and arms bouncing and flailing. "And then you cook it on the barbecue. "Mom's quick thinking gave the Battersons a family activity for the rest of the summer that was both cool and weird. Every couple of weeks, they hauled out the tent and had a quick getaway out back. At first, the courtyard's bricks were a challenge. "It really, really hurt to lay down," Parker said. So they added a futon mattress in the tent, and that worked well.Recently, on one of their last faux camping trips before the start of school, Summer wrestled with how she would tell her classmates what she did on summer vacation."I don't know if any of my friends did this. It's kind of weird. But fun," she said as brother Josiah, 3, helped Dad pitch the tent.Before they had a chance to zip the door shut, a loaf-sized rat zipped through the back yard, narrowly missing the opening of the tent. Mom shuddered a bit. She volunteered to stay inside, where she spread out on a big, empty bed and carefully regulated the air conditioning.

Dad and three little Battersons settled in -- optimistically -- right at the kids' 9 p.m. bedtime. Then Summer did some yoga, and there was jockeying for who got to sleep next to Dad. "Rock, paper, scissors!" Parker yelled.At 10, sirens rang out. Dad let each of the kids listen to his iPod, figuring that his "chill out" playlist might be more soothing than the urban soundtrack. The kids didn't nod off until about 11:30, and Dad proceeded to have his most comfortable night of camping ever. At the brink of dawn, Summer opened her eyes. "It's 6:03 a.m.," she declared. Parker and Josiah woke up right after. Bleary-eyed, Dad realized that one of the best parts of backyard camping was yet to come. "Go inside the house and watch cartoons," he told them, and rolled over and went back to sleep.

My blog is one way I think outloud. It helps me process.

I had a conversation with another publisher yesterday. One comment was really helpful. He recommended coming up with a five-year plan and prioritizing which book projects are most important to me.

I'm absolutely thrilled by the interest in my latest manuscript. It's humbling and exciting. I can't wait to see it in print in bookstores. But here's the challenge I'm facing. I want seven books in print yesterday! Part of that is my personality. I really want to turn Soulprint and The Physics of Faith and The Game of Life into books. But the book we're shopping now is part one of a trilogy. It'll take a year for it to hit the market and then we'll need to space each book. So we're probably looking at three years!

I really want to write for a broad audience. I think every author wants to impact as many people as they possibly can. But I also have two niche passions: twenty-somethings and pastors. I'd like to write a book for twenty-somethings. I already have a rough draft. And I've got invitations from a couple publishers to write a book for pastors. I really want to write those two books in the next two years. But I don't know how that fits with the trilogy.

Anywho.

I'm trying to put the jigsaw pieces of this writing puzzle together. I haven't quite figured out how they fit together yet :)

Thought I'd post the rough draft of an article I'm doing on preaching for a fall issue of Ministries Today.

A few months ago I was invited to speak at a twenty-something conference. I was driving north on interstate 95 listening to a CD when I heard something totally deflating if you're a preacher by trade: "Studies indicate that we forget 95% of what we hear within three days."

I felt like doing an illegal U-turn and driving home! I remember praying this 70 mph prayer (with my eyes open): "God, I don't want to invest my time and energy saying things that people are just going to forget anyway. Help me say things in unforgettable ways!"

Unforgettable.

Isn't that the holy grail of preaching?

To say things in such an anointed way that hearers don't just remember. They can't forget!

I have a simple conviction: the most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways.

There is a riveting scene in the blockbuster movie The Matrix where Neo meets Morpheus for the first time. And Morpheus gives Neo a choice between two pills:

You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe.

Unfortunately, that's what happens with most messages in most churches on most Sundays. People pop the blue pill. They may be inspired or convicted or challenged by a message, but they go to bed Sunday night and get up Monday morning and they can't remember a single word you said.

But Morpheus gives Neo another option:

You take the red pill and you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

That's the goal. Get people to pop the red pill and go down the rabbit-hole of faith.

Brand Truth

Here's my philosophy of preaching in six words: say old things in new ways.

Truth is kaleidoscopic. It is multi-layered and multi-dimensional. And sometimes a new angle on an ancient truth can result in metanoia—a paradigm shift.

I recently did a series titled The Physics of Faith. Each message revolved around a law of physics familiar to anyone who has taken Physics 101. I used Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Bell's Theorem, and The Second Law of Thermodynamics to frame spiritual truth. I believe every ology is a branch of theology. The way we add depth perception to our preaching is by cross-pollinating with different disciplines. If all truth is God's truth, then we need to redeem scientific research and leadership theory and cultural trends and use them to serve God’s purposes.

There is an old real estate adage: location, location, location. In the realm of communication, it's metaphor, metaphor, metaphor. In De Poetica, Aristotle said, "The greatest thing by far is to be the master of metaphor." Jesus set the standard. He used agrarian metaphors to frame truth because he knew that most of his listeners spent most of their day in the fields. He used familiar metaphors to brand truth. We call them parables.

A Picture is Worth...

We try to brand every message series with an organizing metaphor. The organizing metaphor for our last series, On Mission, was a customized Passport that was so authentic it could probably have gotten you through customs! And for our next series, Wired, we’ll use wireless technology to talk about increasing spiritual bandwidth. We'll kick off 2006 with a series called Fuel. We're in the process now of buying gas station relics for staging at our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill.

The key to branding message series is redeeming metaphors that are on the frontal lobe of cultural consciousness. A few years ago, OnStar launched its marketing campaign in the DC market. It seemed like I couldn't turn on my radio without hearing the tag line: "Always There. Always Ready." We decided to call our series on the Holy Spirit OnStar Onboard. I even borrowed a Ford Explorer with OnStar onboard and we shot the series trailer driving around Washington, DC talking to an Onstar operator.

Who said you have to preach from behind a pulpit? Jesus did most of his preaching at the beach or on the mountain! We are currently experimenting with "offsite preaching" that is shot "on location" and pre-produced as a short film. Why not? Especially if your church meets in a movie theater! Our theater screens double as postmodern stained glass. They enable us to communicate truth in moving pictures.

For what it's worth, the brain is able to process print on a page at a rate of about a hundred bits per second. A picture is processed at about a billion bits per second. That means that a picture isn't worth a thousand words. A picture is literally worth ten million words!

Irrelevance is Irreverence

The key to unforgettable preaching is packaging truth in ways that are biblically sound and culturally relevant. Let me borrow from the parable of the wineskins. Think of biblical exegesis as the wine. Think of cultural relevance as the wineskin. If you have one without the other, you're not going to quench anybody's thirst. You need the substance (biblical exegesis) and the container (cultural relevance).

If we divorce Biblical exegesis and cultural exegesis we end up with dysfunctional truth. It doesn’t do anybody any good. Either we answer questions no one is asking. Or we give the wrong answers.

National Community Church has a core value: irrelevance is irreverence. God isn't just omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He's omni-relevant. He knows the number of hairs on our head. He knows every need before we verbalize it. And He speaks more than six billion dialects. No one is more relevant than God. So anything less than relevance is irreverence! Relevance = Reverence. Cultural relevance doesn't mean dumbing-down or watering-down the truth. It's about incarnating timeless truth in timely ways.

Two of our hardest hitting series each year are two of the most relevant: God @ the Billboards and God @ the Box Office. The 60% of Americans who don’t attend church get their theology from movies and music. So we redeem popular songs and popular movies by juxtaposing them with Scripture. For what it's worth, we literally roll out the red carpet during God @ the Box Office and treat every NCCer like an Oscar Nominee.

Red carpet treatment doesn't hurt when your goal is getting people to pop the red pill.

I just spent the last hour on the rooftop of Ebenezers. Don't tell our contractors :)

What a view! What a feeling! It's the first time I've been up there. I felt this flood of emotions--gratitude, excitement, nostalgia. The dream is becoming reality. And it's making me hungrier to believe God for even bigger things! Ebenezers is feeding my faith. It's the only way I can describe it. It was a ridiculous idea eight years ago. Not anymore!!!

I love to pray on top of things :) Verticality helps me put everything in perspective. I think there is a biblical precedent. Jesus prayed on mountaintops. And as I was praying, I couldn't help but think of Peter praying on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner's house in the book of Acts.

By the way, one of my ideas (not necessarily a God idea) was to put a hot tub up there :) Be a cool place to do baptisms!

We continue to put together a "palette" for Evotional.com. Here is one of the latest looks. "Spirit fuel" was one of those "eureka" thoughts. I've always thought of the weekly evotionals as "spiritual vitamins." But I like "spirit fuel" as much or more!

There is a fascinating branch of sociology called network theory that explores the way relational networks affect out lives. I am more and more convinced that the old adage is true: it's not what you know but who you know.

As I look back over the last few months I'm grateful for a handful of connectors (Malcom Gladwell label in The Tipping Point) who have opened doors of opportunity by connecting me with the right people. Greg Ligon at Leadership Network is a connector. He facilitated the opportunity to meet Jim Tomberlin and be part of the multi-site forum at Willowcreek. John Eames, my agent, is networking with publishers for me. My mentor, Dick Foth, has used his network of relationships to add value to my life. I'm realizing that one of the greatest gifts we can give another person is our network of relationships that we've spent a lifetime developing.

I guess what I'm trying to blog is this: it really does boil down to relationships in the long run. It's not about manipulating or posturing. John Maxwell said something powerful at the Leadership Summit last week. He has a thirty second rule. Everytime he meets someone he tries to say something affirming within the first thirty seconds. We all know "smoozers" who kiss up. But when we genuinely approach people in a Christlike way we can't help but encourage them.

I've always loved the advice of Benjamin Franklin. He said, "Every man is my superior in some way. In that I learn of him." I try to approach every encounter with everyone as a learning opportunity. I want to learn something. It's a posture of humility.

I have a core conviction: God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. I also think God is in the business of making sure we meet the right people at the right time. That's my divine network theory.

I haven't started reading Velvet Elvis yet, but Heather Zempel, our pastor of Discipleship, sent me a cool quote. Rob Bell writes, "I am learning that the church has nothing to say to the world until it throws better parties."

A few years ago I saw a T-shirt that said, "Life of the Party." I've always regretted not getting it :) That's a core part of my theology. As Christ-followers, we ought to be the life of the party! We are salt and light which means we add flavor and add color. Without us everything would be bland and monochrome.

I know the word "party" has lots of different connotations depending on your experience. It probably ranges from wild keg parties to pin the tail on the donkey. But in the purest sense, heaven will be the ultimate party. All the high and none of the hangover :)

I was doing a little research today and reading God's Secretaries by Adam Nicolson. One sentence captivated me: "The old church and the new technology were the closest of allies." I know it's a hobby-horse that I ride all the time, but the church has to be in the business of redeeming technology and using it to serve God's purposes. We need to be turning iPods into GodiPods.

Hit the rewind button.

Martin Luther wasn't just a theological genius. He was a technological genius. In fact, without the printing press, Luther's genius would have impacted a few locals. But technology is what fueled the Protestant Reformation.

The Bible was unchained from medieval pulpits. Luther put the Bible in the hands of parishoners. It was the democritization of discipleship. The average Christian could read and study the word of God for themselves. We take it for granted, but the printing press was a Quantum leap in discipleship! It was the transition from oral to analog. What we are now experiencing is the digital revolution. We're experiencing the shift from analog to digital.

Nicolson calls Luther "the first genius of mass communications." His translation of the New Testament sold 3,000 copies immediately. A German printer estimated, forty years later, that he had sold 100,000 Lutheran Bibles.

There was a backlash from resisters. The first burning of a Prosetant Bible book was in 1521. A Protestant printer was burned in 1527. But technology fueled a revolution. The first Swedish Bible was printed in 1541. A Finnish New Testament was completed in 1548. The first Bible in Spanish was publihsed in 1569. A Polish Bible was printed in 1561. And a Hungarian Bible was published in 1590.

That theological revolution was facilitated by a technological development. Johann Gutenberg deserves some credit for the Protestant Revolution.

For what it's worth, my passion for blogging and godcasting have historical roots. The Internet is to my generation what the printing press was to the 15th century.

Theology and technology ought to be the closest of allies.

We got a new cleaning service this week and I came into the office this morning and there was a mint on my keyboard. I'm not a big mint guy, but I love it when people do the little things that give their work a unique signature. It makes them memorable.

It's the little things that make us stand out in a big way!

For what it's worth, we play off the movie theater motif and give guests their "welcome packet" in a popcorn box. Why not? We even throw in a single packet of microwave popcorn. It's our signature.