Hey Everybody!
I hope that you are doing very, very well! I just wanted to take a quick second to let you know that we WILL still be holding our Sunday morning service @ CenterStage this Sunday @ 10am. Please forward this message and spread the word that WE WILL BE @ CENTERSTAGE this Sunday morning and will be sharing some practical ways we can reciprocate the “CRAZY LOVE” God gives us!
We have had an awesome week this week considering all of the location options that we have, but still need a bit more time to make sure that we make the best decision. I feel strongly that we are in a win-win situation with the options before us and we will keep you posted!
I can let you in on one secret that we are going to let out of the bag…
Starting on Sunday, March 8th we are going to begin offering a big ‘ol FREE breakfast before the service for EVERYBODY that wants it. It’s going to be a delicious blast and you’ll hear more about it very soon too!
A few months ago I said that I wouldn’t be attending a particular church planting conference because every main speaker, every breakout speaker, every worship leader, and every musician at this “national” conference was a white male.
Now the conference for the church planting organization that I am a part of looks pretty much the same. I am required to go. Just like the “national” church planting conference, all of these speakers are the bomb. They lead great churches. I know these guys and love them. I’m just agitated by the lack of diversity.
My wife just said, “What are you going to do now big guy?“
Yesterday my wife & I were searching for a place where our kids could eat for free. With a family of 6, my wife I agreed that we would only take the crew out to eat if the kids ate for free or we used certificates from Restaurant.com (which you should only get with a coupon code). Anyways, I am going to take a risk and tell you about a politically incorrect discussion we had while we were choosing our spot to eat.
THE SETTING
We located a restaurant that we really like. Kids eat free there until 7pm. This restaurant has two locations in Atlanta. One is VERY close to our house and one takes about 20 minutes to get to. It was 6:30pm.
THE PROBLEM
Of course it would make sense to go to the close location right? The thing is…the location close to our house is very, very gay. Gay staff, gay patrons, located directly across from a very popular gay bookstore in a very gay neighborhood.
The food is great. The place is clean. It is close to where we live. It’s just really, really gay. Last time we took the crew there a gay couple was kissing in the restaurant and several other gay couples were just doing what any couple would do – holding hands, sitting close, looking adoringly at one another, etc.
THE CONVERSATION
Wife: Let’s hurry up and go Shaun so we can make it before 7pm.
Me: You know though….the spot on Piedmont is very you know what.
Wife: Do you think we could make it to the other location in time?
Me: Sure. We have to hurry though.
Wife: Do you remember how to get there?
Me: No. Let me google it.
Wife: Skip it babe. We have to go. Let’s just take a chance and go to the spot close by.
Me: OK. Let’s roll.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
When my wife and I got there – I told her that I hated that we felt the need to avoid certain parts of town. Do you avoid certain parts of your town? Do you so because they are too black, too white, too gay, too poor, too rich? Why?
How do you feel about my conversation and decision above?
Let’s talk!
Hey Everybody! We’re in the middle of giving this blog a massive overhaul and a few things have changed. After switching from Typepad to WordPress (because John said that’s what cool people do) I lost a few HUNDRED subscribers because HOW YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG is a bit different. You can still subscribe in the two primary ways listed below, but most of you will need to update the feed information.
USE A READER. Most if not all blogs use RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” which can be aggregated and displayed by what’s known as an RSS or Feed Reader. Some examples of free readers are Bloglines, Google Reader, Yahoo, or most of the newer web browsers (Internet Explorer and Safari) have readers built in. I personally use Google Reader which helps me sift through the blogs I subscribe to. And others I know prefer Bloglines. You can subscribe via different RSS options HERE.
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Thanks for joining our community!
I recently learned from one of the volunteers @ The Courageous Church that they have a “casual” marijuana smoking habit. I posed to the Twitter & Facebook community the question of what exactly my response should be to this admission and the answers were pretty doggone passionate and as varied as, “that person has to go” to “what’s wrong with smoking a joint”. Passionate enough for us to open up the discussion here so that we can really get to the heart of the matter.
Let me pose the question again – how do you think I should respond to this new knowledge that I have? Remove the person from the position they hold? Coach them out of the habit? Just pray for them and keep moving?
What do you think?
Hey Everybody…just a quick note to let you know that we’re working on overhauling my blog so you may notice some weird changes here and there.
It’s the crack of dawn (4:30am) on Sunday morning and I am making some final preparations to speak with our church this morning about Jesus. I usually write a manuscript that I review over and over for Sunday morning, but I am feeling the need to abandon my script this morning to share straight from my heart/gut about an idea that is simple and somewhat understood. People assume that the pastor believes in Jesus, but today I want to take a moment to really look people in the eyes and let them know that I BELIEVE.
I really do believe in Jesus. I am a born skeptic of frauds and phonies, but I really do believe what the Bible says about Him. Virgin Birth. Crazy miracles. Public execution. Resurrection.
I believe it all.
Do you?
The Courageous Church is planning on a location move very soon. (Stay tuned here on my blog for updates.)
I have learned that at least three types of locations exist. A very real part of me prefers option #1, but I see the benefits of all three. What do you think?
Option #1: FREE or NEARLY FREE LOCATION -A few locations we have discovered are free or very, very inexpensive. They lack bells & whistles, the locations isn't the best, and for some of these spots the time we could use the location may or may not be ideal, but the cost is nearly nothing.
On a limited budget, I love this type of location because it allows us to pour most of our resources into people and projects that we are passionate about in a major way.
Option #2: Mid-Range Cost Location -We have found a few event facilities and church buildings that are pretty nice, have a good location, and are moderately priced. Not cheap. Not expensive. Middle of the road. This seems to make the most sense because it doesn't take up all of the resources and still offers some location perks. It doesn't allow us the total freedom that option #1 does though.
Option #3: Expensive Location -Many really nice locations (much like CenterStage) are available throughout downtown Atlanta. Many have all of the bells & whistles, are easy to find, and look awesome. If we choose this type of facility, it will take nearly every dollar we have. This option, at least right now, is not viable. It can be a goal down the road though.
Here's my basic question then…why would you choose option #1 or option #2?
I love being the pastor of The Courageous Church. I just read an awesome blog post from a guy that came to our church to support his sister, but left with much more! This is why I pastor…to connect people that have given up on church (or never cared for it in the first place) to God and a real community of faith! Check it out here.
I asked all of my friends on Twitter & Facebook recently how they thought The Courageous Church should craft an upcoming marketing/publicity campaign. I got a ton of very creative responses and think we will actually use some of them. Here is my favorite idea and I’ll tell you why:
Serve a quality FREE breakfast every Sunday morning to EVERY person that comes to the church.
That’s it. That’s the whole idea. Simple I know. Let me tell you why I like it so much.
- Our Creative Team hosted a meeting @ IKEA this past Saturday morning when IKEA was giving away a FREE BREAKFAST for the first two hours the store was open. 100s of people were standing outside, in the rain, for a long time, to get a free breakfast. It was pretty doggone shocking and was certainly a sign of the times.
- We are in a recession. People are struggling. A free meal is tangible way to spend our money that would also help people. For the cost of a very small mass mailing we could feed 1,000 people.
- Jesus regularly ate and dined with people. It’s a good way to get to know people and share life with them.
- Our team is already hungry on Sunday’s anyways. We get there early and stay late and could use some good food.
It’s not a slick flyer or a clickable website, but something in me tells me that a free breakfast would garner a lot of publicity during these tough times. What do you think? Should we go for it?
Hey Everybody! I hope you all are doing well. While I am calling this "my 10 most popular blog posts of ALL-TIME" the truth is that I have only been blogging now for about a year. It sure seems longer than that because the past year has probably been the biggest and busiest year of my life. Anyways, I wanted to share with you all the top 10 most read and most commented-on blog posts I have ever written. I'd love for you to add your thoughts and comments!
Over the past two weeks I have contacted at least a dozen different schools, organizations, and companies to see what it would take (cost) for our church to lease conference rooms or theaters or gyms that they have, but don’t use on Sunday morning. Time and time again I have been told by these colleges and YMCA’s and companies that they “don’t lease their building space to churches” or “are closed on Sunday” or “have policies against” what we were proposing. Several friends of mine all around the country have experienced this same thing.
Here what’s crazy though -all of these companies are firing and laying off people in droves. Literally, three companies that we approached last week had huge public announcements of widespread layoffs, but would not bend on their stupid policies. We are offering to pay more than $30,000 a year plus hire their security and janitorial staff to use empty space, but, in the middle of firing employees, they won’t bend the cherished company policy.
BANANAS. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
One month ago yesterday The Courageous Church launched @ Center Stage here in downtown Atlanta! Today is the first day of our second month and I am more excited about what is ahead than I've ever been!
I want to take a second to thank our great staff, our awesome launch team, the team @ Center Stage, our friends @ ARC & The Covenant, all of our Twitter/Facebook/blogging prayer partners and well-wishers, many churches and pastors around the country that encouraged us and supported us, my entire family, and to everyone else who has had a hand in helping us get to month #2!
You ain't seen nuthin' yet!
Many pastors and churches feel like it is best to leave current affairs and pop culture out of sermons (and blogs) and I understand that perspective…it’s just not my own. The recent incident between Chris Brown & Rihanna, two of the most popular entertainers in the world, presents a rare opportunity to talk about some tough issues while they are fresh on the minds of millions of people. I won’t use this time to talk about how I would like to challenge Chris Brown to an old-fashioned duel, but instead hope to share a few pastoral thoughts on what we can learn from this sad crisis. Please join me in praying for both of these very young people (19 & 20) as they face two very daunting roads to recovery.
Here are four lessons we can all learn from Chris Brown and Rihanna. Feel free to pass them on.
- Anger and rage doesn’t just hurt other people, it hurts you. While we don’t have all of the details about exactly what happened between Chris Brown & Rihanna, it appears that Rihanna was brutalized badly. Here’s the thing though – when you brutalize other people the actions you thought would only hurt your victim have a very strange way of causing you the most harm. Our prisons are full of sad men and women paying years of their lives for one moment of rage. While Rihanna will have to really work hard to recover physically and emotionally from this, Chris Brown is going to be finding out for many years how much his rage hurt him.
- Being violent rarely makes sense in general and never makes sense with people you love. Violence is pretty much the worst way in the world to resolve any problem. I pledged many years ago that I will only use violence or force to protect the people that I love because being violent with the people you love never makes sense. Period.
- Acting married when you aren’t really down with the vows of marriage is a bad idea. My wife and I were acting married when we were the same age as Chris Brown & Rihanna and it was an absolute mess. Beyond the fact that we had no idea what a good marriage looked like, we were both very immature emotionally. We put on a great public face, but behind closed doors we fought and argued like cats and dogs. While it was never quite as bad as Chris Brown & Rihanna, it wasn’t because we had it all together. Call it the Grace of God, luck, or whatever, but my wife and I barely made it through the very rough years when we were faking like we were married.
- Unresolved pain from your past comes out in the worst ways at the worst times. I read many months ago that Chris Brown grew up in an abusive household. He saw his stepfather regularly beat his mother and admitted that it created a rage inside of him. This is sad, but even worse is that Chris allowed the unresolved pain from his past to shape and inform how he responds to the regular frustrations of a relationship. I am sure Chris pledged to himself many years ago to never be like his stepfather, but unresolved pain has a way of coming out in the worst ways at the worst times. Seriously – how much worse could it be than beating up your mega-star girlfriend hours before you were both set to perform @ the Grammy’s?! Tucking the pain from your past away into the hidden compartments of your mind is not enough, you must consider counseling and allow God to heal your old wounds.
Hey Everybody! I had just a few seconds to update you and wanted to share a few bits of news with you.
- Rai is feeling better and better everyday after some complications from her c-section. Keep praying! She is home and is increasingly mobile. Her pain seems to be getting better too.
- Our baby Savannah is doing very well. She is very healthy, eats well, sleeps well, poops well, and that's about all she knows how to do. She smiles occasionally, but I am pretty sure it's just gas.
- Several new options have opened up for our Sunday morning services and some of the options that I discussed here have closed. Keep praying! We are a church on the move and God already knows what's ahead!
That's it for now! Back to work! Love y'all!
When we learned last August that we were going to be able to hold our Sunday services @ Center Stage I was pretty doggone amped! But here's the thing – our best intentioned, well-crafted plans make God laugh. For the reasons that I detailed here and a few that I didn't detail (like the fact that it is cold as a snowman's buttcrack inside of Center Stage on Sunday mornings), we will be in a brand new spot on Sunday, March 1st and I'd love your feedback!
I am pretty much wide-open, but here are two prerequisites:
- It has to cost $3,000 or less per month.
- It has to be in downtown/Midtown Atlanta. We are a city church.
Option #1: Several churches are available on Sunday's from 2pm-9pm and I am open to holding services, for instance, on Sunday @ 6pm or Sunday @ 5pm & 7pm.
One great church in Midtown Atlanta is available for $500 per Sunday. It has a great, easy to find location with a beautiful sanctuary and a few classrooms for a nursery and children's ministry. A few months ago I was down on using church space as a church plant, but my buddy Jon Tyson @ Trinity Grace Church is doing it all over New York City. This option would immediately cut our costs down by over 50%, would keep us in our target area, and would not really require us to make any major equipment purchases.
The primary drawback is that we cannot have a Sunday morning service.
Option #2: A great office building just a few blocks away from Center Stage that is right inside of our target area has a large office available for $3,000 a month. This is a great deal in downtown Atlanta. Here's the thing though…the office building has a large conference room that holds about 300 people that would be available to us for Sunday morning gatherings and events during the week. It has a ton of chairs available, a great projector and large screen, and a simple sound system. The room is located right by the front entrance of the office building and is really nice. A smaller conference room is available for a nursery and Courageous Kids.
The biggest benefit to this space is that we would have it for 7 days a week. We could host multiple services on Sunday and gatherings/events during the week. While we would have to purchase some additional sound equipment, we would at least be able to store it there on site. Like option #1, this option is located on a very well-known, easy to find street.
Option #3: A very cool loft space is available for $1500 a month. This space is deeply discounted and is big enough for a large gathering space and a few small offices/children's ministry spaces. While this space is not located as prominently as option #1 or #2, it is still located just about 2 miles from the central city. Like option #2, we will have this space for seven days a week and it is obviously a MAJOR cost savings over Center Stage and a bit of a cost savings over options #1 & #2. The primary drawbacks to this space is that it will require us to purchase more equipment (chairs, podiums, projectors, sound system, etc.), is a bit off of the beaten path, and the rent, we were told, is subject to go up significantly in the near future.
Give me your raw feedback. What do you think about each option? Which option is your favorite? Why?
Barring any last minute changes, it looks like The Courageous Church will be moving its Sunday morning location from Center Stage to one of about 4-5 new spots on Sunday, March 1st. Overall, Center Stage has been an awesome Sunday morning location for us, but four primary factors are causing us to consider a quick shift.
1. It's not cost effective. Including all security and tech costs, Center Stage cost us between $8000-$9000 a month. I knew this was the cost before we launched there, but we expected to be raising more money on a weekly basis than we have been. I pledged to my leadership coaches and others that I would not run our entire church into the ground by remaining @ Center Stage past a point of where it was not affordable. We are @ that point. For what we are paying to be @ Center Stage I cannot justify the percentage of our budget that it is costing right now. I took a calculated risk to have us launch there and I am still glad we did it, but it has not quite worked out for us. We could stay, but it's just not cost effective.
2. It's too big. Although we had nearly 700 people @ our Grand Opening, our Sunday morning crowds since then have all been less than 300 people. Center Stage costs what it costs, in part, because it is big. For us, right now, it's too big. In spite of the fact that we have great attendance for a church that is just 4 weeks old, it really doesn't look like it.
3. It's not a good example. I feel very strongly that the way the church spends its money should set a great example for how we hope and expect individuals and families to spend money. Right now, The Courageous Church is what we call House Poor. Have you ever (had a house) or visited a family and they house was amazing on the outside and you go inside only to see that the family cannot afford furniture and has a bunch of empty rooms? That's house poor and it is often a cause of poor planning or overspending. I refuse to run our church in this way.
4. Other options have opened up. When we chose to be @ Center Stage, God opened up several doors for us to be there and no other viable options existed. That's not the case today. I have a feeling we may be back @ Center Stage somewhere down the road, but a few other options that are less than half of the cost are open right now that just make a whole lot of sense.
(((My family is hungry. They get that way sometimes. I have to fix something to eat for the crew, but hope to tell you about the options very soon!)))
Hey Everybody! I just wanted to let you know that my wife is home from the hospital and is recovering well from some complications she had after childbirth. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! Keep it coming!
