Been WAY too long

So it's been over a month since my last blog post. Way too long. Sorry about that - I'll do better.

I went down with some of the great folks at R2 to the Unleash conference at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC. Had a blast with good friends, got some great ideas about how to do things better in my role in the church, and was really inspired by some awesome worship. More about Unleash in general in an upcoming post.

Here's what's really inspired me to get back to blogging. I really felt God speaking to me this week, and it started before getting to Newspring. It all started when we were hanging out at a coffee shop just having a blast kidding around with each other. Dont remember the context of the conversation, but somehow it came up that I was a cheerleader in HS (this is the one thing I always play off as being embarrassed of, but in truthfulness, i had a blast doing it). My small group co-leader Jade was there and asked me a really interesting question. I think half jokingly she asked me "how did that experience affect your chazown?" (our small group is reading chazown and if yours isn't, it should be.) I thought about just giving her a flippant, joking response, but then decided to give it some real thought. I said "well, it tought me that it's good to sacrifice your own needs for someone else's." You see, as a guy on the cheerleading squad, your number one priority is to not let the girl you're holding or throwing up in the air hit the ground - even if it means you hitting the ground instead. I took some pretty nasty falls and got really banged up literally diving for girls on several occasions... but none of them ever hit the ground.

On Thursday, Perry Noble was talking about how church leaders should continually be asking God for "the ball." That a leader should say, "I'm willing to take the punishment. I'm willing to take the risk. I'm wanting to be the one to advance down the field." Perry was talking to the Senior Pastors at that point, but I think a lot fo that fell in the wrong ears... I've heard a lot of chatter online for other people in the Church talking about how they want the ball too.

Here's where I think the problem lies. There's only ONE ball carrier. The church staff has to take an offensive lineman mentality. As a church staffer, it's not my calling to carry the ball. It's my calling to get out there and take the pounding to make the job easier for the guys with the ball. The thing is, there's no glory in that, there's not a lot of recognition or glory in it. But as a guy who really enjoyed being an offensive tackle back in my football playing days, I can tell you that there's a lot of internal satisfaction - and that your role is a vital one.

Perry finished up by asking "does your pastor know you've got his back?". My response is I'd do anything for Jason (and frankly any of the other pastors at R2) and I'm totally onboard with his vision, but I don't have his back. Being behind the ball carrier does nothing to help him out. I want to be out front, doing everything I can - giving blood sweat and tears - to do any small thing to make his job - spreading God's Word, doing God's Will - just a little bit easier.