wilmartin | weblog

Oh, life.

Isn't it awesome that we get to live and breathe and do so many cool things and meet so many interesting people?  Yeah...it is.

Lately I've been trying my best to "not care" about the upcoming election.  The debates have pretty much made me sour towards politics again.  I know who I"m going to vote for already - no I won't tell you all on my blog.  It's based on the issues that I feel are the most important and not on how well the candidate can sling mud at the other with personal attacks. 

Yes, politics matter - but we need to remember that no matter who is in office, God is still God.

It is not nor has it ever been the president's or the government's job to be the "savior" of the United States.  The responsibility to point people to what's good and right has always been on the shoulders of those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ.  If there's an issue you're passionate about - get involved!  Pray!  But don't sit at home and expect the president to point people to the truth.  After all, they are politicians.

at Marathon Greenville:

Enter Sandman - Metallica
The Time Has Come - United
You'll Come - Hillsong
Everything - Lifehouse (with drama)
Hosanna - Starfield Version

Special thanks to Enoree Baptist Church Youth Group for doing the powerful drama with Lifehouse's "Everything."

I'm not claiming to be wise, but 25 years can teach you a lot.  Here are some practical things I've learned about life - most in the past year.  And yes, these are original.  I'll try to keep this ongoing.

1. if you've made your point, quit talking.
2. if you believe in something, don't ever back down - life is too short to give up.
3.  if you miss something for a TV show, you are missing the point of life.
4. a to-do list untouched is really a feel-like-a-failure list - be disciplined.
5. if you don't do something that terrifies you at least once a week, you may lead a very uneventful life.
6. if you love a girl, tell her.  if you REALLY love her, show her
7. sure water is free, but sometimes refreshment is worth a couple of bucks.
8. read before bed every night - your imagination needs exercise too!
9. always have artwork in your room.
10. look people in the eye when you speak to them.

at Marathon Greenville:

Song of Hope - Robbie Seay Band
Salvation is Here - United
Fire Fall Down - United
Turn Your Eyes - Vicky Beeching
All Around Me (Acoustic) - Flyleaf

Unfortunately, we had to skip out of day two of Catalyst early. But in just one session we got some great stuff. First off, worship with Aaron Keyes was absolutely unbelievable. This dude is so full of God's spirit and His word and it permeates through the worship. It was a deviation from the standard passion-style worship that we're used to and it was more scripturally based. I would classify Aaron Keyes as a modern hymn writer...and he's definitely anointed to do it!

Dave Ramsey Sesison

Instead of talking about money, Dave Ramsey spoke about the leadership of his organization. He emphasized unity as the key to having a successful organization.

"communication doesn't just happen. You have to work for it."

"Don't talk to someone about a problem if they can't fix the problem - thats gossip!"

"Team members become demotivated when somone on the team doesn't do a good job and the leader doesn't take action." - wow, this one lit me up.

They did want him to address the current economic situation in America. He called these struggles an "artificial low brought on by fear."

Session 3: Steven Furtick

When God makes a promise, there is a process before there is a payoff.

God is preparing you for what He has prepared for you.

He told about the "success" of Elevation and how there was a long and faith-testing process to get to where they are now.

It was one of the best sessions at Catalyst this year, Steven brought it with some great truth about perseverance and being willing to give you absolute best no matter what situation you're currently in.

Session 4: Seth Godin

Seth's talk was very interesting because he came from the secular business world to share leadership principles. His new book, "Tribes" (which he gave away to everyone at the conference), is about the marketing impact of leading followers and not just a tribe.

People don't want to follow a safe leader - you have to being dong something that someone will criticize.

It's about leading, not controlling.

Being a community leader can get you in trouble, but it can also make a huge impact.

You don't become a leader because you have charisma. You get charisma when you become a leader.

Do something FOR the tribe not TO the tribe.

Session 5: Craig Groeschel

What is IT? (the thing that makes church right)

If you have IT, the enemy is plotting right now to take IT from you.

IT is not about things, IT is about you being consumed by the Holy Spirit.

Many of us are full-time pastors and part-time followers of Christ.

To get IT back you have to do something DRASTIC.

Pray: God, stretch me, heal me, ruin me.

IT is about having your heart break for the things that break God's heart

Session One: Andy Stanley

Influence through personality not position.

There most be an alignment between creed and deed.

"There's no excuse for angry, bitter, revengeful church leaders."

"Do you want to lead generous people? Be a generous person."

Session Two: Jim Collins

Greatness is a result of a conscious decision and discipline.

Organization fail from undisciplined pursuit of more.

Better "whos" lead to better "what's."

If it is about you, you will not build something great.

A to-do list without an equally robust stop-doing list is a lack of discipline.

When you start to feel the need to over-manage someone [on your team], you may have made a hiring mistake.

Spend less time trying to be interesting and more time being interested.

My brain is dead. More later...

If you follow my twitter you saw the strange events that took place across the street from our church building yesterday. When I got to the office I noticed a helicopter hovering over the farmers market across the street. I checked the news to see if anything was happening but I didn't see anything. Then about an hour later 6-7 US Immigration and Homeland Security charter buses pulled into our parking lot and sat for a few minutes. It turns out they did a huge immigration raid at the chicken plant at the farmers market. Crazy!

Last night, a few friends and I journeyed to the Masquerade in Atlanta to see The Rocket Summer/Phantom Planet/The Secret Handshake/The Morning Light. The show was amazing! The only disappointment was Phantom Planet. I feel like I had to suffer through their set just to get to TRS. It didn't help that they had to follow The Secret Handshake after they rocked the house! On our way back to Greenville we hit stand still traffic on 85 and sat for almost an hour. Got in bed at 4...ugh!

I took the day off today to catch up on some sleep and to get ready for the rest of my eventful week. After trying to cram a weeks worth of work into 2 days, I'm finally ready to head down 85 (again) and spend the weekend in Atlanta at Catalyst Conference '08. I'm really excited to be going with some Marathon Staffers this year. I'm really praying God wil give us what we need to hear to be re-energized and to make us better leaders.

"you can't judge a book by its cover" - Let me be the first to say that I do. When I'm book shopping I'm naturally drawn to the books with vivid, inspiring covers.

There's no doubt that people are attracted to something because of its visual qualities. Let's be honest, any good relationship does involve a healthy element of physical attraction (although it shouldn't be limited to that aspect). We are inspired, horrified, excited and changed by the things that we see everyday. My point is that visual elements play a huge role in our lives.

So let's take that fact into account as we plan our worship experiences. In addition to excellent quality music and teaching, we must make it a priority to create and atmosphere that is visually engaging to the worshipper. Lights, screens, backdrops, etc. are all very common these days, but there must be more!

So what can we do as a church to enhance our worship time visually? Any ideas?

i stole this from my bud Jim Thompson's blog. So true.