I Love a Leader without an Ego

I love being on teams where leaders don't have to have their idea as the best idea! I have been a part of teams where the leader's idea wins to the dismay at having the best idea thrown away. I have also been on teams where the leader doesn't have the best idea and is willing to accept another idea instead of his. Those are the teams I want to be in and the type of leader I want to be.

When a leader lets down his/her ego and accepts another person's idea as better than his, it is not a threat to his/her leadership, but a compliment. A leader who does this builds his teams confidence and multiplies his/herself which is what leadership is about... empowering others.

Free Moving Backgrounds

Here are some free moving backgrounds from movietools.info. I don't know about the quality, just saw they were free and read the disclaimer and it's legit to use.

click here.

Take Note All Wireless Mic Users

For all churches who use wireless mics, please read this article to see if you will be affected. If you are using mics in the 700mhz frequency please look into this. The FCC is banning that bandwidth and making it illegal for use.

Jumbotron look in After Effects

Here's a great tutorial to making a video look like a Jumbotron in After Effects. These guys at creativecow.com are off the chain good.

After Effects Jumbotron Video tutorial

Laundry room awaits for appliances

Kasey Robinson
e : krobinson@westsidefamilychurch.com
p : (913) 890-4227
w : westsidefamilychurch.com

Laundry room awaits for appliances

Kasey Robinson
e : krobinson@westsidefamilychurch.com
p : (913) 890-4227
w : westsidefamilychurch.com

New laundry room floor

We laid ir last night and grouted it tonight. The house is looking great. We are excited about moving in officially

Kasey Robinson
e : krobinson@westsidefamilychurch.com
p : (913) 890-4227
w : westsidefamilychurch.com

New Website to check out

You might have been there, but I haven't until today. Here is the link to the Fairfax Community Church website. They did an amazing job developing their site with social networking and even gave it an "Apple" feel with the sweet genie effect nav bar on the left.

John Falke is the creative arts director at the church and he is personally invested in developing creatives for churches with his photoshop4ministry seminar. Check out his site to find out more.

Four Fall Focusses

Prov 20:4 (NLT)
"Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest."

School is in swing and this is a great opportunity for churches to capitalize on the extra crowds that will be coming as they get back into the fall routine. Knowing that "prayer" is the first thing that we are to be doing as we prep for these amazing weekends, here are a couple of other things to keep in mind as the season gets started.

1. Highlight your family ministries.
   I've talked to many people who are coming to church because of the spiritual influence they want their kids to have. It's not about having the coolest program that is around, it's about showing families that you care for their kids and that you can help them provide spiritual guidance.
2. Go the extra mile.
   Take the extra step to make everything excellent. A visitor will decide in the 1st 5 min. whether or not they will be returning. Clean the bathrooms, put the extra effort into the song prep, go over the message one more time, get your greeters breath mints and encourage them to have bigger smiles. It's all important. Make the environment a safe one for them to come in and make that connection with God and have their needs met. Pump up your volunteers and cast the vision of excellence. Make your weekends full of "wow-factors." (things that make you go "wow" -ingenious right?)
   
3. Follow-up First.
   I know this is third on the list, but it needs to be the first thing you do on Monday. Follow-up within the first 48 hrs is crucial to visitor retention. Let your visitors know about your ministries and be available to answer any questions. If they are new to the community, recommend the best/affordable restaurant around.
4. Structure Your Church for Growth.
   A lot of church never grow after a season like this. We'll have lots of visitors come in by never stay. The reason is we have not structured ourselves to care for the people. Look at your leadership and strengthen the weak spots. Rethink your teams. Who should you remove and place in another place of leadership? Who is the lid in a certain area? Who can you delegate responsibility to? Where can you invest your time that will bring the greatest return?

Obvious this list could go on. If you have any input, please comment and lets have a great fall season.

Just opened the packrat

We just opened the pack rat and here's what we found. Go here to see what it looked like before we shipped it off. NOTHING MOVED!!! That's how packed it was.

Staff fun day

We're on the go karts at power play

Weekend Review :: 08.17.08

Another great day with Pastor Dan Sutherland now at the helm. However, it didn’t go without it’s hick-ups. It just goes to prove that some things you just cannot predict.

For instance, the first service was going great and then Pastor Dan came out during the prayer. It would sound like this was ok, but we were suppose to sing one more song before he made his appearance. Jared and I were trying to figure a way to let Dan know, by wailing our arms and flashing lights. Jared even began to head to the sound booth to tell one of the band members to let him know. He figured it out, and before the prayer was over, disappeared from the stage, no one noticed.

Then during the second service, Dan’s headset went out and no one was there to cover to get the the handheld turned on.

The third service went very well. Speaking of the Well… like that segue? We had a great time of worship. There was a great attitude of worship in the place. And then, Dan S. comes out, but he had forgot his mic. So I run out and get it to him so get can get wired for sound.

Pastor Dan preached a great message on the Holy Spirit. If you missed it, download it from the website.

Despite the hick-ups, which I like to write about because it reminds us that we are human and keeps us humble, it was a great day. We have a new lead teaching Pastor and an exciting future ahead of us.

Healer Video

Check out this video from the Latest Hillsong This is our God DVD and the song Healer. Amazing!

View the story behind the song here.

If you haven't purchase this album, you are mission out. I've placed the links to buy "Healer" or the "This is our God" album here.

Lincoln "licks" Brewster Melt my Face

Check out this new tune from Lincoln Brewster's new album. What a guitar intro! http://tinyurl.com/5g6rjt. Seriously a notch up from all his previous albums.

Amazing guitar licks. You can buy the 1st released song here of or order the album from iTunes.

Video promoting new service

Watermark Community Church made a great video to promote a 3rd Service. I might steal this idea and do it here.

Check it out (it's not on youtube yet)

Hit or Miss

I led worship for staff today and tried to do something different than just singing. I opened with Let God Arise. It was funny, I forgot the words to the 1st verse, so before I started singing, I asked Jared to put the 1st verse up on the screen so I could see it.

After that song, (which besides the 1st verse fiasco went really well) we did Open the Eyes of My Heart. After the first time through the chorus and revisiting the verse, I read (while having it up on the screens) Psalm 96: 1-10.

At this point I asked them to take a piece of paper and a pen (which I had placed on the tables ahead of time) and write out whatever they would like to tell God. Whether it was praise, gratefulness, fear, frustration, disappointment or love. Write God a new song or a Psalm. I was worried, because this could have been a big hit or a flat-out strike-out. Thank goodness, it was a hit.

People were writing and I don't know what they were writing, but it was true modern Psalms that were from their hearts. A couple of them shared theirs and the were really good.

Thanks to the staff for going with this crazy worship leader on a different course.

Supernatural wk 1 Review

Saturday, Troy called me and he his voice confirmed what he told me and he was sick. So I was gearing up to lead and thinking about how to handle leading the Well, since I was scheduled to play drums.

Well, in the end I got to co-lead with Troy all day and led I led "I am Free" for the opener. It was fun doing it. However, it's weird not playing an instrument. I have to figure out what to do with my hands.

Also, it was cool because I called Craig Kackley, the new Youth Pastor at Crown Pointe (Congrats), to play drums at the Well and he tore it up. So I had Jordan and Craig together for the evening service. I'm so proud of those guys... tear.

There was funny during the 10 o'clock service: Troy forgot the penny whistle that he started Be the Center, which actually was really cool. A hard rock interlude with a penny whistle solo. Good touch. But when we got to the song, the pad was setting the song up and Troy says in the mic, "There's no good way to cover this, but I forgot something." He then runs off the stage and sprints back on out of breath with the penny whistle.

It was a good breaker though. The people really opened up and began to worship after that. That was the only mis-hap of the day and a funny one at that. Jared also had Troy all wireless so he was able to get off stage and on without disconnecting his guitar.

We put the words on the large center screen with a motion background for the worship, which was cool. So we had full IMAG the entire worship service. Watching it this morning was cool. The people really responded well.

Overall a great day!

Pics for wes

Thought she won a Toyota

They accepted our offer on this house

Here is the house that we will be living at, pending inspections go well on Fri.

Leadership Summit Session 3.1

Stand Up and Lead
Leadership Summit Session 3.1 :: Wendy Kopp
Founder and CEO of Teach for America

This was a Q&A between Bill Hybels and Wendy. But here are two quick quotes I took from the session.

Leading comes easy when you believe.

Sacrifice adds value to our lives.

Church of the ressurection Foyer

Leadership Summit Session 3

Finding Your True North
Leadership Summit :: Session 3 :: Bill George

3 Reasons to let others lead

1. We have knowledge workers and people in the organization know more than their bosses.
2. Okay, I didn't catch 2 or 3
3. see above :)
   

3 Jobs of a leader

1. Align people around our values, mission and priorities
2. Empower people to step up and lead
3. Serve
4. Collaborate
   

Passion to lead is not in competency but in your life story.

Becoming an Empowering Leader

1. Understand the purpose of your leadership.
2. Build your personal awareness
• Get feedback. Evaluate.
• Dialogue with others
3. Understand your values
4. Follow your motivations
5. Build a support team around you
6. Lead an integrated life

What have you done today to make a difference in the world?

Failure to lead is a failure to lead yourself.

Author of "True North"

Leadership Summit Session 2

Just Courage: Charging the Darkness
Leadership Summit :: Session 2 :: Gary Haugen
International Justice Mission

1. God's passion for the World.

Injustice about the abuse of power that takes away something that God intends for man to have. Eccl 4:1

What does injustice look like?

God is passionate about Justice

God's plan for working out justice in the world.
- We're the light, and God's plan
- Is 1:17;

If you want your leadership to matter, lead the things that matter to God.

How do we lead when the task seems hopeless?

• Recenter the basis of our hope. (Who God is and what He wants to do)
• Ill: Jesus feeding the 5,000 ("Give it to me")
• If God is passionate about getting it done, He is responsible for getting it done.
  

How do we lead when the task seems scary?

How do we lead others on a more demanding climb?

4 Choices to effectively lead:

1. Choose not to be safe
2. Seek deep spiritual help
3. Seek excellence
4. Choose joy.

Great church Website

http://www.watermark.org/
- great media page: has cover flow
- great videos and media to promote ministries and services.

Leadership Summit Session 1

The High Drama of Decision Making
Leadership Summit :: Session 1 :: Bill Hybels

TRIAL DECISION MAKING

1. What does the Bible say?
2. What would smart advisers advise me to do?
3. What have you learned from:
• the Pains of Past decisions?
• the Gains of Past decisions?
• the Experiences of the Past?
4. Is the Holy Spirit prompting me? Romans 8:6
   

• Leaders take the call of making the decision and take the responsibility of the decision.
• If a decision comes out well, thank those who were involved
• If a decision comes out bad, you take the blame.

AXIOMS WORTH TAKING TO HEART
"The best way to destroy your enemy is to turn him into your friend" (President Lincoln)

"Create motion for motions sake." (Bob Galven)

"Check your ego at the door."
"Promote a clash of ideas."
"Reward your best performers and get rid of your worst performers." (Colin Powell :: The Po)

"Vision leads"
"Get the right people around the 'problem-solving' table."
"Facts are your friends."
"When something feels funky... engage."
"Leaders call fouls."
"Take a flier." "Take a calculated risk."
"This is church." (Bill Hybel) 1 Tim 6

They ended with an ensemble singing A Capella "Send Your Rain." Wow that was good.

Weekend Review :: SERVE

Today was the last day in our Fantastic 5 series. Lance Witt was our Teaching Pastor today and he did a great job considering his time constraint, which was today's biggest dilemma.

We had to get the service over in 50 min so we could release the people for the SERVE Expo. Our team did a great job by engaging in worship and taking the people there in such short time.

Overall a great day!