We utilized iMovie trailers for this upcoming series on James. Looks pretty sweet! Can’t wait to roll it out and get our teenagers into the Word of God.
What are you studying?
-jordan
Posts Tagged 'Christianity'
Velocity: New Series (VIDEO)
Published November 10, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: Christianity, church, discipleship, encouragement, imove, Jordan Muck, leadership, ministry, movie, trailor, Worship, youth, youth ministry, youth ministry tools
AND CONFERENCE: Matt Carter (Breakout)
Published November 5, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Chris Tomlin, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, leadership, leadership principles, Matt Carter, Metropolitan Tabernacle Church, ministry, people, Pop goes the church, the austin stone
About Matt: Alongside worship leader Chris Tomlin, Matt is the Senior Pastor of The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX, one of the 100 fastest growing churches in Amercia. Matt has been the featured speaker at Houston Metro and various camps and conferences nationwide. He currently lives in Austin with his wife Jennifer and his three children, John Daniel, Annie and Samuel. Check Matt out on Twitter.
My Notes/Thoughts:
- Matt’s plan for his church was off of Charles Spurgeon and the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church. That is awesome.
- There has to be a time when you don’t run from the city because of its problems but embrace the city for its restoration and renewal for the gospel.
- Matt says his job is to exhaust the name of Jesus Christ period. Is that yours as a pastor? As a disciple? As a Saint?
- The Tabernacle engaged the city but building low income housing residences, built homes for the elderly, built a school and a home for the orphans, took care of single moms, began a school that educated poor pastors, started a ministry to train business men to do missions as men in their workplace, etc. etc. etc. Our churches aren’t doing jack compared to this model. We need to raise the bar and the standard on what we are trying to accomplish and the people we are ministering to.
- Would the city grieve if your church closed its doors tomorrow?
- When a gospels doing a good work in your church the gospels will do a good work through your church.
- Matt opened his bible and spoke from it. This is he first I have seen in this conference (sad?). There are also few people in his breakout session… What happened to our hunger for expository preaching of the Word and relating it to the culture? Oh wait, I’m at a church conference, never mind.
- Are you for your city?
Seriously, go and be challenge by Matt. Our technology today gives us the ability to sit in so many churches via podcast and the Austin Stone is one that you need to attend weekly. You can access their material here.
AND CONFERENCE: Jason Miller
Published November 5, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, enter mission, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, Jason Miller, leadership, leadership principles, ministry, Notre Dame, people, Theology
About Jason: Jason has been a part of the ministry at Granger for 7 years, leading worship and teaching in our environments for students, the midweek core, and weekend guests over that time. Now as Pastor of Arts and Teaching, he leads the team of creative and technical artists and volunteers who are responsible for the live experiences that implement Granger’s strategy for outreach. While driving the week-to-week creative process that results in weekend services, he also finds time to hit the books as he pursues his graduate degree in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. You can find his blog here.
My Notes/Thoughts:
- Your ministry might not get left out but it might get transformed.
- Story telling is how God get’s his message out to the world.
- Missional thinking says that there has to be a better way to what we are doing and worshipping God in His presence in every place on the earth. This is an interesting concept if you view the church as a “sacred space”.
- Loving people means that you love people the way that God loves them and understand that their view of love is jaded and outside of what God’s love is like.
- If people can’t see what you’re doing, they can’t be apart of it.
- Do something beautiful and let people see God manifested.
- There is a difference between beauty and style. Style doesn’t transform anything. Beauty however has a residence in the heart of God. We need to go where things resinate with the heart of God instead of just trying to look cool.
- “The church is God’s imagination for the world.”
- “Where you invest you love, you invest your life.”
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty wiped out during this session. When you listen to one speaker after another after another your brain starts to hurt. He did however have an awesome illustration using going to the bathroom and getting the light turned out on your. It was a sweet illustration. I’m stealing it.
Your the man Jason. Keep preaching it for Jesus brother!
-jordan
AND CONFERENCE: Tim Stevens (Main Session)
Published November 5, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, enter mission, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, leadership, leadership principles, leading smart, ministry, people, Pop goes the church, Tim Stevens
About Tim: For over 15 years, Tim’s leadership has helped Granger connect with people who think church is irrelevant. He has done this through the creative blending of architecture, strategy and technology. He’s acutely tuned in to popular culture and is instrumental in balancing operations, building creative teams and inspiring artists to brand each message series and sharpen the weekend experience. He’s co-authored the Simply Strategic book series using humor and practical principles to equip churches and ministry leaders, and in 2008 published Pop Goes the Church to challenge leaders to leverage the culture to reach their communities. You can read more on Tim at Leading Smart.
My Notes/Thoughts:
Tim used a couple of youtube videos that you can see here:
- Missional Schmissoinal (There is no way that is spelled wrong… it was on the screen that way so it must be a word)
- Attractional Schmactional (Seriously… what’s going on. You should be here and it would make more sense.)
- Tim talked a lot about getting worn out or burned out on missional and attractional thinking. I love how he talked about the “Sunday’s Coming” concept (that you have to come up with something every Sunday). It is a wearing process on those in the church but I love how it all comes back to Christ and being like him. Some things will land and some won’t. That’s just the way it is but you have to keep going and serving the kingdom of God.
- “A growing number of Americans are recognizing a need to develop their inner life… but many don’t know where to begin.” -USA Today
- All churches can be described in America as “Come to us”.
Tim closed with three main points:
- There are things we can do to reach the 60% of the unchurched. We have to strive to figure that out.
- We need to focus on those 40% who come to the church. We cannot lose focus on our people and their spiritual needs.
- We must help the 40% of the churched reach their 60% of the unchurched that they know.
Man, I lean so much when Tim talks. I love the fact that he talked about the church being in the heart of the community. That the church (building) is the place to go for all the needs of the people. What an amazing concept that would take a massive amount of faith.
Good stuff.
-jordan
AND CONFERENCE: Dave Ferguson
Published November 4, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Chris Tomlin, Christianity, church, Community Christian Church, conference, Dave Ferguson, encouragement, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, idea, leadership, leadership principles, ministry, newthing network, people, Pop goes the church, the big idea, the church report
Dave Ferguson and four friends from college launched Community Christian Church, a church that is passionate about “helping people find their way back to God”. This church has grown to 600+ leaders with more than 5,000 in attendance at eight sites every weekend throughout Chicagoland. Community Christian Church was recently listed in the Top 50 Most Influential Churches according to The Church Report. Dave also has a book coming out next month, The BIG IDEA: Focus the Message, Multiply the Impact. is a Lead Pastor and Spiritual Entrepreneur with Community Christian Church and the NewThing Network.
My Notes/Thoughts:
- “Wouldn’t it be cool if there could be church in random places… bars, beaches, etc.”
- “I’m good with giving the money, it just seems there is more i should be doing.”
- When God births someone, everyone of them He births, He gives them a dream.
- People would not have be reached for Jesus unless other people are released into their dream/mission that God has given to them. How many times to we short out God when we short out other people and their gifts?
- When people are healed by the power of God they will listen to the message of Jesus. Maybe we need to communicate to those we are trying to reach the ways that we have been praying for them and what we see God doing in their lives? Maybe.
- Missional People + Multiplying Churches = Missional Movement
- We are great about the macro production but we are failing at the micro production.
- Some people like the story of one person who brings on change to a massive amount of people. Another person likes it when one person has brought massive change to one person. I’m the kind of person that wants to change lots of people.
How to create a culture for missional movement:
- Ordain every Christ follower: “You are a chosen nation, a royal priesthood” There has to be a call in which you ordain people and anoint them to reach people for the kingdom of Heaven. When you bless people, they wil do amazing things.
- Lead with a “yes”: It’s scary when you give people control but it is crucial to their ministry/dream.
- Make hero’s of everyday people: We need to make people feel special by highlighting their story and doing what God has gifted them to do.
I have to admit that when Dave came up I thought I was toast (he’s the last session of the day). He really brought it to end the day though and I have a lot to think about as I lead the church further into a balance of living missional and being attractional.
What a day.
-jordan
AND CONFERENCE: Matt Carter
Published November 4, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Chris Tomlin, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, leadership, leadership principles, Matt Carter, ministry, people, Pop goes the church, the austin stone
About Matt: Alongside worship leader Chris Tomlin, Matt is the Senior Pastor of The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX, one of the 100 fastest growing churches in Amercia. Matt has been the featured speaker at Houston Metro and various camps and conferences nationwide. He currently lives in Austin with his wife Jennifer and his three children, John Daniel, Annie and Samuel. Check Matt out on Twitter.
My Notes/Thoughts:
- The curent attractional model of church is incomplete and it is not the answer for those who are lost in America.
- We have started over 1,000 mega-churches in America and there are fewer and fewer people going to church. Therefore, we are not penetrating the lost in America.
- I love how Matt talks about the “lost”. You can tell he has a passion to see people come to know Jesus.
- 18-30 year olds are not alright with sitting on the side-lines of ministry. They are not afraid of a challenge and a world change. They want to be a part of the change!
- We have to figure out a way to empower the younger generation to see the manifestation of Jesus Christ the same way people saw it back in the book of Acts.
- “Jesus Christ would not be very good at being a mega-church pastor.”
- When Jesus says, “Drink my blood and eat My flesh” people left.
- What if it’s possible to attract people by the thousands and send them out to be missional by the thousands?
3 things to make (the last bullet point) happen:
- Change the definition of success for small groups: Ask, “Has the group moved beyond the gathering to find a place or group of people that are lost and are they engaging in their lives? There is nothing that will bring people together more than giving them a destination to accomplish a mission.
- Change how you train and disciple your leaders: n other words, there has to be a push to become self-feeders instead of consumers.
- Raise the bar in minds and hearts about what God is able to do through them (leaders): People can do amazing things for the kingdom but we have to give them the change to do what God wants them to do.
- Normal people can change the world for the glory of God but they need to be challenged and released to do what God wants them to do.
I absolutely love Matt Carter. His words hit deep to the core and echo for and eternity in the soul. If you’re not a weekly subscriber to his podcasts, you need to get there. It will change you heart if you apply his principles to your life.
Think about that.
-jordan
AND CONFERENCE: Tim Stevens (Breakout)
Published November 4, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, enter mission, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, leadership, leadership principles, leading smart, ministry, people, Pop goes the church, Tim Stevens
About Tim: For over 15 years, Tim’s leadership has helped Granger connect with people who think church is irrelevant. He has done this through the creative blending of architecture, strategy and technology. He’s acutely tuned in to popular culture and is instrumental in balancing operations, building creative teams and inspiring artists to brand each message series and sharpen the weekend experience. He’s co-authored the Simply Strategic book series using humor and practical principles to equip churches and ministry leaders, and in 2008 published Pop Goes the Church to challenge leaders to leverage the culture to reach their communities. You can read more on Tim at Leading Smart.
My Notes/Thoughts
- Change is about constant communication. It’s thinking, “Who needs to know about this, and who needs to know after that, and who needs to know after that.”
- A lot of times the biggest influencer in the church s not the person in leadership roles. These people need to be people that can help you communicate the change you are trying to implicate. (Think: the meeting before the meeting.)
- Any times there is big change, everyone needs to be involved and focused on it at the same time.
- “Church is not just a place you come to, it is what you are.”
- There are a bunch of people that believe what Mark Beeson (head pastor) is doing is from God. They will change with him and that my friends is true leadership when the people trust you that much.
- Sometimes you need to think 10 years out. “10 years from now, how old will you be?” That’s scary to think about but I need to start thinking that way for our church.
- There has to be a layers of ways to communicate the change to our people (face-to-face, e-mail, txting, etc.). However, I still believe that the best way to communicate a change is face-to-face.
I like Tim. He’s got interesting ideas for the church and how to lead people. You should check him out and his book if you get the chance.
-jordan
AND CONFERENCE: Rob Wegner
Published November 4, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: AND, Christianity, church, conference, encouragement, enter mission, GCC, God, granger, Granger Community Church, leadership, leadership principles, ministry, people, Rob wegner
About Rob: Rob’s official title is Pastor of Life Mission at Granger Community Church. His role is to help people get out of their seat and get into God’s story, especially outside the four walls of the church building. He spends his time teaching, building teams and creating opportunties to mobilize people so that “up there” comes “down here.” He loves forging partnerships in his local community and around the world. Granger is dreaming huge dreams about slaying the giants of our time – things like spiritual lostness, poverty, sickness, injustice, and illiteracy. Rob can be found at Enter Mission.
My Notes/Thoughts:
- “People don’t want to be assimilated by the church world.” I hear that. I think people sometimes don’t enter in because their scared they won’t e able to get out.
- Rob used this illustration. This is an interesting illustration and really makes you think. Check it out:
- Rob has a ton of energy. You can tell he works/used to work with youth. I love guys like this. They make me wound up and give me hope that people will hear guys with ADHD’s messages and our passion for Jesus. He did use extremely small words on his white boards.
- Rob believes in his pastors vision for the church. We need more young people who support their pastors and more pastors that cast a clear vision to follow.
- UNRELATED SIDE NOTE: Rob speaks and videos play in the background illustrating his point. I like this as it eliminates the slide show that the church has been doing forever. I think if I see another slew of pics with a music track in the background I might loose it.
I truly believe the day of the denomination is dead. Before you know it, churches in your community will be outposts of their mother church located somewhere else in the country/world. I believe, even after Rob spoke and affirmed, that there will come a day when I will walk down the street in my local community that there will be a Harvest Church, an Elevation Campus, a Granger campus, etc. etc. so on and so on. I don’t know if I’m scared or excited… I guess we’ll see.
Think about that.
-jordan
Four on the Floor
Published November 1, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: baby, Bible, Christian, Christianity, church, discipleship, encouragement, Jordan Muck, leadership, leadership principles, ministry, Worship, youth, youth ministry
1. I feel like I’m micro-managing a lot more than I should be right now. Some people have the tendency to dive into things head first and figure out how to swim once their in the water. I do this often, which I don’t see as a bad things all the time, however, instead of trying to figure out how to swim I usually tell the other fish how to swim as I’m learning myself. I need to starting learning how these different kinds of fish swim and learn from them so they can better my own technique instead of fighting/upsetting the natural order.
2. Corinne is 5 months old today. That little girl is slowly taking up more and more space in my heart. She interacts, smiles, and has a passion for life that is contagious. My buddy Mark said it best (in reference to his sons), “They will make us better people.” Amen. Seven more kids to go (Bethany is reading this shaking her head no… I can just see it now.)
3. I got big plans for my Harley this winter. My buddy Justin says that money isn’t real. Well buddy, it is when you start dreaming about what you can do to a motorcycle. I keep walking around the house contemplating what to sell to make the machine outstanding.
4. Velocity‘s Super Hero night was last night. We had a blast hanging out with students and being awesome. You can view the pics here.
-jordan
Show Up for a Change
Published October 20, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: 1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Thess. 4:4, Bible, Christian, Christianity, church, devotional, discipleship, discipline, encouragement, God, Jordan Muck, leadership, leadership principles, ministry
The James, the brother of Christ, demands in his New Testament account that we as Christians are to “show it (Jesus) by his (or her) good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”.
Showing off Christ and your relationship with Him comes through humility. Humility is rooted in discipline. It’s not about showing off (or being prideful), it’s about showing up by disciplining yourself. Paul said it best, “I must become less, He must become more“.
Paul’s not showing off, he’s showing up.
That, my friend, is showing Christ.
Most people hate discipline. Don’t be most people. Be more, God demands perfection so strive for it, fight for it, and scream for it through disciplining yourself to become more like Him.
- 1 Thess. 4:4 “Each of you should learn to control your own body.”
- 1 Corinthians 9:27 “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Decrease so that Christ can increase.
Discipline yourself.
Think about it.
-jordan
