www.nathanweselake.com

Best Team Building Exercise Ever.

PAC's youth pastor Peter Ralph (who in the last 3 weeks has had an incredibly busy and incredibly fruitful schedule; if you see him say "thanks" because chances are something he did made your life better) had an awesome dream.  Here is his dream:

I (Nathan) was leading the PAC staff through some team building exercises which were apparently pretty intense.  First, they were mounted on stallions and jousting each other, blood and guts all over.  How this is team building I am not sure.

Then the dream got better. 

For the next team building activity, I had them all get into the deep end of a lake with the instructions that I would be releasing a bunch of snapping turtles to chase them down.  The last staff to get bit by a snapping turtle was the winner. 

So the staff all jump into the water and start swimming around while I go release the turtles.  The "turtles" were women age 60+ in our congregation wearing turtle bathing suits complete with hard shells and tails who were swimming around trying to bite the staff.  The staff are all thrashing around in a panic trying to avoid the turtles.

Not entirely sure what these dreams mean as far as how Peter's subconcious mind views my leadership.

Not sure what that means for how his subconcious mind views the senior citizens in our church. 

But it sure had me staring the day with a laugh.

Check out the new PAC Website and Online IMPACT.

Two new links all PAC'ers will want to check out:

www.portagechurch.com

Our revamped website represents a huge step forward in PAC's ability to communicate and connect.  Still the usual glitches and grammar issues that exist when something is new.  But the layout is easily navigable and the content is all there.  Well done to all of you who worked hard on it.  I really like it.  Evidence of that is I am actually telling people about it.  I usually pointed people either to this blog or itunes if they wanted info about the church - our last website I found kind of embarassing.  My fault.  I was the guy who outsourced it to some company in Texas.

www.portagealliance.wordpress.com

This is the new online version of what for many years has been our monthy IMPACT newsletter.  This shift to an online version is a wise move good thing in so many ways:

- the ability to continuously add information, stories, and pictures makes the online version really exciting. 

- the ability to affirm each other and comment is also a plus.

- the ability to have people who are not a part of PAC check us out. 

- also pleased we are not printing our way through a small rain forest every month - I know not all PAC'ers see the wise management of our environment as a moral faith issue - but to me the Bible is clear about our call to be faithful stewards of creation and so I am excited to see us move in that direction.

However, should you wish to still receive a scaled back paper edition, sign up in the next month at the Info Center on a Sunday Morning.  But let me forwarn you to not expect the same glossy, picture filled, 8-12 page booklet.  There will be all the crucial information available and a couple of the better stories. 

Think of it as a "Readers Digest" condensed version, all killer and no filler - which is exactly how Readers Digest should market itself.

The best way to stay on top of what is happening at PAC will be to click on the RSS button on the top right of your screen and then follow the instructions to subscribe. 

Of course you already know that because you have subscribed to this blog (see tab at the top.)

$18500 to Haiti.

So you remember about a month ago when PAC had a special offering for Haiti?

Total announced after that Sunday AM was roughly $13000.  

Final total once all the money came in was $18500.*

As far as short notice giving - a week heads up / or spur of the moment - I can't recall PAC ever being more generous.  

We can't afford to let these sorts of things slide by without a cheer.  

That kind of generosity shows a church that is growing in its ability to live with a mature focus on the life that is to come.  

As we begin to take Christ and his teachings more and more seriously I believe we will see Him begin to take us more and more seriously and bless the goals, visions, and dreams we have at PAC.

*total was than matched 1:1 so PAC's generosity triggered another $18500 

It's like raaaaaaaaain on your wedddddding day, a free riiiiiiide, when you've already...

Chances are you lead something.

Your family.  A team at work.  A team of volunteers.  A rec. volleyball team.  A hobby group.  A house church.  Something.

Chances are at some point you will not lead as well as you should.  I suggest to you that it might be in your least finest moments as a leader that you will discover you are actually not that bad a leader.  This might be ironic, I don't know, ever since the Alanis song of the same name I have been cautious in labeling things so.

The reason this moment of failure may reveal a triumph is that it may reveal that you have done a good job performing one of the central tasks of leadership.  

It may reveal you have actually built a team.  

Here is how you know.  

If, in the aftermath of your failure (and I am not talking supreme moral failure here, just general crummy leadership stuff, failure to confront, poor communication, neglect leading to lack of morale, that sort of stuff), the team around you picks up the pieces for you, you can feel like you have done a decent job simply because you have chosen and empowered the kind of people who don't stand around saying "ha ha look at how this poor schmo blasted this thing to smithereens" but instead they think for awhile, decide that had you had your wits about you and been in one of your finer moments would never have dropped the ball like you did and so all on their own they figure out what you would have liked to have done if you had been able to do it and then the DO IT THEMSELVES and don't hold you hostage over it.

Because I can't imagine that is clear, here are a couple examples from today.

PAC's ONE CAMPAIGN.  

Even though I know better and like to think I would have caught this mistake, the truth is I did not include representatives from kids ministry and youth ministry in the dreaming of this idea (might have been able to excuse that one), nor in the strategic implementation of it throughout the year (that one I don't have any excuse for).  

Didn't even really think of it.  

Kind of humbling to just throw it out there like that but it is what it is and didn't occur to me to think alignment from cradle to grave - but I wish I had.

Anyway, I get an email today from the kids ministry leader formerly known as PROTO-Shea (and I imagine Lydia and Shea's teams in kids church were all part of this) detailing how kids church is going to change what they are doing for the rest of 2010 to make sure all PAC's kids get in on the ONE CAMPAIGN.  

Then Peter sits down for a cup of coffee with me and fills me in on how the youth are reading through Luke and how he is intentionally tracking with the ONE CAMPAIGN, choosing to bail on his previous plans for the sake of unity.

I felt like I had dropped the ball.  And truly I had.  Two major ministries of PAC left with little direction vis a vis alignment.  

But when you surround yourself with people who pick up dropped balls and run with them you can't feel bad for long.  

Your one solid move of hiring the right people can end up covering up some not so impressive moves later on.

Also true, seeing them have to "catch up" from my lack of communication and the gracious way they did it will help me learn from my mistakes.  Unfortunately, I learn more from mistakes I make that I don't want to repeat than from almost anything else.  

The Smokin' Pastor.

Just finished watching a DVD Peter burned for me of "Bill Cosby"

Laughed out loud a few times for sure and enjoyed the clinic on how to pace a story in front of a crowd.

But he has an advantage I likely will never have.

He gets to puff on a massive cuban cigar during the whole thing.  

Lighting and relighting it, silky smoke floating around his head, and gesturing points home the way you only can when holding a stogie.

When PAC's ONE CAMPAIGN is over and we begin to turn our full attention to location #2 maybe we should make it a smokin' church?  

I'd love to be known as the "Smokin' Pastor".  

Billowing smoke all over the place while officiating at weddings and funerals; hammering home life changing points with emphatic cigar thrusting gestures.

Be a hilarious sight at baby dedications too.  

It has been awhile since people had the option of a "Smokin' Pastor."  Not since the great orator Charles Spurgeon really.

The copy in the above ad is sweet enough but not quite as good as the following conversation where Spurgeon reassures those concerned his cigar smoking is strictly above board.  

Said Spurgeon, "If I ever begin to smoke excessively I will stop immediately."

Said those concerned, "What do you mean by excessive?"

Said Spurgeon, "Two cigars at a time."

Honour vs. Welcome

Been challenged reading Isadore Sharp's story of the founding and growing of the Four Seasons (see reading list on right).  The strength of their brand, the lengthy tenure of their employees, and their market defying consistent performance are all impressive.  Over and over, Sharp points to the people around him as the reason for the success - and rightly so.

I think there are two lessons in it for us at PAC, and we talked about them over a staff lunch yesterday. 

Below are the lessons and some of the stuff we talked about:

1. Let's up our value of people to "honouring" them instead of mere "kindness".

- kindness is smiling and saying "welcome to PAC" at the door and honoring is personally ushering them through kid's church registration, pouring them a coffee, and then connecting them with someone to sit with.

- kindness is assuming everyone wants to be ushered through kid's church registration, pouring a coffee, and then connecting them with someone to sit with and honouring is paying attention to body language and verbal cues which indicate they would prefer to be left alone and navigate a new experience "anonymously"

- kindness is having a shovelled or dry parking lot and honouring is having our volunteers and staff who arrive early parking far away from the doors so new people can find a prime parking spot.

- kindness is having some jokes in your message so people can track with you, honouring is trying to get into people's lives so the application of the text brings hope and is relevant.

2. If you honour each other at the staff level you will honour guests.

- kindness greets administrative staff with a smile, honour calls you to ensure you have your receipts, time sheets, and other paperwork handed in on time.

- kindness defends other members of the team, honour calls you to be proactive and brag about each other in conversation, sometimes right out of the blue.

- kindness involves taking care of your piece of the puzzle and being able to be counted on to do your job, honour calls you to look over the border of your job description to how you can help others achieve the mission of PAC.

Our chat eventually turned into some affirmations of when we do honour each other around here. 

Probably a dozen stories that all started:   "(Name),  when you _____ I felt honoured". 

Great teams honour each other, good teams settle for merely being kind.

Can't even add one lousy day...

As part of the 2010 ONE campaign, PAC is focusing on one book of the bible. Every message I will be preaching will be from the book of LUKE.  Next weekend is Luke 4 (again!) but in my personal reading I am in Luke 12.  My intention is to just cycle through the book a dozen or so times this year and supplement the reading with a Psalm a day.  

Very familiar verses here, I actually remember hearing a tape my grandma has of me singing them ("consider the lilies") when I was 3 or 4, but today they seemed to sink in.  

When things are stressful or uncertain I swear my heart rate rises slightly and I get a tightness in my chest.  Not a heart attack or anything, just a physical anxiousness to match my emotional state.  Had that this morning.  I did a little inventory of things on my plate in the next few months and it started to add up!

And so I was sitting there with a fine coffee brewed to perfection in my long awaited Technivorm Moccamaster, agitated and tired of being agitated, reading Luke and praying.

While I read Luke 12:13-21, I immediately thought of our capital campaign, the things Tamara and I are sacrificing this year, and Jesus' absolutely clear affirmation of the wisdom of those choices in this text.

Then I read 12:22-32 once over and thought about the song I would sing as a little kid.  And then it hit me.  I have never actually labelled the tightness in my chest.  Never actually called it what it is.  Preferred to live with the angst instead of label the problem so it can be solved.  

Because labeling it makes me feel weak.  

Because in the grand scheme of things I know the various trials I face are minimal.  

Because I feel a stronger man, a wiser man, a better man would not feel this stuff.  (And he'd be able to put plastic on his windows as well.)

But the Spirit cannot help us in our weakness if we are not admitting our weakness.  

So here is the weakness.  

I worry.

I worry as if it is a responsible and important thing to do.  But it is not, it has no place in the Kingdom.  

"Who by worrying can add a day to your life?  And if worry can't accomplish a thing like that, why bother worrying?" - Jesus

I get afraid.  

"So don't be afraid little flock, it gives the Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom." - Jesus

It is because I want people at PAC to experience mornings like this that we are focusing on reading through Luke.  Because when you read the words of the One who explains to you why you are alive, you get to practice resurrection ahead of time.  

Heading downstairs to the basement feeling half dead and emerging an hour or so later feeling alive.

Rest, Eat, and Listen.

This morning at FUEL I walked with PAC's leaders through the story of Elijah.  He has some seriously good things happening ministry wise.

- predicts there will be no rain (there isn't)

- God sends ravens to feed him

- He raises a dead boy back to life

- He calls down fire from heaven

- He then predicts there will be rain (there is)

- He then out sprints a chariot

Then he gets a death threat from a queen and he crashes.  His exact words:

"I have had enough Lord, take my life, I am no better than my ancestors."

Her message absolutely throws him for a loop.  His response is not connected at all to his reality.  But he just can't help it.  Why?

If you have ever spent yourself in the service of God you know EXACTLY how he feels. There is something absolutely exhausting about having God's mission flow through a human body.  I remember the physical exhaustion of the TransRockies race a few years ago.  Tamara tried to hug me at the finish line and I was so spent her hug actually made me moan in pain. 

Understand that Elijah is in the equivalent state emotionally.  Some of you who are invested in ministry know exactly how he feels and so you understand how 6 amazing acts of God can be trumped by 1 act of thoughtlessness or cruelty and have you wondering if God has ever used you in the past("no better than my ancestors") and trying to find a way to avoid the vulnerability of ministry in the future ("I have had enough Lord, take my life").  

I have yet to meet someone who has their heart fully invested in ministry who is immune to this.  We all get to a place where we lose touch with what God is doing and cannot get past how we are feeling.  We all deal with it differently but it affects everyone.  It happens because we are involved in these glorious spiritual adventures which are way too big for our bodies and which totally spend us.

So we can all learn from what happens next.

Elijah takes a nap.  

Then he eats.

Then he takes another nap. 

Then he gets by himself for awhile and waits to hear the voice of God.  

Then he goes back to doing more or less exactly the kind of thing he was doing before he crashed.

Turns out all the stuff he said was just him expressing fatigue.  He didn't need to second guess anything, he didn't need to quit, he didn't need to die, and he was as good as any prophet who ever came before him.

He just needed a nap, a sandwich, and to have his devotions.

Early Signs of Some Serious Momentum.

Hearing a couple things from PAC people since the beginning of 2010 which have me excited.

1. "We were going to ______ but instead we are going to give to the ONE capital campaign."

Whether it is trips, renovations, replacement vehicles or smaller ticket items (Tim Hortons!!! or "scratch and wins" yes I am talking to you Paul "Scratch and Win" Stanley) that add up over time, there are the beginnings of a spirit at PAC this year which eager to sacrifice for the sake of mission.

I look forward to sharing these stories with all of you as we accumulate more of them and as I actually get permission to tell them!  It is exactly this kind of sacrificial giving which God makes something out of.  He is pretty clear about tokenism.  One million bucks is not going to come it if we give out of what we have left over after we have first spent money on ourselves.  It comes when we prioritize according to Kingdom values.

What is especially neat is that those who are saying this are already experiencing joy.  

And joy is what we all wanted to purchase anyway.

2. "I am looking forward to getting into Luke."

There will be other series every second month or so with sermons offered by other PAC teachers, but all I am preaching on this year is the book of Luke and that is the book we are inviting PAC to dive into head first.  The dream is to have all of us experience Christ in a way we have not yet experienced him and to express our gratitude in ways that matter.  Luke is going to be our guide.

Good on you PAC'ers - you are acting with the strong faith that God is not done with PAC or with you - barrel into His future with expectancy and courage!

Because some pastors' egos are too big for just one location.

For the next year at PAC the ONE CAMPAIGN will be our visible focus.

However, it fits into the larger dream of what we want to acheive by the time PAC turns 50 in 2012:

"Turn Portage Up to God, Side to Each Other, and Down in Humble Acts of Service by having 60 HouseChurches and 2 New Locations by 2012."

This goal has been the driving force behind hirings and budgeting, as well as events and programs like Protege, Apex, our yearly budget priorites and even the ONE CAMPAIGN.

Anyway, our ongoing process as we discern what kind of "locations" these 2 locations will be (will they be church plants of PAC clones? Will they be satellites?  Will they be hiving HouseChurches?) has brought elevation church to our attention.

A rapidly growing and marketing savvy bunch in Carolina, the blog of their lead pastor Steven Furtick is one of a handful I read a couple times a week.  Often it is helpful, sometimes it is worrisome, occasionally it is hilarious.  Always it is 100% high octane and the kind of "sold out sincere" to a certain methodology I often wish I could be to make life and leadership a whole lot less complicated. 

When something grows as fast as elevation has,using the strategy elevation has, they set themselves up to annoy a whole bunch of purists.  Throw a barely 30 pastor into the mix who likes to talk about his clothes, shoes, and his "brand"  and the critics really have a field day.   

I sure don't care to be one of them.  I have learned too much from watching elevation grow and am busy trying to do a decent job of helping lead PAC.  So the picture below of Furtick is not about Furtick but a reminder for me and every other pastor who is thinking "multi-site" to be sure of their motivation.

Plus it is pretty funny.