It's back.....

We've been waiting for almost a year, but it looks it will be well worth it!!!

Close the "Backdoor"...

Buzzwords come and go in every industry or line of business. The church world has not only embraced this philosophy, it has overdosed on it. A concept is thrown out there and it takes off like wild fire. People start claiming the new tag line and running with it. Churches will implement a statement without ever really understanding the principles behind it. The most effective thing you as a church leader can do is to burrow the principle and develop your own practices. Gain an understanding of the “why” and than develop your own “what”.

Let me give you an example. A big buzz word in the assimilation world is to “close the backdoor.” It’s a series of practices developed around the premise of how we can keep people. Retention is a great philosophy, but the way in which the “close the backdoor” philosophy is applied is anything but a great practice. In many ways it can actually be an extremely devastating practice in the church wreaking havoc on its culture. This theory states that you should have a big front door and a small back door in an attempt to keep everyone who shows up on Sunday mornings. At Elevation we don’t want all people who walk through our doors to join the team; we want the “right” people to join the team. When I say “right” people, I mean those that line up with our philosophy of ministry, those who believe that being a part of a church means rolling up your sleeves and engaging in the life of the church. The “right” people are those looking to put their faith into action and become part of a body of believers who labor to create an experience where those who are far can be filled with life in Christ.

Don’t get me wrong we have a huge, I mean gargantuan, front door for those who need to experience Christ. That’s the mission of Elevation!!! That’s why we’ve seen over 900 people give their lives to Christ during our recent series called "The Gospel". But when it comes to allowing people to become a part of the ministry through actively participating in the life of the church, we have a small door because it’s not for everyone. It’s for those who whole heatedly believe in the vision of Elevation and desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. People who want to show up every week and take up a seat and “get fed” will fall by the wayside. Our philosophy is - the best way to close the back door is to keep some people from getting in the front door.

As you evaluate your own church and assimilation strategy ask yourself a few questions. What is the vision of your church? What do you want the culture of your church to look like? What does it mean to be a part of your church? Who does Sunday morning exist for, is it for the exhortation of the believer or is it for those who are far from God? Based upon how you answer the questions will tell you a lot about what your doors need to look like. Don’t just burrow a practice, understand the principles behind it and develop your own practices. So what ever you do with your doors be intentional, become what God has called your church to be.

LB's Hero of the Week....

I heard about this story several years ago and it's one that makes me cry every time I watch. It's a selfless act that will inspire fathers everywhere to sacrifice for their kids. This truly is one of the greatest examples of human love that I have ever seen.

Fear....

The world is full of people who "would have", "could have", or "should have". A common theme that resonates through those statements is fear. Fear of "failure", fear of "what others will think" or fear of "how will we pay for this thing". It doesn't make a different what the fear is, the end result is a person whose paralyzed. You've been there before. You've had dreams that never came to pass because you gave up on them because the fear was too intense.

Fear can be a great thing. It can be the catalyst that causes you examine the cost before you jump. It can be the clarifyer of what you are called to do. Through the right lens and harnessed appropriately, fear can be a powerful tool in your hands. But all too often fear ends up a straight jack that restrains a person from experiencing God's best. The road of life is littered with well intentioned people that gave up on a dream...how about you? Have you given up on a dream that God put in your heart because of the "what if"?

Don't let fear rob you of enjoying God's best! Refuse to believe the lies any longer, stand in who you are in Christ, grab your dreams and embrace the fear. Let it be a catalyst that propels you forward rather than a pitfall that paralyzes you for life!!

God is moving in Charlotte....

At Elevation Pastor Steven wants all the staff to take a Sunday off per quarter. It's a great time to rest, plan a vacation around or if you're like me visit as many other churches as you can. So that's what I did yesterday, I visited 2 other churches in Charlotte and God affirmed a few things in the process....

1. He is on the move in Charlotte....there are some great churches out there seeking His face and God is using them to change lives. This city is in the midst of an "Awakening".

2. The Kingdom is greater than any single church.

3. If I'm not at Elevation the place will function just fine...

The day started with worshipping at University Park Baptist Church at 7:00am. They were celebrating Bishop Claude Alexander's 18th anniversary as the leader of "The Park". He is a great man and an anointed leader who is being used by God for great things in this city. You hear about them all the time in the news and how God is using them to bless others. I walked away from their service encouraged by the worship and challenged by the message.

After UPBC I headed over to Freedom House Church to catch their 8:30am worship experience. I had heard a lot of great things about these guys and how God was moving through their ministry so I was excited to spend the morning with them. My contact with the church actually started last Friday when I called Megan. She is Pastor Troy and Pastor Penny's assistant. Megan was great, she made to time call me back on a busy weekend and was a gracious host on Sunday. The church meets in an elementary school and they did a phenomenal job and made the place look great. They labor to create a life changing experience for their guests and it shows. I was warmly welcomed by Jeff Grover their Life Pastor. He took some time to share their story and show me around. The worship was great, Andre Gonzales their Worship Pastor is a passionate guy it showed. I got the chance to meet Pastor Troy and talk with Pastor Penny on the phone and they are the real deal. They love God and love people....something Jesus is blessing. I really believe they are going to blow up and have a huge impact in the city of Charlotte.

Pastor Steven keeps telling us as a staff that we're a part of something special, but it's a whole lot bigger than Elevation. We're a part of a Kingdom movement and we take the time to get out the business of our details we'll see that God is on the move all around us. I am so thankful that He called Elevation to Charlotte and I'm honored that we're partnered with great churches like University Park and Freedom House!

The Vikings will Dominate the Panthers...

Alright Panther fans, I know you're all jazzed about your 2-0 start. You're all excited about Steve Smith returning and the way your defense is playing but that's going to come to a screeching halt this weekend. Yes the vikings are off to a slow start, but that's all going to change this Sunday when we dominate the cats like a rented mule.

LB's Hero of the Week...

Over the next few weeks I will be having a "Hero of the Week". If you've ever thought you can't do something or have been sitting on excuses that have kept you from trying.....Check out Kyle's story and ask yourself again if it's too hard!!

Believe in Yourself....

The story is told of a college class about to take their final exam. The professor walks in and addresses his molecular biology students. "Each of you have worked extremely hard this semester, you know the material and after graduation most of you are off to medical school or graduate school. Since I already know you've mastered the material I'm prepared to give you an offer. Anyone who wants, will receive a "B" right now and not have to take the final exam." Students were blown away and once they realized he was serious, many of them took him up on his offer. The professor made one last appeal "this is your last chance" and a few more took the deal.

The remaining students prepared to take the final exam and their jaws dropped to the floor as they read the instructions on the exam, two simple sentences: "For those of you who believed in yourself and didn't take me up on my offer, you don't have to take the final either. Because you believed in yourself enough and didn't settle for a "B", you will receive an "A".

Believing in your self means you don't compromise, no matter how appealing the offer. It's not settling for something below your potential. Quit looking for the easy way out and lean into those difficult situations in life. Strive for your full potential, do it once and you'll surprise yourself, do it twice you'll surprise others, let it become a habit and God won't be surprised because that's who He made you to be!!!!

Potential....

I've been thinking a lot about this concept recently. As I hold my new daughter I pray that she grow into her full potential in Christ, that she become the person that God made her to be. For her to maximize the full potential that God placed inside of her.

God created you and placed a significant destiny inside of you. When He formed you he did not place limitations on your potential. He did not put a ceiling on your possibilities, they are in fact limitless. He looked upon you and saw all the potential in His creation.

But something happened along the way, limitations and ceilings were artificially placed in your path that God never intended to be there. Other people's distorted perceptions became your reality. Lies, fears and doubt began running through your mind pushing aside the limitless potential God placed in your soul.

Let me remind you of something...you, yes you reading this blog have all the potential in the world. When God created you He did not put a cap or ceiling on your potential...it is limitless. You've been listening to the wrong voices in your life and believing lies for too long! Start listening to the right voices and looking at your present reality through the lens of Christ. Let His opinion define your worth and self perception!!!!

Can you tell I'm a little fired up right now!! I wasted too many days of my life staring at my self imposed ceiling rather than focusing the potential He placed inside of me. Pastor Steven has taught me many things but I thank him the most for teaching me this principal...God placed a significant destiny inside of me!!

Are you staring at your self imposed ceiling or focusing on your potential in Christ? Who is speaking encouragement and destiny into you? What words are coming out of your mouth about yourself and others? What thoughts roll through your head about yourself and others? There's a great destiny inside of you...don't let artificial limitations keep you from experiencing God's best!!!

The Power of Collaboration....

Elevation is not afraid to try something new, it's actually something that's part of our DNA. But there are times when you look up and realize that some of the things you are doing are not the best way to do them. You can fall into the trap of "that's the way we've always done it". You can forget to ask "is this the best way to do it" and rely on "that's how we do it". A practical example from the life of Elevation is the way in which we approached events. In the past we've have a separate event for signing people up for small groups, a separate event for meeting Pastor Steven and a separate event for plugging people into volunteering.

One day our Ministries Pastor John Bishop said "why don't we do one big event strategically calendared combining all three elements." He was the driving force behind "The meet Pastor Steven, join a Community Group, sign up for a volunteer team and otherwise get involved in a church you really want to be a part of but don't know how Event". We had the event last night and it was a great event for several reasons:

1. We plugged almost 500 people into small groups and almost 200 people onto a volunteer team.

2. My Event Planning Team knocked it out of the park....the place look amazing, the food was incredible and the people who showed up walked away feeling honored.

3. We tried something new. Some things were great and some things we'll change, but we tried something new!!!

4. But the most important thing was the spirit of collaboration that it fostered in our staff. It forced people to work together to pray and plan....it forced us to think about the whole rather than our own piece of the pie.

John has been pushing the ministries department to truly see ourselves as a department rather than a collection of individual areas. He has been making great strides in developing that cohesion in recent months and last night was a giant step forward toward harnessing the Power of Collaboration.

In your church, work environment or organization who can you include in your world? Who can you work collaboratively with the enhance the whole vision and not just your piece of the pie? Who do you need to ask to help with what's on your plate because their strengths compliment your weaknesses? Who do you need to offer your services to because you can enhance what they are doing? There is nothing more powerful than the local church working arm in arm toward the common goal of "seeing people far from God filled with life in Christ."

How deep is your vision....

Each weekend we have church planters and church teams from around the country come to Charlotte to see what God is up to at Elevation Church. With each of the visits there are a few things you can always count on happening. First, they will be given the VIP treatment through our Backstage:Elevation experience. We will spend hours with each team answering their questions and explaining every element of what we do. The second thing that happens is the church planters will experience our volunteer force firsthand. The question they will invariably ask is, “how do you get your volunteers so committed”. The answer to that question is easy to say, but extremely difficult to engineer. The answer is vision, but it goes way beyond a tag line or a rah-rah session. It comes from a place of calling and a singular focus on a common goal, “seeing people far from God filled with life in Christ”. Everything that happens on a Sunday morning points to one thing – the preaching of the gospel and people receiving Christ as their savior.

To see how well a church believes in the their vision don’t start with the Pastor or the staff, start with the guy in parking lot or the lady changing diapers in the baby room. Go and ask them “why do you do park cars” and see what kind of response you get. That’s where you’ll learn how powerful the vision is in a church; how deep does it permeates through the organization. Is the parking guy just as passionate about his role and opportunity as the lead Pastor? If he is, now you’re onto something because everyone in the organization is moving in the same spirit with a singular focus.

At Elevation Church we’re becoming even more passionate about moving forward with a singular vision and here are a few practical things that have been guiding us along the way.
Check the flow – Ask the guy in the parking lot “why does you park cars”. What do you hope to hear from him? At Elevation we want to hear 2 things 1) People are coming here today who are far from God and need to be filled with Jesus Christ and 2) my role as a parking guy is a vital link in the chain of people coming to faith in Christ, they connect what they do to the vision with passion and excitement.
Be slow to appoint – The key to having you vision permeate through the organization is directly linked to who you put in your leadership roles. You need to be slow and put in place only those who believe in the vision of your church. Learning the vision is a process and takes time, here’s a simple filter I am beginning to use in communicating the concept:
A. Understanding the vision – Do they clearly understand the guiding principles behind
the vision?
B. Embrace the vision – Do their actions show they understand the vision?
C. Communicate the vision – Will they speak it to those around them?
D. Defend the vision – Will they correct someone who is speaking contradictorily of the vision?
Only appoint leaders who have gone through the filter and will defend the vision. Time on the front end will save a mess at best or a mutiny at worse on the back end.
How are you training – Look at your training systems for every area and evaluate how much time you spend teaching the x’s and o’s of how to perform their role and how much time is spent on vision casting? How often do you do retraining? How frequently will they hear the vision? Is the vision communicated as pieces of information or as a compelling call to action the connects peoples hearts with what they do and the vision of the church?

The biggest commodity you have in your church is vision. It needs to be constantly communicated, demonstrated in the leaders and always defended. The influential capacity of your church will be determined by how deep the vision permeates your organization.

Vision is Divisive....

At first glance you may disagree with the title of this blog, but let me explain and after I'm done I think you'll agree with me.

Consider the following example: put 100 "Christians" in a room and ask them a series of questions. First, "How many of you don't want people going to hell?" How many hands do you think would go up, hopefully you'll see all 100 hands. Question #2, "How many of you will invite your friends/family that are going to hell to church with you next Sunday morning?" How many hands go up? Let's say 75, (I know it's a high estimate, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt). Question #3, "How many of you believe in the vision so much that you will actively volunteer every other week to see people far from God brought near to Him?" Watcha think, maybe 15-20 hands go up? Question #4, "How many of you believe in the vision so much you would learn to live below you means so that you can be generous with the resources God has given you and systematically tithe 10% or more of your income into the church to see people not go to hell?" According to George Barna, 8% of "Christians" tithe to the local church. That's 8 out of the 100 hands going up.

Vision isn't a statement, it's what you do. The more you clarify the vision the more divisive it is. It draws a line in the sand that says either jump on board or get out of the way because here's where this church is going. For too long churches have muddied the vision keeping in nebulous and ill defined. When vision is only something you say, anything goes. But when you drill it down to what you do people are forced to do something...either get on board or go somewhere else.

So if you're starting a church don't build your systems around keeping the 100, build them around identify and harnessing the power of the 8. Overtime you'll have 100 people in the room who are sold out for the vision. If you're in a church that has stalled or isn't being ineffective clarify the vision, put definable metrics in place and watch what happens.

Jesus was divisive - people either loved Him or hated Him, but no-one just hung out with him. People were moved toward Him or away from Him, they were affected one way or another when they encountered Him. In your church, how many people are just hanging out? How many people are walking in each week only to leave unaffected? How many are walking out the exact same as they were when they walked in?

Vision is divisive....

Job vs Responsibility....

Every successful organization has clearly defined roles and responsibilities for it's people. The same should be true in the church. One of the most frustrating things for volunteers or staff is when people are unsure what is and isn't a part of their job description. As clarity is brought onto the scene so increases the efficiency and productivity. Things end up begin completed on time and fewer details are missed. The upsides are huge when creating a systematic approach to your processes. Moving from a "let's work hard and get it done" to a more systematic approach with cleared communicated expectations is wonderful.

There can be pitfalls that if you're aware of can create an unhealthy part of your culture. Some of the pitfalls happen insidiously and can erode the foundation of what you worked so hard to develop through the "let's get it done " mentality. A potential pitfall is the undermining "that's not my job" mentality. It's the mentality that says "that's not on my job description" so I don't have to worry about it. It's the thinking that says "I'll do my job and you do yours". That sounds great on the surface, but can be dangerous. Overtime people can walk through the facility recognizing problems and see issues and think "well, that's not my job".

It is true everyone should have a job, a list of things they should do. But if you're on staff or a volunteer you have a greater responsibly. It's a responsibility to make sure every guest that walks through your doors has a great experience. It's your responsibility to recognize something out of whack and either address it yourself or make the person overseeing that area away of the problem. Work through appropriate channels, but don't walk away thinking "that's not my job".

Your responsibility to ensure that every guest has a great experience trumps the "that's not my job" mentality. Your responsibility can never be abdicated because it's not your job. May we never be guilty of allowing a guest to have a poor experience because we forget the reason we created the system. The stakes are too high and if someone walks away because of something we did or did not do, we may never get another chance. Make a great experience where the gospel is preached and where they can meet Christ, that's your responsibility!!!

WOW, what an amazing season....

Elevators,

I am standing up clapping and screaming at the top of my lungs giving you a standing ovation for the faith and sacrifice you'd displayed over the past 6 weeks at Elevation. Let me recap what God has done through you:

1. You labored to create a great experience where over 1,000 people responded and were spontaneously baptized.
2. You sacrificed and engaged in a 21 day fast seeking the heart of God to prepare for "The Gospel" series....He listened.
3. Over 900 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ during the past 3 weeks during The Gospel series!!!!!

God is great! I am so proud of you and am truly blessed to be in a church like Elevation...Thank you!!! Go and eat some meat and cheese, after 21 days without it you've earned it! I can't wait to see what happens next!!!

Look before you leap....

I just finished reading a story that made me laugh harder than I had in awhile. Last weekend college football kicked off around the county. Universities spends significant dollars to develop creative ways to commemorate the first home game. One tried and true tradition is to have the game ball brought into the stadium by a skydiver. The University of North Carolina wanted to employ such a tactic last weekend and have thousands of screaming tarheel fans cheer as the skydiver brought in the game ball into the stadium. UNC had done everything, they had hired the best skydiving company with a long record of success. They had clearly communicated the arrival time and even given them the GPS coordinants. The plane took off and cruised the desired altitude....the skydiver gets set and jumps. As the skydiver falls to the earth he opens his chute and prepares for a picture perfect landing. It wasn't until his feet hit the ground that he realized that he made one huge error, he was landing in the wrong stadium...instead of UNC, he was landing 8 miles in the wrong direction at Duke stadium. That's funny!!!

As I thought about the situation I realized it happens all the time. People have great intentions and jump only to realize they're landing in the wrong place. Whatever the reason the skydive was wrong. Blame it on GPS, pilot error or a simple oversight he landed in the wrong place.

Application point: before you jump, make sure you're going to land in the right place.

Daelyn Update....

We were discharged from the hospital Thursday at 11:00am. Mom and baby are doing great. Daelyn is the easiest baby in the world so far. She eats, sleeps and smiles. We thought we had it easy with Corbin, but this one is a breeze.

Janet was able to get 4 hours of sleep last night and woke up this morning feeling incredible! She is amazing....more photos coming soon.

Guest Blogger: Janet Brey

It’s amazing what your body, mind and spirit experience with the addition of a second child to your family. My biggest concern with the impending arrival of our daughter has been the uncertainty that our firstborn would experience while adjusting to the new inclusion in our family. Nobody can explain a mother’s love; it is simply something that must be experienced (I imagine it’s similar for Dad’s too!). To have God create something so miraculous and beautiful and then give us the opportunity to love it and raise it is one of life’s greatest blessings. I can’t tell you how much I love our firstborn, Corbin. The love is so powerful and truly comes from God. So naturally when we found out we were pregnant, some of my first fears were focused on Corbin and how my love might change for him and how he would adapt to a sibling.

Unfortunately, those fears have not subsided with the many months of pregnancy. I wish I could say that I easily handed it over to God and haven’t had to struggle with it any more, but that wouldn’t be honest. I have had several tearful moments worrying about how I would have to “share my love” instead of being able to pour all my love lavishly on one child. I’ve also worried that our son would be jealous of his sister and not understand why mommy doesn’t love him so much anymore.

Well, we’re on day number two now. Our daughter’s birth will be very memorable for many reasons! Her birth did not resemble our son’s at all, and it’s nice to have two very different but good memories for each of them. I can’t say that I’ve conquered my fears over sharing my love; in fact, it was very hard to send my firstborn home last night and watch his chin quiver and eyes look sad and fearful as he left. He kept saying, “Mommy…home!”. And I wanted to be there for him so badly! But I received some wonderful advice from my friend Gina just a couple of weeks ago and it’s that advice that is driving me forward. She told me, “Just think of it as multiplication, not division”. You are not dividing your love between the two of them…you are simply multiplying the love that you already have. You will have more love now to give and you will be able to bless more people (now 2 instead of 1) with it.

Wow. That advice has brought so much comfort and has encouraged me to face the future with more excitement rather than fear. It’s always amazed me that God is able to love us so much. I feel like I am one step closing to looking at life through His eyes. There is nothing quite like the innocence of a newborn child. It’s one of the qualities that make them so easy to love! Yet God looks upon us, with all of our many imperfections and sins, and finds us loveable as well. Loveable enough to send His one and only child to die for us, so that we may have a relationship with Him. Do I understand that kind of love? No; it is mind boggling. But what I do have, is a better understanding of God’s ability to enable us multiply our love, and that includes extending our love to those that are loveable as well as those that might be harder to love; to those that might already know God and those that are far from God. My prayer today is that God will continue to impress upon my heart the implications of multiplying my love…as a Mother and as a child of God wanting to reach those that don’t know God’s love yet.

I'd like to introduce you to my daughter....

Daelyn Carley Brey was born September 2nd at 12:34pm.
She weighed 6 lbs 8oz and was 18 1/2 inches long.
Janet was a hero and I have new respect for my wife!!!!
Here are a few photos, more to come soon!!

Tuesday morning updated....

Janet was in considerable pain last night with a lot of contractions until midnight when she had an epidural...praise God for medication. She had a good night sleep and is ready for Daelyn to make her arrival. At 8:30am this morning she had dilated to a 9 so they doctor broke her water which should speed up the process even more. We should have a baby in hand by lunch time today. Thanks for all you prayers, it made a big difference. Janet had such a calm spirit about her during the painful contractions, I am very proud of her.

We'll post photos as soon as she's here!!!!!!

We're headed to the hospital....

Well it looks like today is the day. Janet has been having contractions on and off since early this morning and we’re headed to the hospital. Daelyn Carley Brey will come into this world tonight or tomorrow….I can’t wait to meet my daughter. Janet has been such warrior today…I am so proud of her. Check back for pictures of the new addition to the Brey family!!!