Mark Waltz | ...Because People Matter

Caption that Picture

Our senior management team is in Northern Michigan this week, praying, strategizing, planning for the year. Our afternoon today included a brief outdoor excursion. Mark Beeson captured this snapshot of Tim Stevens and me.

How would you caption this picture? Leave your comments below...

Random Stuff

Here are some quick random notes about some happenings and observations that I haven't spoken to over the past few weeks:

Happenings:

• I've been reading Erwin McManus' new book, Wide Awake. It's an encouraging read about living life to the max. Sort of Erwin's take on "if you wanna walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat."
• Also reading N.T. Wright's Following Jesus. One of his shorter books with communion sermons built around the call to follow Christ, lifting central themes and books of the Bible.
• The prep for the launch of our midweek Journey classes has been a rush. My team, the arts team and the communications team have all risen to the challenging opportunity to support the many facets - registration, class notes preparation, journal printing, AV, promotion and a gazillion other details they know that I've not mentioned. They're awesome! My assistant Julie Smies is flat out amazing!
• My family and I got away for a holiday weekend get-away, camping with our friends, Greg and Susan Chipman. Loved the time with the Chipmans and my family. Verdict is still out on tent camping.

Observations:

• I believe Joel Hunter's prayer at last week's Democratic National Convention demonstrated the difference between mere tolerance and respect. The interruption he inserted in his own prayer, inviting people to end the prayer they way they would normally end their prayer showed respect without condoning every faith in the room. He showed the difference between praying in a national, political venue vs. praying in his own church or any other evangelical church. Watch it below... He lifted up the name of Jesus without expecting those who do not yet trust him to pretend to do the same thing. I respect you, Joel!
• We have 600+ people signed up for the Journey classes that begin next week. I think this fresh approach to teaching, learning and connecting is going to rock! We'll know - not merely as we watch the attendance, but as we watch people become more loving - toward God and others. That's the ultimate success measurement.
• My family and I got in on an evening of the Stewart family reunion - my mom's family. If I age like my aunts are, I may live to be over 100 - and look dang good!
• I observed a passenger in a car next to where I was pumping gas light up a cigarette and hang it out the window. I didn't think it was a good idea. I asked her "for the safety of us all" to pay attention to where she was. Can you say, "Kaboom!"?

 

Bloggin Advice... Blogging Reality

So my friend, Tim Stevens, posted his Blogging Advice yesterday. It's really good advice. I practice little of it, but it's good advise. Here's his core list (without his additional thoughts on each item), followed by my "Common Practices in Blogging list.

Tim's Blogging Advice

1. Determine Your Target.
2. Write for the Traffic.
3. Don't Advertise.
4. Give Link Love.
5. Don't Ask for Link Love.
6. Don't Make Me Leave.
7. Post in Advance.
8. Don't Criticize.
9. Use a Reader.
10. Just Jump In.

(read Tim's entire post here)

Waltz's Common Practices in Blogging

1. Post every 23 days. At least.
2. Don't post from your cell phone during traffic.
3. Don't advertise. Advertising every 3 weeks doesn't work anyway.
   
4. Give link love. Especially when you're copying someone else's blogging advice.
5. Don't expect anyone to link to you when you only copy someone else's post.
6. Don't make Tim leave. And if you do...(link here  to finish the sentence).
7. If you don't post in advance, then link late to some really great stuff you wish you'd posted yourself.
8. Don't criticize-personally. This is okay. This isn't. (And this isn't a criticism. It's an example. An illustration. An observation. Such a distinctive difference.)
9. If your Reader gets too full too quickly, hire a reader to tell you about the good stuff you should read in blog-world.
10. Just jump in. Slowly. Every 3 weeks or so is good.

I think I'm on a roll.

My Team Rocks!

This isn't me... yet. But, a couple months ago, my staff team presented me with a gift certificate for my first skydiving experience! My team has heard me talking about this dream for years... and then heard me whine about the cost. So, they set me up. Will he do it? Is he really brave enough when given the opportunity?

Oh, yeah, baby!

It's snowing again today, so I'll wait. The jump season starts at the Indiana Skydiving Academy on April 5th. I could be jumping from a plane at 10,000 feet within the next couple months!

Thank you - Julie, Susan, Shelley, Kathy, Sherry, Dawn, Jenny, Sarah, Vanessa and Ed!

Christianese Translated

The following is a list of phrases in the impenetrable language of "Christianese." For those unfamiliar with this strange dialect, below you'll find a helpful Christianese-English Dictionary so that you can find out what your Christian friend is really saying to you. I first read this on Amber Cox's site, who had shared it from Tim Shraeder's site. Whoever created it - well done.

1. I'll pray about it = NO!
2. We need to pray for so and so = Guess what I just heard?!
3. I'm waiting for God to open some doors = I'm living in my parent's basement.
4. God gave me a word for you = I have advice to help you with your disaster of a life.
5. I'm going to have my quiet time = Leave me the heck alone!
6. God is good = My life sucks.
7. Bless his/her heart = What an idiot.
8. I have the gift of discernment = I can judge people without even talking to them.
9. I was having fellowship with them = We had beer and pizza and watched the game instead of going to church.
10. I'm saved by grace, not works = I can do whatever the heck I want.
11. She caused me to stumble = What a skank.
12. I kissed dating goodbye = I couldn't get a blind date, literally.
13. Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth = I can't believe you said the real curse word!
14. I don't mean to judge but... = I'm going to judge.
15. I'm dating Jesus right now = Are you kidding? I'm way out of your league.
16. God wants me to take some time off from this relationship = I met someone else and I'm too coward to break up with you.
17. I'll pray about marrying you = NO!
18. God told me that we are supposed to get married = Maybe you'll say yes if God is behind this.
19. I'm fasting = Your spiritual life is miniscule compared to mine. Try to keep up.
20. God has called me to minister to her = She's really hot.
21. I think you should pray about it = You'll see that I'm right.
22. We've decided to court, not date = My parents have a death grip on my life.
23. Courting = Homeschool dating.
24. Lord willing = My plans are His plans.
25. Take this with a grain of salt = I'm about to really offend you.
26. I'm feeling convicted about this = One day my actions might change too!
27. Have I offended you? = Why are you treating my like garbage?
28. Who wants to pray? = I don't want to pray right now.
29. Jesus turned water into wine = Jesus turned water into grape juice. (Southern Baptist Dialect)
30. Jesus turned water into wine = I can drink whatever I want. (Presbyterian Dialect)

If you have any other troubling Christianese phrases, please post them and I will try to translate them and add them to this list.

The Rubber Ducky Wasn't Rubber

It had been awhile since I stayed at a Hampton Inn. They've stepped up the bedding, the furnishings and the service. I've not experienced a rubber ducky in any other hotel room. Is that a niche? Is that a novelty?

Was it rubber? No.

The duck was plastic.

Still a nice touch. (Although I didn't touch it.)

You Decide: Pope John or Pop Jackson

Perhaps you saw this in the news a few days ago. Several months ago - back in April actually - a bonfire was lit during a service at Beskid Zywiecki, close to John Paul's birthplace at Katowice, southern Poland. It was the second anniversary of his death. When Gregorz Lukasik returned home and looked at his developed pics, he was amazed at what looked like the image of the John Paul II. So, over the past few days websites throughout Italy have been crashing with millions of people trying to log on and see the eerie image.

Here's what's been in the news:

However... I wonder if I see a different public figure. Remember that Pepsi commercial with Michael Jackson years ago? Like, his hair caught fire? Check out this image. You decide...

 

Back Home from the Great Northwest

Our trip to the Seattle / Tacoma area was a full week of unusual sunshine (the first half of the week), reunions with long-time friends, great sights and engaging consulting and training with Rainier View Christian Church. Here are some quick pictorial highlights of our trip.

Laura and Liv outside the famed Pike's Place Market. Yep, we saw the flying fish!

Outside the original Starbucks near the Market. Starbucks is everywhere in Seattle. God is good.

The view from the 1962 World's Fair Space Needle is awe-inspiring...

Mt. Baker to the north of Seattle from atop the Space Needle.

Elliot Bay from the Space Needle.

We were invited to a Mariner's game by our friends and hosts. What a blast at Safeco Field!

The water, the mountains, the green trees. People live there for good reason.

Okay, I've made you scroll more than you're supposed to in blog world. That's enough pics for this post. To our friends in Seattle and Tacoma - thanks for such a great week!

To our friends at Rainier View - we're praying with you as you continue to reach out to people in your communities with the love of Christ.

Where Have I Been?

It's been a full 2+ weeks. Here's a quick re-cap on what's been going on... then more on some of these in future posts (You get to help me decide what I'll say more about...):

1. My dad turned 75. I helped him celebrate.
2. My wife blacked out on a Cedar Point roller coaster. I didn't have time to pray.
3. My wife, daughter and I rode the Dragster. After my wife blacked out on the first ride. She doesn't stop. And the Dragster barely does.
4. My friend, Rob allowed me a rare glimpse of his intimacy with Jesus (along with 1,000 other people).
5. My friend, Tim has been on the teaching circuit. I've been praying for him.
6. My friend, Mark has been celebrating 35 years of middle school camp. I've really been praying for him.
7. My daughter is a freshman. In high school. You really should be praying for me.
8. My perspective on spiritual formation has been shifting - back to center - since I've been messing with what it means for the people of our church the past six months.
9. My time at the gym is paying off. My friends are mocking me. My wife thinks I'm getting hotter.
10. My friend, Rusty celebrated 20 years of ministry at Rainierview Christian Church.
11. My daughter's dog ate a bird. Whole.
12. My weekends have been wrapped up in weddings. Fun times.
13. My braces are actually moving my 40+ year-old teeth. Smile.
14. My senior pastor, Mark Beeson, led our church in the national pledge of allegiance in all five services this past weekend.
15. My daughter has been in cheer practice all summer so far. I've been Mr. Taxi Dude. And love it.
16. My new friend, David Morris brought me some Elvis sunglasses from Graceland. I may keep my other sunglasses.
17. My wife and daughter threw a great Father's Day for me. They're awesome!
18. My excitement for our annual Men's Retreat is at an all-time high! It's gonna rock.
19. My teammate, Shelley and I, got to lead a workshop for nearly a hundred people on our campus. There are some steller church leaders across the country. I got to hang with some of them for a day... with a few for two days!
20. My GCC friends and guests laughed and laughed together last weekend. We actually had comedians in our service.

Okay... so, I'm off for a couple days with my friends who make up our Senior Management Team. We're going to pray, plan and play up in Michigan on Monday and Tuesday, so I'll be back off-line 'til mid-week. So, between now and the 4th, let me know which of the above you'd like to hear more about and I'll follow-up with some posts.

Make a comment below with a number. If no one makes comments about what you want to hear about - well, it could be a couple more weeks of no posts. Be kind.

And celebrate our shared freedom as a nation really well this Wednesday!

Miami Highlights

I've been in Miami the past several days with my wife, Laura, and our friends - Lisa, Adam, Lindsay, Kem and Tim. Today we completed workshops at Flamingo Road Church, where the staff and volunteer team hosted a great day of learning and corroboration with church leaders from central and south Florida... and South Carolina.

Here's a brief pictorial review of some highlights so far...

This is our view from the front of our hotel at South Beach. That’s my baby enjoying the view.

We stumbled on the Versace mansion, which is now a members-only, $5,000/night hotel. This is not our hotel.

 

This is my friend, Tim, making a call back home. Nope, that’s not my wife in the background.

 

It’s all here in Miami. Remember – you’ve never looked into the eyes of a man or woman or child who didn’t matter to God.

 

Lisa, Lindsay and Kem in front of the TLC channel’s Miami Ink Tattoo Studio. No new inks in our group this trip.

A patron and guest of the show being filmed live as we watched outside the studio. We named him “Opie”. Miami Ink team member, Chris Nunez works his art.

 

 

We enjoyed a great Cuban meal with Troy (Senior Pastor) and Stephanie, Raul (Executive Pastor) and Heather and Melissa – all from Flamingo Road Church. This is Tim Stevens’ plate. He’s not an adventurous diner, so I was impressed! He said he loved it!

 

When I travel to new places I might buy a ball cap or a t-shirt. Adam gets a haircut. Here he is getting a new-do on Miami’s famous Lincoln Road, just paces from where the Shaq enjoyed lunch the day before.

Our week of travel was marked by the interest and stories of church leaders who are learning with us to live out the kingdom of God in our respective communities. I love the memory-making with good friends - from food to sight-seeing to shopping... and then some. It was a great week on the road.

And it's good to be home.

I've Always Liked the Name Grant

http://www.myheritage.com

Okay, there may be some of my team members who'll want to suggest that I need more to do (not so) or that I need to get to bed earlier (maybe so). The point here is NOT that I am as old as Cary Grant (or as dead) - but wouldn't you agree, there's a striking resemblance?

On second thought... aren't all these look-alikes dead, too?

That dang 45th birthday is haunting me. I wasn't going to post about that...

Listmania: 20 Ways to Look for God in '07

As promised...

20 Ways to Look for God in '07 

 
1. Read the Bible like a Novel

· Read the Bible as one story. God’s story of his plan to redeem all his creation to his original purpose, the story of his character of justice, love and mercy. He invites us into his agenda – to his storyline.

 
2. Free up a Thursday

· Check out the midweek New Community service on Thursdays at 7 pm.

 
3. Hit up Blockbuster

· Pay attention to themes of forgiveness, the search for love, the call for justice, the protection of the innocent.

 
4. Tune in…

· God can be found in the music we listen to. Listen for themes of God’s grace, for an artist’s searching questions of faith and deity.

 
5. Celebrate Uniqueness

· God’s always been about diversity. About uniqueness. Check out Genesis 1 and 2. Every individual on the planet carries a God-stamped uniqueness. Engage that distinction and celebrate the wonder of God.

 
6. Have one, be one

· Focus on 5: Have a friend, be a friend. Check out Starting Point, Turning Point or a Bible class this January.

 
7. Say, “Cheers!”

· To someone whose lifestyle, values or beliefs are different than yours. That is, be intentional about building a relationship with someone you’d likely never be drawn to naturally. Look for God in their story, be surprised by the potential crossing of your story lines.

 
8. Listen to Your Wife

· The next time you’re tempted to become defensive as you listen to your spouse, a friend, a peer, a child or your boss… stop. Ask: is God speaking to me through this person?

 
9. Meet Joe, the Mechanic

· There are people we encounter every day who seem to be fine people, but are they really merely a means to get through our day? We have an agenda – they help us or they frustrate us. But what if we paused long enough to take genuine interest in them – even for a moment. Jesus says when we do, it’s the same as honoring him.

 
10. Meet Jack Bauer

· Remember Focus on 5? Invest and invite. Invest in a relationship. And when you develop a relationship of trust and mutual respect with another human being, you share values, you invite the other to check out the stuff that’s important in your life. Invite them to the 24 series in January.

 
11. Make a Run for Borders

· Read the Bible for sure. But look for God’s truth in everything you read. Read the stories of others’ search for him, read their encounters with Him. Read their discoveries, their findings, their questions.

 
12. Grab a pen and paper

· Practice writing down your prayers to God, your observations, your questions, your fears, your celebrations. Look back in few months, at the end of the year and smile at the connecting dots of God’s faithfulness in your life.

 
13. Take a Hike

· Find a place – outside, in your home, in a park – find some place where you can be alone quietly with God. Get away from the distractions. Then listen. Talk. Just you and God.

 
14. Go sideways

· We can so easily get fixated on two directions on our journey. Straight ahead, constantly focused on the next sale, the next problem, to next goal. Or we can get stuck behind us – in the past. When we look sideways, we take the attention off ourselves and see other people who need our help. Jesus went sideways – called timeout – to touch the lepers, heal the blind and raise the lame. Go sideways; you’ll find God there.

 
15. Bite the Bullet

· Even our difficult experiences can be opportunities to see God at work in our lives. Getting past the challenge isn’t necessarily evidence that God finally showed up. He’s already here.

 
16. Break out!

· We take the same route to work, read the same newspaper, walk the same hallway at the office. Our routines allow us to live on “automatic”, often missing the subtle signs of God’s work and presence. Break out. Take a new route, read something new. Ask God to help you see Him in fresh ways.

 
17. Buddy Up!

· At GCC we have a clear mission that has defined our objectives for 20 years: “Helping people take their next step toward Christ… together.” Many of us have taken great steps. However, each of us has the privilege of “helping people take their next step”. Someone near you is waiting for your invitation to take a step – with you. Engage the wonder of God with someone else!

 
18. Find a Catch 22

· Ask questions you don’t have answers to. Allow the questions to lead you past the answer to God himself.

 
19. Forget the Umbrella

· Take a risk. Chance it. Step out. Stand in a fountain, sing on the street, order something different next time you eat out. Start that new business. Volunteer for the first time. Follow Jesus, the Master Pioneer into the wild.

 
20. Carpe Diem

· Embrace every opportunity. Every opportunity. Look for God in every person, every circumstance, every scene. Seize the day. Every day.

Link here for a PDF of the above list and one of the five weekend services streaming (through January 6).

 

1. 

Listmania: 20 Reasons I Love My Church

2006 wraps up nearly 7 staff years for me at Granger Community Church and nearly 10 years that our family has attended GCC. Looking over my shoulder the last 12 months, these are the reasons I love my church - and why I would participate whether or not I was on the staff team.

1. Continued commitment to reaching the unchurched with the love of Jesus
2. U2 Christmas series
3. Mark Beeson, Senior Pastor
4. Steller Connections Team (Dawn, Ed, Guinn, Julie, Kathy, Shelley, Sherry, Susan, Theresa)
5. Discipleship is normal for Christ-followers
6. Pure Sex series
7. Over 2000 life-giving volunteers
8. Rob Wegner
9. Connection Cafe
10. The band
11. Tony Morgan
12. ViewMaster media (click "media player", then "extras", then "viewmaster")
13. Focus on 5
14. Next steps... toward Christ... together
15. Life change (click "media player", then "conversations")
16. Butch Whitmire
17. The Culps (click "media player", then "drama", then "Joseph by the Culps")
18. 20 Years!
19. Tim Stevens
20. 20 Days of Giving

I love this church!!

Year in Review: Lists 2006

I have the privilege of speaking over the New Year eve weekend for our five services at Granger Community Church. Our senior pastor, Mark Beeson, has encouraged me to pull out the "big wheel" he used a year ago when he spoke about "20 Things that Irritate Me about Christians". While I could probably add my own set of 20 things to that list, I'm headed a little different direction.

More on that later.

In the process of prepping for this message I've pulled out some older journals I've kept for the past few years. They're filled with notes about relationships, scripture passages, events, books, music, leadership challenges, spiritual questions, irritants, high points and more.

I've been in this list-making mode as I've been prepping a message around "20 things". As I reflected on my journal entries and the past twelve months, I began to recap my year in a "listmania" kind of way.

So, for the next several days, I'm going to wrap up a blogging year with daily posts. Yep. You read that right. On my blog. Daily posts. Can you even stand it?

Look for the first one shortly.

Doing Life with Friends

I'm still on the road with some of the team from Granger Community Church. We're in the sunshine state, prepping for a round of WiredChurches workshops at the Church @ the Springs in Ocala tomorrow.

Doing life with people you love just rocks. My wife is at the top of that list for me! I'm so glad she made this trip with me!

And, today there's a friendship bonus for us. Our good friends from way back - Mike and Charlene Erickson live here and are driving over to visit with us for a few hours today.

This has been - and is - a trip marked by:

• bust a gut, double over laughter
• deep appreciation for unique gifts and personalities
• shared passion to resource and partner with other ministries
• humanity revealed in late nights, travel and a different bed every night
• old stories turned into new memories as they're shared again

I love team. I love life with friends.

I've Been Tagged...

I've watched these deals flyin' around the blogsphere and somehow up 'til now I'd not been tagged.

'Til now. Tag. I'm it.

I agree with Tim - who tagged me - this does feel an awful lot like those chain emails I delete without reading. But, Tim's playing, so this must be something quite different. Here's my list...

• One book that changed your life: Inside Out by Larry Crab (Honestly, I'm not merely mimicking Tim. The painful year I worked through that book was 1993.)
• One book that you've read more than once: Star Belly Sneeches by Dr. Suess
• One book that you'd want on a desert island: Ten Fun Things to Do Before You Die by Karol Jackowski
• One book that made you laugh: Fearfully and Wonderfully Weird: A Screwball Look at the Church and Other Things from the Pages of the Wittenburg Door by Doug Peterson & Winfield Tutte
• One book that made you cry: Disappointment with God by Philip Yancey
  
• One book that you wish had been written: Surviving Middle School Gym Class: For the Zit-faced, Non-athletic Kid by anyone
  
• One book you wish had never been written: While I was never a fan of those little tracts by Jack Chick, apparently intended to scare the hell out of people... and while I haven't read (nor will I) any of those Left Behind books, I value the freedom for anyone, for any reason, to write and print their thoughts, beliefs and questions. I just wish a bunch of the "fundie-God-is-a-scary- tyrant-rule-enforcer" books had never been read. 
• One book you are currently reading: Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer & David Putman
   
• One book you've been meaning to read: The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything by Brian McClaren

And, now this tagging thing means I'm supposed to tag 5 others to post the same information from their library of reading. Here are the lucky tagees: Andy Rowell, Scott Engbrecht, Mike Erickson, Rich Kirkpatrick, Judy Gregory, and Anne Jackson.

What's That Sign Communicating

You tell me.

A Mark of Friendship

No, this isn't necessarily a mark of friendship. And, he's not a friend of Mark's (me, that is). Not that I wouldn't be his friend if I knew him. I'm sure he's a nice guy.

I mean this man no disrespect - really. One day I may lose most of my hair, too. I may be tempted to do the Donald Trump routine with my hair (I hope not, but who knows).

But here's the deal. Maybe a mark of friendship is the friend (or spouse) who looks the "comb-over guy" in the eye and gets really honest: "Harv, really, lose the comb-over. You don't need it. You've never had as much hair as you've grown now to reach from one ear to the other. I'm your friend, Harv. Shave it."

People really matter.

(I know I'll get a comment or two about being unkind and insensitive. Relax. Get over yourself. It's "just for fun". That said, I am proud of my bald headed, shave-headed friends like Tim, Mike, Aaron and Dan who said "no" to the comb-over.)

A Little Rebellion

Sometimes I feel just a little rebellious.

Yep. I'm gonna refill this bottle as soon as I finish this off.

Styx Surprise

My wife, Laura, surprised me on Friday night with tickets to an outdoor concert with one of my favorite bands from, yes... the 80's. Styx was the featured band at this year's Venetian Festival in St. Joseph, MI - and it was a blast! We rocked with these guys who've been belting tunes since the late 60's, and they still performed with energy, excellence and high entertainment value.

Ok, if you're not a Styx fan, let me remind of some of their hits. Remember these?

• "Babe" (Laura and I were high school sweethearts and when I heading off to college, this quickly became "our song"... and has been for the past 26 years or so.)
• "Somethin' to Believe In" (still a great song for weekend church services - that song'll preach)
• "Grand Illusion" (another potential message package)
• and of course "Come Sail Away"

My wife is awesome! The night is a new memory of reliving old memories with the love of my life. Thanks for a great date, Babe! You must think I matter...

____

Here are a couple more pics for the fans...

Lawrence Gowan, vocals, keys and showman

Tommy Shaw, Niles, MI native, lead vocals, guitar

Todd Sucherman, 10-years with Styx as drummer

James "JY" Young, vocals and guitar since 1970...and Tommy Shaw

My wife, Laura, and our friends, Kim and Anthony Patton who shared the concert experience with us