Why does anyone walk away from a great job, at an amazing church, with fabulous friends, having just built their dream home in a warm climate?  It could only be Insanity.  Most days I think its Insanity until I am reminded that it’s something much deeper – Obedience.  An obedience that is rooted in Dependence.

We feel so blessed and grateful to have worked at Willow Creek & North Point – Both amazing influential churches that have developed us and prepared us for this great faith adventure that we are on.

I learned a million things from both churches – but honestly – and this is not a commentary on either church – I didn’t really need to depend on Jesus while there.  There were always resources and people and buildings and leaders and steady paychecks and benefits – all great things, but at times, I let them keep me from true dependence.

I allowed those things to keep me from the kind of dependence that forces you to your knees regularly wondering if you are insane. Interestingly enough, I am finding that true dependence is an essential gateway to authentic influence.

TRUE DEPENDENCE IS AN ESSENTIAL GATEWAY TO AUTHENTIC INFLUENCE!

No one can have authentic influence, especially an Authentic Cultural Influence, if they are attempting to lead others in a direction that they themselves have not chosen to go towards.

Much like you, I long to have authentic influence with the gospel of Jesus Christ – so God has lovingly afforded me the gateway of doing that through the starting this church.  Brilliant.

So what about you? What Is a Gateway of Dependence that God is using in your life that could lead to real Authentic Influence?

By embracing the reality of what their product actually is and having fun with it, they’re kinda making it cool and seemingly important.  And…if that’s enough…it’s actually really funny.  We could learn something from that.

Here’s to you Toyota!  You almost made me want to buy a Mini-Van…Swagger Wagon!

It’s a very simple question that reveals for many of us, a lack of diverse and different voices speaking in to our lives.  It reveals that it’s entirely possible that you have, without even realizing it, been shaped, lead and developed by people who look and think just like you.  That you have surrounded yourself with…more of you.

No one does this intentionally of course.  We honestly don’t even realize that most of the voices in our life sound just like ours until you hear a question like that of Prof. Rah’s.  And it may not even seem like that big of a deal to you, but you have to wonder – What would happen to your body if you only ate from ONE of the Four (Five?) Food Groups?  What would happen to your muscles if all you ever did was Curls?  What would you know of the the world if you never left your street?

So.  How about it?  Have you been largely led by people just like you?  Why do you think that is?  What do you think you should do about that (if anything)?

How can you intentionally position yourself as a learner from those who are different from you?  Maybe you could start with a cup of coffee. Come with great questions.  Humble yourself.  Listen and Learn.  See what God does.

As the focus and intensity of Soul City Church intensifies, I find myself daily battling my incredible ability to Run Sideways. I am amazed at my ability to not only distract myself, but BUSY myself with little things that feel like work.  They FEEL like work and may even be connected to the work that God has created me to do, but often times they are sideways distractions and decisions that keep me from running into the work that God has given me this day to do.

Here are just a few completely fabricated numbers to reiterate my point.

• 87% of the time you spend coming up with your most clever Tweets is time spent running…walking…gazing Sideways.
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• 63% of the time you spend composing, reading, and deleting Email is sideways.
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• 42% of the time spent in Meetings is spent talking about what you should talk about at the next meeting – Sideways.
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• 138% of checking Facebook Status Updates is Sideways (although it is important to know that Samantha had a rough time falling asleep).
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• 62% of time spent Reading Blogs Posts is time spent Sideways (48% if you use an RSS Feeder).
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• 54% of time spent Writing Blog Posts is time spent Sideways (Irony just gave me a very disappointed look).
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• 63% of looking at your Google Analytics is time spent sideways (and can mess with your head and heart).
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• Oddly enough, 2% of time spent Reading the Soul City Blog is time spent Sideways (the numbers don’t lie people).
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None of these things are innately bad in and of themselves (with the exception of Status Stalking).  It’s just that they distract.  They derail.  They fool you into believing that you are getting something done.

I say all of this by way of confession.  I am a master of looking busy and convincing myself that I actually am.  And the crazy thing is – I May Actually Be Busy…Running Sideways.  I don’t have time in this day and in this life to waste it Running Sideways.  Neither do you.

I commit today to moving (yes, even running) FORWARD.  As an act of Stewardship.  As an act of Gratitude.

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”

• James A. Michener (Red Rubber Ball)

For many years I have worked hard at drawing boundaries, making sure there were clean lines of separation between me and the “ministry.”  Lately I have been sensing a need to let go of some of my control freak ways and let the lines get a little blurrier for the sake of a more holistic me.  While I will always be a strong proponent for distinction between when to work and when to rest, and when to say YES and when to say NO, I am wanting all of me to be a blaring signal of a woman pursuing the vision that God has given to me for my life.

I want it to almost be confusing to others when they look at me as to whether I am playing or working.  I want to have as much excellence in my unseen mommy moments as I do in my clear managing with the vision of Soul City.  I want to step as deeply into a world of imagination with my children as I do with dreaming up ways to creatively communicate.  So here is one control addict loosing the grip a bit in the hopes for a healthier way of living and loving.

How do you need to let the lines get a little blurrier in your life?

This post was written by Jeanne Stevens (Leader // Soul City Church)

I have only recently started following Jarrett Stevens closely, but I am instantly inspired by his vision. Jarrett has a pedigree resume, having served in key roles at Willow Creek Church and North Point Church. He is the author of The Deity Formerly Known as God.

The part of his story that inspires me the most is his current venture. Jarrett and his wife Jeanne are leaving the comfort of the mega church to launch Soul City Church in Chicago. It is one of the most publicized and talked about starts of a church of which I have been aware.

I am curious on the front end of this planting experience to learn more about how Jarrett thinks, so here are my 10 questions with Jarrett Stevens:

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1. When you were growing up, is this what you thought you would be doing vocationally? If not, what did you want to do?
No. For the longest time I wanted to be a Christian Stunt Man (this is sadly too true to be funny or ironic). I wanted to be a light to those in the Action Stunt Industry. Once that dream faded, I thought for sure that I would be a Third Grade School Teacher.

2. What’s the most different job you’ve had from what you are doing now and how did that job help you with what you are doing now?
Pizza Delivery Guy, or as I like to call it – Domestic Food Export Industry. It taught me that I love serving people and playing a small role in their joy. It also taught me how to drive stick.

3. Who is one person, besides Christ, who most helped to shape your leadership and how did they help you?
Sheryl Fleischer. She was a Spiritual Mentor who shaped my leadership by dissecting, dismantling, and slowly rebuilding my soul. I didn’t learn a single leadership principle from her in the three years that we met. But I would not be the leader I am today without her.

4. Besides the Bible, what is one book that has most helped to shape your thought process in life and ministry?
Just One? Not possible.
Moments with the Savior – Ken Gire
Inner Voice of Love – Henir Nouwen
War of Art – Steven Pressfield
Good to Great – Jim Collins
Signature of Jesus – Brennan Manning
Rise of the Creative Class / Who’s your City – Richard Florida
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality – Peter Scezaro

5. What are three words other people would use to describe your work style/ethic?
Ideator
Developer
Fun

6. What is your greatest strength in leadership?
Ideas.

7. What is your greatest weakness in leadership?
Intentional Thorough Follow Through

8. What is the hardest thing you have to do in leadership?
Submit myself fully to God and live from His love and approval.

9. What is one misconception about your position you think people in your church may have?
That I’m the only Lead Pastor

10. If you could give one piece of advise to young leaders from what you’ve learned by experience, what would it be?
That Christian Culture is a tiny bubble in light of a world filled God’s love and acceptance and millions of people who desperately need it. Seek first the kingdom of God in every corner and crevasse of your life and in this world and settle for nothing less.

Jarrett has a huge vision. I look forward to following him in the years to come.

Thanks Ron.  We are so grateful for your friendship and support.  And thanks for taking the time to do this interview.  You could have spent your time doing so many more productive things than this!

What is perhaps most amazing in the midst of our National Canonized Respect for MLK is that at the time of his death, he had the LOWEST Public Approval Rating of any point in his life.  Abysmally low.  His continued persistence in the work our country had yet to do in the ongoing struggle of equality, his stance against the Vietnam War, and relentlessness presence left him rejected not only by those that opposed him (largely White), but by those who first supported him and sought to make him live up to his name – King (mostly Black).

At the time of his death he was on a downward spiral of rejection and abandonment within the country he fought so hard to unite.  This is perhaps why we celebrate and remember him to this very day.

He could have very easily settled for Acceptance.  He could have said what people wanted to hear.  He could have taken a nice job on a Sunday Morning Talkshow and enjoyed a lifetime of the unripened fruit of legacy.  But…he did not.  And here I am today not only remembering, but reflecting.

Am I willing to Speak Up and Speak Out, even it means that I will be Kicked Out.  Am I willing to Stand For and not just Stand By.  Am I willing to Walk On into my convictions no matter what the cost, rather than just Walk By.

And I suppose I would ask the same of you – Where are you being given the Gift of Rejection that affords you in it’s solitary fire the opportunity to have forged within you what God has put inside you?  What are you willing to say?  What are you willing to do?  Even if it costs you everything that you thought once mattered.

And yet there are those who are not willing to let go of the past.  They are deeply rooted in the meaning that these things once held.  They are stuck in the systems that these former “innovations” have created, unable to embrace what is now.  Here are FOUR examples (of many) from our Culutre and ONE Question that each of us must wrestle with.

The Encyclopedia.

A brilliant breakthrough of the Modern Era.  Knowledge for the masses!  Everyone can own…26 Giant Books with Tiny Print.  We had a set in our house growing up – grossly outdated and too expensive and complicated to update, they became fantastic door stoppers and forts for my G.I. Joes.

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The Phonebook.

Eclipsing the wisdom of a centralized Operator, now anyone could find a litany of phone numbers for 24 hour plumbers.  They represent a centralized collection of localized limitedness that had to be updated every year with a new 18 pound 1384 page waste of paper.  Not sustainable.

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The Home Phone.

The Cordless Phone simply was not enough to save the icon of a bygone era of simplicity and boundaries.  ”Call me sometime…when I’m home…not on another call…and am willing to stand still long enough for our conversation.”

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The Newspaper.

An inky papery connection to the world around you…that the editors saw fit to represent.  The world continues to move too fast, too far, and too wide for this iconic connection to the Greatest Generation.  While the Newspaper may not die, it most certainly will not thrive in it’s current atomic state.

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Right or Wrong.  Good or Bad.  These are FOUR things that matter(ed) to our parents.  But they simply DON’T to us anymore. They have been replaced by innovation that itself will be replaced in a matter of time.

The Question is – WHAT IS YOUR CHURCH STILL DOING THAT MATTERED TO OUR PARENTS, BUT SIMPLY DOES NOT MATTER TO THE WORLD WE CURRENTLY LIVE IN?

What are we still holding on to because of it’s unorthodox and uncritical “history” and meaning to us?  What is it that we are still doing because we are too entrenched in the systems we’ve created around it?  AND…WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

The truth however is this - God Doesn’t Need You.

• God didn’t need you to speak everything into existence.
• God didn’t need you to rescue the Israelites.
• God didn’t need you to bring Salvation to the world.
• God didn’t need you to start the Church.
• God didn’t need you to write the Worship song that made it on to Time Life’s Ultimate Worship CD.

He simply didn’t need you to.  He does however offer you something better than NEEDING you…He LOVES you.

• God LOVES you despite your unbelievable unlovableness
• God CHOOSES you against all odds
• God USES you to Join with Him in His redeeming work of love in this world

What if you freed yourself to living and loving from this beautiful truth today -

God doesn’t need you…He LOVES you.

BUSYNESS, COMPARISON, & SUCCESS being the idol you worship.

If you did not have one moment where you related to any of these idols then I invite you to please call me so that you can tell me what it’s like to walk on water!  There could be many more idols that I have not mentioned and the ones that I have mentioned have lots of different forms and faces, but these are some of the ones that I have most recognized in the world of ministry because they are some of the ones that I have most recognized in myself.  Many of us in ministry have invisible altars that define who and what we truly worship. The things that exist on our disguised platforms of preference are the forces that drive our intentions, decisions, and actions.  We are called to a life of having no other god’s but the one true God, yet we continue to bow down to a wide variety of golden cows.

You don’t have to turn to far into the pages of scripture to see idol worship all over of the place.  The very first sin of the Bible was a form of Idol worship.  Adam and Eve were not content with who they were and with all that God had given to them.  They selfishly wanted to be like God so they put themselves ahead of their maker and took the apple.  The second they yanked that Granny Smith from the tree they made their desires more important than God and therefore they made themselves an idol.  Any time we put someone or something ahead of God we worship an idol.

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  “You shall have no other gods before me.  “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God

• Exodus 20:1 – 5

God made it explicitly clear, He has an issue with Jealousy.  Not the kind of immature jealousy where a guy won’t let his girl-friend talk to another guy.  It’s the kind of healthy jealousy that the maker of the universe is entitled too in not wanting to share His alter with our self made idols. Even though God clarified his desire for the human race you can span from Genesis to Revelation and the universal tendency to place value on something or someone in a way that rivals the love and affection that only belongs to God is stained throughout the story of humanity.  From Baal to Buddha people have been bowing down to man-made gods for centuries.  So who are we to think that we aren’t capable of being idol worshipers ourselves?  And if we are… what do we do?

“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.   Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
Colossians 3:1 – 2

Maybe today is a day to come clean with the idol(s) in your life.  Maybe today is the day to start to pursue the things of Jesus  – pick your eyes up, be released from the things that are absorbing you right in front of your face, confess your need for grace and bask in the freedom and truth and hope that you are free in Christ and you need to start living like it.

So if you want – leave a comment and let us know the idol that you are renouncing in your life and how you are going to live a life that only worships the one true God.