• Playing Up

    In sports, playing up is a core skill to improving your game. 

    I remember as a student at Moody Bible Institute, watching scrub players play pick-up basketball with visiting NBA players. The scrub played better basketball because of the NBA players. They made shots they didn’t normally make. They played better defense. They saw the court better. When playing with 2 NBA players on their team they looked like a Division 1 ball player.

    A few years ago I volunteered at a PGA Tour event. I kept score for the Pro-Am and watched a single PGA Tour player make the rest of his foursome better. (One guy went -8, 64!) They drained putts from 30 feet. They made smart decisions when their ball ended up in trouble. And they all were surprised by their scores. The PGA Tour player pulled the guy who shot 64 and told him to try to qualify for the Tour.

    Even as a high school coach I always wanted my freshmen and JV players to play up against the varsity any time I could. And we intentionally pitted our league champion golf team against the best teams in the state knowing they would likely get beat. Why? Because even if they lost it would make them better players.

    When you play with better competition your own game will always elevate.

    Rise and shine

    Here’s the deal. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living– you need to play up to improve your game. 

    I learned the power of this a long time ago and it’s paid of for me over and over again.

    Want to be a better writer? Play up.

    Want to be a better designer? Play up.

    Want to be a better speaker? Play up.

    Want to be a better husband? Er, don’t play up there. Love your wife.

  • Seize the Moment

    As I watched this short film I couldn’t help but think of this phrase: Seize the moment.

    Andrew Clancy took his camera everywhere he went in New York for a year and captured the things going on around him. The result? A beautiful tapestry celebrating his year.

    Memorable moments of beauty happen every day of your life. But often times we are walking through life focused on the next thing instead of seizing this day a sa beautiful gift.

    Even the most mundane day can be viewed as art if curated. Are you curating your moments? 

  • A Biblical Imbalance

    The default topic in Christian leadership circles today is balance.

    We need to balance our work and family life. We need to balance ministry in our community with ministry at our church. We need to balance our budget. We need a balanced diet.

    Something is wrong in your life? You are out of balance.

    And that has me wondering. Is the very concept of balance a Christian concept or an Asian philosophy of Yin and yang?

    When I look at the New Testament I see Jesus calling men and women to a holy imbalance. He asked his first disciples, who asked their disciples, to leave everything for the Kingdom of God.

    Some Examples of Imbalance Celebrated

    • Luke 5:1-10 – Jesus first asks Peter, James, and John to waste their time fishing in the wrong conditions. Than he asks them to leave their home, business, and everything they knew to follow him. Those nets, that boat, and the business all rotted.
    • Luke 9:23 – “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.“
    • Matthew 26:6-13 – A woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus, his disciples called that a horrible imbalance and Jesus affirmed her. “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
    • Acts 5:1-11 – Dave Ramsey would have affirmed Ananias and Sapphira for their financial wisdom. They held a little back just in case. The Apostles weren’t interested in balanced devotion, they demanded all or nothing.
    • Acts 7 – Stephen had an opportunity to defuse the anger of those in power, you know, balance things out. Instead he threw gasoline on the fire and was stoned.

    There are hundreds more examples of this. The New Testament church embraced imbalance! It was celebrated. A call to follow Christ was extreme, never safe, and put your life permanently and joyfully horribly out of balance.

    The very concept of balance is an avoidance of extremes. It’s holding something back. In many ways, our avoidance of extremes and calls for balance is the very thing that prevents us from truly experiencing the fullness of the weight of the cross on our shoulders.

    If you ask me we need to ask people to count the cost. We need to call people not to a cheap version of discipleship but to one that is extremely out of balance. Jesus didn’t call us to balance. He calls us to pick up the cross– an instrument of death– and daily follow him.

    “Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.”

    ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  • Sticky Faith Book Club, Chapter 4

    This is part 4 in an 8 part series on Sticky Faith. Join our book club by signing up here. (part 1, 2, 3)

    Yakety yack. Don’t talk back.

    Kara opens chapter 4 with an interesting question. “If we planted a microphone in your home, what would we record?” I’ve been chewing on that for a week or so. I’d like to think that you’d hear some significant stuff as Kristen and I lead our home. But, in truth, you might not hear much more than what Kara asserts– logistics.

    That’s hardly living the Shema.

    Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

    Deuteronomy 6:4-9

    As I reflected on chapter 4 and the Shema one thing popped out to me that I can change right away: I can have significant teachable moments with my kids while going about the logistics of the day. 

    Connect the Dots

    I’ll never forget having a conversation with Megan a few years back. We were packing the moving van to move from Michigan to California. I was so lost in the logistics of trying to move 4 people, 2 pets, and a semi-load full of stuff 2200 miles that I don’t think we ever really talked to our kids about WHY we were moving.

    She said something like, “I know all about San Diego and all the fun things we are going to do when we live there. But I don’t know why we can’t live here anymore.”

    She was compliant and happy about the move. But she just didn’t get it.

    And we had a powerful conversation about following God’s call.

    Don’t be a religious leader, be a parent

    I’ve had to get over myself with my kids. They could care less that I work with high school students. They could care less about all of the things I do for the Kingdom of God. Doing all of that stuff outside of the home doesn’t automatically translate to sticky faith in my kids. They don’t care that I taught at youth group or wrote something a lot of people liked.

    But they care greatly when we go for a walk and talk about what they learned at Awana or talk about the Bible verse they posted on our fridge door from church. In truth, the idea of a family devotional wouldn’t be true to who we are as a family. But we can (and do) have important discussions as we go about our day.

    Discussion questions

    1. How do you bring up tricky topics with your children?
    2. The book emphasizes the importance of listening over lecturing, how have you put that into practice in your home?
    3. What’s the best conversation you’ve had recently with your kid? Why do you think it went so well?
    4. Which conversation ritual from this chapter are you going to try? Or what is one you thought of while reading this chapter?

  • 3 Recent Writing Projects

    • I’m a regular contributor at Slant 33. Here’s my latest post on knowing when to leave your current ministry position. I’m turning in one today on social media boundaries.
    • On Thursday, Relevant Magazine published a recent post of mine called, “What to do when you fail.” It was fun to see my work on their front page. I love that post and I hope it gives some people going through hard times some hope.
    • I wrote the theology piece for the November/December issue of Immerse Journal. The article is called, “Open-Source Theology: Re-embracing the priesthood of all believers to become Good News in the Neighborhood.” This article takes the time to unpack and provide theological context for some of my more popular blog posts. I’m super excited about this article.

  • POLL: Do you have to be paid to be considered a youth worker?

    Context: My last paycheck from a church as a full-time youth pastor came in May 2008. Since that time I’ve worked full-time at a youth ministry organization and volunteered through a local church youth ministry. (Technically, two organizations and two churches.)

    Every so often I hear from a youth worker, usually at a church, who says something like, “As a person who used to be a youth worker…” or “You’re a youth ministry influencer and not a youth worker anymore.”

    That’s the context of this poll. It’s not just about me, though. Think about all of the people you know who used to be on staff at a ministry and are now in a different role. Are those people youth workers in your eyes? I’m trying to understand if you consider a youth worker to only be a paid person from a church/youth ministry organization… or do you define it wider than that?

    Be honest. The poll is anonymous.

  • Learn from me on December 3rd

    If you live in Southern California (or are willing to come visit) I am hosting 2 classes on December 3rd through a brand new website, Skillshare.

    Growing your business with Mailchimp

    How to get started with Mailchimp, set-up and grow your lists, and grow your business

    Mailchimp is an amazingly powerful tool. Whether you are a small start-up, a restaurant, a band, or a non-profit– Mailchimp can help you grow your business. In this 2-hour class we’ll quickly cover the basics of the service and quickly dive into unleashing the power of this amazing email marketing webapp. We’ll talk about lists & groups, templates, integrations with tools like Eventbrite, Facebook, and Salesforce, and email marketing strategy.

    Cost – $25 Register here

    Blogging 101

    Learn how to start a blog from scratch, build an audience, and have fun while doing it!

    This class will be laid back but full of experience, practical application, and practice. As a full-time blogger and blog coach I’ve helped countless bloggers get going for their own blogs and even launch small businesses.

    Topics covered: (But not limited to)

    • Getting started for free
    • Choosing the right platform
    • Customizing your blog
    • What to write about
    • How to write for response
    • How to build a tribe
    • Intro to analytics and other measurement tools
    • Principles of social media interaction

    The class will be two hours. But the format is loose and I won’t leave until I’ve answered all of your questions. My goal is that you walk away with a firm understanding of what to do AND ready to get started. In true McLane Creative form, after class the teacher is buying the first round next door at the Mission Brewery.

    Cost – $25 Register here

  • To keep them young

    Jackson is 8 months old. He crawls around on the floor. He pulls himself up on things to stand up. He coos, squeals, grunts, and makes endless raspberries. He’s the perfect size for Megan (10) and Paul (8) to pick up and play with. He loves to cuddle with mom and dad.

    Eight months is one of those ages you wish your kids could just freeze and stay… forever.

    This is the tension we live in as parents, isn’t it? We want them to slow down so we can enjoy each stage of development.

    But they are in a hurry to grow up

    Jackson wants to use real words to tells us exactly what he wants. He wants to not just stand up, but walk. He wants to run with his siblings. He wants to eat what we eat.

    He wants to get big and we want to keep him small. 

    It’s cute when they are babies. Certainly understandable and easy to justify.

    But this tug to keep them young isn’t always good for them

    The other day I hung out with Ryan McRae, a resident director at CSU San Marcos. He sees this same phenomenon every day with 18, 19, 20 year olds whose parents have done their best to keep their children young. Many of them are ill-equipped to live on their own. They lack basic judgment skills. Lots of them can’t even cook for themselves or do their own laundry.

    Young adults who can’t take care of themselves. They can’t resolve conflict among themselves. He has to tell the parents to leave their adult-aged children alone.

    I’m not a psychologist… but when I hear these things my mind wonders, “Are these young adults developmentally delayed?” Yes.

    It’s cute to keep a baby young. But its not helpful to them beyond toddlerhood.

    As parents we want to hold on to that cute baby who crawls around on the floor and coos. But, to be a good parent, we need to own our role in raising our children to become responsible, respectable adults. The goal of your parenting can not be to hold onto the past. It has to be to prepare your kids for the future.

    Let’s explore this more. Join me in Atlanta for the Extended Adolescence Symposium on November 21st.

  • The Power of Today

    As I sit here this morning, looking out of my window onto my street, I have a single thought:

    Today is powerful. 

    One single day could change everything.

    No, there’s nothing significant about this Thursday.

    I mean that every day is powerful.

    And you have one shot to get today right.

    Each day I have the opportunity to do something… in this moment… or let it slip away.

    It’s a simple thought. But perspective adds to the realization that today can’t be just another day.

    So often we get lost in the busyness of doing what we need to do today that we forget that Jesus Christ has empowered his believers to measure each day differently.

    Jesus measures your day differently than you do.

    Today might not seem significant. But it is.

    Today is a gift. And what you do with this day matters deeply to the one who made the hours we describe as a day.

    “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

     Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

    Matthew 22:36-39

    What are you going to do today to Love God? What are you going to do today to Love your neighbors as yourself? 

  • Straight out of Bowling Green, Yo

    This video is right on that line between ridiculously self-gratifying and hilarious.

    What say ye? 

    ht to ESPN Blog