• Catfish

    Tonight I was fortunate to see a screening of the movie Catfish with the San Diego tweetup group. (Another stellar meet-up, the organizers continue to fantastic.)

    The story is about a three New York friends who randomly get to know a family in the upper peninsula of Michigan via Facebook. Their relationship grows over several months to the point where the two filmmaking buddies convince the main character that he has to meet his Michigan friends.

    At the end, the audience is left with more questions than answers. Which is part of the experience of the movie itself, clearly intended. Namely, it is either a narrative documentary or a screenplay reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. As we milled about in the narthex of the theater no one could really figure it out. My theory is that part of it really is a narrative documentary but when they went to cut it they realized that they needed more of a plot, so they went back an added some screenplay to it. But that’s just my theory. It could be straight documentary and it could be straight screenplay. If it’s 100% screenplay than the writers went largely unnamed and they wrote something brilliant.

    Overall, while certainly entertaining, Catfish is not nearly as titillating as Blair Witch Project. Which means it is probably destined for a limited release in theaters nationwide and a quick entry into DVD-land. I could be wrong– but I just don’t see something there that is going to force a major box office smash.

    As a social media person, I thought the concept was actually pretty fun. It plays with all of the stereotypes and fears people have about living a digital life. Just for good measure it adds a subplot of what big city people think about rural town folk and visa versa.

    You will laugh at the main character because he does stuff that we all do. And you will cringe with him as he shares far too intimate details about his personal conversations via text with his would-be girlfriend, Meg.

    If you like quirky independent movies, this is it.

  • Open Letter to My Former Students

    Like all my friends in youth ministry, I have acquired a growing list of graduates that now scatter the globe. Some are freshmen in college this year, some are married and have cool jobs, and most are kind of in an in-between state. We bump into each other from time-to-time, we comment on one anothers life on Facebook, and I hope they pray for me as I have committed to praying for them. This post is for them.

    Dear former students-

    Dr. Seuss was right! Oh, the places you have gone and the things you have done. Some of you I’ve kept up with pretty closely while most I only get to see little snippets of when you come to town or with what you post on Facebook.

    I just wanted to say to you publicly some things that you need to hear. Life has a way of transforming your dreams into a lame reality and I thought it might be valuable to get a third-party perspective on things.

    Let’s take one more trip up the mountain and dream about what God wants for you.

    The world is yours for the taking

    Seriously, have you looked at your peer group? Life has dealt you a hand that you can easily take advantage of! It’s shocking to me that tomorrows influencers are impressed when snippets of their lives appear on the Fail Blog or Texts From Last Night.

    Never confuse failure for success, no matter how popular it may seem. God has so much more for you in mind.

    If you can rise above that stupidity and soak in as much education and experience as you can in the next 2-3 years you will be head and shoulders above the idiots who walked across the stage with you in high school.

    IQ & money & SAT & GPA mean jack squat right now. It’s all about hard work. Outwork your peer group and you will succeed.

    Tomorrows employers are watching what you are doing today. They want to know… were you one of those knuckleheads we laughed at on Fail Blog? When you explain to them that you were too busy taking care of your classes and holding down a job to pay for college… the doors of opportunity will swing open.

    Take every class seriously. You are paying for it (and will pay for it for the next 10 years) so force your professors to give you their very best. If they don’t perform at their best challenge them to step it up privately. Wrestle through the temptation to blow off classes. Sit in the front 2 rows. Don’t open up your laptop. Take notes the old fashioned way. Do your reading. Turn stuff in.

    Outwork everyone.

    Take every job opportunity seriously. I don’t care if you are making sandwiches at Subway or whipping snot from a kids nose at daycare. Do it for the glory of God. This isn’t a great job market but that doesn’t mean you can’t do great at your job. Remember, he who is faithful with the small things…

    Outwork everyone.

    This stage of life isn’t about friends. It might feel like it should be, but that’s not true. People going places aren’t worried about such things. Look around at your classes today. Your job is to figure out how to rise above all of the people in that room. You don’t have to be smarter than them or get better grades than them… you just have to out position them.

    No one expects anything from your generation. Rise above that and the world is yours.

    Hard work, hard work, hard work. This is the path to success.

    No one is going to hook you up so hook yourself up.

    Grunt out this 5-6 years of your life, act like an adult as soon as possible, and you will reap the rewards for decades to come.

    The church desperately needs you

    I did my best to teach the Word of God to you plainly. Some of you absorbed it and took it seriously, some did not. That’s OK as you picked up more than you think you did.

    Find a local church, get involved, and help them reach their community. It can be the church you grew up attending. It can be a new church. Really, just go to church.

    Trust your instincts on what a healthy church is. It will feel right. It doesn’t have to be big or flashy. It doesn’t have to have a killer program you love or a hot musician. You don’t have to feel comfortable with everything they do and you don’t have to think it’s perfect. My experience is that I feel most negative about a church when I just go and am not involved or giving money. I guarantee you that if you become part of a churches ministries and give what you can, you will feel like you fit in.

    Your church just has to love Jesus, love God’s Word, and have a stupid belief that the Gospel can change lives.

    At the same time, I taught you to think critically about the world around you. This is the most valuable skill needed in the church today. There are enough Christians who are satisfied with reaching a small percentage of the community. Lead bravely wherever you get involved. Remind those at church what the Bible actually says. Hold them to it. The Book of Acts is possible today!

    I pray that you keep believing that every person in your area needs to know Jesus and not to accept 10% as the best you can do. I hope you see things that need to be fixed in this world and step into the responsibility to right wrongs.

    Don’t just be consumers of the Word of God. Be doers.

    Move out as soon as possible

    There is something about your parents generation that wants to hold onto you and baby you as long as possible. Resist that temptation.

    I know it’s nice to have someone take care of you. And I know that its nice to have someone do your laundry.

    Get out. It’s not helping.

    The fastest way to grow up is to leave the nest. I’m not saying you need to hate your parents or that you aren’t supposed to ever see them again. But I am saying that if you are over 18 the best biggest step you can make to being accepted as a “real adult” is to get out.

    The fastest way for you to get dependent is to stop taking their money. Find some people and share an apartment. Pay your own bills. Eat your own Ramen if you have to. You aren’t going to starve… you’re going to get hungry to grow up!

    I’m still here for you

    If you need someone to talk to, I am now and hope to always be here to listen and offer advice. At the very least, know that I continue to pray for you.

    I expect great things from you. As I said when you were in middle and high school– I have a fundamental belief in your generation.

    Be better than my generation. Now. Now. Now.

    — adam

  • North Korea Gets Funky

    That puts the ill in Kim Jung Il.

  • Slaying the god of apathy

    I believe this little phrase, God opens and closes doors, has lead to people falsely blaming God for missed opportunities. We put this philosophy of open and closed doors above biblical concepts like perseverance, patience, and long-suffering. Myth: God Opens and Closes Doors

    We live in an apathetic culture.

    Sure, we are a culture of people who can do amazingly good things in times of crisis. We certainly think of ourselves as a culture of people who care for our neighbors and even a caregiver to the nations.

    But we are also a people who have the attention span of the common flea. Just ask the people of the Gulf Coast who still have an oil spill issue. Or people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Or the people of Haiti. Or the people of Darfur. Or the people of [insert the name of any disaster in the last 10 years.]

    Christians are just as guilty of this as non-Christians. It’s a cultural phenomenon.

    We tend to get über excited about something big, obvious, or bleeding but struggle to carry it through beyond triage.

    For example: I’ve never met an incoming freshmen who wasn’t excited to start college. But three weeks into college and they are bored, questioning why they entered school, skipping classes, and living for the next party.

    On and on… we struggle with being excited about things and then when we get into the tedious parts we want to quit because it’s hard or it isn’t immediately fulfilling or it wasn’t what we expected it to be.

    So we quit. We stop caring. We long for something else. We make plans.

    We forget that hard work is a virtue. And perseverance. And over-coming adversity. And all those other words.

    This is why the phrase “God opens and closes doors” feeds fatalism.

    Is the phrase biblical? Of course. The metaphor is used several times in Scripture. And folks who come at life from a biblical perspective understand the metaphor.

    Is the phrase understood in our culture? Absolutely not. It is entirely misunderstood. Most people who come to church don’t look at life through the lens of biblical Christianity. So the metaphor often times means just to opposite of its intention! They hear, “if its easy it is an open door” and “if its hard or boring it must be a closed door.” I even hear it used with words like, “I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” “It was just bad luck, I guess.”

    How will I know if something is an open door, a closed door, or if I’m supposed to persevere, or be opportunistic?

    Since we’re not talking about a metaphor you will never know if a door is open or if a door is closed. What if the door is open but you face persecution or you have to persevere through a dry spell or an open door is really a temptation and not what God wants?

    That’s the problem with the phrase. It’s trying to describe something that you’ll never know in the moment.

    And it feeds into our apathetic culture.

    We confuse “open door” with “easy button.” And visa versa.

    This is what I do know

    We are called to the uncomfortable. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called to be light in dark places. We are called to speak truth in love. We are called to be faithful with what we have. We are called to be living sacrifices. We are called to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers.

    We are not called to be 3rd party observers looking for open and closed doors.

  • Coming to Dallas and Tulsa next week

    Epic. Awesome. Life-changing. PlanetWisdom on Vimeo.

    I’ll be in Dallas next week, Monday-Wednesday, meeting with youth workers and chatting up both PlanetWisdom and the National Youth Workers Convention. Here’s the RSVP for the meet-up on Monday.

    I’ll be in Tulsa for lunch on Thursday. If you want to meet up and hear specifically about PlanetWisdom but also chat about NYWC or whatever… here’s the RSVP. (Yep, I’ll buy you lunch)

    If you are in either of those areas and want to meet-up… let me know. Chances are good I can make it happen. My schedule is a lot more flexible (right now) in Dallas. In Tulsa, I’m literally flying in to do lunch and flying home after lunch.

    Goal: Buy a belt buckle.

  • Success Secret: Serve Your Way to the Top

    Photo by Kris Haamer via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

    Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

    Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” John 21:17-19

    The path to success in life, ministry, relationships, career, and darn near everything else is paved with service. (Gasp, probably pain and suffering, too!)

    I’m sorry it has to be that way. It’s not my fault that this is true. Blame the other Adam.

    To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat of it
    all the days of your life.

    It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.

    By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
    until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
    for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”     Genesis 3:17-19

    Back to the John passage. Did you notice what Jesus said Peter had to do to show that he loved Jesus? Feed my sheep. That’s grunt work. That’s work without honor. That’s work that isn’t sexy. That’s not the cover of a magazine or leads to a book deal or getting invited to speak at a conference.

    Feeding sheep means arguing with stubborn animals all day. Feeding sheep means you get bit. Feeding sheep means that you step in doo-doo. Feeding sheep means you occasionally have to scare off a predator.

    And yet…

    On Peter, the one Jesus told to grunt it out by feeding sheep, Jesus also said “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)

    If you are into church history you know Peter was a key leader in the early church. While he wasn’t perfect he indeed fed Jesus’ lamb from that moment until the moment he was nailed to a Roman cross himself. He served his way to the top of church leadership.

    Note: My list of verses above is just the beginning. There are lots. And there are many good books which can give an exhaustive word study. But the point is clear, Jesus flipped the script on how to be a leader.

    Universal path to success in any organization

    Photo by Christian Paul via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    Do you want to know how you lead people and change any organization?

    People ask me all the time: What’s the secret?

    You serve. You grunt it out. You get bit. You are faithful to the task you’ve been given. You master that task. You own that task. You serve that task. Just like a shepherd you keep your head up on the task in any circumstance. Just like a shepherd you always keep an eye on where you are leading the next day. You take responsibility. You take the compliments and the criticisms to heart.

    Ultimately, you meet the needs of the sheep. You serve the owner. You put the rights of the owner above the rights of yourself. You keep the abuse in mind but you don’t let that own you. In doing that you win hearts and earn influence from the top to the bottom.

    It’s not magic. It’s not a secret. It’s taught in the Bible!

    Note: Church staff– you have rights. See this post, Labor Day Remembrance for Youth Workers.

    Alternate path to success in any organization

    Photo by Vearl Brown via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    It’s not going to be popular to mention this, but it is worth mentioning. There is another path to success. One that is faster in accession. And one that is definitely easier. But it’s not as the servant-leader.

    It’s as the lion.

    In truth, many of the most successful “leaders” in the world are not servant-leaders. (The Christian world is, sadly, filled with lions.)

    They didn’t get to their position in life by serving their way to the top.

    They got there by brute force.

    And they keep it when they kill, destroy, and intimidate day-to-day.

    They travel in packs which devour prey.

    We kind of turn our noses up at this style of leadership. But it is entirely functional. What’s more interesting is that plenty of people are drawn to this style of leadership. It’s quite popular in the Evangelical world!

    (There’s a third animal-styled leader. That’s the hyena. He mocks and steals his way to the top. But that’s for another day)

    The heart makes the difference

    What’s different between servant leadership and lion leadership?

    • The weakness of lion leadership: The pride knows no loyalty. You only have power so long as you can keep it. One day, another member of the pride will take leadership from you.
    • The strength of servant leadership: Loyalty runs thick and deep. When you have served your way to the top, people will be loyal to you, even to a fault.

    Choose to serve

    Let’s be obvious. Each day, those of us in leadership, must make a rational choice. Do we want to serve or do we want to use our muscle to create a pride?

    My advice, while it might not be the fastest way to get things done, ultimately Jesus asks us to choose to serve.

  • Mid-September Harvest

    Our little garden is not in a very productive mode right now. (Makes us thankful for our CSA all the more) Nonetheless we are enjoying what is growing!

    Our summer squash plant has regenerated itself, as big as ever. Unfortunately, the blossoms come in all the time but they fail to develop into squash. So I guess that means it is time to pull that plant out.

    Last week I planted green onions and lettuce. No signs of life there, yet.

  • Today’s harvest



    Today’s harvest, originally uploaded by mclanea.

    Here in San Diego, gardening season doesn’t really end. It just kind of reloads. Our summer garden stuff is starting to give way to fall plantings. Lettuce, onions, bok-choy, broccoli, cauliflower, and a wide variety of other things are just a few weeks away!

  • Giving and Receiving at Church

    Photo by Vintage Collective via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    Confession: There are times when I am frustrated with my church.

    • To the point of not wanting to go.
    • To the point of wanting to give up on organized church.
    • To the point where I think the action of attending church may actually be hindering my ability to live out the Gospel in my life.
    • To the point of wanting to withhold myself, my money, my children, my thoughts, and even my prayers.

    This causes me to search myself, my motivations for the action of going to a church, and even what Scripture does or does not say about what goes on at church.

    Lately, at the bottom of that barrel I am left with this thought:

    Going to church is about giving and receiving simultaneously like the heart pumping blood in both directions. When I’m dissatisfied I am either unwilling to give of myself or I’m unwilling to receive ministry created for me (as part of the congregation). Conversely, I will be most satisfied with the corporate worship experience when I go with my heart pumping a desire to both give an receive.

    In other words, I think too much and I must be more simplistic in this exchange with the church. I need to discipline myself to give what I can (in its various forms, not exclusive to money) and receive what I can. (in its various forms, not exclusive to teaching)

    It’s a two-fold relationship. When I go more needy to receive I don’t go with a heart to give of myself. When I go needy to give of myself I don’t go with a heart to receive.

    Questions for Reflection

    I’m not accusing anyone of ever being dissatisfied with their church. I’m only confessing that sometimes I am. But if you find yourself discontent, here are some questions for reflection that have helped me.

    • What is the thing that drives you nuts, that has become a block between you “truly coming to worship God?“
    • What category would you place that thing in? Personal preference? Desire for excellence? Biblical accuracy? Effectiveness? Something else?
    • Is that really a big deal or do you just have an attitude problem?
    • Could you chose contentedness with that issue if it never changes?
    • Where areas are you contributing to your church?
    • If a leader thinks about you, would they label you as someone who contributes significantly to the vision and mission of the church? (Not just money, but your actions and heart for the congregation.)
    • Are  you comparing what you want with what you’ve seen at another church? Is that a fair comparison?
    • Is the root of your dissatisfaction a personal sin issue that is manifesting itself as dissatisfaction with something at church?
    • Are you seeking out relationships with people in your congregation or are you waiting for those relationships to pursue you?
    • Are you just being a jerk?

    This is what I know

    I know that Jesus expects us to live inter-dependently with a community of other believers. As I read the New Testament I never read about the early church being a place of comfort, cushy chairs, mono-cultural, or without tension. Instead, I see a church which gave of itself fully, which recognized that some people were mature while others were immature, was as functional and dysfunctional as a family, and was all about giving and receiving fully of themselves.

  • The Journey

    Sometimes we get hung up trying to be perfect.

    It’s not about achieving perfection.

    It’s about the journey of pursuing righteousness while already having been declared righteous.