• Are Pronouns Making Our Worship Lonely?

    One of the many reasons I couldn't be a worship leader... I don't fit in skinny jeans.
    One of the many reasons I couldn’t be a worship leader… I don’t fit in skinny jeans.

    I’m not a worship leader. My butt is too big for skinny jeans. My high school piano teacher told me to quit trying to learn. And no one would knowingly hand me a microphone to sing into.

    That means that at least once per week I’m lead in worship. And that means that while the worship leaders are up there singing songs and talking and doing their thing, I’ve got lots and lots of time to think down here.

    So accept this as a personal lament, not indictment. I’m sharing it while longing, praying, and seeking something I don’t even know exists.

    (more…)

  • The Baton

     

    The Baton: Are you waiting for it to be handed to you or are you grabbing it?
    Are you waiting for someone to hand you a baton? Or are you training to grab it?

    (more…)

  • Marko is on the next Parentministry.net Webinar!

     

    TeenBrainShare

    Sometimes my worlds converge in the most awesome way.

    ParentMinistry.net is a project I started working on about a year ago for Jeremy Lee. Basically, Jeremy’s site helps your church staff better minister to parents of teenagers by providing the easy-to-use, timely, and just plain awesome content.

    Well, February 26th Jeremy has booked my very own partner-in-crime, Marko, as the speaker for his next free monthly webinar.

    It’s kind of like an episode of Love Connection. Two folks whom I love working with, coming together for an hour of discussion about the minds of teenagers. The best part? It’s totally free! 

    So do yourself a favor.

    1. Register for Marko’s webinar.
    2. Enjoy the best, most awkward episode of Love Connection you could possibly imagine.

     

  • Good News for the Brokenhearted this Valentine’s Day

    1 John 3:16-18

    This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

    For some, Valentine’s Day is a day you sit a little closer or go out on a special date or send your kids to school with some red-topped cupcakes.

    But for the brokenhearted it’s a reminder that you are brokenhearted. Today leaves you lonely, grasping for something you once had or always wanted.

    (more…)

  • Getting Lenty With It

    Will Smith - Getting Jiggy Wit It

    I don’t really know what Lent and Will Smith have to do with anything. But, being Ash Wednesday, I did wake up with Lent on my mind.

    And apparently 1990’s populist rap.

    So putting my 1990s-ness with my thoughts about Lent and apparently this makes, Getting Lenty With It.

    January Was All About Lent

    Despite 30,000 miles in air travel in January a major narrative in my life was two Lenten products we just released at The Youth Cartel.

    (more…)

  • Break the Funk Out

    It’s been a month since my trip to Zimbabwe. I’m still processing the whole thing. I can tell you everything I saw but I have a hard time describing what it all means.

    The past few weeks we’ve hit a little hole in our personal finances.

    When you own a business there are cycles during each year when all of the cash goes out and there isn’t very much coming in. (There are opposite cycles, too. When that happens you are like… “Where did all this money come from?“)

    (more…)

  • The Three I’s of Working with Teenagers

    4686297863_91cfec5c5c

    Sometimes you come across statements about teenagers that are just so over-the-top that you have to laugh.

    Today the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that the teen birth rate is at an all-time low. (More on that in a minute.) But in the press release there’s this hilarious statement from Dr. Jill Rabin, a OB/GYN from Hyde Park, NY:

    “It’s important to remember the three I’s when you’re working with teens. They think they’re immortal, invincible and infertile. We have to convince them otherwise and dispel the myths, and the message needs repetition.”

    Source

    Ah, generalizations. Aren’t they fun?

    (more…)

  • College Basketball Fever is Infecting the McLane Kids

    A proud day for daddy, yesterday. My kids are getting addicted to college basketball. All of them.

    (more…)

  • Photos from Boston

    I can’t remember the name of this place. But I know that the square I was standing in when I took this photo was the site of the Boston Massacre. The only massacre we experienced that day was the killing of our lobster for some amazing lobster mac and cheese!
    When Jake told me he wanted to add some worship to the beginning and end of Open Boston I was a little skeptical. That skepticism evaporated about half a verse into the first song. The volume of their voices rivaled that I experienced in Belfast. Unreal.
    You need to know Mike Liebler. He’s been part of the Cartel since the very beginning, we’re so thankful for his investment in the Cartel. And if you know Mike, this is classic Mike.
    Open works because we have great partnership with other organizations. I loved having Jason from Simply Youth Ministry at Open, we put him to work as a room host.
    I love when folks bring their kids to our events. Just like the Cartel is a family business, doing youth ministry is family business.
    Obviously, a highlight for me was bringing Paul (9) to Boston with me. I think it was cool that he got a very real look at his dads world.
    Just like at church, a sign of a solid training event is the quality of the hang. We had lots of youth workers hanging out. A very good sign.
    When Tom Miyashiro taught it was a powerful reminder to me that locals know their area better than I ever could. The things he talked about and the ministry he’s a part of… it just isn’t in the scope of anything I know. I loved hearing that vantage point!

    Stating the obvious… we are thrilled that Open Boston was last weekend and not this weekend. (Blizzard) 

  • The Necessity of Speaking the Unpopular Truth

    Speaking the truth is never a sin but living a lie ensures death

    I wrote this phrase down in my notebook a few months ago and have been looking back at it for a while. I can’t escape it. It both empowers me and annoys me. Sure, there’s power in speaking the truth. But Death has a way of clenching its fist on people’s lives, unwilling to let them live.

    When you think about it this phrase is at the core of many good stories, including our own. Great novels and movies carry the tension of that phrase. Lies have a way of working their way out into the light of day, don’t they?

    Truth is Unpopular

    We each have the opportunity to be the truth teller from time-to-time. It’s a sacred role.

    While we all know that it’s dangerous to be the one to tell the emperor he’s walking around naked, it’s still better for him to know he’s been deceived than it is for him to die of exposure. 

    Tell the truth, friends. Because the alternative is Death.