Can a Cat Grow on You?

So we own a cat.  No, we have a cat.  I mean, my boys have a cat. No, my 8 year old has a cat.  My 8 year old has a cat that we all take care of.  Kind of... I mean, my mother-in-law takes care of the cat mostly.

I'm not super fond of the cat.  She's a black cat named Shadow.  She pretty much stays to herself most of the time.  She sleeps all day and then goes outside at night. (Except when its cold outside, then she stays in...)

Anyway, about a month and a half ago, the cat started coming into my office at home at 6 am when I would wake up and read my Bible. (We call this SOAP, Click the link to learn more.)  Well, at first she would just lay across the room and stare at me with that "why are you awake this early?" look.  But after a couple of weeks, she made her way down beside my chair where I subsequently began petting her.

So, late last week, as I was reading away, all of a sudden I look down and she's got her 2 front paws up on my chair with this, "Will you let me come up and lay down with you?" look.  Awe come on!!! Why do cats have to be cute like that?  So I slid over, which scared her and she ran off.  Only to come back less than a minute later and find ample room for her on the chair... with me.

Up she came, and as if she were playing out some nasty, manipulative scheme, she placed her head on my arm and looked up at me with her big green eyes!  Awe come on!!!  Seriously, what's next? Eating at the table with us???

I think we bonded... but don't tell anyone.  The cat might be growing on me.

I don't know...

Keller

What People are saying about, "The Up the Middle Church"

The launch of the book has been extremely successful over the past 10 days!  Thanks to so many of you who are already ordering it, reading it and buying copies for your entire leadership teams to go through together!

Here are a couple of quotes from Early Readers...

"This book is a Permissional Roadmap for my church and my leaders..."

"This book is going to impact the church in the US, big time..."

"We've been waiting for a book like this... thanks."



If you haven't already go to www.UptheMiddle.com and check out the site, join the community, & order the book for you and your team. (There are big discounts when you order multiple copies!)

Oh yeah, and tell someone else who could use a resource like this,

Thanks everyone,

Matt

Fear is not a Growth Strategy

I opened the pages of Entrepreneur Magazine today and Amy Cosper, the Editor in chief, had some amazing things to say.  Here are a few quotes to encourage all of us today!

"The situation (of the economy) is making normally rational people act like loonies.  It's fear. And its a real business issue these days.  But fear makes for a really crappy growth strategy."

Later she writes, "When you let fear infiltrate your strategic plan, you will fail to thrive in any economy.  After all, fearlessness is what distinguishes entrepreneurial DNA."

To every business owner, entrepreneur, church planter or leader I want to encourage you today to not let fear rule you right now!  2 nights ago I was awake at 2:30 in the morning worrying about stuff.  (I'm sure you can relate!)  After spending along time in prayer, I felt like the Lord reminded of the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14.

One particular verse has been on my mind since then.  v. 30 says, "But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink..."

Here's what I know:  We CANNOT get our eyes on the wind and waves!  As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was able to walk on water, but when he got his eyes on his circumstances, he sank.

We must keep our eyes on Jesus! He is the author and finisher of our faith!  He is the one who can hold us up when the wind and waves are crashing all around us!  Don't give up.  Don't let fear drive you to irrational thinking and behavior! Stay the course!  God is right beside, & He is able to catch you when you start to sink!

Fear is not a Growth Strategy.  Faith is.  Keep the Faith today!

Keller

The Book has Launched!!! www.UptheMiddle.com

The Day has finally arrived!!!  My New Book, The Up the Middle Church, has launched!

The book is written for pastors, church leaders and church planters who are doing ministry One Yard at a Time!

The Long-Bomb's get all the press, but the majority of the game is played Up the Middle!

I am confident that every person reading this blog right now knows at least one leader who is an Up-the-Middle leader!

I need your help getting the word out about this... Will you send this link to everyone you are thinking about right now?

If you order the book through www.UptheMiddle.com, there is a HUGE savings over using Amazon.com, or another big name bookseller.

Also, the book includes a special "Questions for the Huddle" section after each chapter which makes the book ideal for entire church teams to read and study together!

So... if you order 5 or 10 copies from UptheMiddle.com, you can save $2 or even $4 per copy!

I can't wait to hear your feedback from the book,

Thanks for going to UptheMiddle.com now to purchase your copy of The Up the Middle Church.  And for telling others about this incredible resource as well.  I would have given anything to have a resource like this 7 years ago when we began Next Level Church.

There's a New Normal in the church world today, & it's The Up the Middle Church.

Matt Keller

S o I can't find the Bank...

So I have a deposit that I need to make in my friend's account who doesn't live in the USA.  And I have had his money ready to go for like 2 or 3 weeks now, but he doesn't bank where I bank, and I don't really know where his bank is.

So everytime I get in my car I think to myself, "Oh yeah, I need to make that deposit for him, but I don't know where that bank is..."  Like 25 times in 2 weeks, literally I have said that out loud.  Every time someone gets in my car I have to move the money and say, "Oh sorry, I need to deposit that for a friend..."

So this morning as I'm driving away from dropping off my kids at their school, I noticed that the door wasn't closed in the back.  I pull over into a parking space right before I pull onto the main road and as I get out of the car, I say out loud, "Hey there's a Wachovia bank... that's where I need to make that deposit."

I had literally been driving through the parking lot of the bank everyday and hadn't even noticed.  Unbelievable.

Unfortuantely, I was in my wife's van... so I didn't have the check to deposit.  figures...

So the good news is I found the bank, the bad news is, I feel like an idiot...

Perfect for a Monday morning,

Have a great day,

Matt

Oh yeah, I just gave the check to my mother-in-law and she said she would do it for me. Nice.

A Bonus Leadership Challenge

To view this blog as a video blog click here

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Proverbs 21:8  (The Message)  “Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road.”

8.  The Motives of a Leader.

I love that Proverbs comes back to the motives issue again just a few verses after talking about it in verse 2.  Because a leader’s motives are just that important.

This verse reveals that when our motives are twisted, our life gets tangled up.  Ever experienced that?  Ever found things getting complicated around you and when you started to sort it all out, it was simply because you had let a bad motive get in the mix?  If you’re married, then you most definitely know what I mean! ☺

If we want our leadership to go “down a straight road” then the only way to do that is by keeping our motives pure.  When our hidden agenda is about self-promotion and not the good of others, the path will be crooked.  We must check our motives everyday as we make decisions that effect the lives of so many God has entrusted us to influence.

? What decision have you made in the last week that was motivated by wrong or impure motives?  I bet you there is at least one.  Think about it for a minute, you’ll find one.

Just a Leadership Bloggish thought,

Matt

S.O.A.P. is it!

Hey everyone,

If you heard the message from Sunday, January 4th, you know that we as a church are taking the 21 Day Challenge in terms of ready our Bibles & daily spending time with God in His Word!  In preparation for Vision Sunday, January 25th, which is a Must-Attend for the entire NLC Family!  It's going to be incredible!

Anyway... Today is day 3 of the challenge, which means we're ready John chapter 3.  I read it this morning in the message Bible and was blown away! If you've never read this chapter in the message Bible, you've gotta take 5 minutes right now and and do it!  Here's a link...

John 3 (The Message)

it's the Gospel laid out in the most simple terms ever!!!

The 1st part is about Nicodemus a guy who has sincere questions about Jesus.

The 2nd part is about John's disciples getting jealous about Jesus's rise to fame.

And the 3rd part is about as clear of the difference between someone who has embraced Jesus and someone who hasn't.  It's the difference between seeing God as Light, and everything in life making sense, and someone thinking that God is just darkness and heaviness and seeing God as a Dark, Black cloud hovering over their life!

I was so inspired.  Enjoy your S.O.A.P. today.  (For more information on S.O.A.P. listen to the message from Sunday, which is linked to the right, or go to www.NextLevelChurch.com/soap)

Leadership Challenge #6

To view this blog as a video blog, click here

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Proverbs 21:6 (The Message) “Make it to the top by lying and cheating; get paid with smoke and a promotion – to death.”

6.  The Integrity of a Leader.

A while back I came across some information about a leader I had once admired greatly.  The information confirmed that this leader had not been the person of integrity I was led to believe they were.  In the days following, I found myself questioning whether any leader could actually live uprightly and run the race with integrity.

In trying to process through my questions, I called a friend of mine, Pastor Rick Bezet, who leads New Life Church in Little Rock, AK.  On the phone that day, Rick challenged me with this thought, he said, “This has everything to do with you & your heart.  Because you can flip a switch right now and check out.  And if you do, you’ll spend the next 20 years of your life “faking” everybody out, because you’re really good at what you do.  Or, you can decide to wrestle with God, like Jacob did, and become a true man of integrity that can be the real deal kind of leader that that other guy was not.”

I want to be the real deal.  Not some fake.  I wrestled with God.  And I’m seeking to live out my leadership life with authenticity and integrity to the absolute core of my being.

I hope you are too.

Matt