A New Year's Challenge for Your Leadership Growth. I dare you to...

Hey leaders, I got one for ya. I challenge every leader reading this right now to take this personal growth challenge in 2011. I call it a "Thinker Saturation."

Here's what it is:

When you find an author, leader or communicator that you admire in some area (finance, leadership, marketing, team-building, etc.) make a decision to "saturate" yourself in how they think for 3 months.
For an entire quarter of your year, dunk yourself in everything that leader writes, says, blogs, records, or tweets.

This information is so easily available on the internet and costs next to nothing to acquire.

Over time, you'll start to pick up on themes in how they think, how they make decisions, etc. You'll also pick up themes of how you listen to them.

A Real-Time Illustration:

I did this recently with Author and Thought-Leader, Seth Godin. (SethGodin.com) For several years now, I've really admired the thoughts & writings of Seth Godin. Seth is what I consider to be the premiere mind in the marketing world today. Brilliant.

So, for 3 months, I decided to saturate myself in how Seth thinks. I did a google search for "Free Seth Godin Audio" and then spent an hour downloading every podcast and interview I could find, putting them in a file on my iTunes that sync's to my iPod.

Then, for the next 90 days, whenever I would work out, or was in the car, I listened to those audios. I'll end up listening to each one 2 or 3 times. Sure, it is redundant, but repetition is a phenomenal teacher.

In addition to listening to Seth, I subscribed to his blog and read or re-read several of his key books. After 90 days, here's what I learned:

1.  How Seth processes information for decision making.

2.  How Seth sees ideas everywhere.

3.  Seth Godin is Courageous. The main reason I love Seth Godin is because he is courageous. He breaks all the rules & succeeds at it very well! I need more influencers in my life who do that!

Now It's Your Turn:

So, here's the challenge... pick 4 thought-leaders and saturate yourself in each one for 90 days next year. I'll even give you the homework for the first one (if you want to use Seth Godin) click here. That's all the audios I downloaded in an hour.

Imagine what your personal leadership growth could look like a year from today if you saturated yourself in 4 premiere thought leaders this year.

I dare you to take the challenge. It could be the most valuable decision you make this year.

Additional Thoughts on "The Sabbath"

Yesterday, in our Vintage Series, I talked about how taking a day off, "Never Goes Out of Style." I have already gotten so much feedback from so many of you about how you felt like I was talking right to you. (Which I love by the way...) However, I also had a few questions about the details of "The Sabbath" and I wanted to share a few additional thoughts that I hope will be helpful.

1.  God gave us the 10 Commandments to keep us free not put us in bondage again.

It's always important to remember that God didn't give the 10 Commandments to make us feel guilty or to make us bound up to the little details. Instead, He gave them to us to help us stay free from bondage.  Therefore, when it comes to taking a day off, God doesn't want us to be all bound up with rules like, "I can't mow my yard, or clean out the pantry..." Those are rules that put us in bondage again.

2.  The Sabbath is all about Restoration.

I have always viewed the Sabbath as "A Day with No Work." I mean my typical work. For me of course, that's ministry. So if I check my e-mail and it puts me into "Work Mode" then I probably shouldn't do that. Make sense? Here's another illustration from my life.

I love to write. In fact, I feel as called to write, as I do to pastor, which is a cool thing! When I write, I feel strong. So... for a long time, I used to love to write on my day off. It would recharge me, I would feel like a million bucks, etc. However, a few years ago, when I started writing, "The Up the Middle Church" I suddenly turned my hobby into a job. So for me, I had to stop writing on my day off because it was more like work, then restoration.

3.  Do things on your Sabbath that make you feel strong & restore you.

For a long time, playing golf made me feel strong. I loved being outside and walking around exercising. After a while, golf no longer made me feel strong, instead I started coming home more frustrated than relaxed. Conclusion: I gave up golf on my Sabbath. Spend time on your Sabbath doing things that restore you. If reading restores you, do that. If it doesn't, than don't. If gardening restores you, do that. If not, than don't.

4.  Find a hobby that you can't turn into a job.

I highly recommend that everyone get a hobby that looks nothing like your life. Something you can completely escape in and you have NO WAY to turn it into a job. For me, it's baseball. I love to go to Major League Parks because they look nothing like my life. I love the statistical side of the game. I love the history of the game. I love the fullness of summer in the air. I love that there is movement everyday. I love that there are 2,430 games every season and everyone of them matters. Baseball is my hobby. And as of yet, I haven't figured out a way to turn it into a job.

When it comes to your Sabbath, remember the Spirit of the law is greater than the Letter of the law. If you ever feel yourself being led toward guilt or bondage, that's not God and that's not the point.

May you enjoy your day off this week, I'm intending to enjoy mine,

Matt Keller

5 Decisions I've Made About Me - Part 1

LIfe has a way of getting busy, doesn't it? I mean, the stuff of life can distract us pretty easily, pretty much everyday. However, with limited time & limited resources, I know that, as a leader, I've got to make the most of the Talents, Giftings, Hopes & Dreams I've been given. After all, it's in those areas that I will make the greatest contribution to the world around me during my time here on earth.

This week I want to talk about 5 Decisions I've Made about my Talents, Giftings, Hopes & Dreams. I hope it's encouraging to you.

Decision #1: I Will Give Priority Energy to Them Everyday!

Too many people wait until their To-Do List is cleared before they give significant time and energy to what they do best! Yes, there is a time and place for "getting things done" but I want to challenge everyone of us today that, "The place where we will add the most value to the world is in the area where we are most passionate and gifted!"

1. It offers the greatest Return on Investment. When we give priority energy to our strengths, we get a better return on our investment! How much would Peyton Manning get paid by the Indianapolis Colts to play Wide Receiver? I'm guessing, Not Much! But when he's playing Quarterback, he's worth millions!!! Our strengths offer our greatest ROI.

2. Our Strengths offer the greatest Reward! There is nothing more fulfilling for me as a leader than when I'm using my God given talents, passions and abilities to add value to someone else! There's just no feeling like it! I love it! It energizes me and makes me feel like I'm on top of the world!

I have made a decision in my leadership that I am going to begin giving Priority Energy to what I do best! Then, and only then, can I make a significant contribution to the world around me!

just a bloggish thought,

Matt

Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"

When it comes to my devotional life, I struggle to find consistency. In fact, I have this on-going theory that just about the time I get into a routine or rhythm with my prayer life/Bible reading life/devotional life, God makes me change it up.

Anyway, about a week ago, I bought a copy of Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest." It's a true classic daily devotional in the Christian world. I'm not sure when he originally wrote it but his language sounds like 1940's England. None the less, if you don't rush through it, the duffer's got amazing insights into life. I can't believe how each day it's like he's talking to me.

I want to share a few quotes with you, and throw in some personal insights from me.

Here's one: April 1st: "Beware of getting ahead of God by your desire to do His Will." He goes on to say that it's possible to run ahead of God Wow. What n eye opening statement! Running ahead of God. Yeah... I probably do that way more than I'd like to admit. Ready, fire, aim. That's me.

One more: April 1st: "If a burden or pressure came upon while not in an attitude of worship, it will produce a hardness in our heart." Come on Oswald, that's just sick! When we don't amintain an attitude of worship, the pressures of life cause our heart to get hard. Stop it already man!

Chew on that for a while. Feel free to comment back if you want,

Just a bloggish thought,

Keller

A Lesson in Margin from my 2 Boys!

This morning on the way to school, I had the opportunity to teach my 7 year old and 4 year old about Margin. I was attempting to help them understand why we want our mornings to be Peaceful and not Stressful. Here's a synopsis.

• We live crazy lives. Which is okay, in fact we prefer it this way, most of the time. Once we get to school, or work, our life is full of details, homework, friends, teachers, lessons, responsibilities, etc.


• We want our mornings to be peaceful. The more relaxed our mornings can be, the better we'll be for the rest of the day.


• The way to have peace is through Margin. Put another way, Peace lives in the Margins of our lives. Show me someone with no peace, & I'll show you someone with no margin. No peace in your finances? I bet you don't have margin. No peace in your calendar? I bet you don't have margin. No peace in your personal life? I bet you don't have margin.


• Margin is the distance between where you live and your limits. Foolish is the person who resides on the side of a cliff. We wouldn't think to build a home within 6 inches of a cliff, but we do it all the time in other areas of our lives.


• Margin is everywhere. I pointed out to the boys that roads are built with margin. Books have margin. Papers have margin. 7-Eleven signs have margin. It's everywhere.  And it was God's idea. My 4 year old asked me if trees have margin.  I said, "yep, it's called bark.  Without, the wood is exposed to the elements and the tree won't survive."


• Blessing live in the margins. We got to school 10 minutes early and rather than drop them off in the car line, I walked them in. I told them, "because we have margin in our time today, daddy got to walk you in." Then my 7 year old asked me, "Can we stop at the drinking fountain before class?" I answered yes. Then he said to me, "Because we have Margin, right?"

I just smiled.

Want to live a blessed life?

Want to have peace?

Examine your margins. That's where they live.

Just a bloggish thought,

Matt Keller

Easter Sunday @ NLC

Hey everyone,

On Sunday afternoon, I couldn't help but reflect on how far God has brought our church in the last 6 years. We went to my parent's house in Cape Coral for Easter Lunch. That's the house that Sarah and I lived in for 5 1/2 years before mom and dad retired last fall. As we sat around the table, I couldn't help but think that just 6 years ago, there were 6 adults and 2 kids (taking naps) during "Easter Sunday Service!" in the living room of that house!

Easter services at NLC yesterday were absolutely mind-blowing. We had over 1000 people in church and saw hundreds of people respond to the first of our 3 part series we started called, "CAGED."

A Few High Points for me for the Day were:

• Seeing one of our worship leaders, Elizabeth, (I call her Bethy), who is 17, absolutely set the stage for the presence of God to move in our church in an unprecedented way! I believe our people responded to God's presence like they never have before b/c of the words Bethy shared!!! I'm so proud of her! She's an amazing worship leader... and only 17, that's just crazy!


• Seeing our staff giving ministry away! I loved watching our staff at their best yesterday! They were impowering others to "do the work of the ministry" and were rising above it all day long! The staff of NLC truly has the DNA of this thing and are doing the work of reproducing that DNA into hundreds of Team Members!


• Seeing Mike and Scott lead, cast vision, and truly pastor our people like they were created to do! Those two guys are an absolute riot! I can't believe I get to do this with them!


• Seeing South Fort Myers High School transformed into a house of worship every Sunday is just a cool thing! What a gift from God that we don't have to build a $40 million facility to have church in! The state of Florida did that for us! Wow!


• Seeing it all come together. I heard John Siebling, an ARC pastor from Memphis, TN, say, "Our goal is to try and put 3 good Sundays in a row!" anyone in the church world knows just how hard that is to do. Yesterday was truly a good Sunday! I feel like we keep stringing "Good Sundays" together, I think we may even be able to get to "3" by the end of the year!!! :)

To all who are apart of making NLC happen on a weekly basis, this is BIG WIN for you too! Do something today to celebrate! Take your spouse to dinner, play with your kids, give your pet a treat, get the mail, yell out the window in traffic, drink an energy drink, go off your diet, take a day off!

Personally, I'm opting for the last one,

Matt

I'm excited about Easter

Hey all,

I just wanted to post a quick note to tell you how excited I am about Easter Sunday at NLC this year!

It's hard to believe that 6 years ago there were 6 of us in my living room! I just got finished practicing my message for Sunday Morning & I can't wait to deliver it. It's going to hit home for all of us that's for sure!

2 things:

1. If you have people who don't go to church anywhere, this Sunday would be a great day to invite them. We're laying it out in a really cool, creative and relevant way this weekend!

2. Pray for me & my family. We're feeling the pressure and stresses of Easter and all that goes along with it.

I love you guys,

I can't wait for Sunday Morning! Happy Easter ya'll!

Pastor Matt

What I'm Listening To Right Now!

Worship Music is one of the greatest tools of encouragement in my life. There are so many times when worship songs say exactly what I'm feeling in my life. As a leader and influencer in many of your lives I wanted to give you a run down of what I'm listening to right now.

I think it's all available in iTunes & I highly recommend downloading as much of this as you can and then integrating it into your daily life somewhere. (In the car, during your workout, etc.)

Yesterday's Worship Set @ NLC:

• Faithful - Steve Fee


• Your Name - Ross Parsley


• Jesus Paid it All - Kristian Stanfill


• Oh Praise Him - David Crowder

My Personal Top 6 Worship Songs Right Now:

• Mighty to Save - Kristian Stanill


• God of this City - Chris Tomlin


• Happy Day - Kristian Stanfill


• Let Me Sing - Todd Fields


• Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill


• We Shine - Steve Fee

If You Only Buy 1 Worship CD this Year Buy:

Northpoint Live: Louder Than Creation

It's got everyone of those songs on it except for Your Name which is a Ross Parsley one.

A Few Other Notables that Are Ministering to My Heart Right Now:

• Healer - Planetshakers


• Here in Your Presence - Ross Parsley


• You are the Light - Steve Fee

Seriously, download these songs... it could be the best thing you do for your spiritual life all week! You'll drop 4 bucks on a coffee, download 4 songs instead and feed your spirit.

Just a Worshipful Bloggish Thought,

Matt

The Thing about Being a Pastor

One of the craziest things about being a Pastor is that you have to live what you're preaching! So we're in this series called Pete's Blog... a journal of trust. For 4 weeks, we're talking about Trusting God. In the Storm, in the face of Unconventional Thinking, etc.

Well, trust me when I say I've had to live this whole trust deal! Wow. Let me just go on record and say that Pastors don't live in a bubble. We face the same challenges and real-life issues as everyone else.

I'm excited about the new places in God that "Trust Tests" are taking me.

If you haven't heard the messages, I highly recommend downloading them asap. Especially if you're going through a "Testing Time." 4 ways to do that:

1. Order a CD at the Resource Table on Sundays at NLC.

2. Go to www.NextLevelChurch.com and click resources, then listen to messages. You can listen through live streaming or.

3. Right click and then save target as to download the mp3 to your desktop. At that point you can make your own cd's if you want!!!

4. Go to iTunes, click on podcasts, then search Next Level Church. Click on us, and all of our messages are available to automatically sinc with your iPod.

5. You can also subscribe through iTunes as well. Simply click subscribe and you'll start getting each and every week's message automatically in your iTunes library and on your iPod. (I highly recommend this option by the way!) What a great way to make sure you are feeding your spirit every week.

I'm so excited about Part 3 of Pete's Blog.

See you Sunday at 9 am and 10:45 am.

Matt

Wow, what a Week!!!

Hey everyone, I'm so excited to be back in SW FL.  Sarah and I just finished an amazing / whirlwind week of ministry consulting, downtime, edification, and networking!  The last 8 days have been incredible!  It's amazing to see how God is using all that we are learning through Next Level Church to impact so many!  AND... we just keep learning more!  Here's the last week in a nutshell:

• Friday, Feb. 8th - Flew to Orange County, CA.  Made it to Dallas.  Then flight cancelled.  Rerouted to Las Vegas.  Ran to catch the plane.  Realized we were on Pacific time, not Mountain time.  Actually had an extra hour.  Felt like Idiots.  Caught our breath.  Arrived in OC, CA @ 7 pm PST (10 pm EST).  Had dinner with Church Planters.  Told our story.  Went to bed at 2 am EST.
• Saturday, Feb. 9th - Had breakfast at the hotel.  Ate too much.  Slept for 2 hours.  Met up with Scott & Mary Turner, incredible church planters in Irvine, CA.  Shopped.  Ate at PF Changs.  Heard their story.  Went back to their house.  Talked til 10 pm PST (1 am EST).  Slept at hotel. 
• Sunday, Feb. 10th - Arrived at theSummit Church which at 8:30 PST (Do I need to keep doing the EST reference?) Watched set up.  Took notes.  Preached at 11 am PST.  Grabbed a sandwich.  Debriefed at their house for 3 hours.  At 6 pm, a dozen of their leaders arrived.  Taught Church planting leadership & philosophy til 9:30 pm.  Drove to our new hotel on Laguna Beach, CA at 10:30 pm (1:30 am EST).  Slept.
• Monday, Feb. 11th - Had 9 am PST Video Conference Call with Pastor Scott and Quigs about the upcoming week at NLC.  (I love iChat by the way...) Drove to Saddleback Church, founded by Rick Warren.  Toured Saddleback.  Was blown away.  Had lunch.  Did some Geocaching. (Ask me later).  Back to hotel.  Slept.  Went to a movie.  Had Pizza at BJ's Italian Restaurant on Laguna Beach at 10:30 PST (1:30 am EST).  
• Tuesday, Feb. 12th -  Had breakfast overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Walked on the beach.  Slept. Listen to a couple of LifeChurch.tv podcasts.  Read by the pool.  Ate Mexican.  Saw another movie.  Slept.
• Wednesday, Feb. 13th - Woke up at 8 am PST.  Drove to Scott & Mary Turner's house to return their car.  (Thanks by the way...)  Drove to Airport.  Talked with Scott for another hour.  Flew to Dallas.  Flew to Ft. Myers, FL.  Arrived home at 9:30 pm EST (6:30 pm PST).  Did some laundry. (Okay, Sarah did.)  Watch American Idol.  Still on West Coast time.  Bed by midnight.
• Thursday, Feb. 14th - Valentine's Day.  Woke up 6:30 am.  Checked e-mail, (1st time all week.)  Repacked.  9 am drove to Fort Lauderdale.  Arrived 11:30 am.  Got Starbucks.  Checked into hotel.  Attended lunch at the Book of Hope Missions Roundtable Event.  (Talk about a great ministry... oh my goodness, they're incredible.  More on that later too.)  Last afternoon session at 4:30 pm.  Took a cat nap.  Dinner at 6 pm.   Watched the sunset over Fort Lauderdale skyline with my wife. (Come on Somebody!!!)  Attended night session.  9:30 pm had dessert at Cheesecake Factory with Peter and Carolyn Haas (Substance Church in Minneapolis, MN).  Incredible couple that we totally hit it off with.  Back to hotel at  12:30 am.  Asleep by 1 am.
• Friday, Feb. 15th - Woke up at 8:30 am.  Went to the Red Door Spa at The Galleria in Fort Lauderdale.  (yeah, I did.  So what???  It was awesome!)  10:30 am - watched SportsCenter in the Men's Dressing Room. (Hey I wasn't about to go out there with a bunch of women and pretend I was actually comfortable!!!  I do have boundaries, you know.)  11 am - 80 minute hot rock massage.  1 pm - Lunch with my wife.  2 - 5 pm - shopping at the Galleria with Peter and Carolyn Haas.  Back to hotel.  Cat nap.  6 pm - Dinner with RoundTable Pastors.  9:30 pm - Last Session ends.  10 pm - Dessert at the Cheesecake Factory with Chris and Jan Beard, Pastors in DownTown Cincinnati.  Incredible story. 1:30 am - back to hotel.  2 am - sleep.
• Saturday - Feb. 16th - 8 am - Wake up.  Check out of hotel.  Get boys a present.  Get Starbucks.  Get Krispy Kremes. (yeah, I did!)  Drive across Alligator Alley.  Home at 12:15 pm.  2 pm Birthday Party at Gator Lanes for Will's friend.  5:30 pm ate something. (I can't remember)  8 pm - Boys in bed.  8:10 pm - practice message for tomorrow.  8:57 pm - finish writing this blog.  9:05 pm - Probably will pass out.

Man, what an amazing & refreshing time we had.  It was just great to relax and do nothing, you know???Seriously, we love that!  It's God's calling for us, and there's nothing we'd rather do together! Can't wait for God to move tomorrow at NLC! Pastor Matt

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 6

Upon hearing the news, mom and dad felt thankful they were still in Fort Wayne and thereby closer to Lutheran hospital where my surgery was being performed. When they arrived at the hospital I was already in surgery and so all they could do was wait. My mom has always been very private about her faith. Where I tend to be more outward in my display of faith, my mother tends to drift toward the opposite.

In conversations I had with my mom after the surgery, the only thing she really ever said to me was, "Matt, I met with Jesus that night in the chapel of that hospital." I can't imagine what it must feel like to have one of your children's life hanging on the edge. My mom is a strong women. My respect for her grew exponentially that night.

The next 24 to 36 hours would be critical to whether the blood clot would reappear or dissolve. They were monitoring my status in ICU.

Janaury 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 5

(continued)

Mom and dad had left in the afternoon to go shopping in Fort Wayne before they ended up at a birthday party for my cousin, Darcy. (I don't think my cousin has ever let me forget ruining her birthday that year.) My dad had just gotten his first cell phone the week before and didn't even so much as know the number yet. Once Sarah and her family arrived at the hospital in Angola, they took on the burden of trying to get in touch with my parents. Unfortuately no one knew how to get ahold of them. Alison, Sarah's mom, at one point asked Nick if he knew my aunt's telephone number where the birthday party was supposed to be held that evening.

With his eyes closed, and just drifting above consciousness Nick replied, "1251". To this day, we have no idea how Nick knew their phone number. It wasn't something my brother or I needed to call, until that day, January 7th. Alison was able to get in touch with my aunt Toni and told her what was happening. Should mom and dad call, have them call her cell phone immediately.

After a few hours of shopping, my dad was anxious to show off his new cell phone to mom and so he stopped around 4:30 pm in the parking lot and wanted to show her how it worked. His idea was to call my aunt Toni, just for illustration's sake on what this new fangled gadget could do. They never could have imagined the news they were about to receieve on the other end of that phone.

The only 2 sons were both in critical condition. 1 in a neck brace. The other in brain surgery.

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 4

(part 4, continued)

My brother was still being treated at the hospital in Angola. They discovered he had crushed the 3rd vertibrae in his neck 10%. He spent 8 weeks in a neck brace and missed a semester of college. Because of our accident, he had to stay through the next summer to finish his degree. It was during those summer months that he met his wife, Elizabeth. He would have never been there had it not been for our accident on January 7th.

Meanwhile, Sarah and her parents were now 60 miles away. "I've never seen my dad drive so fast in my entire life," she told me later. Sarah actually had a journal that she recorded her thoughts in later that night. She wrote 8 pages of some of the most raw and gut wrenching emotions I have ever heard come out of her.

The helicopter landed at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN, and I was immediately rushed into the O.R. Dr. Isa Conavatti. I still remember the doctor's name. He's the only person on the entire planet who has ever seen my brain. That's crazy for me to think about.

They shaved the front left half of my head and then cut a moon shaped incision in my skin. They drilled in to my skull to relieve the pressure and when they pulled the drill out, they later told us the blood shot out and hit the wall of the O.R. 10 feet away. They put in a drainage tube and wrapped my head. I think the surgery took like 4 or 5 hours.

I can't imagine how my parents were feeling... how they got the news was another story entirely...

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 3

(part 3, continued from yesterday)

The EMS took us to the nearest hospital in Angola, IN, a small town just a few miles inside the Michigan boarder. Once at the hospital they ran a CT scan on my brain. They discovered I had a blood clot on my brain the size of a softball and it was getting bigger. If I didn't have emergency surgery to relieve the pressure, I would die.

In Northeast Indiana there was only 1 medical helicopter in the entire region at that time. And it was presently tending to another life or death situation miles away. The helicopter was called off of that emergency to come and pick me up and take me to a larger hospital 60 miles away.

At the time, Sarah and I were still just dating. She was only 17 and a senior in high school. We knew we were meant for one another, but that was still a dream for years to come. The guys had called Sarah and her family when the EMS had arrived at the campground, so she was able to come to the small hospital shortly after I had arrived. In those days I wore a gold chain with a cross on it. I guess during the entire ordeal, they took my cross and chain and handed it Sarah and said, "You may want this."

I can't imagine what it must have felt like for her to see the man she would one day marry and dreamed of spending her life with, loaded onto a helicopter with the hope that his life could be saved. She was 17. I was 19. And because this was in the time that cell phones were a luxury not a necessity, we had no way of getting ahold of my parents.

January 7th ... My Life and Death Story - Part 2

(continued from yesterday...)

After take off, we rounded a corner and the sled slid out wide to the left going down into the ditch next to the path we were on. (Picture a water skier going out wide behind a ski boat). Unfortuately what none of us saw was the row of telephone poles lining the ditch as well. We were headed straight for a pole at 35 mph. Faces buried in the sled, eyes blinded by the snow, an imminent collision ahead.

The ski rope hit the telephone pole first and then jerked the sled up into the telephone pole. Nick's neck curled up into the toboggan sled and I struck the pole literally "head on" at an estimated 50 mph. The sled shattered and the two of us were thrown 20 feet beyond the pole. The guys came running up to us yelling and cheering until they saw me face down in a pool of blood.

Taitem, who had been a lifeguard all summer the year before, reached me first and recognized what was happening. He stablized my neck and rolled me over all the while shouting, "Call 911!" Nick was moving around but was experiencing immense pain in his neck. After Taitem pulled my ski mask off of my face he couldn't figure out what the white powdery stuff was all over my mask. The powdery stuff was my 3 front teeth. They had been smashed into the back of my brother's head. and never mind the powdery stuff, I had a golf ball sized bump protruding from my left temple, and blood coming from my ears.

January 7th, 1995 ... My Life and Death Story - Part 1

I woke up this morning with the same words that come out of my mouth first every January 7th. "I'm Alive." I'll never be able to forget what happened 13 years ago. January 7th, 1995.

It was a typical winter Saturday in Indiana. We had gotten about 4 inches of snow on the ground through the night, so my buddies and I decided to go toboggan sledding, like we had the year before. For those of you who know what toboggan sledding is, what we were talking about wasn't your typical toboggan sledding deal, with a track and an hourly waged employee helping you on and off the sled while instructing you to "keep your hands, and arms tucked inside at all times." No, we were going Extreme Toboggan sledding.

We drove to a campground about 30 minutes north of where we lived and would spend the day riding on a toboggan sled tied behind a pick up truck with a ski rope. We used couch cushions to make the ride less bumpy. When we arrived at the campground, my brother and I opened the trunk and started to pull out 2 snowmobile helmets we had from our childhood. At once, all of our friends began immediately mocking. "Did your mom make you bring those?" "The 1970's called, they want their helmets back." "What are you 8 years old?" So without another thought, we replied with a "Just kiddin'" and threw them back in the trunk.

Extreme sledding is quite an exhilarating thing to do on a Saturday in Indiana. It's got all the elements of fun 6 late teen and early 20 something guys look for. Speed, risk, adrenaline, and danger. What we didn't realize, or perhaps more accurately had chosen to overlook was just how much danger it had.

It was late in the day (around 4 pm) and it was my brother and I's turn to ride. Sled, cushions, Nick, and myself. Stacked up one on top of the other like a cold meat sandwich on hoagie bread. Nick's head was tucked up under the curl of the toboggan sled to shield his face from the massive amounts of snow flying toward us. My face was situationed facing down into the back of my brother's head, to shield my face from the snow. Little did we know that snow would be the least of our concerns in about 30 seconds.

My Geocaching Adventure!

So a pastor friend of mine from Ohio, Mike Cole, and his wife Trinda have been down visiting this weekend. Escaping the cold up north etc.

So yesterday, (Sunday) afternoon, Mike tells me that he wanted a GPS device for Christmas. To which I'm thinking, "Are you serious? Why? All is does is give you directions to places right?" But then, he whips it out and starts showing me all the stuff it can do. Oh... my ... gosh... that thing is SO cool!

So then he starts telling about this thing called Geocaching. (www.Geocaching.com) Basically you go to the geocaching website and put in the address of wherever you are (in the world), and it will tell you where all of these "Hidden Treasures" are near you! It gives you the exact GPS coordinates. It's a Global Treasure Hunt! So there are like millions of these Hidden Treasures all over the world now, and you use a GPS to go and find them.

Enter Scott Drummond. So we go over to Pastor Scott and Kirsten's last night for dinner and when we get there Mike starts telling Scott about Geocaching. To which Scott whips out his computer and we put in his address... What happened next feels more surreal then actual, but it's true I tell you. True.

After we successfully had broken the code (like Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code movie) we had what we needed for our Adventure.

Before we know it, we're running to my car like Bank Robbers! The GPS (who we named Suzi) is giving us directions to a Hidden Treasure in Scott's neighborhood! It was like the coolest thing! We get within a hundred feet of the Treasure and then we had to search and destroy on foot. MIke is holding the GPS unit and telling us the coordinates as we walk through this woods. With every step, the intensity was rising! I swear there was a mote with a dragon and an alligator in it as I crossed this rickety log bridge!

After 15 minutes of searching in the woods, Scott yells out, "Hey, hey guys right there!" Sure enough, he dives in to this clump of trees and pulls out a camoflage ammo box. We open it up and there are all kinds of Treasures in there! (Stuffed animals, golf balls, key chains, etc.) Every person who finds it leaves something behind and can take something with them as well if they want. There was a log book, so we signed our names. (All the while I was totally watching for the cops and stuff!) (I was going to leave a Next Level Church card, but Scott convinced me that would be lame.)

After a few minutes of enjoying our Global Treasure Hunt, we stood, made our way out of the forest (it was a big clump of trees) and returned to our All Terrain Vehicle (my car) victorious! The other guys only suffered a couple of wounds (read, burrs stuck to their flip flops) and I escaped without a trace on my crocs. (I could have simply washed them off had their been any mud on them).

A few minutes later we were back in the safety of Scott's house, surrounded by our wives who would never know or even hope to understand the danger we had been in, how we had risked our lives, and the adventure that would probably bond our friendship for a lifetime! We didn't even try to explain it to them.

So I think I found a new hobby... Geocaching. Talk about something that doesn't look anything like my life! Dragons, and gators, and forests and adventures and firey motes. It was all real. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I gotta run, I'm pricing out GPS units online...

Matt

My ADD has been bad lately

I don't know if it's the holidays or the stress I've been feeling with my
wife all "laid up" with her foot surgery or what, but seriously, my ADD has
been through the roof lately.

I walked into Sam's Club the other morning and had to buy 3 things. My wife
had made me a list and everything, and the minute I walked in, it was like,
"Wowlookatallthetvsandwheredidthemoviesgothatusedtobeintheentranceandthispla
ceisawesome,waitwhatwasIsupposedtocomeinhereforagain?whyareallthosepeoplejus
tstandingaroundandwaitIknowI'mhereforsomethingwhatwasitshesaidIneededtogetag
ain?howcomethegrinderforthecoffeeisonlynexttothecoffeeIliketobuy?whataboutth
epeoplewhodrinkotherkindsofcoffeearetheylessworthytohaveagrindernexttothemth
anIam?maybeI'mmakingtoomuchofthis.whyamIhereagain?

Seriously, that's what it feels like right now! Dead serious. If you have
ADD then you totally know what I'm talking about but there's also no way
you've been able to concentrate long enough to get to the end of this, so I
know you're not reading this.

It was a good day when I actually embraced this whole ADD thing. For a long
time I didn't want to use it as an "excuse" but now I realize that It's got
good sides and bad sides. The bad sides are, that occasionally a trip to
Sam's Club can feel like a bag of scrabble letters. The good side is, When
I'm in the zone, I can get a lot done. It's finding the zone and not
letting things knock you out of it, that's the challenge. Thank God my
wife, Sarah, my assistant, Susan, and my staff that know this about me.

Occasionally, it's like, "Just leave him alone, he's in the zone." When
that happens I can write like 3 messages in 3 hours kind of thing. It's
crazy like that.

Anyway,

Keller

All The Things I'm Learning (Part 6) The final installment

By part 6, my ADD has set in now, & honestly, I have no idea what number were on any more. So we'll just start with 16, sound good?

16. I'm learning about Long Term Grace in my life. I can't even tell you
how spot on Mike Ash's message was in week 4 of our Fuel for Life Series
last month. He talked about God's purpose for Suffering and absolutely just
opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of what it means to "have a thorn
in the flesh" as Paul writes about in the New Testament. The idea that it's
possible that God actually leaves "stuff" in our life that keeps us postured
toward dependence on Him, lest we be tempted to think, "our strength is
sufficient." I love what Paul says about "His strength being made perfect
in our weakness." Man, that's so true. You know, Paul had some really
amazing insights.

17. I'm learning that my creativity is a unique gifting from God. I'm so
thankful for the people in my life that keep me focused and organized and
own all the details of my life so that I can be who God has uniquely created
me to be ... Which is creative. The team around me makes so many of my
ideas look way better than they could ever be if I had to try and execute it
alone. I love working with my team. They make me a better pastor,
communicator, speaker, & writer.

I'm just really thankful for the people I get to do life and ministry with.

Just a bloggish thought,

matt

All the Things (Part 5)

Today's installment is just one thing I'm learning with clarity about myself. I challenge you to pray for clarity about your "calling" as well.

I'm learning I'm called to do 3 things:

1. Write (Messages & Books). Writing fuels me like nothing else can. The
entire process of learning and reading and studying and praying and
developing a thought and seeing new things in Scripture just make me feel
strong like nothing else can. I struggled with this calling for several years, because, quite honestly, I never felt like I would have anything to say. (At least that other people would want to read, anyway.)

It feels good to be stepping into that calling now. Wow.
2. Speak. Speaking comes easy for me. That's the part of my job that I
enjoy. It's probably the part I get most nervous about as well though. I
feel such a Holy Responsibility for what I'm about to say to so many people
every week, it's crazy. I also have a Holy Nervousness that God will show
up and change hearts. I'm so aware that, my talent alone, doesn't have the
power to change anybody. Only with the Holy Spirit convicting and changing
hearts does anything good have the potential of happening. That's serious
business for me.

3) Coaching other Leaders. My heart beats to teach others what we have
learned and are continuing to learn about leadership, church planting,
ministry, creativity, & doing church in our cultural context. Nothing fires
me up more than a phone call with a church planter or a meeting with a young
leader.
What "fires you up?" What fills your tank? If you don't know, start having conversations with others about it. Because the sooner you find out, the sooner you'll start moving boldly in the direction of your calling.

Just a bloggish challenge,

Matt