There’s something amazing about driving through a place in the back of a pick up truck.

No, I haven’t gone redneck on the world, but driving 65 mph  with the wind blowing on your face in 95 degree weather in February helps you to appreciate the beauty of a place more even then being in the passenger seat.  One of the highlights of my 2003 trip to England was the time I spent driving through Oxford on the top of a double decker bus, and while there was not double decker buses on my trip to Haiti, there was a 1986 Toyota Land Rover with 30,000 miles on it that I consistently traveled in the back of which gave me a chance to appreciate the beautiful landscapes of the demoralized nation.

Now I must confess that I’m not a normal fan of the open air.  In fact, I’d rather have air condition or heat (whichever results in 72 degrees during that time of the year) any day, but of course, when it’s 95 degrees out and you’re in the back of a truck, the temperatures are cooler because of the movement.  So I soak it in, with my co-travelers and some new friends and we drive.

We don’t talk much.  We don’t need to, because we all understand what we’re about to experience, and we all see.  We see mountains on one side.  Beautiful rolling hills with the occasional 15′ by 30′ house that probably holds around 15 people and is partially damaged by the earthquake that happened last week.  Then we drive farther and we see more mountains marked and dotted with small rocks.  One of us ask what those rocks are about and a simple, yet honest answer is given:  They are mass graves holding roughly 200,000 people dead because, as far as much of the population is concerned, God is mad at them.

More silence.

On the other side is the ocean, big and blue and incapable of providing the clean water source that so many of them need to survive at a more livable environment.  But it is beautiful and perfect, especially in the back of a truck where  8 of us stand straight up looking across the countryside and trying not to fall onto the bags of stuff we have brought with us.

The thing I take from this is that despite the horrific things I would see this week, beauty shone brightly.  In the people, in the mountains, in my new friends, and in the wind that helped mask the smell of destruction that occurred the week before.

And then I think about the passage in Matthew 4, quoted by Jesus’ own disciple, Matthew from the OT Scrolls of the prophet Isaiah, “And the people who sat in darkness saw a great light.”  Then I thought that no destruction, no catastrophic event, and no disaster, natural or humanly propagated, is bigger than God.  And when all hope seems lost, He finds a way to take care of His children, bring neighbors from different lands together, and give us unique views of His creation from anywhere…

Even the top of an ‘86 Toyota land Cruiser.

Related posts:

1. The Dimming of Hope
2. Of passion, beauty, and ideals…
3. Pick it and stick with it

More than anything on my trip to Haiti, I learned leadership lessons I will never forget.  When the Sister, who for almost 30 years,  has lead the Coty Project we were a part of last week, spoke, people listened.  And the things they are accomplishing there in Haiti amidst the darkness speak volumes of what happens when a life is focused and devoted to God.

My first leadership lesson:  Pick it and stick with it

The airport in Port Au Prince is not exactly JFK, the airport from which we departed.  There were multiple buildings, but a few of them looked more like advanced barns than they did steel structures.  A band did play loudly in one of the hallways however, and that was nice. We went through customs and headed for the madhouse that was the baggage claim.  Actually it was more like a free for all.  Our bags just happened to be as heavy as they would make them as we were hauling medical supplies, so no one would be able to grab them quickly.

The team of 5 I flew in with finally rounded up our gear and made our way to the exit.  Shortly before we found our way to the end of the tunnel though, we were introduced to Sister Eunice, the head of the Haiti Plunge, and one of the best leaders I’ve ever met.

My first lesson was here, in this place when we met.  She told us, “when you go outside, you pick someone to help you with your baggage, and stick with that one person.  You say, ‘You are my person’ and deny everyone else.  Focus, because it’s crazy out there.”  I had no clue what she was talking about until we walked outside where there was a huge red fence at the exit, and hundreds of people wearing red hats, and apparently wanting to help me with my baggage.  I then realized that what works in America would not work here in the Port Au Prince airport, and now was not the time for tactfulness.

I picked a person out of the throngs that vied for my attention, and looking him straight in the eye, I said “You, please take these.”  He did, and we began walking to the truck where our bags would end up.  But another man also helped him with my bag.  The bag did not need two guys carrying it, but as we walked to the truck, I wavered and thought that this man was doing such a nice thing, I should give him some money too.

Sister Eunice disagreed.  In my first experience with tough love for the week (and as you’ll find out there was plenty more), she asked me, “Did you hire this man?” pointing at the man I hired.  “Yes, I did,” I responded.  “Did you hire this man?” She asked again, except this time referring to the other man.  “No, I didn’t, but I can…”

“NO!  You didn’t hire him, and so he needs to learn that.  Do not give him any more money!”

In retrospect, I understand what she was saying, but at the time, I thought it was a bit harsh.  But the overall lesson I learned this week, she had begun to teach me, and would continue to teach me throughout the week:

This is not about a one week excursion to make you feel better Marty, this is about developing people and developing their culture.  So start here.  Pick one, and stick with that one.  This will teach a work ethic and not endorse or create begging.

I think now about all the things that I waiver on, and realize the dangers and roadblocks this creates to the vision God has given me to accomplish here in New England.   When it comes to decisions that need to be made and plans that need to be executed, there is very little room for indecision.  Sure there is a time at the beginning where you craft and plan for what will happen, but then you carry it out and make it happen.

You pick it and stick with it.

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I Am The Elliots from FC Holden.

For years we’ve done series.  A lot of churches do series, and for the last 9 years we’ve been no different.  We’ve done series too.  Typically they are topical in nature and many times they are practical and timely.

But in his blog posts, Ben inspired me last year when he was preparing for Story ‘09 to find our own voice as a church when we share the truths of God’s word.  Me?  I like stories.  I like Jesus stories.  I like Jewish stories.  I like mythological stories.  And I like stories of Forrest running from bullies in Greenbow, Alabama and meeting president after president after president because of the “circumstances” in his life.

So last fall when Ben was preaching the idea of story, Carie and I were viewing  the season 4 DVD’s of House and together were enthralled by the amazing storytelling techniques of the writers of this emmy winning show.   During this time, I had this thought:  Why couldn’t we do a season instead of a series?  Focusing not necessarily on a topic, but by a story inspired by the major themes of Scripture.

And the process began.  The first thing I did was acquire the help of one of my favorite writers, Jeff Campbell, who gladly accepted my idea and was ready to run with it.  So we started to talk about characters, development, story, arcs, and themes.  Then we began to write a story.  At first I participated, writing a few of the scripts, but then I gladly turned it over to the master, and Jeff has written a season of focused plot, interesting characters, and engaging themes.

Then MB took control.  As the producer and director of the new season, she drafted some great actors, and will be producing some of the stories that will be performed over the next 13 weeks at Fellowship Church.

So beginning this Sunday morning @Fellowship, February 7, 2010, we will be presenting a new season, called “I am the Eliots”.  The story of 4 individuals whose lives are forever changed when they lose someone they love.  A funeral doesn’t answer questions, a funeral asks them, and the questions they begin to ask are questions that we could all stand to ask as we wrestle with life here on planet earth.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea or if you’re in the area, what you thought about the premiere presentation here at Fellowship Church, or you will be able to view it online on FCTV.

My friend Brian said it best when I told him the idea about 3 months ago.  He listened intently, sounded shocked by its innovativeness, then responded,

“Marty, you’ll either look like a genius or an idiot.”

Related posts:

1. The Fellowship Series (not unlike the world)
2. My top 10 series of all time
3. This Crazy Season

Told as if the audience @ Fellowship were twittering about the service this Sunday morning:

(10:28 am)  Is that Bon Jovi playing as we walk in the room?  Why yes, it certainly is.  Nice.

(10:29 am)  There’s nothing like walking into any room listening to the smooth rock voice of Bon Jovi, except maybe Axl Rose in the late 80’s, but we digress.

(10:30 am)  There seems to be a certain energy in the room this morning, like we’re all expecting something to happen.

(10:33 am)  Wow!  Al and the band are on fire this morning.  Somebody get a hose out here!

(10:34 am)  Nice video.  We didn’t know Steve Blumer’s mom came to the internet campus.  Cool.

(10:40 am)  2nd song was good too.  We WILL make the change and we won’t go back!  Also, does that guitarist have a fake finger?

(10:42 am)  Video of mom thanking the Gambogee place (elementary environment)  leaders for their role w/ our children teared us up a bit.

(10:43 am) Wow!  There are a lot of people in this room we don’t know.

(10:48 am)  Ha!  Marty opens with a great  story about his old pastor, Lonnie.

(10:50 am)  “A dream without a plan is only a wish.”

(10:55 am)  “We’re not trying to build an empire, but we are trying to infiltrate Massachusetts with the Fellowship Community.”

(11:00 am)  Marty’s about to launch into what he’s calling Phase 1 – the first phase of our new building project

(11:05 am)  4 specifics about “phase 1 – the beginning”

(11:05 am)  1.  The elimination of the back trailer – the “scourge of our existence”

(11:06 am)  2.  Patch and paint the rear exterior wall of the main building.  I guess we’ll be doing that part ourselves!  There goes that Saturday.

(11:06 am)  3.  Replace rear doors.  4.  Replace roofing on south side of church.

(11:07 am)   “Starting with phase 1 means first of all eliminating the distractions.”

(11:09 am)  $20,000 is a lot of money.

(11:10 am)  We want Fellowship to be a place where people can safely watch, connect, and grow.

(11:15 am)  Luke 14:25-33, Wow!  that Jesus guy says some really crazy things.  Where’s the love?

(11:21 am)  “To surrender to Jesus is not just to say,’I like Jesus’.  It’s more than that.”

(11:22 am)  “A person who is growing is a person who is planning to grow.”

(11:25 am)  “Before you grow, you’ve got to eliminate the distractions in your life.”

(11:31 am)  Suuuweeet!  Fellowship Worcester…we are cheering at that prospect!

(11:32 am)  The Splat Coffee shop!  Boo-yah!  Cheering again.  We’re doing a lot of that today! :  )

(11:32 am)  Very cool.  The Fellowship Haiti Mission.  más aplausos

(11:34 am)  “What are the distractions in your life that are keeping you from fulfilling your dream?”  Very inspiring Marty

(11:36 am)  Video of a quote from Milka about the FC family, but most of us are thinking about things we can eliminate in order to grow.

(11:39 am)  Worshipping.  “From the inside out, Lord my soul cries out!”

(11:44 am)  Last song just finished.  “On Christ the solid rock we will stand!”  Our hearts want to jump out of these bodies!

(11:45 am)  The immediate vision is clear in our heads, and we are ready for the future!  Go God!  Go Fellowship!

(11:48 am)  Oh crud, we forgot to pick up the kids!

(Noon)  We should follow Marty and FC Holden on Twitter.

Related posts:

1. A Dream without a Plan
2. Attending Fellowship from VA
3. The Unthinkable Church Service

I didn't know the kid from the "Wonder Years" played basketball!

Intensity.

That’s what happens when the commanding officer calls his or her platoon out and moves them to another level.  Or when the coach builds a plan to utilize the strengths of the team in an effort to win the game and ultimately, the championship.  Or what happens when a leader builds a plan to take his tribe through a new open door of possibilities.  Or when a pastor calls the people in the church to move out of Ur.

The platoon or the team or the group or the church begins to feel stretched and intense and insecurities come to light, and all the good and bad of the group floats to the top for all to see, and the question remains, “How do we handle the good and the bad now?”  Or perhaps a better way to put it is…

How do we handle the intensity?  Peyton Manning or Brett Favre?  Kobe Bryant or Allen Iverson?  Ulysses S. Grant or Leonidus Polk?

In my middle school years I played basketball for a small Christian school.  I remember one night in 8th grade at the York School (our home ‘arena’) we were playing another middle school rival known to us only as Stateline.  The Red Machine came into our home and I figured we would beat them, because I thought that of everyone we played.  That night the game was close (tied at half) and then they took the lead by 5 with a minute to go.  Their lead was still 5 with 14 ticks left on the clock, and with that amount of time remaining, I brought the ball down the court and launched what felt like an NBA 3 pointer into the air.

Now I move to present tense for the play by play.

Thankfully the ball swishes through the net, making one of the most beautiful sounds ever made in history, and the crowd goes wild.  Time out.  8 seconds left on the clock – they bring the ball in and we foul them.  Stateline goes to the line, and misses both shots.  We quickly bring the ball in, but in some freak of nature, we lose the ball and it’s Stateline’s ball under our basket.  We call another time out.

Intensity.

The coach gives us a quick speech about hustle and winning and getting the ball in the hole, and we head out onto the court, and I swear the point difference between the two teams is 3 points.  I’m standing at the middle of the key guarding my player in a mano y mano press, when the whistle blows and play starts.  The crowd is still cheering us on, and everything is kind of blurry, when out of nowhere the ball lands in my hands.  He throws it right to me.

I stand stunned, trying to figure out what to do with the allotted time left on the board, and I head for the 3 point line.  I wish I could end this story hailing myself as an excellent hero of this intense game, but alas, the Spirit of Brett Favre took hold of me (he started his career about 4 years later), and the referee calls me for traveling as I dribble (or not) the ball out of the key.

My return to present day and past tense.

To make matters worse, the point difference between the two teams was not 3.  It was 2.  So as I stood by myself about 4 feet away from the basket, all it would have taken was a layup.  It was an intense game, and intensity took hold of my body and spirit, but unfortunately the intensity controlled me, and not vice versa.

When a team or a platoon or a group or a church decides to move past where it has been, it gets intense.  But the intensity can’t control us…

We must control it.

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1. 40-39
2. The Good Shooter vs. the Great Shooter
3. A Tale of a Blind Ref, part 1

As I told you before this year is my dream year – the year I implement some of the ideas that have gone on in my head over the last several years.   I will tell you what those things are, but, alas, that is not even the purpose of this post.  Somewhere between Christmas and now, my beliefs about what God is going to do here at Fellowship have gone huge, and it’s going fast.

Fellowship Holden is building. (more on that on Sunday)

“The Splat” is coming.

Fellowship Worcester is not far behind.

And on top of all this, Fellowship will be pouring into Haiti in finances and people power.

Of course none of this has literally started yet.  It’s all in planning stages, but God willing, very soon in this year Fellowship Church will never look the same. And this is why my head is spinning.

A mentor of mine says, “A dream without a plan is only a wish.”  I never understood what he meant until recently.  He told me that all of last year when I talked of my dreams, and I just plugged him as somewhat of a realist.  He should get out and dream more, I would tell myself.  Then after I found out I had been accepted into Ben Arment’s dream year, I made a plan to accomplish some of those dreams.  Without having spoken a word or having written a recent email to Ben, I just made a plan.  Certainly I could have done this beforehand, but something about this transition and 2010 and acceptance and people believing in me set me off, and a plan was made.

Then I sent my plan to my mentor, believing that he would think I was crazy and “settle me down”.  I was wrong.  He said this plan looked great and we may need to be fluid and changeable in regards to the plan, but it could be done.  Then he reminded me of the words he had spoke so many times before, “Marty, a  dream without a plan is only a wish.”

For the first time I got it.

Related posts:

1. The Game Plan
2. I have a dream, and here’s 4 ways to accomplish it
3. My Airplane crash

I’m reading through the Bible in 90 days right now.  I finished the Pentateuch yesterday.  One interesting verse I ran into a few days ago says, “If the prophet predicts something in the Lord’s name and it does not happen, the Lord did not give the message.  That prophet has spoken on his own and need not be feared.” (Deuteronomy 18:22 – NLT)

So in scripture when things were destroyed, like say the world or Judah or even evil, cannibalistic, homoerotic places like Nineveh or Sodom (My Sunday School teacher had a terrific imagination), typically those things were foretold by a prophet of God or even an angel of God who came beforehand and warned people that they have time to repent before God acts.  Now before you get all bent out of shape that I’m making light of the OT, please know that I believe that these things did happen and that God, though He is love, is also a God of justice.  And I believe there are plenty of times in Scripture when God reacts immediately to people’s individual sin.

But I can’t find a time anywhere in Scripture when a tragedy of epic proportions happened to a group of people, and a prophet of God reacted with “I told you so.”  “You know, I’ve been preaching for years and years about God and who He is, and now this tragedy happened, and I’ll tell you why it is, because of the way you acted. I told you so Sodom!  I told you so  Judah!  Now God got ya!”

No, welcome to the modern world of reactive prophecy.  We don’t actually have to prove that we are speaking for God, we can just talk about stuff after the fact.  Oklahoma Bombings.  September 11th.  Madrid bombings.  Tsunamis.  Hurricanes.  It’s easy for us to speak of why God did it after the fact, isn’t it?  Parents, this makes for an amazing child rearing technique.  You share with little Johnny that he shouldn’t touch the hot stove, and then when he ignores you, bring it up again.  Amidst the pain and bruising on his hand, at the moment when he’s writhing in pain,  feel free to bring a “You should have listened to me.  If you had listened to me, your hand wouldn’t be red and your skin would still be on your hand, and you wouldn’t feel the pain that you do now.”

The truth is, if God wanted you to speak to Haiti, Mr. Robertson, I respectfully ask you to consider the fact that he would have asked you to do it a month or two ago.  Yesterday was too late.  The pain was there.  The lives were lost. The homes were destroyed.  And now we pray that we all learn something about life and love and God.

But we don’t say or even infer, “I told you so.”

Please donate to help Haiti here.

Related posts:

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2. The Many and the One
3. What I could have said

I have a new coach, a great team, a set of amazing dreams in line with the vision of the church I pastor, and a great big God who has given me much to risk, because after all, it’s not mine to keep, it’s His to do whatever he wants.

This year is going to be amazing, crazy, and I hope I won’t be the same person I was when it started.2010

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2. A Cancelled New Year’s Eve party!
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It’s based on the premise that love is always a better choice than pride, and always impacts our world more positively than it’s “p” word counterpart.  So I laid down the challenge to our church that for one week, we would make every effort to communicate everything we do in love.  Because many times we find ourselves immersed in bad habits of communication, it’s easier to explain in the things this excludes.  This means:

Sarcasm
Negativity (that is not needed to express a valid point)
Bitterness about another person or a negative circumstance (like someone who does something “stupid” or an electronic device that wont do what you want it to)
Joking around which tears down and busting
Talking to someone with malicious intent about someone else
rolling of the eyes when someone’s name is mentioned

While this is not an exhaustive list, I’m interested to see how it’s going for those who accepted the challenge, or if this is the first you’ve heard of it, what you think about the challenge in the first place?  I most certainly have failed a number of times, but I’m still working on it.

Are you willing to “spread only  love” for one week?

Related posts:

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2. Cleanliness is next to love(liness)
3. I hate her, but I sure do love God

Exploration would mean walking around and finding new areas of the corn fields, railroad tracks, or old broken down barns, and pretending that I was the “ruler” of those newly explored places.  Entertaining myself would mean watching TV, listening to music, or occasionally playing basketball or football when it wasn’t too cold.  Exploration would keep me on my toes, every step I would be wary of what was coming next.  Entertainment allowed me to watch someone else keep on their toes, at no expense to my own life (my dad typically paid the cable bill).

As I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed the same two choices, but the stakes are much higher.  I could explore new paths (not necessarily geographical) and new steps in my life that are natural and sometimes scary to travel into, or I could seek to constantly entertain myself, and watch others take the risks, explore the scary, and move into the unknown.  She question is…

Is 2010 going to be an entertainment year, or an exploration year?

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