I still have not taught our team HOW TO SHARE CHRIST VERBALLY. But we have encouraged them to have 2 touches/dinners a month with their neighbors/co-workers that they do not know [or better said, don't do life together with]. We live in a “drive in your garage and shut it quick and maybe give a quick wave” kind of place. [Don't hate...in my rural community I came from, no one knew their neighbors either, really.]

So last night we had 7 new families show up in our house for a CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE. A quick simple printed invite asking people to join us from 6.30-8.30 and get a chance to hang out with their neighbors. Sound hard? It wasn’t.

$50 cookie/brownie/etc. platter from the NEWLY OPENED bakery in our neighborhood, [come on...you have to create many personal opportunities. yes, Wal-Mart would have been $30, but we set out the new bakeries business cards and made another touch...], hot cider, hot chocolate and punch. Put on some Christmas music and we were on. Nothing fancy, nothing that took hours and hours to plan and prep. We put out the invites a day ahead [yep...that's it, so YOU still have time before Christmas].

You would have thought that we had given each of them $1,000 each. They didn’t know what to do, they were so shocked and thankful that we would open up our house. [WE do this about once a quarter, sometimes a cook-out, sometimes very simple like this]. What has happened where you can do something so simple and get rave reviews?

We just don’t take time anymore. Our family included. That’s why the goal of our church is not to “get people to come to our cool service [alone...we want people to come and we want them inviting and engaging], but to build real, lasting friendships that will intersect with our lives. Most of our neighbors had never even met [NOTE: they all go to the same LDS ward every single Sunday at the same time for 3 hours...].

Your next opportunities: New Year’s Eve/Day open house, college football bowl parties, Super Bowl, UFC pay-per-view for the men, my wife hosted a sweets and chick-flick event [both were a hit for us].

It’s not hard.

My challenge to MYSELF is to not be a career man with some Christian incarnation thrown in [it's so easy when you are a type-A, driven, CEO kind of church-planter.] But to be a radical follower of Christ, with my life, hobbies, goals and career thrown in. It’s so easy to get sucked into the selfish lifestyle that it is all about me, my family, my kids, my career, my friends, my goal, my church people.

It’s not hard. But dang it’s hard.

When I had a heart cath at age 32 and the gall bladder removal, and the stomach issues, and the panic attacks…enough was enough. When I kissed my 3 babies goodbye and headed off for the heart cath lab, it was a wake up call. I didn’t want to die young by God’s grace [yes, I believe in the sovereignty of God, but I don't believe in helping to work it out faster.] I was simply a young leader who didn’t have any coaching and not enough people around me to help me figure this out.

1 of my staff who is 15+ years my senior suggested it was my pace. Of course, I blew him off like most pastors and leaders because it’s really the attack of Satan and a real physical condition. [Not saying that this is not the case at times].

I just could not disconnect. Running 1000 MPH, even with proper boundaries can still kill you. When the Dr’s. started suggesting stress, books started suggesting it, leaders started talking about it…I finally listened.

I HAVE to disconnect after a normal 9-10 hour work day. Some people exercise in the morning. I exercise in the afternoon and I train HARD. I also train with a GOAL in mind. As a type-A leader, you must have a goal if you are going to train HARD. [Some pastors and leaders have turned to destructive ways to disconnect...I don't need to talk about that, you see it all the time in the church world.]

When I get around to training for the Ironman Race that is one day my ultimate goal, I will have to train twice a day, but for now, the afternoon slot is my disconnect between “WORK” and “HOME”. This is especially critical because I work out of my home.

Besides the disconnect, it gives me the needed energy boost to hang with my family in the evening and allows me to truly rest well. I watch very hard “the quick check of the e-mail or before I know it, I start working again [outside of casual web surfing like reading up on my pathetic Bengals team or a facebook peek]. I also shut the computer usually a few HOURS before I need to go to bed, and I enjoy the evening and begin decompressing.

YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE. No one but YOU can make time to do what YOU need to do in your schedule.

Rick Warren has a mantra I follow:

Divert Daily // Withdraw Weekly // Abandon Annually.

Physical and Spiritual training in our life will help us make it in the long haul.

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4.8

What do you do to disconnect in your life?

No joke. If you are a type A, driven, consumed, passionate leader, if you do not have a true outlet you will die. Your marriage, your family, your ministry, your physical body.

I was 32 when my heart was cathed. And millions of tests later, yes: I had physical damage, but it was brought on by stress. Period. Stress will kill you. Have a mild heart issue, no gall bladder, and digestion issues. All stress-related more than likely.

AND YES!!!!! I had date night, I had family time, I had an assistant, I worked normal work hours and very few nights out, but I had NOTHING to relieve the stress from the 1000 MPH days and weekends [Saturday and Sunday services in multiple campuses].

Finally figured out that I needed not only a weekly and yearly finish line, but a DAILY finish line. Do you have yours?

I now work from 6:30/7:30am to no later than 4:00/5:00pm and then I hit the gym. Currently running my first marathon tomorrow in Las Vegas, and will be training for the Ironman Triathlon [possibly] next fall.

From 4:30-6:00 it is my ritual to either drop my son off at swimming or if my wife does, to head out on my own and instead of sitting there working, dreaming, blogging, e-mailing or reading [NOT A SOURCE OF STRESS RELIEF!] …I hit it hard.

Shut your computer off! I sometimes shut off the internet on my Blackberry so I can’t see e-mail in the evenings, especially when I go to plug it in just before bed and see 10 e-mails awaiting me! I close my eyes, don’t look and shut it off.

For 60-120 minutes a day [4-6 days a week], and for marathon/Triathlon training…hit it for up to 3 hours straight on a weekend [either a tri brick or up to a 20 mile run]. So I don’t miss any family time usually as I walk in the door when my son is done with swimming, which I would have been at anyway…and my life and health have never been better.

Will talk about the WHY later next week. [1 Timothy 4]

WHAT DO YOU DO TO TRULY DISCONNECT EVERY DAY?

I am honored to announce the hiring of One Community Church’s first Youth/Kids Pastor. And the crazy thing is that there is 0 promise of any pay. Just a ton of vision casting and faith. No excuses leaders…let’s get it done in Jesus name and by His power! We are so excited to have Tony and Shanda Simoncini {@tonySimoncini} and their amazing family joining us soon.

Thanks guys for modeling faith that many on read about in the Bible, but never are bold enough to act on! Couple questions for them:

Who the smack are you and your family?:

We are Team Simoncini, Tony, Shanda, Myles (8) and Jillian (2). We are from Mobile Alabama, Tony by way of San Diego California (It’s a long story!) We have been involved in a variety of ministry experiences over the years while working as a mortgage broker and a nurse (Shanda’s the nurse just in case you had some Meet The Parents jokes : )

Why would you move to Utah?

Simple…

Mobile County                   411,000 people                    561 churches    (Current City)

Salt Lake County           1.2 Million People           95 Churches*

Utah County                    550,00 people                    30 churches*

*80% of the churches in Utah are 60 or less people at that! Herriman, UT has o!

Enough Said! The scenery isn’t half bad either!

What moves your heart most here?

I can’t get over the fact of so many people in Utah with so little presence of the church. The body of Christ is needed in Utah and we have responded to the call!

What is Utah like?

Beautiful scenery, lots of sunshine and an outdoor persons greatest fantasy!

What is your vision for youth/kids in the U?

I want to see the youth and kids of Utah realize there is no greater life experience than realizing Jesus loves them and desires to be apart of their lives. We will operate under the philosophy that the youth and children of our culture are the future of the Church and the presence of God in the earth! We hope to cultivate an atmosphere that produces these qualities in our kids…  Celebrate -  Having tons of fun  // Connect  - Seeing kids connect to God and Others // Commit  -Watching them commit their lives to trusting Jesus

How will you be raising support?

We hope to share the vision with as many churches and ministries in the Mobile area as possible and ask them to partner with us on this journey. We also plan to put the opportunity to support the mission into the hands of our family and friends who need to hear about the lack of churches in Utah. [Give on-line @ www.onecommunity.tv]

What are some fears you have?

In general-My life not counting for something… and snakes!

In regards to this particular season and move…

Missing family and friends like crazy! We have built some amazing relationships through the years that will make moving across the country a challenge. We are trusting God with this move and these relationships… BIGTIME!!

Not raising the support we need to supplement income and having to work 50 hours a week just to survive! There are not enough hours in the day to work a fulltime job during the week, concentrate on planting churches, and keeping God and family my priority!

What are you most excited about?

What God is doing in the life of the Simoncini’s. This is a very exciting time for us as we embark on a faith journey without a clear picture of the outcome! For the first time in my life, that actually appeals to me

And, the opportunity to pioneer and plant churches filled with the gospel and spirit of God in places that have very little presence! The more I talk about the amount of people who need to hear the message of the gospel in this area, the more excited and sure of the move I become!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I can’t get enough of watching my kids smile and have fun so we try and make room for this to happen as often as we can. I love to get out of the house and play some golf! And, I love to read books on theology and leadership! Mostly, I love to see my family smile!

Favorite bands?

David Crowder Band, U2, Charlie Hall, One Republic, United

What 3 words describe Chazzdaddy?

Passionate, Faithful, Real

How can we best pray for you?

Hey all! Due to a special partnership with www.316networks.com [thanks guys!] we are able to LIVE STREAM the entire STICKS sessions and some back-stage interviews today.

The entire STICKS SCHEDULE can be found HERE for the main sessions for the next 2 days.

My session will be LIVE on-line at THE STICKS today @ 4.45pm EASTERN TIME. You can go HERE TO WATCH IT! [And all day with the other main sessions and back stage interviews with some small town warriors!!!]

So honored to be a part of this…join us on-line and learn how to DOMINATE YOUR COMMUNITY FOR JESUS!

God gave our team in Ohio a huge vision to reach out like the “big churches” that were rocking it in Jesus name. Not that small is not effective, but I am a Peter kind of leader and want to see 3K saved in 1 day and actually GO INTO ALL THE WORLD.

We invited some people to come to the middle of a cornfield in Ohio to our first plant: NEW HOPE COMMUNITY CHURCH. We wanted to create a place where people could be encouraged, inspired, networked and equipped to live out THEIR calling in THEIR city where GOD had called them. Not COPY us, or any of the speakers, leaders or churches…but their unique calling.

The rest is history. Had it not been for our crazy team of radical at New Hope, THE STICKS would not be anything more than a dream. I didn’t even come up with the name…Kevin Rush did. Our team lived it and brought it hard. Thank you NEW HOPE…you will never know the lives that were and will be changed as a result of that spark that was lit.

Then God sent us to the middle of nowhere in Utah for round two. 25+ cities without 1 church in our backyard alone. Doing both THE STICKS and planting while keeping my God and my family at center stage was not even possible. So we laid it down for a season when a crazy man called me.

His name was Artie Davis. Having the same passion, he asked to take it over and run with it as we planted and focused on Utah. Artie has been blessed with a church of 2K+ in a town of 12,000 in nowhere, SC. He also runs what will be the largest small town church planting network in the country.

And yes again, the rest is history…or more appropriately, is being written. Today I am driving to THE STICKS in South Carolina and this is the last hurrah for me as the main director. As Artie and I navigate the future, I am sure that a perfect role will emerge for me to keep this passion alive while balancing the demands of planting in such a tough place.

I will still be running the coaching network, but the time-consuming task of creating a conference with no money and no staff…those days are over. Thanks Artie for writing some amazing history and keeping the small town passion alive and blazing.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do this week. It will be an amazing 2 days and lives will be IMPACTED in ways like you have never seen in your life. THANK YOU JESUS for your call in my life and for allowing me to be a small part of raising up YOUR Kingdom. That’s always what it has been about, if you really knew me.

See you in nowhere, SC…because we are a tribe who goes where nowhere else wants to go…and we are more than passionate about that.

The title says it all. If you need perspective…check out this short story. Thanks to Mike Foster and the POTSC blog.

Check out the story HERE.

I’m not. [At this point.]

I am trying to get them [and my family] to just have dinner 1-2 times a month with their neighbors or co-workers and not even have to talk about Jesus.

That would be a bigger win right now than teaching them to share the 4 spiritual laws.

Actually, that would be a HUGE win for our church planting team AND the Kingdom.

I am trying to bring the TANGIBLE KINGDOM PRIMER to life in our part of the Kingdom with our launch team. Thoughts?

This is probably the only blog post today not trying to relate the Chilean mine rescue to our lives…but hey, what the heck.

Many of you feel this way…trapped, but you won’t talk about it. I received this e-mail recently and have changed details to protect their identity:

______________________________

“Just wanted to let you know that I recently found your blog and have
visited The Sticks website and have been really encouraged by it. We (our
team) planted a church in _________ (smaller community of 65K in the middle of nowhere) ____  yrs ago. Although we’ve had some amazing God stories, our team has really been struggling lately because we just can’t seem to gain momentum in terms of numerical growth. In fact, we just sent out ________ mailers and had 1 person respond
(that’s a 0.01% response rate). Ouch.

Anyway, I love what you guys are doing. Sometimes I fantasize about
planting a church in ____________, where I often think it
would be a little easier to at least attract folks. But the reality is
that I feel called to plant churches in the ___________, where it’s
tougher to grow churches.

I guess I’m ranting, but I would be interested in your network and such.
Let me know what that might look like, other than The Sticks Conference,
which I’ve already researched online.

______________________________

If you want to know why we at THE STICKS do what we do…it is because we talk to pastors like this. This is not a commercial out of someone’s pain…but if you are in a small town or hard to reach place…you have to join us on November 9-10.

We still have a few free tickets donated. Use PROMO CODE [OK] @ www.thesticks.tv Or if you are interested in our coaching network, e-mail me: charles@onecommunity.tv

And please…don’t give up. Don’t give in. Don’t listen to the lie. Please pray for this pastor who is our brother and his team. I know how they feel, and so do many of you. We hurt with you, and one day will rejoice with you just the same! We too have gone where no one else would dare to go, to do what no one else would dare to do.

Jesus chose Nazareth…a podunk, small town. Guess we are in good company.