My Big News!

On Sunday, we announced that at the end of January, my time at Journey Fellowship will be ending. Over the last two years, I have been incredibly blessed to serve with an incredible team, and watch God grow a church.

I could go on and on about the huge things that have gone on in my time at JF. Good times with the high schoolers, two Church Has Left the Building events and the Sunday Night gathering, just to name a few. We tried a lot of new things. Some worked better than others. But I truly believe, that in it all, God was glorified.

Of all the big things over the last two year, the most important is what God has done in me. When I came to Journey, I was broken down and depressed. I was surrounded by people who believed in me, supported me, and comforted me. At the same time, I was humbled by successes that were beyond my power, and failures that resulted from my pride. My time at Journey has rebuilt me, shown me what I'm good at, and prepared me for what God has next.

Many of you are probably wondering what's next. Well, so am I. Stay tuned.

Learning to lean

Right now I'm learning to not just lean on, and lean into God. Leaning on God is like using him as a proof that you are right. Leaning into is much scarier.

I'm not exactly sure where God is taking me, but, what's becoming abundantly clear is my need to fully rely on him. I heard Dallas Willard say that the problem with our theology is that we trust God for our salvation but not for our next sandwich.

Leaning into God is like standing on a cliff during a windstorm, and leaning forward, trusting that you won't fall. What I'm learning is that if we believe God is God, we must expect and rely on him for everything. We must lean off the cliff, and trust that he loves us too much to let us fall.

What does your church do well?

In my current church, we've got some limitations based on our organizational structure. One area we are not limited in is creating a setting. The first time I walked in as a visitor, I said to myself "this is a place of peace." The room is dark and candle lit. While we have chairs, we also have round tables and couches. When you walk in, you go through our coffee car, and then into the worship center. The purpose of all of this is to make someone, especially those with little, or bad church experience, feel at home.

Good to Great taught us the importance of determining what it is that you can be best in the world at. Do you have great worship leaders? Great small groups? The best Sunday school teacher in the world? A passion for the at-risk students in your neighborhood? A unique demographic?

For us, we are the best in the world at creating a setting. What is it for you?

Why I Love "Your Mother"

I recently caught up on season 4 of How I Met Your Mother. I love this sitcom in a way that I have loved no other sitcom before. And I think there are a few things we can learn from it.

1. Have an overarching narrative. What keeps HIMYM from being a rehash of Cheers, Friends and Scrubs, is how the entire show is framed in an overarching narrative. The story is building and the characters are changing. In Churches, it's easy to get lost in teaching "biblical principles," and forget that we are part of the great drama of all time. In our own lives, it's easy to get caught in the day to day hassles, and forget where we're headed.
2. Culture views sex as a commodity. The two most common commodities in HIMYM are sex and alcohol. Episodes revolve around one character sleeping with the other. Sex is something that is bartered, that has little value. An entire episode is built around insulting Marshall for believing that sex should be tied into love. Sex's utter lack of sanctity and value is ironic, since the show is based on Ted's search for true love.
3. Flaws increase authenticity. The characters are very flawed. Lilly is a compulsive spender and Barney is arrogant. But it's their flaws that make them seem more like people I know than characters on TV.
   
4. Friends are the new family. The five friends are so close that they refer to each other as brother and sister. The American family has changed, and how we reach that family, and surround them in Christian community must change as well.
   

What Are You Good At?

It's a question I've been getting a lot lately, and I've been surprised that it's often hard to come up with an answer. Knowing the answer is an essential step to knowing who you are, and who you are not. Which is a key toward pretty much everything else, such as finding the right job, right spouse, growing as an individual. Not to mention, it just makes you feel good, when you know you do things well.


The things we are good at come so naturally that we don't think about them. Little do we know, others are watching over our shoulders, thinking "how does he do it?!" To be good at something means:

• You've done it a lot.
• You enjoy doing it so much, you are willing to work at it.
• Others recognize that you do it well.

The last part is the key. Something you like to do, but others do not recognize that you do it well, is more likely a hobby.

Here's some questions I've reflected on to figure out what I'm good at:

1. What did you naturally do when you were a kid?
2. When you have free time, what is it that you want to do?
3. What tasks at work or among your friends always get delegated to you?
4. What have been your biggest successes?
5. What do other people say you are good at?

My answers include: Writing, making new friends, teaching, singing, and various creative endeavors. What are you good at?

Hello Wordpress!

You can now find a new and improved version of my blog at chrismorton.info! The main change you will see is a new focus. Every week, you'll find posts on these four topics: God, Life, Church and Culture.

There are also new features:

• Fund layout powered by Wordpress.
• Twitter bar.
  
• More about me, including a bio and my resume.
• Examples of some work I've graphic and video work I've done.
• Booking and contact information.

Check it out at chrismorton.info!

Time + Talent = Treasure

If someone were to look at my life, here's what they'd see me spend my time on in the average week:

• 56 hours sleeping
• 30-35 hours a week in the office
• 10-15 hours listening to podcasts/audiobooks
• 7-10 hours surfing the internet/social networking sites
• 7-10 hours of prayer/bible
• 6-10 hours with friends.
• 5-10 hours non-office related work
• 5-8 hours watching TV/Movies
• 7-12 hours eating
  
• 4-8 hours exercizing
• 5 hours reading
• 3-5 hours networking relationships
  
• 3-5 hours with my small group
  
• 2-5 hours writing
  
• 2-4 hours reading blogs

I can't say I'm happy with the results of this little exercise. Where is your treasure?

What movies have you seen this holiday season?

This year I was pretty overwhelmed by the number of interesting looking movies. Limited budget led me to just pick one.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a beautiful movie. It was great to see CGI and incredible makeup used for drama and not just science fiction. Cate Blanchett (best acress of a generation?) is fantastic as always. I'm a huge Brad Pitt fan, but I felt a bit underwhelmed by his performance. It was a poignant reminder of the inevitability of old age and death. It captured the last American century in the way that Forrest Gump did, but without the charm.

Next on my list is Slumdog Millionaire. Then it's probably back to Blockbuster for awhile.

What holiday movies did you see?

Dr. Horrible's Got a Point

In Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog he explains his desire to rule the world. Penny, the girl of his dreams, approaches him about helping the homeless. He explains that helping homeless is great, but homelessness is only a symptom of the disease. He says the fish rots from the head, and humanity needs to be completely rearranged.

Now, while I don't have a deep yearning to takeover the world, I do understand the struggle between treating the symptom and treating the disease. Symptoms are easy to identify and complain about. Often, they are also easy to cover over and ignore. However, this only allows the disease to go unchecked. Symptoms must be addressed, but the disease has to be treated.

What are the diseases in your world? Some of mine are chronic disorganization and failed relationships. Now, in order to treat the symptom I need to buy a planner and sign up for some on-line dating service. Symptoms cause a lot of pain, so you shouldn't pretend to ignore them.

But the true problems- a life time of bad habits and procrastination, lack of teaching in basic organization, struggles to maintain basic friendships, ignorance on how to interact with the opposite sex, not really knowing one's self- those are the source of the disease. Overcoming deep personal problems takes a commitment to the slow, prodding process of change. It takes the humility to seek out help, and to submit to guidance. But in the end, you'll be free of the symptoms, and the disease behind them.

What Goals Have You Set?

It's that time of year. By the time this post comes out, you have probably already taken a stab at your New Years resolution. Hopefully you're succeeding at them.

What are your goals for 2009, and how do you plan to accomplish them? How did you arrive at your goals? For an example of some goals, check out my roommate Trevor's big ideas for 2009. I've been doing a lot of goal setting work recently. Personally, I use Dan Miller's breakdown of 7 areas of life:

1. Spiritual
2. Career
3. Financial
4. Social
5. Family
6. Physical
7. Personal Development

Using these seven areas, I set four benchmarks: immediately, three years, five years, and ten years. I like this because it allows me to think long term, dream big, but also think about immediate steps.

Dave Ferguson of Community Christian Church posted an interesting goal setting exercise here. Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week, doesn't think that setting goals is risky or concrete enough, and he recommends what he calls dreamlining.

What are some of your goals for 2009?