Mark Batterson and Going Primal

I just received Mark Batterson's new book "Primal" as a free gift from him to lead pastors. First of all, that is an admirable thing to do. I believe he gave out thousands; all as a way of saying thanks to pastors. I plan/hope to remain focused enough as we launch Clarity not to loose the roots of personal generosity and kindness. It may sound funny to say that in planting a church you are in danger of losing those core qualities, but I believe it to be true. It's not hard to slip into being a full time minister and a part time follower of Christ... something I NEVER want to be.

"I couldn't help but wonder if we have diluted the truths of Christianity and settled for superficialities... The quest for the lost soul of Christianity begins with rediscovering what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strenth... Think of it as love to the fourth power." - Mark Batterson

Get the book at evotional.com.

Marriage Matters

It has been said, "It is easiest to be a phony follower of Christ at church and it is hardest to be a true follower of Christ at home." This rings very true for me, especially as my family expands now to a wife and little baby girl. As pressure and responsibility increase, it is so important for me to humble myself before my wife and commit to grow. Charisma (not that I have that much) won't get me by in my home life. I am learning that it is essential to put just as much (probably more) energy and effort into my marriage and family as it is any church plant, message, or job.

So if this applies to you too, lets put our focus where our focus ought to be... on the ones that God has entrusted to us and to whom we have made a beautiful covenant in love.

My beautiful wife, Jessica... now the most wonderful mother to our daughter, November.

Some of My Notes

...some of my notes from the last web series video in the "Dead Without You" series called "Rubber Meets Road." View the full message at claritylife.org. (sorry for the wrong lettering and numbering)

1. Religion is the enemy of the gospel....
2. Religion says I obey, therefore I am accepted. Gospel says I am accepted, therefore I obey. Both are trying to conform to the life of Christ, but for two utterly different reasons. They can look very similar.
3. Four distinct differences...

1. How they react to suffering

1. Religion- I must have messed up. Or God owes me, After all, I’m a good tax payer.
2. Gospel- God is allowing this, but I trust Him to work it for good. This is not my home.

1. How they react to criticism

1. Religion- As a religious person I must think of myself as a good person, because after all, I am earning salvation. So criticism hits me hard and personally attacks my effort.
2. Gospel- I am imperfect yet made perfect through Christ. Yes, I stink, but in him, I don’t, and neither do you so lets go.

1. Who’s in control

1. Religion- I am earning this through hard work therefore I have my rights. God can only ask so much of me, after all, this is my life.
2. Gospel- If this gospel is really true, I lose all my rights in him, while gaining a kingly inheritance at the same time, and God can ask anything of me at all!

1. How they view others

1. Religion- Acceptance is based solely on how hard I work, therefore, I must look down on the those I perceive as lazy and/or ineffective. There is an identity factor I’m looking for, maybe rich, maybe good looking, maybe having perfect doctrine or the perfect ideas, maybe being the best, etc. I scoff at all those beneath me.
2. Gospel- Since this is acceptance is a free gift I could never earn, I offer it to others freely without disdain or disapproval.

1. Accept that you are accepted and then work as one who has been given all things freely unto the one who gave it to you!
(Thankful for ideas borrowed from Tim Keller)

Rubber Meets Road

“You’re better off backing a mediocre idea that is brilliantly implemented than a brilliant idea that is badly executed.”

-Georges Doriot (Harvard Business School Director)

In other words.... you could have the best idea in the world, but without good execution, it is worthless. I have been thinking a lot about this truth as we are about to embark on a cross country move in the pursuit of an idea... that is, the Kingdom of God, the love of Jesus, the launch of a new church community, and the shifting of a culture. We could have all the best intentions and still end up accomplishing nothing if we are lazy or lukewarm. We must be obsessed with doing all things with excellence as unto the Lord of the heavens and the earth.

You can view the new video "Rubber Meets Road" and watch the full teaching at claritylife.org.

Check it!

The Humanity of It All

I have heard it said, "Ministry would be great without all the people."

I have also heard that after a long day of dealing with the human condition, one pastor said with a sigh, "I have been peopled."

These statements are very funny and soberingly true. When it comes to reality, we always have to deal with people. Sometimes we have a great vision that seems to only include faceless individuals that have no opinions, do not get offended, always tithe, always have a heart of service, do not stink, are not eccentric, and always have the greater good in mind. That's a church I want to be a part of!

In reality, the closer you get to people, the more you can smell their bad odors.

This does not mean we should throw the whole vision away! It means we must understand that no matter how much we try to be spiritual and Christ-like, there is still a humanity to this thing. The key is that love covers over a multitude of sins. The key is that our salvation is not a product of perfect religious living, but the gospel of grace. The key is that the beauty is in what God raises up from the ashes.

So learn to see past the humanity of it all into the potential of it all!

Dedication and Much More...

Today we dedicated Novi at the Lighthouse with lots of family and most of the Clarity team present! It was so much fun and she was adorable. We also got her on video seriously laughing for the first time.

My wife, my daughter, and I spent a week in LA recently and saw God open huge doors in the SoCal AG District, with some possible housing, with some possible students, with a radio station, and just in general as new Jesus followers in the area. Thanking Him for laying out the steps before us. Also got to hang with Nik Petrakis which was sweet...

Then Ryan Connell and I spent a day with Elevation at the Impart event in Charlotte, NC and loved every minute of it... learned a lot, got a lot of ideas together, and spoke a lot of vision.

Pray for us as we head to Florida this week for meetings and services regarding Clarity. It will be a long and FUN drive with my wife, my baby, my brother, and my sister in law.

Anticipation

When we live according to God's principles with a heart of humility backing it up, we can anticipate God-sized opportunity and provision. Jessica and I, along with the whole Clarity church plant team, are getting dangerously close to the big cross country move to LA. We have many possibilities, with zero certainties... other than the absolute assurance of God's Word.

We often long for a life of risk, adventure, and total trust... but don't want the difficult realities we face when actually taking steps forward. There will be worry that has to be taken captive and turned to trust, there will be fear that has to be taken captive and turned to expectation, and there will be anger that has to be taken captive and turned to compassion.

Jessica, Novi, and I are heading to LA this Saturday to meet with various community leaders that we will be working with. We are also presenting CLARITY to all the SoCal AG pastors... crazy opportunity. Lastly, we are connecting with possible students and networks for the new "Nathan Kollar School of Music."

Pray.

Thank you.

Opportunity Creators

Seth Godin posted this blog about qualities/skills that make us most desirable for employment and or opportunity.

You will never be out of work if you can demonstrably offer one of the following:

• Sales
• Additive effort
• Initiation

Sales speaks for itself. If you can sell enough to cover what you cost and then some, there will always be someone waiting to hire you.

Additive effort is distinguished from bureaucracy or feel-good showing up. Additive effort generates productivity far greater than the overhead you add to the organization. If your skills make the assembly line go twice as fast, or the sales force becomes more effective, or the travel office cuts its costs, then you've produced genuine value. That surly receptionist at the doctor's office--she's just filling a chair.

The third skill is the most difficult to value, but is ultimately the most valuable. If you're the person who can initiate useful action, if you're the one who makes something productive or transformative happen, then smart organizations will treasure you.

Top Ten

From Mark Batterson's Evotional Blog. Worth sharing...

I absolutely loved Chuck Swindoll. Pure wisdom! He shared ten life and leadership lessons.

1. It's lonely to lead
2. It's dangerous to succeed
3. It's hardest at home
4. It's essential to be real
5. It's painful to obey
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary
7. My attitude is more important than my actions
8. Integrity eclipses image
9. God's way is always better than my way
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility

Miracles

Wow. Jessica and I keep getting amazed by the things God is doing. I'm not hyper-super-overly-spiritual... meaning I don't just automatically sum everything up as "God did it," but it's hard to argue with some of these recent events.

One month ago I got a call from the National AG Children's Ministry Director, Jason Noble. They needed a worship team for their regional conference in Baltimore because the team they had cancelled last minute. They offered to cover everything, a great honorarium, and we were able to make it happen.

Well, the event happened this past week. Each band member I brought was also a part of the Clarity church plant team. After our last worship session, Jason, out of nowhere, challenged the attendees to give an offering to send five of our team members to the National Children's Ministry 5 day Conference in March of 2010 in St. Louis. As a result, they gave enough for flights, hotels, and registrations for five of our team members and several thousand extra that will go towards the launch of Clarity kids!!

I think God is getting our attention... and he wants to use us to reach some kids!

Less Crap, More Jesus

Jessica and I had the privilege of leading worship and sharing about Clarity at Ridgewood this past weekend. It was such a great time that was born from a brief meeting five months ago. They have a great vibe and we loved being a part of it. I look forward to a growing relationship with them! Also, while driving, we saw a great billboard that really summed it up... less crap, more Jesus.

Muscle

The human skeleton is perfect for performing the necessary human functions. Walking, lifting, running, pushing, balance, jumping, sitting, pulling, grabbing, hitting, etc. We then build muscle on that skeleton in order to do these things with proper efficiency. Imagine how tragic it would be to build all that muscle on a badly designed skeleton that could not perform the necessary functions. It would be like building your whole life (finances, relationships, career, dreams, priorities, etc.) on a foundation not designed by God. He’s the only one who foresees enough to design the perfect framework for your life to be built on. Without His foundation, you are like a bunch of good muscle being overworked with no results because the skeleton is faulty. Learn his way and go with it.

Surely Goodness

Did music and led worship at Family Life today. They are a community in Penns Valley that just went through a local homicide of a friend and a serious car accident involving their pastor and his family... he broke his collar bone and several ribs.

The song "Surely Goodness" from our Freemont album seemed to mean a lot. It is based on Psalm 23. This is also the song that has been picked up and recorded by Sarah Kelly and will be featured on her 2010 release. Just thought I'd share it with you...

Pastor KR and the congregation were a HUGE blessing to us... even in the midst of all their pain. We were honored to be there and seek God with them in tears.

Soooo Close... Updates

Oh boy... claritylife.org is so close to beginning our new clarity staff blog!!! My brother Josh is kickin butt and getting it all set up right now. This will be a non stop source of great new content, the latest happenings with us in LA, and life changing teaching.

A couple of recent happenings...

JR Mahon came and helped develop our team at Clarity Dev Take 1! We BBQ'd, prayed, worshipped, laughed, and learned tons about life, ministry, and rock and roll in LA! Check him out at www.hollywoodpastor.com.

Jessica and I did music and shared the vision at Mill City AG this morning and had a GREAT response and received wonderful support! Huge thanks to them!

We now have nine committed clarity staff members all moving together in January! What a team! Pray for us and send us cash :) ...for real.

More coming soon...

New Life

Well, I am thrilled that my new baby was born this past Tuesday at 8:01 PM! Her name is November Loren Kollar and we call her Novi for short! She was 7 lbs 14.6 oz 19.5 in long.

I was very involved in the birthing process and was my wife's coach. I have never seen such RESOLVE, DETERMINATION, FOCUS, TOLERANCE of PAIN, and FOLLOW THROUGH than what I saw in my wife, Jessica, who I now call the warrior princess! She was in a battle.

When the contractions got VERY severe and she felt like she was panicking, I would lean in close and coach her... "Stay in control, stay in control, breath in, breath out, you can do it." Every time this happened she would look up with such focus, get in control, and push through it. According to her, it would not have been possible without the coaching.

Today, maybe you feel like the pain and trials of life are just getting too strong and you are panicking. Pause and hear the voice of your heavenly coach saying, "Get in control, I created you on purpose, I have prepared a way for you, I have given you all the tools and power you need in the Word, breath in, breath out, get in control, I love you, You can do it!"