Summer Of Change: Video Venue

I must admit I have never been a huge fan of the video venue idea.  It’s nothing Scriptural or doctrinal…just a personal opinion I suppose.  I’m more of a shepherd type of guy…so personal touch is pretty important to me.  However, I’m also discovering that it is hard to replicate myself as we grow larger…harder to be in two or three places at the same time.  It is also getting harder for me to take a Sunday off.  With those thoughts in mind we wanted to experiment a little with the idea of using video preaching at Compass Point this summer.  The “One Prayer” campaign gave us a prime opportunity.

This past Sunday I was on vacation…and Perry Noble was in my pulpit..via video.  The results…AMAZING!!!  Now don’t get me wrong…it was Perry Noble.  His style and my style of preaching are similar…his church demographics and the demographics at Compass Point are pretty close.  Our people don’t really respond to the “sit-on-the-stool-communicator-teacher” types…they respond to loud, animated, in-your-face preachers…which Perry definitely qualifies!!!

Even though the video was of a preacher much like Compass Point is used to, there were still questions about whether people would listen to the whole thing, respond well to the humor and actively engage someone that was on a screen?  The answer is a resounding “yes“!!!  I have no clue what that means for Compass Point at this point.  It has implications that I can take a Sunday off and still be preaching on campus.  It has implications about having some other video venue pastors fill my pulpit when I’m out.  It has some implications about starting campuses in Dade City, Polk City or Mulberry.  Heck, it may even mean that Compass Point will call for my resignation and ask NewSpring to turn Compass Point into a video venue campus (just kidding Perry…I think).

Over the next few months we will continue experimenting with the video stuff.  To date, Lakeland has never had an official video venue campus…there was much concern whether it would fly in Polk County?!?!  I can’t say that one Sunday of us doing it answers that question totally…but I can say it was a step in a new direction that opens up many possibilities!!!

The Summer Of Change

So I have alluding to it for several weeks now…but Compass Point is going through some changes right now…some big…some subtle…but all necessary. The spring of 2008 was probably the most lucid and growing time I have ever had with God. He put people, experiences and other church leaders in my life that He used to really rock my world. Denise and my baby experience was the final piece in the puzzle…the moment when I realized that there are more important things in life than holding on to what I have. Success is fleeting…it is the climb to the next rung in the ladder that really counts…the desire to constantly be moving forward is the mark of a life fulfilled. A life played safe is anything but “life more abundantly”…a life in the safe zone equals boredom…and boredom really sucks!!!

In the context of Lakeland and our denomination…Compass Point is considered somewhat of a success. In the context of my mind and our calling…there are still new peaks to climb…still new “Petes” to reach…still people in this world far from God needing the ministry of the “loud, rude and obnoxious!” God is leading me…to lead Compass Point…into new valleys…and amazing mountain tops.

I have been listening…learning…and saying that we will move forward “tomorrow”. Then I realized last week…to quote myself…as of today…tomorrow has never come. What has been done is history…what lies ahead is all that matters for Compass Point. As of this past Monday…”tomorrow” finally arrived. “Tomorrow” means a summer of change…new structures…new strategies…new parameters…a new passion…for the same old direction that God initially called Compass Point to when we launched.

Stay tuned…it’s going to be fun…it’s going to be scary…it’s going to be amazing…it’s going to be difficult…it’s going to be outside the box…it’s going to be inside the box…it’s going to be beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s going to be a lot of things…but it will not be boring!!!

In My Gut

What’s in my gut right now?  We’re getting the vessels ready…it’s not easy…in fact it’s a little painful…but it’s just a matter of moments before the oil begins to flow.  I can’t freakin’ wait!!!