Down in Front
Over the summer I had the amazing opportunity to be able to go to Hawaii and visit my daughter and son-in-law with my wife. While we were there, we were able to go to the Van Gogh Exhibit at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. It was really an amazing immersion into Van Gogh’s life story, quotes, and his art. The art that was projected on the ceiling high walls was breathtaking, they were intertwined with the classic and French music. For me all I could do was just stand in the midst of it all and hold my wife’s hand and stare with wide open eyes taking it all in.
But I have to be honest it was not the art and it was not the music that moved me to tears. It was the down syndrome man. As we moved to the center of the exhibit, I noticed an elderly woman that was sitting in her wheel chair staring at the moving walls of color and art with her hand being held by her adult down syndrome son. As we stepped behind where they were sitting, we again were drawn back into the exhibit and we were engulfed in the moment of being with family as we took pictures of each other and the moving walls of art.
It was when the music changed, movement caught the corner of my eye. It was the grown down syndrome man dancing, dancing before his mom, and in front of the walls of art. It was inspiring. It was moving. It was emotional. As I watched this man dance and move, I began to feel the tears well up in my eyes. This man in this moment didn’t care about what people thought, whether it was the right thing or not, if he was good or not. He was dancing and enjoying the moment being lost in the music and the art.
It made me think, is this what King David felt like when he danced before God? Was he so lost in who he was dancing for, and while the music was playing, was just he lost in the moment?
2 Samuel 6:14 (NLT) 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.
This man at the Van Gogh exhibit danced and enjoyed the moment and he may never know the impact that he had on me in that moment. Because right there and then I was reminded that it doesn’t matter who is watching and it doesn’t matter where you are. Just get lost in the moment.
Create Culture, Carry It, or Kill It!
Today there is a lot of talk about creating culture, mission, and values. This is a conversation that is going on when it comes to corporate culture, church culture, and even in our homes. I hear speaker after speaker ask, “What kind of culture are you trying to create?” Which I think is a great question to be asking because creating culture is important but, I have to be honest there are some things that I have recently been noticing when it comes to the area of culture.
First, there is the area of creating culture. I have been attending a gym for the last three years five days a week that is open twenty-four hours a day. But I won’t mention any names. They have created an amazing culture for what it is that they do. But what I have been watching is that the culture that was created or has been given to the organization is not being transferred. I have the privilege of attending this gym as well as know people that have been on staff at this gym. So I am not speaking from a one-sided perspective. But the culture that was created is a great one. But there is a disconnect from the creation of the culture to the carriers of the culture. Which causes me to wonder if there is someone that is in the organization that is creating a culture without a realistic understanding of what this culture looks like away from their control? Which leads me too.
Second, the carrying of culture. I know what the culture is supposed to look like but that culture is not being carried out in real time. I have watched lead staff in this organization do things that are directly in conflict with the culture of the organization. I mean this organization actually plays video reminders on the hour about part of their culture and STILL the staff as I have watched ignores this part of their culture. To the point that I have actually asked an individual that works there if they think the video reminders are important to which they responded by saying, “Oh, they are very important so that we can stay on point.” Which leads me too.
Third, the killing of culture. When there is a culture that is being implemented and is being handed off to others to carry if the carriers are not convinced or convicted of the culture their action or lack of action will KILL the culture. I know that sounds drastic but it is the truth. From watching for several years now is that when the staff of the organization is not carrying the culture than the people that are involved in the organization as a customer or client or member is not going to carry the culture and that is going to kill it. Which is what is happening at this particular organization, the whole team clean has been killed.
But I don’t want to be the guy that just bashes something and doesn’t give you an alternative. (Jon Gordon, bring solutions not just problems.) I believe that there are a couple of places that are doing an amazing job of creating a culture and then enabling others to carry it in ways that are crystalizing that culture it for both the staff and the client. Here are some organizations that I think you should check out along with some books that I believe are helpful when it comes to culture.
- Be Our Guest from Disney – Come on their culture is one that is worth modeling and learning.
- The “All Blacks” New Zealand Rugby team – The winningest sports team in the whole world. They have a culture that is amazing and it starts in their locker room. Check out the book, “Legacy – What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life” by James Kerr.
- “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon – A book that is about creating a culture of positive and yes in a world of negative and NO. (One of my favorite authors so this is a given.)
- “Peloton” – Changing the way you workout through technology and community.
I want to hear of an organization that you think is doing an amazing job at creating and carrying culture. Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Join the Youtube Universe
What do you do when you want to make a difference in the lives of people? You try everything possible to communicate with them and give them opportunities to know and grow. So I have taken the challenge to start a Youtube Channel. I have already shot the first video and the plan is to add one or two videos per week.
That means I need your help. For everyone that is following this Blog I want to encourage you to do two things. First, go and subscribe to the Youtube Channel (CLICK HERE) Second, I am going to ask that you share the Youtube video on anything that you have as far as social media. That means Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, text messaging and smoke signals. (Not really you can’t link to that.)
The hope is that we can have both the blog and then the Youtube Channel work together to make a difference in people’s lives. If you do share the channel, make sure you email me a screenshot and for those that do, I will make sure you get a special gift. You can email me at scott.bloyer@elevaitoncc.com have a great week and let’s help people crash through the barriers that they are experiencing in life.
What would be some topics that you think would be good to cover on the channel and the blog? Leave a comment!
Dare U 2 Dad
So starting in the month of February I am going to be recording once a month a podcast for dads. Single dads, married dads, divorced dads, future dads, empty nest dads, and mentor dads of kids in your community. So once that I have the podcast location and have the logo I will be posting the information for you start tuning in. But what I want to do is invite you to share with me here in the comments section any questions that you might have about being a dad. It is my hope that we can together discover and recover some of the amazing things that are to be done as a dad with and for our kids.
List below any questions or thought that you think would be good to cover on a podcast for dads. Because we are going to Dare U 2 Dad!
Celebration Matters
We see celebrations happen every weekend. We see football players soak their coaches after a big win. We see college fans rush the court after their basketball team accomplishes a big win. Soccer fans will line the streets of their cities after there is a win at the World Cup. Businesses have a salesman ring a bell once they have made a sale. (Watched this when my daughter bought her first car.) So why is it that the church community does this so poorly? Why is that celebration has been reduced to a simple AMEN? Why is it that when we see God do something amazing in the lives of people that we keep it quiet? Why is it that when the church team accomplishes something together we receive grief from other followers of Jesus for sharing and celebrating?
Well one of the things that I have learned over the last five years of starting a church is that CELEBRATION matters. That is right we need to celebrate more of the things that are happening in and through our church teams. This last weekend some people at Elevation chose to celebrate a great day at Elevation where 15 people said, “Yes to a relationship with Jesus” by dumping confetti over my head. (Thank you for not using Gatorade) over the top of my head. It was something that was really awesome! I was touched as the pastor of Elevation to celebrate what had happened in our church. We all know that God is the one that made the life change happen. But the people (Wendy & Marissa) chose to celebrate that day by doing something that we see every week in sports. We had people watching that were just checking out Jesus and His church, they all cheered and laughed. But then it created conversations about why that happened. We all were able to share with them that we were celebrating what Jesus is doing in the lives of people. To which one man that I talked with said, “I love that you guys have fun celebrating! I have never seen this in a church before.” To which I thought, WHY?
Maybe this week I can challenge you to think about how you celebrate. Maybe it is celebrating something in your marriage. Maybe it is celebrating something that has happened in your kids lives. Maybe it is celebrating something that has happened in your work. Maybe if you are a church volunteer or leader celebrating something in your church. We can throw parties, give gifts, send thank you’s, and maybe dump confetti over someone’s head. But let’s take the challenge this week what and how we celebrate.
Christmas Eve Hurt
Last week we celebrated Christmas all over the world and for many people that meant going to Christmas Eve church services. As a pastor of a church I often think about how important that these services can be for people that during the season will come and check out church. I mean if you are involved with volunteering at a church or on staff you have probably seen the investment that comes with getting ready for Christmas Eve. There are decorations, there is lighting, there is sound, the right songs, cookies, people dressed up for Christmas, and stuff for the kids. All of these things are not bad and they can be important for what you are doing at Christmas time. But this year I saw something that has challenged and changed my heart.
You see this year as we were all getting ready that night for Christmas Eve services at our church in Aurora. There were things that really caught my attention you see we had some places that didn’t have enough volunteers, there were some places that didn’t have the right volunteers, heck can I be honest there were places that didn’t have any volunteers. So as I was trying to figure out how to handle the volunteer issue I do what so many other pastors do in this case, I voluntold my son to help me out. Which he did with out a question, ok maybe with one question. Why? I told him that he is in the best place to make a difference during our Christmas Eve services. These words were so true, more than I would have ever known.
You see we had a man show up right about the time I was getting ready to go on stage to speak that was high and very drunk. We do live in CO so the high part is never a shock but the drunk part well that was hard for us all to see. So I as walked on stage I saw one of our elders, my son along and his college friend start to deal with this man. At least that is what I thought.
The truth of the matter is that they took some amazing time to care for this man. What my son shared with me was that this man had just walked in because he saw all the people walking in and heard the music. He told my son that he was feeling lost and so lonely that he thought I might as well walk in there. My son, his friend, and our elder gave him something to eat (cookies are important), then gave him a cup of coffee, and talked with him. Even helped him walk into the auditorium for a chance to hear silent night and watch the candles being lit, after he had fallen twice just trying to sit in a chair in our lobby area.
So when the service was over I came out to meet people and make sure everything was going ok. Well the man had wanted to go have a smoke in the parking lot (nothing new at this church), so my son and his friend went with him. Out there he shared with my son that he had been smoking weed all day and had been drinking with different people he knew all day. That he was lonely and just hurting. Then my son told me the man then proceeded to vomit up the cookies and the coffee. All the while my son stood with him and made sure that he was ok, even patting him on the back as he got sick. The man being very embarrassed, put out his smoke, hugged my son said thank you for listening and caring then walked away towards the street. My son and his friend followed the man to the street making sure that he was safe as he disappeared up the street into the darkness.
My son came back and told me how bad he felt for that man and that he was sorry that they couldn’t have done more.
To be honest as a father and pastor I have never been more proud of my son, our elder, and his friend. Because the truth of the matter is that in many other places and yes churches this man would have been seen as a problem and a nuisance. But on this Christmas Eve he was cared for he was fed and he was invited in to see and hear about the birth of Jesus. So what challenged and changed for me this Christmas Eve? I have always thought about making sure that we are prepared for the people that are coming to check out church. But in all honesty I have never thought about the people that might literally stumble into our church. So it challenged me to start thinking about the people that stumble in that are in need for something other then a church service, especially on Christmas Eve. It has changed me because as I stood on the stage and talked about how the shepherds that came and found Jesus were the outsiders in the community. We had the exact same thing going on right in our lobby. It has changed me because I want us to think about how we can have Christmas Eve services for those that are high, stumbling drunk, and lonely this next year. It changed me because of what an amazing man my son has become and how he cares for the people that no one else wants to care for in this world. It changed me because the elder of our church could have really been more worried about getting the guy out of the building instead of caring for him. He cared for him. It changed me because my sons friend who I know is struggling with the question of faith watched faith in action.
If this would have happened at your church how do you think people would have responded? What can you do next Christmas Eve to make sure that your community of faith is ready for the high, the stumbling drunk, and the lonely that might show up?
Advance The Line
At Elevation on October 6th we celebrated our Third Anniversary as a church in Aurora. It was a great day where we talked about what has happened in the life and people of Elevation and what is going to come. It is on that day we revealed the “Advance The Line” campaign. We are preparing and planning to engage 1000 people in the next year. It is a goal that is way above any thing that we could possibly do on our own and is only going to happen because God shows up. Much like when Gideon went into battle, with only a kazoo and a flashlight. (My twist to the story.)
So what does “Advance The Line” mean. When a battle is being fought there is always a line that is to be crossed. That when men used to fight they would draw a line in the sand and then they would be asked to tow the line. The line is a figurative way for us to remember that the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing. (Matthew 11:12)
Here is what the “Advance The Line” campaign looks like and then how you can help to be a part of this advancing line:
- The development of storefront or warehouse property where Elevation can be seen as permanent in the community. Unfortunately there are too many church starts that are coming and going in Aurora and people are noticing, especially people that don’t go to church. (Why should I go to your church? You won’t be here in a year any way.)
- We are going to plant a Spanish speaking campus right along with Elevation. We are going to call it Elevation Espanol and it is going to work in conjunction with Elevation to engage people so they experience life change in Jesus. There are currently 70,000 documented Spanish speaking people in Aurora and approximately another 50,000 undocumented Spanish speaking people. They all need to hear about the radical grace of Jesus.
- We want to reach students and their families in a new way. So we are along with the help of another church in the state going to start a driving school. If you want to reach people that no one else is reaching you need to do things that no one else is doing. (Don’t know who said that.)
- It is our hope to have an inflatables business where we are involved in the parties and events of the community. We have already been blessed by a church that is given us four inflatables. We hope to call this business “E-flatables” and use this business to spend time and develop relationships with people all around the city.
- Then finally have in the campaign to begin the process of having a fitness gym. Our hope is to call it “Elevation Fitness”. We want to let people know that we care about them physically, mentally, and spiritually. All with the hope of building a bridge through a relationship with people so they can experience life change in Jesus.
This is the “Advance The Line” campaign and it is an audacious and huge plan to engage people so they experience life change in Jesus. It is our hope that not only will we be able to reach people but that we will see God move through this in such a way that we can help other church planters and plants see the possibilities of reaching people this way. But we are raising support to get all this going. So if you are reading this and this is something that you are interested in supporting financially then here is how you can do that. You can click on the link ADVANCE and it will enable you to give online to the “Advance The Line” campaign. If you would like more information on this courageous endeavor then please feel free to email me here scott.bloyer@elevationcc.com I would love to share with you more.
What are some things that you are praying about doing that is going to “Advance The Line” where you are living?
Rocktober Music Video Contest
One of the things that we like to do at Elevation is give things away. We also like to challenge creative people to do creative things. So at Elevation this month we are inviting bands and performers to make music videos and share those with us for cash prizes. I would like to encourage you to share with others this website so that they can send us a video for this contest. (Rocktober)
But if you want to really see something that we hope will get you to laughing and encourage others to get in the contest watch the video below. We are ready to ROCK!
“Have a ROCKING good day!” Garth.
Friday is here but Sunday is coming!
Here is a great way that a very creative person put together thoughts about today. Today is the day that Jesus gave His life for us. A day that has changed my life forever, how about you?
Remember life is not about waiting for a funeral but living everyday as it is a PARTY!
Superbowl Sunday
Hey guys and gals let’s take a few moments and let everyone know who you think is going to win the Superbowl.
Do you need encouragement?
Ever have one of those days where you just wish some one would acknowledge that you are doing a good job at whatever it is your doing that day? I mean maybe if you are a stay at home mom, that your husband or kids would just tell you that you are doing awesome and that they love their home. Wouldn’t that be nice? I mean how about husbands that work away from home and are gone for a couple of days, that when you get home you hear from your wife and kids that they missed you and want to be with you. Instead, you get the list of broken things in the home and dad you promised to take me to the store. Don’t you want to be encouraged? How about for those high school and middle school students that are taking on the world in school. That when you get home you hear that you were missed and that is there anything that your parents could do for you while you do the 12 million hours of home work. But instead you hear about the chores that aren’t done or about how you missed one thing on the project and it wasn’t the grade that your parents had hoped for in that class. Don’t you want more encouragement?
I recently was sitting and working away and was kind of having one of those days, where I just wanted to hear I was doing a good job. That things were going well and that even though my emotions were getting the better of me, that God is the one in charge I am not, and today was better than I thought. When I looked up at the huge wipe board in my office and saw this:
Morgan making her dad's day!
There she left me a little note just telling me she loved me. What a great reminder and an encouragement to me. It made the rest of my day just hinking about how my “favorite youngest daughter” loved me. Maybe that is what you need to hear too? Maybe you need to know that from not just the people around you but from God himself. You see God being the great dad that He is even knew that was important. Look at what he said to His son:
Matthew 3:17 (NLT) “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy.”
Guess what you are His kid and you too bring Him joy. So even if you can’t see it on the wipe board in your office know that God loves you and He wants you to lean into Him and hear I Love you, your doing a good job.
Hope that you are encouraged! Maybe this is something you need to share with someone else? Go encourage someone, maybe on their wipe board.
Christmas Eve Gatherings at Elevation
Share this with the people you want to invite to Elevation Christmas Eve
Just wanted to be able to share with you the tickets that we had made for Christmas Eve Gatherings at Elevation Christian Church. I know that this is a chance for you to invite people. We are going to have a great time with weekend at 4:30PM and 6:00PM. www.elevationcc.com
5 Days of Twittermas
As we head into the final week before Christmas we want to be a team and a church that is living a generous life. So we have come up with the idea of 5 days of Twittermas. From Tuesday Decemeber 20th until Saturday Christmas Eve December 24th we will be twittering where you can pick-up gift cards to different places through out Aurora, CO. We will take a picture and then twitter the picture as well as where we are placing the gift card for who ever is the first one to get there. It is a special way that we want to share the Christmas Season with people all over Aurora, CO. So if you are going to participate in the 5 Days of Twittermas then you need to go and follow @Elevationcc on Twitter.
It is the time to give and give generously.
UFC Fighting and Man
Here is a unique video where Pastor Mark Driscoll talks about MMA and how it equates to the everyday man. If you know me at all then you know exactly what I think about what Pastor Mark says. But I am curious to what some of you think. Share your thoughts and comments below.
Creative Crisis
Over the last couple of months I had really had trouble being creative. I was spending more and more time going what am I going to do? How am I going to present this? What is something that will enable people to have fun and get caught? I was even just trying to make sure that I was just getting the simple things done. I was in a bad state when it came to being able to think or act creative. But then I was given some great help from the people who work alongside me at Elevation.
It started with finding out all of the things that I was doing on a regular basis. Then it was seeing the things that I needed to be able to hand off to other people. Then the process began where things were being taken off my plate. This is what I specifically heard about my life, “A Creative Crisis comes from a claustrophobic condition.” I had allowed my laugh to become so claustrophobic with the things in my life that I was then in a creative crisis. No what happens in this crisis? I had so much noise going on that I was unable to hear what God was teaching me and telling me. Maybe you are in the same place. Maybe you are having a creative crisis in your marriage, maybe it is a creative crisis in your school work, your job, your time. It is because maybe you are doing so much that you are unable to get creative. So I encourage you to build more margin in your life. I encourage you to realize that there are things in your life that you can either stop doing or enable others to do with you or EVEN for you.
What is causing the “claustrophobic condition” in your life? I ask you to pray and ask someone who you trust, a lifting partner on what you need to change. I also know that there are some of you going I don’t need to do this, well then ask your wife, your husband, how about your kids. I know that they will tell you.
This Weekend at Elevation
I am so excited that this weekend we are having some very special and awesome people share their story during our services at Elevation Christian Church in Aurora, CO. You are not going to want to miss hearing all that has happend in their life and thier marriage over the last year. So with that we are finishing up our series called “I Want A New Marriage” and we want to do something special. We want to make sure that we are not just a church that talks a good game but really puts our money where are mouth is when it comes to enabling people to experience life change. So this weekend during our services we are going to give away a “NIGHT OUT” we have purchased meals and a movie tickets for two lucky people that come this weekend. The meals are for Chili’s, On The Border, Macaroni Grill, or Maggiano’s. The movie theatres are Regal Cinemas, United Artist Theatres, and Edwards Theatres.
We have been talking about making sure that we are loving and caring for the people in our lives. We know that right now for people it can be a huge financial burden just to be able to afford to go out. Well now that is not going to be an issue because we have taken care of that for you. Who knows maybe we could talk Ryan Graham into being your driver. (That is a joke, not happening) Make sure that you get to one of our services this weekend at 9:00 & 10:30AM at Dalton Elementary School in Aurora, CO. If you are a really nice friend you might even invite them to come with you so that they have a chance at winning as well.
True Grit
Last week my wife and I went on our Thursday night date and we chose to go to see the movie True Grit. I was excited to see this movie because I remember the original with John Wayne as a kid because my dad is an older movie fanatic. But I knew that the story was going to be a little different because this one was to be more like the book then the previous film. I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie it was a great time most importantly with my wife.
But there was a particular scene that really stuck with me and I have yet to really shake it. It is where the character Rooster Cogburn is explaining to the character Maddie Ross about an encounter where he had to go up against four guys by himself. In the conversation he said that he put the reigns in his teeth and pulled both pistols and went at them. (Which is the iconic scene of John Wayne) But he goes on to say that he did it because he knew that if he attacked them first and went after them they would be confused and would run and he would be able to beat them.
I have been thinking ever since last Thursday that this should be the way that we live our lives as followers of Jesus. We should be constantly taking on the enemy and not backing down. We should be the ones that are going after the enemy and causing him to have to back down. Not because we are stupid but because of Jesus we know that we don’t go alone. We will always have the power of the living God in us as we go. As followers of Jesus Christ we should be known for our TRUE GRIT.
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor!
Ok, I just had to put this video on the BLOG because I think it is hilarious. Tyler and I watched this and just laughed. One because of the song and two what is happening in the video. This is what we want to see everyday at Elevation! (APRIL FOOLS DAY)
Special St. Pat’s Day Video
Since many of you shared how much you enjoyed the first video that Tyler made. He has chosen to bring you some more for St. Pat’s Day. I hope that you enjoy his video as much he enjoyed making it for you. This is another creative opportunity for me to really be proud of my kids and the way that they use their abilities. This one is really fun! Enjoy.
What a story!
We met Nick Vuijic several years ago in Arizona and what a meeting it was. He came and spoke to the students at the church that we were working with at the time. He shared the amazing story of what God has done in his life and how he had given a great chance to share with people about who Jesus is in his life. Take a look at this short video of an amazing man.
Facebook a Faith Feature
Ok I get a hard time from lots of people about being on Facebook to much. Well I have to be honest I am facebook through my phone and I love being able to do it. In fact I think that this is a great opportunity in this day and age to be able to share life with people all over the place. It is an opportunity to not only talk about life but how faith and your life meet.
It is an awesome place to be not just a fake person but a real person that walks through life in faith. The question that I have is what are the ways that are you using Facebook to reach people with the gospel? How are you using a great tool to let people now about what God is doing in your life? If you are not what can you be doing? There is nothing holding us back but our lack of creativity.
Emergency Video Post
Here is one of the best youtube videos that I have seen all year enjoy and Merry Christmas.
Even Santa can get to Jack – How about you?
"Psycho for Jesus" Scott Bloyer 