Yesterday I was on a date with my freaking hot wife.  It has been a crazy hectic week, and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.  We just really needed some time to stop everything else, hang out, talk, and laugh with each other.

We didn’t go to small group.  I felt really, really bad about it.  Actually, I still feel a little bad.  However, I have been inundated with quotes and articles this week (randomly?) about pastors and leaders guarding their families and relationships.

A tweet from Paul quoting Ben, something Billy used to say (“If you have to cheat, cheat the church. Never cheat your family.”), and then a line I stumbled across yesterday but I don’t really remember where it came from.

You saved the world but lost your family.

For Es and I, one of the best parts about moving to the middle of the country was the idea of being able to slow down, get out of the rush, and just be.  Together.

I don’t want to cheat my wife out of a husband.  I don’t want to sacrifice my bride for God’s.  Unfortunately, it happens way too often.

As pastors, a lot of time we think we are sacrificing ourselves by working ourselves to death.  Especially around big weekends like Easter.  And we think that we will be able to rise back to life after those mega-huge important services are over.  In reality, we are sacrificing our wives and families.  And I think that each time we do this it get’s a little bit harder to resurrect that relationship.  Something stays dead.  A little bit of doubt, a little bit of fear, a little bit of hurt.  A little bit of a wall gets built, because they know it’s going to happen again and they don’t want to be hurt again.

Pastors and churches are my playing field, but maybe yours is banking, music, real estate, or construction.  It can happen anywhere to anyone.

So here is me telling you that I don’t do real great in this area right now, but I’m working on it.

Sorry, babe.

~chris

It used to be that the hardest part about apologizing was…well, apologizing.

I think that the new hardest part about apologizing would probably have more to do with not sending a tweet or writing a blog about “remaining humble,” “admitting mistakes,” or turning it into some sort of egocentric leadership lesson.

Transparency is great and super important, but I’m starting to think that you embellish your mistakes and flaws just to “fit in” with the real people that sit in the seats.

I promise to like, admire, and respect you more if I can just see you love.

~chris

PS: I totally blew it with my wife today. I had to go into her work, apologize, and ask for her forgiveness.  I bet some of you know what I’m talking about…have you ever blow it with somebody you care about in your life? I’ve got three ways that….

It was a good Sunday for the worship team at The Gateway Church with two acoustics and a new vocalist.

I am still trying to build a bridge between the stage and the seats.  We tried setting up the chairs differently, which did help in a few ways, but it’s a work in progress.

The set was:

Hosannah (Praise Is Rising) – Paul Baloche
Your Love Never Fails – Chris McClarney
You Never Let Go – Matt Redman
Your Grace Is Enough – Matt Maher
Invitacion Fountain – Michael Pritzl

I am still using the Ellis Stompbox, and actually getting a lot more comfortable with it.  I’ve also been able to connect with a few more local musicians and hopefully the band will be expanding soon.

One thing I keep having to tell myself is that we are still three weeks in to the launch of this church, so as long as we are sowing the right seed, the harvest will come in due time.  This note is just for myself

~chris

(This post is part of Fred McKinnons Sunday Set List Festivities.)

We all have different abilities, skills, knowledge, and areas of expertise.

We all have different relationships with friends, family, co-workers, artists, baristas, and celebrities.

We all have different dreams, goals, desires, and passions.

We all have different things that keep us awake at night, that make us dream during the day, and make our heart both soar and break at the same time.

And we all have currency.

It’s not necessarily money.  It could be a connection, a microphone, a relationship, a magazine article, a wall covered in graffiti, a movie, a design, a song, a doggy-bag full of leftovers, a shoulder to cry on, or an open conversation.

You can choose to waste your currency, or you can spend it on things that matter.

You can choose to hoard your currency, or you can give it away for those that are in need.

Bono, as ‘played out’ as he is, spends his currency wisely.

Chris Martin, as ‘played out’ as he is, spends his currency wisely.

And now The Killers have decided to spend their currency wisely.

Here is an incredible video by a band that is extremely popular right now.

The video starts off like a typical love story / make out video, but quickly takes a turn.

I hope you and I are using our currency wisely.  We don’t have to be famous or rich…we just have to do the right things with what we are given.

~c

This week at The Gateway Church there was quite a few of our core team members gone for various reasons.  A lot of the tech team, some of the worship team, and other people from different teams.  The amazing thing is that it still went extremely well and super smoothly.

The set this week was:

Salvation is Here – United
For Who You Are – Hillsong
Mighty to Save – Hillsong
How Great is Our God – Chris Tomlin
Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) – Paul Baloche

Instrumentation this week was pretty stripped back.  It was just myself on acoustic guitar, and a guy that I haven’t been able to play with yet, Ricky, on percussion.  It was so good to play with percussion again, and Ricky is a really talented drummer.

We had him set up with a djembe and I also had him use my Ellis stompbox for that driving bass.  I think that it sounded great, and all gelled together really well.  (I’ll probably write a blog about the stompbox another time.  It’s pretty incredible, and I have a lot of thoughts about it.)

I am still feeling out the room, and also the people that come into the room.  It’s just our second week so a lot of people are still first-timers or relatively new.  I think everyone is getting more comfortable with each other, and I am trying to keep things as simple as possible to avoid giving any reasons to not participate and get involved.

I have some other things coming down the line too, as far as deepening our worship experiences and time together.  I’ll write more about that later though.

~chris

(This post is part of Fred McKinnons Sunday Set List extravaganza.)

This one’s for all of you that have a case of the Mondays.

Quick on the heels of my post from a couple weeks ago about the 100 famous movie lines is this video.

Pretty radical, if I do say so myself.  (And I do.)

~chris

Wow.

While trying to express my feelings about this past Sunday I find myself confused about where to start.

I could go into so many different aspects of things that happened, conversations that took place, and people that connected.  Let me just keep it really simple though.

We had over 200 people out.  I think 204 was the exact number.

There was an incredible energy in the room.  You could tell there was a ton of anticipation from the launch team and also the first time guests – everyone on the edge of their seats to see what God would do.

Everything went incredible smoothly.  There were ZERO tech glitches, not one kid bit another kid, plenty of coffee, everything was set up and in place on time, and enough seats for everyone.  I have never been a part of a launch service that went as smoothly as this one did.

It’s Wednesday and we are still hearing stories about how God moved on Sunday, including one about a lawyer that blows my mind.

I don’t know if I’m really allowed to say too much, but it has to do with a lawyer of 20 years feeling God confirm an opportunity he has to work for the International Justice Mission – all because of what happened Sunday morning.  (This weeks topic was justice.)

If you have helped out, spread the word, spent some time in prayer, or just encouraged us in anyway: thank you.

Peoples lives were changed, and ripples will be seen in eternity because of just this one week at Gateway Church.

Our prayer (and please join us in this) is that we will continue to stay laser focused on the direction that God has given us, and that we will continue to be able to tear down the walls that the enemy has built in Des Moines.

God is on the move, looking for people to join Him…

…and we have officially thrown our name in the hat.

~chris

Today was a great Sunday at The Gateway Church.

I think these are going to generally be pretty short, so I’m not gonna keep saying “this will be pretty short” each time I make this post.  It’s Sunday night, and I’m exhausted.

This weeks set was:

O Praise Him – Crowder
Invitacion Fountain – Vineyard
For Who You Are – Hillsong
You Never Let Go – Redman

We had a couple others, but sound check had some issues so we didn’t have time rehearse.  I made the call to just cut them.  It wasn’t worth the risk.

Still trying to figure out the Avioms and how it all works.  I was lucky/unfortunate to never have to deal with them in the past.  The tech crew at South Hills always had them locked in perfect.  Now I’m paying the price for their thoroughness. Ah well…at least I’m learning!

The band keeps expanding, also.  Today it was two acoustics (myself and Michael) and it was Megan’s first time on keys/vocals.  She did a killer job though…like an old pro on both keys and vocals.  She nailed the harmonies and lead the chorus of Invitacion Fountain.

We also had a new recruit training on tech stuff this week, and will have another new one next week.

Pretty excited to see all of these people coming forward really desiring to be a part of what God is doing at Gateway.

I really think some amazing things are going to happen here.

~chris

(This post is a part of Fred Mckinnon’s Sunday Set List Fiesta.)