Spring 2006. ASU Tempe. I was invited to speak to a group of college students. My friend Taylor came with me. I gave a talk that was very personal and meaningful. It wasn’t the first time I had shared it, but it was a weird experience as I sensed that a lot of people in the room were not tracking with me. But, I enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

As we were driving back to our school, Taylor said to me, “Dude, when you talk like that, I think you come alive in a way that is unique. You up there sharing your heart – I have never seen you match that in any other context.”

Last night was one of those moments. It was incredible risk. How many people would show up to an Ash Wednesday service? 2? 20? Try almost 200. How would it work with four different churches involved? We had some snags and had to call some audibles, but it was beautifully awesome. Would I forget the words I was supposed to recite as I imposed ashes? No, and it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

I am convinced that many people go through life on auto-pilot. They find themselves challenged by what life is throwing at them, but they are often so bored and unengaged within the deepest parts of who they are, that it is almost as if they are walking dead people.

Last night, I got a chance to experience quite the opposite of that. And while I still find it bizarre that what I did last night is what I get paid to do – it’s my job – it’s my calling – it’s my life, I am convinced that it is what I was created to do. And when you do what you were created to do, I believe you begin to live life wide awake and fully alive.

“Your calling is where your deep happiness and the world’s deep need meet.” -Frederich Buechner

Pursuing life,
Scott

I find it so funny the videos, blogs, books, and conversations I encounter daily.  They seem to be the work of God in my life to direct my thoughts.

i watched a great video today.  Challenging and inspiring.  I reflected on and off the rest of the day on the idea that “failure is not an option; it is mandatory” if I am to grow and develop.  The man speaking in the video encouraged the viewers to “try, fail, learn and adapt”.  I found myself asking the question, “when is the last time that I failed in my life?”  I tend to avoid failure; i am pretty partial to success.  I would much rather be following in the way of Stevie Wonder than MC Hammer (at least in terms of professional success and failure).

Tonight’s Ash Wednesday Service is a big risk for me.  I have still had my times of doubts and questions of “how well is this really going to go?”  But I am so glad I didn’t let the fear of failure stop me from working with other pastors of other churches to make a dream reality.

Our culture is pretty quick to jump on those who fail.  But news people are often premature in their judgment.  One of our speakers last summer in the Last Lecture Series I led for North Phoenix’s College Ministry shared this lesson from her time studying at MIT, working at Disney and now owning a small business.  “Success isn’t final and failure isn’t fatal”.

What do you need to do that scares you because you are worried you will fail?  What if failure is the path you need to take to learn and adapt, so you can do the thing you cannot even imagine yet?  What if failure was part of the path of change in our life and leadership?

-Scott

(Tonight I get to live one of my dreams.  Hope to see you there)

This Sunday night, a new series begins at Crash (the service that those of us who post here help lead). It’s called Six Weeks. And in conjunction with the Ash Wednesday Service tomorrow night, it begins a period known as Lent for us.

Traditionally, those who observe Lent as a period of preparation for the coming of Easter – those people give up something for six weeks or so. The idea is that you give up something significant to you that will allow you to open yourself up and focus on what is coming – the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the simple truth of fasting – its not about not eating or not texting; its about what happens in the space you create by fasting.

So, what is Scott doing for Lent? Well, he is giving up a habit and beginning a new discipline. During Lent, I will not needlessly stay up until 12am or 1pm watching House or blog-surfing or reading books for fun. I will go to bed when I am down with my homework (which I will do with the TV off).

This is going to be hard for me – this whole going to bed earlier and getting up earlier thing. It’s not “normal” for me. But I want to renew my commitment to spend time in the Scriptures each morning. I want to stop wasting so much of my morning. I want to spend more time with Dani. I want to create space for God to speak and work in my life in a new way. And I think is what I am supposed to do. Last night, I had one of those “God moments”. I was thinking about this as I drove home from class and then I sat down to read a book for another class – and the writer was speaking about rest and sleep and spending time in the morning in the Scriptures and prayer. I was like “Okay, God, I smell what you are stepping in.”

So, what about you? The next six weeks are waiting for you. What could do during Lent to prepare you for Easter, to create space for God to move? What will you surrender for six weeks?

-Scott

Tony Elliott (pictured on right with Dr. Moffat Zimba) took most of these photos last night at Crash when we celebrated communion and posted them to his Facebook page. Tony will be helping us with still photos in the future at Crash. Tony became a follower of Jesus in December, and he and his family have been attending Crash since the new year. Tony is heavily involved with Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia, where he will be training students in photography this April.

Hey everyone….here is some light reading……….

I have my own opinions on this spending bill….or I guess for some it is called a stimulus package. Regardless this is the beginning of a whole new world for us. Every single $1 we spend, we will owe back with interest.

By simply looking at the line items and seeing how the money is being allocated, I believe we are definitely moving toward a socialized democracy….or an entitlement society vs. a society of orientation to results and to earning.

Here is one glaring example:
Community Service Block Grant Program $1,000,000,000 ..yes that is Billion….not that it is bad to have block grants, I think they are a great idea and usually help the less fortunate…BTW grants aren’t paid back. This is one line item in a spending block for Aid to People Affected by Economic Downturn, which is a block of $36,910,807,000

Now look at this:

Less is being spent on what creates jobs…small business. Remember the number $870 Million for small business…then look through the spending bill….er….stimulus package.

I guess it is good that they are spending something on business it’s better than nothing. Maybe in some weird way the congress believes that since small business loans will be paid back (or a certain % will be paid back) that they get more “bang for our buck” on small business investment. Giving community service block grants has maybe less efficacy and therefore they must pour more money into it. This seems backwards to me?

I’m not sure how this relates to the church?? I think that there will be an overall slight increase to those at the bottom of the economic rung. From their POV it might be much better. I think that the government will become it’s own religion. When we are in this paternalistic state, it will be difficult to sway from what the government deems best for us. Maybe this is the next step for a new relationship with God as a culture……Look at China…..it is unreal what people are doing there with the Body of Christ.

For me it is easier to over simply, identify, compartmentalize, and then dismiss other points of view, so I’m looking at this through a different set of glasses for the sake of discussion.

I think this is a point in history when everything changed…..maybe that point in history already happened…but this is where I have seen it on paper.

http://www.propublica.org/special/the-stimulus-plan-a-detailed-list-of-spending

Thanks to Tony Elliot for sending this to me.

-Danny Ortega

In this video, Shane Copeland of St. George’s Anglican Community and Scott Savage discuss the upcoming Ash Wednesday Service on February 25th.  The service is being hosted by Open Door Fellowship and jointly led by Crash and St. George’s, and will include a total of four churches.

I was walking around Wal-Mart this morning, buying some stuff for this weekend’s student retreat that Dani and I are helping to lead.  I saw a bunch of men standing around a giant display of flowers.  Overpriced, poor quality flowers.  I thought, “Valentine’s Day at its finest.”  Commercialed love – oh its is so amazing!  Most places double or triple their prices this weekend for flowers, knowing that men will drop the cash to get a not-so-original gift.  Restaurants raise prices on their dinners, even in the midst of a massive recession.  

I refuse to buy flowers this weekend.  It is aggregious.  Yes, you heard me…aggregious!  I gave Dani a creative gift and we went to dinner on Wednesday.  And it was a blast.   No flowers.

So my advice to others?  Suck it up, dudes, and be a little creative!  That or buy your flowers on January 31 or February 20th.  

The best thing to come out of the commercialism of this holiday (it actually started airing last year) is this commercial!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-7EKT2GT6A

Happy Valentine’s Day.  And thanks for whoever put the chocolate monster truck on the porch of my apartment last night.  Yum!

-Scott

As I mentioned yesterday, this summer will be the fifth anniversary of my first sermon/talk/message.   As I realized this anniversary was coming, I wanted to reflect on what I have learned…more from failure than success.  I started yesterday with lessons 1-5 and I continue today with lessons 6-10.

6. Never underestimate the power of personal stories.   In the beginning, I was all about the importance of the messages I wanted to bring.   As I went on, I learned that I needed to reveal more and more of who I was as I spoke.  I discovered that my own experiences added a level of humanity and accessibility to my messages that enabled people to connect more .  Whether you have 5 or 45 minutes, share stories about your own connection to that message.

7. Be funny.  Humor is one of the most undeveloped talents in speakers I have encountered.  Laughter breaks up tension and opens up the heart.   Humor lengthens our attention spans and reconnects our focus to the speaker.  I have needed a lot of development in this area.   My focus and attention in preparation do not always go here.  I am still growing a lot in this area.  

8. Maintain your voice – have a conversation.  One of my greatest struggles – and that of many other speakers – is developing “preacher voice.”  A friend has been coaching and working with me on being more conversational in my delivery.  I often change my voice and posture from a lunch with 4 other people vs. standing in front of 120 people. He reminds me, “Relax!  Have a conversation with your audience.”

9. NEVER ASSUME!  If you teach or preach in a church, this lesson is for you.  Never assume that your audience knows where to find Deuteronomy or Matthew, that they know why Abram is later Abraham.   Share how to find Philippians.   Give people time to find the six pages of Jonah.   There may be 1 person or 100 people in the room who do not know what you are talking about, but it is our responsibility to not lose anyone by assuming they are insiders with knowledge.

10. Own it, so that you can be transparent.  One of my biggest pet peeves is speakers who urge and preach to others, without giving any indication to their own weakness and struggle.  I feel this disconnect often occurs because we spend too little time letting the message we bring work on our own lives before we share it with others publicly.  When we own a message and let it marinate in our own hearts and lives, we can own it and share with passion  AND compassion.  We can share about our own failures and successes because we are preaching a message that we need just as much as our audience.

Thanks for letting me share my journey and lessons with you.  

-Scott

This summer will be the fifth anniversary of my first sermon/talk/message.  I have come so far from that place and learned so much. I am incredibly grateful for the friends who gently coached me, the authors who challenged me, the teammates who encouraged me, and the people who allowed God to speak through me into their lives.

So, what have I learned since that summer chapel in 2004?  

1. When in doubt, go short instead of long. I have never heard anyone complaining about a message being too short.   Yet, speakers (especially pastors) are notorious for going too long.  If you are worried about your talk going long, cut something that isn’t essential.  Love your audience more than you love your own ideas.

2. Never go short on content.  While I have never heard someone complain about a short talk, I have been disappointed as a listener in a message that was light on content and heavy on filler.   If you are going to request the attention of your audience, it’s up to you to deliver something worthy of their attention (for 5 paragraphs or 30 minutes).

3. Is this one talk or three talks?  One of my biggest mistakes has been cramming two to three talks into one message.  The most important decision a speaker makes is not what to keep in the message, but what to leave on the cutting room floor.  If I need to write three talks, write three and deliver one.  

4. People will remember one point.  I began moving to one point messages in the last 12 months after giving 7-15 point talks!!  It has pushed me as a speaker.  But the current series I have been teaching in at Crash, “The Joshua Generation”, has been the first series where I have been able to repeat all my “Big Ideas” weeks after my talks.  It has also been the first series where I have interacted with people who have owned the Big Ideas and repeated them verbatim back to me weeks later.  Focus the message.

5. Repeat your one point.  Many people try the one-point approach.  But the problem is their point is not repeatable or memorable.  If you cannot repeat your one point three times in a row without it getting old, you need a new point.  If you cannot remember your point without looking at your notes for several hours, then you haven’t owned it and are struggling with making it memorable.  Repeat your one point throughout the message to reinforce it as you move through your content. 

See you tomorrow for lessons 6-10.

-Scott