About Scott Savage

Scott Savage is a young leader, hopeful about the future of the Church and the generation that is emerging to lead it. He currently serves as the Minister to Young Adults at North Phoenix Baptist Church, where he leads Crash (an alternative worship service) and leads the church's ministry to college students, young singles and young marrieds. He resides in Central Phoenix with his wife, Danalyn. He blogs here at The Joshua Collective, and you can follow his everyday moves on Twitter: @scottesavage. Scott graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Christian Studies from Grand Canyon University and a Masters of Divinity from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ironic Birthday Buddies

Posted on February 12, 2012

On Sunday, February 12, 1809, two women on either sides of the Atlantic Ocean gave birth to two sons. Nancy gave birth in a one-room cabin in Kentucky and Susannah gave birth in a large home in Shropshire, England.

The names of their sons?

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin.

Ironically, one son born into privilege left a legacy about the ability to fittest to survive and adapt. Darwin’s work would not only be applied to biology but also sociology and economics.

The other son born into poverty discerned that all men are created equal. Lincoln gave his life to hold the Union together based upon this truth.

Today, I am pausing to remember that my son (to be born in a little over two months) has the opportunity to leave his mark in the world. You and I have that same opportunity – to make a mark, to leave a legacy. Our legacies, the mark we make will be largely defined by what we believe and how we live it out.

May we seize our opportunities today!

Crash (is) For Kids!

Posted on February 10, 2012

Some of the posts on this blog are connected to Crash, North Phoenix‘s Sunday night worship service. While many readers of this blog are not involved in Crash, I wanted to share something with you because I thought it represented our passion to challenge people to love, think and serve like Jesus. My friend, Kelly Young, shares with the children who attend Crash during the middle of the service each week. She helps us challenge them to love, think and serve like Jesus at this point in their growth and development. She wrote the following piece, which I believe clearly communicates our passion to partner with parents as we seek to merge the influence of the church and the family.

Our Crash Conversations are family conversations, for all ages. As we communicate the overall purpose of each series, we include a more concrete objective for our children. Each week, we unpack this objective through the Crash Kids Moment in the worship service. This object highlights one virtue or character trait that children of God should cultivate. Together, these virtues help our children anchor a confident faith.

Earlier this week, Scott shared about our upcoming series, Restless People, which begins Sunday, February 12. As families engage this conversation, we want to encourage our children to consider perseverance. Perseverance is refusing to give up when life gets hard. We can cultivate perseverance in our lives by remembering what Jesus did for us, what God wants to do in us, and what we can do to help someone else’s faith.

You and I can probably list dozens of tests of perseverance in our lives. Trials, heartaches, crises, tough decisions, they abound in our every day living. For children though, tests of perseverance are often physical, like running a mile in PE. In terms of facing long-lasting or deeply embedded personal struggles, that is something that many of our children have to “look forward to” with maturity and life-experience. Because we live in a broken world, some of our children already know those kinds of struggles all too well.

Regardless of their experience, we can anchor our children in a confident faith today, so that when they face a crisis, they will turn towards God. We can anchor our children in a confident faith, so that they live everyday with a deep desire for God. We can anchor our children in a confident faith, so that they shape their whole lives in response to God’s presence with them and desire for them.

How? By teaching our children to cultivate perseverance. We encourage you to consider some questions and activities to unpack as a family during this series at Crash to begin cultivating perseverance together.

* Remembering the life of Jesus, particularly what we remember at Good Friday and celebrate on Easter, what did Jesus do for you?

* Plan to join us on Wednesday Feb 22 for an Ash Wednesday service where we will pause and remember our need for a savior, that without Jesus we were destined to die, to return to dust.

* Remembering what we know about God and how he cares for us, what does God want to do in your life?

* Read Psalm 136 and write a prayer or sing a song worshipping God together.

* Remembering stories from people in our lives, including people from the Bible, who have encouraged other people in their faith, how can you help someone else’s faith?

* Tell your children about a time in your life when you chose to persevere and trust God.

How on earth did Scott Savage become a runner?

Posted on February 9, 2012

I know. I am just as shocked as you to put “Scott Savage” and “a runner” in the same sentence. But it’s true.

I realized I was a runner a couple weeks ago. I was driving up Central Avenue to pick up a guest speaker for the service I lead at NPHX. My windows were down due to the amazing “winter” weather we were having in Phoenix and I saw runners moving up and down the path I use two or three times a week. In that moment, a random thought came into my mind, “Man, I wish I was running right now.” In that moment, I knew that I had gone off the deep end – that I was now a runner.

I didn’t get here overnight. There was a long season where I ran but did not enjoy it. There are some days where I go so slow and wonder why I am spending 60 minutes doing this to myself. But two days later, I am back on the path again.

Since we are six weeks into the year, and many of us have abandoned our New Years’ fitness resolutions already, I thought I would share seven things I did on my journey to becoming a runner.

1. Set a goal. In the fall of 2010, I ran a 5K that my wife, Dani, had registered for and couldn’t make because of a last minute trip. That race convinced me I could be a runner. When I started running again in October 2011, my goal was to get back to that 5K. When I reached that, my new goal was a 10K. When I achieved that about 6 weeks ago, I started thinking about a half-marathon. My new goal is to tackle that before the end of 2012.

2. Pick a regular time. I am a structure person. I have to decide in advance that I am going to run. So, I checked with Dani’s schedule and I decided early morning was best. I typically get started between 630 and 7am, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I would encourage you to pick two or three times a week that you know you can regularly make for your runs.

3. Measure it. Some people run to run and don’t worry about measuring it. However, since I am so goal-oriented, I started experimenting with GPS-enabled apps for my Android smartphone to measure my time, distance and calories burned. Since October, I have used three apps – Endomondo, RunKeeper, and CardioTrainer. My best experience has come with Endomondo, but I have friends who really love Runkeeper. My favorite feature is the library where I can see past runs and track my mileage month by month to see progress.

4. Share it. I am an avid user of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Since I was really unconfident as a runner, I realized it was important for me to get encouragement from others. I automatically set apps like Cardio Trainer and Endomondo to share my run details to my social media profiles. I even blogged about my journey and progress. In the last month or so, I have heard a couple of stories of people who read my blog and followed my runs who were motivated to take similar steps themselves. I am honored to have that privilege!

5. Enjoy it. Okay, so this is a list and it seems a bit serious. But running has actually become fun for me, something I look forward to on those early mornings. I believe it has helped that I listen to things that I enjoy while I run. I listen to my favorite podcast through apps like BeyondPod or Stitcher. I discover new music through Pandora. I fall back on motivating playlists from my iTunes. And I get caught up on my Bible reading through YouVersion‘s audio feature. Look for ways to have fun as you run.

6. Learn from seasoned veterans. I learned along the way that I had some bad habits or ignorance regarding running. I gained a lot of wisdom from articles in Runner’s World magazine. Also, chats with my friend, Kelly Young, and Dani (who have run marathons and ultra-races like the Ragnar Relay) helped me continue to build my knowledge base as I gain experience.

7. Give yourself time to get into it. As I was sharing about running at one point, a friend sent me a message, asking how I got excited about running. This friend had tried to run but just did not enjoy it at all. And amidst a busy schedule, she found it hard to make time for something she did not enjoy. I replied with two words: permission and patience. Give yourself permission to not enjoy it. There are lots of ways to maintain personal fitness. Running is not for everyone. So if this is not for you, the worst thing you could do is force it. Also, be patient. Give yourself time to discover enjoyment. Time in your daily runs and time over weeks of runs. Many times, I do not enjoy the first mile or two, but I find enjoyment in the third, fourth or fifth miles. I ran three times a week for nearly three months, racking up close to 150 miles before I had that moment driving past my running path where I wished I was running. That feeling may not come overnight.

I hope what I have shared helps you discover something you have not considered before. I am a newbie and still learning a great deal. I am simply excited that I am taking care of myself physically, so I can live out my calling and purpose for decades to come.

What lessons you have learned along your personal fitness journey? Share them below.

this is not normal, but it should be!

Posted on February 7, 2012

A Baptist pastor working with an Anglican priest to plan an Ash Wednesday service for multiple congregations to worship together and begin the journey towards the highpoint of the church year – Easter Sunday. This is not normal but it should be.

In his final moments before his arrest, Jesus prayed for his disciples (which includes me and many of you). In John 17:23, he prayed, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

We live in a culture that creates radical divided and polarized factions over every issue, each with the inability to reasonably and honorably discuss differences and problems with the hope of coming together around solutions. This happens in politics and theology, along with so many other arenas.

Several years ago, I became friends with Shane Copeland, who had just launched a new church in Downtown Phoenix called St. George’s Anglican Community. We met through a mutual friend and after many cups of coffee, an idea emerged to do something together with the two communities we lead. The first event was a joint Ash Wednesday experience. Since then, I have preached in Shane’s church and we have co-led several more Ash Wednesday services, along with an Advent service this past December.

I do not often think of Shane as different from me; I just think of him as a friend and fellow Christ-follower. I was reminded of how “not normal” our relationship is when someone sat down with me recently perplexed at how a Baptist pastor would come together with an Anglican priest to host an Ash Wednesday service. This perplexed friend had explored this kind of relationship in his large suburban mega-church and was forbidden from that kind of thing ever again.

In light of this, I am extra grateful to invite you to join Shane and myself, along with our churches, St. Georges Anglican Community and North Phoenix Baptist Church, for an Ash Wednesday Service on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. This service, which will involve several other local churches including Desert Mission Anglican Church, will take place in the Chapel at North Phoenix beginning at 6:30pm. Children will participate in this service, while we are offering programming for preschoolers between birth and kindergarten by RSVP (details for that at the end of this post).

Ash Wednesday is one of the most meaningful services I get to take part in every year and this joint venture has expanded my vision of the Church and God’s work in Phoenix in an incredible way. If you have any questions about the service, please leave a comment below and we will respond. We look forward to you joining us that evening as we begin the journey towards the Cross and Empty Tomb of Jesus Christ.

To get a taste of the experience, my friend, Dave Warner, took some incredible photos from 2011′s Ash Wednesday service.

***Preschool details: RSVP by sending an email to scott.savage@nphx.org. Include in your email the names and birthdates of the children who will be attending the preschool programming. If your preschoolers normally attend NPHX programming for preschoolers, you do not need to RSVP. With the RSVP plan, we are attempting to provide the best experience for all the extra families who will join us for this service. Also, if you are bringing preschoolers, plan to arrive at 6:15, so you can check your children in and be prepared to begin the service at 6:30. The service will conclude no later than 8pm.

Building a relationship seems like too much effort

Posted on February 7, 2012

(I try to keep this blog focused and rant-free, yet there are some days when my willpower is defeated. Today is one of those days.)

A friend of mine pinged me on IM yesterday. In the midst of a chaotic week, I was not so inclined to check out the link she sent. However, she baited me. She sent me a quote from the article she linked to. The quote got me hook, line and sinker. So, I clicked away, totally lost focus and the genesis of this post came to life in my head.

This is the article. For the sake of this post, I am not so interested in the feelings of Japanese teenagers regarding sex. I mean, that would make for great dinner conversation (at a loud restaurant of course or in my living room). And I was blown away with the numbers, while still being somewhat cynical about the objectivity of survey data.

But the quote that caught my attention came from one of these “herbivore men” as the teenage Japanese girls call them. When interviewed, Yusaki Yakahashi said, “building a relationship seems like too much effort. To get her to like me and for me to like her… I’d have to give up everything I do at the weekend for her. I don’t want to do that.”

That sentiment – the investment is not worth the pay off – blew me away. The article goes on to explore reasons for this kind of perspective, such as over-indulgence in technology or preference for virtual experiences vs. real ones.

Now, I am not a sociologist nor a psychologist. I leave those to friends who have done the hard work and earned the degrees. But I have witnessed in my own life and in the life of those I know a disturbing tendency to prefer online communication to face-to-face. To prefer texting someone I am not with versus talking with someone I am sitting next to. To having a difficult conversation that could easily turn sour in person blow up in their face over Facebook Chat.

Mr. Yakahashi is right. Building relationships – friendships and romantic ones – require a ton of effort. And yeah, sometimes you have to give up your plans for an entire weekend for those relationships. Helping someone move, showing up at the hospital, cheering on their big performance or standing beside someone at the graveside service. But we do these things because we know that we love these people and we feel we were created to live life like this.

So, when I read about the dominant male in a culture with no intention related to marriage and fatherhood, when I read crazy articles about men who would rather have a virtual girlfriend that pursue a real, living woman, part of me wants to go ranting like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. But, that does me no good and I am not sure a shaming diatribe would change anyone. Plus, I only know one Japanese person living in Japan. And he is not a “herbivore male”. And I don’t think this blog has a huge following in Tokyo.

Once I take some deep breaths and come back to earth, the best thing for me to do is start with me, to recommit myself to valuing the people I am with. The students I am mentoring. The child I am tutoring. The wife I am loving. The volunteers I am serving. The staff I am affirming. The friends I am encouraging. The church I am challenging. And all those who are doing the same for me. While some of that happens via blogs, tweets, wall posts, emails, texts, IMs and phone calls, much more of it happens face-to-face and shoulder-to-shoulder.

Today, instead of emailing that person, go sit in front of them and actually talk. Instead of leaving your phone in your pocket, put in by the door on silent across the room. Yeah, relationships takes effort and intention, but how sad would it be for a single man to walk right past real live women on a beach on his way to discover some picture of a virtual woman via a QR code on his phone? C’mon man, get off your phone and build a relationship!

Restless? Don’t worry; you’re not alone!

Posted on February 6, 2012

We’ve all been there. In some place. During some season. We got complacent and started coasting. We felt like we knew what we were doing. We were doing just enough to get by. Maybe put it on auto-pilot too often. And over time, we lose some of that fire, that drive, that passion and desperation we once had.

Some of us rediscovered that desperation and passion through unfortunate life experiences. In those difficult moments or crises, we became desperate for God to do something…ANYTHING! But, all too often, that momentum ended too.

But does it always take crises and tragedies and suffering to awaken us to do something about our restless complacency? Are we simply victims of our circumstances and dependent on bad things to make us the kind of people who are hungry for God to move in our lives?

What would it mean for us to become desperate people? What would it look like to desire God more than anything else in our lives? What attitudes, habits, and disciplines have people who experienced the desperation engaged in to express their longing for God to move in a powerful way through them?

And how does Ash Wednesday figure into all of this? Why do we give up things for Lent? How do these traditions factor into our lives today? What is their value?

As we prepare to gather on Ash Wednesday and enter into the Lenten season, journeying towards Good Friday and Easter, we are going to engage these questions. We will see how people throughout the Scriptures were awakened out of their complacency, moved out of their restlessness, and experienced God in powerful and precedented ways. We are praying that we become people who are desperate for God to move every day.

As we begin this journey together, I encourage you to reflect on this prayer from Sir Francis Drake. My pastor, Dan Yeary, shared it during NPHX‘s morning service yesterday and it reminded me of the first time I heard it in a message from Pastor Craig Groeschel at a Catalyst Conference.

Disturb us, Lord,

when we are too pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,

when with the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

(When) we have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wilder seas

Where storms will show Your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push back the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,

Who is Jesus Christ.

Join us Sunday night, February 12th, for the beginning of our new Crash series, Restless People.

Afshin Ziafat at NPHX

Posted on February 2, 2012

I shared last week about our excitement regarding a special guest speaker.

We had a great Sunday at NPHX this past weekend with our guest, Afshin Ziafat. He shared in our 10:30am service and Crash (our 6pm service). We experienced a great response in both services and had an overflow crowd on Sunday evening. Below, you will find links to the audio and video of his Sunday morning and Sunday evening messages. If you missed either, I encourage you to check them out. Watch or listen to them again, if you were there, and share them with others.

Click here for video from Sunday morning and Sunday evening respectively.

One caveat regarding Sunday evening. We had technical difficulties that night, so the video starts 10 minutes into his message. The audio link below has the full message.

Click here for audio from Sunday morning and Sunday evening.

For photos from the service Sunday evening, click here.

For more information on Afshin Ziafat, check out his website.

Getting over that Monday morning hangover

Posted on January 30, 2012

I do my best to keep my blog posts here as open and relevant as possible to all of my readers. But today, I feel compelled to share how with my pastor and church staffer friends. Many of us suffer from a weekly phenomenon I call “Monday morning hangover”. A long Sunday leads to a full calendar Monday without a full energy tank.

I know that I have Monday morning hangover from several symptoms. First, I get in the car to drive my wife to work and instead of turning towards her office, I instinctively turn towards the church. She corrects me and we get a good laugh out of the experience. Second, I get in later that I want, lack the focus I desire and get behind in my task list by the time I hit the meeting schedule that takes out most of my day. Third, I don’t have the creativity and imagination to find words for sermons, lessons, emails or blogs that I normally find easily. Work is tougher than normal. Four, a disappointing conversation, lackluster attendance numbers or an error on my part devastates me in an unreasonable manner.

So, how do you kick the Monday morning hangover? I do it in five ways.

1. Exercise. I do my very best to exercise every Monday morning. I need it most on Mondays and if I get Mondays in, I typically make it happen the rest of the week. Currently, I am running 5-5.5 miles on Mondays and that 50-55 minutes is a great time to push back the fatigue and get a fresh wind for the week. Whether you lift weights, walk, run, or do a program like P90X or Insanity, break a sweat on Monday morning.

2. Get into the Scriptures. And not just for your next sermon or lesson. This month, I have been reading the book of Acts. So this morning, I listened to Acts 16-23 during my run. Allow God to minister to you before you attempt to minister to anyone else.

3. Pray. Take time to get before God and thank Him for a new morning, full of new grace and mercy for you and all you lead. Pray for the needs you discovered on Sunday, for the people who made decisions and commitments. Repent for the blunders you made and thank God for using someone like you to further His kingdom.

4. Spend time with some people encourage you or in some activity that encourages you. In 2010/2011, I tutored a 2nd grader on Monday mornings. If nothing else, I knew that hour was well-spent. I knew that for those 60 minutes with that one boy, I was making a difference by helping him improve his English, gain confidence in reading and feel valued by someone older. I take time on Mondays to call or IM friends who will encourage me. I make sure and laugh with co-workers. I read a few blogs that renew my perspective and fill me with hope. I talk with teammates about good things God did over the weekend and we celebrate them together.

5. Drink some coffee. If you knew me, you knew I had to put it in there. I don’t overdo it on Mondays, since I typically do caffeine in the morning AND afternoon on Sunday. But I grab some java after my run on Monday mornings. It definitely takes the edge off and I love that bean water.

Regardless of whether you are a pastor or church staffer or a teacher or involved in business, I hope that today is day full of encouragement and hope for you. If you are struggling, consider one or all five of these things as some ways that God could renew you and your perspective today.

I thought you hated rules!

Posted on January 26, 2012

I follow Tim Schrader, a church communication guru. I read his blog and enjoy his tweets. Tim’s posts are full of insight and I like his spirit. Recently, he shared a picture that he found on Jeremy Cowart‘s Google Plus feed. (Cowart is an incredible photographer, the brains behind Help Portrait). The picture (which I have posted below) includes 9 rules for creatives.

Now, my first thought was “Creatives don’t like rules. So that title is ironic.” As I waited, I realized that rules are like boundaries, and creativity thrives within boundaries. Even sometimes in proportion to the amount of boundaries.

As I have reflected on these rules several times over the last week or so, the one that resonates the most with me is teach others about what you know. I am a verbal processor and so the longer I talk, the more I comprehend what I believe and the more I clarity I get. God bless my wife who is often the victim (or listener, however you want to look at it) in this process. My creativity grows and expands and I connect ideas as I share them with others. As I teach what I already know, and as others repeat back to me and reflect on what I’ve said, my ideas get better, clearer and more portable. Twice this week, I have pitched ideas to coworkers, airing the concepts outloud for the first time and by the time we were done, my ideas were more developed and my next steps were obvious. When I teach others what I already know, my energy increases and my creativity expands.

I know creatives and artists are supposed to hate rules, but we are also supposed to not shower, be poor, miss meetings and be unreasonable. Rules can guide us into greater art if we submit to them like the boundaries of a medium, a subject or a timeframe.

Question: Whether you are a creative, an artist or you miss drawing with crayons, which of these 9 rules resonates most with you?

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