New Connection Center!

TIDALWAVE This Sunday - See You There!

Are you ready for the Tidalwave?

You don't want to miss this. We will be revealing the Connect re brand, and introducing you, our leaders, to our new global Connections structure. Find out what the Connections Centers will look like! Meet the new Campus Connections Directors and our Connections Creative Developer. We are especially excited to introduce our new Director of Innovative Leadership to you!

Pastor Lili will also cast vision about the Fall ministry season, specifically the Heroes & Villains series. This is a curriculum we have developed in-house. We are trusting the Lord for many new Connect groups! Heroes & Villains is an alignment series, which means all Connect Groups (which is how we will be referring to small groups) will do it starting the week of Sept. 12&13.

Come dressed ready to walk on the beach!! This is a great opportunity for you to team build with your group.

See you at the Bandshell!!

Tidal Wave Meeting!

Leaders!  Had to share the picture my 7 year old drew yesterday.  It looks like a Tidal Wave!!! 

Very much like the Tidal Wave Meeting we have coming this Sunday, August 23rd, from 3pm to 5pm, at the Hollywood Bandshell off Johnson Street & A1A. Bring your small group & families!!!   Its going to be so exciting! Music, energy & team-building. And yeah, surprise contest! Meeting is for all exisiting small group leaders, the folks in your small groups & for potential Leaders.

(plus you will leave with Top Secret information for upcoming SuperHero series). See you at the BEACH!!!

"Kabuki"

I had a really interesting adventure with 2 beautiful souls during my last hours in LA a few weeks ago Ive been eager to share.  In the quest to find a sushi place called Kabuki, we learned so much about our journey in Life….about how to navigate through life circumstances.  

We were hungry, tired from all day conference, weary we wouldnt find "it", it was a looong few hours before we FINALLY did….with many other options along the way we held on for Kabuki, the "Promise Land". There was no compromising.

The funny thing is, Kabuki ended up being right where our adventure BEGAN, we just didn’t notice the sign. We walked right past IT. But we are grateful for the journey that took us there as we wouldn’t have learned all that we learned & that the Spirit whispered to us through out the quest.

These are some of the things we learned along the way:

Sometimes what you are looking for is right around the corner 

He will blind you to it until its time for you to receive it

Don’t entertain your hunger with the wrong choices

The long walk had a purpose to get to final destination

Deepest desire of your heart might not come in the package you’re expecting

We will have many options on the way to our destiny, don’t compromise

We ran across several pizza & burger joints along the way....but didnt settle!

Align your dreams with His destiny

Closed doors of other sushi places didnt mean blessing was not coming

Trust your courage

Gods best plan could be around the corner

If God has placed it in your heart, He will bring IT

Don’t do life alone – remind one another, allow encouragement to carry you through

Share your vision with those around you for accountability

We had no idea where we were going, but He did, look for direction along the way

We never stopped moving, kept MOVING forward as we navigated

Enjoy the journey...share it with friends...find the joy as you walk!

Know if you are enduring hunger, it WILL BE satisfied

If we go to wrong people, you will be sent to the wrong place

Know that the journey will involve disappointment, & you will get tired & weak, but you are that much closer

Sometimes we have to make several left turns to make the right turn

Even if IT looks good (other options), be bold enough to walk away

When you interfere with the wrong someone else, you are interfering with that person’s destiny

The pain now will not compare to the joy of your later; When in pain, think of what God has promised you

Sometimes you feel like all you do is walk in circles, but you are that much closer to your destiny

There is only complete satisfaction in His purpose

We were in a quest for sushi, we got chocolate fudge dessert on top of that. God will always EXCEED your expectations!

The moment we walked in to Kabuki, we knew...this is it! You will know when you’re walking into your reward, into your destiny

God has chosen IT for you - Seek that peace in your heart. His confirmation.

As the iPhone was our guide in search of Kabuki, so will the Bible be your guide

Once we arrived at destination, we got the revelation, we had found IT!

In His will is where His abundance flows

Hope our journey spoke to you. It left us speechless!!! Enjoy the journey...leave destination to HIM.

Denial is Not a River!!

How the Mighty Fall - we continue with the Blogger's Bookstudy today. Need to catch up? Check out Marcy's blog post!

Stage 3 is all about denial - denial of Risk and Peril.

Collins takes us through a case study of Motorola, and one of their big failures. There was a point in 1996 when Motorola could have pulled the plug on an expensive technology they were developing, called Iridium. However, instead of acknowledging the compelling evidence of risk, and being willing to take a limited hit, they went ahead with development. The following year Iridium filed for bankruptcy and defaulted on $1.5 billion in loans! Says Collins:

Audacious goals stimulate progress, but big bets without empirical validation, or that fly in the face of mounting evidence, can bring companies down, unless they're blessed with unusual luck. And luck is not a reliable strategy.

How do you avoid this? You can definitely set big hairy audacious goals - but not based on denial of risk. Make the moves based on growing empirical evidence.

Contrasting Leadership Team Dynamics:
On the Way Down Versus on the Way Up

• Way Down - people shield those in power from grim facts
• Way Up - people bring forth unpleasant facts

• Way Down - people assert strong opinions without providing evidence or solid argument
• Way Up - people bring data, evidence, logic, and solid arguments to the discussion

• Way Down - team leader doesn't ask enough questions and avoids critical input
• Way Up - team leader challenges people and pushes for penetrating insight

• Way Down - team members go along with decisions but don't unify to make them happen
• Way Up - team members unify behind a decision and work to make it succeed

• Way Down - team members seek credit for themselves, but their peers don't trust them
• Way Up - team members credit each other for successes, and enjoy one another's trust

• Way Down - team members argue to look smart, instead of to find the best answers
• Way Up - team members debate with the goal of finding the best answers

• Way Down - team conducts "autopsies w/blame," seeking culprits, not wisdom
• Way Up - team conducts "autopsies w/o blame," getting wisdom from painful experiences

• Way Down - team members faith to deliver exceptional results, and blame shift
• Way Up - team members deliver exceptional results, yet accept responsibility for setback

That list gives us a lot to think about, doesn't it?? What are your thoughts about it?

Make sure you check out the next installment tomorrow at Genie's Rock and Ramble!