Lock & Key Cafe Georgetown Kentucky

I like 'one-of-a-kind' people, places and things.

Lock & Key Cafe is one of those 'one-of-a-kind' places fo' sure!

Here's some of what I've encountered here so far...
-a floor that falls away like a carnival tilted house--cool...
-an 8,000 pound vault door left over from banking days
-Ale81 Softdrink--too bad this is pretty much a central Kentucky thing 'cause the rest of the world deserves a sip!
-rattlesnake mocha--pretty good, but I'll do something dif nxt time
-and of course, the whole reason I came here -- FREE WiFi --thus this post.

At least you know where to find free wi-fi in Georgetown, Kentucky now! And, grab an Ale81 while you're here....

On the road,
Jeff Fuson

Steve Jobs Standing Firm at the Epicenter..

One of my fav mags is WIRED b/c they cover a lot of emerging ideas in the tech industry and I'm always wondering what these innovations might mean for movement & meaning making.

Fascinating article this month about Steve Jobs & Apple called, "Evil Genius" that discusses how counter-intuitive Jobs & Apple have been in the face of Silcon Valley group think. Pretty fascinating stuff.

Even WIRED admits it blew it when it offered Apple some advice on how to survive back in the late 90's.

The leadership take-away is the Leadership of anything cutting edge requires courage, intuition and authenticity-- a willingness to stick to the gyro of the internal mantra in the face of the 'experts' at times.

My good friend Mark Scureman says that leadership is tough and complex....I think he's right!

Have some guts! Lead STRONG.
Jeff Fuson

Life Transformation Groups --Small Groups with a Big Purpose!

Here's the guts of a hand out for the Phos Hilaron Church body that we'll begin to work with on Sunday, March 30, 2008. It outlines some of the big ideas behind our small groups (what we call Life Transformation Groups or 'LXG's)

Go Small to Get Big!

Challenge by choice = to grow stronger means risking growing smaller …it’s all up to you how far you go in this process… The Smaller you go and the more ‘real’ you get with a few others the better chance you have of growing into the person God dreamed you to become – YOUR BEST LIFE NOW!! (yep, I know I'm ripping off Joel Olsteen here! But, it's apparent that most of us want our best life right now when I take a look at all the hottest books at Barnes & Noble these days...and, I'm not endorsing, nor trashing Olsteen....I don't know enough to say one way or the other yet, but he sure has a HUGE church!)

X = 'transformation' (Romans 12:2) is ‘growth’ into the person God designed you to be.

Zone -- A public middle school region where you’re most likely to connect naturally with people who live relatively close to you. (Randy Frazee's book 'Making Room for Life' impacted this thought process a ton)

LXG (Life Transformation Group)
Purpose –transformation (growth) into full on apprentices of Jesus because that takes us to our BEST LIFE NOW!

Framework for LXGs
➢ One Big Thing (O.B.T.) is the starting point of each session—PHC on the same page across generations to simplify life and allow us to grow stronger faster. (The Big Idea
by Dave Ferguson, impacted this thought process)
➢ Bible is the core text, but it’s not a ‘Bible Study’ – it’s application to real life (Rick Howerton, Small Groups Guru of Serendipity House Publishing taught me this....)
➢ Real friendships are a possible by-product / not the goal
➢ Spiritual Growth into a full on Apprentice of Jesus is the desired outcome. (this is the central mission of PHC -- turning spectators into players! -- ordinary people into full-on apprentices of Jesus)
➢ in person, online, over the phone, at a home, in a coffee shop – whenever, wherever fits the participants (other than Sunday AM and Sunday PM so we are able to focus key people & energy on working with Weebees, Kiddos & Teens during these most available time slots--thanks Northpoint Community Church and Andy Stanley for this concept)
➢ 5 to 12 people
➢ designed to reproduce new LXGs

Key Players in the LXG Process…
-H.O.S.T. = Heart for people / Open up your house / Start the Coffee Pot / Talk through the OBT Discussion Guide provided each week.
Virtually no prep and no training required. (this concept came from my incredible Launch Coach, Mike Woods after he'd spent some time with Rick Warren of Saddleback Church at Ebenezers in downtown D.C. a few weeks ago)

-Transformer – a person who will be studying the art of Spiritual Life Coaching & will work with those ready to grow strong now. Requires a deep personal relationship with Christ, ongoing training experiences, study, and a high level of prep. Kind of like a ‘Fitness Trainer’ for your soul! Transformers work with individuals in LXGs to help them grow spiritually via customized spiritual life plans and Spiritual Life Coaching in even smaller groups than LXGs. (this concept is based on Bobby Clinton's concept of the Mentoring Matrix and the book, How People Grow)

When LXGs gather....
-Weebee LXGs – Sunday Mornings
-Kiddo LXGs – Sunday Mornings
-Teen LXGs – Sunday Evenings
-Adult Groups – All Kinds / All the Time / In Person / Online / Phone

NEXT STEPS
Lobby Today … Meet some people from your Zone today.
Teens = This evening –bowling –see Laura in the Lobby
Join us for Upcoming Worship Experiences at PHC—6th at TT / 13th at South Oldham Little League where we’ll divi up the work by M.S. Zones…
The Next Zone Party is on Sunday, April 27th for Sermon on the Mound at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park – what a great way to get to know your neighbors.
Wanna H.O.S.T. or train to be a Transformer? See Meredith

We are being ‘connected’ into the body of Christ brick by brick
Ephesians 2:21-22 –we’re being connected into God’s dwelling – the Body of Christ on earth…

Commander's Intent & Service Worship at Phos Hilaron Church

When we started dreaming Phos Hilaron Church into existence in 2007 we studied the 25 Most Innovative Churches in America as ranked by Outreach Magazine and we dug into Scripture. We focused a ton on what Jesus had to say to His early followers and to how the first church in the book of Acts lived out her fresh mission. And, we studied the Newbigin Triangle that suggests that for a church to truly be on mission she has to touch 3 sides of a 'triangle'--Gospel is the first side, culture is the second, and 'Ecclesia' (church itself) is the third. Mark Driscoll does a great job in the early part of 'Reformission' describing the Newbigin triangle and what happens if you fail to touch a side of the triangle. For example, if a church only touches the 'church' side of the triangle it's possible to arrive at a place where mission is lost and the body turns inward & focuses only on itself and self-preservation. If a church fails to touch the 'culture' side of the triangle she looses her 'light-ness' and 'salt-ness' - she fails to engage the real world and slides into irrelevance. If a church fails to keep the Gospel edge in play she becomes a country-club with programs that may be culturally relevant but don't deliver any God breathed passion or power. (Having a form of Godliness, but denying the full power of the Gospel. See 2 Timothy 3:4)

I asked that little core of wanna-be revolutionaries to study a ton, to pray a lot and to re-imagine what Church might be.

We talked a lot about 'Commander's Intent' related to what Jesus' desire was for this missional movement (ecclesia) that started with a rag-tag bunch of tax collectors, fisherman, recovering demoniacs and reformed scoundrels. We wondered if what most of us had experienced in our churches growing up in America had much to do with 'Commander's Intent' and we concluded that most of time there was a huge canyon between His intent and our execution of His mission for the world. So, we wondered how we might re-imagineer 'church' so that we might be closer to His imagination for this movement we're a part of .

Out of our re-imagineering of 'church' and 'worship' we arrived at the concept of 'Service Worship' where we take one Sunday each month and partner with an existing organization to meet needs in our local community (Mission at 2 Degrees) So far these 'worship' bandwidth stretching excursions have taken us Apple Patch Community, Salvatation Army Angel Tree Warehouse, Jefferson Street Homeless Shelter, Oldham County Middle School and yesterday we worked with the team at Good News Homes in LaGrange, Kentucky.

Be careful where your head and heart go now just because we're introducing worship as you've not experienced it before. Check out these 2 places where the word 'worship' is mentioned in the Bible and then come back to tell me if you don't agree with us that the church in America has too narrowly defined worship as teaching/preaching & singing of some sort. Or, in most cases when an American Christian uses the word 'worship' most likely he/she is talking about the 'music' that helps them enter into the presence of God. So, go to Romans 12:1-2 & Genesis 22:5 and then come back to this blog and tell me if you don't agree that your definition of worship has little to do with what the Bible calls worship. It includes service to the King and sacrifice of what we hold most dear.

Phos Hilaron Church constantly explores what Commander's Intent is for us as a body and for the church in America and around the world. One of my greatest hopes is that we'll have the courage to dance on the missional edge, keep expanding the band-width on 'worship' and re-imagineering 'church' so that we live close to 'Commander's Intent'.

Because of Commander's Intent....We are passionate about pursuing M.I.A.s -- those missing from God's mission and P.O.W.s -- those held captive by circumstances & sometimes decisions that keep them bound and distanced from experiencing God's love. (the reality is that God loves us and desires deep, meaningful relationship with us even when we've gone a long way from Him and botched the deal badly. So, when we are 'P.O.W.' He hasn't quit loving we've just been wrapped up in chains of happenstance or strong willed rebellion)

Every church must constantly re-visit 'commander's intent' for their body of believers and then have the courage to re-imagineer fresh ways to execute the plays in God's dream for that church.

Not only do people perish where there is no vision, but a church can loose her soul if the leadership is gutless and fails to lead people into God's mission.

This goes for our individual lives as well!

See ya,
Jeff Fuson

p.s. Just for fun you might like to see some of the videos we've posted at Phos Hilaron church

Easter-experience.com

The core crew of Phos Hilaron Church is imagining and working toward a powerful way to experience Easter at Tinseltown Cinemas at the Springhurst Towne Center -- 4400 Towne Center Drive in Louisville, Kentucky 40241.

Imagineering, visioneering, brain-storming, team-building are all part of the work of bringing worship experiences like this to life at Phos Hilaron these days. We're working hard to expand the bandwidth on what 'worship' is and to re-imagine what 'church' is.

It's tons of fun to imagine what might be with a tremendously talented team who are all deeply commited to loving our neighbors into God's dream for the world.

I'm having a blast working with this team to imagine what might be....

If you're in Louisville on March 23, 2008 ck out easter-experience.com and come experience Easter with us.

Jeff

Phos Hilaron Church

According to Bobby Clinton in his study of Christian leaders God works with the leader to bring him to a place where all the experiences, trials, education, training, failures and connections gained in life get dialed in on ONE BIG THING that God wants done in the world. Bobby Clinton calls this time in a leader's life, 'convergence' and it's when God leverages all that he's built into the leader to advance His mission in the world.

God is allowing me to stretch every leadership muscle, every people-building skill, any notion of how to build a team, and is teaching me how to trust Him for 'manna' everyday in the conception, creation, and Launch of Phos Hilaron Church.

I'm having the ride of my life and have a front row seat to what God is up to on a daily basis to bless our launch, to bring the right people at the right time and to help us run after 'M.I.A.s' and 'P.O.W.s' -- those who are not choosing a life connected with God or held captive by busted choices or circumstances.

I really do believe that Jesus came to give us access to a great big wide-open adventure with God and Phos Hilaron Church is all about helping people adventure with Him into the life He designed 'em for.

Learn more about Phos Hilaron Church here.

And, learn more about what we're up to on Easter 2008 here.

On the move,
Jeff Fuson