Revolution Church, here are some things you might not know about your pastor:

1. Pastor Zak is a HUGE Romantic (he writes me a love note each week and places it in a different place…O’So special to me!) He still dates me like he did in high school. He plans every date and takes me out at least every other week. He wants to model what it means to be a great husband to our son Couper.
2. Pastor Zak has a dance party everyday! I am not kidding, last year he danced for at least one minute per day all 365 days of the year. It keeps him joyful. And it freaks Couper out a little.
3. He is his own worst critic.
4. I like to call him “hound dog” because he smells literally everything and can smell things from a mile away.
5. When Pastor Zak is passionate about something he is completely SOLD OUT…there is NO half hearted commitment! Its all or nothing, go big or go home with him in everything.
6. His Pet-Peeve is when people say they are going to do something and they don’t follow through.
7. He has to hit the clear button on the microwave when it is finished or flashing…it drives him “cray cray” for it to not have the time on it.
8. He loves God and loves people. He follows God with every bone in his body and has this ability to call things out in people and challenge them.

It IS possible to buy all of your Christmas gifts without incurring any debt. Here is how we roll at the White House:

1. We save money for Christmas throughout the year. This is very simple. Add up how much you think you will need for Christmas (do this for 2012 NOW) and then divide by 12. Put that much in savings each month. Trust me. It is the most refreshing thing to get to the holiday season and already have everything you need in your savings account!
2. In late October, we prepare a Christmas budget that guides how we spend EVERY PENNY of the money we have saved all year. We use Joe Sangl’s free Mini-Budget Tool. We include everything on this budget. It has stuff on it like:
   • food for Christmas parties
   • gas to travel over the holidays
   • gifts for each person we will buy for
   • Christmas cards and postage
   • Money we save for any special opportunities to be generous over the holidays
3. Balance your Christmas budget to EXACTLY ZERO. Spend every penny on paper BEFORE you go out and start buying stuff.
4. Finally, the MOST IMPORTANT way to stay out of holiday debt is to actually USE the budget! Spend according to how you have planned!

Its simple…go for it!

Here is our Jack o Lantern. Couper picked out the eyes and mouth.

Its Halloween. Couper is REALLY fired up about it this year. All day people will be hurrying to the store to get candy to pass out. Other’s will be putting the final touches on their yard to make it super creepy for a few hours tonight.

It blows my mind how far some people will go just to scare the neighborhood kids. This blog isn’t about some moral opinion on Halloween.

What I am really talking about it how some people can put so much blood (ok fake blood), sweat and tears into Halloween while so many churches put so little work into creating and crafting the worship experience.

There are tons of people that will put more work into scaring kids tonight than we will into creating a welcoming environment in our churches for the entire year. All they are doing is having some fun for one evening scaring people. We are doing something of eternal significance.

If there is anybody that should be spending time and resources creating an amazing experience for people, its us, the church.

As we trick or treat with Couper tonight, I am going to keep in mind the value of working hard every single weekend and going the extra mile to reach people far from God and see a spiritual revolution take place.

Tonight people will work hard to scare. In a few days, we get the opportunity to introduce people to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ! Let’s work hard, be creative and pour ourselves out for the mission!

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: DO SOMETHING DRASTIC

If what you are currently doing with your finances is not working and you want to see your finances flipped around, you may have to do some drastic things.

Real change never comes easy. If it did, we’d all be millionaires!

We all develop bad habits with our money over time. Obviously, I can’t take the time to speak to every bad habit. But I can say this: Your money problems are your fault and it’s only through self-decipline in handling money matters that you can achieve financial peace. It doesn’t matter how great of a system you have or how many steps you take – you can only flip your finances if you change your behavior in regards to money.

Do something drastic. Cancel your cable. Ditch the cell phone or get a cheaper plan. Stop eating out so much. Cut up your credit cards and swear off debt forever! Identify your bad habits and then take them out!

Let me pick on one particular bad habit we have in America as an example: new cars.

Stop buying new cars. How many times have you heard or said, “I’ll always have a car payment”? That’s the normal way of thinking. But normal people today are BROKE. I want to be WEIRD! To get new results, you have to try new things. Several years back, Amber and I decided to sell our cars and buy cheaper, used cars. And that’s what we’ve done ever since. Did you know that if you took the average car payment of $475 that Americans have today and invested it every month over 40 years, you would retire with over 5 million dollars. I LOVE CARS…but I can’t think of any car that I would pay 5 million dollars for.

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: BEGIN EDUCATING YOURSELF

Between annuities, cd’s, single stocks, bonds, mutual funds, roth ira’s, index funds and all of the other financial investments out there, personal finance can be scary. But to flip our finances, we have to get determined and take action!

Putting money into something you don’t understand is the easiest way in the world to lose it all. Personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head knowledge, which is good because that means you don’t have to spend all of your free time learning and re-learning what all of these investment options are.

In reality, the action you take – praying, budgeting and then actually living by your budget – is probably more important than what you learn.

Still, you need to educate yourself to be successful and flip your finances. The BEST education that you can get on personal finances is super easy and super cheap. I’ve already mentioned it this week – Financial Peace University.

If you just want to learn about the different types of investments that exist, here is a great guide to different investment options. Take 20 minutes to read through this and you will come out with a pretty good understanding of personal investing.

In our home, we do the Dave Ramsey system, which is to invest 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans.

When you reach this step (number 4 in Dave’s seven steps), you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth.

Why shouldn’t you invest less than 15%?  Some people choose to invest a small amount, if anything, because they want to get a child through school or pay off the home in a hurry. But the kids’ degrees won’t feed you at retirement, and if you throw all your money into your mortgage at this point, you’ll end up having to sell the house and buy the book 72 Ways to Prepare Alpo and Love It. Bad plan.

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: THE “B” WORD – BUDGET.

I used to be scared of the “B” word. But then I learned that a budget is really just a PLAN. When you budget, you’re spending on paper and on purpose, before the month begins. Many people view a budget as a straight jacket that keeps them constrained. But that is just not true. A budget allows you to spend your money intentionally.

And best of all, when you do it and stick with it, you’ll actually experience more freedom than before. My family actually found more money once we got on our budget and stuck with it!

These tools are incredible and come from the man that straightened out my finances: Dave Ramsey.

First, I would encourage anyone out there that feels like they are losing with their money to take Dave’s 13 week “Financial Peace University” course. This guy is the real deal. He has helped hundreds of thousands of people pay off their debt, live generously and invest wisely!

One of the first steps I shared on Sunday that we have to take in order to flip our finances is a seemingly simple task: MAKE A BUDGET. Here are some simple budgeting tools with instructions for you to download in PDF form.

• Here is a sample “quickie budget” you can use. This is a great way to get a quick start! Or if you are a tech geek, you can use Dave’s new online tool here.
• Here is a sample “monthly cash flow” plan. This is the one we run the finances with in our home.
• And last, if you have “irregular income” then this one is for you. If your income varies greatly from month to month, don’t buy into the lie that you can’t budget. YOU CAN.

Here are some pointers once you get cracking on your budget:

• Give it three to four months to start working. It won’t be perfect the first time you do it.
• Spend every dime on paper before the month begins.
• Over-fund your groceries category. Most people underfund that category.
• If married, spouses need to do the budget together. The preacher said “… and you are ONE.”

GO MAKE A BUDGET. GET TO FLIPPIN’!!!

I’ll see ya tomorrow!

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: BABY STEPS.

An emergency fund is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on and on. It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen.

STEP TWO: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball System

This is how my family paid off ALL of our debt. List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates. For a great online debt snowball tool click here. You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped up about getting out of debt! This system provides those wins along the way.

STEP THREE: Save 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings

Once you complete the first two baby steps, you will have built some serious momentum. But don’t start throwing all your “extra” money into investments quite yet. It’s time to build your full emergency fund. Ask yourself, “What would it take for me to live for three to six months if I lost my income?” Your answer to that question is how much you should save.

Use this money for emergencies only: incidents that would have a major impact on you and your family. Keep these savings in a money market account. Remember, this stash of money is not an investment; it is insurance you’re paying to yourself, a buffer between you and life.

This is a good start! Check back the rest of the week for more info on how to FLIP your FINANCES!

• Amazing day at Revolution Church! SO good to be back in the house! I love worshipping with you Revolution!
• Attendance is still way up! We will only be at the gym another 3-5 weeks and I am trying to not have a 4th service just for a few weeks…but I need your help Revolution! If you attend the 10:00am or 11:30am service, would you make a MISSIONARY MOVE to the 8:30am service for the remainder of our time at the gym to open parking spaces and seats for our guests? If so, I’ll do something special for the early service only…no hints. You will have to make the move to see…
• I had a BLAST preaching today. Many people needed the message on mountains and valleys today. I had people share some stories with me after each service of DEEP DEEP DEEP valleys that they are walking through. This is why we have to focus on loving God and loving people Revolution! You can listen here.
• We baptized 7 people today. LIFE CHANGE! I am addicted!
• Several people gave their lives to Christ. LIFE CHANGE!!!
• Micah and the Revolution Band absolutely KILLED it today. We did some new tunes and they rocked our Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” which fit our message perfectly.
• Yes I sang a Coolio song during the message.
• In one service I talked about Johnny Carson. Everyone under 30 looked at me like “who?” Sad sad sad…I’ll post about Carson this week.
• If you did not get to sign up to help at the new location, we need all hands on deck this Friday and Saturday 8am – 5pm. Lunch is on us. And, if you want to see your pastor rocking out some framing (what I used to do), be there.
• I am so stinking ready for my wife and kiddo to come home!!!
• And now I have to go clean before they get here!

As one last act of celebration, I thought I’d share a picture from our wedding day.

There we are…ten years younger. But the fact is, I am more fired up about life and more in love with my wife today, ten years later, than I have EVER been.

So cheers Toots (Amber)! Here’s to another 10 years! Where are we going to go for our 20 year anniversary? Its gotta be a 20 day trip…better start planning now!  :)

Before I return, I just wanted to say that you are an amazing church!!! Here is why:

You pray big prayers with faith in God!

You serve unselfishly!

You give generously!

You invite others all the time!

And as we continue to do these things over time, this community will be transformed right before our eyes. We will literally see a spiritual revolution IGNITED!

I love this church…and I love the fact that so many of you are passionate about church OWNERSHIP and not just showing up, sitting down, turning around and coming back every couple of weeks.

Let’s keep up the great work and I promise to continue to try my best to pace myself so that the upcoming years are the most amazing years that we’ve ever seen!

Get ready for this Sunday, July 3rd! Bring a friend and I’ll see you then!

If you had encouraged me to take a 10 day vacation like the one I am on right now a few years back I would have laughed at you…with very tired eyes, a low moral and little passion for ministry…

But now I understand. The idea that so many pastors have that says “I can’t take a week off from preaching. My church depends on me and would not survive without me…and my people won’t show up if I’m not there” is NOTHING but a LIE that satan uses.

Revolution, thank you for being a church that get’s this simple concept…a church is not effective when the pastor ministers to the people but rather when the body ministers to the body! If the church is a one man show, all about a pastor, then Jesus isn’t the one man and we have a problem!

Pastoral leadership matters a ton and I do believe that God has called me to be the main communicator at Revolution Church. But I’m in this thing for the LONG HAUL and that requires that I take some time off to re-charge, renew and reconnect!

AND…for the pastor out there thinking he can’t possibly take any time off…bro…you’re wrong.  Stop and catch your breath. You will benefit. Your marriage will benefit. Your kids will benefit. And your church will benefit.

The church was here 2,000 years before you and I were…and it will be here long after you and I are gone.

Today, I have been married to the most incredible woman I know for ten years!

By  now Amber and I are all into our trip. I scheduled out some posts to hit while we are gone, celebrating our 10 years of marriage!

As we celebrate our 10 years, I thought I’d share 10 questions that I am always asking myself related to my marriage. These are great for anyone! This list will help you get real and honest with God and your spouse; I believe these questions have great power to initiate change!

1. When was the last time we had a long talk or walk together without any interruptions?  (REMINDER: the TV and Cell phones DO have off buttons…)
2. When was the last time we took a vacation or overnight trip without the kiddos and just focused on one another? One day the kids will move out and when they do you don’t want to be living with a stranger!
3. Am I spending more time thinking about anyone other than I am my spouse?
4. Am I spending more time communicating with someone other than my spouse via facebook than I am spending communicating face to face with my spouse?
5. Has time at work become more of an obsession that time at home?
6. How much do we actually pray for each other and the condition of our marriage? Do we pray together outside of meals?
7. Does the way that I speak about my spouse to others when they are not around make others think more or less of them?
8. If we have had an argument is it my goal to win the argument or actually solve the problem?
9. Are we ignoring any problem(s) hoping it will go away rather than dealing with it?
10. Are we on the same page financially and making adjustments to our budget together each month?

Unless you are sitting close enough to me to use one of these, you won’t hear a peep from me for the next 10 days…

Amber and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage! We need the time off…to quote a mentor, Ed Young Jr., ministry is BRUTIFUL. Its both beautiful and brutal. Time to re-charge is vital.

Its time to dis-connect so that Amber and I can RE-connect. Year one of Revolution Church was the hardest thing we have ever done! I am literally disconnecting…I won’t even be able to check email, texts, calls, etc…even if I wanted to. So don’t waste your time trying to get ahold of me. Anything you see over the next 10 days on facebook / twitter / the blog was scheduled ahead of time through the power of technology!

Below is a great list of a few benefits that Michael Hyatt shared on his blog today to taking a break like we are. Check it out:

Here are at least five benefits of taking a sabbatical. It will give you the opportunity to:

1. Recharge physically and emotionally. This is more important than you think. We were made to surge, then rest. It is so important, that it is hard-wired into our biology. This is why we sleep. It is also why God built it into the structure of each week (i.e., six days of work; one day of rest). God even instructed the Israelites to take an entire year off every seven years. We can’t just go, go, go, and expect to function optimally.
2. Slow down and enjoy being. God made us human beings, not human doings. You would never know it, looking at modern man. So much of our life is defined by our activities. On our sabbatical, Gail and I loved the opportunity to read, reflect, go for long hikes in the mountains, fish, and just sit and do nothing. In fact, we gave ourselves permission not to be productive. It was difficult at first, but eventually we settled into a new rhythm.
3. Reconnect with God. Everything in contemporary culture conspires against the pursuit of the only One who gives meaning to everything else. We can spend our days, lost in the endless flow of distractions and amusements. Over time, our heart becomes slowly buried, disconnected from God and any sense of True North. It was so healthy for us both to read the Bible and other spiritual literature, and spend time in extended prayer.
4. Gain clarity on my priorities and goals. I used part of my time away to re-tool my life plan, design a new ideal week, and plan out the next three years. This gave the opportunity to make sure that I was making time for what matters most. In this next season of my life, I am committed to writing, speaking, and mentoring. Those are my three vocational priorities. By actually making them part of my plan—and my calendar—I have a much better chance of staying focused. It also gives me a filter by which to say no to other opportunities that come my way.
5. To secure alignment with your spouse. As the prophet Amos asks, “How can two walk together unless they are in agreement?” (see Amos 3:3). The older I get, the more important this is. Although I believe my wife and I can have a positive impact on our own, I also believe in the power of synergy. Together, we have the potential for our combined efforts to be greater than the sum of our individual ones. This is why it is so important for us to be in alignment.