Coach’s Corner

One of my alltime favorite players in my all-time favorite sport, along with his coach, is teaching me some lessons about church leadership this week.  Ever since I took the plunge into church planting I’ve given myself the label of “Coach”.  To me, the term is far more concrete than “pastor”.  Pastor is sort of a nebulous term that most people don’t understand.  Add to that the fact that what most people THINK they understand about what a “pastor” is SUPPOSED to be is so off-base, and you’ve got a good reason for choosing a different title.  So, I’ve chosen “Coach” because I truly believe that the title is an accurate description of the biblical role of “pastor”.

With that being said, I’m learning some interesting lessons this week watching the drama unfold in Green Bay between Favre and his coach, Mike McCarthy.  Favre is without a doubt one of the most remarkable players in NFL history.  He is a three-time league MVP and holder of virtually every quarterback record of significance.  In some respects, Favre IS the Green Bay Packers.  He has been the face, heart and soul of the organization for years.  McCarthy on the other hand has only been the coach of the Packers for two years.

Sort of a mismatch, wouldn’t you say?  Certainly no coach in his third year can hold a candle to a future Hall of Famer and face of a franchise…… can he?

Check out this report from news sources:

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday evening that after approximately six hours of what he called “brutally honest” conversations with Favre over the past two days, the three-time MVP just isn’t in the right mind-set to be part of the team.

Even with the chance to win his starting job back potentially on the table, McCarthy said Favre couldn’t seem to get past emotional wounds that were opened as tensions mounted in recent weeks.

“The football team’s moving forward,” McCarthy said. “The train has left the station, whatever analogy you want. He needs to jump on the train and let’s go. Or, if we can’t get past things that have happened, I have to keep the train moving.”

Far too many churches are led by “pastors” who have fallen into the trap of thinking that their primary job is to please everyone and keep everyone happy.  And it certainly seems that the number one expectation of a majority of church-goers is that the “pastor” should do just that.  As a result, many pastors, with God-inspired vision and dreams in their heart, set that aside to keep the peace… to make sure everyone is happy.  Meanwhile, vision suffers and a church that has the potential to be a devil-crushing, kingdom-building juggernaut becomes yet another playground where Christians play church and souls go unreached.

I know in the church-world it comes across as crass and uncaring, but I’m on the same page as Mike McCarthy on this one.  Is Favre one of the best ever?  Without a doubt.  but McCarthey’s job is not to keep Favre happy.  His responsibility is to the ownership to build a winning team —- with or without Favre.  And if Favre is an impediment to that outcome, then he is a problem and not the solution.

No church leader in the world can keep everyone happy and it is a incredible misuse of time to try.  Jesus Christ commissioned his team to GO… not sit around singing Kum-Ba-Yah!  Go is an action word.  And he placed a coach on every team to lead that team to become a devil-crushing, kingdom-advancing powerhouse.

As much as I love Favre, I applaud the coach who has had the courage to look him in the eye and tell him get on or get out.  And while that same sentiment may be a bit too strong for the church, I echo the heart of it.  To church-goers everywhere…. Jesus Christ has called you to be a player and he has put together teams that represent him all over the place.  if you can’t “get on the train” with the church you are at, then find one you can… and give him… and give that church… everything you’ve got.  And serve with passion!

One of my alltime favorite players in my all-time favorite sport, along with his coach, is teaching me some lessons about church leadership this week.  Ever since I took the plunge into church planting I’ve given myself the label of “Coach”.  To me, the term is far more concrete than “pastor”.  Pastor is sort of [...]

]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

One of my alltime favorite players in my all-time favorite sport, along with his coach, is teaching me some lessons about church leadership this week.  Ever since I took the plunge into church planting I’ve given myself the label of “Coach”.  To me, the term is far more concrete than “pastor”.  Pastor is sort of [...]

Start uga_filter:

Today felt a lot like a locker room. I walked away today with an odd feeling about the atmosphere of the service. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But it finally hit me…. it felt like a team in the locker room before a really big game that they’re not sure they will win.

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Start uga_is_url_internal: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (markdoebler.com) Checking hostname markdoebler.com Match found, url is internal Ending uga_is_url_internal: 1 Get tracker for internal URL Start uga_track_internal_url: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg, Start uga_get_option: track_files uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_files (1) Tracking files enabled Start uga_get_option: track_extensions uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_extensions (gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc) Checking file extension gif Checking file extension jpg File extension found Absolute URL, remove hostname from URL Start uga_get_option: prefix_file_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_file_links (/downloads/) Start uga_remove_hostname: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Stripping everything up until and including first / Ending uga_remove_hostname: wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Checking file extension jpeg Checking file extension bmp Checking file extension png Checking file extension pdf Checking file extension mp3 Checking file extension wav Checking file extension phps Checking file extension zip Checking file extension gz Checking file extension tar Checking file extension rar Checking file extension jar Checking file extension exe Checking file extension pps Checking file extension ppt Checking file extension xls Checking file extension doc Ending uga_track_internal_url: /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Ending uga_track_full_url: /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Adding onclick attribute for /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/locker-room.jpg Ending uga_preg_callback: Ending uga_filter:

Today felt a lot like a locker room. I walked away today with an odd feeling about the atmosphere of the service. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But it finally hit me…. it felt like a team in the locker room before a really big game that they’re not sure they will win.

Start uga_filter:

Yesterday morning, I had an encounter that really rocked me. And I think it’s a hint from God about the ministry that is ahead of our church.

We have two cars, and Zach takes Lesley’s car to work every morning at 5:30. So that leaves us with one vehicle for most of the day. Mine is a stick-shift that Lesley is not comfortable driving, so that means during the summer months, I have to be a bit of an errand boy to get Lesley to where she needs to be. Yesterday morning we went to Cub Foods because we were almost completely out of groceries. We NEVER shop at Cub, but we were given a gift card to Cub, so we went there. (hint… I think God ordained what I am about to tell you through the actions of several other people)

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

Yesterday morning, I had an encounter that really rocked me. And I think it’s a hint from God about the ministry that is ahead of our church.

We have two cars, and Zach takes Lesley’s car to work every morning at 5:30. So that leaves us with one vehicle for most of the day. Mine is a stick-shift that Lesley is not comfortable driving, so that means during the summer months, I have to be a bit of an errand boy to get Lesley to where she needs to be. Yesterday morning we went to Cub Foods because we were almost completely out of groceries. We NEVER shop at Cub, but we were given a gift card to Cub, so we went there. (hint… I think God ordained what I am about to tell you through the actions of several other people)

Start uga_filter:

Yet another article addressing the lack of men attending church appeared in the USA Today last week. Our church has been a living, breathing experiment for the last couple of years now on how do we build a church that reaches and energizes men to walk in the fullness of the Christian faith. How do we create an environment that compels men to follow Jesus. When Jesus began his ministry, he looked at other men and invited them to follow him. Some of the roughest men in the area agreed to do so. Some of the most reviled men agreed to do so. Somehow over the course of the last two centuries, we have taken a faith that drove men to sacrifice anything and turned it into a faith that asks little and attracts few.

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Start uga_is_url_internal: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (markdoebler.com) Checking hostname markdoebler.com Match found, url is internal Ending uga_is_url_internal: 1 Get tracker for internal URL Start uga_track_internal_url: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg, Start uga_get_option: track_files uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_files (1) Tracking files enabled Start uga_get_option: track_extensions uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_extensions (gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc) Checking file extension gif Checking file extension jpg File extension found Absolute URL, remove hostname from URL Start uga_get_option: prefix_file_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'markdoebler.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-4827893-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => false, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => false, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_file_links (/downloads/) Start uga_remove_hostname: markdoebler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Stripping everything up until and including first / Ending uga_remove_hostname: wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Checking file extension jpeg Checking file extension bmp Checking file extension png Checking file extension pdf Checking file extension mp3 Checking file extension wav Checking file extension phps Checking file extension zip Checking file extension gz Checking file extension tar Checking file extension rar Checking file extension jar Checking file extension exe Checking file extension pps Checking file extension ppt Checking file extension xls Checking file extension doc Ending uga_track_internal_url: /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Ending uga_track_full_url: /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Adding onclick attribute for /downloads/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ericfullres.jpg Ending uga_preg_callback: