5 Decisions I’ve Made About Me – Part 1

LIfe has a way of getting busy, doesn’t it? I mean, the stuff of life can distract us pretty easily, pretty much everyday. However, with limited time & limited resources, I know that, as a leader, I’ve got to make the most of the Talents, Giftings, Hopes & Dreams I’ve been given. After all, it’s in those areas that I will make the greatest contribution to the world around me during my time here on earth.

This week I want to talk about 5 Decisions I’ve Made about my Talents, Giftings, Hopes & Dreams. I hope it’s encouraging to you.

Decision #1: I Will Give Priority Energy to Them Everyday!

Too many people wait until their To-Do List is cleared before they give significant time and energy to what they do best! Yes, there is a time and place for “getting things done” but I want to challenge everyone of us today that, “The place where we will add the most value to the world is in the area where we are most passionate and gifted!”

1. It offers the greatest Return on Investment. When we give priority energy to our strengths, we get a better return on our investment! How much would Peyton Manning get paid by the Indianapolis Colts to play Wide Receiver? I’m guessing, Not Much! But when he’s playing Quarterback, he’s worth millions!!! Our strengths offer our greatest ROI.

2. Our Strengths offer the greatest Reward! There is nothing more fulfilling for me as a leader than when I’m using my God given talents, passions and abilities to add value to someone else! There’s just no feeling like it! I love it! It energizes me and makes me feel like I’m on top of the world!

I have made a decision in my leadership that I am going to begin giving Priority Energy to what I do best! Then, and only then, can I make a significant contribution to the world around me!

just a bloggish thought,

Matt

Encouragement to Church Planters

So I found a new spot to connect with God. Honestly, I hesitate to share it with all of you b/c some of you who are Next Levelites are likely to go and find it and then be there and bother me and that will just make it not a hiding place anymore. (Just kiddin’) Suffice it to say, I can see the entire Midpoint Bridge from where I’m sitting right now. AND… (and this is a big AND) Apparently, there is free wireless internet so… (I’m not sure how that works, but I’ll take it!)

Here’s an illustration for all the church planters who read this blog…

From where I sit I can see the cars heading onto the bridge. A few minutes ago, a guy comes riding by above me on a bike. From his vantage point, all he can see is the huge hill ahead and how far he has to go. After all, he’s riding his bike to Cape Coral, so obviously, he’s focused on the enormity of the task ahead.

From my vantage point, all I can see is how fast he’s moving. As he rides by I’m thinking, “Wow, that guy is going fast for an ole guy.” (Or something like that) He’s making great time. The wind is at his back, he’s going with the flow of traffic. That guy is doing a great job on his journey.

As one who has the privilege of coaching several church planters and pastors across the country, I see the same thing happen all the time. They are so focused on their road and have their eyes so fixed on the challenges ahead and can’t stop thinking about the Big Vision that awaits on the other side, that they don’t realize they’re winning!

So, from one church planter to another, let me just tell you, I see you moving on your road! You’re doing a great job! You’re making the right time. God is with you, the wind is at your back. You’re being successful at seeing lives changed in your community. Keep pedaling. Don’t worry about the hills ahead. Oh yeah, and put your head up long enough to realize that there is an amazing view all around you! After all, you’re on the bridge of God’s Journey for your life! And the view from there is breath-taking.

I’m praying for you church planters today! I love you guys!

Matt Keller

Easter Sunday @ NLC

Hey everyone,

On Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help but reflect on how far God has brought our church in the last 6 years. We went to my parent’s house in Cape Coral for Easter Lunch. That’s the house that Sarah and I lived in for 5 1/2 years before mom and dad retired last fall. As we sat around the table, I couldn’t help but think that just 6 years ago, there were 6 adults and 2 kids (taking naps) during “Easter Sunday Service!” in the living room of that house!

Easter services at NLC yesterday were absolutely mind-blowing. We had over 1000 people in church and saw hundreds of people respond to the first of our 3 part series we started called, “CAGED.”

A Few High Points for me for the Day were:

• Seeing one of our worship leaders, Elizabeth, (I call her Bethy), who is 17, absolutely set the stage for the presence of God to move in our church in an unprecedented way! I believe our people responded to God’s presence like they never have before b/c of the words Bethy shared!!! I’m so proud of her! She’s an amazing worship leader… and only 17, that’s just crazy!
• Seeing our staff giving ministry away! I loved watching our staff at their best yesterday! They were impowering others to “do the work of the ministry” and were rising above it all day long! The staff of NLC truly has the DNA of this thing and are doing the work of reproducing that DNA into hundreds of Team Members!
• Seeing Mike and Scott lead, cast vision, and truly pastor our people like they were created to do! Those two guys are an absolute riot! I can’t believe I get to do this with them!
• Seeing South Fort Myers High School transformed into a house of worship every Sunday is just a cool thing! What a gift from God that we don’t have to build a $40 million facility to have church in! The state of Florida did that for us! Wow!
• Seeing it all come together. I heard John Siebling, an ARC pastor from Memphis, TN, say, “Our goal is to try and put 3 good Sundays in a row!” anyone in the church world knows just how hard that is to do. Yesterday was truly a good Sunday! I feel like we keep stringing “Good Sundays” together, I think we may even be able to get to “3″ by the end of the year!!!

To all who are apart of making NLC happen on a weekly basis, this is BIG WIN for you too! Do something today to celebrate! Take your spouse to dinner, play with your kids, give your pet a treat, get the mail, yell out the window in traffic, drink an energy drink, go off your diet, take a day off!

Personally, I’m opting for the last one,

Matt

“People Need to be Reminded, more than they need to be Instructed!”

This is one of the 154,000 quotes I took away from the Catalyst Conference last week. Patrick Lencioni said it, and I absolutely love it! What a great reflection for me as a communicator. One of the primary line items on my job description has to do with weekly communication to a group of people. Here are a few of my thoughts that I’m processing through on this quote:

1. People Know & Understand more than we give them credit for.

By simply reminding them, we insinuate that they know more than they think we do. I think it’s easy for us to assume that our employees, or friends, or children, or even church attenders, aren’t capable of making wise, informed decisions. I just read a quote in the book, unChristian, by David Kinneman about the next generation that is so enlightening. He writes, “They (16-29 yr. olds) want to try things out themselves, disdaining self-proclaimed experts and ‘talking head’ presentations. If something doesn’t work for them, or if they are not permitted to participate in the process, they quickly move on to something that grabs them.”

What if our job as leaders is to “remind” people of what they already know in their heart to be the wise decision? And then to simply invite them into the process of fleshing it out in a personal way?

2. Humans have a built in resistance to being “told what to do.”

Lencioni calls it instruction, however, it’s reasonable to say that others might call it, “barking at me,” “talking head,” or worse. I love the thought that the next generation among us desires leaders who are “figuring it out as well.” They want the “person up front” to just talk to them.

3. How we say things matters… a whole lot.

This implication from Lencioni’s quote is big for me. As leaders, we can never forget that how we say what we say is as important as what we say. We are leaders. Our lives & words hold the power to create realities for people. Both positively & negatively. It’s completely inaccurate that “sticks and stones are the only thing that break bones…” Our words can make or break a person’s spirit, life & future!

May we, the leaders of the next generation, continue to “Remind” people of all that they can be in Christ, everyday!

Have I told you that I love doing this???

Matt

Rick Warren Remembered Me!!!

So I’m at the Catalyst Conference in ATL, GA this week! It’s so great to get to spend a few days away with the staff and some other off the charts leaders from NLC! When it comes to the conference, the bottom line is, I don’t even know where to start. It’s going to take me several weeks to be able to decompress and process through all that we are learning! I’ll start shooting out some blogs about all that we’re receiving asap…

But for now here’s a huge deal!

So Rick Warren spoke the last session of today (Day One) and it was just ridiculous! I mean, seriously, he rocked my face off! I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it is to hear his heart from all that God has shown him and entrusted him with. He’s the real deal, you guys, he lives what he preaches, big time!

Anyway, afterward, I had to go and talk to him and attempt to thank him for taking the time last spring to write me a personal note of encouragement after he saw our story on the Anderson Cooper Show on CNN. (By the way, in case you didn’t know we were on CNN like 20 times last spring, to see the video of it, check out the videos section of our nextlevelchurch.com website. There should be a link to the right on this blog page…)

So after the talk, Sarah and I went down to the stage and I was able to push my way up to him. He’s just an incredible guy to be up close to. When he came my way, I introduced myself and told him that we were featured on CNN and he looked at me and said, “Of course I remember you!” Then he gave me a big hug and said, “I was so proud of you when I saw that!” He then hugged Sarah and told us again how proud of us he was! Are you kiddin’ me??? That’s just crazy!

I told him that he would never know how much it meant to us that he took the time to send a personal note to us and thanked him again! I couldn’t believe how down to earth and real and approachable he was. Talk about a guy who has an unbelievable grasp on all that he’s been entrusted with and knows the power of his influence.

God help me to be that kind of leader,

I can’t wait to share more with you guys,

Matt

Who are you taking the journey with?

Today is the first day of school for my kids, and several thousand other kids here in Southwest Florida. My prayer for my kids as they start this school year is the same as it has been since last year at this time. It’s a simple one, but I believe it is an absolutely, priceless one as well.

My prayer for my kids this school year is that “God would bring them friends that they could take the journey with.” In other words, I am praying that God would pair them up with a few others who want to live for God, and that together they could experience the adventure together. I know they are only 4 and 7 years old, but I beleive that the people we surround ourselves with will make or break us. No matter what age.

So here’s my question to all of us: Who are you “Taking the Journey of Faith with?” Who are the people closest to you that share your faith and beliefs in Jesus, and that you can take the journey with this year?

September 9th is Rally Day at Next Level Church. That’s the day when we launch a new semester of Connection Groups. If you are a part of the NLC family, I want to strongly encourage you to dive into a Connection Group on Rally Day. It’s doing life together deeply, that is truly life-changing.

I heard Rick Warren say recently, “You don’t need a lot of friends, but the ones you have, have to be good ones!” Who are you taking the journey with?

Just a bloggish thought,

Matt

Lessons from a PlayStation 2

Friday was an historical day for the Keller boys. For the last 8 months or so, my kids have been saving their money for a PlayStation 2. Will (my 6 yr old) more so than Drew (the 4 yr old). I have used the goal of a PS 2, to teach Will some basics about Business & Finance. In fact, 5 months ago, he even started a little retail “business” (that went amazingly well by the way.) Drew has been saving his birthday money and any other coins he finds laying around daddy’s wallet, etc.

So on Friday morning they came to an amazing discovery… if they pooled their money together, they would have enough to buy a PS 2. Around 9:30 am, they came running down the hall to find me & share the news. After we emptied the piggy banks (literally) and their wallets, the realization hit us… Today was going to be the day! The Kellers would enter Video Game Land! (I can still remember buying my first Atari with my brother as a kid! Crazy!)

Now I have to confess I have mixed emotions about this b/c up to this point, Sarah and I have been rather resistant to the whole “video game” thing, more in the name of “you’re going to become couch potatoes” and “it’s going to melt your brains into mush,” type of thinking, then anything theological or otherwise. But none the less, the kids had met their goal and it was go time. So off we went to Target and they were like 2 kids in a toy store. (Oh wait, that’s exactly what they were…)

It was awesome to be able to reinforce, for my kids, a couple of leadership principles and philosophies that I try to model and live out on a daily basis in my life as a pastor and leader. They are:

1. Teamwork. At NLC, it’s all about Team. Period. This is a value we have reinforced from day one, and we seek to reinforce at the earliest levels of our church. We need each other and that’s all their is to it. The way we teach it in our Kids Ministry at NLC is called, “Cooperation.” “Together we can make the impossible, possible.” It’s an awesome feeling to know that what my kids are learning at Church is being lived out at home… Even at the ages of 6 and 4! Praise God! (If you aren’t bringing your kids faithfully to our Kids Ministry, you’re missing out on a valuable training ground to instill the values you want most in your kids as they grow! Make it a priority every week for your family. You won’t regret it I promise!)

2. Perseverance. I marveled each week at Will’s patience when he was earning money from his business. He had a Profit & Loss sheet and the whole deal. And each week, he knew how much further he had to go and how much he had earned. Some of us adults could take a lesson right here, couldn’t we? If only we knew where our resources were going and coming from as well as my 6 year old! He didn’t give up on his goal, and as I’ve seen in his eyes all day today, “Anything good in life is worth waiting for.”

3. Faithfulness. They were faithful to their goal and it paid off. They didin’t give up or loss heart. They remained true and faithful to their goal and I’m so proud of them for it. What goal are you being tempted to give up on? Don’t do it. Don’t give up! It will be worth it, I promise. As the Bible says, “You will reap a harvest if you do not faint.”

I know that 1 of the huge goals most all of us around the NLC world have is that our lives would be used for something greater than ourselves. At NLC, the way we make that a reality is through the value of Teamwork. I can’t even begin to tell you how each week, over a hundred volunteers and “team members”make the environments happen across our church, and the end result is Lives Changed for Eternity!!!

From Connection Group Leaders or Hosts, to Kids Zone leaders, Set up crew, to Musicians, Ushers, Greeters, Accountants, Office Administration, Techies, Video Editors, Event Organizers, Kids Class workers. You name it, there is a place to serve on an amazing Team at NLC.

If you’re not involved in the life of NLC through serving, I highly recommend you e-mail Pastor Mike Ash or go to www.NextLevelChurch.com to get involved right away! Now is a great time to jump in with both feet!

Well, I better go, I think I hear my kids fighting over a controller,

Just a gamish bloggish thought,

Matt

One Great Lunch with Josh Quigley

One of the greatest joys of my life is getting to go to work everyday with some really amazing people. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last 15 years of ministry, it’s that team is everything! Team will make or break you. Period. I can’t even tell you how great of a team God continues to assemble here at NLC. I got to have lunch today with our Programming Director, Josh Quigley. We spent about 90 minutes together, and I laughed harder and thought more than I have in a while. He was just full of one liners that were both histerical and challenging all at the same time.

Josh’ responsibilities at NLC are huge. He is basically in charge of everything that you see and don’t see inside of the Auditorium environments every weekend! Josh is the lead visionary & director over all of our Worship, Video, Production, Sound & Programming Departments. He is the go-to guy for everything Technical at NLC. Josh makes me and the entire NLC staff look great in so many ways! I can’t even begin to brag on how great of a blessing Josh “Quigs” is to our church! He’s truly an NLC Superstar in so many ways!

During our lunch today he made a statement that has rocked me all day… He said: “It’s not that Satan is all that smart, he just keeps a good log book.” He went on to explain that so often Satan will simply use the same issues that we have struggled with and dealt with sometimes for decades or even generations and simply keep bringing them up and throwing them in our face, time after time. Wow. How true is that? We have all known someone who just couldn’t seem to “get victory” over a particular sin. and every time they turn around, it seems to be rearing it’s ugly head again.

What about us? Is there some “sin” or “vice” that you have a propensity toward from your past? If so, what are you doing about it? Are you aggressively pursuing healing, deliverance and freedom from it? Or is it continuing to lurk in the shadows of your life somewhere? Great thoughts, huh? I can’t tell you how great it is to have such a wonderful & spiritual leader overseeing so many of the key departments that make NLC what it is! thanks Josh,

Oh yeah, & Josh, “Keep Smilin’!” thanks for a great lunch my friend,

Matt

(Just some bloggish thoughts on team for ya…)