The concept is simple: You are a farmer who has to manage a farm, earn money, and grow the size of your farm over time. Of course, you are NOT really a farmer.  Plowing a field consists of clicking a mouse. And one can see everything from red gazing balls to chocolate milk cows on a FarmVille farm, something I’m sure my buddy Brent Campbell hasn’t seen on any farms in Oklahoma lately.

Tons of people hate FV. There are even “I hate FarmVille” Facebook groups. There are those who have tried it out, only to leave a sad four plot farm of dead crops. There are those that love it for a time, but then desert it because they have other more important things to do. And then there are those who just can’t get enough.

And all this got me thinking. We tend to respond to Jesus in a similar way. I know it sounds like a stretch, but hang with me for a sec.

In Matthew 13, Jesus talks about how each of us receives faith in Him using the analogy of a sower sowing seed (note continuing farm analogy). The sower sows seed which proceeds to fall in four different places: along the path, in rocky ground, in the thorns, and in good soil. The four landing places correspond to how we respond to Jesus:

1. Along the path – Those who hear but don’t receive.
2. Rocky ground – Those who hear and receive quickly, but there is no root so they desert (insert many health & wealth gospel recipients)
3. Thorns – those who choose the pleasures and cares of life over Jesus (insert the “wayward” college student).
4. Good soil – those who hear and receive Jesus genuinely.

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus’ parable can be applied to how we respond to many things in our lives, including something as trivial as FarmVille. We see these kind of responses in relation to sports teams, politics, TV show preferences, books, what university we attended, how we parent our children, what vaccines we choose to give, and everything else you can imagine. I’ve even seen this kind of thing in a conversation about what kind of computer you use. Those PC/MAC commercials are so popular for a reason.

We as humans love to love, we love to hate, we love to love and then hate again, and we really love to just not give a crap.

My suggestion is this: go ahead and pay no attention to things like FarmVille or sports teams or politics. Buy into the latest computer toy this week and desert it next week. Hate red sports cars just because you hate them. But if we apply these same principles to our eternal destination after this life is over, we may wish we had not treated Jesus like FarmVille.

Just wanted to share these leadership lessons from a guy who’s been around the block a few times.

Check out Swindoll’s 10 Lifetime Leadership Lessons.

I wanted to pass on an article that I recently read on the Desiring God blog called The Metrics of Success. This is a theme I find coming up a lot in my life and I am sure it comes up in whatever context you are in. Whether in parenting, our jobs, or our relationships, all of us long to be “successful.” And in many ways this idea of success goes unquestioned in our world today. Who wouldn’t want to be successful?

At the end of the day, measuring success by externals like power, wealth, influence and happiness is folly. Kingdom success and worldly success are like oil and water. Jesus, who must have forgotten to add “Blessed are the successful,” measures kingdom success on different scales: poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness,  yearning for righteousness, showing mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking and persecution.

Just registered for a cool, free, online conference called “The Nines.” Its a pretty cool concept. Tons of pastors, church leaders, and people who love Jesus are given 9 minutes to tell church leaders around the world what they would tell you if they were only given 9 minutes.

It starts at 9am on September 9th. Speakers include: Ed Stetzer, Reggie McNeal, John Ortberg, Mark Driscoll, Brian McLaren, Alan Hirsch, JD Greear, Dan Kimball, Neil Cole, and lots more.

If you’re around on the 9th and have a bunch of 9 minute blocks available, I would HIGHLY encourage you to sign up and listen in. Can’t beat free.

There is no better proof than this Leadership Journal article that targeting “young people” with a kickin specific worship service just simply doesn’t work. Not only that, but it seems that the same things that reach older people, reach younger ones too: Authentic, real community living out the gospel.

Being the church and being on mission isn’t about generational ministry, nor is it about one day of the week. No matter what generation we find ourselves in, people can smell hypocrisy a mile away. Whether young or old, everyone is crying out for something real.

Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of past ministries and churches centered around “Gen-X”, or any other generation.

Following Jesus Is Simple

I just had to share these two links. Such wisdom, encouragement and direction for a struggling American church.

Start with the “intro” vid of part 1, and the “Visional Leadership” vid on part 2, and then move on. The second part is definitely more exciting than the first, but the first is great too.

My favorites are: mistakes to avoid, visional leadership, intentional evangelism and lay mobilization.

Comeback Church Videos Part 1

Comeback Church Videos Part 2

What’s the Point of Pentecost?

Eating Meals with Unhealthy People