Communicating Your Message, Part 4
By Kevin Myers

EVERY SEVEN DAYS

It's Sunday afternoon. The Atlanta Falcons deliver another interception. Ugh, whatever! I can't afford to get irritated. It's not like it's going to change my life. Besides, I have my own intensity to deliver at 6 p.m. (the third of three duplicate services). And that IS supposed to change someone's life.

This is not to get your attention. This is to protect my focus. Even though it's my third time delivering this communication, it's the first time for the Sunday night attendees. Hence, one of the guiding principles God settled with me long ago: No 'B' Sundays – No 'B' Deliveries (as opposed to 'A' level). This was huge in the early days and it still is. I used to think that someday, when we were no longer worshipping in a temporary Jazzercise facility with fifty people, I would craft and communicate at the 'A' level. All I needed was an 'A' sized crowd with an 'A' type facility and an 'A' worship experience. Therefore, the size of the crowd determined the size of my preparation and passion.

Worse than that, I used to feel better about my communication based upon the size of the crowd. I hope someone will own up to this with me: we all know that certain holiday weekends, days of inclement weather, or smaller crowd sizes can tempt us to relax a bit...to reduce the intensity of prayer and not necessarily give an 'A' delivery. Major mistake. The principle is simple – every time I communicate: always 'A' prayer, 'A' preparation and 'A' passion. Every Sunday is 'A' – no 'B' Sundays.

I'm convinced that the 'B' syndrome ranks higher than we would like to admit as a dulling agent to our communication edge. A few Falcon players attend our church and I enjoy the intensity that arises in athletes who know how to center for game day. Whether it's intuitive or has been ingrained upon them through training, high level athletes possess an 'intensity switch'--a game face with game focus. And it's just a game. It doesn't change anything that lasts. We get to communicate for change that lasts. For us, the purpose is communication with spiritual intensity. As a rule, I'll never deliver anything with spiritual intensity greater than I lived during the seven days turnaround.

What does a spiritually intense week look like every seven days? I can only offer my journey. I'm convinced that the principles parallel, but the practices are unique to your particular profile as a communicator. (What is a communicator's profile, you may ask? That's another subject--ask Dan.)

When possible, I love to jump on my motorcycle and cruise to a Starbucks where I won't meet many Crossroads people. I bring the computer and journal and reset my spirit in alignment with His. I love Mondays.

"So Father, what did we win this weekend? At one moment during the first service, the Holy Spirit showed up like when you fell on Gideon and he blew the trumpet to call Israel to battle. That was a rich kindness. It was not in my notes, but it was in your heart Father. I am so grateful. Oh, and Sandra, the recently attending seeker, spoke of a major breakthrough. Father, you obviously tunneled to her thoughts and wrestlings. Only a God like you can create a spiritual moment that alerts the soul to the reality that you are alive and at work. You are waking her up inside..."

You get the point. Gratitude is one path to growing my communication. Through gratitude, I connect with the Father on Mondays and discover where we won and of course where we did not win. I don't do much else on Monday in regards to communication. My faith is enlivened and I reaffirm that communication is an adventure in dependency. I ask the Father to continue to work in the hearts of people to press the one thing from the weekend. By noon, Mondays loose their appeal as I step into the "stuff" of ministry. Smile.

3-30-3 is a preparation guide to each weekend communication. If for example, just prior to teaching, you interrupted and asked me to teach for three hours, or thirty minutes, or three minutes on the given outline, I am able to deliver.

The "three-minute" is the concise communication of the one thing I want people to KNOW and the one thing I want them to DO. It has to carry compelling insight that captures the mind and engages the heart. It's one of the most difficult things I do as a communicator.

How do you get to the three-minute? In short, the three-minute is the great thought. Most great thoughts emerge on the summit of many good thoughts. Therefore, Tuesday is the collection of the many good thoughts. From prayer leadings to scripture study to thoughts filed around the idea to books to chasing thoughts around the web, I compile the many good thoughts. As I marinate in the pile of many good thoughts, I look for what they all have in common. This is always driven from the truth of God's Word with prayer and consistent with the issues of humanity.

I walk into a 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. meeting with our Pastor of Worship and Arts, Dave Ronne. He steps into this meeting after a two-hour detailed review of the DVD from the weekend services and brings any of those issues to the table. Then we press through series.

Here's an illustration: Since it's November 4, we will discuss the broad ideas for the March series under the working title The Six Skills of Quality Relationships. We will also touch on the broad packaging of the finance/money series for February. In addition, we will discuss the four-week series on prayer titled ASK for January with each week's summary direction. We will then detail the weekly target of each of the four weekends in December, A Midnight Clear. Fifty percent of our time will be devoted to processing future series.

We will spend the other fifty percent completing our November series. We will get into the detailed flow of the next two or three weeks. I will sign off on the special music, elements and flow so that the three-minute great thought is woven throughout the service.

What Dave really wants to hear from me is the "God Moment." Every weekend, I ask God to give me a clear sense of what matters most to His heart. Where is He most passionate? Where/what is the one moment when He will show up with unusual presence and power? Thirty percent of the time, I know this on Tuesday, fifty percent of the time by Friday, and twenty percent of the time by Saturday night prayer time. Then, whenever God desires, He confirms or resets it during the communication. As long as I'm in the vine, God usually grants me the kindness of keeping me in the loop of what He is doing or allows me to recognize it when He steps in uniquely.

The morning is more about a deep abiding through worship and prayer. This is not centered on communication, but often God grants leadings for the teaching in view of the flood of thoughts swimming around my head from Tuesday. Frequently, this is a spiritual leadership experience that brings out the warrior within. Some time between Wednesday and Friday, I am wielding my prayer sword (another subject) around the worship center as I pray over Crossroads. For me, leading and teaching are so intimately linked that it is difficult to separate. Nonetheless, it is rare for me to walk away without something defining for the upcoming teaching for this Sunday for the series. I journal heavily in this time and interwoven will be the leadings that I will use on Friday morning.

Additionally, I will give two hours somewhere Wednesday for concentrated organization of thought to the coming Sunday. If I do not know the three-minute, I'll endeavor to land it on Wednesday. By now, I am well into the ability to speak for three hours, I have a sense of the thirty minutes in concept and I hope I know the three-minute (with the God moment).

I arrive at our church prayer walk on the seventy acres adjacent to our facilities. Someday, thousands more will come to know Christ and walk with him on this land. Until then, my prayer partner meets me and we do the walk. We pray for the hour and close with me sharing the three-minute God moment. He prays over me and Crossroads. This sends me into my prayer study to craft the communication. What a way to be sent into crafting!

By noon, I have to deliver the teaching notes to my assistant. Sure, some of you have to deliver an outline earlier, some not at all. What I have discovered is that the best communication occurs when it's driven by the communicator rather than the administrator. In other words, they would love to have my teaching notes on Tuesday, but it's not gonna happen.

Craft: It's time for the final outline.

·         It must achieve the one thing I want them to know and the one thing I want them to do. (Three minutes - this demands I honor the "less is more" mentality.)

·         It must be consistent with the nature of God and the nature of people if it is to connect. This is usually the intersection of the God moment with spiritual intensity – the connection of head and heart.)

By now, I already know how I intend to deliver. I am always processing and I usually know how to deliver with impact. My communication profile leads with heart and follows with humor. I set up with stories and then sting with the truth. I talk with people, rather than at them. I am open with my life and often illustrate with personal experiences. This is advantageous because I speak in the same church forty to forty-five weekends per year and have been doing so for sixteen years. This way we do life together and authenticity keeps me a part of the human race, rather than just being a pedestal pastor. I use common illustrations to connect with common life. I move from intellect to insight. I take the complex and make it simple.

I try to be fresh, which is different from being trendy. Fads are "in things," whereas freshness stems from the thing God is doing in you. I will be as fresh in communication as God is fresh in me. As God is fresh in me, He right-sizes His purpose in my life. I step up each weekend to right-size the purpose of God in their lives. All week, the world has downsized God-things and super-sized world things. I get to encourage them to right- size as God delivers through me. Communication at Crossroads is a catalyst for change.

By Saturday night, I show up for the 9:15 p.m. prayer time. After sharing the three-minute God moment, we pray for an hour or two over the people, the service, God's agenda and seek His face. They pray over worship and over me.

I show up at 7 a.m. and review the communication. Just before I step up to communicate, I have been prayed over in the prayer room by treasured prayer partners. I know they are praying all through the service. Something of God within me confirms that it took all 7 days to remain in the vine with intense prayer, intense preparation, intense crafting, intense memorization and yet it all depends upon the power of God in the hands of intercessors. Who couldn't land a thought with people praying and God answering?

After the morning services I'll go home and watch the Falcons. And unless Vick comes back, they'll continue to throw interceptions. Me, I'll have to keep my focus. I have a message of my own to deliver and I'd rather not throw an interception. Either way, I get to do this again. For me, it comes every seven days.

Kevin Myers is the Founding / Senior Pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Over the sixteen years of his leadership, God has blessed the church to grow from about six people to nearly three thousand. Kevin is a gifted communicator who loves pastoral leadership in the local church. His weekly messages can be heard at Oneplace.com. Or, you can go to Crossroadsconnect.com and follow the link to listen to the weekly message.

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