A Boy and his Dog...

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Darah and I had dinner at her friends' house last night. They couple is amazing, but their son and dog totally stole the night. It was a lot of fun to watch them play together and to see Bella "give kisses" meaning she would totally cover his face with dog spit. He thought it was hilarious...

My work buddy

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Switching Gears

I got used to the 6am wake up call from the front desk, the need to jump out of bed and shower before jogging to that day's breakfast meeting... going zero to sixty in no time flat. I was used to functioning on only a few hours of sleep and budgeting my time down to the minute, having all meals and transportation planned well in advance. Now it's back to the real world and I feel like I'm in a fog.

Part of it may be the cold, overcast weather we've been having in San Diego but this is time of transition isn't easy. I need to do something to get going again after such an action-packed few weeks.

Any suggestions?

-BW

So not what my friends have in mind...

As we flew through the mountains from Kingston to Ocho Rios and then along the shore to Montego Bay, I kept thinking, "this is not what my friends picture when they hear I work as the assistant to a Senior Pastor."

God hooked me up. Big time.

And it isn't about the travel. It isn't about my job. It isn't about my relationships or house or possessions. I know He could take all of that away tomorrow and I would still be blessed to have my relationship with Him through his son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, I was there.

A lot of my friends have commented that I'm in very few of the Miles Ahead Jamaica pictures. That's probably because I was either behind the camera or running around too fast for the shutter to catch me.

There are a few rare instances where I stopped for a picture. I'll post them as I find them.

To see all of the pictures, check out www.MilesAhead.tv

-BW

Just to give you an idea...

I met Papa San in Belize back in Feb. Jamaica was the first time I actually saw him perform and the energy was amazing. Check out the crowd's reaction... and look for Miles and Robert grovin' on stage.

But they’re dancing!

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to move…” Ok, so I may have gotten myself in a little bit of trouble with the Palau Security Team, but the crowd shots, footage of Papa San and finally capturing Miles and Robert Levey dancing on the side of the stage was totally worth it. Video footage to follow shortly…

Do you see what I see?

At the Miami Airport, Miles asked me what I saw Sunday night when we visited the Luis Palau Festival in Kingston, Jamaica. Without thinking twice about it I answered, “us in five to ten years.”

Miles Ahead pulled an impressive crowd of around 45,000 people in Montego Bay on Saturday evening. On Sunday evening in Kingston, the Palau Association had a crowd of around 90,000. While their crowd was about twice the size of the Mo Bay festival, the city was also about 10 times the size.

LP is planning on coming to San Diego around 2010. The Rock will be the main church to support the effort. Miles Ahead is planning on staffing the event for the Palau Association so that our people can learn their method and implement it in other cities around the world. It will be an impressive partnership for the Lord.

This is such a pivotal time in the leadership of both the Rock Church and Miles Ahead. It is amazing that while both organizations are functioning and even functioning well, the feeling that a “tip” is just around the corner can’t be denied. I took a Strengths Finder Assessment almost a year ago and this is one of the things it said about me:

Brad is a Maxmimizer. He is interested in taking something that works and figures out ways to make the most of it. He may not be particularly interested in fixing things that are broken. Ask him for help when you need to uncover best practices. If you do not have someone around you who regularly focuses on your strengths, spend more time with a Maximizer. He is naturally inquisitive about excellence and will help you hone in on what you do best.

Bottom line – this work is what God hard wired me to do. I love my job and while I’m sure the title will change and I’ll grow to take on even more responsibility over the next few years, it is SO exciting know with absolute certainty that this is what God made me to do.

A sigh of relief

The past two weeks have served as total affirmation that this is where I’m meant to be right now. While this job is not at all what my friends imagine when I tell them I work at a church as the assistant to the Senior Pastor, it really is the greatest challenge I’ve been faced with and gives me the greatest pride, sense of purpose and overall fulfillment.

The level and quality of work completed and people I’m working with blows me away each and every day. In Jamaica, we were pushed to the edge. We were tired. We were in unfamiliar places working with new people and unproven technology, facing issues we’d never dealt with before. Yet, time and again my co-workers rose to the occasion. Recalling the Rock’s response to the 2007 Wildfires, my pride in this organization, it’s vision, people and purpose is renewed once again. I am proud to be called a part of this team.

This pride is in no way limited to those on the ground in Jamaica. We could not have done what God called us to do abroad if it weren’t for the hard work, support and efforts of those who were called to stay back and keep the operations of the Rock rolling smoothly. It could not have been easy functioning on so many people out of the office but they did it and were critical to the entire effort.

I pray we return home refreshed, renewed and that God uses the evangelistic efforts abroad to remind us why we were called to this place and that we continue to seek His Will for our lives and our work…

Thank you, Rock family.

They never would have guessed…

“You know Brad, I used to think you were very Caucasian. That all changed tonight.” That is what one of the Rock’s African American employees said to me after she saw me dancing in the middle of a crowd of Jamaica women and most importantly – being able to keep up with them! It was the final set of the Miles Ahead Festival on Saturday night in Montego Bay. Papa San was performing and what can I said, it made me feel like dancing!

Miles was on stage and also pointed me out to the security team, our production guys and his daughter. Rumor has it, his daughter shot some video, but I haven’t seen the footage… That’s the kind of thing that will probably surface years from now when I’m a best-selling author, world-renowned speaker and the executive pastor of a mega church.

The funniest part is that while I have a good time at work, I do take it seriously and apparently my work style and office image doesn’t lead one to think I have any rhythm or even one left and one right foot. So many people came up and said something to me about it. As a Senior VP who also had rhythm, my Dad would have been proud.

Does anyone know when the Rock’s Hip Hop Ministry is holding their next auditions? ;)

This about sums it up.

This is me, behind Miles on my cell phone probably talking with one of three people – the Festival Director, Productions Director or Marketing and Communications Director (I’m the good looking one getting off the bus). That was my life in Jamaica. Can you blame me for taking full advantage of my ability to work poolside in Jamaica whenever nobody was looking?