MikeZook.com

Culturally Captive

I have heard my brother Mike use this expression a few times on the phone and on his blog. This impression of being culturally captive has been consuming my thoughts for a while. I have been asking myself, "What does it mean to be culturally captive?" So, as I have been having conversations with various people over this last couple of weeks, I have been listening for the answer to this question. It is amazing how quickly you hear the answer in everyday conversations.

Mike Brantley

I have reconnected with an old friend, Mike Brantley.  I found his blog Out-On-A-Limb thanks to Google! Mike and I were on staff together 13 years ago (Wow Mike has it been that long??) at a church in Portland, OR and then co-labored to teens in other ministries in the Greater Portland area.

Mike and his wife Susanne (and their two boys - pictured here) lead "la Communaute", a missional community in New Orleans within Communitas, a fellowship of Missional Communities within CRM. CRM is a missional order of apostolic leaders who empower leaders to lead the church and establish the church that needs to emerge.

Mike is passionate about developing leaders and serving people in the way Jesus developed leaders and served people....in the trenches, in the places no one wants to go, doing the things that are uncomfortable, that most do not want to do. He is a 5 talent individual that God is using to make disciples. This guy is the real deal and I Thank God we reconnected (not just b/c he has a cool name, which he does)! I'm looking forward to many more conversations Mike and coming to visit you in New Orleans!

The Pursuit of Happyness

Last night I watched the film "The Pursuit of Happyness" starring Wil Smith. This story is based off the true events that occurred in the main character, Chris Gardner's life. And while the film was well made and highlighted the character traits of self-determination, persistence, economic struggle, a fathers love to provide for his son, it clearly missed answering the obvious question that the title of the movie raises - What is Happyness? What is the pursuit? The only thing that the movie pointed to in answering this question was money, financial security and accomplishment of earthly wealth. In the end these things were accomplished (sorry if you haven't seen the movie) but there was no answer to the second obvious question that the title of the movie raises - Did it make Chris Gardner happy? Was the pursuit worth it?

If the answer that is found in the movie to the question of what is happyness and what is the pursuit is true and the answer is yes it did make him happy....then as a Christ follwer I am left feeling empty and that the whole message is a lie!

Did you see the movie?  What do you think the Pursuit of Happyness looks like?

My First Daddy/Daughter Dance

Last night Makenna and I attend our first Daddy/Daughter Dance together! We danced, ate pizza, danced the hokie pokie, ate cookies, did the chicken dance, did a craft together, danced some more, did another craft (sugar stick), danced some more and laughed a lot together. She was so much fun to be with! 

A lot of girls didn't want to dance with their Dad's, they wanted to dance with their friends while their Dads stood to the side and watched.  Not Makenna. She talked and danced with her friends, but she always wanted to make sure that I didn't get out of here sight. And she always came up to dance with me throughout the whole night.  In her words as we were walking out to the car together, holding hands, "Daddy, that was so much fun! That was the best day of my life!" I looked at her and smiled and and said, "Me too honey, me too!"

Click Here for more photos....

Maybe it's the WAY success is being defined.

In my recent post, “Are protestant evangelical churches confusing Success with Faithfulness?” I drew an association regarding the way churches are connecting success with their faithfulness to the calling they feel God has put on them as leaders.  After some comments and additional conversations with others, here is what I have learned about these church leaders:

• They believe that they are being faithful to what God wants them to do individually as a leader.
• They’re counting people because they do matter to God.
• They believe that God has called them to grow the local church and make disciples.
• They regularly use scripture to back up their “number evangelism” strategy.
• They count people because it is a practical and easy way to measure success.
• They still are developing processes  to measure success by changed lives and people development.
• They count people because they have a budget that they need supply income for, and counting people allows them to set a budget, trim a program, hire a staff member, etc.

The Centurion

In a world where political affairs allow a handful of powerful people to create truth for a price, one man struggles with the worth of his soul while another man struggles with the reality of what he knows.  The Centurion is the story of these two men.

New PhotoAlbum

Here is a picture of Devin Rock Climbing at Life Time Fitness. I was really pround of him! He climbed to the top of the highest wall with NoFear!  Click Here to look at some other photos.

Are protestant evangelical churches confusing Success with Faithfulness?

As I have spent the last eight years working in sales for some of America’s largest fortune 500 companies, I have learned a great deal that I would not have, if I had stayed in full-time ministry. Most lessons have been good.  Not all, but most.

Of all the things that I have learned, the most primary point that has been spoken, habitually out of sheer conviction or mere survival, from all the leaders that I have worked for and all the teams that I have worked with, is, in order to be considered successful you need to “grow your business profitably!” In sales, there is no other principle objective. Here’s how it goes….in order to grow your business profitably you have to perform, and in order to know if you are performing you have to be measured on your performance, and you are measured on your performance through your profitable growth. And what is this measurement that is used?