After work yesterday we took Eva for a walk down to the park for her first ride on a swing in CA. She loved it.

After work yesterday we took Eva for a walk down to the park for her first ride on a swing in CA. She loved it.

Goodbye Seattle.

Hello Orange County.

7 Things I Learned in Media & Communications

For the past two years, I’ve served on Mars Hill Church’s Media & Communications team as the PR/Media Relations director. On Monday, my wife, daughter, and I are flying to California to plant Mars Hill Church Orange County. The list of things I’m thankful for from being on this team feels endless but I wanted to share seven things I’ve learned from the fine men and women I’ve served alongside.

 

  1.  The Gospel is sufficient. The good news of reconciliation to the Father through Christ on the cross is central to everything Mars Hill. It is easy for Christians, pastors, churches, heck even whole denominations, to veer from the sufficiency of the Gospel in the name of cultural accommodation. As incredibly talented and media-savvy as each person on this team might be, the Gospel is central in every team meeting, new hire, blog post, or video.
  2.  Jesus is the hero. This is a result of the Gospel being primary. Because the Gospel proclaims Jesus as the hero of our salvation and of history, we make him the hero. If Jesus isn’t the hero of the video, testimony, graphic, or anything else, we don’t do it. The glory doesn’t go to an individual or even the church; it goes to Jesus.
  3.  Christ and Culture aren’t mutually exclusive. I came here after ten years in the music industry and thought I understood a lot about culture, and I did in a sense, but what I lacked was an understanding of Christ and culture. As culture makers, we aren’t to accommodate Christ to culture, pit him against it, or see him as deistically aloof to it, but to see how he transforms it. Christ and culture aren’t mutually exclusive and they aren’t synergistic.  Instead, as Christians, we are to be faithful messengers of the Gospel in whatever role God has called us. It was the presence of thousands of faithful Christians, speaking and living the Gospel to those around them, that led to over 700 being baptized on Easter.
  4.  Service to the church is primary. Some of these guys on this team did work at the church long before they ever got were paid for it. They painted walls, emptied trash, swung a hammer, and volunteered countless hours because they loved seeing people meet Jesus and wanted to play whatever role they could in that. That same servant’s heart permeates their approach to their work now. It is constantly humbling.
  5.  Challenge the creative ones. In many corners of the church, the creative people in the church are catered to and sought after. In the case of Mars Hill, the creative people are challenged. They are challenged to serve and to be faithful where they are. Mars Hill’s culture is simultaneously encouraging because “creative” and “Christian” aren’t seen as mutually exclusive, but it is also challenging because it isn’t pandering.
  6.  Know your priorities. While service and creativity are high values, they never subsume biblical priorities. We’re called to be faithful 1) Christians, 2) husbands and wives, 3) and fathers and mothers before anything else. I’ve learned more about being a good man, husband, and father than I could’ve imagined. The men here have shaped me and changed my life, marriage, and family in numerous ways. The first thing they do is to challenge me to love God first, my wife second, my daughter third, and everything else (including myself) after that. 
  7.  Influence comes through humility. In summary, I’ve learned from a department made up of people who are Gospel-centered, Jesus-focused, missiological in their approaches, have servant hearts, and are immensely talented, but who keep the first things first. Simply by osmosis and the demonstration of their character, they’ve made me a better man and have played a crucial role in my development as we prepare to plant Mars Hill Church in Orange County. It is immensely humbling and we’re grateful every day that God brought us to Seattle.

 

Friends, it has been an honor. Thank you.

 

Nick


This little lady is 6 months old today! 

This little lady is 6 months old today! 

Somebody loves bath time! Even with her camera phone, my wife has skills.

Somebody loves bath time!

Even with her camera phone, my wife has skills.

kimbogardusblog: I wish everyone could meet my grandma.  This picture was taken on a recent trip to visit the graves of my grandfather and uncle, both of whom I never met.  My grandma lost both her husband and son within two years of each other.  This was yet another example of the pain and traumatic experiences that shaped so much of her life.  She has lived alone for at least the last 20 years and for the longest time was completely consumed by alcoholism and rarely left her house to do much more than buy more vodka.  She wasn’t a lady my brother and I enjoyed spending time with growing up.  In fact, we used to often joke that my mom would send us to grandma’s house as punishment because that is precisely like what it felt like on the weekends we stayed there.  However, about three years ago, after a doctor gave her an ultimatum: alcohol or death, my grandma began to drink less and live more.  My mother also moved in with my grandma, along with my dog, who is her companion for most of the day, so that she can be looked after.  Since this time, I have witnessed one of the most radical transformations in a human being that I ever thought possible.  We sit down now and have long-winded conversations about how she met my grandfather and moved from Rochester, N.Y. to live the California dream.  She tells me about speakeasy bars and all the trouble she got into being the baby of a large family growing up during the Great Depression.  We even play the occasional game of Yahtzee or dominoes where she shouts hilarious things like, “I’m not too proud for a nickel!” while wearing a blanket held together with a clothespin, simulating a cape.  I see how much these chats and games mean to her, she even keeps a sack of extra change in a drawer, ready to gamble the minute I walk in the door.  Through her I have witnessed the effects of isolation and the desperate desire for moments of intimacy. Since moving to Seattle, I have come to appreciate companionship like never before.  The Bible has much to say about community and I am beyond thankful for the way in which people here have guided, lead, and modeled how God designed us to be.  We are beyond thankful and in constant awe of God’s grace through our church body.  It will be, by far, the hardest thing to leave behind when we move.  However, I am excited to take what I have learned and apply it to relationships that have been put on hold due to distance.  Time to break out the Yahtzee box, Grandma.  We’re coming back soon.

kimbogardusblog:

I wish everyone could meet my grandma. 

This picture was taken on a recent trip to visit the graves of my grandfather and uncle, both of whom I never met.  My grandma lost both her husband and son within two years of each other.  This was yet another example of the pain and traumatic experiences that shaped so much of her life.  She has lived alone for at least the last 20 years and for the longest time was completely consumed by alcoholism and rarely left her house to do much more than buy more vodka.  She wasn’t a lady my brother and I enjoyed spending time with growing up.  In fact, we used to often joke that my mom would send us to grandma’s house as punishment because that is precisely like what it felt like on the weekends we stayed there. 

However, about three years ago, after a doctor gave her an ultimatum: alcohol or death, my grandma began to drink less and live more.  My mother also moved in with my grandma, along with my dog, who is her companion for most of the day, so that she can be looked after.  Since this time, I have witnessed one of the most radical transformations in a human being that I ever thought possible.  We sit down now and have long-winded conversations about how she met my grandfather and moved from Rochester, N.Y. to live the California dream.  She tells me about speakeasy bars and all the trouble she got into being the baby of a large family growing up during the Great Depression.  We even play the occasional game of Yahtzee or dominoes where she shouts hilarious things like, “I’m not too proud for a nickel!” while wearing a blanket held together with a clothespin, simulating a cape.  I see how much these chats and games mean to her, she even keeps a sack of extra change in a drawer, ready to gamble the minute I walk in the door.  Through her I have witnessed the effects of isolation and the desperate desire for moments of intimacy.

Since moving to Seattle, I have come to appreciate companionship like never before.  The Bible has much to say about community and I am beyond thankful for the way in which people here have guided, lead, and modeled how God designed us to be.  We are beyond thankful and in constant awe of God’s grace through our church body.  It will be, by far, the hardest thing to leave behind when we move.  However, I am excited to take what I have learned and apply it to relationships that have been put on hold due to distance.  Time to break out the Yahtzee box, Grandma.  We’re coming back soon.