All posts in Extraordinary People
Good People – March Edition – An Emcee & A Worship Leader
If we’re honest, we put all of our friends in different departments. There’s people you work with, go to movies with, go to church with, do business with, laugh with, work out with, golf with, hoop with, get coffee with, go on vacation with, etc. This month I want to celebrate a couple of good people that I’ve done most of the above with, but the one thing I would do with them that I haven’t yet is… plant a church with them. I truly believe they both put 100% into everything they do, especially their marriages.
1. Danny Hoyt. You may or may not have heard of Danny, but just keep watching every award show for the next few years and sooner or later, you’ll see this man on the red carpet interviewing celebrities. Over the past few years Danny has hosted many events around the country for Kia, the NBA, and several musical artists. I believe in Danny Hoyt and know that God will honor the hard work he puts in to wear many hats. His passion for life and Jesus will make an impact on Los Angeles. Danny is good people.
2. Kirk Graham. Kirk is one of the worship leaders and creative at River Valley Church in Minnesota. Check out their worship album here. There’s not many playlist I make on my iPad that don’t have at least one RVC track on it. I have never met someone who is more anxious to change the world for Jesus than Kirk. Uber-talented worship leader? Yes. Passionate and engaging? Yes. Heart for the local church? Yes. But when Kirk and I met in college, he asked me if there was anything he could do for me as a leader of our university’s late night Wednesday worship gathering. I said, “Yes, I need someone to run power point.” And he ran that sucker for 7 months in a back room with crappy audio of the live service with a smile on his face and a Red Bull. I had never heard him sing or lead until someone else told me he had skills and leadership capability. My mouth dropped the first time I ever heard him and could not believe he never told me that he could sing or lead. His heart was truly in a place where he just wanted to serve. I’ll never forget that and am beyond proud of everything he’s putting his hands to.
These dudes treat their wives like queens. It’s cool to see guys like them represent my generation well.
Open Mic
One thing I’ve noticed in my life since I was a teenager was that whenever I encourage someone, 9 times out 10 they say, “I really needed that.” A lot of these people were strong “joyous” Christians yet they found themselves in a place of discouragement. Discouragement isn’t a sin, but what is it? I would define discouragement as the enemy replaying negative thoughts in a person’s head over and over again to get them to a place where they lose focus of what God has called them to do. Whenever I meet someone who would honestly say they’re discouraged, I would simply say they’ve believed lies.
I heard Bishop Jakes say, “Never give your stage to the devil.” He was referring to being very cautious about what outside issues you address in church and which ones you do not. When I think of discouragement, I think of a person’s mind being a stage, it’s open mic there, and the enemy is going to town. “You’re too young, you don’t have enough experience, you don’t enough swag, you’re too radical, you’re not unique and people want unique, you’re good but not great.” And here’s the deal, every single time you read the Bible, it’s like you’re giving God the mic on a stage in your head.
Stop giving your enemy a mic in your head. It’s dumb. He doesn’t belong on that stage.
Good People, February Edition
What impresses me the most about the two guys I’m bragging on this month is that they aren’t just good in their own circles. When your gift begins to become universal is what I believe is next level leadership. These dudes flow in so many diverse settings and I love it.
1. Normandy Ortiz. 
Normandy is the founder of TOM Central. TOM is The One Movement. It is a five step process to help people love one person toward Christ at a time. One thing that is underrated in our culture today is being bilingual. The impact that you can have just by learning another language is huge. Normandy’s ability to be an effective communicator in the latin world and english world is sick! He’s somebody you want to keep your eye on.
2. Travis Simons. Travis is the Young Adults Pastor at the Potter’s House. (Bishop TD Jakes’ Church) Like I said before, Travis has an ability to bounce between different cultures and remain effective. The man can preach in any setting. The more I’ve gotten to know Travis, the more I feel inspired to learn. He’s extremely educated, but never feels like he’s learned so much that he can take a break. He’s always looking for ways to get better and get smarter. He’s good people.
Good People, January Edition: A Photographer & An Entrepreneur
At this stage of my life I get exposed to a lot of different people, leaders, & organizations. I walk away from so many meetings with one of many thoughts, “Man, they’re good people.” They have unique stories and abilities that some people aren’t always aware of, and so I thought I’d share a short list of “Good People” once a month on here. To get us started, I’d like to tell you about a photographer and an entrepreneur.
1.) Meet Meshali Mitchell. Hey, when you’re looking for a photographer for your wedding or special event, there’s a few things you look for: Someone with decent equipment and most importantly, a great portfolio. 
But Meshali brings something else to the table: an energetic personality. Any person I know that has done a shoot with her has HAD FUN doing it. Part of getting great photos is the process in which you got them. All in all, Meshali… is good people. Here’s a sample of some of her stuff.
To see more photos and learn a little more about Meshali, go here.
2.) Meet Taylor Scheer. Taylor and I became friends this summer and I’ve been Impressed with him from day one. He’s the son of mega church pastor, Bill Scheer, who pastors Guts Church in Tulsa, OK. 
Taylor was working at the church up until a couple of months ago when he decided to resign from his position to start his own clothing store. Taylor’s desire is to start multiple businesses over the next decade and then come back to work for the church and be less of a financial burden for the organization. I admire his heart for the church and for business. I visited the store last month and this dude is crushing it. I love the look and feel of the whole place. It was a total God thing as to how he acquired the space and how he was able to open so fast. He designed everything you see himself. Taylor Scheer: Incredibly talented, creative, Godly, and Good people. To find out more about the store, check out http://stylelabtulsa.com/. 
You Never Know
Mary Gillerstad. Unless you’re attending the Passion Conference 2013, I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard of Mary Gillerstad. In fact, I’m not even sure I’m spelling her name right. But her most recognizable earthly assignment was simply being the youth director of Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio in the 70′s at First Baptist Atlanta long before youth pastors were a staple staff position in a church.
Andy and Louie (pictured left) have been good friends since middle school, and I just have to imagine what it must have been like for Mary Gillerstad. As 60,000 college students pack the Georgia Dome to worship the God of the universe for 3 days (led by Louie Giglio) and as 25,000 people come through North Point’s campuses every weekend (led by Andy Stanley), one must conclude that you simply never know who you’re pouring into. It had to have been rewarding for Louie and Andy to bring Mary on stage last night to simply honor her. Louie said, “She always believed in us.” What a simple statement that is perhaps token and tossed around as if it weren’t often true, but when it is true, I guess you just never know what can happen.
I hope I can be like Mary Gillerstad. I hope that when people share their dreams and visions with me, that I’d be a person that believes the best for people. They already have enough haters to do all the other stuff.
What do you think?
What To Do When You Don’t Know What You Want To Do
Whenever I have a conversation with someone that may be dissatisfied with where his or her life experiences have brought them thus far, the conversation is always steered in a direction that leads to this questions, “Well… what do you WANT to do?” The answer to this question can carry so much weight for some people because, perhaps, God has given you a dream so big… that if you were to really tell somebody what you REALLY want to do… they’d laugh. And maybe they should, right? Shouldn’t we be gearing up everyday to tackle a mission so much bigger than us that when we share it with others, they would laugh.
Or maybe you really just don’t know what you want to do. You’ve narrowed down a few options of what you DON’T want to do. (which is good!) But what do you do when you’re needing to make that next step that may not be your dream job, but it’s at least one step closer to what you’re actually passionate about?!
I think: You pick one thing to be passionate about for a year. Hit it out the park in one area. Be well-studied in that area. BECOME an expert on that area. Focus everything you have on that thing.
It may not be your passion, but it’s a principle of stewardship, not passion. Work your butt off on ANYTHING, and trust me, God’s watching, and so are people. When you don’t know what you want to do, pick something to do well, and I believe… due to your faithfulness in that area… God will take care of the rest.