Gearing Up

So the holidays are winding down and I am gearing up for next year. I have always enjoyed the Christmas break. I am also a big fan of new years. In my mind I know that there is no real distinction between December 31 and January 1, but somehow it just feels like new possibilities come alive on that day.

I will be taking time this weekend and early next week to "gear up" for the New Year. One thing I try not to do is come out of a holiday season on a downward motion. It is too easy to just get into the "relax" mindset and lose some crucial time and momentum with the New Year. It may sound silly, but I guarantee you that people who actually start their resolutions on January 1 are more successful at completing them than those that say they will just start sometime in January... or maybe February if things are too hectic. Of course, the fact is March is always a better time to really kick in with a new routine, what with Spring coming and all. Then again, Easter marks the beginning of new life, so maybe I should just plan on starting then...

You see how it goes, and perhaps from experience you know how it goes. It may sound like a small thing, but if you will have your plan ready and just a couple of action steps that you will commit to come January 1, you will see a huge increase in your success.

For me one of my big goals with the new year is in leadership development and networking. I want to meet more mentors and peers and pour myself more fully into those I lead. So, I will be setting action steps of who, when, and what for January 1. These steps can be small. In fact they should be since you will be planning on doing them in what most people still consider the "holiday". The important thing is that they require movement, and that the movement carries you closer to your overall goal.

So, I hope you will join me in Gearing Up for the New Year. Don't let April roll around while you are still trying to get yourself motivated to get started!

Capable of many... Created for one

This last year has been a year of searching for me... which sounds so 80's movie cheesy since I am in my mid-30s. But, the truth is I was a 32-year-old pastor who still had some things to figure out about life and myself. After this little journey I am hoping I can say the same when I am 42, 52, and so on. I hope that the discovery never ends and that I never find the "end" of my purpose here on earth.

But, the road of discovery is not always an easy one, and it seems to be filled with many detours and off-ramps. As I have been learning about who God made me to be and what He wants to do through me I sometimes get nervous. Some of His asks are big. Some of His asks are difficult. Some of them are flat out frightening. And, it almost never fails that at the same time I see God making a big, scary ask that I see a side road appear. It is a road that seems to be heading in the same direction... or at least close. It is just not so steep, not so busy, not quite so extreme. I am often tempted to wander down those roads.

I have come to the realization that in God's creation He has made me capable of many things. There are many jobs I could do and succeed at; many projects I could lead that would be fruitful; and many ministries that I could support that would do great things. But, the more I look at who God made me and what He plans for me I become more and more convinced that though I am capable of many things, I have been created for one thing.

A fish scaler can do a passable job at cleaning plaque off of your teeth. But, over time it will do a horrible number on your gums. Just because I can operate in a certain realm does not mean that I should. And, even if the path God is leading me down seems more difficult at the beginning, I can rest in His goodness and know that it will be more fulfilling in the end. I want to live the life I was Created for, not just the life I am Capable of.

There is just news... no good or bad

It does not happen as much as it used to, but I still find myself gleaning wonderful truths from animated films. We recently discovered "Kung-fu Panda" and my son enjoys it... so we have watched it more than once. Do not feel bad if you miss the deep truths that abound in movies like these, because many times it is necessary to view them 10-20 times before the mysteries really settle in.

The first lesson that we learn from the Panda is that there is no charge for awesomeness, or attractiveness. That one cut me pretty deeply and I feel the need to reimburse many of you that I have charged both for my Awesomeness and my Attractiveness.

The next line is one that I actually struggled with a bit, but that has spoken to me about my faith in God and how that faith actually works itself out in my real life. The line comes after a villain has escaped from prison and one character says to another, "I have bad news." "There is just news, no good or bad", is the response. "But, [the villain] has escaped from prison!!" "Hmm, that is bad news, if you do not believe our hero is strong enough to defeat him."

I started wondering about all of the times that I hear things and attribute to them Danger or Worry. How easily do I hear news and say, "Man that is bad news", when what I should really say is, "Wow, that sure would be bad if God were not as powerful as He is!" That may sound corny, but the truth is that Bad news often works its way out of my mouth and into my heart. I often start believing the news, which means that I believe that the situation that is Bad is more powerful than my God, who is good.

Romans 8 talks about this, and Paul tries to get the believers in Rome to realize that there is nothing "bad" that can overpower the Good that exists in God. If He is for us, then no matter what comes against us, it will work out for good... because God is just that strong.

When I find myself slipping into doubt or despair over bad news I need to remember that it is only bad if I do not believe my Hero is strong enough to win in the end!

Beginnings and Endings

Have you ever experienced "The Big Buildup!"? This is what happens when you have that big choice to make or that big project to complete or perhaps a new stage of your life is about to begin and you have to tell your loved ones about it. Whatever it is it only counts as a Big Buildup if it happens over a few weeks or months... things that happen in one day just don't count. Well, not that they don't count towards your life, they just do not have the same effect on our lives as the Big Buildups do.

There is something that is true of most Big Buildups in my life; I cannot wait for them to be finished, completed, shared, whatever. And, once they are finished... I don't know what to do with myself. It was always that way in college after finals season. I spent a TON of time focused on the end of the semester and then after one last final... it was over. It generally took me a day or two just to figure out what I was supposed to do next.

I think that is because I often forget that every Ending is in fact a new Beginning. I too often treat life like it is broken into nice little pieces, and I just have to focus on one of them at a time. Though that might be a good time management tool I don't find it to be a good life management tool for a couple of reasons:

1. The bad times seem worse than they really are. When I only focus on one bit of my life or the next Big Buildup then it is just too easy to magnify the issue into something larger than it really is. The decision seems larger than life, the test seems as though it will affect the rest of your future, or the project seems impossible to complete. This does not happen so often if I will remember to step back and look at this Big Buildup in light of the rest of my life... my history and my future.

2. I too often have a Big Letdown following a Big Buildup. Whether the project was a success or a failure does not really matter. The letdown can be internal and emotional depression or it can be external reckless celebration. Either way I have often found that I bring unnecessary pain upon myself because I put so much focus on the Buildup that I have a Big Letdown.

Those who may know me well might think that I am advocating a life devoid of emotion and passion... which is entirely untrue. If anything God has been increasing my passion and emotion towards life this last year and I love it. What I am advocating is a life of perspective in which I give more attention to the vision of my life than the plan I am currently working on. Plans will come and go, succeed and fail... but vision continues through it all. A focus on vision will mean less Big Buildups and less Big Letdowns. I will still have beginnings and endings, but they will flow into each other more smoothly since my focus will be on the bigger picture as well as the smaller details. At least, that is my hope. This is most definitely a work in process for me as I attempt to attain a more holistic view of my life and God's calling for it.

Again and Again and Again and...

I was reminded recently that in order for a message to stick I have to say it again, and again, and again. Sure I have to find creative ways to say it so that the repetition does not drown out the message, but the fact remains that the message must be repeated over and over until the people hearing it know it as well as I do.

It is so easy to believe that everyone surrounding me has already "caught" what I am infected with. The truth is that most of the time this is just not true. That presents a very real danger... that I will move on and build upon a foundation that does not exist.

The foundation of my movement is my vision. The systems that I use to carry out that vision are merely the tools that help people connect with, share, and accomplish the vision. I am trying to avoid the trap of building systems before the foundation is complete. People must have a solid, unshakable understanding and commitment to the vision before it is safe to focus on systems.

I am reminded of the story that Jesus told about two men, one who built his house on the rock and another who built his house on sand. When the Storms of Life hit only one house survives. So, what are the Storms of Life? Well, think of a time when multiple emergencies hit your family and your budget can only cover one of them. At this point your systems (budgets, emergency funds, etc.) don't do you any good, it is Vision that helps you determine direction. We can all be committed to the tools, but if we are not committed to the same vision then that storm will begin to eat away at our foundation. It is similar in the church when you face a scarcity of space, volunteers, or financing. Systems do not decide where we go and what we do and why... Vision does.

Though vision is not a One Time Thing that you build and forget, it must be the First thing that is built. Everything else rests upon it, and without it everything that is built will fall apart as soon as the first real storm hits.

PS - For any music lovers who have 15-30 minutes to spare, you would do yourself well checking out THIS little gem.

Tribes... borrowed

I picked up a copy of Seth Godin's new book "Tribes" last night. (Actually I had my wonderful wife grab me a copy since she was near the bookstore) It is probably a good thing I asked her to purchase it because I don't know if I could have spent $20 on this book. Don't get me wrong, I am sure it will be filled with many wonderful and practical things that God can use to speak truth into my life... but the thing is like 90 pages long. And, these are not even REAL pages... they are like kiddy pages. I read several reviews of the book and figured that I must read it. The one part missing from all of the reviews was the advice to borrow it from a friend because you will be able to read it in one sitting.

Then again I remember another small book that happened to change the way I viewed management back in college. The "One Minute Manager" really altered my view of why things happen and what is really important... and it was a rather small, easy read too. I guess I still fall into the old trap of assigning value based on Style rather than Substance. I think that is one reason God is trying to teach me not to Dismiss any calling as too small or Derail any calling that is too big. Every calling that comes from God is huge, and every calling is possible, regardless of the packaging.

If God calls me to be a Husband and Father, and that is all He calls me to be, then that is an awesome calling that could take all of my energy and focus for as long as I live. If God calls me to reshape the face of the Christian church in America then that is entirely possible in His grand scheme of things. I don't want to miss out on God's work because I am too big for certain things and too small for others. Instead I will just... do what He asks me to do and not worry so much about how it all looks on the outside.

And, now I suppose I should spend some time reading this horribly overpriced little book! :)

Crazy Days

Today marked our 4th Annual Best Buy service project. It is something that I now look forward to every year. For those that are still somehow unaware, today was Black Friday. It is the day that officially starts the Christmas Shopping Season.

I used to believe the people who woke up early on this day to get some special "deals" were just out of their minds. Then 5 years ago I was awakened. Our church was in dire need of new computers, and the deal that year was for $200 machines... monitor included. We saved thousands by showing up at about 2 a.m. From that moment I was hooked.

That first year I was a complete Noob. I had no idea what went on and what I was expected to do. So, I showed up in a long-sleeved shirt and prepared to sit in my car until the doors opened. Imagine my surprise when I actually saw people standing outside of the Best Buy in some sort of line. That is one time my lack of cleaning came in very handy as I happened to have a few blankets sitting in the back of my car. I wrapped up as best I could and endured the freezing cold. About 5 a.m. someone came by handing out coupons for breakfast at Sonic. I thought to myself, "Man if they brought the food here I bet a lot of people would buy it." As we discussed our increasing hunger and cold the idea continued to grow in us... If there was food and drink here I bet people would want it.

So, the next year when we returned we came back with hot chocolate and cookies. The hot chocolate was a hit, but the cookies not so much. Then we noticed that we had some competition. There was man who had brought a small grill and was selling hot dogs; that is until the Sheriff came and asked him to stop. But, we saw that people were more willing to buy hot dogs than to eat our free cookies...

Last year we upgraded to hot chocolate and hot dogs. There were probably 400 people in line and we served until we ran out of stuff to serve. It was a fun time and incredibly cold. I don't think I even bought anything that year, as by that time the service project was way more fun than the shopping.

That brings us up to this year, where we had about 15 people show up to help us serve hot chocolate and hot dogs to the waiting people. We even had a travel service this year with a rolling cart filled with food and drink. We also added another cool piece this year... surveys. It is our desire to minister to our community in many ways this year, and we want to know what kinds of things they would be interested in doing. Our survey team did a great job... even though their pens were apparently frozen.

Some people look at us strange when we say we are going to Best Buy early in the morning to serve people standing in line. Some of them look that way simply because it is so early. Others seem to be thinking, "Why are you serving those people. They obviously don't have any needs, I mean they are consumers!" It is almost as if people are unworthy to be served unless they cannot afford food, clothing, and transportation. The problem I have with that way of thinking is that the community God has placed us in is able to afford all of those things. If we were to restrict our ministry to purely physical needs then we would only reach 5-10% of our community.

I am convinced that the other 90% of our community has needs too. In fact, those needs may even be more critical that the physical needs that we so often focus on. The next 6 weeks mark the highest suicide weeks of the year. And if think it is only the poor and hungry who commit suicide, you would be wrong. This time of year also sees marriages collapse, families splinter, and lives fall apart. And, most of these needs cannot be met with food or clothing. They take deeper things that only come in relationship. And, that is what we are aiming at with our projects like the Best Buy service project. As strange as it is, we have a relationship with these people. Some of them have been with us all 4 years and remember us from year to year. Every time we are out there we have people comment on how strange it is that people would just... serve people they don't even know. In the midst of a purely consumerist location we offer a slightly different look at what people can do with their time and resources.

This is the first in a line of things that we are going to do to minister to the emotionally, relationally, and spiritually needy people in our community. Will we still serve those who are also physically needy? Of course. Even this year we are encouraging every family in our church to adopt one family in need and buy them a box of Angel Food. We are even investing in them to help them on their way. We still believe in helping those in physical need. We are just no longer content to minister only to them. I remain a both/and kind of person.

It's Like an Evil Snail

So, if you got that reference in the title than you probably share my addiction to The Office. Well, perhaps addiction is too strong a word, but I do have it in my queue on Hulu. There is no big lesson here, just a line that struck me a extremely funny... and when I retold it to my wife I realized that I was probably alone in that feeling.

But, just to add something of worth to this blog, let me share a new goal of mine that I would encourage you to adopt as well.

Hand

Written

Notes

I wrote a couple this last week, as I felt the need to communicate something that was very important and I did not have the opportunity to do it face-t0-face. I could have called or sent an email, but there is just something about a hand written note that speaks to me. Perhaps I am alone in this too, but I somehow doubt it. In today's fast paced world of information overload I think people appreciate the fact that you slowed down and intentionally became less efficient in order to communicate with them.

I am not saying that I am giving up email and going back to snail mail; the rise of postage will assure that if nothing else. But, every so often when you have something important to communicate... try a note and see how well it works.

The Almost Sin

I am pretty sure most Christians do not like to sin. At least we have conditioned ourselves to say that we don't like to sin because we know that we are not supposed to like to sin. As we grow in maturity and experience we actually build a large case against sin as we see the effects it has on our relationships with other people and with God.

Yet, there is still that temptation that crops up, that voice that reminds us how fun sin could be. And, if we could just go for the good part and leave out the relationship-killing part wouldn't that be great?

And so in true genius form we create The Almost Sin. That is an intentionally vague term that describes any situation where people use the words, "How far is too far?" How much cursing is too much? I mean sometimes its just fun, or funny to be hangin' with the guys and crack that perfectly-timed joke. How much skin is too much before the really great and funny movie just becomes something I would be completely ashamed to let my small group see me watching? How much bitterness is understandable, because they really hurt me this time and I just need time to be angry with them!?

I am not sure how it is that my brain keeps coming up with convoluted ways to try to explain my need for things that it knows will only bring pain. But, I am pretty sure why it happens. When I begin sensing these feelings in myself and hearing these little advertisements-for-sin in my own head I know that I do need something. I need more time with God. Every time I am tempted with The Almost Sin it is because I have attempted to fill a true need that God intended to fill with something other than Him and His plan.

It could be "the guys" and the feeling of belonging that they bring, it could be "the girl" and the sense of excitement that she promises, it could be "the friend" and the absolute faith I put in our relationship that would never let me down. Any time I try to fill God-created needs with Me-created solutions I begin walking down the path that God describes in James when He says,

"but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

Be careful of The Almost Sin, because when fed it always leads to The Full Grown Sin. I remind myself that I don't have to fight the desire of my heart, I just have to refocus my mind on Who will satisfy that desire. As a believer, God is shaping the desires of my heart. My problems arise when I stop going back to Him for their fulfillment too.

Who Does That?

It seems that every time I have an original thought I get linked to a person that had the same thought months or years earlier. That is OK, I am cool with having a shared thought, as long as it is a good one.

In the last couple of days I have read from several other pastors and bloggers about the same basic idea that I presented on Wednesday. That idea is that just like people, Churches have been shaped to fulfill a specific role in God's plan. The thing I have not yet seen is...

Who Helps Them?

I have read blogs encouraging churches to find their passion, follow through with their vision, make their plan. But where is the system that helps all of this to take place. None of these pastors would be satisfied with such an approach for their own churches. It is not enough just to tell people, "Hey, go find what God put you on this earth to do, and then do it. Good luck! (Well, God Bless would be more fitting there I suppose)"

No, these churches form a system that intentionally walks people through teaching and accountability and relationships designed for the purpose of exposing and developing those passions and visions that God has placed in people. And, it seems to work very well. So, it leaves me asking the obvious questions of...

Who Does That for the "Church"?

The answer currently is, No One. There is no person that I have seen in my 14 years of ministry that does this for the local, state, and national church. There are many, many people who are telling churches what they need to do. I don't know of any people who actually walk alongside of them and help them do it?

If you are like me then your first questions might be, "Where would these people come from? Who would pay them? How would churches join such a network?"

I love questions, it gives me something to think about and post later.

Spiritually Gifted... Churches?

I have grown up learning about Spiritually Gifted Christians. The basic premise is that God has given us all special gifts, shaping us for a particular ministry. He then uses us not only to fulfill that ministry but to be an example to others, training them in how to minister as well. That all makes sense to me, and I can see God as the great puzzle-maker positioning Christians within churches so that all of the ministry gets done.

Recently I have been taking a step back looking not just at life within my church but life within my city. It began a series of questions such as, "If God positions people within churches to provide for ministry, does He also position churches within cities for the same purpose?" Is there such a thing as a Church Gift? Are churches called to similar but unique purposes?

Someone's first reaction may be to say, "Yes, of course, that make sense." I would argue, however, that most pastors and church leaders do not live this way. In fact, if you ask most pastors what the purpose of their church is they will likely offer you something along the lines of the Great Commission, "Go into all the world making disciples and baptizing them". Though I agree that all churches should and will accomplish this, the real question is "How have you been called to accomplish the Great Commission?"

I am really just beginning this line of thinking in my own life, but from my experience it seems that churches are often shaped by the vision of their pastors. That vision attracts people who are called in-line with the pastor. In this way churches actually take on a "persona" of their own. I think it may very well be that God shapes churches for ministry in this day and age, and that He wants us to work together in unique ways to fulfill the Great Commission in our city. That means not every church will be the Evangelist (seeing thousands come to Christ), not every church will be the Teacher (leading the way in spiritual understanding and communication), not every church will be the Pastor (meeting needs and ministering to individuals). But, if every church is doing its part and working in conjunction with the others... then we will all grow up into the Head, who is Christ.

What would this look like? Well, I have to save something to talk about later this week...

The Other Thing

In my last post I mentioned politics as one of the things I avoid much like an alcoholic avoids alcohol. I know that many of you probably left wondering, "What is that other thing?" Finance, and the world in which it resides. Let me clarify with a story.

I knew what I wanted to be about the time I turned 11. I did not know like some other kids my age, who were thinking about being a fireman or an astronaut. I had a carefully laid out plan that all began with me driving My Dream Car. I saw it, and I knew I wanted one, and so I asked my parents what kind of job was necessary to buy a car like that. I soon realized that the job did not matter so much as the money, so my calling in life became to make enough money to buy my dream car. Strangely enough I do make enough money to buy that car now... but getting it 22 years used was not my original idea!

I know that God tells everyone that they cannot serve both Him and Money, but I think it goes a little deeper for me. There is just something about amassing wealth that can take control of my mind if I am not careful. Back in Business School we "had" to read the Wall Street Journal every day and would be tested on it in different classes. I cannot think of many school requirements that were easier for me to do. I love the whole process of investing and earning and risking great sums to make even greater sums. Even now I have to pull myself back from the Abyss as my mind flows into that world.

That is the world God called me out of when He called me "into the ministry". I was 13, headed on my way to do what I needed to make money and God started asking me a series of questions. It went sort of like this:

Me: "I want that car. I need money to get it. Let's go make some money!"

God: "Just how long do you think that car will last? How long will it make you happy?"

Me: "Until I can afford the next one? I don't know I figure it will die eventually... but I can get another one."

God: "And what about when your time on this world is over... what happens to the car then; to all the cars even?"

Me: "Well, I suppose they will end to. From what I read in your Word not much of this world is going to last."

God: "So, if you were going to spend your life earning something that lasts; investing in something that is going to be worth something for the long-run... what would that be?"

Me: "The only thing I can think of is... souls. And, that means People."

You may think such an internal conversation is strange for a 13-year old... and perhaps it is, though I get the feeling most teenagers have deeper thoughts than we realize. But, that was the beginning of the change for the focus of my life. After I decided to invest in People rather than Money I had to face the decision between Ministry and Politics... which we have already covered.

I think all of us have vision thiefs that enter our lives at some point. These are not the Evil things that tempt us to betray God; they are the good things that keep us from seeing God's best. I have friends who spend a lot of time in the world of Finance and Politics, and are following God's call for their life doing so. But, these are not my calling, and they ARE my weakness, so I do my best to keep them in check.

Frustrated... and Focusing

I did a good job of staying out of the whole political scene for the last 10-12 months. I did not watch much news, I did not read all that many reports. I simple did some research, developed my opinions, and then went back to doing the things that make up my daily life. It is not that I believe the political process is unworthy of my time; in fact it is almost just the opposite. Politics is one of two things that I avoid much like an alcoholic avoids, well alcohol.

These days I intentionally attempt to stay out of political discussions because I know myself, and I know how easy it is for me to fall back into an old trap... the trap of believing I can create real, meaningful change through intellectual discourse. You see, I am a rather intelligent person, and I have a good command of the English language. I am pretty charismatic in person, and I tend to be able to shape conversations toward my own ends regardless of who I am talking to and what we are talking about. I also tend to struggle with pride, but that is another topic.

This whole season has reminded me of that former self as I waded back into the waters of things like political, social, and economic systems. In a matter of two days I was already frustrated to the point where I was stressed all the time. Everywhere I went it seemed that I was seeing people who had either completely lost hope, or were placing their hope in a system, a person, or a political party. And it reminded me why years ago I decided not to enter into politics, but to become a minister. It is because I am convinced that the only Person who deserves such faith, because He is the only Person who can accomplish such results, is Jesus.

It is quite possible that the next four years could be great years for this country... just as the last 200+ have been. The economy could grow, wars could end, peace could reign, and in the middle of all of that I have to wonder who would get the credit? I know who deserves the credit, and the thing that has been really bugging me these last couple of days is that I see more hope being placed in men than I do in God. This really goes beyond political party, as some people seem to be in despair while others are jubilant. To both sides I find myself asking, "Was God not in charge a week ago? If things had happened differently would your 'faith' be different today?" I was at peace on Tuesday before any results came in because of two things. First, I had been obedient to what I believe is a God-called duty to vote. Second, I knew that God was in control regardless of what my ballot said. I am at peace once again today because I once again reigned in my Focus... taking it off of man-made systems and putting it back upon Jesus. He may choose to work through these man-made systems, but He has not chosen me to be a part of that process, and so my focus will remain on my calling.

Perhaps you are not a recovering Politicaholic like me and you can handle such discussions without any bad side effects. But, if you do find that Frustration begins seeping in to your thoughts, I would suggest you try the same remedy that works for me and Focus your mind on Jesus.

Once every four years

I have already written my thoughts on the whole political process in other places, but honestly I liked the writings of a guy named Jon that I read this morning and thought I would just link to his site. This is most likely dangerous as he is much more prolific than I am and in general much more interesting too!

But, check out his thoughts on StuffChristiansLike over here. Make sure to read his post from Tuesday night (#432).

Small Focus, Big Impact

I think that many times people have a hard time deciding to limit their focus for the sake of greatness because they believe they will also limit their greatness. This may be true, depending on how you define greatness.

If greatness = me becoming greater and my name gaining renown, then yes, a limited focus may limit my greatness. But, if greatness = God becoming greater and His name gaining renown, then a small focus will often lead to a big impact. Here is the way it works.

When I take the time to really seek God and find that thing that He created me to do that I am the best at in the whole world then several things happen. First, I begin to succeed at what I am doing. Second I find that my life is more fulfilling than I had previously experienced. Third I allow God to create a prototype in me that He can then pass along to others.

You see, God creates us to do things not just so that we can do them but so that we can teach others how to do them. This is a big misunderstanding in the church today. We look at Spiritual Gifts as some sort of system to see what people should be doing. God quite clearly said that Spiritual Gifts were there not just for doing but also for teaching. In Ephesians 4 we see that gifts were given in order to prepare God's people for the work He has prepared.

Let me give you a practical example that is close to my heart these days. I believe God's church is called to change its community, and a large part of every community is its school system. Changing the public school system is not a small focus. Changing one class of one school is a small focus. Say a church feels called to that focus. In so doing they tap into the purpose that God positioned them for in their community. Over a few months or a year they work and pray and they see God transform that class. And, it does not happen on accident, it seems to follow a plan, almost a system of sorts. Imagine if they take that same plan and apply it to another class, or if resources permit even an entire grade at the same school. They see the same results. Then God reveals how the same plan could be used in all of the grades in that school, but their resources just cannot handle it. But, they know a church down the road that could, and would use the system. One school changes. The word gets out among churches that there is a way to create change... and it works; they have seen it work. More churches get involved, more cities get involved, schools across the county, state, even country begin to change. Pretty soon nobody even knows the name of the first church because bigger, more prevalent churches have taken up the forefront and are carrying out the system in huge ways, maybe even better ways. But, the church with the Small Focus was able to have Big Impact.

When I refine my focus I am not limiting my impact. In fact the reverse is often true when my focus is too broad. My hands touch everything and accomplish nothing.

Focus: it is a good thing

Today I am going to take a step in focusing this blog. I am in the process of creating another blog that will hold the entirety of my book. I will likely do the same for all book/semi-book ideas that come forward and take up more than one or two posts. A quick tease... coming January 2009 I will be revealing a project I am super excited about; and it is not even mine! But, I will have the privilege to help co-author a book that I believe will be very influential in church (and perhaps business) life.

Focus is something God has been talking to me about for almost a year now. A few months back I read a book titled, "Good to Great". If you have not read it, you need to. It is one of my "must reads" for anyone who comes to me with an idea and seems serious about carrying it to completion. I have to be honest, though, and say that there was a part in that book that really bothered me. It was the part that said greatness can only be achieved when I find the thing that I am best at in the whole world and then focus my resources on doing that thing. As I read it I remember thinking, "Well that sucks for me, because I am not the best at anything in the world." Did that mean that Greatness was forever out of my reach? Will I have to be satisfied excepting my mediocre place in this world while the Great people get to be the best?

This last week God answered those questions with the simple answer... Focus. He had me ask the question again, "What can I do better than anyone in the world?" At first I struggled finding an answer. I am not the best speaker, the best leader, the best organizer, the best visionary... and He told me to narrow my focus. Eventually He had me think about my children, and He asked, "Can you be the best father they have?" He had me think about my wife and asked, "Can you be the best husband she had?" You might think this sort of competition is unfair because I am the only father and husband they have. And yet, when I asked those questions I realized that Yes, I can be the best in the world at those two things. I truly believe that no one else in all of this world can be a better father or husband to my family than I can.

I began applying this same principle to the church and realized that sometimes Greatness involves narrowing our Focus. We are often tempted to be Good at many things while never begin Great at any one thing. We get trapped into thinking that a Narrow focus means a Small impact. I believe that just the opposite is often true, and will talk about that tomorrow. For today, what are you the best at... in the whole world? I think that question is often the first step to realizing what purpose God has for us in this life.

The Monopoly Mindset - Part 3

Let me give a quick example of a modern day Monopoly Mindset. It comes from a conversation I had with a college ministry director. He was telling of a meeting that had been called to discuss a new danger in America. The danger came from wealthy middle-eastern interests who were financing large projects at universities across America. These interests would offer to build large buildings and equip them, and all they asked was to be able to send some of their own professors to fill some of the new teaching positions that would open up. Beyond their duties as professors these men would also bring over the teachings of Islam and attempt to spread it. That was the danger, the spread of Islam to young, impressionable minds at college campuses. The meeting was to identify this new danger and come up with ways to combat it.

The notion that we need to somehow figure out how to "stop the Muslim invasion" is just strange to me. We have evidence that when seen side-by-side Christianity already beats Islam, even in a culture where Islam holds most of the market. Africa and the Middle East provides dozens of examples of this very thing. So, when faced with this new threat is seems we have two choices. The first is to focus our energy on stopping the invasion by trying to talk to universities and perhaps even use the terrorist card. We can focus on the evils of Islam and try to warn students to stay away from certain professors. We can denounce the movement on the whole and just will people to follow the American way of Christianity. Or, we could focus our energy on showing the truest possible form of Christianity on these college campuses and see the same result in America that we see in the rest of the world. When Christianity competes against other religions it wins... every time. The only time that Christianity begins to lose is when it becomes polluted or convoluted. The message begins to change and the focus begins to blur as we take on the Monopoly Mindset.

You Have to Fail

This is something that God has been working in my for a couple of decades now. "That long?", you ask? Well, you need to understand my distinct fear of failure. I call myself a perfectionist, and often times people chuckle because I do not keep an extra-clean office, and my paperwork is often a mess. What I mean to say is that in areas where I judge myself I am a perfectionist. That is why I never played a round of golf outside of a couple of best-ball "for fun" outings. I spent months on the driving range working on different clubs. I have no intention of "playing" the game until I can win the game. Otherwise I don't see the point of playing :). That is what I mean when I say I am a perfectionist.

God first used my uncle to try and grow me in this area. I still remember the day we were out water skiing. My uncle has just taken a big spill; I mean a spill where the people watching all catch their breath with a collective "Oohhh" and hope he is ok. He was ok. What he said to me was, "If you never fall you are not trying hard enough." I thought he was crazy. In my world if you never fall then you never smack into the water at 32 miles per hour. I have fallen enough times to know that Me + Water + 32mph = pain.

But, even now God is continuing to speak this message to me. And it is getting even stronger. I believe God is calling me to step out in some new areas, and I actually think He is going to let me fall. In fact, part of me believes it is His plan that I fall. Can you imagine that? It is almost like He is saying to me, "Jeff, I am asking you to do something. You are going to fail. But, its ok. I will be here to pick you up and show you where to walk next." Part of me does not want to believe God works in this way... until He reminds me of Peter and this exact conversation that they had.

So, why do I have to fail? Because if I never fail then most likely I have lived a life completely within my own control. I run the risk of actually believing that I am perfect, not that I merely need to appear perfect. If I never stretch so high chasing God's plan that I fall. If I never make an ask He is calling me to make and get rejected. If I never attempt something that He is calling me to attempt and see it fail. Well, then I have likely only existed, and never really lived.

In the end I won't be "failing" at all, because God will be building something precious into my character. That is His goal after all. What I do, the things I accomplish, the monuments I build... none of that really matters to Him as long as I become who He created me to become.

So, am I willing to Fail so that God's work in me can Succeed?

The Monopoly Mindset - Part 2b

Wow, this is a horrible way to read a book... but I will try to pull it together as well as I can :). I was last talking about signs that suggest that American churches are pursuing a Monopoly status. The first was a push for Control instead of Competition. The second is In-fighting and confusing Cannibalism for growth.

In-Fighting and Cannibalism. There was a series of commercials in which Coca-Cola was attempting to sue Coke Zero for patent infringement. The basic tenet was that the two tasted so alike that Coke Zero must have stolen the secret formula. The humor comes both from the ridiculous lawsuit as well as the fact that the lawyers have no idea it is a joke. Though I found those commercials funny, I also thought they provided a sad commentary on the modern Christian market. When we see ourselves as the only viable religious option, then we begin to compete with ourselves. Our marketing is driven to attract those already within the market, making it meaningless (at best) to those outside. At worst it actually drives away those outside of the market; just as the Coke vs. Coke Zero commercials would if they were not satire.

This has led to a situation in which the church thinks it is healthy when in reality it is dying. We have basically been cannibalizing ourselves for the last 15-20 years. Some churches will grow while others die. Overall the numbers look the same, or even "up" in given years. During that time there has been no real increase. For Southern Baptists in particular, the reality over the last 20 years is that for every 1 person we have baptized, 1.1 people have stopped attending our churches. This is true even though there are hundreds of examples of growing churches in the SBC. What that tells us is that the growing churches are not growing as fast as the dying churches are dying; or that the growing churches are growing because they are moving people from the dying churches. In business terms, we are losing market share. And, I believe the name of the game is market share when it comes to God's design for His church; more important than Net Worth, Political Power, or Social Influence. That is because market share is measured in people, the very people that He died for.

Nothing to Fear?

I was talking to Leslie this weekend (my wife, her pic is just to your right there) and we got into a discussion about courageous decisions versus cowardly decisions. Actually, as the discussion went the Courageous thing to do was to make a decision and stick to it, while the more cowardly thing was to not make a decision and still hope for the best. So, you must be asking yourself, "What decision are you talking about?!?!" In general, we were discussing the decision to find out just how talented you are.

There is a story in the Gospels where Jesus talks about three servants, each given some talents and told to use them wisely. One servant got 5 talents, another received 2, and the last was handed 1 talent. The moral to the story was that God expects us to take what we have been given and invest it; gaining Him a good return.

The underlying story here is that there are One talent people out there and there are Five talent people out there. While God may see no real difference between the two... that is not so much the case for us humans. And, that is where cowardice can rear its ugly head. It happens in two distinct ways.

I don't think I can be a Five Talent person! This person refuses to seek God's specific direction for their lives when making their life goals and says things like, "I will accomplish whatever God has planned for me to accomplish." So, when talking about how big their ministry will be, how many lives they will touch, what their community will look like in 5 years... well it is all in God's hands, and I will be as successful as He wants me to be. While that may be true in parts, it is also cowardly. What if God wanted to look at you like Noah and say, "Here is where I want to take you and your family in the coming years... get ready for a crazy ride!" The coward avoids that conversation because he is afraid of what God may ask, afraid of failing God in such a big calling, or even afraid of others seeing him as too proud or boastful because of his calling.

I know I am not a One Talent person! This person refuses to recognize God's design for their life. They often get caught up day-dreaming about the Five Talent people they know and wondering when their shot is going to come. They don't bother fully investing themselves in their current One Talent life, because surely God is just waiting to fully reveal His plan. Surely He could not intend for them to live in this place, this job, this circle of friends. Surely this is just temporary, a holding place, or a training place until they reach their true calling.

I think that our lives are played out like a huge construction site. On that site you have the HUGE earth movers and cranes. You also have some smaller bobcats and personal-power machines. Then you have guys with shovels. If you talk to the person in charge of the operation he would tell you that all of those parts are necessary. There are just some jobs that the Crane cannot do. Even the smaller front-end loader cannot get everywhere you need to work. Sometimes the whole operation can get stopped... waiting on one guy with a shovel to do what only he can do.

I asked the question that night, "Am I afraid to answer God's call if I am a Five Talent person? Or, am I afraid to hear Him say He wants me to be the best One Talent person I can be?" The answer reveals much about who I really am and who I believe God is.

The Monopoly Mindset - Part 2a

Thank you to Maureen for providing a nice transition into Part 2, where we discuss two of the signs that reveal the church is pursuing a monopoly status in America.

Control vs. Competition: In this view competing religions are viewed as the "enemy" meant to be crushed, by force if necessary, in order to preserve the "true way" of Christianity. Christians use their financial, social, and political power to control access to competing philosophies. They then work to destroy those philosophies. For example:

1. Economic Sanctions and Boycotts. Though more popular in the late 80's and 90's, you will still occasionally see call for people to use financial pressure to influence moral conditions. These are mostly targeted at large retailers who sponsor groups that the Christian world deems immoral or evil. The tricky thing is that as a Christian I have a personal responsibility to use the funds God has given me in a wise way. I may choose to support some things and not support others purely for moral or ethical reasons. But, when I take my personal responsibility and make it a Religious Economic Effort then I take the risk of re-shaping the purpose of my religion. People begin to see me as a Financial force rather than a spiritual force. This can back fire if your purpose is truly spiritual in nature.
2. Legislating moral worldviews. The most popular example of this in my lifetime is the legalization of abortion in America and the fight to overturn that Supreme Court decision.
3. Social anathema. The fight against homosexuality has taken this tactic. There has been an active push over the last few decades to make homosexuality socially unacceptable. The attempt is not just to have it viewed as wrong, but to make it seem "icky".

The first thing we see is that none of these strategies work for the long-term. There are still immoral companies that make lots of money. People still get abortions (and would even if the law changed). And, homosexuality is more accepted today than ever. When we attempt to promote Christianity by controlling people's access to competing ideas then we are demonstrating a Monopoly Mindset. And, such a strategy is destined to fail.

Tomorrow we will look at the second symptom: "In-fighting and Cannibalism".

The Monopoly Mindset - Part 1

Over the last few decades I have noticed a certain trend in America. It is a trend that rings true in secular and religious arenas. It is a trend towards control and away from competition. In the secular world it plays out like so. A person gets a job at a profitable company. The more profit they see the company making the more control they want over what they consider their "fair share". You find such a person making statements like, "I deserve to be paid more because you are making more money." Or, "It is not fair that you control so much money, I deserve a part of that too." This is contrary to the attitude that helped build this nation... one of competition. The world of competition would take the same person working for the same company and they would say, "I think I could do this cheaper, better, or with better customer service... and compete with this company." At first it might seem like the end would be the same, The Company loses profit while either the Employee or the Competition takes it. But, what almost always happens is that the Competition actually increases the market. Their new service or product will reach people that The Company never did. Of course, the fact is that The Company does not want competition. It is often scared of competition and works to control the market in such a way as to prevent or destroy competition.

This same thing happens in the religious world where you have churches focused not on finding ways to tap unreached markets, but instead wanting more control over the market of the "already reached". They see churches with more members and think, "You have more people, and I deserve some of the people you have." And, The Church (including all Christian sects) often works just as hard as The Company to squash competition from competing brands.

My basic premise is that Christianity is most healthy when it operates in a competitive environment as one of many religious options. Christianity declines and dies when it assumes Monopoly status within a culture. In Economics, monopoly exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it.

Though I do not believe Christianity has ever achieved Monopoly status, I believe it has actively pursued such a status here in America. And, I believe that pursuit has led to its decline over the last three decades.

A New Experiement

I am going to be trying a new experiment here on the blog over the coming weeks. The actual length of time will greatly depend on how it is received by you, the reading public.

Over the last few years I have endeavored to finish a couple of writing projects. Those two projects have coalesced into one book that is still unpublished. Many of the ideas that you read here actually come from that book... in bite size form. Thus far I have picked certain ones that pertain to situations or conversations I have during the week. Starting tomorrow I am going to put them out as they were intended to be read, though still in nice bite-sized pieces.

The working title of the book is The Monopoly Mindset: Competition vs. Control in the Christian Marketplace. So, for those of you not wanting to follow the book (shame on you!), I will conveniently title those posts "The Monopoly Mindset Part 1" and so on. Who knows, if this thing ever finds itself on paper I would love to list you all as collaborators :).

Once a week

Answer to the question of: How often is Jeff currently updating his blog? It is a good thing I don't depend on this as a source of... well anything currently. They say that consistency is the number one thing you need to maintain to keep any type of loyal readers. Well, I have put that to the test, and I believe my four faithful readers are made of more sturdy stuff!

I picked up an early release of some new Bible study journals we are making available this weekend. It is really nice; leather-bound and all that. It also has a new feature that makes complete sense but that I have never used before when journaling... the Table Of Contents. Since the point of journaling is to remember what God has said to me, it would make sense to label the information so that I can go back and find something that He said in the past.

So far I am one day into the new journal, and I will likely be posting thoughts from that journal here, especially when I have empty days.

If you are a local reader that attends NPCC, then I really encourage you to stop by the new Spiritual Food table that will be up this week and grab one of the new journals. They are a great resource to help keep track of what God is speaking into your life.

In Sickness and in Health

Leslie and I loved our honeymoon. We recently uncovered some pictures from the trip and were remembering just how calm, peaceful, and spoiling that trip was. The view from the private pool in our cabana overlooked the bay directly in front of the sunset. So, every night we would order room service (and split the meals... they were Big!) while we watched the sun set.

We have often talked about going back. But, there is one thing (besides finances and kids) that always makes us hesitate; the way the trip ended. The day we were leaving Leslie started feeling a little... sick. By the time we were on the airplane she was a lot sick. She probably spent more time in the bathroom than in her seat. By the time we landed in Phoenix she was so sick that she could not walk, and the customs officials would not let us back into the country. That was one of the few times that we believe God sent us an angel (human or spirit who knows). Leslie had just collapsed on the floor when a woman came up and just happened to have a bottle of Pedialyte in her purse. Leslie started getting some vital fluids as customs called a local hospital. So, instead of making our way to our connecting flight I got into a cab with our bags and followed an ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital.

I remember a few times that night thinking, "I think I am going to lose my wife". I have to admit that was the first time I had ever experienced sickness that sever. After the doctors had stabilized her with fluids and some medication I had different thoughts. A phrase I had repeated just days earlier came to mind, "In sickness and in health". I suppose I got to prove those words that day. And, it was a good thing, because in the last 11 years Leslie has spent many more days caring of my sorry, sick self than I can remember. She, on the other hand, seems to have some super-woman syndrome ever since Mexico.

So, thanks honey for all the years of loving me in sickness and in health :).

Personal Time

I have a friend and mentor who is currently spending his time in a Texas State prison. The main reason he has been there for 9 years is that he continues to maintain his innocence. And, for what it is worth I both believe him and admire his willingness to hold onto his character. Beyond that he truly believes he is called to be in such a place at such a time and that God's deliverance is only a matter of time. Nine years... only a matter of time. I think everyone needs a mentor in prison. When I get letters from him I really feel like I am a little closer to what the first-century church must have felt like when they got letters from Paul. I know my friend is not writing new parts of the Bible, but I treasure the wisdom, passion, and faith that comes from those pages.

I have been in jury duty this week, and my personal experience definitely has shaped my perspective on our legal process. I am much more likely to actually believe "innocent until proven guilty" now then I was 10 years ago. But, the fact is sometimes the evidence just leads to a conviction. I am fairly sure I met one such man Monday of this week. The evidence staked against him just seemed to lead to a "guilty"... and I found myself praying for this guilty man. I did not pray for his freedom; I believe he should pay for his crime. I prayed for his soul and for strength to endure these coming years. He needs God as much (or more) now than ever. And, God loves him now as much as ever.

I am glad of that, because God came to me in my guilt as well. He did not offer me salvation just in case I might need it, but because I was guilty and the punishment for my crime was more than I could pay. When he paid the price for my sin and offered me a way out it totally changed not just my life but my eternity. I don't understand how anyone could see that gift and refuse it... but people do.

More on that tomorrow. For today, make sure you take time to thank the one who saw you in your guilty state and took the punishment in your place!

Banks Close, and its Ok

This will be quick as I have an appointment with some Richland County judges this morning (jury duty!). But, I wanted to toss out a couple of thoughts on why it is "OK" even when banks fail and the market dives.

1. Truth is better than a lie. The fact is our housing market (which includes the banks who made loans for it) has been a huge lie these last couple of decades. People have been living in houses that they could not afford... barely. They have been squeaking by barely making payments. Because of that the demand for higher priced houses increased, but it was a fictional demand presented by people who could not actually afford the houses they were attempting to buy. But, with some tricky financing and the willingness to let the new home owners go into debt in other places (credit cards anyone?) the banks made it happen! (Ironically the same banks often held the credit card debt for their homeowners... how nice of them.) This will be a difficult process, and it may take a few years to work its way out, but in the end it will hopefully make our housing market reflect the truth of the matter. And the truth is you should not be living in a $500,000 house if you make $50,000 a year. That is exactly the kind of thing that was happening in the markets that were hit the worst by the housing crash, and it was only a matter of when, not if.

2. The gospel reaches further in times of hardship than in times of blessing. I don't always like this truth, but it is a truth I cannot deny. History teaches us quite clearly that times of prosperity are some of the hardest times to reach people with the gospel, whereas times of hardship seem to make the harvest bountiful. We (NPCC) have been attempting to get our people ready for this type of economic situation for years now; teaching you to live below your means, set up emergency funds, and give thankfully to God. That allows us to be ready to meet needs during times of difficulty and to share God's love while we do it.

So, even if you are heavily invested in the stock market (like me!), don't worry... the stocks will come back up, and God will take care of us even if the banks fail. (And btw, all of the banks won't fail... some of them have prepared themselves for this day and will actually increase because of it. That is why we encourage people to prepare for difficult days before they arrive!)

Dare to Dream... and Do

I was recently engaged in a discussion about Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven Life. We are about to go through the PDL campaign as a church again this Fall. Things have definitely changed since the last time we went through the study; back in 2003. Now Rick Warren is a household name in America, on the cover of Time magazine and having articles written about him in major periodicals all over the place. My conversation reminded me of some of the things I have heard recently about Rick and his church Saddleback. I had a chance to go to a Small Groups conference hosted by their church back in April, and in that conference we heard quite a bit about Rwanda and what God is doing there.


The short version of this story is that three years ago the President of Rwanda asked Rick and his staff to come and lead his country through the Purpose Driven Life. The results over the last few years have been enough to garner even more national attention as one church and big-hearted pastor are attempting what most feel is quite impossible... to eradicate AIDS and poverty from one of the hardest hit countries in Africa.


And, you know what, it might just be impossible. And, this movement may indeed fail. But in one of the many articles I was reading I saw a quote from Teddy Roosevelt and it is something that I think many Christians today need to hear.


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."


So many times we take the role of critic or counselor, when what is really needed are partners and co-laborers. I applaud Rick Warren not because he is some special person, but because he has the guts to give away his life. I have to wonder if I would do the same were God to pour out millions of dollars and a national audience on my life?

Nine. Eleven.

I posted this on another site on which I do some writing, and I thought it would be good for this blog as well.

To most Americans those two numbers have a very specific meaning. People say it was the day that the world changed. I am not sure if that is true, but it was a day that my world changed. I remember sitting in a small car repair place that was owned by the Johnson brothers. They were the closest place to my house that worked on Volkswagens... so I was there quite a bit. This particular fix was taking a while and I was sitting in the front room just reading something.Then one of them came up and said that they thought they heard some guy on the radio talking about a building on fire in New York. From there we turned on the small TV they had and watched. What we first thought was some sick prank by a radio shock-jock soon became all too real.

I don't remember driving home that day, but I know I spent most of the rest of it in front of my TV at home and talking with countless people on the phone.I have never lived in New York; only visisted a couple of times, and yet I felt deeply connected to the tragedy that happened that day. It is hard to believe that is has already been 7 years. So much has changed in my life, in our country. And yet, so much is the same.

It is amazing sometimes how life falls back into the norm even after seemingly unforgettable events. That is why we have to take time to remember those things that need to be remembered. I took time to do so today and encourage you to do the same.

Mirrors and Windows - Part 2

Pretty sad that it took me three days to crank out a Part 2! But, I let my "blog time" slip in my schedule and this is what happens.

In the last post I talked about the danger of being a mirror when I should be a window. Just to make life a little more interesting I believe there is also a danger in being a window when you should be a mirror. My reference here comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18 that describes how we reflect God's glory much like Moses did coming down from the mountain. This is something that I don't deal with quite as much now that my position in ministry is mostly "behind the scenes". Back when I led worship and spoke on a weekly basis this was something that I thought about every week.

Worship gives us a good example of this verse, though I think it can apply any time we deal with God's glory. A quick look at Lucifer in the old testament shows that he is described by many jewels. The picture is almost that as God's glory is revealed upon him, he then reflects it to others. That was his design, and it was good for him to shine, because he was shining with God's glory. The trouble came when instead of reflecting the glory he wanted to absorb it. He stopped being a mirror and started being a window. That is the danger that faces us every time we deal with God's glory. We have the choice to reflect the praise back to Him or to absorb it into ourselves.

In this way I believe we were designed to be mirrors, reflecting our God to this world and guiding their eyes to Him. When people look at us they should see God's reflection, not just our own. And, when God works in us we should share that with others, not keep it bottled up inside.

Mirrors and Windows - Part 1

The other night my wife (---> that is her picture to the right) told me that my eyes were like "mirrors to my soul". We laughed as she corrected herself to the usual "windows to the soul" line. But, it got me thinking... how often are my eyes more like mirrors than windows? How often do I show people what I think they want to see instead of what is actually there?

So many times my life acts like a mirror, attempting to recreate my surroundings so that I reflect back an acceptable image to my culture. If I look at the life of Jesus it plays out more like a window; continuously open for others to look into. It had to be discomforting to be around someone so open, so willing to become vulnerable and intimate. I hope that as I grow to become more like Him that my eyes (and the rest of me for that matter) really do become windows into my soul. When that happens people will no longer just be seeing me; they will also be seeing the new soul that Jesus is making inside of me.

Out of Schedule out of Mind

I said it recently in a meeting I was having at the church, and since then it has almost become a mantra with me. What I said was, "If something does not make it into our weekly schedule, then it will not make it into our weekly planning." That may seem simple enough, but when applied it becomes a rather profound truth. The fact is that there are only so many hours during a given week. What I choose to fill those hour with will be what my life becomes filled with in the future. We all know this at some level, but we don't live like it because we still do one of two things that we otherwise would not:

1. We fill our time with things we don't really care about.
2. We don't plan out our time and just let it fill itself.

As a result I started a project (mostly for myself, but I encouraged the rest of the staff to join me) in which we are scheduling out our weeks in 30-minute increments. The idea is similar to the Dave Ramsey "Zero-Budget". Every time slot has to be dedicated to something, even if that something is "Free Time". Then, just like a real budget if things come up that require me to miss a scheduled event, I have to find somewhere else in the Schedule (my time budget) for it to fit.

I really think this is the step that keeps most people from realizing their dreams. If people actually stop long enough to let God speak a dream into their hearts, they rarely continue on to re-schedule their lives to make time for that dream to come to pass. If you feel God calling you to a new career that requires more education, and yet you don't make time for school... how will you ever realize the dream? If you want to be a better parent, but you don't schedule more time with your kids, how will you ever improve? Simple in theory, difficult in practice. The main thing that separates pure dreamers from dream-doers is follow through. And, follow through only happens when I give it time to happen.

Is Everyone Saved?

I suppose this can fit into my "random theological discussions" category... if I did categories. The thought is really a continuation of my last post. As I was looking back on history and how it is that God brings redemption to people I remembered the story of the Exodus. I am not the first person to compare that OT story to our NT salvation. God brought them out of slavery and into the promised land.

The interesting thing is... their salvation had nothing to do with their faith. In fact almost none of them actually believed Moses (or God) could save them, and yet they were all freed. In fact, in order for them to miss out on the Promised land they had to continually reject it. We know that many of them missed out on what God refers to as His "rest" in Hebrews. Their lack of belief led to this. But, they were all saved from slavery.

This mirrors one of the pictures that I have for our salvation today. I see the world in a huge restaurant piling up huge tabs. In fact we are eating and drinking so much that none of us can afford these tabs... they would bankrupt us. Then God walks in and pays for everyone's tab. Some people see Him doing this and are immediately grateful and thank Him for it, gladly accepting. Others see Him do it and criticize Him for the "show off" that He is... thinking He can buy us with His great wealth. Still others don't see him pay the checks (it is a BIG restaurant after all), but when the time comes to pay they are informed that their check has been covered by God. At that time you get the same two responses... some rejoicing and grateful, others mocking and choosing to try to pay their own way.

The truly sad thing is that everyone's bill has been paid. Some just refuse to accept that fact, up until the very end. C.S. Lewis tells a story that explains my point so much better than I could in "The Great Divorce". I heartily recommend reading it if you have not done so already. The link I listed actually lets you read it online! Imagine that, I just found that out heh. Pardon me while I go see what other treasures are there free for the mining!

P.S. - Ok I am back. In the end I don't think this really changes my outlook on how "the end" will be. Some will be with God, others will be apart from God. What it changes is my view of God in the whole matter. I have a hard time with a God who forms people, sticks them in some "godless" remote section of the world where they will never hear the gospel, and then lets them die without any hope of heaven. Honestly I think the Bible speaks very much against such a God, and tells quite a different story indeed. Jesus paid the bill. He finished it upon the cross. I believe every man, woman, and child has the opportunity to humble themselves in acceptance or bow up in defiance. So, is everyone saved? Well, yes. It is just that some people cannot seem to accept that fact, and so they reject the truth for a lie... and God grants them their wish.

P.P.S - You only get the first chapter... but perhaps it will hook you for the rest of the book :).

Can God Lose?

I am gamer by nature, so this is an important question to me. I see almost everything in life as a game of sorts, and so I define what it means to "win" and to "lose". Most people do this to some degree for various things in life; say when you are driving and feel the need to pass other cars instead of letting them pass you. Perhaps you just want to "get there" faster; I want to win. I am not exactly sure what I am winning, but I am winning!

Something that often bothers me is that it seems like God is losing. Let me back up and define the play field and the winning conditions here. I see God's play field as "Creation". Winning means Creation existing as it was meant to, losing means that it exists in some other form. On a more human note, winning means that humanity is restored to its original relationship with God, and losing means that it is not. We are in the middle of a study right now called OnePrayer, and it is very good so far. This last video was full of statistics meant to "Wake Us Up". The relevant ones were that 20 million people die each day, and that 13.9 million of those die not knowing Jesus. I am not sure how these numbers come together. I figure they are pretty much just taking the global statistical averages and applying them to daily numbers, and in general only 33% of the people in the world claim to be Christians.

So, when I look at these numbers my first thought is, "God is... losing." And, that bothers me. It does not bother me in the sense that I feel that I need to "get out there" and tell more people about God, it bothers me in the sense that I have a hard time picturing God as a loser. I don't struggle picturing God as one who sacrifices, as a giver, or as a servant. He was all those things and people called him a loser; but that is only because they were short-sighted and failed to see how all of those things led to His victory.

I have not really searched out my Biblical evidence and position on this topic, but in my gut I just believe God wins. Perhaps my definitions of "win" and "lose" are off, and I just don't know the real goal of this whole game. Or, perhaps God is doing better than we think and our definition of "knowing Jesus" is off to the degree that we see God is losing when in reality He is not. Perhaps God is restoring this world, His Creation, to its original form and we are too blinded by our own rules and definitions to see it. I honestly hope the latter is true. Call me old-fashioned or old-school, but I still like the stories where the good guy wins in the end.

Coming Soon!

It was a good weekend... full of gaming and eating and spending time with friends. I took a few days off (as you have noticed), but I will be starting back with the 5-day updates; beginning tomorrow. I just wanted to give a little preview of what is coming up. Who knows if this will be a regular thing; it really depends on how much time I spend developing ideas before I post them. But, I have a few that I am working on now, and in no particular order they are:

1. Can God lose?
2. Out of Schedule out of Mind
3. Is everyone saved?
4. Mirrors and Windows (This one might be a two-parter!)

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend as well, and I will see you tomorrow!

Go With the Flow

The title pretty much describes the way I move through life. I love adventures, I hate to know the ending before I get there. In this way I am almost the complete opposite of my wife. It boggles my mind to see her get a new book and just start reading randomly through it... even the last page!

I have learned in the last few years that there are several different ways to go with the flow. I imagine "the flow" as white water rapids. I had the opportunity to go on a white water rapid ride in Colorado many years ago. It was enough of an adventure that it has stuck with me all this time. It was only a Class 3 rapid at the time (Class goes from 1 to 5), but that is still a significant amount of water moving down the river. Everyone who got into the boat was "going with the flow" no matter what. Our choices were to be passive participants just letting the river guide the boat wherever it might go, or to be active participants using the tools we had been given to guide the boat along the best course in the river.

I believe that my life is similar to that raft. I have been placed on the river in a certain time in a certain place, and life is going to move forward regardless of what I do. I can try to fight against it all (as some do in futility), or I can go with the flow. I can just sit back and let the water carry me where it will, which is a good way to get smashed up against the rocks. Or, I can use all of the tools God has given me and try to navigate a course in my boat on His river.

This is kind of how I see God working out "His plan for my life." There was a time when I thought God was directly concerned with my boat; as if my boat was the key to His plan. I don't really see it that way anymore. I believe God is in control of the river. It is going where He has planned, and nothing is going to stop it. I have a chance to join in and have a great ride... if I will listen to Him and let Him guide my boat. So, that is my life's journey; to be an active participant with God as I enjoy the great adventure of Life that He has created.

In Our Prayers

For those who don't know, one of our youth suffered a horrible loss this last week. Kayla you are in our prayers, and in our hearts. I am an only child, and so it is hard to imagine what losing a brother or sister would be like, but I know it is a grief that does not pass quickly. And, your church family will stand alongside your blood family during this time.

Sensitive Hearts

I don't have one. Truthfully my heart is more like a well-guarded castle than a flowering garden. This isn't even something I have worked on intentionally. I don't have any huge hurt in my past that I am trying to protect. I just tend to think about projects more than people. And, projects don't generally have feelings.

That is probably why God gave me a son who has a sensitive heart. I mean he is even left-handed. Can you get more flowery and artsy than that?! It has taken me a while to understand this, mostly because this sensitive kid is also very loud. He aggressively seeks his own way in the world, and when the world (namely his parents) does not conform, well bad things tend to happen. So, my kid has become one of those nice paradoxes that I love... a loud, intensely-tempered, yet very sensitive kid. I know that he is helping me look into my own heart, revealing things that God wants to work in me.

He is also helping me to remember that everything is not how it seems on the outside. Too often I give quick, shallow judgements of people based on very limited information. When people first meet my son they generally say, "Wow! That is the happiest kid I have ever seen" or "Whoa! What is up with the huge tantrum, don't you know how to parent?!" Ok, so nobody has actually said the last one, but I see them thinking it! And then I judge them based on that information ;). The fact is my kid is both of those things and way more, and unless you take the time to get to know him you will have an incomplete picture.

So, the next time I meet that incredibly rude person at Wal-Mart, perhaps I will take a moment to consider that this may not be the complete picture, and if I could see them completely as God can then I would see that they are a part of His creation and He has a plan for their life.

That's what she said

If you are thinking "The Office" right now... then good for you! But, this will likely go in a different direction then it does on that show.

I was thinking recently of the phenomenon that occurs when an "expert" says something. I don't read a ton of blogs, but I peruse some of the big ones every so often. And, I have found that many of them say the same things. Even more interesting is that normal people I meet who don't write blogs say the same things as the big important guys do. Sometimes, though, people just like to hear something from an expert, or an "unbiased" source (that just means not you :) in order to believe it.

I have been on both sides of this equation, as the "expert" and the "biased source". I have learned (at least) two things from my experience.

1. Truth is truth no matter who says it. If you can learn to listen for truth regardless of who is speaking, you will begin to discover more truth then you previously had. There are times when it pays to listen to people with proven track records (which is how you should define "expert"), but it also pays to listen to your co-worker who has watched your life for the last 5 years.

2. Truth is valuable even if I don't get credit for it. Don't you love those days when a new person enters into a conversation you have been having with a friend and says exactly what you have been saying for... years!, and the friend just "gets it" all of a sudden? I think we have all been there, and wanted to scream out, "That is exactly what I have been saying!" But, if I believe that Truth is more important than Me, then I am not so worried about who gets the credit for steering my friend in the right direction.

Jesus tells us that He is truth. The important thing is that He becomes known in this world. Whoever He chooses to reveal Himself through, and whoever gets the credit for making Him known... the most important thing is to keep Him as the most important thing.

Health is Hard

Health has been a big word in my life recently. Church health, ministry health, personal health, spiritual health, physical health, relational health. One thing that seems to remain constant through all of my discussions is that health is hard. There are some things that just come naturally in life. Health does not seem to be one of those things. Whether it is building a healthy company or building a healthy family, work is going to be involved. I am pretty sure this is linked to the natural selfishness that exists within most humans. My natural inclination is to do what comes easily. Sitting on the couch is easy, heading to the gym is hard. Doing what I want with my evening is easy, figuring out what my wife wants and doing that is hard. Having a fun conversation with someone is easy, holding them accountable for spiritual health is hard.

You get the idea. So, what motivates us to become healthy, and what helps us stick with it even though it is hard?

This will begin a new Friday Feedback section on my blog. Since I take Saturday/Sunday off this post will sit here a while. I will try to bring up a topic that allows feedback... and then turn you guys loose to feedback. I will make comments and such, assuming anyone actually joins the conversation :).

Two for one... Thursday?

Ok, to my defense Wednesday was one of those days that I started meetings about 9:30 a.m. and ended at 11:30 p.m. I thought about getting on the computer when I got home, until my head hit my pillow, and then I stopped thinking about the computer.

But, the thing that was on my mind for yesterday was:

1. What we Measure becomes our Mission

We are having our annual budget talks right now, and so measurements are being decided for all of our different ministry areas. What I am discovering is that many times I don't actively measure the things that I say that I care about. I often measure the easy thing, or the flashy thing, not necessarily the crucial thing. Over time what happens is that I begin to focus more and more of my attention on those things that I measure, and they become my mission. Regardless of what I say I believe, my life will be focused on the things that receive my focus.

That statement seems pretty obvious, but many people and organizations do not live by it. Take church for example. Most church leaders would say that their mission is to reach people for Christ and see them grow up into fully-devoted followers. But, walk into almost any church in America and you will see that their most visible measures are: 1) Sunday attendance and 2) Giving. There are no measures that are focused on Spiritual Development and health, merely on attendance and giving. Certainly those are two factors of health, but are they the only two? Are they even the most important two?

I believe most churches measure attendance and giving for emotional reasons, not spiritual ones. We feel better when our numbers are "up" and we feel worse when our numbers are down. We worry about down numbers because then we don't know if we are going to meet our needs. We wonder about bills, we wonder about volunteer positions, etc.

This year we are working to increase the things we measure, and make sure that they directly relate to what we say is most important.

2. You cannot overcommunicate vision.

I learned this again last night watching my son eat his dinner. I had prepared a special treat of flaky biscuit with jelly covering. It had an obvious "top", and I cut it into finger-sized pieces. Any adult would have known that the proper way to eat it was to pick up one piece at a time (keeping the "top" side up!), and enjoy. Jared had other ideas. In the end they accomplished the same goal... eating the food, but they were much more messy! It just reminded me that because things seem obvious to me, they will not necessarily be obvious to others. And, it can get messy when a group of people set off to reach the same goal following different paths.

Two for One Tuesday!

It is not surprise to you, my loyal readers, that I missed yesterday's post! I want to pay my debt and leave you with two, yes TWO, posts today. I was going to make two actual posts, but that just did not make much sense, so instead I will give you two wonderful topics in ONE post. I know, truly amazing, and here we go!

1. The Messy Me:

We are having issues with Jared and potty training. When I say “we” I really mean “me”, because it seems like Jared does not have nearly the problem with poop in pants that I do. And, even though I know that my emotional response to his actions is detrimental… it is still hard not to get mad when he poops in his pants. I realize more and more, though, that my anger is often rooted in my own selfishness, not in his actions. His actions create work for me, work I do not enjoy. They require my time, my energy, my focus, my attention… they require me to stop thinking about me and think only about him… and not the fun him, the messy him. And, once again I see just how far separated from God I am. The love He displayed (and displays) for the Messy me was just amazing. I swear I have learned more about God through my kids than just about anything else in life. If you do not have the blessing of children of your own, spend some time around somebody else's. The chance to see yourself through God's eyes is just too important to miss!

2. Perry Noble prompted this:

About two years ago I began a book on "When Christianity is illegal in America". Since I am probably the only one interested in thinking about such a future... I just stored it away in a computer file. In that book I basically talked about the inevitable movement of the church out of the current Campus-driven model into a Home-based model. It is inevitable, regardless of what we do on Sundays. The short version is that either Christians will begin operating like pastors in their own communities and bring new life to our campuses, or our communities will turn against us and close our campuses... forcing us to become pastors in our communities.

I then wrote my little idea on what a "House" church would look like. Apparently the term is now "Missional Community" because people don't like the connotation of "House church" anymore. Whatever the tag you put on it, it will face some serious issues in America for at least a couple of reasons. I am writing about this because once again I got into this discussion just this last week with some pastors.

Issue #1 - Personal Freedom. We have too much of it for the house-model to work well. That is one reason it flourishes in places like China and the Middle East. It goes beyond just political freedom though, it is about mobility, lifestyle, mindset, and so many other things.

Issue #2 - Personal affluence. Financial need creates physical need. Physical need creates community. Sure it also creates conflict, but it creates community as well. This was true of the early church, it is true of the Chinese church and the African church and many others where the people have great physical need.

It is my personal opinion that our Freedom and Affluence in America mean that we need fewer relationships and that they can be more separated than in other cultures. I know people who have "friends" who don't even live in the same state, much less next door. We can keep up with these people easily, and since most of our relational needs are social, not economic, then it works.

That said, I still believe that a House-centered church is the way of the future. It is inevitable, because that is the way church works. It does not mean we will ever need to stop congregating at our Campuses, but church happens in community, not on campuses.

Batman: Dark Knight - Part 5

Good guys take more punches.

This seems to be a theme that many Superhero films address. There comes a point in a hero's life where he has to choose exactly what kind of hero he will be. What will it be that separates him from the villain? In this movie Batman makes the stand that he will not kill, at least not directly and not if there is anyway to avoid it. Because of that choice he often has to fight an enemy more than once, even if he wins some of those fights. (Strange how all the bad guys get away...)

So far we have a standard superhero story. Where this one differs is when Batman chooses to make the hard decisions that cost him personally. He chooses what is best for the people he is serving, not what is best for his personal reputation or his personal desires. One of the best lines of the movie is that Batman is the hero the city needs, not necessarily the one that they want.

I think those words fit very well into our own hero story. When Jesus walked this earth he was hero to many people. They thought he had come to deliver them from the tyranny of the Romans and restore Israel to a place of glory and honor. But, time after time he refused to tear down those in political power even verbally. And, in the end he surrendered himself to them to die. He was the hero that we needed, not the one that they wanted. He made the choice that no one else could make and took the punches no one else could take.

As we attempt to follow His example it should not surprise us that we often take punches in life that we could avoid. Choosing to trust people, to see the best in them, and to give even when nothing is given in return; that is a lifestyle set up to take some punches. The early disciples counted it an honor to share in suffering that was similar to Jesus'. I have to admit that their mindset is very different from my own on many days.

Thanks for reading. On Monday I will be on to another topic. And, since we only go to the theatre a couple times a year it will most likely not be a movie :).