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Simplicity

January 19, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There is a major problem that I’ve witnessed and even experienced in several places in life. It’s the over complication of life. We make things way harder than they really have to be! And it’s killing our ability to really thrive in life.

I’ve had the chance to work in so many different fields in life. I’ve done landscaping, bartending, restaurant cook, car sales, landscape consulting, manufacturing, church work, life coaching, and the list goes on from there. In each of these areas I’ve learned a little more about systems, job functions, leadership and the overall complications associated with getting jobs done.

One thing that is so striking is that we make things so hard that people have a hard time following our systems. We make the process so complicated and complex that it’s hard to connect the dots from start to finish.

Take my days in the car sales world as a good example. When I was taught how to sell cars there were more steps than I could remember. I think when I started I had to remember something like 30 steps on what needed to happen from start to finish in a car deal. I was so focused on the next step that I often didn’t give the customer the time or focus they needed or deserved.

Over time we were able to narrow that list down to 13 steps. Still more than probably needed to be there but it made the job way easier. We often approach something thinking that more steps makes it more manageable. But in reality when we have to communicate the process to someone else, it’s nearly impossible to do so in a way that can be retained.

Life in the church is no different. We have so complicated life and ministry that it’s become nearly impossible for people to actually focus on following Jesus because of all the rules we’ve added to the system. I highly recommend looking closely at the systems you have in place to see if they are easily teachable and replicable.

Once you honestly evaluate the process you have in place, it’s time to lose the parts of the system that are not 100% essential. Look I’m all for tradition and comfort in knowing how things function. But if we’re honestly trying to reach new people or create the best way for people to onboard our system, then we need to look at things from the perspective of those we’re trying to reach not our own comfort.

So simply put make it simple and watch how things grow and people thrive, because simple is clear.

The One Thing

January 12, 2023 / / 1 Comment

In a book written by Gary Keller titled The One Thing, we are challenged in our fast paced, multitasking world to simply focus. The author challenges the idea of diversifying ourselves into so many areas that we are largely ineffective.

There are really three basic thoughts in this book as I see them:

  1. Focusing on the ONE thing is the best way to get done what needs done.
  2. You’re more successful when you do one thing well.
  3. Success happens most effectively ONE building block at a time.

If you’re a multitasker or one who likes to jump from idea to idea constantly, then this book might be a good one for you. The author asserts that the time it takes to change gears actually slows down our ability to be productive in life. Focusing however on ONE thing until it is complete is a far better approach to work, success and productivity.

I was reminded of the Debt Snowball approach by Dave Ramsey when I considered the ONE thing approach to life. If you’re unfamiliar, the Debt Snowball basically is focusing on one debt at a time until it’s gone, then taking what you put toward that debt and add it to the next smallest debt. Like a snowball rolling down a hill your power over the debt becomes greater over time as you collect more leverage against it. The same is true with our time and focus with regard to productivity.

I’d recommend reading through this one. I did this one as an audiobook and feel it worked fine in that media style. So if you have a drive ahead of you, pop this one in your book reader and give it a listen. Then look at what is distracting you from getting the real tasks done. Focus on one at a time until it’s completed, then add that time to the new task and snowball your way through your day ONE thing at a time.

Same God

January 9, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever just sat and contemplated the wonder of how big God must be? I mean for those of us who believe in God as Father, Jesus as Savior and Spirit as Comforter, there’s a hugeness to God that is really hard to get our minds around. But not only the idea that God is so big but also that he has so much on His plate that how in the world could he handle my tiny problems?

You know I think this is something that’s pretty cool about the way we understand God in the church where I serve. He’s mighty and majestic and powerful and massive and other worldly. He’s king and savior and creator and Father and all the things for the entire world (then and now). But he’s also that for me today.

There’s a personal nature to God that is something pretty significant. He’s in my corner. He’s for you. He’s in the muck and mire of your crappy day and throwing parties on your good day. He cares about your divorce or your raise. He’s just as present with you today as he has been with anyone, ever!

This week we pause to worship on this Monday morning and reflect that the God we worship is the same God that showed up in mighty ways for Abraham and Moses, Mary and Ruth, Joseph and Paul. He’s the same God who’s been present throughout history. The God of creation is the God present when you are struggling to make it through the day. The God who healed the sick is the same one sitting by your side when you get the cancer diagnosis. The God who raised Lazarus from the dead is the same one standing by your side in your mourning.

The same God is right here with us. The same power, majesty, might, love, presence. All of it. Just as real as it was for the men and women of the Bible, he’s right here and real for you and me today.

As you begin this week, pause and reflect on the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Influence vs Impact

January 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

As we start a new year it’s a good thing to take a few minutes to consider the people ahead and behind us in life. Those people who we look to for influence in our lives. But also those people who look to you for guidance. We call these groups people of influence and impact.

The influence group are those who really push you to be your best. They bring out the best in you. They drive you to do and be better in just about every way. These people, and even places, are influential for any number of reasons. Take some time, as you set those resolutions or goals for the year, to consider the influencers in your life.

Make sure to carve our time for these people. Spend time with them. Invest in these relationships. The people who push you to do and be better are the ones you need to be near on a regular basis. Find creative ways to sit at their feet to learn as much as you can. When you’re with those kind of people who draw out the best in you, make sure to sit and listen. Ask good questions to grow as much from these relationships as you possibly can.

But just as important is the group we’ll call your impact group. These are the people on whom you have an impact. While the influencers feed you, the impact group needs you to in a sense feed them.

Take time to think of the people in your circle who need the best from you. Who needs your A game for them to thrive?

When you’re setting goals and plans for the coming year make sure to leave time and space in your life for those people who feed off of your energy, passion and knowledge.

One of the best things we can do in life is to create a legacy around us. A legacy looks ahead and behind us. A healthy legacy gives thanks for the influencers that have brought us to where we are and to the impact group who look to us for leadership and direction in life. Both are critical for a healthy life of leadership.

As a pastor, I focus on something called discipleship. This is the idea of learning from and walking closer to the way of Jesus. We do this by using influencers and impacters. The way we learn and grow is by looking to those who’ve been there…done that. And it becomes scalable and repeatable when we bring others along for the ride. Discipleship has to be an ongoing movement or it simply dies after a generation or two.

Jesus took his lead from his Father. Then shared that with the men and women who we call disciples. What he learned from the Father, he passed on to his followers. We are to do the same thing. Learn from those who feed us knowledge and pass that along to those who will take the reigns after we’re off the scene.

So who are your influencers? And who are you here to impact? Lean into these relationships this year!

Designed To Lead

January 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We start off the year with a book about leadership because, well most people think of ways they can better themselves in a variety of areas as they start a new year. This particular book is written to and for churches and their leaders, but some of the principles can be applied across disciplines.

The authors operate from the bias that churches are filled with broken people and therefore their leadership style and structure leave something to be desired. To give a more honest synopsis, they think the church is stuck and refuses to do better because it refuses to really try new things.

The idea of the status quo is constantly challenged throughout the book. However this is not just a thrust to challenge the status quo for the sake of being a pain. The push is pretty well thought out. There are no silver bullet approaches provided, merely a framework through which one should operate.

The three point framework suggested by the authors is conviction, culture and constructs.

Conviction is all about passion. The authors assert that leadership is lacking in many areas in the church because there is a lack of passion for leadership in the first place. Knowing the origin of the word leadership makes desiring leadership even that much less appealing. The base origin is a call to go forth and die. I know sounds like something everyone wants to do right? If we’re not convicted about leadership then we are most certainly not going to be willing to take some serious risks to move forward. Real leaders take calculated risks for the sake of the greater good.

Culture is really about the DNA of the organization. Is there a working DNA of leadership development and apprenticeship present in the church or organization? If not then generational changes will cause leadership to wane over time. Cultivating a culture of leadership development is not easy but for the overall health of the church it’s essential.

Constructs are the concrete actions put in place that allow the culture to thrive in light of the convictions for leadership development. The idea is pretty simple actually. It’s more than a program or new ministry area. It’s built around the culture. Do all areas of the church/organization demonstrate a heartfelt passion for leadership development? If not then a part of this puzzle is missing.

Some are not all that excited about leadership and church being in the same sentence, but if we’re about the idea of bringing people to a devoted relationship with Jesus how are they going to come if we don’t lead them?

A major challenge to leadership development in the church is the professionalization of church leadership positions. We have made all things important in the church fall on the shoulders of the pastor or other trained and educated person. This means that when we’re not good in an area, it’s easier to throw a few dollars at it and hire someone than it is to rally the troops and do it ourselves.

The main premise that weaves through the book is that we were designed to lead in specific ways. Some of us have front and center leadership roles. While others have quieter roles behind the scenes. Our position in leadership really doesn’t matter as much as the conviction, culture and constructs of our leadership setting.

Chosen

January 4, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There’s an old saying that says you can choose your friends not your family, but that’s not totally correct. There’s one way you can choose people to be in your family. It’s called adoption. Now before you close this article give me a second. I’m not marketing for an adoption clinic. I’m just using it as an illustration for you. Adoption is about being chosen!

Ok so have you ever had one of those friends in your life that made you wonder what you were thinking? Ha yeah so have I! But they were there for a reason. Now family is a different story. For most of us, we didn’t have a say in the family that surrounds us. But it doesn’t change the fact that they are family.

I have great respect for those who adopt! I think it’s a pretty cool thing. Actually I’ve told my wife that it’s something I would not be totally opposed to (most days).

Now adopting a child from the foster system isn’t the only kind of choosing that we need to focus on. There’s another way of being chosen that is immensely important!

There’s a passage in the Bible that talks about God choosing us. Think about that. Out of everyone in the world throughout all of history, God knows you enough to choose you. That’s a pretty massive thing if you think about it.

Just like out of all the kids in the system that one you took home is super special, so are you! Now before we realized that we were chosen we kind of just went through the motions. We didn’t know what it meant to be part of this new family. Sure we had the name but we really didn’t like the rules and all the boundaries set up for us. We thought we’d be better off living free from all of these ridiculous rules!

But what if the rules and the boundaries and the name actually were there for a better purpose than just managing our bad behavior? What if that person who chose us, set up those boundaries because they knew something we didn’t know? What if all of those things we thought were overbearing rules were actually setting up a system for us to thrive in life?

Just like an adoptive parent sets boundaries and rules for the children they welcome into their home, so also God sets up boundaries for us as his children. But one day the goal is that we’ll see that all these rules were actually there to create the best environment for us to be able to succeed and thrive in life.

Instead of bucking the system and running from the rules, maybe…just maybe…we can take a minute and try to see what good these rules are meant to bring us.

The Goodness

January 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

To start off a new year we use a familiar name combined with a newcomer to the music scene. The song is The Goodness and it focuses on the goodness of the God who is in the midst of every part of our lives.

It’s typical to want all sunshine and roses in life. We like the sun to rise with the beautiful pinks and purples. We like the soft glow of full moon. We like the warmth of the sun or the crackle of the fireplace. We love all of these great parts of life! Who wouldn’t right!? And it’s super easy to sing and praise and see God in the middle of these really cool moments of life. But what about the dark days?

The song Goodness shows that even in the darkness and rain God is still active and vibrant and worthy of our recognition and praise. Even in the challenge and pain God is still just as present and doing what God does best – working for our good.

One part of God that’s easy to forget is the fact that he knows what we don’t know. He sees what’s coming around the corner and he often will do things to prevent us from hitting catastrophe head on. Sometimes however that detour is an unwanted illness or day that just flat sucks.

But take time to see that God has used this detour, no matter how terrible and life altering, to shape you for what’s around the next corner. He sees what you don’t only the Goodness of God can do that!

New Year, New Look

December 30, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Coming to the blog roll this year are going to be a few additions both old and new! The year ahead is going to be focused on growing in three distinct areas. Spiritually, relationally, and in areas of service to those around you. We’ll take time to honestly evaluate our spiritual health. We’ll spend time evaluating the health of our relationships, just because someone is in your circle doesn’t mean they have to stay in your circle! And then we’ll look at those outside our circle and how we can be better humans in this world that is in desperate need of good humans!

The first thing to change is the theme layout of the blog. Nothing major just a shift in color, layout and images. Sometimes a quick surface change helps get the mojo running to make the more significant changes going as well!

The layout was chosen because it’s simplistic. The header image is not my property but a pic of that will likely replace this one eventually. The reason for this stock photo is the calm and quiet that it demonstrates. One goal for this blog site is to provide a place for honest reflection on life and allow space to challenge the status quo.

Another change is that we’re bringing back the Music Monday posts! This was a fun way to hear new songs and use them as small devotions or whatever you choose!

I’m also going to start adding back in a book review at least monthly. I got off track with my book reviews over the past couple of years but we’ll bring those back here as well.

Finally, there will be a section for practical tools to use in your walk of faith. Things for bible study, relationship tools, parenting and family tools. I’m even going to provide some discipleship tips for church leaders and members alike.

I hope that your 2022 ended with a wonderful celebration of all the amazing things God has given you! I know that 2022 was a great year for me! As I’ve said in another post, a great year doesn’t mean everything went “right” but that you can see the right in everything that happened.

Christmas Through A Different Lens

December 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Away in a manger. Silent Night. O Holy Night. Joy To The World. These songs will fill our churches over the coming days. They are filled with joy and wonder, awe and excitement. The lights on the trees remind us that Jesus is the light of the world. The porcelain manger scenes show the precious baby Jesus surrounded by Mary and Joseph and those innocent shepherds and generous wisemen. It’s a pretty calming thing to consider.

As much as I love these sights and sounds of Christmas, I think they might be missing something. There’s a part of the story that is often unseen and perhaps the old adage out of sight out of mind applies here. Some of you may know this about me and others probably not. I’m a huge fan of the book of Revelation. As a matter of fact, I read it every year in its original Greek language. And spend numerous hours translating it to English with all of the nuances that accompany its original intent. There is so much richness in Revelation that we miss.

Now you’re probably wondering what in the world this has to do with Christmas. To be honest, everything! The book of Revelation is the backside of the Christmas story. It’s the unseen part of the nativity. What we see as a silent and holy night was nothing close to silent when seen through the lens of Revelation. Quiet on the surface but deadly in the shadows. Violence bled into the outlines of that night, but I bet we won’t talk about that one.

The final book of the Bible is often ignored or dismissed because it’s just too hard to understand. Perhaps it is but it’s filled with imagery that might help us see the world around us and even our peaceful holiday specials with a little different detail. Take this example for instance.

There is a scene described in Revelation 12 that focuses on a woman ready to give birth. She’s in the final stages of her pregnancy. She’s crying out in pain. But she’s not the only one in this picture. Lurking in the distance. Hiding in the shadowy parts of the scene is a dragon. A red dragon with fangs poking through the sides of his jaw line. The scaly beast is snarling and growling. Saliva drips from his mouth. He’s had the taste of blood and now sees an innocent and helpless child as his next tasty morsel.

The woman is so weakened by her pregnant state that she can’t defend her child. All she can do let the natural course of events occur. The child will be born. There’s no stopping it. The dragon is poised for the opportune moment. This little baby may be small but it will satisfy the dragon’s hunger in an indescribable way.

Then the child is born. The crying child is welcomed into the world. Not into the claws of the dragon, but he is snatched away and taken to safety…at least for now.

This sure doesn’t sound like the same Christmas story we preach in our churches every year! It isn’t the silent night we thought it was. The imagery here isn’t calm and meek and mild as the manger scene shows. It’s violent. The scene is terrifying to say the least. Death lurks in the shadowy corner. If you read on, you’ll see that war erupts at the birth of this baby Jesus.

In 2023 I’ll be walking a group through the book of Revelation. This is one of the images that has always stood out to me. The beauty and horror of Christmas. The snarling silent night filled with death and war and violence.

While we hang stocking on our fireplaces looking for presents, in the shadows a war was waged. The real story of Christmas is most certainly about the birth of Jesus. The shepherds were there to be sure. But when Jesus was born the plan promised from the foundation of the world was put into action.

This Christmas as you celebrate the holy night in the little town of Bethlehem perhaps you can pause and see into the shadows. Keep your eyes open for where the dragon was hiding. He’s no longer there. He’s been defeated. He’s been conquered by that innocent, helpless child. His birth meant the beginning of the demise for that powerful dragon.

It’s Christmas friends! Light the candles. Put up the tree. Celebrate with family and friends. Not only was a child born. But the road was paved for the defeat of the greatest enemy we would ever have to face. That’s the story of Christmas! That’s the reason Joy filled with World at Christmastime.

A New Thing Is Coming

December 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

A new year typically brings all sorts of new things. We try that new diet that we’ve read is all the rave. We venture back into the gym for a new routine of workouts. We try on those new running shoes to give the treadmill a try. There’s all sorts of things we pick up at the start of a new year in hopes of forming a healthy trend or habit. We even start reading new books or start bible reading plans or change our sleep routines.

I’m not one to make New Year’s Resolutions for many reason. The biggest reason is that all too often these New Year New You kind of goals end up being broken in just a few short weeks! Being a workout enthusiast it’s easy to see how fast people stop coming to the gym so soon after the near year starts. But this year might be a little different.

No I’m not going to set some unrealistic expectation or goal for the year. I’m not going on a diet. And for goodness sake, I’m not training for a marathon. I am however going to start something new.

As 2022 came to an end, I made the intentional decision to restructure my workload. I had to say no to a couple of things so that I could say yes to a couple more. One of my passions has always been to work with churches and pastors and leaders to help them see the world through a new set of lenses. In an effort to do that, I went through the John Maxwell leadership training program, worked on getting a coaching certificate, and built an array of resources that have helped me understand a variety of challenges that ministry leaders and non profits face.

A new thing will hit the blog and my calendar in 2023. I’ll be working on intentional resources to help congregations see their community with different lenses. I’ll be working on materials for congregations to use to help create an intentional strategy to move people to a deeper level of commitment and engagement in the life of the church.

I’m super excited to see how this move will allow me to better come alongside churches, leaders, and followers of Jesus to help them take strides in living the Kingdom life today! Stay tuned…

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