Pull out the Vision

When the stars align, with the moon at the right distance leaving the tides at the exact, necessary level, and a horse shoe, what happens is a leader says something and it catches fire. The people follow and get excited - and all what was said was one thing.
But, in the real world that the rest of us live in, it requires far more intentionality. It requires repeating things over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over - and then, once they all know it, then you can repeat it with them, over and over, and over, and over...

That's how you pull the vision out of people. The vision becomes so internalized that they understand it, that it's part of them, and so when it comes time to pull the vision out, it actually is freeing for them so they can run with it.

Lazy leadership, poor leadership, whatever you call it, is not leading - it's not providing the target.
"I'm just trying to lead them to Jesus." Ok, great, how?
What's the way you're doing it? Or are you just kind of setting them loose - even within your worship services - saying, "Ok, now enter in to the presence of Jesus."
                              --- Blank stairs----
How do you lead them to Jesus? What is it that they need to internalize? If there's just one thing that you want people to know about your church - or for the church to understand and get - what would that one thing be?
That's your vision, that's what you're trying to set loose. That's the thing that you need to, not grab it by the horns, but show the path and let it run.

Bad leadership takes people the wrong direction - poor leadership doesn't get people on board with a mission and a plan. Good leadership will have an ambiguous goal with a relative strategy (Kind of like giving a 12 year old a city map and say, "go here."). Great leadership knows the target, and shows the way to get there.

Meeting You Right There

I was in Grade 6 and our school was doing the play “Cinderella.” The casting call was announced, and I wanted to play Gus, the mouse. Gus had very few lines, and even fewer singing parts, so I thought that was the part for me. I got so excited and told my whole family what I was going to do! I thought about how Gus sounded, how he acted, and I looked at my lines. I studied all the lines I needed to know the night before the auditions. The next day all the excitement was boiling up. I got called in to the room. I didn’t know my lines. I didn’t really know the part well; ultimately I did not get the part, and I was heartbroken.

Have you ever felt like you failed? Have you ever felt like you just don’t quite measure up?  Have you ever felt like more was being asked of you than you could give or maybe it’s that you promised more than you could deliver on? We’ve all been there, having that twisted gut, back-of the-skull numbing feeling of hopelessness, guilt, and/or shame…

One easy example to look at is Peter. Having failed Jesus and not living up to his words of commitment, he was pretty devastated. The shame of his failure followed him the whole time Jesus was with him after the resurrection. One day at the side of the lake, Jesus talks to Peter and says, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-19). Before I go further, this is more than about being reinstated in ministry. Yes, you can take this away from this part of Peter’s story, but Jesus is more accurately getting at Peter’s heart and giving him a vision and a hope for the future. When Jesus said, “Do you love me,” the first two times, he asked, “Do you Agape me?” Or, do you unconditionally love me? Peter responded with, “Yes, Lord, you know that I phileo you.” Saying, “Lord, you know I love you like a friend.” And then on the third time, Jesus changes it to match Peter’s words saying, “Do you phileo me?” And Peter was grieved by this, because he understood that the level Jesus was calling him to was lowered. Peter responded with, “You know all things, you know I phileo you.”

I think, more often than not, when we realize that Christ is meeting us where we are at, we become broken, and maybe even grieved, because it humbles us. His standard is one thing, but His grace? We have a harder time reconciling that.

You see, God knows you’re not “okay,” but it’s not okay to stay that way.
Take a moment and reflect on this, too: Even though Peter didn’t love Jesus the way that he should, Jesus still called him to do Christ’s work with the Church. You can serve Christ even if you’re not “there” yet. Maybe you’re not feeling there, yet. The Holy Spirit will work inside of you – He’ll help you get there.

Peter’s heart was revealed to himself by Jesus. Peter saw that he didn’t love Jesus the way that Jesus wanted him to. But Jesus didn’t just leave it there. Jesus gave Peter hope. Jesus gave Peter a vision for the future. That one day, life would suck. It would be horrible. That he would be going where he didn’t want to go (a familiar sentiment from when he denied Christ). However, in the end, Peter would love Jesus, his Saviour, in that unconditional, agape way. He wouldn’t get it right at first, but he would finish well. Church history teaches us that Peter died being crucified upside down, because he didn’t think himself worthy enough to hang like Christ did.

In the end, though, I think Peter “got it”. Peter loved Christ to the standard he was called to.

God will meet you where you are at, and if you let Him, He’ll take you on the journey to where He wants you to be.

This post was originally posted on EveryDayFaith of the PAOC.

Is It Helpful?

It was Christmas, I was handing out candy canes with the Firemen, and myself was dressed in the uniform too, which was kind of heavy, and just awkward because I wasn't used to the outfit. The truck was all detailed with holiday wares like lights, and wooden cut outs of favorite cartoon characters and such, it was a nice night, with nice people. The idea was once we got to the starting point, I was to jump out with everyone else while it was moving; however I didn't understand the concept of momentum when jumping out of a moving vehicle, fell got my feet all tangled all in the lights that were along the bottom of the truck, while this family who had just received their candy canes, watched in horror as this firefighter (to their knowledge) fell, and just about became a paralytic in front of them.

 We've all been tangled by something, whether it's blankets and you feel trapped, or when you're playing with skip rope, maybe trying to sow or knit... maybe fishing... We've all been there. In my situation, I wasn't actually wrapped up in anything that was wrong. No one did anything wrong (other than maybe not explain to me that I should run off with the truck, as opposed to plant my feet when jumping), but nothing innately sinful took place. Often times we as Christians think that it's sin that always traps, entangles or slows us down, but let's look at what the Bible says for a moment.

Hebrews 12:1-2
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders AND the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I'm going to point out something here that often isn't touched on... "Everything that hinders..." 

Maybe another way of asking this is, "Is it helpful?"

We ask questions like, "How far is too far?" or "How much is too much?" "When is enough, enough"?  I think we think we are innocent in asking these questions, because we authentically don't want to go against Jesus, and do want to follow him. However, what the real motivation there is, "How close to sinning can I get to sinning, without actually sinning?" 

That mindset is so close to the pharisees and that of religious people that it actually goes against the heart and mind of Christ. 

Interesting that God simply asks us... "Is. It. Helpful?"

I think we all know what sin is, and if we don't, we can go on Google - or turn to a Bible - and find out.
It really is key to note the word and that is found in that passage in Hebrews.
Just because it slips us up doesn't make it sinful. If it is sinful, it easily entangles.

If it slows you down (hinderance/unhelpful thing), or tangles you up (sin), get rid of it.

One thing we often want to do is carry extra stuff with us - or we just don't deal with it. Churches are HORRIBLE for this.  Keeping stuff in storage closets that will never be used again because a) Someone might have put effort into it, b) we MIGHT use it in 20 years.
etc. I'm not saying that keeping these things is wrong, but is it helpful?

Give your life space, give your life the ability to move. Get rid of the 'stuff'. If it's not helpful, get rid of it. You know how you get a better night sleep when your house isn't messy and cluttered? Know how you're less stressed? In the same way, do similar things in your walk with Jesus.

Lately, I was watching a TV show, and like so often we do, my wife and I stopped watching a show. She was willing to let me keep watching it on my own, but I said, and even though it made me frustrated, I said, "Well, I don't gain anything in life by watching this show, so it's ok, I'll just stop watching it." Guess what, i dont' miss it, don't even remember the name of it, and ultimately it affected nothing. Alternatively, what if I did keep watching it? What could I say about it?

If you are watching things like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, etc... You're probably not at all helping your walk with Jesus. Consistent, explict nudity and sex and swearing never helped anyone's walk with Jesus. I don't know if you never knew that, but now you do. But I doubt you didn't know that. That's why you became calloused and almost violently defend your watching of these kinds of shows. Jesus always called people out of those things.

Even more practically how does this line up?
When you're tempted to date someone in high school... it's not necessarily a sin, but ask yourself, "Is it helpful?" Note: As a student pastor, I have never seen a situation where students dating in high school has been helpful. Some didn't loose anything, but most do, and it's never actually been helpful - thus I just say to students be best friends and don't date.
When you think about drinking as a high school student- at this point you're all under age, and so it shouldn't even be considered because it's illegal, but when you do, and people ask, "Hey do you want a beer?" Just ask, Is it helpful? This applies to everyone. Has drinking ever actually been helpful? (the answer is no). It's not sinful (unless you get drunk) but it's not helpful.
When you're watching a TV show/playing a game, reading a book and it crosses the line in something, you have a choice to make do you keep on watching it or not? Just ask, "Is it helpful?"

Will this, that thing that is in front of you, apart of you, near you, etc, help you pursue and run after Jesus harder OR does it slow you down. It doesn't have to be sinful to slow you down in your pursuit of Jesus. If it's slowing you down, you're not living your life to the full, and that's one thing Jesus came to help you do.

What if as Christians we didn't ask the questions like, "How far is too far?" How would our walk with Christ be impacted if we simply removed things that didn't propel us forward with Jesus? The Holy Spirit may be convicting you in this about some things in your life because you know it's not helpful, and you know you just need to get rid of it. He's not telling you it's sinful, he's telling you you're not going all out for him.
Maybe you are sinning and that's what he's telling you - and you need to stop.

Leadership

There are good leaders and there are bad ones.
Some leaders are just jerks, some are super nice. The nice ones can be ineffective. The jerks can get so much done... But they are still jerks.
       I can definitely fall in to the jerk category. "Nice", I don't think is the first word anyone has used to describe me.

The kind of leader I want to become, I think, is balanced.
Firstly, most easily summed up, I want to be like Jesus. Sounds super spiritual, but that isn't my goal. I just want to emulate their him in these few ways:

1. Biblical. The guy knew his Bible. He wrote it, yes, but he had to learn it while on earth.

2. Visionary. Jesus often set the vision by saying what the church is, what I it's supposed to be like. He called people to something far greater than themselves.

3. Compassionate. He came because he loved us, and died to prove it. He rose so we could live it. My problem is, as others have noted, it's not that I don't care about people, its just that because I'm task oriented I don't pay attention to them. I need to learn to stop what I'm doing to help and care for others.

4. I want to remember what it was like as a youth pastor and not take my future staff for granted... Days off, work week hours, paperwork... Etc.

For now, I the think just those few things would be largely beneficial.

Take Inventory

I have a box. That box contains random items from over the years that are both valuable, left over, or just altogether garbage. It sits in a corner, in my closet, out of the way where no one can see it.
One day, my wife takes this box, empties it of its contents and tells me to sort it and put it away.
Why? This, in my mind, was a stupid task that didn't need to even be addressed. There is only a problem now, and a mess that needs to get cleaned up because she pulled it out in the first place.
Did I mention that she also threw out the box itself? Leaving all that junk that I haven't touched for a year and a half all in a pile beside my bed... Then accuses me of not cleaning up my mess.
Naturally, I put it off. This is her fault anyway.
Then the negativity begins. "You said yesterday that you would have it done today." "You said two days ago you were going to put it all away." "It's been a week..." All this is her own doing, so why is she complaining when she is the one that created the senseless extra work?
So, after a week and a half I finally sit beside my bed, sort through the contents... An old receipt, my old case for an old cell phone I no longer have... My glasses case (was wondering what happened to that)... Some old love letters and journals... a Tom Clancy novel... And a check list from 3 years ago. So, I threw out the old check list and receipt, find a new, small box, put it all in, place it under my bedside table and said I was finished.

You see, sometimes the Holy Spirit is going to make you dig out some of the old stuff in your closet and get you to lay it all out and sort it. Often times we just get annoyed because it's stuff that doesn't affect anyone, hurt anything nor even has anything bad or sinful amongst it. But the reality is there is just accumulated garbage and random things that really are just clutter in your life. It doesn't hurt, but if you're honest you know it doesn't help, either.

Many passages in scripture refer to getting rid of the things that hold you back, examining your heart, making sure there's no excess baggage in your life, etc. So feel free to find any of those.
The biblical principle is that we all have stuff in our closet that needs to be dealt with. Again it's not always a bad thing... For Peter, he had to leave the life of a fisherman to be a disciple of Jesus. It's an extreme example to show that Peter had to give up something that wasn't bad in order to pursue God's best.
So once you're finished reading this, take a few moments and pause. Ask the Spirit to reveal to you what's in your closet. The good news is, you may find something useful or something you thought you lost (my glasses case - or for you it may be passion, joy, hope, etc), or you'll be able to eliminate some garbage that literally is just clutter.
Try to have a good attitude about it though, because you don't want the Spirit bringing up the fact that he wants you to deal with your stuff sooner than later, and almost nagging about something that takes less time to deal with if you just deal with it.

Good or Bad: Leadership

As a leader you have to ask yourself what kind of legacy you want to leave.

Do you want to leave lives changed to the glory of God, or for your name and the joy of your success?
Do you want to leave with money in the bank, or $11 million of debt in the bank?
Do you want to stay true to Jesus or let the culture sway you?
Do you want to be forgotten because you developed a solid team, or remembered for the good 'ol days when you were around?

You see, there are two kinds of leaders. One makes mistakes, the other lives mistakes. One propels people, the other drags them. One will just be honest from their pulpit, and the other will exaggerate, inflate or just straight up lie.

I know people who look to this one church from Pensacola, Florida, as if it was the greatest thing that ever happened. In sure God moved there, but it's obvious God moved on. If success if built upon a person other than the person of Jesus, then that success will be temporal and all about that leader. The leader moves, the movement dies, and it all falls apart.
Jesus died, and the church still is here.
Good leaders are never talked about for the good ol days, because today is a good ol day and they maximise that opportunity.  What days are you talking about? What days are people talking about in the wake of your leadership?
Those answers will help define if you're simply a good leader or a bad one - or if you're following a good or bad one.

Don't waste time following guys who have good ol days. You have tomorrow to live towards.

Anti-Vax is Criminal Negligence

Commenting on a popular topic right now.

Vaccinations.

There, I said it. And just to get it out of the way, I fully believe that if you do not vaccinate your children, then you should be charged with criminal negligence, be fine at minimum $5,000, and have your children vaccinated at your own expense.
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The Bible says, "If you know the good you ought to do, and do not do it," you've sinned.
Don't give the garbage excuse that it's a personal choice that doesn't affect anyone. Imagine a suicide bomber said that. You'd think they were crazy... Maybe double the crazy.... But still, maybe stupid is more accurate.
Facts people.
"I don't want to put my child at risk." Yes, some people have adverse reactions to vaccines. But they are extremely rare and you're not to be "concerned about your own interests, but also the interests of others". You are to count other people as more important than yourself. To do that properly requires risk. 
Seat belts kill people and hurt people, too. But the calculated risk is less wearing a seat belt than if you don't. So, the government made a law that said you have to wear seat belts. Calculated risk. One side logically out weighs the other. Vaccinate your children. 
If you want the actual research, use credible research. True story. Ignore Peele who have to change their story every time facts are revealed.
Grow up. Take social responsibility seriously. Care for the health of your own and other people's children.