Monthly Archives: December 2012

Best Practices

Never, Never, Never Give In

It is the final day of 2012.

How did the last 365 days go for you?

Like me, I’m sure you made mistakes.
Like me, I’m sure you missed some great opportunities.
Like me, I’m sure you tried and failed on few of those days.

Guess what?

That doesn’t matter today and it certainly won’t matter tomorrow. You’re smallest victories are greater than you toughest defeats.

One of my favorite stories is the one in which Sir Winston Churchhill returned to his alma mater to give the commencement address in 1941. Britain had already been engaged in conflict in Europe and no doubt moral was low all across Great Britain. The Prime Minister’s words helped to change that.

But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

I love this! Forget what happened last year. Let go of your fear. Stand tall. Start anticipating what’s ahead.

On his blog last week, Michael Hyatt posted the following poem. I wanted to share it with you today on this last day of the year. May it inspire you. May it bring you hope. May it push you to work, to dream, to act. May God give you his grace and mercy in 2013. And what ever happens: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

What Ever You Do, Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow—
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

via MichealHyatt.com

General

Weekly 5 – December 21 Edition

Three Minutes – Reggie Joiner (Orange Parents)
This is the best reflection I’ve read this week on the events of Newtown and the struggle that we all face in its aftermath. This is what it looks like to hope and healing to those affected by this great evil.

It only took three minutes last Friday to remind us there is evil in the world, but those three minutes also showed there is good in the world too. I hope the lessons we learned from the families and leaders of Newtown will challenge and inspire us. Romans 12:21 says, “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

The Importance of a Leader’s Heart – Michael Hyatt
I heard Hyatt talk about the Leader’s Heart at Catalyst Dallas in 2011. This post is actually the show notes for a great podcast based on his presentation. If you don’t listen to Hyatt’s This Is Your Life podcast, I’d encourage you to subscribe to it today.

Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up – NY Times
I love reading stories about artists and their craft. This a great article about a comedian who loves what he does and takes care to grow and hone his abilities.

When he can’t tinker, he grows anxious. “If I don’t do a set in two weeks, I feel it,” he said. “I read an article a few years ago that said when you practice a sport a lot, you literally become a broadband: the nerve pathway in your brain contains a lot more information. As soon as you stop practicing, the pathway begins shrinking back down. Reading that changed my life. I used to wonder, Why am I doing these sets, getting on a stage? Don’t I know how to do this already? The answer is no. You must keep doing it. The broadband starts to narrow the moment you stop.”

3 Things That Change Everything – Jon Acuff
Jon Acuff is the best. He is my favorite writer to go to when I need encouragement, a laugh, or a great dose of reality. This is a great example of his articles and his thinking.

If you told a 22-year old today that before he can change the world he has to work for 20 years, he’d giggle at you. Generation Y wants meaning now, not eventually and Generation X has been caught up in that momentum. Hope is boss.

I am a Princess – Disney
From the moment I found out that I was going to be a father to a baby girl, I started thinking through my “princess philosophy.” I struggled with wanting my daughter to embrace imagination and fantasy while at the same time avoiding an entitlement mentality. Not to mention the pressure that is placed on young women to pursue physical beauty, which is superficial, over and above virtues that are far more lasting and meaningful. I believe that being a Princess isn’t a ROLE to PLAY but a RESPONSIBILITY to LIVE OUT. To me, a Princess is a woman of strength, courage, honor, and service. That’s the woman I want my Princess to become. I saw this short film on Disney Jr a couple of weeks ago and I believe it sums up my “princess philosophy” beautifully. I am very thankful that the home of all things princess feels the same way I do.

(Full disclosure: I literally started crying while watching this. Fatherhood has softened me a bit.)

Best of...

Weekly 5 – December 14 Edition

Here are the 5 Best Things I Read This Week:

Design Like Apple, Name Like P&G – Seth Godin
Seth nails it (as always) in this post about your approach to naming projects and products. Make names remarkable not iBoring.

Storing Up – Pete Wilson
What things are your storing up in your heart and mind? Are they good things or bad things? Pete invites us to remember what Jesus says about good and bad fruit as he challenges us to make sure we are feeding our souls with the right things.

Ever Wonder What the Face of God Looks Like – Carlos Whitaker
This post brought so much delight to my heart as I read it. The picture is absolutely priceless and I’m planning on incorporating this into my sermon next week.

Hugh Jackman: The Most Important Thing – All Pro Dad
I mean, who wouldn’t take parenting advice from Wolverine and Jean Valjean?!?! Jackman  challenges every working dad to take family seriously.

Seth Godin Quotes – LifeChngr
A great collection of Seth Godin quotes. Lots to mine here.

Discipleship, Jesus is the Christ, Leadership, Ministry, Mission, Popular Culture, Teaching

Do You Have A Theological Vision?

This Fall I have spent a great deal of time reading and thinking through Tim Keller‘s excellent book, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Keller is the Pastor at Redeemer in the heart of NYC and is one of my favorite authors/thinkers. Rather than a “cut and paste, this is how we do ministry-this is how you should do ministry” book, Center Church focuses on developing a Theological Vision that is consistent with what a particular congregation believes and that drives the way ministry happens. Too often the ministry expressions of a church are divorced from or even at odds with their beliefs as well as unconnected from the very people they are trying to reach. This causes frustration within the congregation and confusion from those outside looking in.

Keller defines Theological Vision as an underlying vision that brings your theological understanding (doctrine, beliefs) to bear upon your ministry expressions (practices, programs). It is in essence, a faithful understanding of the Gospel “with rich implications for life, ministry, and mission in a type of culture at a specific moment in history.” Developing a robust Theological Vision is important because it forces the people of God to think long and hard about the character and implications of the Gospel, what the Gospel has to say within your particular culture, and what it means to do ministry in your time and place.

With a Theological Vision in place, leaders and churches can make better choices about ministry expression that are faithful to the Gospel while at the same time are meaningful to their ministry context. That means a greater impact in Worship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service, and Cultural Engagement.

A Theological Vision helps you determine what you are going to do with what you believe within your cultural setting.

Keller sums up the importance of this vision when he says, “A Theological Visions allows (us) to see (our) culture in a way that is different than (we) have ever been able to see before… Those who are empowered by the theological vision do not simply stand against the mainstream impulses of the culture but take the initiative both to understand and speak to that culture from the framework of the Scriptures… The modern theological vision must seek to bring the entire counsel of God into the world of its time in order that its time might be transformed.”

In order to develop a Theological Vision Keller says that you must spend time in “deep reflection” on Scripture and the particular culture that you minister in. In order to think deeply and reflect on these things, Keller offers 8 questions to help in the development of a robust and significant Theological Vision.

They are:
1) What is the gospel, and how do we bring it to bear on the hearts of people today?
2) What is this culture like, and how can we both connect to it and challenge it in our communication?
3) Where are we located — city, suburb, town, rural area — and how does this affect our ministry?
4) To what degree and how should Christians be involved in civic life and cultural production?
5) How do the various ministries in a church — word and deed, community and instruction — relate to one another?
6) How innovative will our church be and how traditional?
7) How will our church relate to other churches in our city and region?
8) How will we make our case to the culture about the truth of Christianity?

Keller warns that the development of this type of vision is hard but it is essential. The quality of your Theological Vision will determine your effectiveness as you find ways to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly to your particular place in history.

Over the coming weeks, I am planning on meeting with a group of leaders to think through these 8 questions as a group in order to gain a better understanding of our mission to those within our church body and our surrounding community. The Starbucks near us recently built a new location complete with a variety of warm and inviting meeting areas so we are going to wrestle with these questions in the heart of the local agora just like Paul did in Athens. Of course Paul, as far as we know, didn’t get to sit in plush leather chairs sipping a peppermint mocha from a red cup.

If you have not read Keller’s Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, I want encourage you to pick it up and wrestle with these questions within your own ministry context. I’ll be posting my thoughts and feelings as we go along so you are welcome to join in the conversation here in the comments or on Facebook and Twitter.

So what do you think of all this? Is a Theological Vision important? In what ways have you gained a greater understanding of the Gospel? In what ways have you worked to gain a better understanding of your particular culture?

Best Practices, Christmas, Discipleship

Serving Others This Christmas

Even though it is currently in the mid-60s it is still Christmas time. I know that one of the things that my family tries to do this time of year is look for ideas on how to serve those around us.

Over Thanksgiving, I received an email from Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University that had some creative and practical ideas for giving back and serving others this holiday season. I wanted to share them with you today in the hopes that you and your family might find an activity that you can do to help shine the light of Jesus into the lives of those within your sphere of influence or community.

The Apostle John tells the church, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. (1John 2:6)” Jesus lived in a way that he was a servant to all. Although he himself was God and deserved to be recognized and served, he became the servant and the example for how we should live. James, the brother of Jesus, tells us not to just listen to the word but to do what it says (James 1:22). Scripture tells us over and over again that followers of Jesus serve other people.

I want to encourage you to look at the ideas below and think of ways you can serve others and then… Go do it! Get excited about helping others. Find joy in serving others. Be thankful for all that God has blessed you with. Then after Christmas, do it some more! Make the month of December a trial run for serving others throughout 2013. Hopefully, these 10 suggestions can be a launching point for you to making Jesus famous all next year.

Thanks to Dave and FPU for these great challenges:

The best part is: You don’t have to sacrifice fun or fellowship to be generous with others. Below are 10 simple ways you can pay it forward this holiday season. So, grab your family, your friends, your coworkers, or your small group from church or Financial Peace University, and get to giving!

  1. Plan a scrumptious (Christmas) meal complete with all the fixings, and determine how many families your group can feed. Then, contact a local food pantry for a list of families in need. Spend a Saturday shopping, cooking, and delivering the meals together.
  2. Serve at a soup kitchen for the perfect (Christmas) reality check. Sign up ahead of time to make sure you can go as a group, and show up the morning of to give a warm smile and meal to people who rarely receive either.
  3. Use (Holiday Shopping) to benefit others. Instead of frantically crossing items off your family’s wish list, go as a group to buy clothing items for people in need. Take advantage of the good deals, and donate your finds to a local homeless shelter.
  4. Show love to your community by spending the afternoon cleaning it up. Depending on where you live, this might include raking leaves or shoveling snow. End the night with a chili cook-off that the whole neighborhood’s invited to!
  5. Collect coupons as a group to stretch your dollar at the grocery store. Then, donate the goods to a local food pantry the week of Thanksgiving. Be sure to throw in a few special treats for the holiday.
  6. Write notes of gratitude to soldiers from your community who are spending (Christmas) overseas. Put in a box full of basic necessities, fall candies and a calling card so they can connect with family at home.
  7. Collect toys in anticipation of the Christmas season. Encourage your kids to give up a certain number of gently used toys in order to bless other kids who do without and to make room for new toys that are sure to come their way.
  8. Repair a heating unit for a family in your community. Getting those fixed can be pretty pricey—an especially heavy burden during the holidays. Gather a fund and have it ready for this inevitable crisis.
  9. Collect sweaters, scarves and coats and distribute them among your group. Keep the items handy in your car and be on the lookout for homeless in your city. When you see them, you’ll be able to pass along a bundle of warmth without hesitation.
  10. Set aside extra cash at the beginning of the month. Give a generous tip to your waiter, the person at the checkout counter, the grocery bagger or your hair stylist.

When you give, do it with a welcoming spirit and a humble heart—remembering all that He’s given to you. Let’s make this (Christmas) season one that’s full of authentic addictive gratitude.

(Via)