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Getting My Lead On

August 18, 2008 in Book Review, Discipleship, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Worship, Youth Ministry with Comments Off

I am so excited about starting two new leadership books this week.

First up is Bill Hybel’s latest offering entitled, Axiom: Poweful Leadership Proverbs.

Axiom basically is a collection of “lead-speak.” Hybels opens up his leadership glossary and gives the reader a glimpse into the small but potent words and phrases that he and the Willow Creek staff use to get things done. Hybels breaks these proverbs into 4 categories: Vision and Strategy, Teamwork and Communication, Activity and Assessment, and Personal Integrity. Each category is filled with 15-20 bite-size chapters based on a different leadership principle. You begin to get the idea behind Axiom just by studying the chapter titles. In fact some of these leadership principles are made plain and clear by the title alone. Who doesn’t understand the truth behind titles such as “Never Say Someone’s No For Them,” “Pay Now, Play Later,” and “Speed vs. Soul”? Hybels always brings the heat so I can’t wait to delve deep into the leadership goodness.

The second book I’m excited about is It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It by Craig Groeschel. Craig is the founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv and he is one of my favorite leadership voices out there. The thing I admire so much about Craig and the LifeChurch leadership is how open and inviting they are into their process. I have been privileged to sit and discuss with them over two meals and I have walked away each time blessed in some capacity. They rock!

I have been excited about It because Craig’s desire to build leaders and to equip them to lead is the sole focus of this book. Look for a few updates and summaries of this book as I read It.

My challenge for you is to Get YOUR lead on!

Everyday is a new day for you to step up and lead where ever you are. If you’re a teacher, a bus driver, a mailman, a lawyer, a mechanic, a soldier, a minister, or a student you are called to lead. Let God guide you and strengthen you.

Get YOUR lead on!

The Thought In My Head

August 14, 2008 in Discipleship, Ethos, Faith in Action, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry with 2 Comments

I was listening to an interview with Erwin McManus yesterday and something he said has been floating around in my mind ever since.

I don’t believe in balance. I believe in living a skewed life. I think balance is a very Buddist thing. It’s not very reflective of Jesus at all. Balance comes from Mr. Myagi in The Karate Kid.

I challenge you to go find anything Jesus said that implies that we should be balanced. In fact Jesus said, “Put first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.”

He is saying, “Be skewed. Don’t be balanced. Move your life entirely for the purpose of the kingdom of God. Then everything will magnetically begin to revolve around that.”

What a great truth! I think as Christians we strive too much for normalcy. That is evidenced by the fact that survey after survey concludes that Christians live lives no different from those who do not know Jesus. We have the same divorce rate, the same addictions, the same attitudes. Normal is killing our witness. It’s time to live skewed. It’s time to be wierd. It’s time to be different.

Live off balance.

Where I Got Hooked pt. 4

July 17, 2008 in Books, Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry with Comments Off

I’m out of pocket this week while we are on our mission trip in Kentucky. I thought a good idea for posting this week would be to share with you some of my favorite passages from the different books sitting on my desk. It is in these passages where I found myself being hooked by the ideas and concepts contained within their pages.

I hope that these quick takes will encourage you and connect with you in some way this week. Enjoy.

Today’s excerpt is from Mark Buchanan The Rest of God. This is from the chapter entitled, “Stopping to Find What’s Missing.”

And something in us dies. Too much work, the British used to say, makes Jack a dull boy. But it’s worse than that. It numbs Jack, parches Jack, hardens jack. It kills his heart. When we get to busy, everything becomes either a trudge or a scramble, the doldrums or sheer mayhem. We get bored with the familiar, threatened by the unfamiliar . Our capacity for both steadfastness and adventure shrivels.

We just want to be left alone.

One measure for whether or not you’re rested enough- besides falling asleep in board meetings- is to ask yourself this: How much do I care about the things I care about? When we lose concern for people, both the lost and the found, for the bride of Christ, for friendship, for truth and beauty and goodness; when we cease to laugh when our children laugh (and instead yell at them to quite down) or weep when or spouses weep (and instead wish they didn’t get so emotional); when we heard news of trouble among our neighbors and our first thought is that we hope it isn’t going to involve us- when we stop caring about the things we care about- that’s a signal we’re too busy. We have let ourselves be consumed by the things that feed the ego but starve the soul.

Busyness kills the heart.

Poor Management

July 6, 2008 in Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Risk, Summer, Theology, Youth Ministry with Comments Off

One thing that I have always prided myself on is my ability to manage my schedule in a healthy manner. I’m no where near perfect but I have been acutely aware of the need to schedule and manage my time while in full-time ministry. I do not want to burn out early and I do not want it said of me that I ran a poor and short race (ha).

It is easier to manage my schedule in the fall and spring. The students are in school. Athletic events and church events are usually scheduled months in advance and so I can work around these things. I try and find moments to disengage from my ministry hat and proudly wear and display my husband hat and my Micheal hat.

I covet Thursday nights with my wife and place fortified barriers of reminders to all that I am devoting this night and this time to my family. Years down the road it is things like this that will help me prioritize my family over my ministry.

For myself I do a lot of reading, personal development, movies, conferences, and concerts. I am a sucker for all of these things and they each help me relax, focus, and lead more effectively.

But now it is summer! Mission trips, camps, and late nights have pushed my schedule to the max. I have been forgetting that I must manage my time or it will manage me.

Example:
Last week I left on Wednesday for the Unplugged conference. The plan was to return home mid-evening Friday and then drive my teens to camp in Arkansas. What really happened was the my flight was delayed. I returned to Dallas late-night, drove to Arkansas the next day, and taught 12 classes in four days. We drove home Thursday evening. Whew! I was tired all week. These were all good things but I could have planned better for rest.

Instead I agreed to play golf early Friday morning! Great time with friends, my poor playing, but good putting all made for an enjoyable morning but still I was beat.

Then I had scheduled a fund raiser car wash for our mission trip. All saturday morning. In the heat. Under the sun. We met our fund raising goal (praise God!) but the thoughts of weariness plagued me all afternoon.

This was just two weeks of my summer. Could you imagine what would happen if this continued for another couple of months? What if I kept up this pace and this schedule for the rest of the year? This type of life is unsustainable. The human body is not meant to go this hard and this fast for extended periods of time. When I am this tired and worn down I am unable to be fully present with the people and events in my life. I’m on auto-pilot and I fear that I am missing out on important connections.

How are you managing your time? Are you giving where you need to give? Are you taking time to receive from God? Your family?

Youth ministers aren’t the only ones who suffer from over scheduling. Like Dave Ghrol of Foo Fighters asks, “Is someone getting the best of you?” If the answer to this question is “No” then take a long hard look at your schedule and see what need adjusting, what needs more focus, or what needs removing.

Are You In A Jar?

May 21, 2008 in Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Resources with Comments Off

I read a story that hasn’t been far from my mind since I encountered it last week. The reference escapes me and I can’t be sure of the actual-factuals of the story yet I have been constantly evaluating my self, my habits, and the people/systems that I come in contact with in light of this parable about growth. The story goes like this:

There was once a pumpkin farmer. The farmer worked all season long preparing is fields for his crop. He planted the seeds, watered when necessary, and walked the field everyday removing debris and anything that might cause harm to his precious pumpkins. One day, while the pumpkins were still very small he came across a mason jar out in the field. Curious as to what might happen, he placed one of the pumpkins inside the jar to continue growing. Time went on and the pumpkins were now ready for the harvest. What a harvest it was! This year the farmer had grown some of the largest and healthiest pumpkins ever. However, there was one problem. When the farmer reached the pumpkin he had placed into the jar he was shocked by what had happened. Rather than growing large and cracking/destroying the jar, the pumpkin conformed to the inside of the jar. While it had been receiving the same nutrients and nurturing the other pumpkins had, the jar had become a prison for this little pumpkin. It was 1/3 the size of the others and its shape was that of a mason jar. Rather than overcoming the challenge, the poor pumpkin’s growth was stunted.

I have been haunted by the idea of being trapped inside a jar all week.

What is the jar that is trapping you or your business/church/school? It could be a personal jar of bad habits or laziness that has trapped you. It could be poor leadership (on your part or on the part of others) that keeps your business/church/school from achieving all that it should. It could be any number of factors that are hindering you and your team. The question is, are you strong enough to name the jar?

Name the jar, call out what’s keeping you from growing, and then smash that sucker to pieces. Good luck and God speed.

GATM: Iron Man

May 1, 2008 in Discipleship, Faith in Action, Film & Theology, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Youth Ministry with Comments Off

gatmironman2.jpgLast night I kicked off a new series called (creatively) God @ the Movies and we started with the first big movie of the summer, Iron Man.

Until last week I knew virtually nothing about Iron Man. I spent about three hours in a crash course study of all things Tony Stark. I was extremely thankful for two books that helped me craft my lesson for last night. First, I learned a great deal from Iron Man: Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels. This a brand new resource that I would define as the definitive tome on the Iron Knight. Mangels takes the reader from the jungles of Vietnam where Tony Stark was injured, captured, and forced to escape his captures in the first Iron Man suit through Stark’s battle with the bottle to the film and the current story lines found in the comic book pages. The book contains some great artwork and gives you all you’d ever need to know about Iron Man.

The other book that really helped me out was Who Needs a Superhero? by H. Michael Brewer. Brewer connected the life of Tony Stark with the life of King David. Both men had issues with their hearts. Tony Stark has a piece of shrapnel that inches closer and closer to his heart threatening to kill him at any moment but he struggles with the heart go deeper than mere flesh. He is unlucky at love (one girlfriend shot him) and business (he has made fortunes and lost each and everyone). All the pressures on his life drove him to battle with alcoholism. King David’s issues with the heart are also well documented. Bathsheba, Amnon and Tamar, Amnon and Absalom, Absalom and David. Heartbreak after heartbreak all because David began to trust in his armor over his God.

After his sin with Bathsheba, David penned this psalm:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalms 51:1-12)

So what can we learn from this multi-million dollar summer blockbuster and what can we learn from this ancient shepherd-king of Israel? We can look for purpose and joy in the things of this world and trust in the strength of our hands but it won’t heal our broken hearts.

Our hearts can only be made whole again in the hands of our Creator. When we give him our hearts of stone he will give us hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Only then will we find true purpose and lasting joy.

Yes Lord, create in me a pure heart!

Proverbs 6:1-5

April 5, 2008 in 2008, Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Giving Thanks, Leadership, Life, Ministry, My Life, My Wife Rules, Theology with 4 Comments

This is the year that we get out of debt.

Over 7 years of marriage we’ve managed to keep our heads above water but we have accumulated a little bit of debt. We used our credit cards to travel to see family, we moved, we bought a few pieces of furniture, and we bought a few stupid items.

After taking a step back and looking at our finances we concluded that something had to change or we would run the risk of getting into terrible financial trouble. It doesn’t matter that our level of debt was just under the national average. We were failing in our call to be good stewards of our money and so we decided to do something about it.

Today my wife told me that our credit cards have been completely paid off!!!

In just three months, we paid off a (ahem) crapload of money on those plastic traps. We went and did our taxes, found out that we didn’t owe anything, and then used the money we had set aside for taxes to completely pay those puppies off. We are done!!! No more plastic!

The next step is to pay down our car notes. That’s right, we have two of them and owe money on both. It’s ok though. We shouldn’t have bought my car when we did. I had a truck that was paid off but I was tired of driving that big boy around and I wanted a smaller car. Lesson learned. The plan is to have both of our cars paid off by the time 2009 rolls around.

Big PROPS to my wife because she does our finances.

Thanks babe for doing the hard work and for giving me a generous allowance each week. :) I love you babe!

Man Time

March 7, 2008 in Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Preaching with Comments Off

I’m headed off on our Men’s Retreat this afternoon.

It will be a nice change of pace to be on a retreat with adults rather than teens. It will also be nice to go on a retreat that I haven’t scheduled or planned. I’m the AV guy and I do have a presentation on Teen Mentoring but it should be a relaxing 2 days.

I’m taking a few books with me. I’ll start Nancy Ortberg’s Looking for God and (hopefully) I’ll knock out a good chunk of Neal Gabler’s 912 page biography of Walt Disney.

I have been trying to get to the bio of Uncle Walt for some time but other books have gotten in the way. On March 30, I’m preaching on The Vision of a Leader and I can’t think of anyone in the modern age with more vision that Walt Disney. Of course, Walt surrounded himself with other visionaries and experts. Men “on the ground” like Ub Iwerks and those men and women of the creative team known as The Imagineers have helped carry out Walt’s vision and have even managed to take his vision further than he ever imagined.

I am convinced that you, personally, can have a vision for something but ultimately vision is a team sport. I once heard that as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens the other. Sounds like whoever said that knew what they were talking about.

Have a great weekend everyone.

A Sort of Homecoming

January 23, 2008 in Death, Life with Comments Off

I graduated from a small private high school ten years ago. With only 54 people in my graduating class it isn’t too difficult staying in touch with most of them. There is probably only 1 degree of separation between us all as has been evident over the last week.

A few days ago we lost a classmate, a teammate, and a friend. In many ways we lost a member of the family.

At visitation last night I saw familiar faces, exchanged handshakes and hugs, and swapped stories that seemed to have happened a lifetime ago.

In about an hour I’ll make the drive back to Garland for the funeral. A few of us are gathering for lunch before hand. More hugs and more stories, tears and laughter.

I feel honored to still be somewhat connected to the lives of this small group of people.

We have welcomed new wives and husbands into the group. We have welcomed sons and daughters. Last night I was able to hold a new baby boy, less than 24 hours old, of two of these friends. Even friends of friends have been added to our number.

But today is a day of saying goodbye.

Happy Thanksgiving

November 22, 2007 in 2007, Life, Thanksgiving, The Word with 1 Comment

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

We got up early so I could finsh the last minute prep work on our bird and it is now in the oven working up a sweat. :)

Yes you read that last sentance correctly. I am cooking the turkey this year.

I soaked it last night in a brine of broth, allspice, ginger, and ice water. We took it out of the brine this morning, washed it again, basted it and gave it a quick roast at 500 degrees. When we took it out to wrap it in foil for the remainder of the cooking time it was already turning a little golden and was begining to smell very, very good. We are halfway through now.

My parents are on the way over and pretty soon we will gather around the table to give thanks for a great year.

A few things I am ThankFull for:

Our marriage: We are in year 7. No itch here.
Our jobs: Both of us feel very fulfilled in our work.
Our health: My wife’s arthritis seems to have gone into remission. very grateful for that.

I pray that you too can find some things to be ThankFull for today and everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Psalms 107:1-9

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for humankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

UPDATED: The turkey was real (good) and it was spectacular.
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