The more I am involved with people and relationships the more clarity I gain about certain human behaviors. One such interaction deals with frustration around unmet expectations. It doesn't make a difference if your dealing with a spouse, co-worker or volunteer; relationships cause frustration. Often the point of contention boils down to one person expecting something that doesn't happen or happens in a way that's different that what they anticipated. If you're on the giving or receiving end of expectations there are a few things that can help reduce the amount of frustration:
1. Develop a job description, work through role clarification and write down the total sum of expectations. Sounds crazy, but a job description for a husband or wife is not a bad idea.
2. Talk through and clarify each and every expectation. Take your time and don't rush the process.
3. Share the last 10%, don't hold things back because of fear.
4. If you dealing with someone who continually becomes frustrated due to expectations they haven't verbalized going unmet has more to do with their insecurities than something you've done wrong. Coach the person and walk with them through the process, but if coaching doesn't help - find a new friend.
5. Before you become frustrated about someone else not meeting your expectations, make a list of expectations that God has for you. It automatically puts you in a place of humility and much more likely to extend grace.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The back 40...
A few weeks ago Pastor Steven's sermon was about David and his encounter with Goliath told in 1 Samuel 17. One of the elements that has gripped my heart for the past few weeks were list of things that David had done in obscurity that qualified him to battle the giant. His resume is listed in verses 34-37, "your servant has killed both the lion and the bear". He hasn't had any victories in battle and never went to military school. His training took place while being faithful to what God had put in front of him. His obedience in taking care of the sheep prepared him to fight Goliath.
I love working at Elevation for many reasons, one is that I'm surrounded by people that have demonstrated the type of faith that we see in David's life. I could list staff member after staff member that reminded faithful to what God put in front of them and is now using that training in a powerful way to advance the Kingdom through our church. I am so honored to work alongside people who are stepping into the current role with confidence because they have "they have killed the lion and the bear" in their past. It usually happened when no-one was looking and they probably felt like no one would notice. But someone did notice, it was God and when He can trust someone in the little He can trust them with much.
If you feel like you're on back 40 and God has forgotten you, if you fell like everyone around you is moving forward except for you, you need to listen to Pastor Steven's sermon on Week 2 of our Encore series called "Overlooked". I have heard every message that Pastor Steven has preached since we started and this one may be my favorite. This sermon will radically change how you view your current circumstances. God hasn't forgotten you! He has plans for your life and has placed greatness inside of you. The battles you are fighting are a training ground for the war and when you recognize that principle there's a profound shift in your perspective.
I love working at Elevation for many reasons, one is that I'm surrounded by people that have demonstrated the type of faith that we see in David's life. I could list staff member after staff member that reminded faithful to what God put in front of them and is now using that training in a powerful way to advance the Kingdom through our church. I am so honored to work alongside people who are stepping into the current role with confidence because they have "they have killed the lion and the bear" in their past. It usually happened when no-one was looking and they probably felt like no one would notice. But someone did notice, it was God and when He can trust someone in the little He can trust them with much.
If you feel like you're on back 40 and God has forgotten you, if you fell like everyone around you is moving forward except for you, you need to listen to Pastor Steven's sermon on Week 2 of our Encore series called "Overlooked". I have heard every message that Pastor Steven has preached since we started and this one may be my favorite. This sermon will radically change how you view your current circumstances. God hasn't forgotten you! He has plans for your life and has placed greatness inside of you. The battles you are fighting are a training ground for the war and when you recognize that principle there's a profound shift in your perspective.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Backstage Elevation....
Because of what God has done through Elevation we have churches from all around the county wanting to find out what's going on in Charlotte. There are more emails and phone calls coming into our office than we ever imagined. To meet the need and provide the best possible experience we've created backstage:elevation. It's an opportunity for churches to spend a Sunday with us and get a behind the scenes look at what we do. We limit the number of churches coming in so we can spend ample time with each to make it a great experience. Today we three great churches spend time with us:
- Melissa Nadlman, First Impressions Director - Flamingo Road Church, Copper City, FL I think we learned just as much if not more from Melissa than she did from us. She is part of a great multi-campus church in Florida that is aggressively advancing the gospel.
- Scott Mayo, Executive Pastor - Harvest Outreach, Virginia Beach, VA Scott and his guys came in asking great questions...I truly believe as they continue to add structure they are preparing for God to blow them up and bring them more people than they could have ever imagined!
- Justin Abercrombie, Children's Pastor - Carpenter's Church, Anderson, SC Justin spent most of the day with our children's director, Jessi Welch, and observed our children's ministries. I think he and his wife Jordan walked away encouraged about some steps he can take to move his churches children's ministry forward.
Pastor Steven Furtick wanted us to add the backstage experience because he wants us to be a church that gives everything away and blesses other churches. Although we've grown rather large, it's been in a short time. We remember what's it like when you're starting and you need some wisdom on how to get started. We know what's it like to be a church of 800 and realize that the "mom and pop" systems that have got us here won't get us to where we know God has called us to be. We've been in the place where we've had to restructure for 5,000 and now we're in a whole new world of trying to prepare a structure that will grow and flourish at 10,000.
The backstage:experience allows us to share principles for how we do ministry, but we usually learn as much from the churches coming in as they do from us. Pastor Steven is constantly challenging us to think beyond ourselves and remind us that we're a part of Kingdom movement that's bigger than the city of Charlotte.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Committed to….Position
Statistics show that over 50% of a church plants original core team will leave within a few years. On the front end of launching a church, not one of them thinks that will be their story…but on the back end it’s a painful reality for too many. If we didn’t learn anything from this tragic occurrence it would even an even more depressing situation. Exploring the process reveals some nuggets of wisdom that can be passed on for the benefit of others. If we learn the principles behind why this “divorce” rate is so high we can help other churches avoid some of these pitfalls in the future.
Let’s examine this problem from two vantage points: the church that’s getting ready to launch and the existing church. In the first case with the new church there’s a fatal flaw in the way people are recruited to join the ministry. When the pastor’s in the place where he has no-one he’ll take just about anyone. In an attempt to put some people on the team you’ll ask anyone to join you and put them in positions they shouldn’t fill. You’ll take someone you think you know and give them a title, a position of responsibility. At first all seems great, everyone’s getting along and they think they’re talking about the same “vision”. Add some people to the equation and you expose chinks in the armor. If you’re the pastor of a new church, who you allow at the table in those early days tells you a lot about how far you’ll go. The way you “invite” them to join you relates directly to how long they will be around. When we started Pastor Steven asked 7 families to sell their home, quit their jobs, and move to an unnamed city and sacrifice to start an unnamed church. And by the way, there isn’t a job for you. And whatever role you start in doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll stay. You might be the person to get us to 500 people, but if you can’t get us beyond that you’ll have to shift and if there isn’t a position within the organization you won’t be on staff. That was the hardest thing in the world to hear, but the best thing he could have ever said. He wanted to make sure we were selling our homes for a vision, not a position. And by the way, even though we had know each other for more than a year we took 7 months and met as a core team weekly to lean, understand, embrace and exude the vision that was placed deep down in Pastor Steven’s heart. Assembling a group of people to start a church is easy. Developing a core team committed to a vision is hard work and takes time.
The second case, the case of the existing church has many more subtle pitfalls because positional commitments are exposed through change. As your organization grows, so your structure has to change. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re dealing volunteers or full-time staff, when you’re talking about re-aligning the organization and shifting the structure to prepare for where you’re going, you’re talking about people. Shifts are about putting people in a more strategic position. Shifts are painful, especially for those who are married to a position. When you come along and say, “I know you’ve been doing x, but we need you to do y”, how do they respond? A person committed to the vision will respond with “I love doing x and this will be painful, but if you need me to shift to y I’ll do it”. But when the person is committed to a position it’s extremely painful as best and a tragedy at worse.
If you’re a leader, the people who surround you will determine how far you go. The “ask” to join your vision has to be brutally honest. Make sure people want to be a part of your vision, not their position of preference. One of the worst things I see in the church is when staff members sell themselves to the highest bidder like a whore. The moment they’re asked to shift for the betterment of the church is the moment they move on to the next thing with the most money like a prostitute. A person committed to the vision won’t just say “I’ll do anything”, they’ll actually do it when called upon. Commitment to anything less than the vision leaves a place for personal preference to undermine your mission.
Let’s examine this problem from two vantage points: the church that’s getting ready to launch and the existing church. In the first case with the new church there’s a fatal flaw in the way people are recruited to join the ministry. When the pastor’s in the place where he has no-one he’ll take just about anyone. In an attempt to put some people on the team you’ll ask anyone to join you and put them in positions they shouldn’t fill. You’ll take someone you think you know and give them a title, a position of responsibility. At first all seems great, everyone’s getting along and they think they’re talking about the same “vision”. Add some people to the equation and you expose chinks in the armor. If you’re the pastor of a new church, who you allow at the table in those early days tells you a lot about how far you’ll go. The way you “invite” them to join you relates directly to how long they will be around. When we started Pastor Steven asked 7 families to sell their home, quit their jobs, and move to an unnamed city and sacrifice to start an unnamed church. And by the way, there isn’t a job for you. And whatever role you start in doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll stay. You might be the person to get us to 500 people, but if you can’t get us beyond that you’ll have to shift and if there isn’t a position within the organization you won’t be on staff. That was the hardest thing in the world to hear, but the best thing he could have ever said. He wanted to make sure we were selling our homes for a vision, not a position. And by the way, even though we had know each other for more than a year we took 7 months and met as a core team weekly to lean, understand, embrace and exude the vision that was placed deep down in Pastor Steven’s heart. Assembling a group of people to start a church is easy. Developing a core team committed to a vision is hard work and takes time.
The second case, the case of the existing church has many more subtle pitfalls because positional commitments are exposed through change. As your organization grows, so your structure has to change. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re dealing volunteers or full-time staff, when you’re talking about re-aligning the organization and shifting the structure to prepare for where you’re going, you’re talking about people. Shifts are about putting people in a more strategic position. Shifts are painful, especially for those who are married to a position. When you come along and say, “I know you’ve been doing x, but we need you to do y”, how do they respond? A person committed to the vision will respond with “I love doing x and this will be painful, but if you need me to shift to y I’ll do it”. But when the person is committed to a position it’s extremely painful as best and a tragedy at worse.
If you’re a leader, the people who surround you will determine how far you go. The “ask” to join your vision has to be brutally honest. Make sure people want to be a part of your vision, not their position of preference. One of the worst things I see in the church is when staff members sell themselves to the highest bidder like a whore. The moment they’re asked to shift for the betterment of the church is the moment they move on to the next thing with the most money like a prostitute. A person committed to the vision won’t just say “I’ll do anything”, they’ll actually do it when called upon. Commitment to anything less than the vision leaves a place for personal preference to undermine your mission.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Committed to.....?
Do you ever wonder why some of the people you thought would be with you forever split...take off and you're left wondering what happened? Through tears they will declare "I'm with you till the end" and a few months later they are no where to be found. Upon reflection and a few years under our ministry belts I'd like to throw up an idea. What do people commit to and what are you asking people to commit to in your church?
What people commit to and how you communicate that commitment has a great deal of influence on how long they'll be around. Here's my hypothesis "If people are committed to a vision there is a greater likelihood they will run the race." I'm talking about a white hot, never changing, clearly communicating, compelling, expectation driven vision...not a quite statement on a wall that doesn't relate to how ministry takes place.
Through tons of observation and countless conversations with other church leaders I've boiled it down to three things people commit to rather than the vision:
What people commit to and how you communicate that commitment has a great deal of influence on how long they'll be around. Here's my hypothesis "If people are committed to a vision there is a greater likelihood they will run the race." I'm talking about a white hot, never changing, clearly communicating, compelling, expectation driven vision...not a quite statement on a wall that doesn't relate to how ministry takes place.
Through tons of observation and countless conversations with other church leaders I've boiled it down to three things people commit to rather than the vision:
- Position - As long as they are the ___ pastor or carry a certain title they are with you...the moment a shift has to take place is the moment they're out the door.
- Program - What happens when their pet program is sacrificed for the vision...they're gone.
- Person - If people are committed because of their relationship with the pastor, what happens when the pastor can't spend time with them because they've grown to the point that he can't meet with everyone...see ya, they're like a Josh Hamilton homerun...GONE!!
Communicating vision is hard work. It's galvanizing and it's divisive...not everyone will be attracted to it. Over the next 3 Friday's I'll take a closer look at the three things people commit to and the ramifications of committing to anything less than the vision. This Friday I'll examine how "position" commitment is destined to fail.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday Review....
1. Pastor Steven had not preached a sermon live for several weeks. Let me just say, he tore it up!! His sermon was about David tending sheep on the back 40 while the rest of the family was advancing. He used that text to encourage people who feel like everyone else in the world is moving forward except them....the (3) big sermon points:
1. Be faithful - Obedience creates opportunities;
2. Be confident - God uses your faith to prepare you, but it's often developed in obscurity;
3. Be yourself - David tried on Saul's armor before fighting Goliath, but took it off and used his sling and 5 stones he put in his shepherd's pouch;
2. We had a ton of First Time Guests, our big blue tent was handing t-shirts out hand over first!! Great job Elevators, keep inviting!!
3. Great attendance day as well!!
4. Pastor Steven wore an Elevation t-shirt on stage during the first service worship experience...the resource table sold out of that shirt very quickly.
5. We had one of our Ground Level Network churches in last night and they'll be back at the office today to spend time with our staff. Pastor Daniel and his team from Lifepoint were prepared...started the night with Bojangles and finished 5 hours later and barely made a dent in the list of great questions. I'm telling you, as he leads his staff through the next shifts they are facing they are going to blow up!!
6. I'm a little tired this morning, my son didn't want to sleep last night so my pregnant wife and I didn't get much sleep!! It's all good, Monday is my second favorite day of the week!!
1. Be faithful - Obedience creates opportunities;
2. Be confident - God uses your faith to prepare you, but it's often developed in obscurity;
3. Be yourself - David tried on Saul's armor before fighting Goliath, but took it off and used his sling and 5 stones he put in his shepherd's pouch;
2. We had a ton of First Time Guests, our big blue tent was handing t-shirts out hand over first!! Great job Elevators, keep inviting!!
3. Great attendance day as well!!
4. Pastor Steven wore an Elevation t-shirt on stage during the first service worship experience...the resource table sold out of that shirt very quickly.
5. We had one of our Ground Level Network churches in last night and they'll be back at the office today to spend time with our staff. Pastor Daniel and his team from Lifepoint were prepared...started the night with Bojangles and finished 5 hours later and barely made a dent in the list of great questions. I'm telling you, as he leads his staff through the next shifts they are facing they are going to blow up!!
6. I'm a little tired this morning, my son didn't want to sleep last night so my pregnant wife and I didn't get much sleep!! It's all good, Monday is my second favorite day of the week!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Changing it up....
If your spiritual life is anything like mine, you can sometimes find yourself in a rut. You start out with a good discipline and the next thing you know you’re stuck in a routine. Staleness can sometimes creep into my relationship with Christ and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten a little bit better at recognizing it a little earlier. When I was younger, I’d end up in a rut for weeks and not recognize it. As I’ve matured in my faith, I am sometimes better able to realize what’s happening, so I change it up.
About a month ago I sensed the need to change it up, so here's what I’ve been doing in my spiritual life. I began the new routine and stated reading in the book of John. Each time I read the bible I start with a simple prayer, something like “Jesus please apply something that I read to my life. Show me the weak spots or encourage me, but please speak to me.” I’ll begin reading and will go until something jumps off the page. If I get to the end of the section and nothing has jumped out at me, I’ll start back at the beginning of the section and re-read it. I’ll repeat the process until God impresses something on my heart. Over the course of the day I’ll re-read that section 2-3 times. Sometimes I’ll write it down, but the thing that God impressed upon my heart becomes a focus of my personal prayers for the day.
This has really helped me focus on listening rather than just covering the content. Let me give you an example from today. I began reading in John 18:28. Jesus has been taken to Pilate and we get to peek in on the conversation. Pilate asks Jesus if he is a King and the two begin an incredible dialogue. Jesus ends his part of the conversation by saying “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate's response jumped off the page, “what is truth”. Are you kidding me Pilate, you’re staring truth right in the face but you didn’t recognize it.
Here’s what God spoke to me, He said “Larry you stare at things so long you become familiar with My extraordinary.” I’m not saying no to his truth or rejecting it; I’m just responding from the routine of life rather than a relationship with Christ. I sometimes can look at the “truth” and fail to recognize the miracle in the middle of situation. There are things that come along, truth that stares me in the face and I recognize it, I see the truth in it. What’s the problem with that you ask? Here’s the problem, it should have caused me to fall on my face or jump and down. As Christians we’re not called to recognize truth, we called to respond to it!
Examine your life, what needs to change? What needs to be reorganized or deleted all together? Give it a try, change some things up. You might just be blessed in the process.
About a month ago I sensed the need to change it up, so here's what I’ve been doing in my spiritual life. I began the new routine and stated reading in the book of John. Each time I read the bible I start with a simple prayer, something like “Jesus please apply something that I read to my life. Show me the weak spots or encourage me, but please speak to me.” I’ll begin reading and will go until something jumps off the page. If I get to the end of the section and nothing has jumped out at me, I’ll start back at the beginning of the section and re-read it. I’ll repeat the process until God impresses something on my heart. Over the course of the day I’ll re-read that section 2-3 times. Sometimes I’ll write it down, but the thing that God impressed upon my heart becomes a focus of my personal prayers for the day.
This has really helped me focus on listening rather than just covering the content. Let me give you an example from today. I began reading in John 18:28. Jesus has been taken to Pilate and we get to peek in on the conversation. Pilate asks Jesus if he is a King and the two begin an incredible dialogue. Jesus ends his part of the conversation by saying “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate's response jumped off the page, “what is truth”. Are you kidding me Pilate, you’re staring truth right in the face but you didn’t recognize it.
Here’s what God spoke to me, He said “Larry you stare at things so long you become familiar with My extraordinary.” I’m not saying no to his truth or rejecting it; I’m just responding from the routine of life rather than a relationship with Christ. I sometimes can look at the “truth” and fail to recognize the miracle in the middle of situation. There are things that come along, truth that stares me in the face and I recognize it, I see the truth in it. What’s the problem with that you ask? Here’s the problem, it should have caused me to fall on my face or jump and down. As Christians we’re not called to recognize truth, we called to respond to it!
Examine your life, what needs to change? What needs to be reorganized or deleted all together? Give it a try, change some things up. You might just be blessed in the process.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Presentation...
I need to brag on a volunteer for moment. Her name is Sheree and she did an amazing job this past Sunday night at our "Meet me at McGlohon" event. What she did was not incredible, it was the way she did it that caught my attention. She recently came into a new role as a volunteer to help coordinate events at Elevation. To give her a try and see what she could do I gave her a simple project - take care of the food for the volunteers at McGlohon. We had about 50 people who would be there setting up that we needed to feed. She took the project and ran with it. When I walked in to see what she had done I initially walked past the food display because it looked like it was for someone else. Sheree did such a great job with the presentation of the food people were blown away. She brought in sterling silver trays with silver serving spoons. The display was a professional arrangement that you could have dropped into any setting and people would have said "wow".
That lesson reinforced the principle of "presentation". You see our volunteers were eating chicken and rice from Bo'Jangles, but it looked and tasted like it was catered from a 5 start restaurant. If we had left the chicken in a yellow Bo'Jangles box and the rice in the Styrofoam container it would have tasted like Bo'Jangles.....but Sheree didn't. She took the time to plan and went the extra mile to create an eating experience that communicated something to our volunteers. They walked away feeling appreciated and valued...we honored them and you could see it on their faces.
For too long the church has given the world cold chicken on a paper plate and said eat it. But when you spend the time and cook it with seasonings it tastes better. When you put it on a nice serving dish it looks better and when you show them by your preparation that you care...they notice. The substance of chicken is the same whether it's frozen or barbecued...but which would you rather eat.
The church has the greatest substance on the earth in the form of The Gospel. It has never changed and will never change. Our job is to prepare and present it in such a way that it's palatable to a world that is without hope. How are you doing on your presentation because it makes all the difference in the world!!
That lesson reinforced the principle of "presentation". You see our volunteers were eating chicken and rice from Bo'Jangles, but it looked and tasted like it was catered from a 5 start restaurant. If we had left the chicken in a yellow Bo'Jangles box and the rice in the Styrofoam container it would have tasted like Bo'Jangles.....but Sheree didn't. She took the time to plan and went the extra mile to create an eating experience that communicated something to our volunteers. They walked away feeling appreciated and valued...we honored them and you could see it on their faces.
For too long the church has given the world cold chicken on a paper plate and said eat it. But when you spend the time and cook it with seasonings it tastes better. When you put it on a nice serving dish it looks better and when you show them by your preparation that you care...they notice. The substance of chicken is the same whether it's frozen or barbecued...but which would you rather eat.
The church has the greatest substance on the earth in the form of The Gospel. It has never changed and will never change. Our job is to prepare and present it in such a way that it's palatable to a world that is without hope. How are you doing on your presentation because it makes all the difference in the world!!
Monday, July 7, 2008
WOW at McGlohon....
That's the only word to accurately describe the Ephesians 3:20 that God pulled off last night. Here are a few highlights of the evening:
1. The cops showed up and told us we have too many greeters outside and need a permit in the future.
2. Pastor Steven announced that through the sale of the "We are Alive" CD Elevation Church will give Wade and Ferris over $17,000 to help with the expense of caring for their beautiful girls.
3. We broke fire code!! Almost 800 people showed up and blew the top off the joint...the energy was amazing and the place is still reverberating!! The people who manage McGlohon told us that last night was the biggest crowd ever to gather in the theater....get ready Uptown Charlotte because you are the epicenter of an earthquake that will take over the city!!
Elevators, you showed off last night in a powerful way!! It was a successful first step to an August 24th launch!! Let's keep it rolling and let's expect to see hundrends of people give their lives to Jesus Christ at our McGlohon campus!!
1. The cops showed up and told us we have too many greeters outside and need a permit in the future.
2. Pastor Steven announced that through the sale of the "We are Alive" CD Elevation Church will give Wade and Ferris over $17,000 to help with the expense of caring for their beautiful girls.
3. We broke fire code!! Almost 800 people showed up and blew the top off the joint...the energy was amazing and the place is still reverberating!! The people who manage McGlohon told us that last night was the biggest crowd ever to gather in the theater....get ready Uptown Charlotte because you are the epicenter of an earthquake that will take over the city!!
Elevators, you showed off last night in a powerful way!! It was a successful first step to an August 24th launch!! Let's keep it rolling and let's expect to see hundrends of people give their lives to Jesus Christ at our McGlohon campus!!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
This weekend at Elevation...
This weekend is going to be incredible at Elevation Church for a few reasons...
1. Pastor Steven has been out for a few weeks so he is going to bring it big time as we start a new series called ENCORE!!! I really think someone might just explode tomorrow!
2. We're releasing our new worship CD "We are Alive", listen to a sample HERE.
3. Our first "Meet me at McGlohon". The campus starts Aug 24th, but we're having a preview tomorrow night.
Trust me, you don't want to miss anything.....it is going to be incredible!!!
Heroes....
Growing up I had two childhood heroes, Kirby Puckett and Jeff Blatnick. Kriby was the 5’7” smiling ball of fire that patrolled center field for the Minnesota Twins for over a decade. I remember watching his first game in the majors; he went 4 for 5 and stole a home run from Chicago White Sox. Jeff Blatnick was an Olympic gold meal winner in wrestling at the 1984 games. The amazing thing about his story was that he was diagnosed with cancer less than a year earlier. He not only won gold he beat cancer!
The common thread that runs through our heroes is their ability to inspire. They cause us dream big and transcend our world. Our thoughts move from the mundane of our current situation to a world where all seems right. But with most of our heroes, we’ve probably never met them and if we have it was a cursory “nice to meet you.” The longer I thought about heroes I started remembering people that had made an impact upon me. They were the ones that have not only inspired me, they also invested in me. Thinking back there were a few heroes that have been in my life, people who inspired me to seek greatness while investing in my life because they believed in me.
Each day God gives you a platform to be a hero. It’s amazing the difference a little encouragement can make in someone’s life. People wake up each day and struggle with discouragement, disappointment and depression. We’re in a world that celebrates mediocrity and failure. But now more than ever we have an amazing opportunity to make a difference. Look at the people in your life, what kind of difference can you make through speaking life and encouragement? Let me redefine what a hero can be, someone who not only inspires but they invest. So as you get ready to take on the week, here’s my encouragement to you…be a HERO!!!
The common thread that runs through our heroes is their ability to inspire. They cause us dream big and transcend our world. Our thoughts move from the mundane of our current situation to a world where all seems right. But with most of our heroes, we’ve probably never met them and if we have it was a cursory “nice to meet you.” The longer I thought about heroes I started remembering people that had made an impact upon me. They were the ones that have not only inspired me, they also invested in me. Thinking back there were a few heroes that have been in my life, people who inspired me to seek greatness while investing in my life because they believed in me.
Each day God gives you a platform to be a hero. It’s amazing the difference a little encouragement can make in someone’s life. People wake up each day and struggle with discouragement, disappointment and depression. We’re in a world that celebrates mediocrity and failure. But now more than ever we have an amazing opportunity to make a difference. Look at the people in your life, what kind of difference can you make through speaking life and encouragement? Let me redefine what a hero can be, someone who not only inspires but they invest. So as you get ready to take on the week, here’s my encouragement to you…be a HERO!!!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Are we there yet...
My wife and I are in the midst of traveling to spend the fourth of July holiday with her family in Richmond. After going through the checklist of items, making sure the dogs had plenty of water and all the doors were locked we were on the way. An hour and a half into the trip our 2 year old son Corbin started getting a little fussy. We tried putting in a different DVD, goldfish and juice with minimal success. You see, he’s at that stage where he can recognize something isn’t right, but hasn’t developed the vocabulary to express what’s actually going on. We pulled into a gas station and found the culprit, a dirty diaper. Following a nascar pit-stop we were back on the road. The next few hours were a restful trip to our destination.
As I drove in the darkness through the Virginia countryside I thought about the diaper. I think most parents learn a great deal about themselves through their children. In that moment God taught me a powerful lesson. As Christians we often go through seasons where we just don’t feel right, something is out of whack. Many times we’re unable to express what we’re feeling or can’t even put our finger on what is actually causing the discontentment. In the case of my son, his displease was stemming from what he was sitting in. Without being too graphic can you see a parallel? Corbin knew something wasn’t right but it wasn’t until mom and dad inspected the situation that the problem was identified. We could have told Corbin, “boy you’re sitting in a mess, get up and change yourself”. He’s two that would have been ridiculous.
Here’s what God put on my heart. As a leader in the church, what do I do when I notice someone is discontent, something just isn’t right in their life. Do I look at the circumstances and chalk it up as a bad day or do I press in to find out what is going on. Discontentment has multiple origins. It can come from a great place, a holy discontent as God is working in their life. But sometimes it stems from a heart that has ended up in a place they never dreamed possible and they’re paralyzed. There are many great things that come with being in a leadership role, but sometimes you’ll have to change some diapers. After we dealt with the situation with my son, after we cleaned him up he enjoyed the rest of the trip…don’t let people miss out on life because you don’t want to deal with the mess.
As I drove in the darkness through the Virginia countryside I thought about the diaper. I think most parents learn a great deal about themselves through their children. In that moment God taught me a powerful lesson. As Christians we often go through seasons where we just don’t feel right, something is out of whack. Many times we’re unable to express what we’re feeling or can’t even put our finger on what is actually causing the discontentment. In the case of my son, his displease was stemming from what he was sitting in. Without being too graphic can you see a parallel? Corbin knew something wasn’t right but it wasn’t until mom and dad inspected the situation that the problem was identified. We could have told Corbin, “boy you’re sitting in a mess, get up and change yourself”. He’s two that would have been ridiculous.
Here’s what God put on my heart. As a leader in the church, what do I do when I notice someone is discontent, something just isn’t right in their life. Do I look at the circumstances and chalk it up as a bad day or do I press in to find out what is going on. Discontentment has multiple origins. It can come from a great place, a holy discontent as God is working in their life. But sometimes it stems from a heart that has ended up in a place they never dreamed possible and they’re paralyzed. There are many great things that come with being in a leadership role, but sometimes you’ll have to change some diapers. After we dealt with the situation with my son, after we cleaned him up he enjoyed the rest of the trip…don’t let people miss out on life because you don’t want to deal with the mess.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
It's time to jump in...
I've been resisting the urge for sometime, but I've decided to take the plunge and join the blog world. So begins a new era.....read with caution because if you spend too much time here you might just walk away encouraged, smiling and ready to take on the day!!
Gotta prep for vacation
Getting ready for Vacation.....
Since I didn't see the ocean till I was 25, I have a real appreciation for the beach. Since I didn't want my boy waiting till his 20's we decided to start him out early. We wanted him as prepared as he could be, so we practiced in the living room....practice was fun-he can't wait for the real thing!
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