Proverbs 18:22 says, “The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the Lord.”
I have found a treasure! I LOVE this lady!
Hanging out @ Main St. Pizza, eating great food, enjoying laughs, listening to her talk… I realize that my relationship with Sherri is a conduit of God’s grace into my life! I love my bride!
Recently the debacle known as the Walter Reed hospital has been in the news!
How does effective leadership deal with an organization in crisis… crisis caused by ineffective management and a lack of oversight?
John Baldoni, over at Fast Company, has a great post called “Own up and Clean up.”
He offers four key pieces of wisdom:
Some great advice for leaders in the midst of chaos! (read the complete article here)!
I’m fed up with the “… Church”! I’m tired of the struggle to identify what “kind” of church we are or are not! (Not “we” as in Northgate, but “we” as in the church at large.)
There are SO many descriptors for church these days…
Just yesterday I was talking with a pastor and he asked me, “What kind of church are you?” I about cussed! (Just kidding of course!)
Here’s the thing… the only people who care about “what kind” are CHURCH PEOPLE!
I guarantee you that an unbelieving/unchurched person does not ask before going to church, “Is it a seeker-sensitive church?” COME ON ALREADY! (I’m not yelling… I’m just using big letters!)
We spend way to much time trying to figure out what we are and way to little time doing what we’re supposed to do… bringing people to Jesus and building them up in that relationship (or however your particular church emphasizes your mission).
Good grief… Jesus never talked about labels or descriptors! He just went out and got neck deep in people’s lives! He didn’t write essays or hold conferences about (oh man… this is gonna cost me) how to do church in some new… cool way! HE JUST LOVED PEOPLE!
I completely believe in developing and following a strategy for effective ministry… but for crying out loud… STOP LABELING ME/US!
I’m realizing these days that we have WAY overcomplicated church! The brutal reality is that church does not have to be this complicated! My gosh, what would a twenty-first century church do with a “Day of Pentecost” (as recorded in Acts 2:41) when 3,000 people in one day gave their lives to Christ? That would be a paradigm buster, eh?!
Listen, here’s where I’m at…
We’re called to make disciples (i.e. bring people to Jesus and build them up in that relationship). Here’s how it happens in Acts…
Having said all of that I know that someone is going to say, “Yea, but how?” And that’s where strategy comes in (Remember I said I believe in thoughtful strategy for the purpose of effective ministry). What I’m contending for is that we STOP LABELING and start LEADING others to Jesus!
The church is fighting with itself these days – (e.g. John McArthur vs. Mark Driscoll – read more here) and to the extent that we fight with ourselves over labels and methods… we ignore our mission – BRING PEOPLE TO JESUS AND BUILD THEM UP IN THAT RELATIONSHIP!
Who cares if you don’t like how someone else is doing it! If they’re not violating Scripture then stop whining and labeling and PRAY for and HELP them! (check this out if you don’t agree!)
So yea, I’m tired of the “… Church.” I just want to be a part of a group that brings people to Jesus and builds them up in that relationship!
My friend Aaron has posted some GREAT stuff about communication in a continuation of our conversation about the power of story… (read it here)
This morning I was reading C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain.
He makes a point (a ton of them actually) that is worth sharing…
“The place for which [God] designs [us] in His scheme of things is the place [we] are made for. When [we] reach it [our] nature is fulfilled and [our] happiness attained: a broken bone in the universe has been set, the anguish is over. When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy.”
Holy Cow! The key to happiness is finding the will of God for our lives and living it out!
In other words, the key to happiness is SURRENDER!
Of course this brings to mind the words of St. Paul in Romans 12:1-2…
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
A prayer for the day…
“God, I choose to surrender to you and your will for my life and therein find happiness.”
How does the role of staff change in a growing church?
I’ve tackled this question in our latest M&M CD due out in a few weeks… but if you are interested you can read it here!
Here at Northgate we’ve started putting our leadership training on CD. We call them M&Ms (Monthly Minutes).
Every leader gets a CD and a pack of M&Ms to eat while listening to the CD. I’ve heard that some are eating the M&Ms without listening to the CDs… you’ll be surprised to know that the fat content is multiplied by TEN when you do that… I’m not sure how it works, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case!
Starting in January I began discussing four transitions that our church will go through as we continue to bring people to Jesus and build them up in that relationship:
Today I’m working on the third transition… the role of the staff.
As the church grows the roles and expectations of staff members change.
Let me give you a couple of the transitions…
If you are not getting M&Ms the best way to get them is to volunteer to lead a ministry!
If you are leading a ministry and getting M&Ms… listen to your CD and then pass it on to someone on your team!
If you’re not leading a ministry or getting M&Ms passed on to you and you want to listen… volunteer to lead a ministry or pick up a copy at the Information Center… and then volunteer to lead a ministry! 
Love to ya’ll!
For some more info on the M&M CD click here.
I’m always asking this question, “How can I communicate more clearly and effectively?”
One way that we all know is HUGELY effective is the use of stories!
Bert Decker has a GREAT post this morning on the power of story (read it here)
Just to wet your whistle (WOW! It’s been a while since I’ve said that!) here are his top ten reasons for using stories in any communication…
This morning I started reading a book by Philip Yancey entitled, Prayer – Does It Make Any Difference?
Our Management Team is reading and discussing this book this month. I’m looking forward to the journey. Yancey has a way of pushing my buttons… sometimes ticking me off, but most of the time making me ask the hard questions and wrestle with theological and life issues that I may not otherwise wrestle with.
A couple of my Yancey favorites include What’s So Amazing About Grace? and Where is God When it Hurts?
A couple of quotes from the reading this morning that deserve honorable mention…
I think I’m gonna like this book!
This week we started a new sermon series… Struggling With God (read more about it here). My take on the weekend… a homerun! Some highlights…
I think what ideally happens is that the person who “brings” someone to Jesus takes the initiative for “building” them up in that relationship… then we don’t have to worry about databases and all that crap! (We will anyway…) And in case you’re wondering… they didn’t have any skates my size… that’s why I didn’t skate… no seriously!
