Just so you know

If you keep looking for something here for Advent 2009, find it in my special Advent blog. Here's the link: goodwilladvent2009.blogspot.com

May your Advent and Christmas this year be richly blessed!

Old Books

Ancient books are sometimes what modern problems call for. Sometimes contemporary Christian books leave me wanting more when I am struggling in life. Some old Calvin (happy 500th birthday) or Luther or Owen fills the bill nicely. Here's one brief example:

"For in Christ He (The Father) offers all happiness in place of our misery, all wealth in place of our neediness; in Him He opens to us the heavenly treasures that our whole faith may contemplate His beloved Son, our whole experience depend on Him, our whole hope cleave to and rest on Him."

Calvin, Institutes, Chapter XX, 1.

Sometimes it takes only a few old words and a few stolen minutes to redirect one's day and one's life.

Wouldn't it be something if we declared a moratorium on all new books for one year so that we could catch up on the books we haven't read yet? Such a thing might make this world a better place.

Tweary

When I first signed up for Facebook and Twitter, I tried. I tried to get into these new ways of communicating. I confess, I lost energy for them. I'm "tweary." Something about them seems to be like milk. In terms of being interesting, they have expiration dates. I know I'm not alone in this, and I think it's something about how they work and how they're designed. It's all those games and lists of things that people with time to kill are interested in. The ability to connect is good, but the mind-numbing power of the trivia should not be underestimated. This principle seems to be true across the internet.

Is anyone else out there "tweary?" I wonder if new platforms need to be created and offered. If enough of us get "tweary," maybe things will change. Maybe they will have to. Maybe this is a good thing. Boredom is often a prelude to creativity.

Great New Things

I'm thrilled at the response to my last blog entry about "The Go-Giver." Since then, many in our circles have purchased and read the book. Thumbs up every time. People go out of their way to thank me for it. Funny. All I did was read and like it. And, by now, all have seen that one of the authors (Bob Burg) and one of their friends (Fiona Ashe) left short, encouraging comments here! So cool, eh? It's like they do and live what they say in the book! Imagine this. If this catches on, this world may start really changing!

Here are some other great new (to me), potential world-changing things to be excited about:

1) Kiva - At the 2009 Willow Creek Leadership Summit, they interviewed a young woman who is one of the founders of this ministry. It is enables regular people to participate in international microfinancing! Simple and amazing.Check it out at www.kiva.org.

2) Stickk - In reading another great book, "Who's Got Your Back" by Keith Ferrazzi (author and book pictured below), I learned about a web site that is designed to help people keep their goals. The site, www.stickk.com, does two things: 1) It provides a means of costly feedback that works, and 2) it teaches us, by its design, the essence of goal-keeping, which is that we don't do it alone.

We don't do it alone. This is the truth.

May you be unalone today.

Making a Difference

There's nothing as humbling as watching people serve others. I've seen a lot of this. What a joy. On some occasions, the people were unaware of the greatness of their actions. This is the most inspiring thing to see. Recently I watched someone prepare a meal for someone just as a matter of routine, unaware that the person in receipt of it was being enormously blessed by her generosity and open-heartedness. Even people who make a little difference end up making a big difference. Once I see it, I want to get in on the difference-making myself.

My prayer today is that I won't become blinded to difference-making by the sameness of my daily life with its repetitious demands.

The Go-Giver

Every once in a while a cool little book comes along that has the potential of changing big things in the lives of those who read it. The "Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann is just such a book. It may be just what you need. Though it is technically a secular business book, I hesitate to label it as such because its implications touch on things sacred and certainly span past business. I have found its principles to be true in my life. More importantly, I have found them taught in Scripture. Giving is everything. 50-50 is a losing proposal and "thinking win-win" never works. Go for the other guy's win. Make it a 100% win for the person on the other side of the table and you will be everything the world calls successful and more. From a pastor's perspective, you will be living like Jesus. This is what He did. This is what He taught. Don't negotiate with life and people, keeping score the whole time. Abandon yourself to the true blessing of others and stop keeping score. If you get a chance to read this little parable/story and find it valuable, let me know.

Inside Job

I feel like I'm learning it all over again. It's what inside that counts. I've been watching things go well at church for weeks now. Better than ever, I would say. It's been busy, as you can tell from my lack of postings, but it's been good, very good. For me, so much of what has been working flows from my attitude toward people. Books like "Leadership and Self-Deception" by the Arbinger Institute and "It's Not My Fault" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend have helped me considerably. They contain nothing revolutionary, but, still, I feel as if I have experienced a little revolution this summer, albeit a revolution of the obvious. So much depends on what we think about others. If you're with someone and you think, "what a jerk" or "what a bother," there is no way you can do anything of value within range of your relationship with this person. A bad attitude toward others is like bad smell in the air; it reduces your influence on others and, if you're in leadership, reduces the possibilities for whatever environment or group you're responsible for. There's no way around this principle. There's no set of leadership techniques or skills that can smooth over your inner disregard for others. Whatever you feel about someone deep in your soul is running the show. Emotional toxins, whether they seem hidden or not, will always surface. You can bank on it. If you can't stand people, you can't lead them. If you love them no matter what, you can lead them no matter what. It really is this simple. I know both sides of this truth. Simply being aware of it changes everything.

How much is "Worthy" worth?

I'm deep in Hebrews 11 these days. What a chapter! The next two weeks feature me doing something I've never done in the pulpit. I'll be using the same text for two weeks. It's Hebrews 11:32-40 and boy what a text it is. Feast your spirit on these eternal words ...

"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." 

After spending even a little time in the company of these verses, it's hard to whine about anything in my situation. One thing I know, I've got no license to complain about anything associated with ministry. If I don't have a backbone, it's time to grow one! Perseverance has no competition. I want to be worthy of those of whom the world was not and is not worthy. 

Oh, also, after reading these verses ... so much for the so-called prosperity gospel. Worldly prosperity will never hold a candle to the something better - better resurrection of Christ!   

The Art of Wasting Time

I counseled an overworked person today with this quote finding its way out of my mouth: "If you never waste time, then you're wasting time." Some of us are so deluded and defined by busyness that we even speak of having a productive sabbath. This is oxymoronic. It's when we intentionally "waste time" that our minds are open to God and free to notice their surroundings. Without this, there is little chance of creative problem solving. This means, also, that if we never "waste time," we waste money, energy, and opportunities. I know I need to take my own advise here. 

May God bless you with carefree moments of rest, reflection, and renewal.  

Another Post on Running

I've run every day, usually about 50 minutes or so early in the morning, for over nine years now. I haven't missed a day since May 22, 2000, even on military duty, even in Nigeria, or Ukraine, or Bermuda, or Scotland, even on 9/11 ... I love it. I don't talk about it often, because it's better than something that needs to be talked about often. I don't do it for fitness. I don't really care about fitness enough to do something about it every day. I just like to run. I don't understand people who don't. We were made to run. We were not made to sit. In fact, sitting is a recent development in history. Jesus never sat on a chair. All this talk about wanting to be like Jesus and we sit and sit. We sit in church. Hmm? Maybe this should change. This must be why my clearest thoughts about Jesus come to me as I run in the morning and not as I sit in the afternoon. I often say, "I don't run far, but I make up for it by running slow." This is true most mornings. Not this morning. I know some people can't run, but we all have something physical and spiritual like it that pushes the quality of our day from survival to living. Run the race in such a way as to win the prize.   

Extra Cheese

I was invisible as I ordered the first item on the chalk board of specials: Philly Cheese Steak. I savored both the sight of the sandwich that they started to make for me and the nothing that all the other busy people in the store felt towards me. I was careful not to puncture my invisibility by opening my mouth or making any sudden moves. It gave me a chance to look and watch. I find live people much more interesting than movies or television. Often, when I'm not called to interact with people I don't know, I'm blessed to really get a sense of who they are. One woman asked the man in the store how long he had worked there and if he knew a Sergeant Brown who used to eat here five years ago. The way she said his name opened her mail to anyone who took time to notice. I was anyone. She was with two other women. They were all restless and ordered their sandwiches deliberately. Extra cheese! My suspicion was that no amount of extra cheese would sate their hunger for something better in their lives. Outside in the parking lot I saw that they were all traveling together in an unmarked white van. What was this? 

The store's owner is a praise and worship leader at his church. Another man was fixing a light in back of his store. He got a Philly Cheese Steak too, I think, on the house. We all got extra cheese thanks to the woman asking after the Sergeant. 

I drove away wondering. Later, I prayed the silent, easy prayer that such encounters often inspire. This wasn't Eleanor Rigby. In Christ, all the lonely people can get real extra cheese on their lives. Yes, it's a dreadful metaphor, but a wonderful truth. The sandwich was good too. Ordering extra cheese is often the right decision.   

National Day of Prayer

Today was the National Day of Prayer. As far as the eye can see, in terms of our nation's life, it was insignificant. It may, however, look very different in God's eyes. Who knows? He does. He's the one aspect of prayer that shouldn't be forgotten. If everyone who doesn't pray knew Who was on the other side of the prayers of Christians, their perspective would be different. It's up to Christians to show them Who they're praying to, not just tell them that they should be praying. 

Isolation and Blame Gone

I've noticed something in our culture lately. I've picked it up in the news mostly. In our world, many people are isolated. This isolation leads to adverse outcomes in the lives of people. The isolated tend to:

1) Be angry and bitter

2) Be confused about what others think about them

3) Assume the worst

4) Have inflated self-images

5) Use faith for hyper-justification of isolation and their lack of cooperation with others

6) Escape into sin

7) Give themselves lots of wiggle room

8) Give others no grace

9) Not know how to break out from their isolation

10) Not take full, personal responsibility for their isolation

There are probably more things that could be added to this list. Isolation is rampant and devastating, but it is not incurable. The breakout cure for isolation is something I'll call "Relationship Responsibility" (RR). Someone who takes RR cuts off the self pity cycle essential for isolation. Self pity is like alcohol, so it can't just be eliminated, it has to be replaced. Other forms of responsibility can be used for this. It works to take responsibility for one's emotions, time-usage, mental activity, speaking, media-intake, diet, physical condition, or spiritual tone. All of these responsibilities have the potential of becoming healthy addictions. The key to everything healthy is to prevent blame fixing. This is the point of RR. As soon as you have someone to blame for how you feel, you are lost. The cross of Christ helps believers not only shift the blame for their sins to Christ, but also the blame for the sins of everyone else against them. It's a handy thing God does here. He makes it possible for us to live blameless lives, in every sense of the word blameless: not bearing our own blame and not assigning any blame to others.  A blameless person is never alone and cannot be isolated.   

Light

Nothing beats light. Light has cleansing properties that simply can't be overstated. Light in relationships brings healing and new trust. Light in the mind brings peace and rest. Light on the earth brings life and growth. Light in the spiritual realm brings clarity and victory. Light makes everything beautiful. Light comes in more than one variety, more than one shade, more than one way. Light was the first thing God created after He created the Heavens and the Earth. Genesis 1:3 - "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (KJV). Near the end of the Bible (Revelation 22:16), Jesus is "the bright and morning star." More light. Easter Sunday is about the dawning of light that is purchased and initiated by Good Friday. It's sunny today - inside and out. Light makes life good. Let there be light in your life today. 

John 8:12 (KJV)

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."    

Palm Sunday

It's Palm Sunday and a round of church services is about to start. I'm wondering about people. How are people doing today? What's going on inside of them? Are they OK? I think about all the people who will be attending and participating in worship today. I want them to meet God and God to meet them. Everything we do here is dependent on God doing something. If God doesn't do what only God can do, then we're sunk. Hosanna.

I speak about Christ today as the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King. Another way to look at these three categories is to see them as the Word, Presence, and Power of God. This is what people need today. Without the Word, Presence, and Power of God in our lives, we die on the inside. Spiritual death is all around us and reported daily via our newspapers, televisions, and the Internet. Spiritual life, however, is greater. Life is more powerful than death. In Christ, death's days are numbered. Death was put on notice that first Palm Sunday. Developments later that week made it seem like death had gotten its way. But then there was Sunday, the Sunday after Palm Sunday. 

I wonder how people are doing today? Do they know about Jesus? I would like them to. I think believers and unbelievers in Christ alike are blessed by the gospel's offer of life. To the unbeliever it says, "Someone wants to give you hope, even if it seems farfetched. Things can't be that bad." To the believer it says, "If you cry Hosanna ('O, Save'), then Jesus will."

"Lord, lift Your people up today and bring glory to Your Name. Amen."   

Tiger Woods

I'm watching the Arnold Palmer Invitational as I drift in and out of post-preaching consciousness. It's fun. Tiger is back. For me, golf is interesting again. Golf is great again. I wonder why this guy is so compelling. He just pulled ahead. The coverage is upstaging other programming at the top of the hour. I'm not sure a Tigerless tournament would do this. 

So how is this helpful? Well, I can ask, "How can I preach like Tiger Woods plays golf?" or, maybe better, "How can I live for Christ like Tiger Woods plays golf?" He's focused, serious, unflappable, and always seeking improvement. 

Also, the secret of Tiger Woods' success is really his dad. His dad, who passed away a few years ago, trained him to play golf well from the age of 3! Tiger Woods is in no way an overnight success or a "miracle" story. And we're just talking about golf: a game. There's a lesson here for Christian parents. 

The So-Called Ordinary

It's an ordinary day. 

Today I'm preparing for an interview with The Bridge radio network. I wrote a little blurb for their newsletter too. It's all about Easter, ministry, and a book by Wayne Cordeiro I'll be featuring this month titled: "Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion." Easter is the big month for pastors and the tough month for pastors. Flames fanned higher nearly always lead to burnout or symptoms of burnout. 

Later today, Shannon and I go to a hospital in or near NYC to visit a young friend and ministry partner who has succumbed to cancer. Apparently, she'll be gone soon. We heard she's already in a coma. Her husband, family, and other friends will be there. Her daughter is a year older than mine. We went to Africa together twice, in 2004 and in 2007. Dear friends.

For all the emotions I'm feeling concerning all of this, I realize that everything I'm going through or talking about today is ... ordinary. This is ordinary human life and ordinary ministry. So-called ordinary life involves death, so-called ordinary ministry involves burnout, and redemption can only be redemption through Jesus' death on the cross. 

I guess that last one's not so ordinary ...  

Pondering Paroxyms

I was talking with someone today about bitterness at work. One of the teams at one of the places I work is in the midst of experiencing little blow-ups, always putting the ones loosing their tempers at great disadvantage. People loose it for many different reasons, but the intriguing thing is how inviting such behavior seems to those struggling with bitterness. People always want to say what they shouldn't say, as if this will help them feel better. It never does. Maybe I've blogged on this before. Sorry to be a bore if I have, but here's a few observations on this beautiful spring afternoon:

1) If someone gets in your face over something, they will do it again over something else. If you want your present relationship with this person to continue, decide that you are going to take it when the person goes postal next time, because the one thing you can be sure of is that there will be a next time.

2) If your response is curiosity, you'll still have to shake off the muck from your encounter. If your response is outrage, you'll have a tough time shaking off the muck from your encounter. 

3) If you are in authority or have competency, others may really resent you for it. Don't assume their resentment, but if you discover that it is indeed present, don't be surprised.

4) When someone mistreats you, you don't have the option of returning their mistreatment and keeping your integrity intact. You must remain above the fray. Stand up for yourself, but don't bite back. In war and football, the best defense is a good offense. This is not true, however, in interpersonal relationships.

5) God can use people's embarrassing emotional explosions for His own purposes. See the end of Acts 15. One ministry became two. The word for the "sharp disagreement" between Paul and Barnabas is most closely related to the English word: paroxysm. Paroxysm is a literary term for loosing it.     

The Slow Work of Sunlight

Spring is here, at least per the calendar. It is a time for new life, not in the abstract sense, but in the literal, tangible sense. You can see it. You can see it on the ground in the form of green grass and flowers. You can see it in the trees in the form of green leaves. You can see it. A green world around us becomes lit up by sunshine. In fact, all this new life is powered by sunshine. Photosynthesis is the term we learned in school. Light from the sun causes an organism to come to life. So does the process work in our spiritual lives. Slowly, with sufficient exposure to the warm, nourishing light of God, our souls come to life. It's a good thing too. This last winter was particularly cold and long for some of us. The best thing about it now is that it is over. I'm not just talking about physical winter. I'm talking about inner winter. Hardened, frozen, hostile landscapes aren't just outdoors. Spring, then, is a season to do three things:

1) REACH UP - Just like trees seem to be reaching for the sun, so reach for God. Far from hiding from or apologizing for where life comes from, trees are like visible statements about the sun. Healthy trees let all know that they depend on and derive all their glory from the sun.

2) REACH DOWN - All the sunlight and green that we can see with our eyes tells of something else beyond the reach of our eyes. Trees grow when their roots grow. Trees are healthy and strong when their roots are healthy and strong. The true beauty and life of a tree is invisible to the eye. Roots are a tree's secret life. Our secret life as believers is no less important. Read Matthew 6.

3) REACH OUT - Every healthy tree has new branches and new leaves. Some Christians could use an encouraging reminder of this. The "new" part of new life is forgotten or forsaken by some. What new things are you doing this spring to express and enjoy your new life in Christ? How is the light of God doing new work within you and through you into the lives of others?     

Themes

Days can have themes. So can seasons. One strategy for lifting your thinking above a day's situation is to name the theme of what you're going through. Try it. The theme for the day may be 1) overcoming, 2) relearning an old lesson, 3) dependence on God, 4) playing it cool, or 5) being yourself - to name a few examples. The circumstances will suggest the theme. Finding a theme can help with your sanity. Anytime you can link the things that happen to you in a day or season so they form a coherent narrative, you feel less like you're reacting to everything that happens to you and more like your inside a story written by someone who was trying to make a point. The truth is: you are. That someone is God. Chances are good that He actually does have a theme for your day that lines up with His plans for you. Why not ask Him? 

"I know the plans I have for you ..." He says.

The Blog Abyss

Do you ever hit the "next blog" button on these Google blogs? It can take you anywhere. I've found that only about half of the time the blog is in English. And many blogs are indecipherable. They seem to be half-formed thoughts; something akin to the plots of dreams. Some make no sense and show no potential for ever making any sense. Others are tightly controlled sales blogs that look like they're tended to hourly. They offer stuffed dolls, clothing lines, or innovative products for parents. Every once in a while you stumble across something vile. There's a"flag blog" button for these blogs; we police ourselves in this interesting mental world revealed by the blogosphere.

Still, there are trends. If you click "next blog" twenty times you will consistently pick up on three things:

1) People want to express themselves.

2) People want to be understood on their terms.

3) People want to connect well.

These are important for anyone working with people to understand.  

You need a sabbatical

You need a sabbatical. At the risk of having snowballs thrown at my head in the church parking lot, I recommend a sabbatical. You need the time to think, read, talk, organize, and evaluate. I'm not kidding. I could even go so far as to say this is a word from the Lord. Hmm? Come to think of it, isn't there some stuff in the Bible about this? There's a word in the Bible that's like sabbatical: sabbath. How strange. The words must be related in meaning since they look and sound the same. Imagine actually stopping everything for one whole day every week. Who does this? Who has time? Time. Maybe God is on to something. Imagine the whole world taking a snow-day like today once a week, even through the Spring and Summer. Except, instead of frittering the morning away on Facebook, all would be into another book, a much older one, you know the one. 

Maybe I should describe my sabbatical as our 60-day snow-day with Jesus. Of course, I spent a month of it in warm, sunny, central Florida.

I guess I better wear a helmet as I walk between the church and the CE building next weekend.    

Welcome Back

Welcome back to all who read this blog. It's been a while. To say Shannon, Kelsie, and I have had a good time would be an understatement. It would be an understatement of scope, not merely quality. This is because the most powerful, valuable, amazing thing on earth is time. We had time. Maybe this is something you need. Time is a great gift from God. Many people these days are losing their jobs and finding something wonderful that comes with it: time. Nothing can take time's place. Everything important in life happens in the context of time. Love, forgiveness, faith, vision, and truth are all things that grow in the soil of time and all things that suffer for a lack of time. In a world of time-saving devices that consume our time, it was nice to be given this gift of time. If I can call my sabbatical a success, it is because I didn't squander this gift. God helped me know what it was. He helped me know its value. My one and only life is made up of time, and time is a gift that runs out. May God help us all today to make the most of our time. Thanks for reading. It's good to be back. Let's restart our conversation.