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."