Yesterday, we had a visiting speaker, Luke T, speaking to us on The Heart of a Sending Church from 3 John 5-8. He pointed to this text as a way to calibrate our hearts as sending workers into the global harvest. Specifically, there was a past look to faithfulness, a present passion for faithfulness, and a future commitment to being faithful. Faithful, faithful, faithful, that is the core message to churches sending workers to the harvest. There was much rich, Biblical application. I hope it proved helpful for you.
Leadership Email – Leadership & Coaching (Football)
Here’s my email to Leaders in Reno County from Monday, September 10…
I’ve been alluding in recent weeks to the latest journal of the Kansas Leadership Center. One article in this issue might be especially relevant to us (especially this time of year): The Leadership Example of Bill Snyder. Whether we cheer for K-State or not, we can all find relevant leadership applications in the life of this amazing leader. I thought this summary from Mary Hale Tolar, who directs the School of Leadership Studies in Manhattan, was especially enlightening: “Coach Snyder’s belief in hard work and incremental improvement perhaps ring most true for me. Exercising leadership consists of helping followers clarify their individual and collective goals, enrolling followers in a collective vision, and then doing the work necessary to improve. He believes larger goals must be broken down into intermediate goals that are believable and achievable. Exercising leadership takes hard work, a plan, ability to assess and adjust the plan, all in a pursuit of a goal – a purpose worth the effort.”
Let this summary be your motivation today to do the hard work of leadership. It is hard work but has amazing benefits to make progress on issues we care about. Diagnose a situation, intervene skillfully, and energize others through it and see if it doesn’t help us make our community a better, healthier place.
Weekend Recap – 3D Love
My 9/9/12AM sermon, 3D Love, from Hebrews 13:1-3 is now online. This sermon, coming almost in the same breath of a revelation that God’s a consuming fire, helps us orient our lives in worship properly by displaying love to those around us. The three dimensional love taught to us is an inward love for other Christians in the church, an outward love for those outside the church and a particular love displayed for the needy, as if we have the same kind of need.
I hope you had a great Lord’s Day, as well. Now, with Monday, we have the opportunity to live out what we experienced yesterday. I pray you do that in a way that pleases God.
Tweets From Revelation 12
In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse. Today I finished chapter 12. Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.
Revelation 1 | Revelation 2 | Revelation 3 | Revelation 4 | Revelation 5 | Revelation 6 | Revelation 7 | Revelation 8 | Revelation 9 | Revelation 10 | Revelation 11
God’s plan to rescue mankind is put on display again. (Revelation 12:1)
His plan has always been near, warring against the spirit of this age. (Revelation 12:2)
The dragon has always stood against God’s plan to save. (Revelation 12:3)
Satan’s desire is to cause as much disruption as he’s allowed. (Revelation 12:4)
God’s plan to save is rooted in a vulnerable child with an amazing destiny. (Revelation 12:5)
God protects and nourishes, at times, even in the wilderness. (Revelation 12:6)
The war of wars is between heaven’s plan and the world system. (Revelation 12:7)
…and the world’s destiny is firmly established. (Revelation 12:8)
Satan’s work is clear: deceiving people on earth. (Revelation 12:9)
God’s salvation, power and kingdom are seen in His triumph over the accuser. (Revelation 12:10)
God’s strength flows through people in Christ’s blood and the powerful Word of salvation. (Revelation 12:11)
Heaven rejoices and earth should fear the short time the devil wields wrath on earth. (Revelation 12:12)
Satan wields wrath by resisting God’s plan to save people. (Revelation 12:13)
Again, God comes to help and prosper His plan’s success. (Revelation 12:14)
Satan tries to resist God’s plan every way possible. (Revelation 12:15)
God always has a way to overcome Satan’s advances. (Revelation 12:16)
Satan resists God’s plan by taking out His frustration on God’s people. (Revelation 12:17)
Weekend Preview – Love, Love, Love
This coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at Hebrews 13:1-3 and it’s call upon our lives to a 3 dimensional kind of love. One of the rubs in our day and age (especially in the church) is that we talk a good game of love. For instance, we can probably communicate how hard we are sacrificing in this or that area. But, if we’re honest a lot of that is hot air. We’re not that inconvenienced. We have time for others if we make time for others.
The author of Hebrews just lays it out there, though. We must be a loving people if we are going to live before a God who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). This weekend, then, ask God to prepare your heart to receive God’s Word that we may emerge a people characterized by love in striking ways.
Tuesday Leadership Lesson – HeartSpeak and HardSpeak
Last week we discussed how speaking from the heart is so needed to carefully draw others into our underlying motivation. While this is important in intervening skillfully, for this to truly energize others, our heartspeaking must sometimes include hardspeaking, specifically, speaking to loss.
Again, the latest Journal of the Kansas Leadership Center proved helpful, when they say on p.106:
“‘We must do something’ always solves more problems than ‘something must be done.’ In building a trustworthy process, we have to be transparent about what motivates us, but we also need to be transparent about what we may be asking others to sacrifice for the cause of progress. Speaking to Loss is a part of that process. Always remember to acknowledge the possible losses of members of the factions – the people on the other side of an issue.”
“‘We must do something’ always solves more problems than ‘something must be done.’ In building a trustworthy process, we have to be transparent about what motivates us, but we also need to be transparent about what we may be asking others to sacrifice for the cause of progress. Speaking to Loss is a part of that process. Always remember to acknowledge the possible losses of members of the factions – the people on the other side of an issue.”
Isn’t it usually the case that we are so motivated around our purpose that we are blind to how this may affect others? Speaking to loss helps us rope in the strays, it helps us bring others to the table, it considers how our purpose and direction affects others and helps us energize them by being honest about what this might mean for us to make progress on those issues we care about so deeply. Speak from the heart, yes. But sometimes, we need to say the hard thing to build passport and create a process that those on the other side can appreciate. As we do this, we will undoubtedly be more effective. Leadership is risky.
Hopefully giving you encouragement in your risky acts of leadership…
Responding To A Consuming Fire
My sermon from 9/2/12AM entitled Consuming Fire from Hebrews 12:25-29 is online. The sermon showed how we respond to a revelation of an awesome God (His being a consuming fire). Specifically, we need listening ears (25-27) and worshipping lives (28-29) to respond rightly to Him. I hope the sermon was encouraging and if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, check it out. Enjoy this Labor Day Weekend.
Tweets from Revelation 11
In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation. To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse. Today I finished chapter 11. Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.
Revelation 1 | Revelation 2 | Revelation 3 | Revelation 4 | Revelation 5 | Revelation 6 | Revelation 7 | Revelation 8 | Revelation 9 | Revelation 10
God instructs His people regarding the specifics of judgment. (Revelation 11:1)
God is in control of His judgment in keeping with His holiness. (Revelation 11:2)
God always warns people of coming terrors. (Revelation 11:3)
God has witnesses before Him that serve Him. (Revelation 11:4)
God’s witnesses have His full backing and protection. (Revelation 11:5)
God can also vindicate His witnesses with miraculous signs. (Revelation 11:6)
Typically, witnesses are met with resistance…sometimes including death. (Revelation 11:7)
The glory of witnesses is the opportunity to die like their Lord. (Revelation 11:8)
Again, all people are made aware of God’s threat of judgment and this is God’s mercy. (Revelation 11:9)
The world’s values ≠ the values of heaven. (Revelation 11:10)
The truth of resurrection is terrifying to a watching world. (Revelation 11:11)
God’s witnesses are meant for the upward call of heaven and vindication before their enemies. (Revelation 11:12)
God’s judgments are awesome and demand He be glorified as the true God of heaven. (Revelation 11:13)
God’s judgments seem to get greater in intensity. (Revelation 11:14)
God’s establishing His eternal kingdom involves His judicial acting. (Revelation 11:15)
All of heaven worships the God of heaven. (Revelation 11:16)
God is worthy of our worship because He’s the παντοκράτωρ — LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. (Revelation 11:17)
God’s wrath will have the final word while the nations rage. (Revelation 11:18)
God’s eternal temple displays His mighty, redemptive splendor. (Revelation 11:19)
Tuesday Leadership Lesson: HeartSpeak
Here’s my weekly email to leaders in Reno County…
Having taken a few weeks to encourage you to manage yourself better, I thought today we’d get after a facet of leadership that (to quote the late Cajun Chef Justin Wilson) “I guarantee” will help you intervene more skillfully: speak from the heart.
If speaking from the heart makes you think of Valentine’s Day, then you might well be missing the point. Speaking from the heart gets us close to purpose. It helps expose why we care so deeply about the specific challenges in which we’re engaging.
As the recent KS Leadership Center journal (which I’m still waiting to link to online) points out (on pp.104-105), there are some key questions involved in speaking from the heart:
1) Why are you/I working on this?
2) What do I care about most related to this challenge?
3) How often do you/I share your/my beliefs and personal stories with stakeholders?
4) Are there some stakeholders with whom you/I haven’t shared these thoughts?
You can see through these questions what speaking from the heart does both in you and your stakeholders.
You can see through these questions what speaking from the heart does both in you and your stakeholders.
Today, then, no matter the leadership issue you’re engaged with. Speak from the heart and see if it doesn’t help you make progress on the issues you care about so deeply.
Weekend Recap – 2 Ways To Relate To God
My sermon from 8/26/12AM entitled Relating To God from Hebrews 12:18-24 is now online. The sermon exposed the ways we try to relate to God but, in the end, showed that only relating to God through Christ is the path that allows us to face God, the judge of all, with confidence. Jesus’ blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. This also was an amazing lead in to the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ blood of the covenant. It was an amazing Lord’s Day.
The morning, coupled with Jerry Bridges’ chapter “I am a new creation” (Who Am I? chapter 5) helped show the glorious realities that are ours in the Gospel. I hope you had a great Lord’s day reveling in truths like these.
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