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LRC Email – About the Gap (Another Take)

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My 10/28/13 email to Leadership Reno County alums:

For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been talking through how we go after our toughest challenges, suggesting that it takes a different kind of behavior.  You might be mindful of a current problem or reality facing us and see areas in which progress could be made.  We call this the gap.  And, this gap requires an act of leadership.  And, my bigger contention last time was that it’s not so much about the authorities we can get in place as much as people engaging in activity, after all leadership is an activity, not a position.
Here’s a different angle today and it’s relevant as we are gathering people for our 2014 Leadership Reno County Class.  Maybe you’ve been reading my Monday emails and wondered what in the world I’m talking about? While I talk a lot about competencies like Diagnosing the Situation, Managing Self, Intervening Skillfully, or Energizing Others, you may want more.  Even if you’re alumni of Leadership Hutch or Leadership Reno County, you might benefit from a refresher in this curriculum we’ve been using since the Fall 2009 class. 
If so, you are invited and encouraged to apply for Leadership Reno County…even if you previously participated in our program. The curriculum changed in 2009 reflecting a state-wide initiative of the Kansas Leadership Center to help us make better progress in the gap.

I can tell you as one who benefited from this curriculum that it’s helped me in all parts of life.  By continually seeking to apply these competencies and principles, I feel like I’ve been able to make progress on issues as I engage in acts of leadership.  If this is something you might be interested in, please contact Kris, Lynette or me, and we’d be happy to answer any questions.  Thanks for your consideration in this and we hope that by engaging in acts of leadership through better behavior, we can make progress on those issues we care about deeply.

Weekend Recap – Comfort for Future

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My 10/27/13AM sermon, Comforted by the Future from Revelation 20:1-15 is now online.  In this sermon, I sought to give encouragement for perseverance based on the lessons we learn in this chapter on the millennial reign of Christ.  I hope the prospect of future realities leads you to live in specific ways, too.  We don’t know these things just to know them.  We are blessed, in Revelation especially, as we read, hear and keep the things we read there.  I sought to encourage the “keeping” of these things in this sermon.  I hope it’s encouraging to you.

DC Email – Preparation, Personal Worship, and Fearing God

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Here’s my email to the Elders and Deacons of Crestview on 10/22/13:

Today, we’re reviewing chapter 13 in Dangerous Calling on “The Danger of Arrival”.  (Paul) Tripp is pressing hard on us and how we go after preparing for our ministry responsibilities at the expense of private, personal worship.  He writes: “The lack of a meditative, Christ-centered devotional life in many pastors is not just the result of the seemingly unending demands of ministry; it is also the product of arrival. I am convinced that when busyness intersects with arrival, one of the first things that goes is private worship. Perhaps it is a combination of fear and gratitude that drives us to our knees and into communion with Christ each morning. It is when we face who we are and the fickleness of our hearts that we feel the need to have our hearts recaptured morning after morning. It is when we reflect on the fact that sin is not always a horror to us but sometimes appears positively attractive that we want to run into the protective arms of our Lord again and again. It is when we consider the dangerous temptation of this fallen world that we will want to get help for the battle day after day. It is fear of our own weaknesses that drives us to the Savior for strength. It is when we fear the power of the foolishness that still remains in us that we are propelled to daily seek the wisdom that can only be found in the pages of Scripture. A humble and holy fear is a major part of what propels a consistent life of daily personal worship.”

I think this nicely relates to our Sunday evening study on Seasons.  Crawford Lorritts said that men consistently need to be learners, growing more and more, but they also need to be repenting, looking more like Christ consistently.  I hope this resonates in you today and you run after God, because you will find Him when you seek Him with your whole heart.

LRC Email – Activity In the Gap

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Here’s my Monday AM email to Leadership Reno County on 10/21/13:

Last week, I wrote about the gap that exists and suggested that to bridge the gap (between our current reality and where we’d like to make progress) we would have to act differently; we would have to engage in different behaviors.  At its most basic level, then, what I’m proposing is that you, yes you, engage in an activity.  Really that’s what leadership is: an activity, not merely position.
Sure, position can be helpful and is definitely needed at times to give protection, direction and order.  But, position or authority may or may not be engaging in acts of leadership.  And, when we think about the gap that exists in our world today on some of our most pressing questions, we need activity, not simply more positions of authority. 

Today, my simple challenge is this: what can you do to make progress in the gap?  How can you engage?  What activities can you pursue?  Rather than slipping into expert mode and complaining about all the problems that exist in the gap, why not engage in an activity of leadership and see if progress isn’t made on those issues you care about deeply.

Weekend Recap – Worship God!

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My 10/20/13AM sermon, Worship God!, from Revelation 19:1-21 is now online.  This sermon was one that was personally convicting to me and yet very encouraging.  The big idea is about worship.  Consistently in this passage, Hallelujah is uttered (which literally means “Praise Yahweh”).  All along the way, God is wanting us to quit focusing on the small, minute lives we have for the bigger realities He has for us through His work.  I hope this sermon encourages you and that you have a great Lord’s Day.

DC Email – Awe of God

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Here’s my email to elders and deacons at Crestview related to our Dangerous Calling study on 10/15/13:

For today’s thought on Tripp’s Dangerous Calling, we return to chapter 8 on “Familiarity.”  Tripp is driving at how awe of God is to be the center of our existence and applies it to our ministry areas: “Awe of God must dominate my ministry, because one of the central missional gifts of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to give people back their awe of God. A human being who is not living in a functional awe of God is a profoundly disadvantaged human being. He is off the rails, trying to propel the train of his life in a meadow, and he may not even know it. The spiritual danger here is that when awe of God is absent, it is quickly replaced by our awe of ourselves. If you are not living for God, the only alternative is to live for yourself. So a central ministry of the church must be to do anything it can to be used of God to turn people back to the one thing for which they were created: to live in a sturdy, joyful, faithful awe of God.” 

While there are many things we can be about in ministry, let’s stand in awe of God’s love for us in the Gospel and how it creates an awe of God and be reminded that this is the goal of our work.  (If you need a Scripture, run to Psalm 145.)  Hoping today that we as a collective team could be in awe of God.

LRC Email – Feeling The Gap

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Here’s the email I sent to Leadership Reno County Alumni today, 10/14/13:

What are the big challenges facing us?  Not only do we have a federal government shutdown but even on the local level, today’s Hutch News reported that there’s a mediator working between USD308 and teachers.  They are still at odds when it comes to an agreeable salary negotiation.  All around us, then, we have areas that are challenging (undoubtedly, I’m guessing that you have a personal challenge or the organization you work in has a pressing challenge that it’s facing).
Opposite of these challenging situations, we have ideals.  We have areas that we’d like to see headway made. We have an end goal in mind.  And, as you can maybe feel reading this, there is a gap between our current reality and where we’d like to be.
So, what is going to bridge that gap?  Doing things the same old way?  Part of my contention is that no, that won’t work.  It will take a different kind of behavior.  It will require we engage these things in a different way.  And, this is what the leadership principles and competencies of the KLC speak to.  That to make progress on these deep issues, we have to engage in often risky acts of leadership and act differently: diagnosing the situation, managing self, intervening skillfully, and energizing others.  Today, take some time and review these on the KLC site (pp.9-17) and see if they don’t help you envision a small step you can take to see progress on the deep challenges you face. 

Feel the gap and join me in pursuing progress for the common good…

Weekend Recap – 10/13/13

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My 10/13/13 sermon, Babylon’s Fall, from Revelation 18:1-24 is now online.  While there’s much that could be made of this chapter, the applications I drew had to do with how to engage the fallen world in which believers are found.  Because we have God’s future judgment of the world in mind, we can know how we live today.

So, I hope the sermon helps you (if you take time to engage with it) and hope you have had a great Lord’s Day.

DC Email – Humble Ministry

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Here’s my 10/8/13 email to Elders/Deacons at Crestview:

Paul Tripp, in chapter 12, Self-Glory, of Dangerous Callingis writing about Christ’s example of humility in washing the disciples’ feet and reminds us of this lesson:  “Jesus says, “If you’re not greater than your master, and he has been willing to do this disgusting thing, you must also be willing. If you are my ambassadors, called to represent my will and way, called to be tools of my redeeming grace, then you must not think that any ministry task is beneath you. You must be willing to do the lowest, most debased thing so that my work and my will be done. You must not refuse. You must not think of yourself as too good. You must be willing to be the lowest of slaves in order that my kingdom may come and my will may be done. You must be willing to do whatever is necessary to position yourself as a tool of redeeming grace. You must not be too proud. You must not be unwilling.”
So, how goes that guys?  Been thinking of yourself more highly than you ought lately?  The precious remedy from our Lord is to simply look to Him.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Regardless of our ministerial failures (and they are many), He loves us and lavishes grace upon us.  Look to Him for forgiveness, strength and perseverance in this amazing work.  

With you in this…

LRC Email – So Happy Together

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Here’s my email from 10/7/13 to Leadership Reno County alums:

With all that’s happening in our world today, I thought it would be good to reengage one of those helpful cards from the Kansas Leadership Center today.  This one, in particular, had a very relevant subject matter: Inspire A Collective Purpose.  Here’s a recap:
How do you inspire a collective purpose?
·         Make the goal attainable.  Your purpose may be lofty—the work of a lifetime, perhaps.  Keep people energized by breaking it into achievable chunks.
·         Build trust along the way.  Allow time and space for shareholders to share stories and ask questions.  Create space for people to be heard.
·         Engage others.  Look for people who share your purpose.  Ask how they want to be involved.
·         Ignite imaginations.  Build momentum by inviting everyone to dream, contribute and create a shared vision. 
·         Take action.  Nothing is less inspiring than a whole lot of talk and no action.  Harness the momentum by starting to experiment and make progress.
Why is it important to inspire a collective purpose?
One person can only do so much.  Together—with a shared purpose and through collective action—we can achieve so much more.  When we work together for the common good, we constantly exceed our expectations for strong, healthy, prosperous Kansas communities.
What does inspire a collective purpose look like?
·         Our purpose is broad enough to unite diverse factions.
·         The group is building a common language. 
·         We stay inspired by celebrating success, large or small.
·         We use everyone’s talents and assets to help make progress.
How many people does it take to inspire a collective purpose?
Leadership starts with you and must engage others.  Don’t wait until you’ve gathered a crowd to start talking about what you care about and looking for others who want to get involved.
What does inspiration have to do with leadership?
“Inspire” means “to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence.”  Something got you fired up.  Now you must motivate others through your words and your example.  If you hope to make progress on a daunting, adaptive challenge you cannot do it alone.
(Based on experiences shared by KLC Alumni in a February 6, 2013 “On the Balcony” conference call, hosted by KLC President and CEO Ed O’Malley.)

So, tying all this together, what one thing could you do to engage others this work and help inspire that collective purpose?  Let’s do that thing, then, so that we can be happy together, moving our community forward.