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Leadership Email – Rotting Banana Peels

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Here’s the email I wrote to Leadership Reno County Alumni on Monday, 4/15:

At the church where I work, we have a gravel parking lot on the north side of the building.  For a few weeks (sad to say) I’ve watched the slow demise of a banana peel.  I know it’s a banana peel because of the bright Del Monte sticker on the side of it.  I’ve seen this peel on the sidewalk, then back on the gravel.  And, the thought has occurred to me, I wish someone would pick this thing up.  But part of me likes to watch this slow rot occur. 
I wonder how much of our civic leadership engagement is just like watching this banana peel.  We rest on those in positions of authority to fix things.  In this case, I’m waiting for those whose job it is to clean to get to this (rather that doing it myself).  We forget that anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere.  This is an opportunity for me to engage.  We forget that it starts with me and engages others.  Sure, what needs engagement here is a simple banana peel, but it does relate to me.  My purpose must be clear.  Why do I do this?  I want clean facilities.  Why? Because it helps the community?  Why is that important?  Because I want to make a difference in people’s lives.  Why?  (get the idea?).  It’s risky.  Ok, not too risky, but it will mean doing something different than I might.
Undoubtedly, the situations you engage in are much more significant than a miniscule banana peel (which I did go out and throw in the trash), but I hope this helps you see just how leadership unfolds.  Hope to see you Thursday.  

Called To Conviction – Revelation 2:18-29

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My 4/14/13AM sermon, Called To Conviction from Revelation 2:18-29 continues my series through the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  This book begins with Christ addressing His people and calling them to deeper expressions of faithfulness and perseverance.  This Sunday’s sermon had to do with a call to acts of conviction.  They were tolerating sin and its promotion in their midst and Jesus calls them to repent.  I tried to keep the focus of the sermon not on ways culture disappoints us, but how we need to engage our own hearts before the Risen Christ.  I hope it was encouraging.  Take a listen and enjoy.

Dangerous Calling Email – War

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Here’s an email I sent to ministry leaders at Crestview today, 4/10/13:

We continue to think all things Dangerous Calling weekly.  Why?  Because we recognize that we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood here.  There’s spiritual stuff happening all around us and taking leaders in the local church out of the game maximizes our enemy’s joy.  So, thanks for taking time to invest in this exercise.  We want hearts that are consumed with bringing joy to our Father in heaven. 
Having said that, today, a quick thought from Chapter 7 of Dangerous Calling entitled War Zones.  Here’s one concern Tripp alludes to:
“My experience with hundreds of pastors (read church leaders) is that many sadly function in a regular state of gospel amnesia.  They forget to preach privately to themselves the gospel that they declare publicly to others. 
“When you forget the gospel, you begin to seek from the situations, locations, and relationships of your ministry what you have already been given in Christ.  You begin to look to ministry for identity, security, hope, well-being, meaning and purpose.  These are things you will only ever find vertically.  They are already yours in Christ.  So you have to fight to give the Gospel presence in your heart.  Also, when you live out of the grace of the Gospel, you quit fearing failure, you quit avoiding being known, and you quit hiding your struggles and your sin.  The Gospel declares that there is nothing that could ever be uncovered about you and me that hasn’t already been covered by the grace of Jesus.  The gospel is the only thing that can free a pastor from the guilt, shame and drivenness of the hide (“never let your weakness show”) and seek (asking ministry to do what Christ has already done) lifestyle that makes ministry burdensome to so many pastors. 
“So, in the war of pastoral ministry, are you a good soldier?  Remember that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, and he battles on your behalf even when you don’t have the sense to.  Remember too that in Christ you have already been given everything you need to be what you’re supposed to be and to do what you’re supposed to do in the place where God has positioned you.  And remember that since Emmanuel is with you, it is impossible to ever be alone in that moment-by-moment war that is pastoral ministry. 

Great word there.  Hope you hear and are encouraged by the Gospel.  Ministry is war.  Thank God the victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

LRC Email – Waiting

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Here’s a portion of what I wrote leaders in Reno County on Monday, 4/8/13:

Now a quick thought on the practice of leadership.  As you know part of the conviction of the KLC curriculum is that leadership is an activity, not a position and anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere.  It starts with you, engages others purposefully and often is risky.  I’ve written a lot about this during these winter and spring months and I remind you of it again today to ask a simple question: what are you waiting for? 
I think many of us are way too timid.  We’re looking for someone to give us a green light that acts of leadership will be safe things to engage in and it will be alright.  But, engaging in acts of leadership is inherently risky.  If you’re looking for someone to give you a green light, then, more than likely, you may have lost sight of the fact that leadership is an activity, not a position.  So, what are you waiting for?  Engage others.  Step into acts of leadership and go after progress.  (And yes, the behaviors to exhibit are managing self, diagnosing the situation, intervening skillfully and engaging others.)  But, step into acts of leadership.  Don’t waste your time or influence.  Be about the work and actions of leadership today. 

Weekend Recap – Called To Doctrinal Purity

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My sermon on 4/7/13AM out of Revelation 2:12-17 entitled Called To Doctrinal Purity is now online.  While many (especially in Bible church settings like the one I pastor) pride themselves on what they believe, the call out of this passage from the Risen Christ for His people has to do with what you believe transferring to how you act.  Specifically, they were leaving the truth to indulge in idolatry and immorality.  Jesus calls them to the better provision and intimacy He offers, though.  Churches of all ages are allured by the siren call of the world.  Jesus is better and can silence those allurements for much better pleasures.

This was the thrust of the morning message.  I hope it served the people of Crestview well and serves you well, should you give it a listen.

Dangerous Calling Email – Daily Intervention

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Here’s the email I sent leaders at Crestview today, 4/3…

As we continue to think about Paul Tripp’s Dangerous Calling and follow up on Sessions 3 and 4 of the DVD, I turn my attention to Chapter 5, Joints and Ligaments.  I don’t know if you realize this or not, but, as Tripp says in this chapter, 100% of people reading this are deceived by sin.  “The blinding ability of sin is so powerful and persuasive that you and I literally need daily intervention.  What the writer of Hebrews is crushing with this warning and call [that none of us are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin] is any allegiance we might have to an isolated, individualized “Jesus and me” Christianity.  He is arguing for the essentiality of the ministry of others in the life of every believer. 
“And what is this daily ministry of intervention protecting us from?  The answer should sober every one of us: the grace of having our private conversations interrupted by the insight-giving ministry of others is protecting us from being spiritually blinded to the point of hardening our hearts.”  (both of these quotes are found on p.73)
I don’t know if any of you let anyone into your life with this kind of transparency but this isn’t a call for the zealous or the extrovert.  It’s a call for anyone who tends to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (which would be all of us).  Next time you get defensive or push back when someone appears to be prying into a personal area, why not realize that it’s God’s grace rather that some pushy person that coming to rescue you. 
For us to be godly leaders, men, we must embrace the daily intervention required to bring sin to the light.  Let’s embrace this for the glory of God and the good of those we are privileged to serve. 
Have a great week.

Leadership Email – The Injury

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Here’s the email I wrote to Reno County Leadership Alumni on Monday, 4/1:

I don’t know if you caught any of yesterday’s Elite 8 action, but during the Louisville-Duke game, there was a graphic injury in the middle of the game that typically doesn’t happen in basketball.  Both teams were affected.  And, if you read headlines this AM, you know that Louisville ended up winning.  Some discussion this AM centered on how Louisville’s coach, Rick Pitino exercised leadership to help his team win.  I wondered in my mind how his leadership stacked up against KLC Leadership Principles, so here’s me making those connections.
1) Leadership is an activity, not a position.  This team didn’t win merely because they had a coach.  It wasn’t just because they had a coach that they were pushed in a direction to win.  Evidently, the coach wielded some sort of activity toward his team.
2) Anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere.  Again, it wasn’t up to the coach alone to say something to the team, but they did look to him as an authority.  Undoubtedly, this team had to pull together.  It wasn’t just one magic factor.  It was this coach and team’s players and staff choosing to lead during this time at this game.
3) It starts with you and must engage others.  All the players were visibly moved.  They had to get themselves under control (including the coach who was visibly moved) so that they could best serve those they were engaging in acts of leadership.
4) Your purpose must be clear.  It doesn’t take much to see that the halftime speech was purposeless.  It probably wasn’t something vague or ho-hum.  NO.  There was something spoken from the heart and it was clear that they were going to function differently.
5) It’s risky.  They could lose.  If the coach engages in leadership that doesn’t work, there will be critique and push back.  So it was very risky to step into acts of leadership in this situation and it appears to be a skillful intervention.
Undoubtedly, both coaches engaged in acts of leadership.  Part of the challenge yesterday was just getting back to playing.  But, I thought making some connections to this event might help us see how real to life these principles are.  I hope they find you on the ground floor this AM.  Step into acts of leadership and see if progress isn’t made in our community. 
Also, 2 reminders:
1) Don’t forget to vote tomorrow, April 2 (that’s today).
2) The Leadership Reno County Alumni Association invites you to KFSA (1515 E. 30th) on Thursday, April 18 from 5-7PM.  This will be a membership appreciation event as well as the Completion Ceremony for the 2013 Class.  (You might also like them on Facebook/LRCAlumni).
Have a great week.

Easter Recap – Jesus Is Alive Forevermore

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My 3/31/13 sermon, Alive Forevermore, from Revelation 1:17-18 is now online.  I like taking the current book I’m working through and finding relevant passages that relate to Easter and Christmas when these times come.  I’m currently preaching through the Revelation, so it seemed natural to go to this text.  The verses are stunning.  They leave you hushed and overwhelmed with glory.

If you’d like to hear how I handled it, take a listen.  Hope you had a great Lord’s Day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Dangerous Calling Email – It’s About The Heart

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Here’s an email I sent to our Elders and Deacons this week:

We enjoyed a great Elders/Deacons meeting this past Monday and watched Sessions 3 & 4 of the Dangerous Calling DVDs.  As usual, Tripp delivered pointed and Biblical counsel.  And, as we follow up on the suggested reading, we end up back in Chapter 4 entitled “More Than Knowledge and Skill.”  If you’ve had time to interact with this chapter at all, you know that what Tripp is driving at is that ministry isn’t so much about what we know or what we’re able to do, but the nature of our heart relationship to God.  That heart nurtured before the Lord makes all the difference, for instance, in how we care for our wives, parent our children, relate to our coworkers and a host of other countless little things.  The heart processes our engagement with others. 
So, how is your heart this week?  If we go by Jesus’ standard that out of the mouth the heart speaks, what have your words revealed about your heart?  Might you need to repent and return again to Jesus?  Your ministry is about the impressive acts of service you can muster or what latest and greatest theological piece you’ve mastered.  It’s about your heart in right relationship to Jesus.  Nurture that this week, for the glory of God and the good of His people. 
Have a blessed weekend.  

Leadership Email – Trustworthy Processes

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Here’s my email to Leadership Reno County alumni on 3/18/13:

In a recent Leadership Reno County class, we asked them to “build a trustworthy process” and it got me thinking that this is something that might help more than just the class.  After all, under the competency of Energizing Others comes “create a trustworthy process.”  One question the KLC Quick Guide uses to get at this is: “What can we do to make the process more trustworthy for all involved?”  This dovetails very nicely with Diagnosing the Situation and its urging us to “understand the process challenges.”  Asking the question, “We’ve talked about the content of the problem but what processes need to be created to address it?”  So, there’s a lot to think about with this. 
First off, each situation and challenge we face has its own set of process challenges.  In our effort to quickly fix most of the problems we face with easy solutions, we can easily rush passed thinking about these things (this is part of the reason process is a diagnostic issue).  So, sometimes, more than merely fixing something, we need to think about what processes need to be put in place to address our challenge.  This might lead us to more effective diagnosis.
Also, trust is sometimes and elusive thing.  We’ve heard that trust has to be earned.  So, when we build a process that more effectively builds trust, it will have the effect of energizing others.  We must be careful to remember, though, that creating a trustworthy process will require learning, involve stakeholders, and involve us taking smart risks and so, creating a trustworthy process is an adaptive challenge itself.  Sure, authority can flex and help with the implementation.  But, the most effective (and thus most trustworthy) ones will be built from the ground up.  This will take energy and planning, but in the end might just help us make progress on those issues we care about so deeply.
So, think about creating processes, and trustworthy ones at that, and see if it doesn’t affect our community for the good.  Have a great week…