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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…

Dangerous Calling Email – Forsake Mediocrity

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Here’s the email I wrote for leaders in our church on Wed, 3/13:

As we continue moving through the chapters from Dangerous Calling that go along with sessions 1 and 2 of the DVD, we move ahead to Chapter 10, “Mediocrity.”   The big point here is that mediocrity in our service of ministry is a sign of our awe of God.  Yes, much of this chapter is addressed to me, the primary teaching pastor who, quite simply, must prioritize the preaching of the Word and fight against all the things that would distract me from it, but there are also applications for each of you.
Tripp writes, “Mediocrity is not a time, personnel, resource or location problem.  Mediocrity is a heart problem.  We have lost our commitment to the highest levels of excellence because we have lost our awe.  Awe amnesia is the open door that admits mediocrity.  Awe of God is fear-producing, inspiring, motivating, convicting, and commitment-producing.  There is no replacement for this in the leadership of the church of Jesus Christ.”  And the remedy, again, is “…run in humble confession to your Savior and embrace the grace that has the power to rescue you from you and, in so doing, to give you back your awe.”  “Run to your Redeemer.  Bask in his glorious grace.  Seek the forgiveness and empowerment that only he can give.  And commit yourself, by his grace, to the disciplines of excellence that will only ever happen as he rescues you from you and gives you back your awe once again.”
The challenge for most of us is that we’re more committed to our jobs or work than to the church.  This is reflected in mediocrity.  What we wouldn’t dream of doing in our work (failing to return a phone call or email, taking care of our responsibilities, working in accordance with our job title) easily happens in our ministry in the local church.  And, what Tripp is getting at, is that this is an issue of your heart.  So, maybe reflect on your ministry practices at Crestview.  Have you drifted into mediocrity?  Run to Christ and find the forgiveness He offers so that you can respond with excellence once again. 

Leadership Email – Don’t Misdiagnose

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Here’s the email I sent out to leaders in Reno County on 3/11/13:

The Kansas Leadership Center has many great tools for you to use.  One such tool is the KLC Playbook.  I commend it to you when you have a leadership challenge that you’re working through.  One of the first exercises they have under “Diagnose Situation” relates to distinguishing between technical and adaptive work.  Here’s how they helpfully describe it: “Your issue is complex. So don’t make the mistake of treating an adaptive challenge as if it were solely a technical problem. 
“Most leadership challenges have adaptive and technical elements. 
“Technical problems are usually clearly defined and have ready solutions that can be implemented by authority figures or experts. Adaptive challenges are dramatically different. They require us to learn new ways of operating. Progress is made when stakeholders, not simply authority figures, take action. Adaptive challenges almost always involve some sort of loss.
This is followed up with some activity:
Observations, Activities, Possible Experiments:
Answer the question, what kind of work is it?
Technical Elements
·         Expertise or Information Needed
·         How might we get this done?  Who could help?
·         What challenges might we face?
Adaptive Elements
·         What do we need to learn or change?
·         How might we work together?  What process should we use?
·         What challenges might we face?
(KLC Playbook, pp.5-9)
I think for me a great takeaway came in that middle statement: “Most leadership challenges have adaptive and technical elements.”  In our leadership dilemmas or those areas we’re really trying to make a difference in, there will be elements of both the technical and adaptive.  Working to distinguish these is an act of leadership.  So, diagnose away and see if it doesn’t help us make progress toward our goals.