Tag Archive - religion
3

Influence Isn’t Grace

Grace is completely free.
There’s nothing you and I can do to earn it.
It’s readily available because it’s provided free of charge by an Awesome God.

Influence MUST be earned.

I don’t have the right to speak to certain issue in certain people’s lives.
I don’t know them well enough.
I haven’t earned the respect and credibility with them.

Other people I can speak to those same issues in their lives.
I know them.
I have the respect from them.

Some people have the right to call me out when they find me doing certain things.
I won’t take offense.
I’ll listen.

Some people don’t have that right.
They don’t know what I’ve been through… they don’t have a close relationship with me.

You and I have to be careful not to speak into someone something that we haven’t earned the right to speak.
I also have to be careful that I speak life and truth into people who I’ve earned the right to speak with.

It’s a careful balance.

The more I balance it correctly, the more right I earn to speak into lives.

Influence…. It’s important, but it isn’t free.


Written by on April 27, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Leadership

6

Choking Under Pressure

Growing up, I loved playing baseball.

I was actually kinda good at the game, but there was one particular situation that I almost always failed in…

Executing under pressure.

I still remember the 2 outs, down by 1 scenario that every baseball player dreams of. What’d I do? I struck out for the first time all game.

The final out scenario when I got an easy popup at first base. What’d I do? I let the ball fall out of my glove.

I never was good at executing under pressure. I usually messed it up.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. – John 16:33

Jesus took the pressure off.

The end is not in doubt. He’s already overcome the world.

What I have to do is just run up the score.

It’s amazing the freedom and joy that comes when the pressure’s off.

It doesn’t mean that I can quit, it just means that it isn’t up to me.

Operating in complete freedom and victory makes life a lot more fun than it would be if the end was in doubt!


Written by on April 6, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Church Ministry, Life

17

I Shower With This Too Often

One of the things that I do that Melissa has to call me out on every now and then is using the same towel for too long.

I don’t know why, but I hate using a fresh towel.
There’s just something odd about it for me.

And so, I use the same one for a few days (weeks) in a row.

Eventually, the towel begins to stink to the point that Melissa is forced to tell me I have to wash it.

I don’t know what it is, but I bet you have a habit kinda like this.
Something that you think, “That’s GROSS!” when you hear that someone else does it, but it doesn’t seem that bad because you’re the one doing it.

That’s kinda the way we think about our sins.

We think….

If I’m doing it, it’s not that bad…

At least I’m not doing ____ like ____.

The problem?

When we compare ourselves with others, we’ll always be able to find someone that seems worse than us.
When we compare ourselves to God, that towel suddently smells worse… His towels are fresh and white.

This is a call for us to all work on ourselves.
If we all do that, we won’t have time to call anyone else out on their dirty towel.


Written by on April 4, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Life

26

I’m Learning to Slow Down

I’m trying to learn to slow down.

I’m learning that I often do a lot of things, but few things well.

Instead, I run around,
thing to thing,
task to task.

The result is,
I accomplish a lot of “tasks” but have very little impact.

So,

I’m learning to slow down.

What are you learning?


Written by on March 30, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Life

16

The Rocky Path

When I was still living at home, my parents decided to remodel their kitchen.

They decided that they really liked tile floors and called the tile man.

I still remember how careful the tile guy was to be sure that he was laying the tile on a smooth surface.
Every few minutes, I’d see him smoothing out the grout to be sure that the tile would lay flat.
After he laid a piece of tile on it, he never smoothed it again, it had already been worked out.

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” - Frank Clark

The obstacles that are in your way exist because the path is not worn…
The grout hasn’t been smoothed out.
No tile has been laid.

Few have traveled the tough path,
the path that it takes real faith to travel.

  • The path that gets up everyday and lives out their faith even though the office they work in is filled with people that don’t.
  • The path that prays for their children even though their children ignore the faith they’re taught.
  • The path that loves when it doesn’t make sense… when it’s not easy.
  • The path that forgives because they’re forgiven.
  • The path that pastors even when the people refuse to be lead.
  • The path that prays for and obeys their parents even though they’re never shown love.
  • The path that is faithful to their husband even though he isn’t faithful to her.
  • The path that lives a vision from God by the voice of God and not by the opinions of man.

Those paths have obstacles because they haven’t been smoothed out… not many people have been there… not many people are willing to pay the price.

Today, welcome the obstacles.

The obstacles are evidence of the destination.

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.- Matthew 7:14

Travel on and…

turn the world UPSIDE down.


Written by on March 23, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Encouragement

14

You Can’t Fry Everything

I love fried food….too much.

When Melissa and I got a fryer a couple of Christmas’s ago, we immediately began to fry EVERYTHING.

After a week or two, we started to think about how easy it is to fry something instead of cooking it the right way and the healthy way.

In leadership, we can’t always fry everything…

  • Developing people takes time and patience.
  • Culture change takes time and patience.
  • Seeing God’s vision fulfilled in our organization/church takes time.
  • Seeing God’s vision fulfilled in our lives takes time.

Don’t try to fry what has to cook.

Sure, we can take shortcuts and give the appearance of progress, but in the end, it’s not healthy.

Sometimes we have to pray hard, listen intently, get our hands dirty, and show some patience.

You can’t fry everything!


Written by on January 24, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Leadership, Life

16

Feelin Around In The Dark

A few nights ago I had trouble going to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, I decided just to get up for a few minutes and try again later. Like every person awake well after their bedtime, I decided I needed something to eat. So, I grabbed the bag of M&M’s on the counter and started eating.

As I was pouring the second handful, I dropped an M&M. Knowing that chocolate isn’t good for dogs, I decided that I better not just try to kick it under the counter, but better pick it up. As I felt around in the dark, I couldn’t find it. I rubbed my hand across the floor all over, but couldn’t find it for anything.

Eventually, I had an idea…

I turned the light on. I found the M&M about 10 feet from the spot I was looking. Apparently that sucker rolled a while after I dropped it.

Aside from being a pitiful illustration, this taught me a lesson.

Don’t feel around blindly for something that can be easily seen in the light.

We all do it…

  • We jump from job to job looking for something to make us happy.
  • We chase goal after goal looking for purpose.
  • We try method after method looking for satisfaction.
  • We strive for perfection looking for acceptance.

The entire time, we’re just feeling around in the dark.

We seldom take the time to turn the light on – talk to God, listen to God, and obey God.

The truth is,

  • God does want us to be happy.
  • He does have a purpose for us.
  • He does offer satisfaction.
  • He already accepts us.

And He’s waiting to tell us.
He’s waiting to direct us.

Our first instinct is often just to feel around in the dark.

Turn the light on and turn the world UPSIDE down.


Written by on January 13, 2011 and categorized under Blog, Life

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