Authentic Transformation

This article really confirmed much of what I am thinking in these days, and I thought you might be encouraged by it as well. Enjoy!

http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1804

It's a Beautiful Day!

Lawrence County is in Stage 4 drought. That's bad. Really bad. We're over 12" behind in rainfall for the year. A much prayed for, needed rain is falling. It's a beautiful day!

A Friend of Mine Once Said . . .

From Guy Mundy's journal:

Most of these small journals start with the words
of other men. But this one I feel should begin with my own
words.

Why is it that the words of other men inspire me? Do
the men who spoke these words gain their perspective from other men as
well? I like to think they are original thoughts. Maybe they were
crafted from the various snippets of inspiring words by
others.

Most of these thoughts are from experiences in life.
Penned with great emotion and passion.

These records of inspiration have the power to change the world. Alter the course of a wandering soul.

It is for this reason we must write and speak what is on our
mind. Share what is heavy on our heart. It makes no difference how
we convey these thoughts. They may be meaningless to some, but they
may be understood by one and that one who comprehends can be changed
forever.

The words can be deemed as spiritual
food. Nourishment to advance a pilgrim down the road. Energized
to further his journey. Live to fight another day.

It is not only words that we must share. Our life must be open for all to explore
also. This becomes frightening for some, especially for me. What if
I am found out? That people see me for who I really am?

But that is the gift of a shared life. For our failings and
shortcomings is precisely where we gain our strength. It is where we
can support one another. Where one is weak, the strong can fill the
void.

I think that is why God created us with different gifts and
personalities. He wanted our lives to be intermingled. Joined
together to become one holistic organism. Working together to glorify Him
through love.

When we hole up and escape to our caves for extended
times I believe we lose some of the giftedness of togetherness. Spend
to much time alone and it is hard to engage with other lives.

I have a great tendency to want to be alone. Although I think God wants us
to spend some time alone. But it is in these moments that I must take
those who are in my life with me in spirit. For in these times of solitude
I hear whisperings from God. Nudgings from the Holy Spirit. "love
your brothers" He says. "Fight for my Kingdom, share Me with those
who don't know Me, help the weak, give to those in need. Understand
the depths of My love."

Lord, Help me be bold enough to share my
life. I am am not perfect by myself, but when locked in arms with my
brothers in Christ, I am powerful beyond measure. The Kingdom gates are
flung open and your love floods out. Saturating our souls,
filling our every void with your spirit. may those moments come with
greater frequency and with increasing power.

Come Lord Jesus, come!

Finish the Fight

See you at Midnight.

On "Vision"

Hang out around churches for even an hour or so, and somebody will bounce around the word "vision." It's a hot topic buzz word. I ran across these thoughts on vision, and they've pushed me to slow down a bit and realize what it really is that I - and all of us in churchdom - are saying when we toss out our $0.02 on vision.

Consider . . .

“To the person who does not know where he wants to
go, there is no favorable wind.”
~ Seneca

“All men dream: but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to
find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they
may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”
~ T.E. Lawrence

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but
has no vision.”
~ Hellen Keller

“Keep yourself clean and bright; you are
the window through which you must see the world.”
~ George Bernard Shaw

“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.”
~ Marcel Proust

Anniversary of a Homeless Man's Passing

10 years ago today, Rich Mullins was killed in an automobile accident. I can't honestly tell you that I'm a huge fan of his music. There are a couple of his songs that just really resonate with me, but what I miss way more than his songs is his prophetic voice. And his was a voice not so much "heard" as "seen." [If you know much about Rich's admiration of St. Francis, and Francis's quote "Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words" then you'll know what I mean.] Rich's life still teaches me about discipleship. About simplicity. About loving well.

I miss Rich because my life needs - desperately - the things that he lived out in deeper, fuller measure. One of those songs that speak to me is Creed. As I get older and my journey with Christ begins to take on different dimensions, I am gladdened to see that I am continuing to have my eyes opened to what it means to be called "Christ Follower." I am, after many years of claiming the name of Christ, just beginning to learn about what it means to have God be the potter and me be the clay. May I be made into what God needs me to be, to be used as he sees fit. May I be able to sing Rich's words with the voice of my life:

I believe what I believe is what makes me
what I am.
I did not make it, no, it is making
me.
It is the very truth of God and not the
invention of any man.

If you find yourself wanting to learn more about Rich and how he followed Christ, I suggest this book.

Final Leadership Summit Session, #10

It's taken me 5 weeks to review and sort through my notes on The Willow Creek Leadership Summit, and it has been fruitful for me to do so. There is so much good stuff there that it likely takes that long for it all to sink in and take root.

Bill Hybels opens and closes each Summit. You don't want to miss either of those sessions. Period. This year's closing session was no exception. A week after The Summit, I took my notes, ripped Bill off pretty well, and turned them into a PowerPoint presentation that I shared with the Tulip Street Ministry Leaders. Hybels' message on "Whatever You Do, Inspire Me" is good, good stuff. I told you in my first Summit Session post that I wasn't going to post my notes in their entirety, as other guys had already done that better than I. For this last session, I want to provide you with a link to Dave Ferguson's blog, who did post his notes -- they are excellent and give you the full flavor of what Hybels wanted to share. If you would like a copy of my presentation, shoot me an email and just ask - I ripped Bill off, so the least I can do is share. :)

Click here for the link to Dave Ferguson's notes.

I hope you've been challanged by the material from The Leadership Summit, just as I have. I would highly encourage you to attend if you ever have the opportunity; it's well worth it!

Peace Out.

Blue Like Jazz

Few books have impacted me like Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. I've owned it for several years and have read it more times than any other book in my life. I've given probably 20 copies of it away. And I can't read it without weeping one moment and having a deep belly laugh the next. In that book, Miller portrays each of us at different times, and maybe above all else, comes across as real and believable. Those are two qualities that Jesus deserves, and that the Church desperately needs.

I ran across this link today, where you can hear a couple of interview clips with Don. In the first, he talks about Blue Like Jazz the book. And then, in the second, he gives us a peek into Blue Like Jazz, the movie (who knew?)! To get the scoop, click here.

A Pattern of the Psalms

For some time now, I’ve been working my way through The Message, starting at Genesis 1:1 and rocking on from there. Recently, I read Psalm 22. While you can learn much about Christ’s foreshadowed death in that Psalm, what struck me hardest was the pattern of intense crying out to God – intense anguish – and then a closing movement where the Psalm concludes with a burst of hope and praise; it's a pattern that is familiar to the Psalms in general, but on this morning, really just jumped off the page at me.

It’s almost as if hope and praise become expressions of the same thing – I suspect that might be true in that God is the source of our hope and the object of our praise. So for me, is God trying to point me to seeing that, yes – I am in a season of anguish over leading at my church – but that at the end of the day, I must have hope and offer it as a praise offering? Is it that simple?

Lord Jesus, as You will and as You know – AMEN.

Summit Session 9

President Jimmy Carter spoke at Session 9 of the Summit. Before beginning the interview, Hybels challenged the audience to expand their leadership bandwidth and learn from sources outside their comfort zones. Apparently, folks had boycotted that session because they didn't agree with Mr. Carter's views on certain issues. They missed out on time spent with a gentle, wise, godly man.

Carter listed his ideals for inner-circle leadership, which were:

• Integrity
• Honesty
• Compatibility with Basic Principles of the Team
• Loyalty
• Expert in Area of Responsibility
• Free to Disagree

Carter also proclaimed that the greatest challenge facing our world must be bridging the growing chasm between the rich and poor of the world; the church must break out of its "Cocoon of Comfort."

President Carter closed by simply saying that a human should do what Christ did as a Champion of Peace, quoting Psalm 34:14 - "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

Bella

Bella, the movie, was highly recommended at The Willow Creek Leadership Summit. The Producer of that movie felt a call to change his life path at a previous Summit, and Hybels graciously allowed him a moment to tell his story and show a short clip.

A line from the movie really captured me: "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

More info on the movie can be found here.

Summit Session 8

Film-maker Richard Curtis was interviewed by Bill Hybels for Session 8 at The Leadership Summit. The title of the interview was "Living for the Greater Good." Let it not be lost on you that this title, while sounding very Sermon on the Mount-ish, comes from a man who hasn't completely yielded his life to Christ - he is admittedly in process on that (to which I would simply say, Who Isn't?).

You may be wondering why Hybels would ask Curtis to participate in The Leadership Summit. The humanitarian event known as Live 8 is partly the work of Curtis (along with Bob Geldof and Bono). So Curtis runs in good company when it comes to seeing a vision to make the world a better place. Here are a couple of his thoughts:

• The texture of life improves with laughter (Curtis is the man who gave us Mr. Bean, by the way).
• To accomplish something great, everyone must understand the direction the project is to go.
• People are looking for a chance to do good.
• The Sermon on the Mount is the truest thing I've ever read.

The Air We Breathe

Luke Kimmel speaks of the supremacy of Christ in our lives in each message that he shares as Preaching Pastor at Tulip Street Christian Church. That is a central reality in Luke’s life, and I think he would agree that he considers it essential for a disciple of Christ to latch on to that concept.

I was recently encouraged by a passage of Scripture in my daily reading that reinforced this truth of the supremacy of Christ in our lives. It has stirred me, and I share it with you in hopes of it stirring you as well.

From Job 34 (Message):

If he (God) decided to hold his breath, every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.

The Wisdom of a T-Shirt

I read this on a dude's back:

Our critical purpose lies not in what others think of us,
but in what others think of Christ because of us.

Summit Session 7

John Ortberg is a great communicator. He always has impactful things to say, and he says them in a way that people want to listen to. His Summit Session was no different, as he addressed the topic "A Leader's Greatest Fear."

John reeled off several fears that a leader faces:

• The fear of failure: When a leaders fails, it's public knowledge.
• The fear of mutiny: As a leader, you are at the mercy of those who're supposed to be following you.
• The fear of criticism: The more diligently you lead, the harder life gets.
• The fear of disappointing people

And then he listed a leader's greatest fear: Choosing a shadow mission over our true mission. To understand this a bit, let me capture some of John's thoughts on "shadow mission."

• We are tempted to allow our lives to center around a shadow mission, which is dark and ungodly.
• This shadow mission is typically closely related to our gifts and talents, and can maybe best be described like this: It is our true mission hi-jacked by Hell.

This was a personal session, and these rambling notes may not make a lot of sense; it's very much one of those "you had to be there" kind of deals. So in closing, I will share a couple of other basic leadership highlights from Ortberg, and leave the deep stuff of shadow mission to a face-to-face discussion - let me know if you'd like to talk this over.

• The higher you rise in an organization, the less truth you are likely to hear.
• Do I want engagement or compliance?
• A huge challenge facing most leaders is facing a difficult task without becoming discouraged - we need a Mordecai in our lives to challenge us when we settle. Who is that for you?
• A question from Ortberg: When is the last time you and your team had an extended period of prayer seeking clarity and guidance on your mission?

10,000 Charms

In one of those articles that make you kinda scratch your head and just mutter, "No Kidding" Yahoo News tells us that the life span of Rock Stars is less than average, stating that they are likely to die prematurely. If that surprises you, it's time to come out of the bomb shelter.

The cat in the photo is Shannon Hoon, the former lead singer for Blind Melon. He's an Indiana boy. He felt incredible pain in his life. And he's dead.

I guess a lot of rock star deaths seem like accidents, but I have to wonder if people really just get to a point where they feel that there is no answer, no way out. No escape. Just typing that makes me think of a biography I read in high school about Jim Morrison entitled No One Here Gets Out Alive. Not a very hopeful title, and Morrison believed it to the point of death.

You and I may not know a rock star. We may not be able to come alongside of the next Shannon Hoon and point him to Life. But what about the other folks in our circles, our communities, who feel that there is no answer or no way out? They're there, you know. And Jesus stands ready to save them. Do we really live a life that reminds people - that clearly tells others - that in Jesus' arms there are 10,000 charms? May my life - and yours - be one that sings this old hymn . . .

Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and power
Come ye thirsty, come and welcome
God's free bounty glorify
True belief and true repentance
Every grace that brings you nigh
I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior
Oh, there are ten thousand charms
Come ye weary, heavy-laden
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry until you're better
You will never come at all