Little Hope...

I found this picture of a churches advertisement for people to find their way to their building. Isn't this a symbol of great church leadership for more reasons than one? Jesus help us :)

Search Me...Know Me...

As a leader, there are many times that I find myself stepping into uncertainty. This causes me great anxiety knowing that I could be wrong. Wrong in direction…wrong in attitude…etc. Either way…I could be wrong! I have found some peace in praying through the last lines of Psalm 139:


Search me, Oh God & know my heart;
I love how this whole Psalm leads up to this line. David talks in great detail of how God knows every aspect of us…even before creation.

Test me & know my anxious thoughts.
David recognizes his own anxiety…we don’t know what his were, but we know ours well. God does too.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
The heart in this line is to do nothing offensive to God, but to lead strong with full conviction.

And lead me in the way everlasting.
Concluding this prayer with humility & submission…recognizing that we need God’s help in living our lives for Him.


This prayer gives me comfort in doubt & anxiety knowing that He is searching me…knowing me…testing me…leading me! I need that assurance…

Refuel...

I recently listened to a Rob Bell message about the Sabbath & was once again reminded of the importance of allowing time to refuel & restore. He talked about knowing yourself enough &

being disciplined enough to allow God to refillyou. I think it is an important lesson for us to learn that if we don't allow Godto fill us...we will find ourselves empty! So, allow me to ask you the questions that he asked:

When do you allow God to refill you?

What feeds your soul?

What helps put you back together?

I know that I need this in my life...what about you?

Weekend Review

Well, I had a really busy weekend this weekend, but it is well worth reviewing because it was fall break for my wife so we took a miny trip to Chicago to visit some friends. (pictures to come soon...)

Anyway, we left Thursday night to meet Andrew & Alysha Currie at their place in downtown Chicago & had a blast. First thing we had to do was make our way to "Geno's" to have some killer Chicago style pizza...yumyum!!!

Friday we slept in a bit & rose to try & make our way to "Ikea" for some home fashion shopping. I will tell you, I am not the biggest home shopping fanatic, but this store is amazing (even cheap enough for me :) Once we finished there (hours later) we tried to make our way back downtown, which took about 3 hours...yuck! Anyway, we finally did & went to see the "Blue man Group," which I would describe as good, but interesting. There were some really good parts, but also some kinda lame parts as well.

Some thoughts from the trip...

1. Parking in Chicago is sinful!
2. Chicago-style Pizza" is my friend
3. When driving in Chicago...don't plan to be anywhere at any particular time
4. Soak in the sights (there's some pretty funny stuff all over the place)

More to come with pictures :)

Small steps...Big difference!

The other day I spent some time perusing the bookstore to see what kinds of new books are on the shelf & I noticed a running theme in the leadership section. There were a good 3 or 4 books in the "must read" section that had to do with small steps making a big difference.

The Seven Minute Difference:

I did a quick skim of this book & it was really interesting. The author talked about how she had found that small amounts of time have made all the difference in her life. So, every chapter of this book has specific seven minute exercises to make big life difference.

This was an interesting read & has many good exercises to do thoughout it.

The Tipping Point:

This book was the second on that I saw & noticed that it was about a very similar thing, just a different spin. Small things making a big difference. Displaying the leadership principle that only one spark can start a forest fire, he talks from epidemics to leadership. Interesting leadership points from some unexpected places.

Anyways, I point out these books because it is becoming more & more evident to me that making a difference in the world has very little to do with not knowing enough or not having the resources to do it. It has everything to do with how we live out our day to day lives. What disciplines (or lack there of) shape our lives. I am seeing more & more that we are an incredibly undisciplined people. It is in the small unseen disciplines of everyday life that makes a life great. This makes me take a good long look at my life! How disciplined am I? How easy is it for me to get rocked? What is my greatness quotient? When my grandkids look at me...what will they say? What about you...

Psalm 16:8-a worship thought

I recently ran across Dallas Willard's definition of worship & found it to be intriguing. He defines it as the following:

"Worship is the intentional turning of the mind to God & ascribing all the goodness & the greatness & glory that belongs to Him"

What I like about this definition is how much it specifically points out that worship involves an intentional action. It is the "intentional turning of the mind..." I get an image of a rudder on a ship or setting the sails. The question is what direction are we turning or what winds are we catching. Too often we just don't guide the rudder or even put up the sails & we flounder around focusing only on what immediately catches our attention. It is a trap that we far too often fall into.

David said it very clearly in Psalm 16:8, "I have set the Lord always before me!" If we could practically live out what David said here; if only we could intentionally set Him before us in everything we do. To see His greatness in the details of creation...to see His faithfulness in the seasons...to see Him in our everyday lives.

3 Primary Enemies of my Blog

Well, I thought it was appropriate for this first post in some time to share what are my primary barriers to keeping my blog updated & vibrant. I do this as a discipline because it is good for me to be keeping up on what is on the forefront of my mind personally, but also as way to share with others what is going on in my little brain. So, here are my Blog-enemies:

1. Distraction
It is amazing to me how many things vie for my attention & how easily I am distracted from the things I need to prioritize in my life. This is the first thing that I thought of with this post. Distractions so easily take me away from my focus. (this alone sounds like a good follow up post to do sometime :)

2. Time
Similar to the above, but different. I only have so much time in my life & so many things that I want to do. I continue to learn how to manage my time, but it is a non-stop battle of learning how to manage time in order to get more done. I think I will always be learning this & re-prioritizing things as more things vie for my time.

3. Lack of Discipline
Let's be vulnerable & honest right now...I am stinking at being disciplined right now. Or what I battle with is having too many things I want to be disciplined with. I know this may sound crazy, but a person can only be disciplined in so many disciplines before their discipline suffers due to other disciplines. I know...I'm talking in circles, but this is where I am!

So, there you have it...my Blog-enemies! I am going to once again press in & try to overcome these barriers in order to keep things fresh & vibrant. Thanks for listening & join me in overcoming your personal barriers in life!