Contentment

An Amish boy and his parents were visiting a mall. While the mother looked for cotton fabric for a new apron, the father and son stood around, amazed by almost everything they saw. They were especially amazed by two, shiny silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again.

The boy asked, "What is that, father?" The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I don't know what it is."

"Could it be a time machine?" asked the boy. “I heard about this movie picture show where people leave the earth in shiny vehicles.”

"Praise the Lord", said the father. "There sure are miraculous things in the city."

While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed, and the boy and his father watched the small circular numbers above the walls light up. They continued to watch until the last number was reached, and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order.

Finally, the walls opened again and a gorgeous 24-year-old woman stepped out. The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son, "Go get your mother."

While this is a humorous story, it does illustrate the human condition, at least in this part of the world. We are rarely content. We want bigger...we want better...we want faster...we want more.

This past Sunday, my home church showed the first of a three part series that Dave Ramsey did concerning money. He had a lot to say about this subject. In fact, he said that contentment is so important, that it is the most powerful Biblical financial principle there is. More powerful than saving and even more powerful than giving.

I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with him on his ranking of this, but I will agree that it is incredibly important when it comes to our finances. I also believe it is a key ingredient in our spiritual health as well.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

Joseph & Joy

On Saturday night, my wife and I and some friends attended Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Lucy, a very talented friend of ours was playing the Narrator, the female lead. Her five children were also in the production so we were looking forward to this very much.

The show was absolutely amazing and I was blown away by the talent level of the cast.

At different points during the show I found myself in tears. At first I thought it was because of the talent that was on display (which does make me somewhat emotional for some reason). But then I realized that the tears were for something else because they only seemed to be there when Lucy was performing during certain scenes.

Lucy has been going through some gut-wrenching stuff recently, and it has really devastated her. She has been put through the wringer. Yet, here she was on Saturday, a picture of joy, doing a phenomenal job as the Narrator. I have seen this production before and she was absolutely perfect for this role (as were each of her kids in their roles)!

Anyone who didn’t know her would have no idea the tough times she is going through. I think this is why I was choked up. She was practicing what Paul told us to do in Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (emphasis mine) Paul doesn’t say to rejoice only when things are going our way. He says, always! In fact, Paul penned these words while sitting in a jail cell. Rejoice in the Lord always. Just what Lucy did.

From a human perspective, being joyful when things in our life are going south is impossible. It is only because Lucy is filled with the joy of the Lord, that she is able to do this. The same can be true for us.

The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10b

Interested Instead of Interesting

Last week, some of our Truth At Work groups watched Bill Hybels interviewing Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and pictured above. This interview took place at the 2006 Willow Creek Leadership Summit.

Collins had some incredible stuff to share about what organizations can do to be great.

However, one thing in the interview stuck out to me more than any other thing. At that point in his life, Collins had been going through a spiritual awakening of sorts and he was beginning to embrace Christianity. When asked about this by Hybels, Collins replied that his journey had been helped greatly by his personal board of advisors.

First off, the fact that he had a personal board was impressive to me and a great lesson to us all to not do life alone.

Second, he went on to say that he received some of the best advice from one of his advisors who said, “Jim, you spend too much time trying to be interesting. Why don’t you spend more time being interested?”

Wow. Great advice.

Dale Carnegie said that the best way to attract friends is to show interest in others. That is also a great way to show the love of Christ!

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4

The Trap of Isolation

I have the amazing privilege of leading an organization called Truth at Work in the Toledo area. In Truth at Work we put together roundtable groups of business leaders who act as a board of advisors to one another to help each other to grow their businesses while at the same time helping them to grow personally and spiritually. These are extremely powerful.

Yesterday, our 2nd Tuesday group met (they meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month) for the usual four hour meeting. Once again, it was incredible.

We had a new member join the group and he was in attendance for the first time. He was someone whom I had spoken to about Truth at Work about 15 months earlier and he kept putting it off because he said he couldn't focus on anything with the economy doing what it was doing. Besides, he said he wouldn't be able to afford anything else anyway.

Immediately after the meeting, he came up to me and said, "I wish I had gotten involved in this when you first told me about this. I had no idea how helpful this would be to me!"

I know what he was feeling. He felt like he just took a big drink after being in the desert for days. He felt like he was no longer alone. He felt encouraged.

This is not a surprise. In 1 Peter 5 we are told that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Whenever I have watched a lion chasing its prey on TV, let's say a zebra, I see the lion going after the zebra that is by itself because that one is seen as weaker and more vulnerable. So, the devil tries to isolate us so he can devour us. In fact, the word "devil" actually means to tear or divide.

I encourage you that when you are feeling like you don't want to be around anyone for long periods of time, to fight through that feeling and gather among friends. Especially if those friends can encourage you, hold you accountable and provide you with wise counsel.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25

So Be It

I read a book a while back in which the author describes someone as a "So Be It" Christian. I really liked that term and it is something I have been asking God to make me. Someone who, regardless of my circumstances, will say, "So be it," knowing that God is in control.

Yesterday at The Masters, Phil Mickelson, on his second hole, had an important 4-5 foot putt for a par. During his backstroke, some debris from a tree fell right in his line which caused his ball to veer off course. Really an unfortunate break (See above video).

Not only an unfortunate break, but come on, what are the adds of something like that happening?! And happening during one of the most important rounds of his career?!

Yet, Mickelson seemed unfazed. He walked to the next tee and went about his business like it was nothing. It was as if he said, "So be it." Cool stuff.

This could have sidetracked him mentally and he could have lost a lot of shots and the tournament out of frustration. I was sitting at home with nothing invested and I was upset. I couldn't believe that had happened. I felt bad and was still thinking about it several holes later. In fact, I was saying to myself, "I hope he doesn't lose this tournament by one shot!"

But, as you probably know, Mickelson hung on to win his third green jacket by three shots. So be it! Thanks for the great example Phil!

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Philippians 4:11b

Nothing's Ever Easy

On Monday of this week, my father came and installed a shelving unit that he had made for us for out family room. He is a dentist by profession but he is also a master craftsman when it comes to woodworking.

The unit he built for us is incredible and contains shelves and a place to put a television which we also purchased this week (with money he gave us for Christmas to help pay for it). He had purchased a universal TV wall mount that was already installed. All we needed to do was hook up our TV and hang it on the mount...or so we thought.

Monday night, I began the process of doing this when I found that the mounting kit did not have the right sized bolts to screw into the back of our TV. So, off to the hardware store I went to get different bolts. Well, those didn't fit either. So back I went. I got two other sizes and those didn't fit. At that point, the hardware store had closed, so the next day I got the size I needed.

Last night, Connie and I began the installation and found that the bolts (now the correct size) wouldn't fit through the brackets of the mount. I called their customer service line and was told that their "universal" wall mount was not compatible with our TV. So...it is still not installed. We have some ideas that might work, but it is going to take some work.

It seems that nothing is ever easy (especially if it involves me doing something like this).

Same is true in life. Many people I know have told me that they thought their lives would be filled with much less problems after they became a Christ follower. They were surprised to find that that is not the case. Christian or not, we will all face challenges. Those challenges are easier to handle though when you have Him in your corner.

"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."

Jesus in John 16:33

True Freedom

My wife and I have wonderful kids. Really. We are blessed beyond measure. And it amazes me at how different three children can be who came from the same parents.

Our 19 year-old daughter Molly is incredibly gifted, talented and caring. And, she is also very independent. She is at a place right now where she does not like to take advice, especially if it comes from her parents (gee, I've never been there! Kidding).

Right now she is in Florida with her uncle and aunt (my sister) and their four young boys. She was asked to go along to help watch the boys which will give my sister a little bit of a break.

Before leaving, my wife Connie suggested to Mol that she take sunscreen with SPF 30 in it to help prevent a sunburn. Molly said something like, "No, I'm going to take 15. I'm sure that'll be fine."

Well...Connie received a call after day one or two and Molly was not feeling well at all. She is very burned and has what she thinks is sun poisoning.

Connie, to her credit has been very loving toward Mol throughout this. No, "I told you so" attitude at all which is very cool. Probably because she, like our daughter, didn't like advice when she was that age either.

I'm not sharing this to bash my daughter, because I have nothing to bash. I've done all this before myself...many times. Like Molly, I learn best through my experiences and failures. The reason I bring all this up is because this got me thinking about freedom.

When we are teenagers we often feel that our parents are just telling us the way to do certain things because they want to restrict our freedom. Many Christians and non-Christians feel the same way...that the Bible, the Word of God, is simply there to put restrictions on us and to limit our freedom.

In both cases, it is exactly the opposite.

Parents typically share input to provide more freedom to their children. This of course isn't seen readily by the children until they are older, but it's the truth. In Molly's case, she probably viewed it as exercising her freedom to put on the sunscreen of her choosing. And that is a form of freedom. However, what she has discovered is that this has actually lessened her freedom. Now, she must cover up and limit her time in the sun because of her exercising her perceived "freedom." The recommendation of my wife on sunscreen was really to provide more freedom for Molly.

Same with the Bible. Jesus came, not just to save us, but to give us life to the full. The Biblical mandates of how to live life are there, not to restrict us, but to give us true freedom.

"Free" sex has not caused true freedom. It has caused millions of cases of sexually transmitted diseases. It has created millions of broken homes and hearts.

"Free" use of alcohol and drugs has not brought freedom. It has caused millions of deaths and broken lives...and homes. I know some addicts who tell me regularly that they feel like they're in a prison.

The same is true for everything that we choose to do on our own that goes against God's mandates for us. Unfortunately, just like Molly and me, many of us will need to find that out on our own.

True freedom can only be found in one place...in the One who came to give it to us.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

The words of Jesus, John 10:10b

Transformation

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year for a couple of reasons. One, it signifies a change in our weather. Typically this time of year our weather begins to improve drastically. Buds appear on the trees. Crocuses start blooming. Birds are chirping. A rebirth of nature. An awesome time of year.

Second, this is Masters week. The week that the golfing world's eyes are on Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. I have watched this tournament, one of golf's four "majors," since I was a kid and it remains one of my favorite sporting events to watch.

I love this for a couple of reasons. One, the course is perhaps the most immaculate course in the world. It is impeccable with lush green grass and blooming azalea and dogwood-lined fairways. In addition to the incredible beauty, the greens are slick with lots of undulations which makes for some very exciting golf.

I received an email back in February showing some pictures of Augusta National under a blanket of snow (see hole # 11 above). Quite a different site as compared to what this hole normally looks like (see picture below).

And this this snow-covered picture was taken less than two months from when the tournament was to begin! The transformation that would be needed in such a short time was mind boggling to me.

Very appropriate timing considering the amazing transformation that took place a couple thousand years ago yesterday. Transformation from Good Friday to Easter...Jesus transforming from death to life.

Because of what Jesus did for us, we, too, have this power to transform our lives, no matter what we have done or what we are facing. I encourage you to ask God to help you to transform you into the person He desires you to be.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2a

Love

My wife Connie and I just finished watching Kerry Shook and his wife Chris share about love and marriage on TV.

He said something that I have heard many times, that love is not a feeling, it is a decision. This is so true, yet this is so misunderstood in these days of Hollywood "love".

But don't we all want that loving feeling? I know I do.

Well, he went on and said something that I thought was great:

Love is a commitment...
which produces an action...
which produces powerful feelings.

So, we can have that loving feeling with our spouse. But the commitment comes first.

On the night that we celebrate His last supper, it makes me think about the commitment that Jesus made because of His love for us. No greater love...

Happy Easter!

Unplugged II

My wife Connie and I returned early this morning from a great week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and we had an awesome time.

I did something I haven't done in a while. I went on this trip and totally unplugged. No laptop. No cell phone. No connection to the civilized world (well, actually this isn't totally true...I did leave my cell on in case there was an emergency at home but I didn't answer it the whole week).

It was fantastic not having those things to tie me down. In fact, I didn't think about any of that stuff the entire week. I actually got to do a whole lot of nothing which was just what the doctor ordered. I read five books and spent some incredible time with my bride. Ahhh, peace. Good stuff.

And you know what? Even though I wasn't there to answer my phone or my emails, the world did not come off its axis! And getting through all my emails didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Thank you Lord!

I have made a commitment to myself that I now want to translate this somehow into my day to day life and not stress out when I'm not getting all my "stuff" done.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Unplugged

Picture from http://www.firstpeople.us/

Rest. A good thing, right?

Well, to be honest, in my past, I've looked at it as a dirty word. I felt lazy or unproductive when I was resting or doing nothing. It is only recently that I have started giving myself permission to do nothing. I know that sounds strange to some, but it's the truth.

In fact, for the past year I have really been trying to make Sundays my Sabbath day. I try not to do a whole lot. And you know what? Sunday has become my favorite day of the week.

Despite my Sabbath day, I have been running pretty hard lately. So, I am going to "unplug" from a few things for a week or so. Updating this blog is one of those things.

I plan to post again sometime around the end of March if you'd like to come back then. Thank you for checking in with me.

Blessings to you!

"Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

Servanthood

I just completed a great day in meetings with two of the three Bishops from my church's denomination. Included in the meeting were myself and three others who all work outside of the local church. We were asked to be part of the Commission on Leadership Development for our denomination.

This is the third year for us gathering together and each of our meetings have produced some really cool things. Today was no exception.

Despite all the neat stuff that happened today, two things have stood out to me. Bishop Matt, who is the leader of this charge, volunteered to pick us all up at the airport and deliver us to the hotel in which we were staying. Since we were all coming from different parts of the country, this meant multiple trips for him.

We were told to call him when we arrived and he would come to get us. I happened to be on the connecting flight with one of the other members of the team and he had an old friend pick him up. They offered to take me to the hotel so I thought I would save Matt a trip.

When I arrived I received a phone call from Matt. He said he went to the airport to look for me. It then hit me that he anticipated my call and wanted to be there waiting for me so that I didn't have to wait. He didn't want me inconvenienced...and it ended up that he was the one inconvenienced which I felt bad about.

Then during our meetings, he would occasionally get up from his seat throughout the day and come behind one of us to massage our shoulders during our discussions. He did this last year too but it had slipped my mind.

To some, this all may not seem like a big deal, but to me this is huge. Here is someone who is at the top position within his field and he is going out of his way to serve me! What a great example!

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Mark 10:45

The Extra Mile

This morning in our 3rd Tuesday Truth At Work roundtable group we had some great discussions. One of the things we spent a lot of time on was employee performance and when to keep or let go a struggling employee or someone who has certain issues.

This is something that gets brought up fairly regularly...the tension between servanthood and stewardship. The servant wants to keep a trouble employee and rehabilitate them and that is a noble cause.

However, leaders are given stewardship responsibilities over their company or department. So, the health of the overall group really trumps the health of the individual. In other words, if keeping an employee does damage to the overall company, oftentimes that person needs to go. Sounds harsh, but better to sacrifice one than many.

The bottom line is, if you are someone who is working for someone else, you need to take ownership of what you do so that you are not one that your boss is struggling to keep. The most valuable employees are those who do the job, and then some...the people who go the extra mile. They make a leader's job easy.

Whether on the job or not, whatever you are doing, are you willing to go the extra mile?

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."

Jesus in Matthew 5:41

Believe in Yourself

In the book 212, The Extra Degree, the author tells the story of interviewing candidates for a sales position which was open in his company. Here is an excerpt from the book:

I looked up and my 1 o'clock appointment was standing at the door. He was a tall, good-looking guy, and I remember thinking, "This could be the one." We talked for about 15 minutes, and I asked a question I always ask, "What will you be doing five years from now? I'll never forget his answer. He said, "Mr. Anderson, the way these appointments have been going, I might still be interviewing!" Well, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. We talked for a few more minutes and I excused him.

Then I looked up and my 2 o'clock was there...a short guy with a wrinkled sport coat. He walked over and gave me a confident handshake, and a few minutes later I asked the same question, "What are you going to be doing five years from now?" He looked me right in the eye and said, "Mr. Anderson, I'm going to be working for you. This job fits my skills and my needs to a tee. I don't just think, I know I can sell your product in this market. And furthermore, if you don't like my performance after thirty days, you don't owe me a cent."

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! He had just made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But the offer had nothing to do with the money I might save; it had everything to do with his unwavering passion and belief he could do it. Within a year, Bob was the number one sales person in the company.

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13

S.E.R.V.E.

For the past couple of days I have been in Cincinnati, Ohio for the first Call2All America congress. It has been pretty incredible.

Yesterday, I attended a session on the business track in which Larry Cox shared with us the leadership principles that Chick-Fil-A has utilized to build their organization in a way that honors God. Larry is the director of the WinShape Foundation, a foundation begun by Truett Cathy, Chick-Fil-A's founder, to "help shape winners."

He began by stating that everything in the company revolves around their purpose statement. This is prominently displayed on the plaque below so that anyone can read it as they enter their headquarters.



He then went on to say that they have used the acronym SERVE to describe their leadership culture:

S - See and Shape the future - there are three parts to vision: 1. Planning, 2. Decision Making, 3. Communication

E - Engage and develop others - Improves organization and let's them know they are valued

R - Reinvent continuously - Need to reinvent personally first

V - Value results AND relationships - Master the genius of AND - figure out how to get great results AND great relationships (In other words, have fun while working hard)

E - Embody the values - 1. Know your values, 2. Share your values, 3. Live your values

Truett Cathy has stated that he believes you can change lives by the way you treat people. He has certainly lived that out and his company has as well. It is no wonder they have been so blessed!

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant."

Matthew 20:26

212 Degree Leadership

Each Sunday morning before church for the past six months or so, my 13 year-old son and I have spent time reading a book together. We began the journey reading Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle. A couple of weeks ago we completed the section that is appropriate for his age so we began a new book.

We started reading 212, The Extra Degree. The premise of the book is that though it is only one degree, there is a huge difference between 211 and 212 degrees. 211 degrees is simply hot water while water that is one degree warmer makes the water boil, which produces steam. With steam you can power a locomotive. A big difference, all for one lousy degree.

The book goes on to share examples of people who have gone the extra mile and how that extra mile has made all the difference. One such story really struck me. It was a story about General Earl Hailston (pictured above).

General Hailston is the only general in the armed forces who had enlisted and come up through the ranks. When asked if he had any hobbies, the general said, "Yes, I love photography, especially taking photos of my men."

It seems that General Hailston would take pictures of his men and email the photos along with a note to their mothers back in the USA. Here is a sample of one such letter:

Dear Mrs. Johnson,

I thought you might enjoy seeing this picture of your son. He is doing great. I also wanted you to know that you did a wonderful job of raising him. You must be very proud. I can certainly tell you that I'm honored to serve with him in the U.S. Marines.

General Earl Hailston

It is clear that General Hailston understood what 212 degree leadership is all about. As a result, I am sure his men would go the extra mile for their commander, because they knew they were cared for and he was going the extra mile for them.

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."

Matthew 5:41

Cheat Work, Not Home

Last week, I showed a video from the 2006 Willow Creek Leadership Summit for our Truth At Work groups. The session was Andy Stanley's talk on The Best Leadership Decision I Have Ever Made.

During the session, Stanley talked about when he was getting his church up and running and the incredible effort it took. He talked about the long hours he and his team was investing. He said he had the attitude, "If I don't, it won't." In other words, it was all up to him. He felt that if he leaned toward home, nothing would get done at work.

Sound familiar? It does for me.

Then he received a revelation from God.

God revealed to him that Andy was instructed to love his wife (Ephesians 5), not his church. He also received insight in Matthew 16 when Jesus says, "On this rock I will build my church..." Andy said, "OK, so Jesus is promising to build the church, not Andy."

Andy said it was out of those revelations that his greatest leadership decision materialized. He decided to cheat the church (or work) and not his home. He made a deal with God which went something like this: OK God. You command me to love my wife and you say that you are going to build the church, so here's my deal. You have me for 45 hours per week to get this church thing done. If you can't build the church with 45 of my hours, well, I guess it wasn't meant to be. He decided to cheat the church rather than his family.

After making this decision, what he found out was that this forced him to operate in his sweet spot, doing what he does best. He also found out that his organization began to thrive because he was only doing what only he could do.

Andy shared one more thing which I think is relevant to all of us who are leaders. Those who love their businesses and not their families, have neither great business nor great families. Wow.

I must admit, I am now doing quite a bit of soul searching and taking a very close look at how I'm spending my time.

Work Harder on Yourself

Yesterday, I drove to Indianapolis with some Toledo Truth At Work members to visit with an incredible company who does a great job of incorporating their faith into their corporate culture.

One of the things that stuck out to me is that they have a phrase which they share with their employees regularly, "Work harder on yourself than you do on your job." It is even on pieces of correspondence with employees.

Let me ask you this, have you ever worked for a company with this sort of attitude? Nope, me neither. Most companies I have worked for have had the exact opposite attitude. They gave me the impression that they wanted me and my coworkers to work ONLY on our jobs and they didn't give a rip about us as people. If it were up to them, they would have liked us to sleep at our jobs.

In spending several hours with some of this company's leadership, I can tell you that they walk their talk. They encourage and reward employees for reading leadership books, attending classes, volunteering in the community and going on mission trips. I talked with some employees who just returned from building houses in Mexico and they were stoked. They said it was the greatest experience of their lives. They even have free lunch Wednesdays where they buy lunch for each of their employees.

They have over 1600 employees and they are only 11 years old. They have been on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in the US for the past several years. In walking around, it was clear that the employees wanted to be there.

The results show that this company's philosophy is paying dividends. And why shouldn't it? The people obviously feel cared for. This will in turn make them care more about the company. Jesus' advice about the golden rule was right on, even for leaders of companies!

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 7:12

What Type of Leader are You?

I was in a meeting yesterday in which leadership styles was discussed. The guy I was meeting is a coach of sort for pastors and he helps them to become the best leaders they can be. He said something that I found interesting. The way he looks at things, he sees that there are three different leadership styles:

1. Anxious leader
– Very reactive – emails and phone calls will dictate their day

2. Ambitious leader
– Always looking for next great program – one "break" away from "success"

3. Aligned leader
– Focuses on what God’s doing – finds where God is working an asks how they can come into alignment with him

He went on to say that the truth is we are in all of these categories at some time or another. The key for us is to try to spend more and more time in the "aligned" category as that is where we are most effective.

When I hear something like this, my natural inclination is to say, "That's nice. I should really try to be an aligned leader more often." However, as I have pondered this, I have realized that moving more of my leadership time into the "aligned" category just won't happen by itself. It will require a decision, effort and then discipline to seek after it (which will ultimately come from seeking after God).

As the urgent matters of life come at us, keeping our commitment to this becomes that much more difficult. So I recommend you do what you need to to regularly remind yourself of this and surround yourself with those who can hold you accountable to doing the things necessary to move you in this direction.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

New Creation

We just had an incredible Sunday morning at my home church, Crossroads! Today was baptism Sunday.

Dean, our pastor, shared with us that being baptized is not only a command of Jesus, but it is much like a passport. It publicly identifies Who we belong to. Going under water also symbolizes us dying to sin and emerging from the water is symbolic of us being resurrected as a new creation in Christ--a fresh start!

At the conclusion of each of our three services, we got to hear testimonies from those being baptized of what God has done in their lives and we got to celebrate with them as they got "dunked." I love the way this is done at Crossroads as each person's testimony is read so we get to see the transformational power of Christ in each person. It is always very cool and today was no exception. Today, there were a total of twelve who did this.

The best part though was what happened at the end of each of the services. Dean invited anyone who was feeling the tug of God to be obedient to that prompting and come forward to be baptized themselves (with no preparation at all other than a change of clothes). In all, there were 19 or 20 additional people baptized! While we didn't get to hear their testimonies, God moving in this way was the best testimonial of all. Yea God!

This not only was a tremendous day for those 31 or 32 lives who will forever be changed. It was also a big day for the rest of us as who have asked Jesus to be the leader of our lives as we were reminded that we are all new creations in Him!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

1 Corinthians 5:17

So Close & Yet So Far

I was watching a little bit of the Olympics last night and saw an American woman compete in downhill skiing (sorry, I can’t remember who it was). She ran, to me, what looked like a good race. In the end she finished 1.3 seconds behind the leader which, again to me, seems really good. But it was only good enough for 18th place!

That really struck me for some reason. Watch the second hand on your watch…1.3 seconds is not a lot of time. Yet, in this particular race, 16 other competitors were bunched within 1.3 seconds of one another. This isn’t a 40 yard dash either in which the times are in the 5 second range, the total time for the race was more than a minute and a half.

I’m sure this American skier ran through her race in her head. If I’d only come closer on that second gate, if I’d only stayed tucked a little tighter in the straightaway… Little things. They obviously make a difference, a big difference in a race like this.

They make a difference in our lives too. That little extra effort on the project you are working on. Going the extra mile to help your neighbor who is sick. All these things can make a huge difference in our lives and the lives of others.

Little things can make a big difference in a negative way too. That little glance at the attractive waitress. Taking that pen from work to use at home. These can become a slippery slope toward destruction.

So let's make it a point to pay attention to those little things so we can make a big difference in the big things!

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?
1 Corinthians 5:6

The Power of Leadership

According to a new survey released in January by national workplace expert Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant –TOT (John Wiley & Sons), U.S. employees spend 19.2 hours a week (13 hours during the work week and 6.2 hours on the weekend) worrying about “what a boss says or does.” Click here to read more.

That number is staggering to me. Almost half of the work week spent worrying about their boss. Sad.

Though that number of hours is shocking to me, it shouldn't be. I spent a couple of years with a boss who was the king of all tyrants. He's the guy I wrote about in Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders in which I contrasted his leadership style with the leadership styles of the great leaders in the Bible.

He was our president and I was vice-president of sales. I saw first-hand the negative effect a tyrannical boss can have on an organization, and not just emotionally. My boss hurt the company's bottom-line...significantly.

Like most companies, we had a mission statement. Something that was nice and flowery, something that sounded really good to clients. However, what we found is that informally, our mission statement changed. It became, Do whatever it takes to avoid the wrath of our boss. I'm serious about this.

This became the way we made decisions. What will make him less mad? Whatever the answer was to that question is how we proceeded. We were so afraid to make a mistake and make our boss angry that it paralyzed us and the company suffered.

On the other hand, our previous leader did things quite a bit differently. He allowed his team to do their jobs the way they thought was best and he allowed them to fail. He also saw his primary role as to remove obstacles so that we could more effectively do our jobs. As a result, we felt like trusted members of the team and we wanted to work that much harder. That team thrived and so did the company.

And then it came crashing down. That's the power of leadership--so lead well!

Synergy

In my men's group, we all recently took a survey called Your Unique Design which provides us a snapshot of how we were made. I have done these types of thing before, and though this provided me with similar results, it was done so in a different way which was helpful to me.

The big thing for me though, was how different the results were for everyone in our group. I was reminded as others in my group were sharing, that not one of the guys was made wrong. They were not a mistake and God knew what He was doing.

The thought also occurred to me that if everyone was the same, it would be a very boring world. Besides, life would be much more difficult.

Yes, people who are different than us might frustrate us or annoy us. They might even make us angry because they do things so differently. However, when others are different, that means that they have strengths that we don't have. This can be very helpful if we work together as God designed.

The definition of "synergy" is: the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. I believe that is what God had in mind when He created each of us. This wouldn't be possible if we were all made the same.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

Romans 12:4-6a

Leadership

I am a leadership junkie. I love to go to leadership conferences, good ones at least. I love to read books on leadership and I love to hang out with leaders. In short, I love learning more about it because I believe that everything rises and falls on leadership.

So it was with interest that I read an email recently which contained a list of things John Maxwell says we can do to become better leaders. I thought I'd share this list here:

Let go of your ego.
The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, "Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things."

Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United State Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first - and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.

Build positive relationships.
Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today's generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.

Work with excellence.
No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.

Rely on discipline, not emotion.
Leadership is often easy during the good times. It's when everything seems to be against you - when you're out of energy, and you don't want to lead - that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.

Make adding value your goal.
When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership - and its highest value.

Give your power away.
One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You're meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.

The Power of Failure

I was watching Joyce Meyer on TV with my wife Connie a few days ago. She had John Maxwell on as her guest. To be honest with you, I can't remember what it was they were talking about exactly. However, I remember one thing that John Maxwell said that has still stuck with me.

He said, "We impress people with our success but we impact people with our failures."

Wow. I know this to be true, but why is this?

Here are a few reasons why I agree with Maxwell that we impact others through failures more so than through successes:

• I listen to people who seem like they have it all together. But I really listen if they reveal to me that they have failed. Perhaps it is their humility that draws me toward them. Humility significantly increases the chance of making an impact.
• All of us fail at times. We are thus able to relate more easily to those who have also failed.
• When someone is really hurting about something, who else can best speak to that wound? Someone who has been wounded in the same way.

So remember, God never wastes a hurt. Fail forward!

12-3-1

Yesterday, Dean, my pastor shared with us about Jesus and the model He gave us for relationships. He said that in Jesus' outer circle were many people. One circle inside of that contained less people who regularly heard Jesus’ teachings. One circle inside that one contained His 12 disciples. Then inside of that was a circle of three: John, James and Peter. Then there was one more circle which contained John.

Jesus spent more time with each group of people as He went toward the middle. John, He shared everything with. John is actually referred to as the one He loved (John 19:26-27 among other places). It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t love anyone else—that is totally not true. It was just that John had a special relationship with Jesus. He was the one Jesus let get closer than any other.

Dean went on to say that this is an excellent model for each of us. 12-3-1. It would be good for each of us to have a group of around 12 people who have access to our lives and that we can “do life” with. Further, it would be great to have 2-3 people who can keep us on track. Then, to have one who has complete access to our life would be wonderful. We were meant to do life together, in community.

There were eight friendship roles discussed that we should each look for in our lives:

1. Coach – Who brings out the best in me?
2. Thinking – Who challenges my mind?
3. Listening – Who hears my dreams and my heart?
4. Sympathetic – Who cries with me?
5. Laughing – Who belly-laughs with me?
6. Correcting – Who respects me?
7. Playing – Who has fun with me?
8. Seeking – Who deepens my faith?

Answering these questions was a great exercise for me for two reasons. One, it showed me how incredibly blessed I am with the people that God has placed in my life. And, two, it revealed a couple of gaps that I have in my relationship roles that I need to fill.

I encourage you to answer these questions, then to seek to fill in the gaps.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
Proverbs 27:17

Patience and Faith

Approximately once per month I conduct a Private Briefing for those interested in learning more about Truth At Work. This morning was one of those mornings.

My awesome bride accompanies me to these meetings to help me get setup and to greet the guests and give them name tags, etc... (Did I mention to you that she is awesome?)

Because of the snow we received over the past several days, we decided to take Connie's car because it has four wheel drive. We arrived at the location of our briefing at around 7 AM (for the 7:30 meeting) only for me to realize that the keys to the building were at home on my key chain...D'OH!

We live 15 minutes away which means we would be returning at the start of our meeting if all went well (which also means that a locked building would be all that would greet our guests if they were early). So, we rushed back home and called our oldest daughter who is 21 (and amazing) and asked her to grab my keys and start driving toward us. She did so which saved us close to 10 minutes (did I mention my daughter is amazing?).

We turned around with keys in hand and tried to hurry as best we could, yet it seemed like everyone wanted to pull out in front of us and drive extra slow this morning...Ugh! It seems each vehicle in front of us could have had a sign on it like the truck above. My patience, and my faith, were being put to the test.

All the while, I was praying and reminding myself that I can do nothing about the situation. In my head I knew that God had it figured out and that I needed to just release it to Him, yet I was trying to control the situation from where I sat. Not only did I find out that was impossible, all it did was create more unwelcome anxiety in me.

Though stressed at times, in the end, I did a fairly good job of remaining calm (nowhere near perfect, but better than I used to be!). We arrived back at our location with five minutes to spare and only two cars were waiting on us in the parking lot. We quickly got setup and started only five minutes late with 12 in attendance.

The meeting went great and two big lessons were once again learned by me:
1. Always bring your keys if you need to unlock something
2. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Enhanced Performance

A friend of mine named Brian Keel puts out a weekly devotional that I receive via email (if you would like to receive this, simply email him here). It is usually very good. I thought last week's was excellent so I thought I'd share it here:

Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) were in the news again recently when Mark McGwire admitted, as many have long suspected, that he used steroids during his playing career. The general consensus is that his confession was prompted by his return to the game as a hitting coach and was timed to allow the dust to settle before spring training begins. Plenty of what he said felt like justification and covering of tracks but I think he was right on at least one point.

Steroids, HGH, Synthetic Testosterone and all the other PEDs are against the rules. So using them is cheating, plain and simple. However, a person doesn’t just take these substances, put their feet up and wait to get big and strong. The only way to get the benefit is to head to the gym and work and work and work. The PEDs allow a person to workout harder and more often that they could otherwise. They don’t make you strong all by themselves; they just make your hard work pay off faster.

In the same way, reading your Bible and going to church won’t make you a stronger Christian if you just kick back and put your feet up after. You need to take what you’ve learned and work and work and work at it. These activities enhance your ability to follow Christ and have an impact on the lives of others. It makes your hard work more effective. And it’s all perfectly legal.

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9

The Richest Man in Town

Humble, thankful, joyful and always eager to help and encourage others. Those are just a few of the traits the richest man in town had. Invest three minutes and check out some of the others above. I think it will inspire you today!

From a Place of Worship & Rest

Last November, I had a very interesting meeting with someone who had spent the past five years on a prophetic team at The International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. I have to be honest, I didn't even know such teams existed.

Anyway, after our prayer time at the beginning of our time together, she shared with me some things that God was speaking to her about me. One of those things was that I would get my best ideas in the coming months and years coming out of a place of worship and rest.

I thought, That's nice. But deep in my heart, I believe I was actually saying something more like, Yea, right. I have never met you before in my life. Like I'm really going to believe that.

You see, I have always felt that in order to get breakthroughs, you just need to focus more and work harder. So, what I was now hearing sounded like a foreign language to me.

In late December, I then attended the onething conference put on by IHOP in Kansas City. During that conference, Mike Bickle delivered a message on loving God with all our hearts which really rocked my world (I highly encourage you to click here and invest 38 minutes to watch it). During the message he shared that according to the Bible we are incapable of loving God totally on our own. We need His love to be poured into our hearts so we can love God properly.

Anyway, since that time, I have been asking for this increase of love in my heart. And, in this past week, I have truly noticed a change in my heart. I have sensed my love actually growing for God. Sounds weird, I know, but it's true.

Yesterday, I was at Toledo's House of Prayer from 9:30 - 11:30, which I try to do each Wednesday morning. I found myself just worshipping God and resting. I was actually not thinking about anything but Him (which is rare for me). And guess what happened?

I actually got seven or eight different ideas just dropped in my spirit. It was like they came from left field. Some were related, some not.

Then today during lunch I was working out and listening to praise and worship songs and the same thing happened! Three new ideas.

Amazing. At least to me. There must really be something to this. God is so good!

I do believe that God is changing my paradigm a bit, no? So what do you say--would you like to join me on this journey of seeking Him through worship and rest?

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Matthew 6:33

Creativity

Invest three minutes and check out this video of Raymond Crowe--very entertaining.

As I watched this a couple of things hit me:
1. I was reminded of how great wholesome entertainment can be
2. It is amazing the creative things that can be done with the bodies that God gave us

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14a

Overcoming Adversity

My family has become a fan of American Idol since its second season on the air. It's one of the few shows that most of us watch with regularity.

This past week there were two contestants who really touched me. The first was 18 year-old Shelby Dressel who was born with a nerve issue which does not allow her to smile on the right side of her face. In the interview shown above, she admitted she is very self-conscious about this. However, as you will see, she does quite well in her audition.

Below, is the audition of Dave Pittman, a guy who was diagnosed at the age of nine with Tourette syndrome. He also knocks it out of the park. Watch it below.

I love it when people overcome adversity!

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:3