Last week, I told you about God's call for us to leave it all behind in moving to Columbia to start Awaken. There's another reason why de-emphasizing the form of church was and still is important.
Last week, I told you about God's call for us to leave it all behind in moving to Columbia to start Awaken. There's another reason why de-emphasizing the form of church was and still is important.
Posted in Awaken, Church Planting, Vision | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Bono says it so well at the end of the U2 tune, "Walk On"...
Gotta admit that I didn't exactly jump for joy when it became clear that God was calling us to Columbia. I sort of wondered why God would call us back to our hometown when Jesus didn't do so well when He passed through His hometown (Matthew 13:57-58). :-)Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme...
Posted in Awaken, Church Planting, My Life, Vision | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
I needed this today. Maybe you do, too.
I often tell people that I feel like we're in the Research & Development Department with our lab coats and goggles on. Lots of "what's that button do?" kind of conversations! What we're doing right now is nowhere near perfect. It probably never will be. It might not even work. And, that's okay.The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all. - Seth Godin
Posted in Leadership, Vision | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Posted in Conferences, Vision | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
The last few weeks have been the most frustrating weeks of our journey in Columbia. Lots of second-guessing, questions, confusion, impatience, and sleepless nights. When you sign up for leading in new directions, seasons like this are inevitable - Seth Godin calls it the dip.
But, it still stinks when you hit one.
I've never done or been a part of a work similar to what God has called us to do here. Most decisions that I make are, at best, educated guesses. Consequently, my prayer life has never been more important or stronger, I think! I'm learning more everyday what Paul meant when challenged the church at Thessalonica to "pray without ceasing."
If I'm honest, I have to say that my patience has been stretched to the max throughout this journey. Sometimes, it gets stretched so far that I wonder if God is even there or if we've just completely screwed something up.
Then, last Wednesday, we gathered with the people that God is assembling together to launch this movement. We shared our hearts, we wrestled openly with what God is up to in and around us, and we prayed. One person shared this passage of Scripture and it rocked my world:
And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. - Habakkuk 2:2-4 (ESV)
Too often, I am the guy who's soul is puffed up and not upright within me. When that happens, I question God's timing, work, calling, and presence in and around me. I live like everything is up to me.
But, God knows exactly what He's doing (surprise, surprise). He calls me to wait. He's not dragging His feet. He's preparing me for what He's going to drop. He's preparing our people for what He is going to drop.
The vision is coming. It will not delay. It will not be late. It will be right on time. When it comes, it will be clear. When it comes, I have to make sure it's clear to those who will work it. It needs to be clear so they can run unhindered in the right direction.
My call is to live by faith. My faith is not in what I can see, it's in what I cannot see. My faith is not in what I know, it's in Who I know.
I went to bed Tuesday night frustrated. I went to bed Wednesday night encouraged. I woke up Thursday morning and felt like a pastor again, not just a dreamer/visionary. The vision is coming...we're living by faith and waiting.
Posted in The Word, Vision | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Yesterday, I spoke to the student at my home church. Talk about deja vu all over again...man, it was weird thinking that just a few years earlier, I was sitting in the seats listening to the speaker wondering when he would ever finish...:-)
We went to the worship service after the student gathering and I saw one of my big takeaways from Exponential in action: the power of giving people living illustrations.
Instead of having a full-blown sermon, about 6 people shared stories of how God has been at work in their lives. Some shared how they began to trust Jesus with their lives. Some shared about unique provision. One lady shared a powerful lesson of how she learned what it meant to be adopted into God's family by being adopted into her earthly family. Each story pulled you in more and more.
The pastor, who is also my father in-law didn't have to preach anything. All he had to do was say, "This is how God is at work in these people - He's at work in you, too." From there he gave people the opportunity to take steps similar to those taken by the people who shared their stories.
Powerful stuff! As Andy said last week, "Stories do more to communicate the vision of your church than anything else?"
I'm curious...how do you tell stories in your church? Leave a comment and let us know...
Posted in Church Strategy, Stories, Vision | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
I get that question all the time these days. And I wish I had a "knock your socks off" answer. But to most, my answer is largely underwhelming.
If you would have told me last spring that we would be where we are, doing what we are doing today, in Columbia, SC, I would have laughed you out the door and wondered what you were smoking. There are still plenty of mornings when I wake up, look at the ceiling, and wonder, "Where am I?" It's still that bizarre.
As we have made this transition and fully embraced our calling to Columbia and our new lives that come with the calling, we have had one prevailing thought the entire time:
Do the next right thing.
That's it. I seriously wake up everyday and ask God for wisdom to see and courage to do the next right thing. That takes on a lot of different forms.
More important than any of that is my time with God. He is doing so much inside of me right now...it hurts sometimes...it's blow my mind encouraging sometimes. Either way, I'm thankful.
I feel like the scrappy underdog most days. We're flying under the radar. No strategic plan...no staff...no logo...shoot, we don't even have an official name :-)...but I love it. God is doing so much...I'm just trying to stay out of the way and keep my ear to the ground for the next right thing.
So, there you have it. Probably didn't help much...probably created more questions. That's okay, ask away. I'll be happy to answer. In the meantime, pray...for us...for Columbia...for what God is doing here. He's up to a lot...
Posted in Church Planting, Columbia, My Life, Vision | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
A friend/entrepreneur/advisor gave me a valuable reminder that I needed big time. He asked me a simple question:
Can you summarize your life mission in one sentence?
It's funny how much time we spend playing around with words and phrasing to get the perfect, one sentence mission statement for our churches, organizations, etc. Then, if we're serious about actually doing it, we go to work aligning strategy and systems to focus on advancing that one sentence mission.
Meanwhile, our personal lives are all over the place.
I am so guilty of this...especially when I don't have a "real job" and a "real office" to go to everyday. That conversation came at the perfect time and I have taken that challenge to heart. My friend is convinced that one of the biggest keys to his success is that he learned who he is and who he's not early on and ordered his life accordingly. While God has given me loads of lessons on leadership, mission, church, the gospel, etc. over the last 4 months, the most challenging lessons learned have been about me.
So, can I boil it all down to one clear and simple sentence that will be my controlling mission everyday God gives me? I'm still working on it...:-)
Posted in Values, Vision | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Had breakfast this morning with a person whom I did not know three months ago, but now consider a close ally, mentor, and friend. And it's such a God thing that we connected when we connected.
This guy has learned and forgotten more than I ever will learn about leadership, starting something from scratch, fund-raising, success/failure, and following Jesus through it all. His only mode is "dream big" and he stretches me every time we talk.
In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan had a bizarre idea: rather than sitting around waiting on the numbers to make sense, maybe my teenaged armor bearer and I can take on an entire Philistine outpost by ourselves. Oh, and we'll have to scale two cliffs and the valley inbetween to get there, but no worries, God is able to work mightily on our behalf.
I love the armor bearer's response:
"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."
With that, they go and God does in fact show up mightily on their behalf. Not only do they take out the entire outpost, but God sends an earthquake that sends the entire Philistine army into total confusion. The story ends in verse 23:
"So the LORD rescued Israel that day..."
God used one guy who had an audacious vision to rescue a nation. But what if the armor bearer said, "No." What if the armor bearer questioned his sanity and told him to go back to bed? What if the armor bearer told him, "You can't do that - it's not in the rules."
So much of what God wants to do in and through us hinges on who we surround ourselves with. We don't need "yes" men and women as much as we need encouragers. Encouragers don't just pat you on the back, tell you you're perfect, and confirm all your ideas as God's ideas. True encouragers push, pull, poke, challenge, ask questions, give advice, offer suggestions...all with the end of EMPOWERING you to go do what God has put on your heart to do.
I don't know what I would do without the empowering encouragers God has brought into my life. When I approach them with questions, dreams, ideas, etc. and say, "I need your help," the avalanche of wisdom, experience, and encouragement most definitely empowers me. I came out with of my time today with a napkin full of notes and a heart full of encouragement!
Look around you and decide if you have at least one empowering encourager. If you don't, go find one...NOW!
Posted in Leadership, Life Change, My Life, Vision | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
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