Transitions

I can still remember people telling me as a young man that time will fly by and before I know it the children will be out of the house. I can still remember thinking... "Old people have lost their minds!" I can't get to success fast enough. I wanted bigger and better and it never seemed to get to me fast enough! NOW... in the middle of my life I have one child in college and one entering high school. I look at all the people with little babies and start to think about all the things already behind me. I can't believe the old people were right!!!!

I don't know if anyone will ever see this but I needed to say it, so I'm saying it, "Parents, success at work is wonderful but it's my family, our memories, my investment in their lives, dates with my wife, road trips with my family, simply games with the kids, and their passion for Jesus that I hold onto the tightest. Invest in your faith and family at every stage, or each transition in life will be moments of regret, rather than moments of celebration! Take it from an old person who has lost his mind!

Participate

I found this story on Don Miller's blog, it's the story of the Goff family from San Diego, and their New Years Day Parade. More than a decade ago, when the kids were young, the family sat around bored on New Year's Day. Dad decided boredom wasn’t fitting for a day that God made, so he asked the kids for suggestions, and they decided to have a family parade down their small street. They notified neighbors, and the family decided NOBODY could watch their parade, that people could only participate. Today, the parade is huge. It’s an annual, street tradition, complete with a Grand Marshal and Queen. And still nobody is allowed to watch. Nobody can sit on the curb. Everybody marches in the parade.
It’s a wonderful, true story about how much better life is when we participate. If you’re not sure how to start 2011, make this resolution with me: I will not watch 2011, I will participate. Here’s a little video Richard Goff made celebrating this year's parade (just a few days ago) and a reminder of how meaningful life can be when we get up off the curb and join in! 2011 is more than a new year, it’s the start of a new decade. Take some risks and live a great story this year, sacrifice for somebody else, and you’ll set the tone for the next ten years.

Big Moments

I'm sitting in a back room waiting for a wedding to start and I my mind started to wonder about the gravity of some moments. I'm fixing to help a great young couple enter a transformational covenant. A covenant ordained by God and a huge step in both of their lives. I'm being told to call my baby girl a Senior and I'm overwhelmed by the magnitude of this season in her life. Our church is in the middle of a huge step in our history! So, as I look around I'm amazed by these moments and they are huge but in these moments I am also becoming more aware at the power of God's presence and even though these moments are huge to me they are completely in God's hand! Those dealing with illness, job loss, life transitions... God is in control!!!

Identity

When people get caught doing something they're not suppose to be doing, we often hear the phrase "That's not who I really am!" When Tiger Woods got caught he told the media, "that's not who I really am!" However, I was recently reminded about the identity of our integrity. We are NOT the sum total of our claims but the sum total of our personal decisions. Many people have to wear some sort of mask at work or in public. We say what we're suppose to say or do what we're suppose to do, but who we are is not defined by that person but by the decisions made when the mask is off. Our reputations are defined by how well we wear the mask, but our integrity is defined by the decisions we make when the mask is off. I am who the collection of my decisions reveal me to be. Last week God has reminded me that, "I am not who people see I am who He sees!" Decisions made on principle and not on the possible consequences are decisions that reveal a lot about a person.
Who are you? I asked that question a lot of myself recently and I am reminded how much I rely on my mask to define me. Yet I know that God sees through that and He is not pleased with a great reputation and a weak integrity. I want to encourage you to join me in seeking His face in private, make your home a house of prayer, your thought life a sanctuary of worship, and your private actions a lifestyle of praise.

40

Well today I turn 40. I've never wanted to grow up or old but I've always wanted to make a difference. Someone told me the other day I had reached the half-time of my life and it made me stop and ask the question what have I learned and am I really making a difference. So I sat down and wrote out 40 life lessons, 40 nuggets I've learned in life. Some people ride 40 miles on the bike when they reach 40, I even know a guy who ran 40 miles on his 40th birthday... well I'm just going to give you these 40 statements of life. I hope these help!

1. My career goals at 25 we're success driven, my goals at 40 are significant driven.
2. People are more important than programs.
3. God puts difficult people on our lives to show us what we think about ourselves and to show us what we think about people who God created in His image and for His glory.
4. Wealth is defined by your relationship at home and not by the money in the bank.
5. Integrity is more important than talent.
6. Honor is a lost characteristic and needs to be revived!
7. Work ethic is essential in life.
8. Life is short and will be wasted if we don't see every decision as a step on a path.
9. A limited amount of time to communicate with someone will force you to choose between pushing your info through bad conduct or reveal your commitment to maintain character.
10. You cannot conquer habitual sins without strong accountability.
11. Confession is a sign of spiritual strength not weakness.
12. God has an option about everything.
13. Leadership is earned not given.
14. You cannot love someone the way you want to be loved you must love them the way they receive love.
15. Honor your parents the way you want to be honored by your children.
16. Prayer draws God's will into clarity.
17. God's word is practical for today's culture but must be read as our unwavering authority.
18. Children don't need more friends they need parents.
19. Equipping others is the sign of a growing leader.
20. People don't pay preachers to preach they pay us for the stuff between Sundays!!!
21. Legacy is defined by your character during the journey.
22. Our integrity is truly revealed when we are alone!
23. Time management determines a day's worth. Wasted days develop into missed opportunities and missed opportunities result in a wasted life.
24. Communication technology has robbed us of communication skills. Be where you are and embrace the value of those around you!
25. At 25 I knew it all and by 40 I'm simply holding onto the knowledge of my Savior.
26. If I prepare my children for greatness in every arena of life but fail to teach them how to have a spiritual hunger for God's glory I have failed!
27. It all belongs to the Lord... live like it!
28. God is pleased when His children enjoy their lives!
29. We will never make a difference in the world until we enjoy being saved more than the world enjoys being lost.
30. The bride of Christ must stop being angry!
31. Once you trade your old life in for a new one in Christ you've begun the only life you will be allowed to offer at the feet of Jesus.
32. Life's too short for bad theology.
33. Your family is worth fighting for!
34. Either satan lied to us and we can have it all or God is lying to us and we really can only have one master.
35. God created a perfect world.
36. Human response to God's world was sin. We finger painted on a master piece.
37. God responded in love and sent Jesus Christ to die in our place for our sins.
38. God is inviting each and every one of us into a relationship with Him.
39. Salvation is a gift. Never forget the sacrifice of God's grace is not our abandonment of sinful pleasures but Jesus' abandonment of heaven for our sake!
40. Trust Jesus with your life, not just your eternity, but your life today!

Thank you God for the wealth of my life!

Just Ask

In our service Sunday I asked everyone to write an action point after the sermon. I was blown away by the application of God's word in the lives of the people. Every Sunday we study God's word and I wonder just how much is allowed to alter decisions and lives. Sunday was encouraging because showed me the real life application of God's word. I praise God watching God's word still transform lives.
Every week we go to church and it's easy to enjoy the day and never allow the encounter with God to transform our lives. I've always believed that every time we enter into God's pesence we can not leave the same way we entered. God's word and God's presence is not a good show to experience but an eternal holy encounter that must be handled with great humility and openness to transformation as He reveals Himself to us. When we are moved to action we demonstrate His authority in our lives.

Equipping Individuals, Leading People, and Controlling the Mob

Leadership is fragile balance of equipping others to do great things and leading the people to fulfill a collective vision. I use to think leadership was all about charisma and personal investment. I had a clear cut vision and had made an investment in the lives of those around me, therefore I had earned the right to lead. Truthfully, I may have earned the right to hold the title but I had not given the people a reason to sacrifice for the vision. I had a great vision, a God honoring direction for the church but many could not see how the vision helped their personal relationships at home and others may have caught my vision but it was still MY vision. In my attempts to control the mob I had forgotten to equip individuals. My insecurities caused me to see every question as a challenge and every disagreement as a move towards dissension. I forgot that answers and involvement are essential ways to take my vision and make it their vision. Increased involvement creates increased leadership and increased leadership creates increased ownership! I have always been committed to see church as a safe place, a place to come as you are with no feelings of shame or fear. However, in my attempts to control the mob from turning God's house of prayer into Robert's rules of religious business I had forgotten how to equip individuals to buy into ownership.
Leadership has certain universal attributes school leaders, business leaders, home leaders, and spiritual leaders all have a responsibility to equip those around them. Leadership is not defined by a position or a title but by our ability to influence and equip others to catch a vision and to dream a dream.