How It Looks Is Not The Issue

When it comes to change, that's one area we all have a hard time coping with.  No matter how much we say we like change, the truth is, when change affects us then we don't like it.

King David wanted to build God a Temple.  God said David couldn't but would allow his son, Solomon, to do so.  So David made all the preparations and plans for the place where people would gather to worship God.

Years later, Solomon, constructs the Temple.  It was awesome to say the least, but it was different from previous ways "church" was done.

Up to that point, the only "church" they had experienced was the portable tent design given by God to Moses for the original tabernacle, however it was clear that Solomon's temple was approved by the Lord.  The Lord Himself had given David the new plans, and David passed these plans on to Solomon. (1 Chronicles 28:11-19)

How much more must we remember that it's not what the church does and doesn't look like; lots of lights, smoke, coffee, loud music, organ, candles, video projector or hymnals is not the issue.  The main question should always be, "Is God's presence there?"

Where His presence is, there is fullness of joy;* joy even with the changes.


*Psalms 16:11

Momentum

Momentum is that wonderful, mysterious and mystical thing that everyone wants on their side, yet doesn't really know how to produce or harness it.
We know it when we see it; we know when we've lost it, but how do you get it?
Allow me to submit to you what I call, "the law of momentum" it goes:

"Doing new things creates momentum but those things you did will never sustain momentum."


Whenever a group, church or business does new things it causes the wheels of momentum to start moving.  However there are other factors in place currently that either cause that momentum to slow or even stop.  They are: the leader, the system and the programs; and while we don't want to admit it, when momentum is slowing we must look at all the factors currently in place to see which one needs adjusting.

The most common to replace is the leader, because after all he or she is the most visible and easiest to "blame" when momentum is lost.  Sometimes yes, a new leaders is needed BUT while you can put a "new" leader in place and see an improvement happen; the real issue is reviled once the "newness" has worn off.  It's simple, if things go back to the way they were or the same problems surface even after new leader, after new leader, then it's not a leader problem it's a system problem.

The hardest to address is losing momentum because of a program issue.  Because we all become attached to "things" that we love or grew up on or created ourselves!
Remember what created momentum won't sustain it.  This is why the McRib shows up and then disappears often.  I believe the corporate world understands this much better than the church world.
We tend to tie a "bible verse and theology" to why we do everything we do in the church.  Don't crucify me.  We should have Biblical convictions for doing the work.  But know when you do that to every program and department you have just set up that program to become the very golden calf that one day you will have to tear down.
Simply doing the same thing over and over for many years is not the goal. It's not new.  In fact it's the very thing that is causing the loss of momentum.  It's why many times the wheel is spinning but all it's doing is creating a rut.

Knowing the difference between tweaking a current system and program or letting it die and creating something new is the start to understanding and creating momentum in your organization.

As we watch the events unfold in Egypt and it's leadership, part of me can't help to ask the question, "Do some of our churches have more in common with the Egypt situation than we are willing to admit?"

Go and do new things in your churches!  Be willing to change the programs, the systems and if need be the leader.  Move forward with message!  Create momentum!!!

Seven Specific Prayer Points for Egypt

Due to the current turmoil in Egypt out trip has been canceled and will be rescheduled once we see things have settled down.  Our missionary contact and good friend, Dr. Sameh Sadik, sent this message.  Please pray for him and these areas he outlines.  Thank you.


Tonight: Looting has been reduced tremendously, safety is being restored into Cairo and throughout the country. I would like to request pray for 7 specific Prayer points:

1. The most urgent need for prayer is Food Supplies due to the curfew that is now 18 hours per day. As you have seen, the protesters defy the curfew but most of the people in the country, and especially the Farmers and Food distributors and manufacturers have not been able to transport the needed supplies for the population. Many foods are being rationed especially Bread. Pray that the Food supply will be sufficient for the needs of the people.
2. Tomorrow the Police force will be reactivated & Pray that the Escaped Prisoners will be recaptured, thus reducing the amount of Criminals in the streets.
3. Pray for a peaceful end of the demonstrations
4. Pray Internet Communication can be restored
5. Pray for Wisdom to those in authority to take decisions that would consider the well being of the people in Egypt over their own benefits.
6. Pray for a Peaceful end of the demonstrations will expedite bringing normality
7. Pray the Church to show the Hope of Jesus Christ throughout this Crisis.

Top 3 Signs You May Be Missing the Christmas Spirit

#3: You begin a Facebook status post with the phrase, "Come on People..." or "Hey People..." when wanting to make a point.  It has the same ring as when the Prodigal's brother said to his dad, "this son of yours."  It makes the relationships of life seem so distant and finger pointing.

#2: You get all bent out of shape when someone writes "X-Mas" instead of Christmas.  While I too am an advocate for keeping Christ in Christmas, the fact remains that the original term X-Mas was created with just as much spiritual significance than the original phrase Merry Christmas.  In fact, do a study on the letter X in Greek to find out how silly you've been making war out of a non-war issue.  By the way if it was an issue worth getting upset about, then shouldn't we be all excited and "victorious" when we drive down the road and see a yellow sign with the words "PED X-ING?"  Don't we interpret that as "Pedestrian Crossing?"  Hey! The word "cross" in a secular sign!!!

#1:  You can't stand to hear someone say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."  There are a lot of ways to say, "hello", "I love you" and "no thank you."  Same goes for wishing someone joy during this season. I've never heard someone use the term Happy Holidays to blatantly slam someones faith in Christ or to shun that person. (not that it doesn't happen) It's just we live in a society where 83% don't go to a church and/or don't have a Christian background.  So to most, saying Happy Holiday is as natural as saying Happy Birthday. I'm reminded of the words, "they will know we are Christians by our love."  There are Biblical convictions and personal values.  Don't die on the mountain of personal values and lose the opportunity to one day talk about Biblical convictions to someone.




P.S  There is another, it's called "You write me several paragraphs on explaining why you do any of the above mentioned and why I'm wrong."  Which in term just proves my point.

Appetite for More

Ever want more?  Sure, we all do, that's the nature of appetites.  No matter how much you have if you have an appetite for food, success, power, love, money........you want more.

In my travels, one of the most common things I hear people say is they want more meaningful relationships.

More relationships?  No, more "meaningful" relationships!

In a day where pretty much everyone is at your finger tips by way of cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, txt messages, email  and dozens of other social networks there is still a longing for more, but not just more, more meaningful relationships.

So how do we get there?  There's a lot of things we can do, but for a moment let me share a thought from Philippians 3:10-11  "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

While Paul is encouraging the Church of Philippi to "press towards the goal" of living for Christ.  I see also in this scripture one of the keys to developing more meaningful relationships.  Many times our friendships hang out at the "knowledge of His resurrection."  We fellowship with other believers and build connections based on the fact we're Christians.  That's a good things, it's a starting point.  But to stay there is not only shallow, but encourages our appetite for more.

"Fellowship of His sufferings,"  this is real rubber meets the road when it comes to going deeper.  Who have you suffered with?  Who are the friends that you have cried together, have gone through the pain of life with?  Who knows your struggles, temptations and shortcomings?

"Being conformed to His death."  Death stinks!  Let's face it, not to many dead people walking around these days.  Dead to agendas, dead to selfishness gain. Dead to excuses.   You know what I mean.  I'm guilty.  I've often used social media to promote me.  Getting to a place where everyone in the relationship is giving of themselves till it hurts is a hard place to get.   It's living a life where your house, your phone bill, your food, your clothes, your children, your job, your gas is not yours anymore.  It's His and theirs.

But the truth be told, when you get there you find out it doesn't hurt at all because you cant hurt a dead person.

Going deeper is a process, hopefully you got some ideas for your next step in having more meaningful relationships.

Layers of One

1 Corinthians 12:12 "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ."

Hopefully we are all aware of the beautiful illustration we become as we, being different, come together as a body of believers to make up the Body of Christ; it's truly a wonderful thing to witness.

While pondering and thinking on the subject of commitment to the Body I'd like to share a thought in regards to how to make those connections stronger, more meaningful.  The goal is to go deep in our connections to each other and cause a tighter bond to the rest of the body.

I'll relate it to the natural
Our body's biggest organ is the skin, and it's comprised of three layers:  The Epidermis, which is the top layer that is comprised of dead cells and it's brushed off. The Dermis, you can't see because it's hidden under your epidermis. The dermis contains nerve endings, blood vessels, oil glands, and sweat glands. It also contains collagen and elastin, which are tough and stretchy.  Then The Subcutaneous Layer is made mostly of fat and helps your body stay warm and absorb shocks, like if you bang into something or fall down. The subcutaneous layer also helps hold your skin to all the tissues underneath it.  This layer is also where the start of growth happen.

With that said, there are three layers of connection to the body we need to move people through.
 The shallowest, but still important like our epidermis, is called acceptance.
Acceptance is fleeting and arbitrary and often external or a felt craving.  The need to feel accepted is very important and it's the easiest to address because it's often the easiest "seen" need to meet.
Next is the dermis, if you will, called belonging.
Belonging is grounded in something more permanent.  This is where we move people from just simply feeling like they are a part of something into the knowledge that they are intrinsically connected to a place, or people, beyond themselves.
If people don't know why the should belong to something, or how they bring unity to that something to some degree, there is little reason for them to stick around.* (*quote from the book: The Slow Fade)
The third level is, committed, much like the Subcutaneous Layer .  When people feel accepted and know they belong they will make the commitment.  Sounds simple and no doubt many would say they are committed, but the truth is many just linger around accepted.
Committed people look for ways to volunteer, instead of being asked to volunteer.
Committed people don't leave over offense, instead they look to bring healing over offense.
Committed people don't have to be asked to give, they have to be asked to stop giving.
Committed people are committed to change and help make it happen, rather than notice a change has taken place.
Committed people honor the past experiences but are ultimately focused on changing the status quo and influencing tomorrow.

Committed people live as one.

The Enemies of Unity

As I was going through old notes on some subjects concerning leadership.  I ran across a message that Dave Ramsey gave back in 07' on the subject of unity at Catalyst conference.
The five points are his, the sub points are from collective sources I've gathered over the years that I believe go hand it hand to his 5 points regarding the subject. I found them incredibility meaningful to any group or organization who is wanting unity in their group.  Hope you enjoy some good sound wisdom from, Dave, a man who knows his stuff.

The Enemies of Unity


1. Poor Communication
 When speaking to a group, team or staff it's important to repeat often.  No one gets in one time what you've spent months dreaming, planning, making strategies and articulating to present vision for them.  We have all heard the phrase, "we need clear lines of communication."  But what does that mean to your group?
2 People or programs = 2 Lines of Communication
3 People or programs = 6 Lines of Communication
4 People or programs = 12 Lines of Communication
5 People or programs = 20 Lines of Communication
6 People or programs = 30 Lines of Communication
 As the group grows, so do the need to find multiple ways to communicate well.

2.  Gossip
Gossip is simply when a negative is discussed with anyone who can't help solve the problem.

3. Unresolved Disagreements
Unresolved disagreements happen when a leader doesn't know they exist or when that leader avoids confrontation.  The truth is a little confrontation cleanses the wounds of confusion and allows the individuals to move forward in a spirit of unity.  It's also important not to confuse "challenging the process" to be misread as "challenging authority."  These two are completely different.  And a team who is under the authority should have a welcome mat at the door of challenge the process.

4. Lack of Shared Purpose
It's been best said, "anything with two heads is a freak of nature and either needs to be killed or put under glass in a circus."  Because that's what your organization will resemble when players on the team don't share the same purpose, it'll die or look like a circus.

5. Sanctioned Incompetence
"Team members will eventually become demotivated when someone else on the team can't or won't do their job and a leader will not take action."--Dave Ramsey
I believe this is one of the biggest obstacles when dealing with building unity; especially in the faith culture, we want to give grace (as we should) but most the time we're not giving grace, we are simply being enablers.
Grace looks at someone who can't and gives the tools, teaching, mentoring so that person can.
Grace looks at someone who won't and honors them on their way out, either of the group or that area on the team.

When unity is valued in the group culture, the team will also act to keep these enemies at the gate.