Take Courage! Some thoughts...

A month ago, I was able to hang in So Cal at a leadership conference. While I was there I was able to be challenged in many different aspects of COURAGE! So here area few quotes that were inspiring to me throughout the CATALYST Conference: • Scot McKnight (Professor, Author) o Dreams- give us hope, are connected to ministries, and connected to leadership. o Current enemies in Christian culture are: Muslims, homosexuals, homeless, differing political views…they are enemies because they are never in our homes. Jesus invited cultural enemies into eat with Him. Why don’t we? • Mark Batterson (Church Planter, Author) o There are ways to do church that no one has thought of yet. o “Favor of God is what God does for you that you can’t do for yourself.” o Ways to amp up your prayer life-pray the Bible. o Using the passage out of Joshua: Prayer is practical-and has no shortcuts. o We need 20/20 Vision- a 2020 vision for our church. o A Vision beyond our resources. If we can’t have a big vision that God can meet, well then…we should questions a lot of things about ourselves. • John Acuff (Blogger, Comedian, Author, Speaker) o We live in the “I AM, BUT GENERATION” (professionally)- this is the generation who says they are/do ________, but really want to be or hope to be/do ________. o In 2011, 84% of people wanted to look for a new job. (recent poll Manpower survey, as reported on CNN, HuffPo) o We have to close the gap between our job and our dream job. o We have to figure out what our dream is! Jud Wilhite & Mike Foster (People of the Second Chance) o Grace is Christians killer App. o We have to overthrow judgment & liberate love o Grace will draw people to your church. o We line up our value and worth based on how culture is. o Our entertainment is other’s failure (Charlie Sheen) o Grace is not just about forgiveness, it is about life. DAVID PLATT  When you know God truly, you love God deeply.  4.5 Billion don’t know Christ.  Spiritual needs and physical needs  We don’t have times to play games.  Followers of Christ-Jesus almost tries and talk them out of it.  “I’m trying to talk you out of following Jesus.”  More crowds, John 6, Luke 14, Leave your mom & dad  Pick up your Cross(a instrument for torture, death, humiliation)  Jesus is enough.  Come to Jesus to get Jesus.  The Word of God & the Holy Spirit is accomplishing the mission of the church.  It is fine without all the resources. Andy Stanley • A single act of courage is a tipping point to change something. • All great stories of the Bible starts with an act of courage: Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Jacob, David, Gideon, Shadrach/Meshach/ Abednego • Stories of the Bible are so big and dramatic-ours probably won’t be. Dave Ramsey • Enduring organizations have core principles that guide daily decisions. • 5 MATTERS o People Matter o Incredible Teams & Culture Matters o Slow & Steady Matters o Financial Principles Matters o A Higher Calling Matters John Perkins-Interview o “Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it is to face head on that which fears you.” o Interview about his role in the Civil Rights era and his efforts to bridge reconciliation and development with Christian principles and community efforts. Rev Run • Be Open, God will use opportunities to expand you. • I don’t just believe in miracles, I depend on them. • Give God the Glory! • Do your best, forget the rest. Christine Caine • We can’t avoid risk if we tried. • Brisk living is a risk. • Life is risky! • Death is a real statistic- 1 out of 1 die. • God called us to a risky life, not a predictable, safe life. NANCY ORTBERG • How would your organization look if you had courage? • Don’t allow the celebrity culture into your church. • Omni-competent- we are not. • Conflict- great leaders don’t avoid it! • Be Courageous, not a Jerk. JACK DORSEY • Only the courageous will solve problems that have yet to be addressed. • It’s not lucky, it’s a point in which something you see a need, and do something. MATT CHANDLER • Living out the gospel demands a courageous lifestyle. • Weapon 1-Blood of Christ- Ephesians 2:13 • Weapon 2- Word of God- @ Timothy 3:16-17 • Weapon 3- Promises of Covenant- Heb 9:14 • You cannot control anything, but you can POINT TO THE KING. Britt Merrick • Intimacy with God creates pure courage. • Mark 3:13-15- they climbed together. • Be with HIM! • We have functionally left our first love. • Christ is on Mission Randall Wallace  What may move me, will move others.  Real story behind Braveheart scene- they all wanted to fight and respond-but director had to re-take a few times.  Our gifts from God are used to connect us to others.

Flavor of the Month- Charlie Sheen

It seems we are always caught up in some new flavor of the month. This is normally something that comes and goes or entertains us for a certain time frame. I have found that these cycles seem to spin in 3s. This is what I mean: most entertainers or forms of entertainment come in cycles of 3 months or 3 years. Think about it- with the exception of a group like U2, most careers of musical entertainers keep them in the spotlight for about 3 years. Look at athletes(especially NFL players) they normally give you 3 amazing years and then they are no longer the player they were toted to be, or given killer contracts and their drive to be amazing beseeches them. Products, songs, TV shows, jobs, the list goes on and on.
Right now we are on the flavor of the month in an entertainer who is pretty much gone crazy. 3 months from now, he will either be dead, or explaining the melt down to us on Oprah or a Barbara Walters show. He has been around awhile-no doubt about that. Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the flash of epic 80s movies with Sheen in them are still classics. By definition, Charlie Sheen needs help. However, the media is milking every interview out of him to get ratings-because let's be honest, the dude is living in a bizarro world right now. This Hollywood bad-boy is definitely hooking us up with some great tag lines. But the sad part is we have likened him to the flavor of the month.
It got me thinking, what if we spent as much time as we do hanging on every word Sheen rolls off his tongue, as we do in God's Word-we might have made an impact in the world-as opposed to watching it dissipate right before us. So, think about the Flavor of the Month for you-and see if you can replace it with something true and time tested-The Word of God. Trust me, it is a story with both losing & winning, and there is even some lion-blood in there, which triumphs tiger-blood. (if you can't connect the last sentence with Sheen-this blog post may not make sense to you.) Have a great day!