The Art of PREVISION

It can be a lost art, right up there with hieroglyphics, the wooden wheel, and parachute pants. I'm referring to an art that people should put in their repertoire, its called: prevision. It is the art of foreseeing a potential danger. The key is seeing it and then avoiding it. As you race through life, I'm sure you may have had glimpses of it. The cop car going the other way, causing you to slow down before a speed trap. Maybe the premonition to avoid a certain aisle at the supermarket so you don't get stuck in line. In the world we live in I'd like to say I try and live by prevision. We live in a reality were crazy things happen. I am not immune to sin, temptation, and getting caught in the crossfire. The great preacher, Billy Graham lived by prevision. He had a person with him at all times, as he traveled, to make sure that he was never caught in a compromising situation. Good thing, because there were people who tried to stage things to take him out. Prevision is something that is an art. It is something that can be learned and should be. As a leader in whatever you do, people will put you on a pedestal and hope you fall. It is the cut-throat culture of success people aim for of knocking off the person in front of them, however they need too. Sometimes it is to take away their position, prestige, and power-hey this trick of knocking people off is something Satan practices regularly. There are guard rails and concepts to put in your life that will help with your attempt at prevision. As you go through your day, look for things that you can identify as potential danger or trouble, and then avoid them. Now, I am one to take a trip on the adventure side on occasion-I'm not speaking of adventure that brings danger. I'm speaking of stupidity that brings danger to you and your reputation. So guard your heart, mind, family, thoughts, career, name, and in my case relationship with Jesus. Living with prevision will take you farther, will give you more opportunity, and bring you results that put your life on track and help you live above reproach. So forget hunting down a pair of parachute pants, or widdling a wooden wheel out of that tree stump in your back yard, and just work on prevision.

Safe Place-Small Groups

Being involved in a group of friends that truly care for you can be both beneficial and a must. At the same time, I think people need environments in life where it is a safe place to speak freely and express their opinions. Is your small group a safe place? Here are some thoughts I picked up from an article a while back from a magazine:

Here are 9 ways we can create a safe place environment in small group life:
1. Provide a supportive nonjudgmental space.
We must learn o provide a safe place for people to discuss real issues without fear of rejection.
2. Be genuine
The ability to be real is so important. When we are attentive, respectful, and above all human, people feel comfortable to share real struggles.
3. Show empathy
When we make a sincere effort to understand and identify with another’s pain, we can help in the healing process.
4. Err on the side of grace
It does not do any good to heap condemnation on someone who’s trying to work through their own issues.
5. Communicate acceptance and show love
People need to be loved just because.
6. Be a friend
Friends are a much needed resource.
7. Share from your life
You may not be able to relate exactly, but you have experienced your own personal struggles. You can help put the struggles into perspective and give them hope.
8. Care enough to confront
Love enough to give honest feedback, but speak the truth in love.
9. Instill hope and lead them to resources that will help
It has been said you can live 40 days without food, 4 days, without water, 4 minutes without air, but you can’t live seconds without hope. Be an encourager.

I hope this helps you find a group where you can find these concepts applied. As a small groups pastor, I feel it is important to create this culture and leverage them in your church's small group ministry. For it to be a safe place, you have to be intentional. So, go for it!

Pass the Ball

You can learn a lot from leadership and watching sports. I was reading up on the adjustment for one of the highest draft picks from 2 years ago and realized, although a star at one time, his game slipped because he couldn't adjust. Growing up, NBA players have the ball in their hand 75% of a game. In junior high, high school, and even as they get into college, depending on where they go to school and who is on their team, they may dominate the ball handling. What caught me off guard was not the low scoring output for this high draft pick, but rather the following quote:

"I understood why I was struggling on the court, sort of. I was a player who was so used to having the ball in my hands the majority of the time that it was difficult to make the adjustment to playing without the ball, trying to learn how to play without the basketball. When you add in all the normal struggles that a rookie has - travel, length of schedule, and all that stuff - it was a very difficult year."

This is a leadership issue right here. This guy didn't get the ball in the hands of others very often and let teammates help lead the charge. The NBA is the highest level of play in the world-hands down. In all those years of dreaming, playing tournaments, getting a scholarship to a major university, playing ball, he never adjusted or learned the game without the basketball. Is this a failure of coaching? His own doing? Wasted talent? Reality of the pressures of the NBA game?

The fact is as a leader and a major contributor, no matter what you do, has got to get the ball in other's hands. One must study and have to learn how to play, help, lead, speak up, contribute, without being the main threat, main person, main fill-in-the-blank here.

Some lessons are learned the hard way. The take away here from this quote is this: You have got to build a team around you, you can trust, learn from, let lead at times, fail with, and dream with. I'm thankful I serve on a team like that and this above quote helped put in perspective the reality of playing team sports. You have to pass the ball to advance it down the field, score, and be ready when called upon.

Systems...Check...All Systems Clear for Launch...You Can't hesitate.

My car is great at telling me when I have systems that need to be checked or updated. My computer also alerts me, as does my iPhone. So, what would it take for you to have these systems check yourself? In the last month of the year, a lot happens. This is a great time to re-evaluate some key systems and practices you have established in your daily, weekly, monthly, routine.

Systems are great things to have in place. But if you have systems that are not working, it may be time to restructure your systems. Systems are beneficial in business, home, and life settings. Recently our staff went through a check of our systems. It is great to pause at least 2x a year and review the systems you have in place, look for the ones that may need to be established, and then get them all in motion. So you may ask, what are systems that you should think about or have in place for you personally?

Here are a few thoughts, in no order whatsoever: family, spiritual, health, responsibilities, personal, work, & friends. In each of these areas you have a ways to grow and set systems to make better use of your time management, follow though, and life development. In this process of reviewing systems, I found some that were dead-ends, rock-solid, seasonal, need some work, and then a few that need to be established.

Take a few hours to walk through your systems you have or have not. This is developing you as a person. If you need someone to review them, ask someone connected to the area you are working on: family, work, social, etc...

We can all grow from establishing systems. So, take the time and review them soon, before the lights go off and the systems crash. It's easier to address them before they are in a failure process.

PUSH!

I have a rule I established with my son: If someone pushes you, feel free to push back. (unless it is your sisters-then I'll take care of it) I know this may not be the rules you grew up with or rules you even establish in your household. But I want my kid to know he has permission to push people if needed. Being pushed by another kid, is permission from him to push back.

As a leader of a small group, it is very easy to not push or even push back. As a group grows closer together, a leader often draws back from anything that would bring challenge, confrontation, or even disagreement. I think as leaders of groups we have to be able to challenge our groups in growth. If we don't, then we are just offering a party with friends. In discussion and facilitating questions, the leader must be able to press people farther in their faith. That may look different for certain people, but the need to push-has to be there. A group often forms to agree with whatever is being said, and very seldom is their a "devils' advocate" in the room. Recently, I went to a small group and there was a challenge to the discussion. There was this tension, and it wasn't a negative tension at all. It was a tension that was great for the group to wrestle with. The leader responded in a fantastic way, and other group members gave some of their thoughts. I remember walking away from that group visit, feeling that this was super great. The facilitator displayed: poise, leadership, an answer backed up by scripture, and was friendly in the response. The tension didn't linger longer than it needed too. As a matter of fact, we all ate later together, agreeing to disagree on certain things.
The point is this. As leaders, we need to step in and push those in our groups as they walk along in faith. I know that leadership is tough. Leading small groups is tough for some. I do know this though: as leaders we will face challenges and push back; we must offer it as well. Let people wrestle with the text, the questions, and push people to extend their Christian faith. We need strong believers who know why they believe what they believe. One way to do this is to give them an opportunity to push their faith, with great friends who love them.
Pushing fellow small groupers will continue to transform them individually, and as a group. So, about this and next time do a little pushing with those in your group. Pushing can be a great stretching environment, and we all know stretching is great for us all.

The Voices In My Head

You don't have to be labeled crazy to admit that their are voices that dance around in your head. I've heard them for a long time. I sometimes battle with them and other times flat out ignore them, and every once in a while I listen to them. Last night I had the opportunity to sit down with leaders and collaborate on a game plan for a leadership game changer in our faith community. It was in this setting I was reminded of 3 voices that dance around in my head regularly. Yes, I have 3 of them. Let me speak to you about the 3 of them probably in your head too:

• The Encourager's- these are the people you have in your life that will tell you that you, your idea, your vision are all wonderful things. They are the people that let you know, no matter what you think you may suck at, you have great ideas, good traits, value, or talent. These are the "I know you can do it" people. Everyone of us have these in our life. The voice may take form from a mentor, coach, teacher, parent, employer, boss, or pastor.




• God- God sent to us the Holy Spirit to walk alongside of us and counsel us throughout the greatest decisions we face. God will direct your path by shutting doors or closing them by speaking, sometimes in a still small voice. I have found in my life, it is normally pretty clear when God is speaking to me, although I have never heard His voice audibly.




• Satan- The father of lies whispers un sweet nothings into your ears all the time. The moments I have been ready to champion something big, I have been reminded that I may fail, or I am unequipped, or that I am a no-good nothing. The fact is most people buy into the lies that are presented, because these lies and fear that are cast, are so not prepared to fight back when this voice starts speaking in their head. I have learned that in these times of fear & doubt or discouragement, I can stand strong by counting on the other voices in my head to drown out the one that would sway me from making a difference in the life of someone, no matter what the cost.

I am pretty sure that you have similar voices in your life. When you grasp to that which is true, you will be able to determine what voices you should listen to and which voices you should drown out or flat out ignore. I cling to scripture to combat the lies I hear in my head, and I also cling to the Hope that I find in Jesus Christ. When faced with life decisions that I really need to think about, I count on the reality of voices that care about me and have my best interest at heart, even if it isn't something I want to hear. I have learned that certain voices in my head are worth listening too, and one is always going to try to take away my courage and dreams, because if unleashed I may speak into the life or show the love of Christ that is in me. So, listen up to the voices in your head, and be able to

I Know A LEADER when I see One

Today I witnessed an unselfish act in the midst of a busy day. I have a friend, I'll choose to remain nameless, because that is the way he would like it. This friend is a true servant. This friend is a legit servant and I witnessed it when standing next to him today. He was grabbing a napkin at a local joint, when he decided to clean the counter that was in front of him. It took 10 seconds and he was cleaning up to make a business look better. This friend was not an employee of the joint we were at, but he has a servant's heart and what I saw spoke volumes to me. No one would have seen him, no one gave him a pat on the back, and no one offered to pay him for cleaning up a mess that was not his. However, in my mind I noticed it and thought to myself this is a true leader. He is a leader to people based on his title at the company he works for, his role he plays in the local church he attends, and the family he loves. I could walk with this man in certain settings and people would recognize him and even greet him. YES, this man is a leader. However, deep down this man is a leader not because of title or position, but because he serves. This little role of servanthood that I witnessed today got this man to where he was (that and God ordaining his every footstep). I walked away from our time together with this in mind- everyday I choose to not be a servant in certain settings because life is crazy busy and I sometimes don't take the time to serve in little ways. I hope it would be said of me someday, that everytime I noticed a need to serve in a small role and I decided to get my hands dirty without recognition, I stepped up to do it. So, what about you serving?