Surprise!

So, as I reflect on this past week, I am still in awe of what we celebrate every Easter. For the Christian faith, it is the ESSENTIAL and most important part of the story. Jesus is alive! This is not some renaissance, cool idea, but it is all about this thought here: God's power went ballistic in the tomb, reconnecting Jesus' body with the Holy Spirit, taking His corpse and put life back into it. If there is a time to use the word EPIC- this would be your cue! (Insert here) As you read through the gospels you will see different accounts. When put in order chronologically it makes complete sense. The guards sealed the tomb per Pilate's request. The women proceeded to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. As you read this passage, an earthquake takes place. This earthquake was simultaneous to the resurrection. It did not happen as the women came upon the tomb. The word used to describe the earthquake in the Gk is idou. It carries the same connotation of our use of "wow, amazing, & wonder." Matthew writes this years after the event, yet is still throwing this word in because of the impact and experience he still remembers.
As the women enter the tomb, they are perplexed. As if they lost their way is how the wording is interpreted.
This is the point, when you have an encounter with the living God, Jesus, you may have a hard time understanding what happened, because God works in the supernatural, not the natural. You may even babble or have a hard time communicating like the women did upon finding the tomb empty. Bu God, through His Holy Spirit, speaks through us when we tell people of this Jesus. So, don't lose heart, and don't think you are speaking gibberish-When God gives you the opportunity to tell someone of Jesus-the words coming out of your mouth will be clear and precise, so that more can hear about this great story of Resurrection.
Jesus surprised a lot of people by raising from the dead, even though He gave them every indication He would. So what is Jesus telling you, that you may be missing.

Don't Stop Short

I have been reading out of the book of Joshua recently. He is definitely one of my fave Bible characters. In Joshua 5 & 6 there is a great story that many of us have heard of. It is the FALL OF JERICHO. As I read this story for the millionth time-something really hit me this past time. First, I thought about that crazy feat: A wall built 50 ft tall & 6 ft thick and the Lord said to Joshua, "I will deliver Jericho into your hands." Think with me if you will about this. How would you feel if you are in Joshua's army and he communicates with God and told you to take it down. These are soldiers who have prepped for battle, and have the skills. But God tells Joshua to march around it. WHAT? No battering ram, flaming arrows, sword skills! Just marching feet and a few days to make it happen, but then the trumpet players in the marching band get some credit here too. I think the army was pretty upset about not using their training and fighting skills. But it got me thinking, what if they would have stopped short of the 7th time around, on the 7th day? They would have missed out on God's blessing and promise. How many times in our lives have we stopped short of something and missed out on God's blessing. Maybe it was not a march around Jericho, or maybe it wasn't a wall that seemed impenetrable, but I'm sure each of us have our Wall of Jericho that we have had to circle. Here is my thought-if God has given you a Jericho, don't stop marching. The Lord gave Jericho into the hands of Joshua as promised-no premature war cries or victory dances. It was a simple message followed to the exact directions given to Joshua. After the march of a few circles each day, when Joshua gave the order to SHOUT on the 7th day, the wall collapsed. SAY WHAT? Don't stop marching, God has something for you and if He has revealed what that may be and the orders to go forward are there-then by all means march and don't stop short. For the full story check out Joshua 5:13-6.

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!

ALL-STAR Mentality

Every once in a while you will see someone who has the swagger of an all star. I observed the NBA all star game yesterday with my son. He, only 9, spoke of dreams of playing in that game someday. As I listened to his dreams, I helped point out good defense, bad defense-which in that game comes often, great shot selections, and bad ones. I also observed the mentality of the players involved. Each player out there knew why they were there. They are the best. They are the one's who have the ball in their hands when the game is on the line. The question that comes to mind, is are you that type of person? Not necessarily in sports terms, but in life terms. Are you walking through life with ALL-STAR swagger? Some of you recognize that God is in your life, and that you are a child of God. If that is the case, you should walk with a different mentaility, a swagger if you will. Not the swagger of cockiness, but with the swagger of confidence-that God is for you, and with you. I'm naturally confident in most things I do. It comes with personality and leadership, but most importantly it comes because of faith. I know I am not invincible, but I also know that God has placed me at this time, in this position of leadership, to be confident in Him to those who I come in contact with in my family, my profession, my city, and all people my path intersects.
If we walked in Christ and had the All-Star mentality that we are God's creation, His children, and we are walking through life just as God planned for us-would we not want to walk with the confidence of Christ? Christ has positioned you right now for today. So, have the all-star mentality, because if you follow Christ, He will want you to step up and have the confidence to close out the game strong. The question is are you ready for the big time? If you are good enough to make it in the NBA, you better believe that they are ready to step up when the game is on the line. The same should be true for us in our efforts for Christ. I tell my son, shooters keep shooting-even if they miss a few. Christ followers keep following, even if a few things don't go out the way they may have hoped for. They still trust in God.

LEADERSHIP Lessons Learned from Ball Hogs

I am 35 years old and I have been playing on organized teams since I was 6. I remember most teams really well, especially from 5th grade on. I played on some great teams over that 29 year span-some only lost as many as 1 game a season, other times we lost more than we won. On each team there were teammates/players that were looked upon as great team players, and on every team there were BALL HOGS. I have been friends with every teammate I ever had, on every team I have ever played-yes, even the ball hogs. Some are still great friends today. This is not just limited to sports-this spans teams I've been on from classes, councils, projects, community & church related teams, and all team environments I've found myself on over the past 29 years. I will admit right off the bat, on some of those teams- I WAS THE BALL HOG. You can learn a lot about leadership from a BALL HOG.
Here are some characteristics and observations of BALL HOGS (below you will find how you can learn from them):

• BALL HOGS are the teammates that feel like they have to make every play, decision-bad or good, call the shots (even if a coach is in play).
• Simply put-playing with ball hogs is not real fun.
• Most ball hogs are despised by some portion of the team.
• BALL HOGS sometimes carry a persona that they are the best one on the team-sometimes when they make the assumption, more often than not(at least my experiences)they make it with an ego trip attached.
• BALL HOGS are territorial, & want the ball in their hands all the time.
• When new teammates come to the team, they are normally threatened-this is out of fear of not being the MAN(or WOMAN)-85% of the time.
• BALL HOGS also scoff at the idea that someone else could or may challenge them for ideas, talent, ability, and betterment of the team.
• Some BALL HOGS are unaware they are actually BALL HOGS.
• BALL HOGS can limit the growth of others.
• BALL HOGS are selfish, and lack team mentality.
• Under pressure BALL HOGS can lose control and get sloppy.
• No one likes a ball hog!

LEADERSHIP LESSONS LEARNED:

• Getting team involves is way more fun and even more special if the team is victorious!
• Sometimes fresh teammates will push the team to new heights.
• Ball Hogs can learn how to play team ball from teammates.
• The best teammates are the ones who know when another teammate needs an opportunity to get in the game.
• If a BALL HOG ever challenges a coach publicly or privately, the coach should remove them from the team, or find a place where they can learn to play with others-which is normally back on the playground.
• BALL HOGS need leadership fed into them as much as the rest of us do!
• BALL HOGS need to remember there will always be younger, fresher, and different ideas/thoughts/people, and game plans that will shift paradigms.
• When the ball is someone else's hand it is important to be an encouragement.
• When the game/decision/plan is all on the line, the team approach is better than the "I" or "ME" approach.
• TEAMS when games, not BALL HOGS- even the greatest team champions had help-just ask MJ.

So, look at the teams you are currently on. Can you identify the BALL HOGS? Maybe they can identify you. This is for sure-ball hog or not-teams have a better chance of winning or succeeding than a single all star who takes on everything.

Here is the ACTION PLAN for you: Look at the teams you are on. Do you need to step up, pass, take a shot, bring in a sub to give you a rest, tell the coach you need to learn, or ask for a trade from the current team you are on?

Take it from a former BALL HOG- what ever you need to do-there is always teams looking for help, and there are always a short supply of great help needed.

The most important thing you can take away from BALL HOGS- they want to be in the game, and they want the ball in their hands. So should YOU!

A Forgotten Word...That Should Not Be!

There have been some great words that I have tried to bring back over the years. In high school I tried to bring back the word 'bitchin', as it was used in the 60s. In college I tried to run words together like 'fantastic' and 'fabulous' to create fantabulous; although I am pretty sure I'm not the first to try those words together. I've tried to use words to expand my everyday vocabulary with new words, some stick some don't. Some words I used as a 12 year old kid-still roll of my tonugue like "rad", because the word is...well, it speaks for itself. I've even tried to create new words even-yep, not an English major. Every once in a while, I will hear a word; it will be sparked as I read, that I have not used in a sentence for a long time. That was the case today!
I'm reading through the prayers of the Bible and today I came across a prayer that caused me to think about a word I haven't heard in a while, except to describe a comic book. This word was drawn from an interchange between the prophet Isaiah and Hezekiah. II Kings 20:1-6, tells us the story of Hezekiah and him getting ready to die. It is as follows: In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isaiah is on his way from delivering the message when, he is stopped in his tracks by God, and told to return to Hezekiah and tell him his life will be granted 15 more years. God says, tell him "I have heard your prayers, seen your tears, and will heal you!"
The word that comes to me today to live by and think about is: MARVEL

When was the last time you experienced something that causes amazement, awe or admiration? When was the last time you stopped to MARVEL at something?

If God is working in your life, then you can stop and MARVEL!
If you have been set free, you can MARVEL!
If you need a healing, you can believe God for a miracle and MARVEL when it happens!
If you need hope, MARVEL at God's grace!
If you need provision, Marvel that God provides for you!
When you fear, and that fear is taking away...MARVEL!
Walk faithfully in God and see the work that GOD will do in your life.

Don;t look back, look ahead and be ready to MARVEL at what God can and will do.