1. EXCITED CHURCH: Give Them A Voice

I've found that churches, staffs, companies...actually a lot of entities begin to atrophy when there becomes a stagnation of new ideas and implementation. Maybe we sometimes feel as though we have reached our pinnacle, or there is a bottleneck near the top preventing growth, or, we simple have lost our vision of what we are doing and why. Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels found the company on the verge of failure, embarked on a new endeavor to involve everyone at all levels during a series of specially designed retreats to get ideas and buy in of how things could be turned around. After a renewed 250 million in new sales Conley said, "The more you give people a voice, the more they step up".

Its simply amazing how we in the church can stick with the same ways, when its abundantly clear we are not growing, reaching, discipling and winning...wining people passionately to be passionate followers of Christ. If a hotel fails, so what. If the Church does not reach her potential and continue to grow...people fail to hear the message Christ died for and commissioned us to deliver. 

I heard someone say once, that God has given each church what it needs to be successful. Maybe...vision isn't up to just one person...maybe God has placed dreams, passions, new ministries, giftings, callings into a lot of people...maybe we just haven't listened. So I say, Give the Church A Voice. Let Pastors, leaders, staff, pre-leaders all have the opportunity to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to see the Church be exactly what it should be in the community it has been placed. To be Light...in a dark world...bringing and proclaiming freedom for those in captivity and sight to the blind.

An EXCITED Church

I've long said, the Church is the most important business on Earth. While some may be uncomfortable thinking this way, consider this...The Church is in the business of seeing the LOST FOUND and CHRIST KNOWN to all. Verne Harnish, CEO of a executive education firm recently wrote a piece for Fortune magazine entitled "Five Ways to Keep Employees Excited" and I began thinking of the application to church teams, leadership and those in pre-leadership (attenders). 1. GIVE THEM A VOICE, 2. CLEAR THE ROADBLOCKS, 3. GROW BETTER BOSSES, 4 TAKE A BREAK FROM AUSTERITY, and 5. MAKE THEIR DREAMS REAL. My plan over the next few days is to briefly put a church perspective on some basic business advice.

* PS. This is my re-entry to this blog, from the hiatus of attending to my parents during the final few months of my Mom's battle with cancer.

Beauty...

Just 2 short days ago, my wife of 23 3/4 years married and the Mother of three very cool children turned...50. I'm not sure how it happened but it's true that she has mastered the art of ever-increasing beauty. There is the obvious physical beauty that she has somehow managed to increase and perfect, but also the beauty of friendship, Gods presence, wisdom, companionship, joy, dedication just to name a few. What I am impressed with, is how she wields the power she has as an anointed woman of God. I truly am blessed and better just because of the person God has molded her to be. It seems as though God has created her to be who I need her to be to be who I am created to be. While that last thought may seem a little me-focused and really not the point of this musing, I just wonder if that's how God works in all our lives? He creates beauty...so that others can be better by experiencing the beauty that HE created.
Well back to her 50th Birthday. She is indeed amazing how she carries that milestone, not with any regret of missed opportunities or with frustration of the thought of getting "older", but of HOPE, EXPECTATION that this coming year is going to be a year of tremendous "Destiny". May you Michele fulfill all your dreams and aspirations...for God has certainly set you aside as a special creation.

I see clouds on the horizon...it may rain.

While none of this may not make sense with out perspective, it needs to be said first, than later clarified. I believe...positioning is taking place, a stirring is happening, revelation is occurring, and the present is indicative of the future. I want to say that...I am preparing to enter the war for men's souls, that a sweeping of God's Spirit coming, that preparation and positioning are necessary, and that I am confident that I will experience a powerful flowing of His anointing.

Wisdom calls out...

The past few days have been quite inspirational leadership wise. Last week was in a Leadership Roundtable on Long Island discussing innovative church planting and administration, this past weekend reconnected with the fruit of Michele and I's labor from 18 years ago at a church's 100 year anniversary on Sunday, and today...heard from Dr. George Wood about Spiritual Leadership. In other words, it's easy to say that WISDOM can be found where ever we turn, so Proverbs 8 is quite true.

I've always been a fan of working with, and as a team. I think the days of, what I'll call, "Lone Ranger Vision", should be done with. Enough of one person holding hostage of what God wants to, or can't do. Dr. Wood made an interesting comment in passing regarding the apostle Paul. He said that he had worked with 91 people in the building and establishing of the Church, and even Jesus brought worked with a few...but what did he know. Great Coaches understand that its their responsibility and calling to get people on the field to work together, they are not there to hog all the attention.

During my trip down memory lane this past weekend I saw the fruit of this team mindset. The team...is STILL paying dividends! Although we may all not be together anymore, stuff is still going on! I wonder if the Disciples realized this way back when...I wonder if we realize that that what we do today, isn't just for today, but for tomorrow.  We discussed that latter thought last week in the Leadership Roundtable regarding innovative and traditional thinking churches. Our focus is not just about today. Our focus is all about how what we do today, will bear fruit tomorrow in its due season.

I see the future differently now that I can look back and see the past. Wisdom calls out...so that we can have the strength and understanding that our lives are really building a legacy.

Smart vs. Great and the Church

 “Smart companies respond to the users. Great ones lead the way by changing how users think.” Ge Wang, Associate Professor of Stanford University speaking of Apple and the work of Steve Jobs

When I read that quote last week in USA Today, I was immediately struck at the absence of what happens when "smart" and "great" are not employed. Professor Wang delineates smart and great to highlight the innovation of Apple and Steve Jobs, but how would we refer to an entity that does not respond to the changing climate of cultural interests or demands? Corporate America indeed survives and falls according to market share, so what is the label for those companies or entity's that don’t respond to the users and find themselves…irrelevant? Surely the Apple/Jobs story is an important lesson, as Apple has recently battled Exxon/Mobil as the worlds most valuable company, and at this time, seems poised to continue that trend. 

Can we indeed LIVE without oil and an ipod? Some may say no, and certainly in a lot of the world we would have to say, yes, we can LIVE without oil and ipods...or even a new iphone with which we could buy oil right from the phone. So if Apple and the Steve Jobs legacy is remembered correctly...they consistently dreamed of how best their product would be implemented into the lives of it's users. They somehow presented their products in a light that people would be drawn to them, and then soon discovered they could not LIVE without them.

Hmmmm. Question. If I can LIVE without oil and and ipod, can I LIVE without God? John 12:32 says "If I be lifted up I will draw all men..." So, if the Church lifts Jesus up in a way that the "users" understand presented in their own language and culture, we may see a whole lot more find faith in Christ the pursuit that they will abandon all other pursuits for. The answer per say to a problem I didn't even know I had. Smart and Great are important words here.

I'll finish this uncompleted thought with this observation. Nobody....NO ONE, no company, no global entity should put forth more effort, creativity and passion into communicating it's message to the masses than the Church. We ALONE carry the only can't live without message/product that we can NEVER be satisfied in communicating with excellence and anointing. After all, I can LIVE without the iphone4s, but I am LOST without Christ.

Stirred...

Something is brewing internally, deep in my heart, causing a reverent fear of the Lord and deeper seeking of wisdom. Concisely stated, I am "stirred".

An interesting personal revelation is that I never "stir" my coffee. For several years now I drink it black with two Equals...but I always put the sweetener in the cup before pouring it from the French Press. And when I'm in Starbucks? Well I think I just add it afterwards and let gravity and motion do the trick naturally. But when adding chlorine or shock to the pool, it always gets "stirred". Even before vacuuming the pool, it gets stirred so as to create a nice neat pile in the middle on the bottom. I do shake paint cans but not stir them, sauce gets stirred to prevent burning, and of course 007 famously preferred "shaken but not stirred". But me? I'm stirred. Somethings brewing, somethings up, I feel it sense it and am moving into great expectation.

John 5 tells the story of the paralytic man who was unable to get into the pool while it was still "stirred". Apparently and angel of the Lord would come down at certain seasons and stirred the water, and afterwards whomever made it into the water was immediately healed!
I think...God may be stirring my heart for something. Is it healing, restoration, wholeness, preparation...the effect I am not sure of, but am confident that there is a REASON for the stirring, and I do believe I know who is DOING the stirring.

Wisdom’s benefits seem to be quite far reaching. With promises of a long life, a good name, riches, honor, prosperity, straight paths and sweet sleep…the search for and the application of wisdom to my life should be a no-brainer. After all, I’ve been frustrated by poverty lately and certainly have not experienced sweet sleep in quite some time. In fact, my sleep is occasionally and sometime regularly disturbed by worry, regret and mostly frustration in general. I LONG…I L-O-N-G, mean I deeply desire and l-o-n-g for the day that sweet sleep arrives to accompany all the other benefits of discernment.
Oh Lord, give me "wisdom" in all arreas of my life, relationships, finances, thoughts, actions, in all areas Lord. Leave no area unaffected.

Proverbs 3:1 “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.”

"30 Days of Wisdom"

Today begins for me a new endeavor Im calling “30 Days of Wisdom”. This isn’t a result of much seeking or an extended research time, but one of immediate frustration. For a while words have flown thru my head such as: confusion, frustration, empty, poor, broken, directionless etc. But today unexpectedly, I added, deeply hungry and desperate…for truth, direction, vision engagement, and life mission.

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of the faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair-every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of the wicked men, from wise men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perseverance of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

It will save you also from the adulterous, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the faithful will be torn from it.” Proverbs 2

I think this will be a Nehemiah type journey, which interestingly was what I preached from in a church in Lexington, VA this past weekend, AND the name of our wireless. Not sure what that all means, but it's probably not coincidence. 

My initial plan here is to study word for word and pray thru the corresponding chapter/day each day. Already today was eerily appropriate and insightful to a few questions about life. Already today we understand that WISDOM must be accompanied with applied UNDERSTANDING which in turn leads to the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God, which I desperately need here. 

And so it begins...

4,500 years and counting.

Last Saturday we spent the day in Manhattan, in part to have some fun because my daughter Ashley was home from college, and also to show her roommate from Southeastern the city that never sleeps for the first time. The Dad tour... started on the 100+ year old Staten Island Ferry system, past the Statue Of Liberty, Ellis Island and on to Battery Park to walk thru the fort that defended NY in 1812...walk up to Ground Zero to see what happens if there is no fort to protect...then hopped on the subway to head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After that it was on to Times Square.

What hit me Saturday...was the lasting effect of what we create. And the question...are we building/creating something that will last? Do we have in mind that our present efforts can last...4,500 years and beyond? After all the church that Jesus built is already 2,000 years old, manuscripts in the Bible are 3,000 years old...and there is this head-mask in the Met dated 2400 bc. Did that particular artisan shaping a warriors head-mask ever think...that his creation would be around 4,500 years? After all...he was probably making hundreds of them...just another day with the boss yelling faster.

Sure...our human lives will last a mere 70-90 years, and possibly not even that long if your name was Tutankhamen, he died around 17-18 years old. So it seems that the actual life we live is not so much of the point as the effect of the life we live is. Meaning... we should be thinking in terms of leaving a legacy instead of just reacting to the moments. Our children can certainly be a legacy, our work can be also...including what we create with our hands. What I am thinking is...our lives matter. Our contribution to mankind is significant...to the point that it carries beyond the length of our breath.

Each room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art brought a new collection of items created by someone at sometime. Each item is proof that whatever we attempt, even taking a picture can be a source of inspiration that has the opportunity to stand the test of time. But...I think I am more interested in leaving a legacy of lives instead of art. But where is the museum housing the collection of lives? Heaven? In my life as others have shaped and molded me?

I know there is abundant source of teaching in the Bible as it relates to a life well lived. I want m life to matter…for a longer time than the amount time I take breaths.

January 8, 2011...a day that will live in infamy...a lesson in atrophy.

It was about 22 degrees at 7:30am...snow was in the forecast to add to the already 25 inches on the ground, but the roads were clear...mostly. On this particular Saturday we had a 18 mile training run to finish before the snow became heavy. I on this morning was nursing  a little runners knee, trying to be careful, but not very motivated to run quickly. This was a important training run though, as the marathon was only 10 weeks way...and I had to run it well to qualify for Boston in 2012. As we progressed along my knee offered up a little pain, and the distance between me and my two running partners gradually increased. At about 9 miles we were about 1/3 mile apart but was on my way back and this quiet run amongst gently falling snow would soon be over. Soon...my family I would be celebrating Michele's Birthday by spending the day in NYC before Ashley left for college. As I crossed an intersection, about the middle of the street I stepped on what I thought was freshly fallen snow....only to discover in the most painful way...it was covering black ice! BANG! I went straight down in the middle of the street... which began 7 weeks in a cast to heal my ankle which was broken in 2 places. Needless to say...I'm not running the marathon in March...and apparently it may take a month now to learn how to walk again. The recovery into marathon running shape, may actually take 6 months to a year. This really stinks...but means that I need to adjust my training regimen that I have grown accustomed to.

What I've learned now is, the 7 weeks my ankle was in a cam-walker type cast was not just a healing of my broken ankle, but the atrophying of dozens of muscles in my foot and calf. What that means is...just walking is a medium sized effort accompanied with pain. And regretfully...the ankle/foot has also lost most of it's normal movement. I'm shocked that...when you don't use something...it gets weaker not stronger from the additional rest. Muscle strength degrades when not used. The lesson here physically and spiritually is...the more I use what I have, the stronger and agile I am.

Today that got me thinking, is there any correlation to any other parts of life? Well, there certainly is spiritually. The more I pray...the stronger I am spiritually. The more I read the word...the stronger I am spiritually. If I stop reading, praying, witnessing, living for Christ daily...I atrophy. Sharing Christ with those who don't know Him becomes more natural when done regularly. And of course the opposite of all those is true.

I have been in the sweet spot before. Its where your training and habits correlate with each other to bring you to a performance level that you have never been. I actually deeply desire that in all areas of my life...spiritually, physically, financially, relationally.

Time to go to rehab.

Missed opportunities and procrastination

Somewhere about 2003...the dream of running the Boston Marathon came to mind. 26 miles, something they call Heartbreak Hill and strict qualifying times make it a difficult endeavor for most recreational athletes. After several marathons, in 2009 I began training for 5 1/2 months at 5am most everyday to run the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC. I had to finish with a qualifying time for my age group of 3:20:59. in order to register and run  Boston that following spring. That beautiful and chilly morning in the nations capital standing amongst 20,000+ runners the fruit of my arduous labor would be put to test for the 26.2 miles. The result? I came in #750 out of 20,000 runners, but the clock said 3:21:41...42 seconds too slow. I could not believe it!!! 42 seconds? So great my disbelief and so great my determination,  that I ran another marathon just 3 weeks later thinking I could reverse my bad fortune...only to be plagued with an injury that made the effort pointless and even painful. Sadness eventually turned to hope when I found I could still qualify for the following year with my Marine Corp time for the 2011 race because of changing age categories (I'm getting older). So here we are...fall of 2010 going online to register for the 115th Boston Marathon in the spring of 2011....what did I find??? Registration Closed. It closed within 8 hours of opening...unprecedented! That's where missed opportunities and procrastination comes into play.

So now what?  Where do I go from here? I think scripture is making a significant message to me..."make the most of every opportunity". A quick perusal of the word would reveal that each moment of our life counts for something. God has indeed planned great opportunities for us all, many times all we need to do is...act.
"I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation". 2 Corinthians 6:2 and the list can go on. Missed opportunities are sometimes not big mistakes...just little errors when we are not "Managing the Moment"...(I put that in quotes because that is huge for me and plan on teaching on that in the near future).

The lesson for me today, and lifelong...make the most of every opportunity. Don't delay, procrastinate, assume there is more or much time. If I've been called to LOVE, then LOVE fully and completely now, if called to LIVE by FAITH, then LIVE with abandonment, if called to GIVE, then GIVE wholeheartedly. LIVE LIFE with a PASSIONATE pursual of all things HIM. 1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

So whats next? Time to go look to run another Boston qualifier Marathon within the next 11 months. Even if it does mean 5 1/2 months of training and running in 10-95 degree weather at 5 am....remembering...that physical training has "some value"...and that the physical pursuit must match the spiritual pursuit where the prize lasts forever.

Christmas lights, Impatients & Mums...embracing Change.

OK it's here. Fall. I can't ignore it any longer as the drive this past Friday afternoon to drop my daughter off for a youth retreat fully indicated...leaves are changing and it's no longer 90 degrees, sadly. This past weekend I performed my normal fall transition ritual...with regret, but with an understanding of it's necessity...pulling out the still pretty but fading annuals in place of the cool weather hardy Mums. Michele a week earlier began to antagonize my "fall resistance" with a few candles and decorations, which I must admit are very pretty.

I started to think...how often to we hang on to something long after it is useful, effective or even appropriate? Know anyone with Christmas lights still hanging in July? Now I may not have Christmas lights still hanging...but I do a have a collection of items in the garage that needs to go thru a little "transitioning". In our house recently major change has occurred, kids off to college and junior high, new work schedules, the house is drastically different. It's called "change"...it's neither good or bad, can be resisted, but many times is just simply necessary.

Jesus' life brought much change to a people who prided themselves on not changing. I really think on a very basic level, this is what brought Him to Calvary. Matthew 24 & 16 and the discussion of the "signs of the times" is also a teaching that we need to be very aware of what is happening now...what is changing and staying the same...so that we may be prepared. "Prepare" is a word the Lord brought to me in early 2010 for which I admit, have not done a good job at aligning myself to, but will get better. Prepare for the "seasons change". It's October and the first frost will soon be upon us. I cannot go out and plant Impatiens...because I love them or have always planted them or even because people love them (which I do!)...because it is simply a different ...."season". They will not grow now, and if they do will die at the first frost, it's time for something different.

I looked back Saturday and smiled on my effort. The Ivy was trimmed, Mums and pumpkins placed appropriately amongst the fading Hydrangeas...it looked just right...for this "season". It was still my house, same color, same driveway and cars... but now it is ready for what lies ahead. The next step? Clean the gutters. Question. What is God calling you to next? What are you preparing for? What is God changing in you (your perspective, approach, philosophy, attitude, etc) for what He wants to do in and thru you next?

Whatever is is...don't fear, resist or ignore the change like I have sometimes done, and OK, sometimes still do. But embrace it...God may be looking to give you a whole new perspective.

Ps. The chair runner under my office chair fell apart..was costly to replace, and I didn't really want to...but it revealed shockingly...that the carpet was dirty. I didn't notice it till I took up the plastic runner. Perspective is amazing. Now I have  to clean the gutters and clean the carpet.

Embouchure...still somewhat intact but needs ALOT of tuning.

It was maybe 1973-74 that we took a trip to the Russo's Music Center on Broad Street in downtown Trenton. I had decided that the instrument of choice for me in elementary school was to be the "Flute". Well this required going a picking one out for rental from the store to begin my illustrious career as the only boy playing the flute in school district. "Jethro Tull" is the man who saved me in junior high from being laughed at all day long. The flute...like many wind instruments is not easy to pick up...as it requires the learning of how your lips, pressure, inflection effects the sound, or no sound, coming from the instrument. This is called "Embouchure"...involving the facial muscles and shaping of the lips. Trumpet players like jazz musician Maynard Ferguson became famous because of their ability to produce such amazingly clear sounds. Once you get your "embouchure" down...those muscles need to be kept up by regular practice. If you stop practicing...everyone can tell.


Fast forward 30+ years...and my daughter takes up the flute in elementary school on her Dad's now ancient relic flute. Unfortunately...getting a clear sound is beyond her grasp without an abundance of tears....and she gives up. I learn...that my lips need a little tuning also...not mention my memory of the correct fingering. Let's just say...you may never forget to ride a bike...but that doesn't qualify you to enter a BMX competition either.


Joshua 1:8 says "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua was a fully adult man of God at this point...having followed and worked with the legendary Moses for quite some time. Yet the Lord wants to remind him....that what you do everyday...is significant to your success. I draw a parallel between the regular practice habits of every great musician and the instructions given to Joshua. Want your life to be significant? Practice make perfect...blocking and tackling...master the basics...you have to keep your embouchure up.

Execution

Many great ideas, dreams, plans for life and ministry have passed us by, due to among many reasons, but save one...our failure to execute. Larry Bossidy wrote a book that many times comes back to haunt me "EXECUTION - The discipline of getting things done". I think by nature I am a dreamer. A few years ago I had intense expectations of what I wanted my favorite holiday to look like, Christmas. I love the lights, sounds, celebrations, traditions that we have invited to accompany the central remembrance of the birth of our Savior. At the end of each December I would calendar in dates, events, occurrences to make our celebration and family time more memorable the following year. It was fun as the next season approached to follow the previous years directives while being sensitive to new things that came along. This past summer was textbook un-execution. We had dreams, hopes...but without a plan put in place we did'nt go or do really any of the things we had hoped. No Cape May, Ocean City or Beach Haven family beach days...the list could go on to bonfires bike rides and walks on the boardwalk. We allowed the "moment" to dictate the event. While that sounds romantic at times, the reality is that you find yourself without a plan to move you or it becomes too late to act.

What I realize now is...that time is short. Days pass by quickly and for sure they turn into weeks, months and years. I guess what I am thinking is...I don't really have left the number of years that have gone by already. I desire...deeply...to execute the God given plan and destiny that he has for me and those around me. Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps". I do not want there to be a disconnect between the planning of whats in my heart and the steps taken. I truly want each day to count...to matter. I am making the "to do" list. I will not be over whelmed by its largeness or incapacitated by the inability of where to begin...for I confidently know that the Lord will determine my steps.