We were born for this...

I was reading Matt. 9:28-30 this morning.  There is something very basic and raw about this scripture.  If I can allow myself to see my world the way that Jesus does, what will I see?  The "harvest" Jesus talks about is still waiting all around us.  Jesus uses two images here to describe what He sees... the first is a massive gathering of sheep without a shepherd... the second is a harvest that is waiting to be gathered in.  We can't help a culture of people who are looking for a shepherd unless we own our responsibility to be leaders.   Neither can we fulfill our life mission unless we search for it in the context of gathering in God's harvest... connecting people with faith in Jesus Christ.   We were born for this! 

Safe hiding place or a place of empowerment?

The times we are living in according to Bob Johansen of "Institute for the Future" (author of Leaders Make the Future) have produced a VUCA world...  full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.  He goes on to predict that the next ten years are going to be an incredibly difficult and challenging time for leaders.

How should we as Jesus followers respond to the world culture where we exist every day?  Will our churches serve as a hiding place where people can escape from a VUCA world or can we be a place of empowering for people to turn and lead movements of change and promise as they are drawn to embrace Jesus and His teachings. 

These are times of wide sweeping and fast paced change.  I am concerned that many in the church are resisting the idea that the changes have begun and our world will never be the same.  While we enjoy the benefits of having peace with God through Jesus and the closeness of our church family and the security of our religious traditions, there is a world all around us full of people who are uncertain and some even terrified about the future.  What are we doing to position ourselves to communicate the hope we have for stability in our VUCA world?  The hope we have is in the kingdom of God.  You and I will not capture the attention of our world around us if we don't seek God for wisdom and a plan that will provide hope and leadership to a culture that Jesus sees as sheep, helplessly wandering around in search of a shepherd. 

I hope you are investing time in God's word with new eyes searching out the principles of Jesus kingdom and his ways of doing life and serving people.  I am completely convinced that we need new methods, ideas, new revolutionary approaches to expressing the presence of God in our homes, friendships, businesses and culture.  It is our world's only hope. 

There is a movement of people right now who are seeking God's help as they deconstruct what they have become so accustomed to as "church life" and by His grace rebuilding lives and church families that are ready to lead out in a revolution of love and service in Jesus' Name in whatever community in which they live every day.  Changes are here and they won't be easy.  But the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other.

"Deep Change" or "Slow Death"?

Just received this re-tweet from a friend this morning... @cnieuwhof: Every organization faces one of two alternatives: slow death or deep change. The quote is from an article found at the following link: http://twurl.nl/z2xlg5

Please take the time to go there and read it. I totally resonate with the idea that our church is experiencing "deep change" and I definitely choose it over slow death. I know that I have been experiencing deep level change for several years now and only recently been feeling like I am getting into a good rhythm again.

The church represents the "unshakable" kingdom of God on the earth. Are we courageous enough to go through the changing process and allow Him to mold us and empower us to provide the answers for the questions the world is asking?

So what I hear you saying is "you don't like me"...

I'd love to know what you think... Was Jesus likable? What drew people to Him? I think Jesus was likable except to those who cared too much about how other people viewed them. The Bible teaches that "If anyone claims to live in him they must walk as Jesus did." I John 2:6. If we are like Jesus we are going to love each other. When you love each other you protect, trust, persevere... all of those things found in I Cor. 13. But, I don't think I can find anywhere in the love chapter that we will always "like" each other. Part of living in truth and "walking in the light" is the freedom I can give you to not like me or what I do if you so choose. You need to do the same for me. Once I feel as if my like or dislike for you or something you might do is going to overly affect you or cause you to change a direction that you feel strongly about, our relationship gets complicated. Prayer: Father God, help us to grow in our inner character to a place where we can dislike each other once in a while but still walk in grace, truth and love.

The official Blog of KV Style's Budget Columnist, Jill Lewis-Watts: Spend LESS, give MORE

The official Blog of KV Style's Budget Columnist, Jill Lewis-Watts: Spend LESS, give MORE

it's too late!

I just read a startling quote from Seth Godin's book, "Tribes". It stung because it cuts against the grain of my way of thinking... or maybe against my hard wired tendency to want to keep the waters calm. Anyway, he writes "By the time you realize that your corner of the world is ready for an innovation, it's almost certainly too late. It's definitely not too early." Now, that is a battle cry for those of us who long for people in our culture to embrace the life connecting and life renovating experience of knowing Jesus Christ. Shame on us for consistently waiting too long to change. If you are just realizing that innovation is needed in the way we engage our culture and in pursuading them to follow Jesus it may almost be too late.

You are the leader people are looking for

It amazes me that Jesus left His mission to save the world in the hands of a small group of people. But He did. I believe that He knew what He was doing. The Holy Spirit arrived in power about a month and a half after Jesus left the earth to return to His Father. Trusting that the Holy Spirit would inspire, empower and keep them connected they picked up on Jesus' vision of their culture... that the world around them was full of people who were like "sheep without a shepherd." Somehow they believed Jesus when He told them they were the light of the world. They were designed to lead others to really "get" that Jesus was the Shepherd their culture needed. What about us? You and I were designed by God to lead. I'm not talking about leading churches or businesses or organizations. I'm talking about embracing the fact that you are a God-designed leader in our culture. People all around you need you to lead. The question is where are you leading them? My prayer for us is that we will own our destiny as leaders and show those around us what it is like to know Jesus Christ and live in true freedom. The freedom that religion can't offer. May we have the courage to flesh out a faith journey that trusts Jesus presence and His ways in every unpredictable situation. He is ready to help us and I believe our best days are yet to come.

Who's on your shopping list?

I heard a shocking statistic lately. There are 143 million orphans in the world today. Then I heard of a website www.143million.org that offers several ways that people can invest in helping to improve the quality of life for one of these children. I was especially drawn to a project called "410 bridge" www.410bridge.org You can read about it there. But, it provides a great way for you and your family to connect with children and villages in Kenya, Africa. So, can you make some extra room on your Christmas list?

Passion to help People or an Obsession to Reach Goals?

Bill Robinson writes in his book, "Incarnate Leadership"; "Perhaps our desire to be good leaders has elbowed its way in front of our desire to be imitators of Christ." I have been investing a lot of time lately in books that offer help for those who aspire to lead in these chaotic days we are living in. A recurring theme is that we must lead from the middle of things. The platform for leadership is in loving, learning and serving in the places where we desire to lead. In order to do that, we need to rediscover what it means to love with "no strings attached". People who have grown disillusioned and clearly skeptical of leaders who are stuck on top of the pedestal will resist us if we love with an agenda. If we are careless we can make even the goal of "converting" people to faith in Jesus Christ a selfish agenda. Is it more about relieving our obsession to reach the goal of them "making a decision" and/or "praying a prayer" or about actually helping them experience the love and grace of Jesus? It is time to rediscover faith in the unshakable kingdom of God that is so secure that those who live in it and under its authority have the courage to love with no strings attached. We can do so because we have experienced and have total confidence in the magnetic pull of the Spirit of Jesus once someone begins to get a taste of His goodness. I guess I am saying that He is the only one who is pure enough in heart to truly love with an agenda. Or maybe it's because He doesn't confuse obsessing over reaching an end goal with a genuine passion to help people experience His kingdom. Prayer: Father, help us to rediscover a life of love and service in your Name. Help us not only to do the kinds of things you would do, but depend on you for the right motivation... loving with none of our own strings attached so that you can draw our broken chaotic world to the realness of your kingdom.

Help for giving and receiving difficult truth

It was a huge encouragement to see a good crowd come out to our vision meeting last night. Pastor Jim did a great job discussing several crucial insights on the shifts we are making and who we need to be in order to make those shifts. There were many testimonials shared concerning the growth people are experiencing and how great they feel about who we are becoming. And there also several that shared some difficult criticisms and concerns with strong feelings attached. All in all, I am really glad we had the meeting. The conversations after the meeting were especially helpful.

In this time of transition as a church we need to walk in love and maturity. If you find yourself needing to express truth that may be difficult for the other person to receive... remember these guidelines (taken from "Incarnate Leadership" by Bill Robinson)

First, I will have a hard time hearing truth if I am busy defending myself.
Second, I will have a hard time identifying truth if the assault feels more like it's more for your good than mine.
Third, I am not capable of accepting truth from you if the attack feels personal.
Fourth, I will stop thinking about truth if you make claims about my motives - and I would rather you ask me what they are than tell me what you think they are.

Great food for thought.

Longing for encouragement

I have always been captivated by the sense of hope that rises to the surface when someone reaches out to another human being with encouragement. We all thirst for the security of knowing that we are going to be alright... that we are going to survive this day and live it as we should... that we will respect ourselves at the end of the day and be able to have the respect of those closest to us. But, we live in a world that fights against us. We do have enemies, seen and unseen that are committed to stealing our security from us. Our hope lies in Jesus. He is waiting for us on the front lines of our own battle field. He is waiting there with encouragement and the power to make it through the day. Rob Bell said it this way, "We find God in our own oppression, in our own crying out, in our own response to the body of Christ broken for us, the blood of Christ poured out for us, and when we can't find God in our own oppression, we can always find God in the oppression of others." So, today I can set out to find encouragement from Jesus in the places of my life that feel oppressive to me. I am learning to "... share in his sufferings in order that I may share in his glory" (Romans 8:17).

Keepin 'er out of the ditch

I have claimed to be a Jesus' follower most of my life. There was a season there between ages 12-16 or so that were pretty rough for me. I don't really know what banner to hang over those years... but, I was pretty much all about myself and what was gonna get me through. Along the way there have been some mile markers. One of those for me was discovering I John 2:6; "If anyone claimed to live in him, they must walk as Jesus did." Hey, I have found that living like Jesus is intense for sure. He is absolutely the most interesting person I have ever encountered. Following Him has caused me to turn over just about every slimy rock in the landscape of my life. He is after total authenticity and that scares the "____" out of me many times. But, he is also after filling me with purpose and giving me an amazing missional life. He wants my life to glow with purpose and meaning. Investing my life in whatever His agenda in my world is every day is an adventure like no other. Life should really come with a warning label though... Warning: there is a subsitute that religion offers us that is a poisonous counterfeit. It is called "anxious striving". I have experienced that there is a difference between fully engaged missional living and a life of anxiously striving to get all the supposed "important" stuff done. God is definitely not about anxiety and striving to be a great person. If life is a highway I wanna keep 'er out of the ditch. Jesus, you managed to keep your life on the road and out of the ditches. Please lead me to be able to run at the speed you set for me and to have courage enough to boot religious "anxious striving" out of my life for good.

What keeps us in the game?

I am getting prepared to teach out of Phil 2:1-10 on Sunday, July 5. I have been reading the version from "The Message". I love some of the expressions there. One of them is; "When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.Phil 2:7-8 (MSG)

There is something about the idea "...having become human, he stayed human..." that inspires me. It was both and... becoming human and then staying...

First of all I wonder if there are some things I have "become" by obeying His plan for me but I have wimped out on the "staying" part. For me the latter is definitely the bigger challenge.

My Prayer: Father, thanks for what you have done in my life and for giving me the grace to obey you in becoming your child. I know you have designed me uniquely and lovingly with a purpose in mind. Now, help me to "stay in the game" and accomplish what you designed me to do.

Bark Park Detention

The past few days we have been working with our dog Maggie at our local dog park. She is three years old and by now she should be socialized enough to run and play with other dogs. Well, she's not... much to my embarrassment. In order to "sort of" connect with everyone else at the I have decided that we will hang out in the smaller part of the fenced in area. This area is actually designed for "smaller" dogs who are too afraid to interact with the bigger ones. But for Maggie and me it provides a chain link barrier between her and the rest of the dogs so. I hate it actually. I'm just not ready for the full experience yet. Sure, I usually say that Maggie isn't ready. But, I'm the one who isn't ready. You see, Maggie acts pretty dominant with other dogs and can get pretty snarly as well. I admit that it is threatening for me and I find it embarrassing. So, for the past two afternoons we have sheepishly hung out in Bark Park detention. Maybe today we will take the big jump into the big dog park... :)

What drives you?

What is motivating me today? I was reading these thoughts from "The Message" out of Phil 2;

"Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."

How would my life change if I allowed the Holy Spirit to restore this attitude and lifestyle in me?

best explanation of the "day of Christ" I have heard in a long time

I was glued to the message Pastor Brent was delivering yesterday morning. He was unpacking the first chapter of Philippians. It was fresh and it was delivered in a way that I loved. But, I especially enjoyed the thoughts on vv 9-10. He talked about "... until the day of Christ..." out of verse 10. He confronted the negative idea of seeing our earth as something to be thrown away and destroyed and therefore something we can neglect and even freely abuse. Then he presented us with the challenging idea that if Jesus is going to "give the earth a good shake and put everything all back to together" we should care about the earth and by faith live as if He is already in the process of doing just that. Great food for thought.

Why did we adopt these dogs again?

My 50 pound high energy Border Collie/Lab mix Maggie has a sore paw. I'm not sure what is up with it because she won't let us look at it. We tried last night, but there was some "teeth baring" and she snapped at Linda when she probed a little too far. So, I resorted to running a couple of inches of warm soapy bath water in our nice clean bathtub for Maggie to stand in so that she could soak her paws. I'll be doing that three times each day until it improves or gets worse. Of course that includes cleaning the tub after each soaking. So, what is that? Probably 20 minutes each time. I'll be investing an hour a day in Maggie's life so that she can recover from a sore paw and avoid an infection. If it gets worse, of course there will be the visit to the vet and the fees. Why am I doing all of this? If I accumulate the time I will be investing this week in taking care of my dogs including feeding, walking, grooming, etc, it will total total 10-15 hours. That is a part time job that is actually costing me money! But... I love it for some reason.

I think the biggest reason is the way my dogs teach me about living in the moment. In a dogs world you have to face every situation as it comes. You have to trust and take action based on your instincts. Dogs seem to have an intense commitment to acting out of instinct. I agree with those who say that humans have lost a lot of our ability to "instinctively" communicate with our world.

I can't be a decent leader to my dogs unless I lead them by instinct. I like what that brings out of me and I enjoy the connection I feel with the world as a result of our friendship.

So, here's to letting "recovering from a sore paw" become a group project when necessary... :)

Read recently that these four things are what we need from leaders trust compassion stability hope.

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Early morning "send-off"

An excited team of high school students, our youth pastor and his wife and a few volunteer adult leaders just left for NYC a few minutes ago. They are headed to the Big Apple for a week of serving in soup kitchens and reaching out to homeless people with the love of Jesus. My mission this morning was to show up in the parking lot and pray with the team before they left. Well, I was supposed to arrive at the church building in time to see them off at 5:45 AM. When I woke up and looked at my cell phone for the time it was 5:57. So, I jumped out of bed and managed to arrive in time to lead out in a prayer. I don't know if the prayer I offered made any sense but I do believe that the next 7 days will be filled with life directing moments for every person on the team.

"God, watch over this team and help them not to miss even one experience you have intended for them this week".

Just chillin' in the park with the dogs

The park is going well I have been pretty nervous about taking Maggie out where there are lots of people or dogs. But, we have been working hard together... learning to live "in the moment" without fearing what may happen. I have a hunch that I am the one who has been doing all the worrying... :)

I'm going to go down to the park and just hang out. I'm always in a rush when i take the dogs out for a walk. It should be interesting

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It is a beautiful day is the kv. Im thinking I might do something I havent done with the dogs before.

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Instinctual Leaders?

I was reading the other day from a Cesar Millan book that dogs will only follow an "Instinctual leader" as opposed to humans who will tend to follow Intellectual, Emotional or Spiritual leaders who might be pretty messed up in some other areas. He also spoke about how we have mostly abandoned the instinctual part of ourselves. I'm thinking about this some more. But, I can recall times in my life when I have been much more connected with that part of me.

Learning with my dogs

Our family got our first dog, Maggie from the Animal Rescue league three years ago. June 30, 2006 to be precise. She was just barely 6 weeks old. Of course we didn't really know what we were getting into. It has been 3 years of hard work, a big investment of money and one of the best things we have ever done. About a month ago we adopted a second dog, Tenny into our family. He is 4 years old. He is a beagle/Jack Russell Terrier mix. Maggie is a border collie/lab mix. Socializing them with each other and rehabbing Tenny into our home and our pack has required a lot of research and investment of time, money and devotion from me and my family. But, I am feeling great about how well it is going and for how I am growing from the experience. Today we went for a hike up behind Rothesay Netherwood School. It was an absolute blast. I am so glad we have discovered those trials and especially the Brook running through the woods... can't wait to get back there.