Success
Success is defined as "the accomplishment of an aim or purpose." As followers of Jesus we must ask ourself, "whose aim or purpose" are we committed to seeing fulfilled? It seems to me that the journey may be more important to God than the destination. It was certainly important during the Exodus. During that 40 year period, how a generation handled the journey actually kept them from entering their goal, the Promised Land. Along those lines, I have always been troubled by the verse that said, "And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." (Psa. 106:15) This reveals that God will allow us to insist on having our way until He allows us to go that way. No man ever gets to the point to where he is 20/20 on knowing the full purpose and plan of God. We must all remain open and pliable to being adjusted along the journey. What could make a humble disciple become inflexible along the way? A belief that they have it all together and that they know the full purpose of the Lord. Then, when we are successful doing a thing once we now believe we know how to do it and we can now mass produce what we have accomplished. This is not a formula of success, it is a formula for disaster. God has designed us to live in such an intimate place of fellowship with Him that our direction, even our next step will come out of fellowship with Him. Maturity does not mean that we have arrived at a place where we work in our own strength and wisdom and give God the glory for what "we do for Him." He is not interested!
King David, unlike Saul, is our example of continued desperation in the middle of success. David even in his success on the battlefield continued to seek the Lord for each detail regarding the next endeavor. May we become and remain so wise. It is interesting that the longer we walk with the Lord the more dependent we become. However, there is a place somewhere in the middle between a novice and a sage that seems to be the most dangerous place. It is the place of success, the sweet spot of a career when it all seems easy. That may be the most dangerous place of all. Jesus said, "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God". May we choose to be poor in spirit and remain in that posture all the days of our lives, regardless of the appearance of success.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Where Are You?
I was riding by the Sound near the Gulf of Mexico and I saw this nice sail boat listing to starboard and aground. It could be that it was run aground accidentally, or maybe it was sailed into water that seemed deep enough only to learn it wasn't when the tide went out. (Several great sermons in that last sentence!) Regardless, it was a bad decision based on poor planning. Three of my favorite leadership questions are: 1. Where have we been?, 2. Where are we?, and 3. Where are we going? The three questions require a lot of courage. Too many leaders don't ask them enough because they don't want to face the scrutiny of their directional leadership. If the answers are, "We are where we were and we are going where we are", then that raises concerns. Any organization without a forward moving plan is "dead in the water".
Checking where we have been is always a good thing. We can evaluate the effectiveness of the past and learn from the good and bad of that which is behind us. Those lessons can help us evaluate where we are, what got us here and again, the effectiveness of the now. We can only plan for the future by knowing where we are. Where we are would involve taking inventory. We need to see what we are doing(success and failures), what are our resources and begin to work with those tools. From there we can now make a better plan for our future. A part of moving toward a successful future is correcting the mistakes and/or weaknesses of the present. As a leader your most valuable resources are your people around you in leadership. I recommend spending a "think tank" meeting at least twice a year and ask these three questions, giving plenty of time to discuss each one in the group. Then, apply what comes out of that creative meeting. Keep notes and review what was said in your next such meeting.
I am confident you will see great benefits from applying these simply questions.
I was riding by the Sound near the Gulf of Mexico and I saw this nice sail boat listing to starboard and aground. It could be that it was run aground accidentally, or maybe it was sailed into water that seemed deep enough only to learn it wasn't when the tide went out. (Several great sermons in that last sentence!) Regardless, it was a bad decision based on poor planning. Three of my favorite leadership questions are: 1. Where have we been?, 2. Where are we?, and 3. Where are we going? The three questions require a lot of courage. Too many leaders don't ask them enough because they don't want to face the scrutiny of their directional leadership. If the answers are, "We are where we were and we are going where we are", then that raises concerns. Any organization without a forward moving plan is "dead in the water".
Checking where we have been is always a good thing. We can evaluate the effectiveness of the past and learn from the good and bad of that which is behind us. Those lessons can help us evaluate where we are, what got us here and again, the effectiveness of the now. We can only plan for the future by knowing where we are. Where we are would involve taking inventory. We need to see what we are doing(success and failures), what are our resources and begin to work with those tools. From there we can now make a better plan for our future. A part of moving toward a successful future is correcting the mistakes and/or weaknesses of the present. As a leader your most valuable resources are your people around you in leadership. I recommend spending a "think tank" meeting at least twice a year and ask these three questions, giving plenty of time to discuss each one in the group. Then, apply what comes out of that creative meeting. Keep notes and review what was said in your next such meeting.
I am confident you will see great benefits from applying these simply questions.
Monday, April 8, 2013
"I Could Never Do That!"
I hate the statement, "I could never do that!" When I hear it I often say, "we can do whatever we must." History records many remarkable things happening when ordinary people made the effort to try. On the contrary, if a person has a mindset of " I could never do that", the battle is lost before it is begun. I remember when I first thought about this. About 12 years ago I had eye surgery to correct my vision and gave permission to the surgeon to make my vision mono vision. That means that one eye is for reading the other is for distance. When people heard about this they would say, "I tried that with contact lenses and I couldn't do it." I remember there was a 3-4 week adjustment and then my vision became crystal clear without glasses! I had to pay a small price of aggravation for a few weeks to enjoy 12 years of trouble free vision after.
I think of double amputees running a marathon. I think of artists who become paralyzed from the neck down who learn to paint with their teeth. What do they all have in common? The all came to a place of:
1. Acceptance of the challenge.
They had to accept the reality of their situation and the challenge before them. I remember when my daughter fell from a balcony over 4 years ago and was left paraplegic. I watched her face streaming with tears the first morning after the surgery when she realized the reality of her limitations. The very next day she attacked the challenge with strength. She has never stopped.
2. Courage to do more than is expected.
When my daughter was considering options for rehab she rejected centers where the emphasis was placed upon learning to live with your disability. She chose rather, "Project Walk" in California where the goal was obviously, "walking". I know some would say, "accept your condition and embrace it". I know there is a place for that too but there must be this drive that says, "I know I can accomplish more than is expected.
3. A stamina and commitment to never stop.
I can't imagine the pain and difficulty involved in learning to stand, much less running on prosthesis legs. Yet, there are many doing it as you read this blog. However, there is one thing that none of these heroes possess. There is one luxury none of them can afford. None of them ever allow the thought to linger, "I could never do that!"
I hate the statement, "I could never do that!" When I hear it I often say, "we can do whatever we must." History records many remarkable things happening when ordinary people made the effort to try. On the contrary, if a person has a mindset of " I could never do that", the battle is lost before it is begun. I remember when I first thought about this. About 12 years ago I had eye surgery to correct my vision and gave permission to the surgeon to make my vision mono vision. That means that one eye is for reading the other is for distance. When people heard about this they would say, "I tried that with contact lenses and I couldn't do it." I remember there was a 3-4 week adjustment and then my vision became crystal clear without glasses! I had to pay a small price of aggravation for a few weeks to enjoy 12 years of trouble free vision after.
I think of double amputees running a marathon. I think of artists who become paralyzed from the neck down who learn to paint with their teeth. What do they all have in common? The all came to a place of:
1. Acceptance of the challenge.
They had to accept the reality of their situation and the challenge before them. I remember when my daughter fell from a balcony over 4 years ago and was left paraplegic. I watched her face streaming with tears the first morning after the surgery when she realized the reality of her limitations. The very next day she attacked the challenge with strength. She has never stopped.
2. Courage to do more than is expected.
When my daughter was considering options for rehab she rejected centers where the emphasis was placed upon learning to live with your disability. She chose rather, "Project Walk" in California where the goal was obviously, "walking". I know some would say, "accept your condition and embrace it". I know there is a place for that too but there must be this drive that says, "I know I can accomplish more than is expected.
3. A stamina and commitment to never stop.
I can't imagine the pain and difficulty involved in learning to stand, much less running on prosthesis legs. Yet, there are many doing it as you read this blog. However, there is one thing that none of these heroes possess. There is one luxury none of them can afford. None of them ever allow the thought to linger, "I could never do that!"
Monday, April 1, 2013
Noncompliant God
Many years ago I heard a preacher say that the Gospel message had become man centered. He went on to explain that man had become the center of the universe and God was in orbit around him providing for his every wish. As I write this today, it seems that is the more the case in this day than when it was first spoken. When you go back and read writings of many of the preachers and theologians from 100+ years ago you see a very different perspective of God and His nature. Of course, He was a God of love, mercy, redemption and grace. Yet, it was clear that man's role was to love, enjoy and serve God. As man lived in "right" relationship with God and lived within the protective boundaries of God's Truth, he would be blessed and live a life of purpose and fulfillment. But, if man lived outside the parameters of Truth, no such protection and purpose would be enjoyed.
It seems that at the root of this move away from a Biblical view of God and man is a perversion of the nature, personality and Holiness of God. Man today seems to see God through human understanding only. As a young man I might hear an unbeliever or a novice Christian say, "why would a loving God allow suffering in the world?" Yet, it would be a very rare thing to hear a true disciple of Jesus ask such a question. Why? Because they had a real, living relationship with Him and an ongoing knowledge of the entire Bible. Today it is common place to hear Christians say such things and also make statements about their faith and doctrine as, "I know God would never do this or that because he is a loving God." If you press their belief they will simply say, "I don't believe God would do that!" Their belief is in their perspective based on what they would like God to be and do, not necessarily the Scripture. One of the worst cases of this was a few years ago when a man made an appointment to share some "new revelation" with me from the Bible. He was reading in the book of Revelation and saw Jesus was holding a bow. He said, "this bothered me that Jesus would be holding an instrument of war, a bow, so I realized that it was a bow tie as he was dressed up coming to meet his Bride!" It was all I could do not to laugh in his face! How could he arrive at such a conclusion? First, because he was not reading a regular diet of the Scripture. He was picking and choosing what he wanted to read and listening to teachers saying what he wanted to hear. Secondly, he formed an opinion of who and what he wanted God to be and then proceeded to interpret Scripture based upon that man made image. God is not nor will He become the god we want him to be. HE IS WHO HE IS! God is not a compliant God! We must read the Scripture, Old and New Testament regularly with an open mind and heart and let the Bible tell us what we should believe. We cannot open the Bible with preconceived doctrine and try to find verses to confirm our vision. We may find those verses but they will usually be out of context.
Let us remove ourselves from the altar of our lives and ask Jesus to come and sit in that sacred place. Then, in a place of worship may we serve Him with joy!
Many years ago I heard a preacher say that the Gospel message had become man centered. He went on to explain that man had become the center of the universe and God was in orbit around him providing for his every wish. As I write this today, it seems that is the more the case in this day than when it was first spoken. When you go back and read writings of many of the preachers and theologians from 100+ years ago you see a very different perspective of God and His nature. Of course, He was a God of love, mercy, redemption and grace. Yet, it was clear that man's role was to love, enjoy and serve God. As man lived in "right" relationship with God and lived within the protective boundaries of God's Truth, he would be blessed and live a life of purpose and fulfillment. But, if man lived outside the parameters of Truth, no such protection and purpose would be enjoyed.
It seems that at the root of this move away from a Biblical view of God and man is a perversion of the nature, personality and Holiness of God. Man today seems to see God through human understanding only. As a young man I might hear an unbeliever or a novice Christian say, "why would a loving God allow suffering in the world?" Yet, it would be a very rare thing to hear a true disciple of Jesus ask such a question. Why? Because they had a real, living relationship with Him and an ongoing knowledge of the entire Bible. Today it is common place to hear Christians say such things and also make statements about their faith and doctrine as, "I know God would never do this or that because he is a loving God." If you press their belief they will simply say, "I don't believe God would do that!" Their belief is in their perspective based on what they would like God to be and do, not necessarily the Scripture. One of the worst cases of this was a few years ago when a man made an appointment to share some "new revelation" with me from the Bible. He was reading in the book of Revelation and saw Jesus was holding a bow. He said, "this bothered me that Jesus would be holding an instrument of war, a bow, so I realized that it was a bow tie as he was dressed up coming to meet his Bride!" It was all I could do not to laugh in his face! How could he arrive at such a conclusion? First, because he was not reading a regular diet of the Scripture. He was picking and choosing what he wanted to read and listening to teachers saying what he wanted to hear. Secondly, he formed an opinion of who and what he wanted God to be and then proceeded to interpret Scripture based upon that man made image. God is not nor will He become the god we want him to be. HE IS WHO HE IS! God is not a compliant God! We must read the Scripture, Old and New Testament regularly with an open mind and heart and let the Bible tell us what we should believe. We cannot open the Bible with preconceived doctrine and try to find verses to confirm our vision. We may find those verses but they will usually be out of context.
Let us remove ourselves from the altar of our lives and ask Jesus to come and sit in that sacred place. Then, in a place of worship may we serve Him with joy!
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