Category: People

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Man, Movement, Machine, & Monuments

Miranda and I got to hang out with some friends who are missionaries a few weeks ago. Trey and Leigh Anne are some of the coolest people I know. Anyway, during our time together, Trey and I had a great conversation and he said something I wanted to share with you. I’ve caught myself sharing it in a few conversations since then already. (That means it’s something I really latched on to.) I can’t remember where he got the info, but I know it’s not original to him either. Anyway, here it is:

The changes that take place in most organizations over time can be defined by these stages:

1. A Man on a Mission – is how things get started.

2. A Movement – is formed as this man and his mission attract/involve other people who are passionate about the same things.

3. A Machine – is built as the movement grows. The loose organization of people decides to be strategic in planning and sets standards for how they will operate.

4. A Monument – is ultimately formed as people begin to expect certain behaviors/services from the machine. Unfortunately, machines break. Many times (if leadership is not careful and intentional) the maintenance of the machine begins to take precedence over the original mission. Financial resources which originally were intended for the mission are spent to support the machine. (85% of the average church budget is spent inwardly.)

In Trey’s description, he also said that the man who shared these ideas with him made it his goal to never become a machine. A movement of many men on mission can become a revolution, but a machine. . . .

These are ideas worth passing along. What do you guys think?

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Love146

Hey guys, just thought I’d tell you about Love146. We had Rob Morris, the president of the organization, speak at a youth event at my previous church. He was great. He’s the guy who first told the “Hag Story” that some of you have heard me tell. Anyway, here’s the video that explains Love146. It’s an incredible ministry! I would encourage everyone to get involved. Rob tells horrific stories about little girls as young as 8 years old who are sold by sex traffickers. Love146 works on their behalf by getting them out, restoring their value and worth as human beings, and by guiding them to new lives in Christ.

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Lessons from a Juggler

I have a friend, Jonathan Root, who is a professional juggler/comedian. His team has 5 International Championship Titles and 3 World Records. You can check him out at www.rootberry.net. Recently, we’ve been having a conversation on facebook about leadership and juggling. I just thought I’d share some of our conversations with you guys here. Although most of the ideas expressed here are his, I’ve marked specific things he said in blue. The rest is just my ramblings about it all.

I started out asking him the basic question, “How is juggling like leadership?”  Here’s his answer:

Jonathan Root
9:16am Feb 26th
Juggling is not like leadership. Juggling is a means to entertain people. I use juggling to draw and keep peoples attention. Then I use the juggling and comedy to relate to them. A pastor, a speaker and entertainer (in this case a juggler) are all trying to effectively communicate with their audience. If you cannot communicate with your audience then your message will be ineffective. And the message we bring is the message of salvation so we cannot (afford to) be ineffective in communicating our message. This has probably led you to more questions so feel free to ask.
Root
.

As our discussion got deeper, it became clear that he is passionate about communicating the gospel effectively – much like a pastor or Christian leader.

Here are some of the main lessons I learned in our conversations.
1. Juggling and leadership are all about practice. “Focused practice
make an excellent juggler. Trying the same tricks over and over till
you hit them every time is an art.” In leadership, I’d have to say that the same is true. The more you lead, the better you become. The difficult thing is that a true leader is seeking to do something like it’s never been done before, while a juggler is trying to be consistent about doing the same thing over and over.  Still, even in a new situation, all of our past experiences or practice helps to guide our decisions as we lead. Practice is all about developing skills.

2. Like leadership, in juggling it is critical to not watch the ball hit your hands, but to watch a ball until it
starts to fall then you know where to put your hand. In leadership, this is similar to the way that a true leader watches culture and the movement of God so that he can lead others to place themselves in the right place to serve Him. Watching the ball until it starts to drop is all about vision.

3. Professional juggling requires attention to details like directions to venues, time management for making flights, and constant improvement/development of your show. Otherwise, you’ll eventually burn enough bridges that you won’t be able to book anything. I wonder how many churches have found themselves in this place? It seems that our culture feels pretty “burned” by the church and I’m not sure it’s completely fair to them, but it’s still true none-the-less. It’s important for the Christian leader to seek constant improvement/development of the people (the church) too. Leaders must be managers too.

4. There is something called a “squeeze” in juggling where two balls end up landing in the same hand at the same time. These are not done very often because they are so difficult, but according to Jonathan, “you have to want to do them.” There are a lot of things in the church that we like to avoid. When a true leader’s vision requires a “squeeze,” he goes for it. No matter what the difficulty, like Moses, he finds the courage to follow God through the Red Sea’s parted walls of water. God saves us through the “squeezes” not from them.

5. Juggling is an art. The best leaders in juggling are the guys who are good at putting it all together – Routining the juggling, mixing in comedy and having it all relate to the audience so they laugh and clap. In those moments the audience experiences more than just juggling. There is a sort of “art” to leadership too – when everything comes together under the right leader there is something that can’t really be defined – something that transcends the task at hand – something that goes beyond the vision. True leadership “feels” God’s timing and transcends our humanity.

By the way, here’s a clip of Jonathan and his friend Bill from their shows.

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Friends and Heroes

With_dawn_and_jane_2 I got to spend some time this past weekend with some people who are both friends and heroes. Here’s a pic of Miranda and I with Jane and Dawn.

First I’ll tell you about Jane (cause she’s first in the pic if you go left to right)

Jane Miranda and I met Jane 3 years ago through Dawn. Dawn was my summer youth assistant my first year in Lake Jackson and she introduced us to Jane. Jane is a great Christian and she has lots of ideas about how our faith should be lived out. I really enjoy talking to her. She’s funny. Anyway, this past year she was diagnosed with cancer and she’s undergoing treatments right now. That’s why she doesn’t have any hair in the pic – but she has been known to shave her head just for the fun of it too. Anyway, a couple weeks ago she sent out an e-mail describing her feelings and I thought I’d share some of what she wrote here:

I have to admit…sometimes I pray more fervently for complete healings simply for the pleasure of not having to go through chemo again. I’ve never been the most patient person, and this time, the story is the same…I want all of God’s healing and goodness without having to wait or to do any of the work. So this brings us back to this morning. God graciously sent a dear friend to pry into my heart on the very morning when I was determined to “quit” regardless of the evaluation results. I was once told that God’s grace is always on time…I don’t think I’ve believed that to be more true than now. But even after much prying and praying I still wrestled, like the “good” and faithful servant that I am (sarcasm noted). Even throughout the entire afternoon…I was sure that God would HAVE to heal me…I mean, He just HAD to…chemo is too awful, cancer is too lame, people have been praying too hard…and most importantly, I was sick of it all. Sadly, there it was, the core of my whole reasoning…God just HAD to heal me, because I was tired of dealing with cancer. Then this evening, after my stomach stopped making noises, my concentration returned to me, there I sat face to face with my feeble conclusion. The reality is God doesn’t HAVE to heal me…He doesn’t have to do a thing…but He chooses to speak healing into me. Even the breath that I am currently breathing is only possible due to His abundant grace. Without His grace and mercy, life would be empty. I can’t believe how often I forget to count the blessings that He bestows upon me…all I seem to do is demand things that I “need”. Funny isn’t it how we always seem to assume we know what we need more than He does. . . . . . I will continue to have the courage and faith to fight regardless of the results…simply because He is calling me to this place right now, and as it were, I have to work on this whole obedience and patience thing. As a recent quote I read says, “You don’t have to do it well, you just have to do it and well will come one day.” I am realizing now more than ever that perhaps the greatest testament to grace is that He gives us the will to fight each day.

I don’t know about you – but this is the kind of person I look up to – a true hero. Jane has courageously looked into her own heart and realized that God has given her an incredible gift – even with cancer, she recognizes that she doesn’t deserve anything. It’s only His grace that “breathes” into our lives. I also see an incredible faith in her thoughts and I have seen her walking out her life following after Jesus. Cancer. . . .now that’s a scary word, but Jane knows her God is bigger.

Dawn OK – now Dawn. Where do I start with Dawn? As my summer youth assistant, she was great. Dawn truly has a heart for prayer and for the youth that we worked with. It was her desire to know them and really be a part of their lives. For Dawn, ministry comes out of relationship. (That’s my philosophy too.) Anyway, Dawn just got back from Africa where she was doing ministry in Swaziland for the past 7 months. She shared some incredible things and clearly has been called into mission work. Dawn is a tiny woman with a huge faith. She led two different teams of missionaries in Swaziland and talked about how God used them to reach people in incredible ways. God used them to perform healings and even more importantly the miracle of salvation for many African people. Dawn also worked in new Orleans and even hosted a bar-b-que picnic in the neighborhood where she lived. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you know that she lived in the neighborhood which was considered the murder capital of the United States, and when you understand that the racial tensions are extreme – to imagine a little white girl hosting such an event – well – that’s why she’s my hero. Dawn listens to the Lord and acts on what He tells her. No matter what the risk, she understand that if it’s God speaking, it’s not a risk at all. Dawn has incredible courage! I’ve attached an mp3 of Dawn telling our youth about Africa if your interested: Download AfricaMissions 07.05.06.mp3

I thank God that He has given me these precious friends and I pray that He will continue to use them in mighty ways wherever He decides to send them.