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Go Fly A Kite

April 24, 2012 in Family, Leadership with 25 Comments

I snapped this picture last evening of my youngest son, Brewer, flying his kite.

He’s always had a thing for kites.

It reminded me of a time over a year ago when he had received a kite as a gift. It hung there in our laundry room for months as almost daily he would beg me to fly it in the backyard.

Every time he asked I would remind him that our backyard was full of trees and it would inevitably get stuck in the tree. Well, he eventually wore me down and in a weak moment, I think on the 138th try, I finally gave in.

2 Things Most Christians Are Good At

April 16, 2012 in Leadership, Spiritual Growth, Videos with 28 Comments

It’s never good when dad can’t make a baseball game.

Because then mom has to take video.

And when mom takes the video that means something bad is going to happen (like getting pegged by a ball).

And when something bad happens then mom is going to overreact.

And when mom overreacts it’s worse than getting hit by the ball.

Therefore dad shouldn’t miss any more games.

Anyway this video got me thinking. You know most Christians in the church are really good at two things:

1) Doing Nothing

I’ve seen this in my own life. There are times I fall victim to sitting on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to get in the game and do something. One of the most convicting verses for me in the Bible is James 4:17 which says “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” Ouch, it gets me every time!

2) Overreacting

This one is often excused away as “passion” but I think it’s equally damaging to our mission. In an effort to do the “right thing” we zealously make assumptions, jump to false conclusions, and generally act like fools. I think we would all do well to learn the power of patience and the wisdom of calm.

So which extreme are you tempted toward. Doing nothing or overreacting?

Rick Warren on ‘Empty Promises’

April 12, 2012 in Leadership, Spiritual Growth with 11 Comments

When I was a senior in college I waited in a 30 minute line to have Rick Warren sign my copy of “The Purpose Driven Church.” That book had a huge impact on my life and ministry and even though I was one of hundreds that day I’ll never forget the kindness he showed me.

Over the past year Rick has become a dear friend and mentor. I was so honored that he was willing to write the foreword to my new book Empty Promises: The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies You’re Believing which released this week. As usual I thought what he had to say was brilliant…

Mother Teresa once observed that in India people are starving physically, but in America people are starving spiritually and emotionally.

God wired each of us with a spiritual hunger that can only be satisfied by him. We use phrases like “There’s got to be more to life than this.” or “I’m bored . . . restless . . . empty . . . unfulfilled.” Or even “I feel like something is missing in my life.” Even when things are going well, there’s always that little gnawing feeling on the inside. It is our hunger for God. We’re made by God and for God, and until we understand that, life will never make sense. We make the mistake of looking for satisfaction in all the wrong places.

That’s what this book is about. It uncoveres the idols we create in our own hearts when we fail to look to God to meet our deepest needs. These idols of pleasure, prestige, passion, position, popularity, performance, and possessions inevitably betray us and let us down. They are, as my dear friend Pete Wilson says, “Empty Promises.”

Too often we allow ourselves to be conned by “when and then” thinking. When I get married . . . when I make a lot of money . . . when I achieve a certain goal or status . . . THEN I’ll be happy. But, as Solomon said, “No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8 NLT)

Advertising today is filled with empty promises that offer to fulfill our spiritual hunger. Products from coffee to cigarettes promise “satisfaction guaranteed” and “The taste that satisfies!” If that were true you’d only need one cup of coffee and never need another cigarette!

Without Christ, we tend to approach life like we do a late night refrigerator raid: We’re restless and can’t sleep so we get up and go to the refrigerator. We don’t know what we want—we just know we are hungry. We open the door and stare, scanning the contents, hoping something will look good and catch our attention. Next, we start “grazing”—nibbling a little on this, then nibbling a little on that. But nothing tastes good. Nothing satisfies. We close the refrigerator door, and go back to bed still hungry. That scene describes the lives of most people.

Today there are more than twice as many products and services available as there were ten years ago, and most of them promise what they cannot deliver. But are people twice as happy as they were ten years ago? Of course not. One man admitted to me, “Even when I get what I want, it’s not what I want! I’m still dissatisfied.”

This book points you to the answer in your search for satisfaction and significance. It will change your life if you’ll listen, learn, and apply the powerful truths it contains. Pete Wilson will help you recognize your real hunger and the only source for real satisfaction.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your hearts desires.” Don’t seek happiness, seek God! The promise of happiness isn’t contained in a product. That promise is found in a person—Jesus Christ. “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’” (2 Cor. 1:20) I invite you to begin the journey!

Rick Warren
Pastor, Saddleback Church

Things That Matter To God

April 4, 2012 in Leadership with 11 Comments

I once heard Gary Haugen, the president of the International Justice Mission, say,

“Just because I’m leading and people are following doesn’t mean that I’m leading them in things that matter to God.”

I can lead.

I’ve led since I was a kid.

Leadership comes natural to me.

It’s my gift.

The question is, am I using my leadership to inspire, challenge and motivate people toward the things that matter to God?

I’m facing some big decisions over the next couple of months. In my mind, they are some of the biggest decisions I’ve made in my ministry. The stakes are high. I’m praying today that these decisions will help lead people toward the things that matter most to God.

So how about you? Many of you are leaders. You’re leaders in your church, leaders in your neighborhood, in your workplace, in your home with your kids. People are following. The question is:

Are you leading them in the things that matter to God?

The Difference Between Hurt and Harm

March 29, 2012 in Leadership, Uncategorized with 13 Comments

I just started a new book yesterday called Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud. So far, I love this book.

If you know me, you know I’m a people pleaser at heart. Making decisions and having conversations with others that I know hurt them are tough for me. I’ve learned they’re necessary, but I still have a great deal of anxiety that accompanies such things.

And I bet you do to. It’s hard to…

Have a tough conversations with someone who’s not meeting expectations.
Fire a staff person who you know isn’t in the right position.
Confront a friend who’s stuck in a pattern of confessed sin.
Shut down a ministry in your church that, at one time, produced a lot of fruit.

But “hard” isn’t always negative. Neither is “hurt” necessarily negative.

The illustration he uses in the book is having an infected tooth pulled. Is that hard? Yes. Does it hurt? Yes. But is it really negative? Not really. It certainly isn’t harmful. The dentist does have to inflict some pain, but it’s actually a positive or healing event.

Dr. Cloud made a great distinction that I think we all need to remember. He wrote…

“There’s a huge difference between hurt and harm. We all hurt sometimes in facing hard truths, but it makes us grow. It can be the source of huge growth. That is not harmful. Harm is when you damage someone. Facing reality is usually not a damaging experience, even though it can hurt.

As a leader, you have got to redefine what positive and negative is. Positive is doing what is best and right for the business and for the people.

I’m working hard to make difficult decisions and hard conversations a normal occurence in my life and leadership and view them as a positive, instead of seeing it as a problem. Some of them may hurt, but if done with the right heart, they don’t have to harm.

Do you tend to avoid difficult conversations or topics with others?

Test It On A Few

March 21, 2012 in Church Leadership, Leadership with 16 Comments

“A plan in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out.” Proverbs 20:5

The writer of that Proverb reminds us of the importance of having knowledge in regard to moving one’s plans out of the deep recesses of the heart to the surface to where those plans can be carried out. Generally, the first step in seeing those plans carried out involves some level of vision casting. A lot of people have great vision. But you’ll never see your vision become a reality unless you communicate it well to others. Many great God-given dreams die in the vision-casting stage.

I’m going into a season in my leadership where vision casting is going to be essential. I think vision casting is always an important part of leadership, but there are certain seasons it’s crucial.

Some leaders are just natural vision casters. It almost just oozes out of them. Other leaders (like myself) have to work at it.

Over the years the most important lesson I’ve learned about vision is: Test it on a few before you cast it to many.

If I know I’ve got an important vision casting message or meeting coming up I’ll intentionally set up a handful of one on one meetings to lay out the vision in a much smaller atmosphere. And then I do two things:

1) As I’m casting the vision to them I read their body language. What makes them squirm? What makes their eyes sparkle? At what point do they lean across the table wanting to hear more? While the vision is the vision, how I say it and the order I say it in is important and I often readjust quite a bit just by watching people in these mini-environments.

2) After I cast the vision, I shut up and listen. The questions they ask are like gold to me. Why? Because it’s the same questions everyone listening to my vision casting are going to ask the next time I make this presentation. Once someone has serious doubts about something I’ve said or a question that pops in their mind they often become so focused on that question that they miss the rest of the presentation. Being able to answer those questions inside the presentation before they get asked becomes key to the next presentation.

So there’s a few random thoughts on vision casting. I’d love to know what are you’re learning about vision casting these days?

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