Archive - June, 2011

Dave Ramsey Disciple

June 30, 2011 in Discipleship with 0 Comments

Last night, Faith and I began classes in Financial Peace University. I am excited like Christmas Eve excited. I was unofficially a Dave Ramsey disciple before, but now I am all in. Before, I knew only the basics, but now we are are going to go deep. I have a feeling that the next 12 weeks are going to fly by for me. I also may have found a new way for me to volunteer at church when this is over.

I am ready to learn from the master about controlling my money. I think it’s going to get a little crazy.

Vision Casting To Create Other Vision Casters

June 29, 2011 in Leadership with 0 Comments

Is vision caster a real word? Well, you get what I mean. So you have an idea or a vision and you want to lead your organization to follow that vision. You share your vision with others and describe it in detail. You explain why it needs to be pursued and why things have to change. But how do you really get people on board?

I have been reading through ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey and as I was reading over the 2nd habit about beginning with the end in mind. A study had been done on peak performers and they found that almost all of them were visualizers. They visualized steps and processes and imagined themselves working through them before they ever took the first real step. They had a vision to accomplish something and visualized to the end before actually taking action. Seems like common sense to me.

Then I though deeper into it. I thought, if I am a peak performer and I lead a group of people, I have the ability to help those I lead to also become peak performers. I believe that leaders should reproduce themselves into those they lead. So if I am a visualizer, then I need to train others to be visualizers like me so that they can have similar success. If I am a vision caster, then I need to develop other vision casters or else the vision dies with me.

I wrote yesterday about churches who follow their pastor more than they follow Jesus and what would happen if that pastor suddenly left that ministry. If that visionary pastor and gifted communicator is the reason that church is successful, then he needs to be able to pass on his leadership and gifts to others so that the church would not falter without him.

In order to get others to buy into your vision, you need to teach them and let them dream the dream with you. Help them to visualize it and begin adding their own gifts and abilities to your vision. They will take part ownership and they will walk it out with you.

Attending Church To See Jesus Or The Rock Star Pastor?

June 28, 2011 in Church with 4 Comments

I was traveling last week and I attended church with extended family in their home town. It is not the first time that I have visited this church, but the regular teaching pastor was out of town and we had the opportunity to listen to someone else preach. I didn’t think much of it because at my church, the pulpit is shared among multiple teachers and preachers.

When it was discovered that the regular preacher was not going to be there, comments were made about how attendance will be down this weekend because the regular guy isn’t there. These comments made me sad for this church. I began to think to myself, what would happen to this church if the Senior Pastor retired? Would the majority of people stop coming because everyone else is a boring preacher compared to him? Is this one man the primary reason that this church has grown so much? Do they go to church to see Jesus or to see the Rock Star Pastor?

My hope is that my fears would not be true. My hope is that this church really follows Jesus and not just a man who has a gift to teach others about Jesus. My hope is that this one man has invested in the leadership of the church so that it can be a thriving community without him. My hope is that the people of this church would be able to to pull together and continue to grow closer to Jesus if this one man was no longer around.

Has church become a form of entertainment to the point that if the Rock Star takes a week off, we go look for something more interesting to do?

 

Taking Time To Recover

June 27, 2011 in Personal Development with 0 Comments

I spent the last 7 days in Nashville, TN. I have just finished the drive back. It is now Sunday night at almost 11:30 PM. The kids are tucked in bed and the car is unloaded. I didn’t feel like writing tonight, but I am trying very hard to write something every week day. And I don’t want to just throw some random post at you. So I am going to write about recovering from these types of events.

Why should I take time to recover? My kids are going to bounce out of bed in the morning and have as much energy as they did the day before. I am not sure I am ready to take that on tomorrow. The good news is that they haven’t played with their toys at home all week, so they will be pretty entertained remembering all of the cool stuff to do around here. I don’t plan on pushing things too hard tomorrow. I will unpack and readjust to living at home life. But after 24 hours or so around here, we have to get back into gear. So it is important that I get good rest tonight and try to ease back into things tomorrow.

When I was working the normal 9-5 job, I used to take an extra day off after vacation to recover a little bit. Or we would come home a day early if I didn’t have the time off. It is no fun to come home from a fun trip and turn around and jump right back into work. We have done that before, and it takes me days to get unpacked. Then I feel like I didn’t get anything done that whole next week. But if I plan for that recovery time, it goes so much smoother.

The point of a vacation is to take a break from work. But often vacation feels like work. When you spend the end of your trip driving and packing and hauling and loading and unloading, there is nothing relaxing about that. So if you are coming off of a busy season or a big event with family or work, don’t forget to take time to recover.

What Is Your Favorite Family Event?

June 24, 2011 in Community with 2 Comments

After talking about family all week, I thought I would ask you about yours. So what is your favorite thing to do with your family? Today is your chance to share. Here is one of mine.

I love road trips with my family. The stereotype is the cranky kids in the back and me driving and yelling something about pulling the car over. It doesn’t work that way for us. My kids have been road tripping often since they were babies. We bring stuff to entertain them. We stop along the way. We pack a  lot of snacks. And it doesn’t hurt that our van has a DVD player in it. The kids wear wireless headphones and I can play the stereo up front. My favorite part is that it gives Faith and I time to just really talk without too many distractions.

Ok, your turn.

The Community of Family

June 23, 2011 in Community with 0 Comments

Whether you like it or not, you are in community with your family. You may not all live together, but you are connected. You can run as far as you want, but they are still your family. Families are made up of regular people. People are prone to conflict. Just because you are blood related doesn’t mean you are going to agree about everything. And because they are family, you can’t really get away from it. If you don’t like a church for one reason or another, you can go find another one. If someone in your small group really pisses you off, you can stop going or find a new one. But you can’t really quit a family and join a new one. They will always be your mom, dad, brother, or sister. You can’t even get rid of that crazy uncle, legally anyway.

I know family community can be hard, but it takes work. For example, my sister and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of spiritual matters. These things run deep in our core of who we are and our purpose on this planet. But we have worked to put those things to the side when it comes to our connection in family. I believe that we would do anything for each other that does not compromise our spiritual principles. I love my sister dearly and I hope for resolution to our disagreements one day, but I fear that won’t happen this side of heaven. But in the present, we recognize our connection as siblings and we honor that.

Conflict resolution is hard. Extending grace and forgiveness is hard. But if we really want to be like Jesus, then we better get over it and get with the program. I won’t promise that you can make your family conflict free, but you can make a difference if you choose to work at it. If you would just talk to your family about what bothers you. Be honest, but be gentle. You aren’t the only one who can turn and run. You are only responsible for your participation. You can’t control others. When dealing with conflict you are probably going to cut someone. I have heard it said to use a scalpel, not a meat kleaver. Work at the relationships. Just like a romantic relationship, it is a two way street. There is give and take on both sides. It is the same within the family. If you are a parent, then you learn how much more you can give each time a child is added to the family. And it seems that all they do is take. Eventually they will contribute if you help them to. If you work on that relationship and invest in it, you will reap benefits.

Its your choice to work on community or just let it happen around you. What are you going to choose.

 

Apps

June 22, 2011 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

I saw this on Joseph Dulaney’s blog today, but I wanted to repost this video because it is that funny. Also, how did they know that February 21st is my birthday.

Family Discipleship

June 22, 2011 in Discipleship with 0 Comments

Today I want to talk about family discipleship. If you have children, then you have been given responsibility of not only their physical lives, but also their spiritual lives. I am tired of people expecting the church to teach their kids everything they need to know about following Jesus. I think it is great that the church is there to help, but it is not the church’s responsibility. It is yours.

I drop my kids off at the kid area at church every week and they have fun and learn stuff, but when it comes to them asking questions of the spiritual nature, who do you think they will turn to? Me of course. And maybe they aren’t asking me questions, but they see me all the time. They know my behavior. They know me better than my friends because they are always watching me. They are learning from me whether I am intentional about it or not.

I have chosen to take an intentional approach with them so that I can see what they are learning. This also opens the door for them to ask me questions about spiritual matters. I know my kids better than the church does, so I am going to know the best way to teach them about God and life. I don’t sit down every night and read the Bible and make them memorize scripture. Right now they are just toddlers, so I tell them stories and I talk to them. I am building a relationship in the best way I know how right now so that later they will see me as someone they can talk to.

I also plan on taking advantage of the resources offered by the church. If they don’t want to talk to me about something, I hope that they have someone else in their life like a youth pastor who they can talk to. I want to provide the best opportunities I can for my kids to get to know Jesus.

Have you ever thought about how you are discipling your kids? Are you doing it intentionally or unintentionally?

 

Leading Your Family

June 21, 2011 in Leadership with 0 Comments

Families need leadership. We think about leadership in terms of our careers, churches, and governments, but we easily let things with our family slide. The people in our family should be the most important people in our lives, so why do we forget to lead them while we are leading everything else?

I want you to look at the family unit like a business for a second. The family has income and expenses and exists for a purpose. Purpose can vary, but there are still people, events, and a lifestyle to manage. If nobody takes ownership and leads the family, then everyone begins leading themselves, and they split up into different directions. Ever hear of irreconciable differences? Everyone in a family can have a job. There are finances to be managed, chores, cooking, parenting, education, and just plain being in relationships with each other. And you can’t fire people from family, you can only promote them.

Leading your family does not mean doing everything so that everyone else can do whatever they want. As a family leader, you are responsible for helping the rest of the clan find where they can help out. As your kids get bigger, they need to learn about ownership and responsiblility. You want them to grow up and move out eventually right? If you don’t teach them how to take care of themselves, you will be doing that for the rest of your life.

A family without leadership will perish.

 

Writing About Family All Week

June 20, 2011 in Community with 0 Comments

This week I will be taking an extended period of time to spend with my family, so I don’t want to be writing blog posts while I should be having fun with my kids. Lucky for you, I wrote all of this week’s posts last week. So you won’t miss out on anything this week. In honor of the time I am going to spend with the family this week, I decided to work on a series of posts about family and how it relates to our walk with Jesus.

I am a big fan of family. I am married with 2 kids ages 6 and 4. I have always had great times with my family growing up and I want the same thing for my kids. So we make it a priority to spend time together and hopefully create some fun memories along the way. Over the years I have learned that if I want to have a strong and healthy family relationship, it takes some work. It takes a lot more than good intentions to create a healthy family environment.

So for the rest of the week I am going to write about family leadership, family discipleship, and the community of a family. These topics may feel a bit churchy, but for good reason. I am a firm believer that my family is the first church body that I am responsible to. I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts about family with you this week and hopefully hear some of yours.

I will be on vacation, but I will be plugged in and responding to comments.

 

Page 1 of 3123»