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The illusion of security

This weeks "My Story" really spoke to the trust we're called to have in God.  That He is working and moving and cares about us.  We'll all face storms in life, but we can trust God.  We fight for control and security but it's a false sense of security, and illusion.  It can be gone in an instant.  

But, when we're in our most desperate place, when all security seems to be stripped away, if we're a follower of Jesus, we're absolutely secure.  God has us - He will never leave us or forsake us.  Whatever we're walking through is temporary.  

Check out this song by Laura Story that speaks to this:

 

http://youtu.be/1CSVqHcdhXQ

passing the baton (part 3)

Over the last couple of days, I've been doing a series about developing leaders and passing the baton, so your business or church can grow beyond yourself.  If you haven't checked the previous posts out, do that first.  Go ahead, I'll wait . . . 

If you're hiring people to be part of your team, you want them to bring excellence and expertise to their areas. They are being hired to bring areas of your company or ministries in your church to new levels.  But, like we talked about yesterday, you have to be careful about just setting them loose without fully understanding the culture and without the relationships in place.  At the beginning you will have more direction and they will have less freedom.  But, you need to move more and more to less direction and more freedom.  

These leaders need to have the responsibility for their areas AND the authority to carry out those responsibilities and make the calls in line with those things that are "vision critical".  If they have the authority but not the responsibility, it will be disasterous.  They will be positionally leading, but those who are responsible will have to answer for their decisions.  It' only a matter of time until things will go south.

If they are responsible, but don't have authority, they are simply task-masters.  They are accomplishing what needs to be done, but will lack the ownership and the passion to take things to the next level.  AND, good leaders will eventually get frustrated and leave for somewhere else, where they can have the authority.

I remember years ago in a church where a deacon board was trying to get me to make a decision that I knew would not be in the best interest of the ministry I was responsible for.  There were all sorts of issues with their "suggestions" and not a single one them was closely tied to the ministry that I was leading.  I was frustrated.  They had hired me to lead, but were not fully giving me the authority to do what I knew was best.  

Our leaders need to be given the authority and responsibility to lead.  BUT, that doesn't mean they need to have the same authority as you do.  You started the business from scratch, you dreamed of the church when there was nothing, God gave you the vision.  Those levels of authority are earned over the long haul.  Authority doesn't mean the same level of authority that the point leader has.  At the end of the day, you're having to make the calls, you're having to live with where this is all headed.  You are the one that feels the weight and responsibility for the employees that your company takes care of, and their families that are dependent on that income, etc.

Have you given authority but they aren't responsible for the decisions they are making?  Have you given responsibility, but they don't have the authority to lead?  If we're going to effectively "pass the baton", our emerging leaders will need both.

passing the baton (part 2)

Yesterday, I began this series.  If you didn't read that post, I'd encourage you to go back and read it here.

Like the great Jim Collins says in his incredible book Good to Great, you need to get the right people on the bus.  Who are the right people?  People who are passionate about the same "vision critical" issues that you are.  This is assuming that they are also people of character, they are competent, etc. (and in the church world, have a vibrant, growing relationship with God).  

Once you have those people "on the bus", you need to be able to pass the baton of leadership to those people.  How does that happen?

I believe it happens best slowly.  Mark Rhodes, one of our staff pastors, said it took him about a year to feel like he knew our culture, understood how things function at The Journey, used our "language", and understood the rythm and pace of things here.  In the early days, you need to give more direction and less freedom.  It's not that the person isn't qualified or talented, but you need to know that they understand your specific culture.  

Here's the problem that many leaders run into.  They hire a staff person because they are feeling overwhelmed.  They want the person to come in and specifically relieve them of some duties so they can focus on the most important things.  But, hiring the new staff will require MORE time, not LESS time in the short-term.  You HAVE to spend the time to train them, to answer their questions, to introduce them to people, to walk through the vision (again and again).  It is more intensive, not less intensive.

But, as they become grounded, you will be able to give less direction and more freedom, which will mean less time, not more time in the long-run.  

Too often, we're fighting the tyranny of the urgent, and we short-circuit the leadership development process and we drop the baton.  

passing the baton

Developing leaders is hard work, if you do it well.  I feel like I still have so much to learn in this area, and if you've ever started something from scratch you know how hard it can be to let things go, and let someone else be responsible for them.

Over the next couple days, I'll be posting about this process.

Starting a church from scratch is hard.  Exciting, but hard.  One of the things we were told early on was to guard the vision at all costs.  We were told that people will try and steal the vision.  People who couldn't gain leadership at their current church would come and try and gain leadership at this new, young church (it was true, by the way).  So, we held to the vision tightly.  That has served us very well over the years.  We've been focused and intentional, and have steadily moved forward. 

But . . . when you hold so tightly to the vision, it can become easy to think everything is related to the vision, and so you hold to everything tightly.  When you do that, you become the bottleneck to growth.  You can also stifle leaders, because everything is a "no", or everything has to be driven by the point leader.  There is a fine balance here, but one that needs to be found.

You have to decide what is actually "vision critical" and what is not.  Then you need to find people who believe the same things are "vision critical" and begin investing in them.

Most churches in the United States are under 100 people.  Why?  I think one of the major reasons is because that's about the outer limits of one pastors span of care.  If the pastor does it all, the opportunity to grow will be limited.

So, when you get ready to pass the baton, how do you do that effectively?  I'll talk about that a little more tomorrow.

the power of forgiveness

Yesterday at The Journey, we talked about forgiveness in our "My Story" series, which you can watch here!  Yesterday Lori shared her powerful story of forgiveness.  The forgiveness she experienced from God after trainwrecking her life, and walking through some very painful life experiences, including the loss of a baby, the death of a husband, an affair, and drug & alcohol abuse.

Lori experienced the forgiveness that only God can bring through a relationship with Jesus and it radically changed her & brought her to the place where she could forgive the "other woman" who had an affair with her husband, and actually help her & her new husband takes steps to follow after Jesus.  

How is that possible?  Only with God's help & a proper understanding that we have sinned in just as ugly a way in our relationship with God.  The same mercy that's shown to Lori is shown to each one of us by God, which means everyone is offered forgiveness, and we're called to forgive others just as we've been forgiven.  FORGIVEN PEOPLE, FORGIVE PEOPLE.

P.S.  Yesterday, the "other woman" sat next to Lori in our 11 am gathering!!  The power of forgiveness!

This is why

This is why we give, this is why we serve at The Journey.  If you're a volunteer, serve, or give at The Journey, I want you to read this.  Because you are a part of what's going on in the life and heart of the person below.  Every Sunday, people are taking steps, finding healing, moving from religion to relationship, finding Jesus, changing eternal destinies AND that wouldn't happen without you.  So, read and be encouraged by the facebook message I got today.

    "I'm still getting my feet with all the things I've always considered "out of my comfort zone". I wanted to     let you know how much the Journey has helped me since I started attending in January. I love it there     and always look forward to each Sunday. I feel so connected and very comfortable there. Everyone who     works there and volunteering there truly lives by what the church is trying to teach.

    I've been meeting many new people and making new connections. I am so very thankful and thank God     every day for all the help and acceptance that you guys have given me. I'm going through the roughest     time in my life right now and I have a whole other place that I call family to lean on. I have given my life     completely to God and I am letting Him direct me where I need to go. I have never been much into     religion but I had something spiritual happen to me the third week I was at The Journey and from then     on I was like Game On!"

She's taking steps, growing, learning - but that wouldn't be possible if you don't all do what you do to help people connect, and be loved no matter where they are at on their journey.  So thankful for the grace and authenticity in which Journeyers are living their stories!

Speaking of which - you absolutely don't want to miss this Sunday.  Our "My Story" story will blow you away!!!  I can't wait!  And on Monday I'll tell you something really cool about Sunday's story.

P.S.  To see another cool "story", check out Mark's blog post from Friday.  You can check it out here! 

teenagers and parenting

If you're a good parent, you probably think you're a terrible parent. There is an incredible weight of responsibility we often feel in our parenting. We so desperately want our kids to turn out well, to follow Jesus, to be people of integrity and character.  

There are so many times when Jen and I have blown it in our parenting.  But, we've learned some things along the way too.  One thing, I think we're learning is to not make everything a big deal.  You can take one issue as a parent (even a small one) and come to some pretty crazy conclusions about what that one issue will do in the life of your son or daughter.  They use fake guns and shoot their brother, as they play a game, and you've already got them locked up in the State Pen for murder.  You're sure they are going to become the next Charles Manson.

One of the best things we've done is to try and identify four key goals/markers/characteristics that we want our kids to know, live out, and be known for.  When they turn 13 (like my middle son did yesterday), we have a special "celebration".  We talk to them about being a "Real Man".  I read a Bible verse that applies to each of the key characteristics, and we pray for them.  Yesterday we honored to have both my dad, and Jen's dad be there to pray for Max as well.

Here's the key characteristics that we have identified, and they are the hills we are willing to die on with our kids:

1.  A real man makes the wise choice

2.  A real man accepts responsibility

3.  A real man lives courageously

4.  A real man does whatever God wants them to do, no matter what

Any time we talk about an issue with them, we want to tie it back to these four characteristics, and when we see them excel in something, we want to identify how they lived out one of those four characteristics.  It helps us to not make everything a big deal, and to identify for us and them, what truly is a big deal.

Stories

This weekend we begin our "My Story" series at The Journey.  I'm so excited for this series, because these stories represent real lives that have walked through real pain, and sorrow,and struggle, and have found hope, life, freedom, forgiveness, healing.  

Their is power in someone's story, because we all can relate.  What people are walking through is part of being human.  In the middle of our stories, we often just want to know that there is hope, that things can change.  There is, and you'll hear all about it throughout this series, and it has everything to do with God.

If you're a communicator, don't ever underestimate the power of story.  When I was in seminary, it seemed everyone focused on telling and retelling great stories from history and the like.  They never resonated with me.  I wanted to be personal, I wanted to have real stories; because that's what connected with me.

If you're a journeyer, don't miss this & invite someone else to come along with you.  Seriously, I don't think there is a better time to invite someone, because no matter what they think about faith issues, it's hard to refute someone's story.  

Leading emerging leaders

Leading in an organization, and especially in the church, isn't meant to be a lone ranger task.  That can be difficult for many leaders.  When we launched The Journey we held tightly to the vision.  No one was going to disuade us from the vision that God had birthed in us.  You need to do that.  But, it is very easy to hold tightly to EVERYTHING.  Not everything is the vision, and not everything nees to be held so tightly by the leader.  

I was talking with another staff member the other day, and the older we get the more we realize how critical it is to develop young leaders.  We can't develop them if we don't let them actually lead.  But, that means time.  It also means that things won't be done the same way we would do them.

I read something recently that said if you're not developing other leaders, you're not actually leading.  So, who are you helping to develop?  What specifics of your ministry or job are you holding too tightly to?  Where do you need to delegate, and even let someone do something a little differently than you would do it?  Who knows, they may even do it better than you, or find a much more efficient and effective way to accomplish that task.

Easter weekend reflections

We had a great day at The Journey yesterday.  Huge props to all of our kids workers, coffee bar people, hosts, music team, tech team . . . everyone!  They did an awesome job, some serving multiple services.  Because of your service, people were able to have a great experience, hear the incredible message of the risen Jesus, and experience relationships, not religion.

Here's a couple thoughts from the weekend.

*Love our neighborhood.  Jen & I hosted a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and grill out with our neighbors.  We had about 25 people there - not bad for a few being gone on Spring Break.  Loved hanging out with our neighbors, and Saturday ended up being beautiful.

*We watched Passion of the Christ Saturday night with our boys.  It was hard to watch.  I saw it when it first came out, but once again was just gripped with how brutal it all was.  One of our kids prayed that night "I can't believe you went through all of that for us".  So true!

*I didn't know what to expect with Easter being during Spring Break.  I honestly felt like we might have 700 people show up for Easter gatherings (which wouldn't be bad).  We had around 950 people participate in our four gatherings!!  Blown away, and an all-time Journey attendance record.

*I felt like I "preached" my heart out.  I was emotionally exhausted by the end of the fourth service.

*Loved the opener song!  Loved Stephani's song - "What Love is This" by Kari Jobe.  Fit perfectly with the message.  I heard it about 1 1/2 months ago and knew we needed to sing it for after the message on Easter.

*I heard baconfest was a big hit!  I know the Easter egg hunt & pizza party was!  I didn't have any bacon or pizza.

*I was struck all weekend with the fact that so many people live between Friday and Sunday.  The crucifixion has taken place, forgiveness of sins has been offered, but people aren't living in light of the resurrection, in the freedom that can bring.  It saddened me.