Leadership Summit '08

As many of you know, I have been out of the church office for a few weeks for a time of retreat, vacation and fresh learning. I highly value this time each year--I suffer as a leader without it. A discipline many leaders can struggle with is purposefully taking times of rest, times where you are being poured into and filling your tank.

Another highlight each year for me as a leader is Leadership Summit, which is an equipping, energizing event. I would encourage anyone who's not planning to already, to check it out and take advantage of the opportunity. Read a posting of why it's important as a leader to attend. If you want to join me at the Grace Point site, be sure to register ASAP. We as leaders need to set the example, it is what leaders do.

Fitting In

Recently there was some questionable content on my daughters MySpace page--nothing scandalous, but it was worthy of a conversation. When we discussed the ‘attitude’ and words that were questionable she said she was “trying to fit in.” We talked about fitting in and maintaining your integrity and then if the two conflicted then always maintain your identity and integrity. We talked of trust and how she has unprecedented freedom but if she broke trust she would lose those freedoms. I told her the words I saw on the screen were not the words of the daughter who had that trust, she acknowledged the joy of her freedom and apologized. She has been restored to freedom but with a more attentive eye. Trust is easily broken and though it is willingly restored it requires a great effort to build and only a moment’s indiscretion to break. We walk in freedom and we should never destroy such freedoms by trying to fit in, we must maintain our integrity and the freedom and trust follow.

Healthy Heart

I’m radioactive—at least for the next 30 days! I actually have a letter so if I travel or go into a federal building and set off the screening devices they will know why. A few days I had a stress test where they shoot you with a radioactive isotope and then have you run on a treadmill so they can evaluate your heart. It’s clear that what is going on in your heart is a great indicator of your overall health, but the only way to really know is to look deep within. How you respond under pressure will often reveal the state of your heart: you make look healthy to the rest of the world but what’s taking place on the inside is the true measure of the state of your heart.

Values-based

The other day, I was asked to provide some coaching to a “new pastor” by a church planting consultant. He asked me to coach the “new pastor” on values. I said I’d be happy to but then I asked, “why values?” The consultant said that of all the churches he knew of, Grace Point was shaped and vigilant about values. He went on to say that he has seen us make directional decisions, personnel decisions and sometimes painful decisions based on our values. I was encouraged of course and I began to reflect on some of these values-based decisions and it’s true: we either make decisions based on our values and they further form and shape us or we avoid such decisions and arrive at different values.

Forgiveness

The other day my daughter was ‘villainized’ on our block. She was maliciously spoken of by another seven year old (as seven year olds do) and it became the talk of the street. We talked of it that evening and on her own she wrote a note and delivered it asking for and giving forgiveness. Last week John Davison spoke of how he contacted with his father’s murderer and was able to tell the man that he forgave him for killing his father. From gossip to murder, forgiveness is possible and the means of grace is unlimited. From an individual to a nation, the common denominator is the heart.

Morning Reminder

On the days I commute to work I jump onto a trailhead just down from my house and in the cool of the early morning when it is just me and the elements. I sometimes pause and watch the deer, rabbits, possum, owl, and hawk—all of which I routinely see on this little dive into the creek bottom amidst the bustling of asphalt and steel just above. I often arrive refreshed and relaxed knowing that I have been in a world that largely goes unnoticed by the rest of the commuters. I recognize that with Spiritual eyes I can continue to see the world that way as I go through my day. There is a lot going on around us all the time if we would be willing to see and enter in.

Mark of Discipleship

I was listening to a speaker explain his discipleship method in China: the fastest area of Christian growth in the world, maybe ever. He said, “What we do is we tell the story of the Bible and then we say ‘go and do.’ When you have obeyed, come back and we will give you another story.” They insist obedience is the mark of discipleship! Within four lessons the new believer is now leading a church in his home. He has obeyed to command to pray, tell, gather and teach others to obey and he is replicating the discipleship that he has learned. We spend a lifetime listening, thinking that learning is discipleship. It is not. Obedience is the mark of discipleship.