Ok… So if you have ever read this before you know I am a little late to the game, maybe a little slow, but hey… whose perfect?  For real, I have restarted this blog like three times.

I am just throwing this out there to see if I can get a little help.

I need help simplifying my digital experience.  I have been doing research on networked and streaming hard drives, rss readers, Macbook pro vs. Macbook air, server solutions, cloud based storage, etc. etc. etc. and I have just straight up become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and opinions that are out there.

Maybe I am just researching too many things at one time… Problem is I can’t help myself, I like to be fully equipped with knowledge.  I am a knowledge junkie. Although sometimes I just can’t take anymore.

Help me out to search smarter, or do more targeted research so I can make some decisions.

I need an easier way to move through more blog and news content? Right now I go old school page by page.  I don’t know about this RSS thing and if that is the answer, but if it is I want it synced across my laptop, iPad, and iPhone then so I can follow the people and news I want in a much easier quicker fashion.

What is a good server solution.  Our church is moving facilities and is dropping our antiquated old server solution.  What do we move to now?

How about a networked hard drive for the home?  I would love something that sits central to my network that all my stuff can access so I no longer need to take all my digital files with me, all my music, videos, etc. or if I do I can easily stream it to my devices.

That’s it for right now.

Everything sits on one hard drive that I carry with me on my laptop.  I want to carry less around with me and want to move it all to central locations where I can access from anywhere, on anything I am carrying.  If you can help me wade through the overwhelming amount of info out there I would greatly appreciate it.  text, call, email, tweet, facebook, or comment… Ask your friends, pass on the info, direct me please…

I need some help!

Maybe it’s just me but it surprises me how muddy we make this idea of vision.  Shouldn’t vision be clear, be memorable, be worthy of allegiance, be something that gets the blood flowing, be inspiring, drive prayer, be met with anticipation…

My favorite question to ask people, particularly people who attend other Churches is “Tell me about your churches vision”.  Often I get a blank stare, with a few “ums” and “ahhhh’s” before they begin to spew random words in a weird sort of word association experiment that goes something like… Jesus… Discipleship… People… Serving… Reaching… People… new generation… generosity… Newt Gingrich… deeper teaching… Love

I think the goal of all that is that if you throw enough words at the wall one will stick and that will be their version of the vision that we talk about.

Moreover if there is a vision you ask about the strategy…. well then we might as well start splitting atoms or something because people have no clue how they are going even accomplish or measure all the random words we just threw around.

Leaders, why are we so bad at this.  To me it seems critical that we are absolutely and critically clear on where we are going, how we are going to get there, and how we are going to know when we arrived.

I am not saying at my ripe young age I some how have found the answer, I haven’t but I think about it a lot.  We have tried to be very clear with our people at MCC.  But what I miss in our area, what I want to hear a lot more of is people captured by the greater vision of God’s Kingdom and His power to work out His will through His people in this area that is unmistakeable.

Where are the big dreams, the big ideas, the big prayers.  I am restless to see a Church stop settling for an hour on Sunday morning and start praying and hoping for a revolution, a movement, a revival, a outworking of God’s Spirit that sees hundreds if not thousands accept Jesus as Savior and call Him Lord.

As we move into this year that is occupying the prayers for the Church I am lucky enough to serve and those that serve alongside of us.  In fact one of the most encouraging parts of my month is when I gather with my brothers and sisters from other Churches and we lift up the people of our area, we lift up each other, and we call out to God to move and to unite and work through His Kingdom people as only He can.

Moreover that He would get the glory!

Ok so by my count I have dusted off this blog like three times already.  But this year I am determined to be late to the game, the last guy in, on the back end of the wave so hear it goes.

One of my resolutions for this year was to take more photo’s… Santa got me a new Camera and phone to help with that.

My other one is to be a better writer and develop this thing a bit.  So here it goes…. again… for the third time.

So my goal here is to not so much be daily, but be way more regular.  I will be posting thoughts, pics, insights, other blog posts from some guys I am reading or at least my thoughts on them, books, updates on our Church building project, vision, and just the random crap that crosses my mind.  Comment if you like, hopefully it will be worth our while

Our Church was able to celebrate God’s providence in raising $163,000 in just under 8 weeks.  I realize for most Churches I am familiar with that are much larger than ours this is what they spend in 2 weeks but for us this was huge.  It was a big step of faith, it was seeing God in a new way.

 

This has been an interesting journey, one in which we are learning to celebrate God, to see Him more clearly, to pray more boldly, to take greater steps of faith…

 

I really look forward to what God will do next!

Ok…  So the past few weeks I have felt like a man strapped to the front of a bullet train.  I keep meaning to get back here and write and keep putting it off because other urgent matters have been calling my attention.  That being said I have had a post rattling around in my brain for two weeks and now I am finally getting it down.

About two weeks ago I was slated to vaca with the fam but I got Irene’d.  This lovely mass of wind and rain decided to make landfall at my vacation spot of choice rendering my plans useless.  Soooooo we loaded up on goodies, turned on the weather channel, and road out the storm in good ole Pa.  Despite a lot of wind, and a lot of rain we kept our electricity and a dry basement through out…

Until 9:30am Sunday morning -

Right as I was making the second pot of coffee, just after breakfast we lost power.  Nothing worked!  You never realize how noisy life is until all the noise turns off, immediately we turned to digital devices but those too lost juice and we found ourselves going old school, wicked old school as in colonial old school.  Candle light, paper, and pens.

After the initial shock and twitching wore off from my digital decompression it was nice, it was quiet, I actually found some time to rest, to read, to reflect, to nap.  It was wonderful!  I never thought I could enjoy silence so much.

It reminded me of the necessity for all of us to go dark every once in a while.  Better yet daily.  To shut off the phones, notifications, email, texts, tv’s, iPods, iPads, or whatever else and just rest, just listen, just be.  I think we miss too much because we are plugged into too much.  I know I need it.

 

That being said the next morning it was nice to be plugged back in!

Recently I find myself waiting, and by waiting, I mean waiting A LOT. Can I just say I hate waiting.  I admit it, I am impatient, waiting is not my thing.  I consider myself a modern man of action.  I like it when things are happening, when there is momentum, when a plan is coming together.

Now normally this is the part where I confess I have been praying for patience.  Yeah, I am not even praying for patience right now, although maybe I should start.

Sometimes it is really hard to wait on God, to go through process, to be patient with people.

It’s in moments like these I am challenged and reminded to be still and remember who really is God, who is control, who is sovereign, who is working things out according to His will. Which may mean my waiting comes up short of what I hope for because God has a different plan… But that is a post for another time

So until then I wait… If you are there with me, get a cup of coffee and grab a seat next to me in the waiting room of life – Cause waiting loves company

So it’s been awhile… And now I’m back… Why?  Well I guess I got some things to say.  Some things to think about.  Some things I want to talk with you all about.  I have been learning a lot recently.  More accurately put, I have been getting my butt wupped a lot recently.  But with the hard things come the good things, the clear moments, the lessons learned.  So I am eager to work some of that out.  To provide a window into the journey and share the path with you all.  So comment if you will, come along, hit me on Facebook, Twitter, email.

Just don’t hit me for real, unless of course I deserve it…

I am psyched to see where this all goes

The other night I was hanging with my father in law in the backyard, just chilling and blowing off some steam.  He is on the circuit for his new book so he always returns with stories of people he has met and stories he has heard.  In a recent panel he did that included Darrin Patrick (A pastor / leader I follow and respect), Darrin said in this new reformed movement of pastors returning to sound doctrine he hears at least one story every other week of a Pastor who falls to immorality.  That is staggering to me.

Because for one, this group of guys are card carrying “hell is hot and forever so get you act together and follow Jesus now” crowd.  Their voice is strong and clear, yet something is clearly missing inside, something is going wrong.  Like Manny Ramirez going down on a second drug count and being out of the game for good, so it is with a pastor who walks that road.

I have been thinking about that more recently because there is nothing quite like being on the front line with these guys and watching your fellow pastors get picked off by stupid choices all around you.

Here is the problem, I think we lack balance.  Yeah I know your reaction “Duh”.  But seriously I don’t know too many men that are balanced.  Men that feed their soul at the foot of Jesus daily, Men that feed their bodies with good food, rest, and exercise to stay well tuned, Men that make their work hours count and then shut that off to make their family hours count just as much.  Men that can take the load of stress they have heaped on their back to help others carry on and then release it in a positive healthy fashion.  Frankly there are not many “real men” out there, guys build to finish the race, to fight the good fight, so that they will win the prize.

Each of those things listed above takes a real man because it takes sacrifice, it takes humility, it takes patience, and frankly above all it takes the life changing power of Jesus to break the binds that keep our hands tied to the wheel of our own lives so tightly that we can’t let go.

I think and pray about this stuff because I don’t want to be one of those every other week stories.  And I know if left to my own devices long enough I could easily become a cautionary tale with the wreckage of my poor choices all around me.  My favorite leaders are the ones who age and mature with grace, the ones that always seem to be relevant regardless of the times, that are rooted in something far deeper that you wonder what mysteries they know that you and I have not quite experienced yet, the ones that are humble yet strong, patient yet resolute; the ones who choose their words wisely and make everyone count.  Their are few out there to look to, but that’s my prayer.

And my prayer is for you, particularly if you are a guy, a leader, one in whom God has trusted a family, a business, a community too.  This world needs more men, men who are man enough to be in love with Jesus and put him at the center of their lives.  Men who are willing to make the tough choices, stand up for their values, feed their hearts, sacrifice for others, sacrifice for their own health and well being, sacrifice temptation dollars for their kids, and the temptation of cheap thrills for real romance and partnership.  This world needs you to step up!

Will you?

This past week @mccexton we spent time wrestling with God’s harsh words to an hard hearted people.  The main point is that we cannot understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and what He took on the cross until we understand the extent of God’s hate for our sin.

But tucked into the passages is God’s diatribe against what God calls the shepherd’s of his flock.  Essentially God entrusted his people Israel to individuals to lead them with care, protect them from evil, and provide for their needs.  These leaders (if you can call them that) abandoned the post, and / or poorly handled the assignment: leading the people astray, abusing them for their own gain, and acted with disregard to their wayward actions.

Jeremiah 23:1-4
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord

This passage provides a cold dose of reality to anyone who stands in a place of leadership over people as a follower of Jesus.  It challenges me in a  big way, bringing me to my knees because it is the reminder of who I serve and the responsibility He has placed in my hands.  It reminds me the task at hand is much bigger than me, the implications too far reaching, the weight to great to carry.  Because these are God’s people.

You regardless of whether you are in the Church organization, or are a member of God’s holy people as the Church are responsible for your impact on people, for the way you lead them, for where you lead them, for what you are leading them toward.  This is a tremendous opportunity that comes with tremendous responsibility.  Who has God placed in your life to impact?  What are you doing with it?

God loves his people too much to suffer fools lightly

If you know me, you know I have an unhealthy love for coffee, and Starbucks is probably my favorite purveyor of this delicious beverage.  So it should come as know surprise that I am reading Howard Schultz’s new book on the turn around of Starbucks from 08 to now.  There are a few companies and leaders I have followed out there for years and Starbucks is one of those companies because of their story and their experience.

Schultz says something interesting on page 34 of his book about experience, it reads as follows: “The merchant’s success depends on his or her ability to tell a story.  What people see or hear or smell or do when they enter a space guides their feelings, enticing them to celebrate whatever the seller has to offer.”

Now being a leader at a Church I believe we tell the most important story of all, the only story that makes a different, the one story that exists that offers hope in a broken hopeless world.  But what got me thinking is how are we doing at telling that story.  What is the experience like.  When I read the gospel’s it’s an experience, it is why I believe Jesus is so compelling.  But you fast forward to today and you look at the rejection of the gospel by in large I believe it says something about our ability to tell the story in a way that translates and transforms through the power of God’s spirit.

Some would argue that story telling is irrelevant, clearly the Spirit moves and peoples hearts are warmed and eyes opened to the truth of the gospel and they received it openly regardless of form or function.  While I firmly believe that is true.  To take us off the hook for the communication, for the experience seems irresponsible.  I believe there are people who cannot hear the gospel because their experience with the church or the individual is so loud and offensive they can’t hear the message.  Instead I am challenged by the truth Schultz shares.  There is a holy partnership of effectiveness God graciously shares with us when we share His story in ways that touch our senses leading us to understand his love, grace, and forgiveness in light of our offensive separation from him based on our actions.

Question is, what story are you telling in the way people experience you or your Church?  How are you telling the story?  Are you telling the whole story? Is it being communicated in a way it can be received?

For Church leaders it goes well beyond 30 minutes on a Sunday it begins with the way we live, the nature of our communities, and so much more.

There is power in story, because story leads us to celebration, and the only thing worth celebrating is God’s unending love, and gracious forgiveness offered through His son on the cross to bring us back into relationship with Him.