Measure Carefully

For almost all of my adult life I’ve been a communicator. The platform varied depending on the environment—in the classroom, on athletic fields/courts, in small groups, from a stage, and one-on-one. I feel it’s one of my gifts and something I continue to work to sharpen as my life path continue to evolve. There have been some hard lessons over the years as I haven’t alway communicated in a healthy or constructive way. Damage was often done because I didn’t realize the full power of this gift and didn’t always use it to build others up.

The truth is that all of us are communicators. The size and proximity of our audience may vary, but we all convey information, thoughts, and emotions to the people around us. To understand the impact of what we say it is important to remember a simple truth: our words have weight. Whether we always recognize the result or not, the things we speak will affect others. Those closest to us can often be most wounded by our words. A leadership position in our career also adds weight to what we say and can have unintended consequences if we are careless.

Considering the responsibility of being a communicator might lead us to choose not to share things at all. The better choice is to take a few moments to think about what we have to say before we speak. Once those words leave our mouths they can’t be taken back.

Too Far

How do you know when you've gone too far?

Stephen Tulloch plays for the Detroit Lions and managed to end his season this past Sunday from his own mistake. He sacked Aaron Rodgers and enthusiastically celebrated his somewhat routine play by demonstratively jumping up in the air. Unfortunately for him, he tore his ACL when he landed and will now have reconstructive surgery and miss the rest of the year. I'm sure he's frustrated at suffering such a serious injury stemming from his own over-excessive celebration.

I actually feel pretty badly for Stephen. While I haven't suffered a physical injury from a foolish reaction, I have certainly caused damage by going too far in other ways. I've allowed my mouth to get out of control and hurt others in the spirit of "being funny". I've let my emotions get the better of me when circumstances were changing. I've done some foolish things that have (un)intentionally afflicted people that I care about. I've made ridiculous decisions that have had negative short-term and long-term consequences as well. 

We all have the opportunity to avoid these types of decisions. Will we learn from the mistakes of others and avoid inflicting damage or will we foolishly decide that we need to experience the pain for ourselves? Sometimes it's a blending of both that teach us the best lessons, but I would much prefer to let someone else be the example I can learn from.

Legacy of Faith

We continued in our series, The Story, here at Northridge this morning as we looked at the story of
Abraham. He's an interesting man of faith who obviously trusted God with his future and even with the life of his son. There is a passage in Genesis 22 where God tells Abraham to go to a nearby mountain and offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. Abraham is obedient and gathers the necessary material and heads off with his teenage son. The drama builds to the moment where Abraham has tied his son Isaac to the altar and has a knife in his hand when God stops him and offers another sacrifice. It's a great picture of God providing a perfect solution for us and the reward found in our trust in God.

While we often tout Abraham's obedient faithfulness, I wondered what Isaac was thinking during all of this. The passage tells us that Isaac did ask his father a question about what was happening, but it still ended up with him tied up on the altar and his father prepared to offer him in sacrifice to God. The only thing that comes to mind is that Abraham had modeled a deep trust of God for his son and that is what brought him peace of mind during all of this. The legacy of faith that Abraham had built for his son was enough to trust that God was up to something bigger than they could currently see.

I have no desire to be tested at this level, but I do pray that I am building a legacy of faith for my daughters. I hope that they see that I am flawed, imperfect, and sometimes doubting, but that I trust God above all else. If I teach them nothing else through my life but that they can and should trust God, then I can be assured that they are on the right path for their own lives. I certainly don't have all the answers they are looking for. I just pray that they will see that a life of faith in God will not disappoint.

Going West

We are traveling out west today to Show Low, Arizona with our mission team from Northridge. This is my 11th year of travel and my 16th different trip to intentionally minister to the Apache and Navajo peoples. I remember each team and trip with fondness-both the very good parts of each trip and the difficult portions as well. There are certain shared experiences and traditions that we observe, but I am always struck by the uniqueness of each trip. The blend of personalities always changes, but God also shows me new things about myself out there. While there is great comfort in the familiarity of the environment and the relationships we have built there is a great challenge in the newness we encounter. It wouldn't be fair to rate one year as better than the others, but it certainly seems that each experience builds on those of the past. I'm confident that this year will be another great year of impact and growth challenges.

Always Learning

I have participated in countless meetings and dozens of conferences in my professional career. There is almost always a set agenda heading into these gatherings (especially the conferences) and a desired objective coming out of them. The interesting thing I have discovered over the years is that I will almost always learn something "accidentally" through these meetings. There will almost always be something shared that stimulates my thoughts in a unique way or challenges me with a new perspective. The teachable moment probably wasn't the direct aim of the organizers, but it still ends up being beneficial to me.

It's a fairly solid principle for personal growth and development: be diligent in looking for learning opportunities on a daily basis. Personal interactions, news articles, random comments, blogs, books, and even meetings can teach you something new if you're receptive to the lesson. Take a moment at the end of the day and look back to make sure you didn't miss an important opportunity to grow as a leader.

A Brief Glance

This is the very last day of 2013. I wish that I had a bold, powerfully insightful statement that would
encapsulate the entire year, but I don't have it. It's not that it hasn't been 365 days full of challenges, rewards, disappointments, hard lessons, and incredible joy. The fact is that it is difficult to sum all of it up in a succinct manner without demeaning the depth of this year's experience. In lieu of a comprehensive list I will simply say this: in this past year I have come to know myself more deeply, grown with my family in great levels of love and understanding, and recognized God's movement in my life with greater awareness. In hindsight, that makes for a solid evaluation of the year by my standards. I pray that the next year holds more of the same.

10 Years

This year marks a decade since I transitioned into full-time ministry from the high school level. In fact, I have now spent more years as a pastor than I did as a teacher/athletic trainer. While I couldn't possibly do justice to a comprehensive list, there are several things that I have learned in the last ten years:

• You have to work just as hard to maintain your own spiritual relationship while working in ministry as you do out of it.
• I was working as a pastor and caring for people on a deeper level long before I ever figured out my calling.
• Just because I accepted my calling as a pastor doesn't mean I won't miss what I left behind.
• The biggest focus for athletic trainers is in the prevention of injuries even while we respond to the immediate hurt in front of us. Working in ministry isn't that different. We strive to lead people to Christ and equip them for ministry in hopes of preventing personal catastrophe even as life calls us to step into the midst of tragedy and triumph.
• Working in the church is the hardest thing I have ever done--no doubt about it.
• I have to work to intentionally protect my family as they will endure harsher scrutiny in the ministry than anywhere else but perhaps politics.
• The satisfaction of seeing lives committed to Christ, miraculous healing taking place, relationships restored, and incredible acts of generosity is greater than I could ever have imagined.
• Even though I have come so far in my own journey with Christ there is still so much more room for growth than I originally envisioned.
• You have to intentionally create your own rest opportunities in ministry as there are no complete down times. If you don't honor the Sabbath (no matter what day of the week it needs to be) you won't be sustainably effective.
• No matter how much satisfaction I took out of my former career (and it was a large amount), leading a church is what I was created & called to do. 

I clearly see how God has been preparing me for this journey my entire life. I am thankful that He is patient with me and continues to mold me for what He has in store next. I am also forever grateful for those that have influenced & invested in me over the last ten years. I'm eagerly anticipating what comes next. 

Good Old Days

I have fond memories of high school, college, and early adulthood. I enjoy sharing those stories with my children & even comparing tales of adventure with other friends. The dilemma I have noticed for some people is that they are completely caught in the past. Conversation with them doesn't involve what is presently happening in their lives, but is focused only on a history of victory with no current conquests. 

Why is the past so attractive to us?  It's easier to talk about times in the past because no one remembers them accurately. We've taken enough liberty with the actual facts that we've accepted the story we tell as the 100% truth even if reality is somewhat less than that. We've rewritten the story so that it says  what we want it to say-intentionally or not. I believe that fear is part of this reticence to move forward too because we're afraid of what we have to do now to be successful and complete. In some ways it's easier to talk about how good we used to be instead of putting in the dedicated discipline to be better today.

The past is important. It has shaped who we are today and it can be a powerful teaching tool for future decisions as long as we don't insist on dwelling in "the good old days." Faithful growth and maturity are found in simultaneously forgetting what is behind us and using it as a springboard for the future.

Open Sesame

If you have ambition, it's natural to pray for opportunities to come your way. It can come in the form of a general desire for increase, for your current situation to prosper, or for God to present new avenues for growth. There may even be times when you feel that God is leading you directly into something that almost seems too good to be true. 

In the midst of this potential you can find yourself working and even praying hard for it to go well. You see all these signs that are leading to a new frontier in ministry, faith, finances, or career advancement. You get excited about the potential for personal growth and even give God credit for this new venture. You pray for it to open up quickly and may even see positive steps drawing you closer to what you feel is the inevitable conclusion as a new chapter begins in some way.

What do you do when the door of opportunity is shut just as you think you are about to walk through it? How do you react to what you feel is a failed attempt? I've seen people who turn and question the path God has led them down and wonder aloud why He would do this to them. Has it become so common to only think we will gain experience and wisdom when life is "successful?" 

In her book, Hungry for God, Margaret Feinberg writes, "God can teach us just as much through a closed door as an open one." It is a powerful reminder that God knows best and that He is always preparing us for the season that is coming. In His perfect nature, He will always choose to do the right thing for us. Whether the door is open or shut, the lessons God delivers through all circumstances are invaluable to the overall development of our character in Him.

Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

Part of my problem (at least one of them) is that my brain is constantly working. Not that other people's brains aren't working too-although sometimes I wonder (insert Charlie Sheen cultural reference here.) It's just that I have a difficult time just being in a moment and appreciating what is happening right now in my life. I get caught up in the "to-do-lists" of the day/week/month/decade and can miss out on engaging in the present. Sometimes I focus so much on what is next and on improving ministry that I can miss a lesson that God is trying to teach me right now.

I always told my wife when we were serving in Florida that God had a specific direction for us and that I was trying to learn as much as I could before He revealed the next step. I feel the same way now. There is wisdom that I need to gain and faithful obedience that I need to follow through with so that God can continue to mold me. It's not always a fun process, but it is necessary for my spiritual growth, my family's development and for God-focused ministry to take place.

I have glimpses of the future and where God is leading me and sometimes that picture is more clear than others. What I don't want to do is miss out on the experiences, relationships, faith-stretching, learning opportunities and simple joys that He is showing me right now.