Amman, Jordan. To encourage missionaries. To prayer walk the streets. To serve in whatever way we are asked. For five days. During the tail end of Ramadan. Amongst a 97% Muslim population.
To expose me to how the Kingdom of God is being expanded around the world. To break my heart for what breaks God’s heart. To give me a greater perspective of the global mission of God. To change my life forever.
I. CAN’T. WAIT.
With enthusiasm. With intensity. With intentionality. With accuracy. With excellence. With compassion. With conviction. With clarity. With urgency. With desperation for God to move. With God’s glory as the goal.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
Regardless of where. Regardless of when. Regardless of the size of the audience.
Because God is watching.
Because people are listening.
Because eternal matters hang in the balance.
Never “mail it in.”
You will be held accountable.
When you critique someone else’s failure.
What does that say about YOU?
When you criticize someone else’s downfall.
What does that say about YOU?
When you call out someone else’s defeat.
What does that say about YOU?
When others’ sin bothers you more than your sin bothers you.
What does that say about YOU?
What you say about others when they’re down says more about you than it says about them.
Be aware.
If the posture you have towards others when they fail isn’t the same posture you would want others to have towards you if/when you fail…change your posture.
Gracious.
Meek.
Humble.
Gentle.
Patient.
Submitted.
Servant.
Call me soft. Call me weak. Call me unmanly.
I don’t care.
“Soft” words.
FIRM FOUNDATION.
When someone is better than you at what you do you can…
Get angry. Get jealous. Get bitter. Get frustrated. Get offended. Get insecure.
OR, you can…
Get motivated. Get focused. Get better. Get inspired. Get serious. Get re-committed.
When someone else is better than you at what you do, it really only means one thing…get better.
Over the course of my life as a follower of Jesus Christ, God has not only honored my obedience to Him, God has also honored, on many occasions, my willingness to obey.
I’ve been willing to give more.
I’ve been willing to make less.
I’ve been willing to relinquish power.
I”ve been willing to accept responsibility.
I’ve been willing to forgive.
I’ve been willing to apologize.
I’ve been willing to confess.
I’ve been willing to reconcile.
I’ve been willing to say the hard word.
I’ve been willing to keep my mouth shut.
I haven’t gotten it right 100% of the time, but I can say with integrity, over the last 10+ years in particular, I have had a willingness to do whatever God has called me to do - regardless of the cost.
And here’s what I’ve learned: God is delighted by our willingness. God is moved by our willingness. God is honored by our willingness.
GOD’S WILL IS FOR US TO BE WILLING.
Very often, God’s deepest will for our life can be found where we are most unwilling to obey. Why? Because where we are most unwilling, is where we trust God least. God is after your complete trust in Him. Where you don’t trust God is where God isn’t God to you.
Where are you unwilling? Be willing. This is God’s will.
We all have people in our lives who we wish were further along in certain aspects of their life than they currently are.
More loving. More considerate. More responsible. More helpful. More selfless. More driven. More…mature.
And if we’re not careful, we can develop an unhealthy level of frustration for how “behind” we think someone we love is.
This frustration can cause us to distance ourselves from the person, disrespect the person, or even dissolve the relationship entirely. (Do you have a person in your life who you currently find yourself doing this with?)
But, here’s the question I’m challenged to ask myself each time I find myself frustrated with the character flaws and failings of another person…
AM I BEING AS PATIENT WITH THEIR GROWTH PROCESS AS I WANT GOD TO BE WITH MINE?
The Movement Church in Oakland, California is…
Moving on without me.
Passionately preaching the gospel without me.
Relentlessly reaching the lost without me.
Deliberately developing disciples without me.
Strategically serving the city without me.
Accomplishing the vision without me.
But they aren’t just moving forward with the vision I had. They’re improving upon it.
More intentional. More biblical. More prayerful. More missional.
All…without me.
Up to this point in my life, hands down, this is the most significant thing I believe I’ve accomplished.
I planted a church.
I preached the Gospel.
I instilled values.
I discipled people.
I developed leaders.
I transitioned authority.
Then, I left. (To pursue God’s next assignment for my life.)
And now, it’s sustaining, maturing, and discovering a stronger sense of its’ identity…without me.
I am so proud of the current leadership and how they are faithfully and courageously following Jesus. I am so thankful for the opportunity I was given to lead the team that started this great church in 2013. I am so blessed to be alive to enjoy and cheer on how God is building His Church in Oakland in my absence.
Though I have not yet had the joy of raising children of my own, God has been gracious to give me some sense of what it feels like through my journey with The Movement Church.
Birth. Raise. Release.
ONLY GOD.
Over the last 3 weeks, the 49ers have won three games, on the road, in improbable ways, to put them in the 2022 NFC Championship Game…as the 6th seed!
The games have been entertaining, but also enlightening. Here are some of the things I’m learning:
The game is not over till the game is over.
The whole team is necessary the whole game.
One team member’s failure can be offset by another team member’s success.
One’s notoriety on a team does not determine one’s usefulness to the team.
Star players make high-impact plays in high-intensity situations.
Coaching matters.
Most “healthy” players are playing hurt.
Highest paid doesn’t always mean most valuable.
Unlikely victories are the most satisfying type.
There’s less pressure when there’s lower expectations.
Great defense can be as exhilarating as great offense.
Sports are most healthily enjoyed when you aren’t looking to get anything from it beyond the entertainment it’s meant to provide.
Time wasters limit creative output.
Time wasters steal mind space.
Time wasters rob key relationships.
Time wasters neglect physical health.
Time wasters exacerbate unfinished tasks.
Time wasters (can) mute God’s voice.
Time wasters, day by day, are taking from you all that God has for you.
KILL YOUR TIME WASTERS BEFORE THEY KILL YOU.
You being great doesn’t take away from me being great.
I haven’t believed that all my life.
For many years, I thought it was a zero sum game. I had the flawed thinking that there were only 100 (or some limited number) “greatness points” out in the world to be obtained, and for every 1 that someone else had, there was 1 less for me to be able to get. (Stupid, I know!)
This made me stingy with encouraging others. This made me fearful of equipping others. This made me hesitant of empowering others. Because, if I did too much to elevate someone else, it would someway, somehow cause me to lose out on something I was supposed to get. (Very immature. I’m embarrassed.)
Then, somewhere along the way, my mind was renewed. I took a hold of Jesus’ teaching on greatness.
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
Things are different for me now.
I feel very little competition with anyone over anything.
I have so much more clarity. Here is a bulleted list of how I think about things now:
God has greatness for me.
God has greatness for others.
The greatness God has for me and the greatness God has for others aren’t at odds.
Actually, my concern should be to serve others in such a way that they obtain all the greatness that God has for them.
Then, God will get to me, in His timing and in His way, all the greatness He has for me.
Bottom line: greatness should never be my concern, service should be.
Leading in obscurity tests your heart.
Leading in obscurity sanctifies your motivations.
Leading in obscurity refines your resolve.
Leading in obscurity incubates your calling.
Leading in obscurity prepares you for the one day, if God sees fit, you get the opportunity to lead “in the light.”
Embrace the obscurity. Be faithful in the obscurity. Enjoy the obscurity.
What may be obscure to others, is not obscure to God.
An inviting setting. A full house. Expectant participants. Humble hearts. Desperate posture. Spirit-led worship. God-dependent prayers. Shared leadership. The body ministering to the body. Loud, unified singing about the greatness of God. A desire for more gatherings like this in the future.
This by far, is my fondest memory with my Hope Church family thus far.
The future of the corporate prayer culture at Hope Church is bright!
I am so blessed to get to be a part of it.
Your life is finite.
Your window is closing.
Equipping is a mandate.
Success is succession.
Your platforms are for platforming others.
Developing leaders when you need them is not ideal.
Developing leaders before you need them is ideal.
Shared leadership is more enjoyable than selfish leadership.
A legacy that dies when you do is a legacy not worth living for.
The greatest investment you can make is an investment into people.
The deeper the investment into a leader, the greater the return.
A leader’s potential for impact exponentially increases when they develop leaders.
The pain of leading alongside under-developed leaders far outweighs the pain of developing leaders.
An overemphasis on excellence can greatly hinder leadership development.
An underemphasis on the future can greatly hinder leadership development.
A strong “why” for leadership development provides the motivation for persevering through the “how.”
Their potential is my purpose.
I’ve gotta’ stay humble.
With an influx of affirmation, encouragement, appreciation, and acknowledgement for how I am leading in my new role at Hope Church, the temptation for pride is real. The temptation to believe that I, someway somehow, should take credit for the opportunity I’ve been given must be constantly avoided.
In an effort to humbly receive honor for how God is using me without developing the hubris that can so easily follow, here are five things about God I hope to keep solidified in my mind.
The grace of God is the genesis of the opportunity. If God is not gracious, I have no job.
The gospel of God is the message of the opportunity. If God did not see to fruition his a plan of salvation for all of mankind, I have nothing to preach.
The gifts of God are the tools for the opportunity. If God does not give me certain skills, talents, and abilities, I have no effectiveness.
The goodness of God allows for the delight in the opportunity. If God is not good, I have no joy.
The glory of God is the purpose of the opportunity. If God is not glorified, I have no purpose.
FROM GOD. THROUGH GOD. TO GOD.
Lord, help me not to ever forget.
Not needing to exaggerate.
Not needing to put others down.
Not needing to make sure others know.
Not needing to have the last word.
Not needing to have the loudest word.
Not needing to be the center of attention.
Not needing to make it all about me.
Not needing to get credit.
Not needing to “flex.”
Not needing to win.
POWER WITHOUT PRETENSE.
Lord, help me.
…aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs… 1 Thessalonians 4:11
A quiet life…in spite of a public preaching ministry.
A quiet life…regardless of a passion for writing for others.
A quiet life…despite the temptation to live “loudly” through social media.
A quiet life…even though I tend to have a “big” personality.
A quiet life.
This is my desire. This is my aspiration.
Not timid. Not ashamed. Not censored.
QUIET.
Making less of myself so more can be made of God.
I want to be easy.
Easy to correct.
Easy to rebuke.
Easy to critique.
Easy to discipline.
Easy to be confronted.
Easy to give feedback.
Easy to be called out for sin.
Because I know if I don’t make it easy, in time, my life will become very hard.
He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing. Proverbs 29:1
Lead the leader. Motivate the motivator. Shepherd the shepherd. Listen to the listener. Minister to the minister. Serve the servant. Create a safe space for the one who typically creates the safe space for others. Pour into the one who constantly pours themselves out. Give my best to the one who usually gives their best to everyone else.
Be for the one what no one else prioritizes being for them.
This is my current assignment, which I believe has been graciously given to me by my Heavenly Father, and I couldn’t feel more honored and privileged to do it!
Heavenly Father,
From a very young age, I pray that Jaden would come to know, in a very real way, the…
LOVE of God
every time he experiences the
MERCY and GRACE of God
especially through the
FORGIVENESS of God
bringing Jaden into a relationship with the
SON of God
filling him to overflowing with the
HOLY SPIRIT of God
overwhelming him, daily, with the
PRESENCE of God
so that his life would be marked by the
FAVOR of God
so that everyone encounters through Jaden the
GLORY of God!
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.