here

Be careful...

Often the "noble" prayer we pray

“Lord, here I am. Send me”

is actually

“Lord, get me out of here.”

 

Try this:

"HERE... I am.

Send me (even into HERE)."

 

God may want you to go nowhere

to deepen your soul everywhere.

  #Faithfulness

sexy greatness

Greatness always looks sexy.

BUT the pathway to greatness hardly ever looks sexy.
 

 

Think about it. 

And this... 

"Sexy" is circumstantial and temporary. 

BUT caring sweat is #beautiful and births life. 

Think about it.

the balance between confidence and humility

Captain “Sully” Sullenberger who successfully piloted Flight 1549 to safety in the Hudson River saved more than 150 passengers in the process. He exemplified a balance between confidence and humility as few could, attributing his courage through poise to his training over the years.

“One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education and training. And on January 15 the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”

The balance between confidence and humility... 

comes from being a rooted person who is faithful in the everyday moments.

"Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unfaithful in very little is also unfaithful in much." (Jesus, via Luke 16:10)

tangible ambition

Tangible ambition matters.

The moment that you finally forge your sense of ambition will give sudden clarity to the remaining moments of your life. 

Without that moment, you will continually think of yourself as an outsider to everything everyone else seems like an insider on. You will be a victim.

With that moment, you will begin to put your jabs together and form combinations that will give you a shot at the title. You will be a victor.

Ambition gets you off your side of the chasm and onto the bridge of discipline...

and discipline gets you over the chasm and onto the side of life you want to live on.

So...

what's your next right thing to do?

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10)

sing sing sing

Did you know there are more than one-thousand references to music in the Bible?

In fact, the most reiterated command over and over in Scripture is to “sing.”

Seriously… “sing.”

Maybe that’s on purpose.

I like what songwriter Rich Mullins said about it:

“When you find a command that is easy to follow (and fun to follow) you should follow it a lot, because not all of them are that easy. And certainly some of them are less fun than that.”

So...

I dare you to sing out today. 

• Maybe you’ll hear a tune on the radio that speaks your language.
• Perhaps you'll find your hand tapping a rhythm that you're not sure you should give into.
• It could be that it's time to crank up the music after dinner and turn your household into a house party.

 Pick something with incredible lyrics... or just find a good beat.

God gave you this gift. In fact, make it a point to bring this attitude into wherever you attend a church service this weekend. Whether or not your church experience feels like a mirror that just reflects your particular preferences, desires, and dreams… SING!

faithfulness - A.K.A. tough obedience

Thought for today:

When you don't want to do something God-honoring and healthy that requires hard work you don't feel like putting in, be careful that you don't seek out others who will only affirm what you're already thinking. There's always someone to tell you you're right and the concept is crazy.

Nonetheless, follow Jesus. He's always been wiser than anything we could come up with... even though we often convince ourselves that we'll just slide off the other way and pretend like we didn't hear Him.

Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

because you just never know

I apologize for how this initially sounds (because I hate how this sounds), but I always enjoy reading both affirming and constructive feedback on my weekly newspaper column.

There, I said it - and again, I know how that sounds... like I'm some fancy "writer" who likes to talk about his latest "work" or fancy "column." I understand that, because it bugs me to no end when people promote themselves over and over and over.

But it's not why I'm writing it.

Today I received an email that was simply amazing. Apparently today's article literally helped change someone's life... and the reason I'm sharing it is because it tracks back to a highly frustrating moment in my life that perhaps you know all too well - the choice to stop short... or pursue something to completion.

A few nights ago, I was struggling with little sleep and a bad headache. Throw in some stomach cramps, and I was ready for bed.

Only - I needed to write my weekly article.

So I started writing... but the headache took over. I even fell asleep at the keyboard once.

Writing can be torturous - waiting for an idea to come. Sometimes those ideas come right off of my human robot heat. Most times, it flows out of a place within my soul. There are also the moments when it has to be sought after like water in the desert.

Then there's the mental dance. Writing requires knowing or discovering something that you will explain, which means advance time having an experience, doing some reading or receiving a revelation out of nowhere. You're constantly dipping into places in life that you may not normally tread - not to merely find something you can talk about, but to become someone who has something to say.

Within this you run hard, then you procrastinate; you read a lot of news, and then you play an online game; you page through a great magazine full of intriguing thought, then you look at YouTube videos full of nothingness; you read some of the most amazing biblical truths ever written down, then you go get a handful of Doritos from the cupboard; you get mad at how corrupt government is, then you watch an old episode of The Twilight Zone... or Everybody Loves Raymond... or ten minutes of Celebrity Rehab, until you realize you've just watched ten minutes of Celebrity Rehab.

Keep in mind, that's not including the other things you do in life. Like being a human, or a loved one, or a parent, or a friend, or a pastor... which involves, you know... a lot of quality time.

So sometimes when I feel like I have nothing left to give, I begin to feel entitled with the thought, "You've done enough. Just give this next one less than your full effort. Besides, you'll have next week to put something better out there."

This is the moment.

The choice.

The choice to stop short...

or pursue something to completion.

The other night I chose to tap into a Source that is deeper than my own - God Himself.. That sounds incredibly spiritual or perhaps even bumper sticker-esque, and sure... it is both.

But that doesn't deny how incredibly true and practical it is, too.

Once your trust your life - not just your eternity, but your life to Jesus Christ - His strength becomes as accessible as your next breath of oxygen.

Some days I don't remember this as well as others.

But a few nights ago, I woke up from drooling on my keyboard and decided the "half-article" in front of me that could pass for a "full article" to most readers wasn't "good enough." Not because I'm a perfectionist, but because I refuse to settle when I know there is more in me than "me."

Don't misread this - there are times when my "50%" is my "100%" and I know that I can't give any more than I have given. I'm fine with that... it's about wholeheartedness, and not perfection.

There are other times, though, when my "50%" is "50%" and I am about to settle if I stop. I am not fine with that... that's about having the appearance of effort without the commitment.

It's taken me a lot of  bumps and bruises over the years to realize the difference.

So today I received a rather amazing email from a woman who said what was in my weekly column changed her life. I don't need to share the details, because it was personal information I'm not at liberty to share.

But as I read it, I was reminded of that moment a few nights ago that I made a choice.  It's the same choice you will make about something today or tomorrow. 

I want to encourage you to opt for the Narrow Way... the road less traveled... the Way of the Master. I'm so glad Jesus didn't say, "I'm good after the whipping. Maybe they don't really need the cross."

Because... you just never know.

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men." (Ephesians 6:7)

"In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered." (2 Chronicles 31:21)

what to do in the meantime

Every once in a while we catch a whiff of a huge opportunity in front of us.  We don't have words for it, and yet we sort of "know" that something big is about to happen.

Only because we can't see it just yet, we go crazy wondering what your next step "should be" and "could be."  We wonder if it's all written in stone or if it will only happen if we make the "right" decision.  I know from personal experience how tremendously frustrating this can be.

What do we do in the meantime?

How can we go somewhere when we have an idea of the destination but can't adequately explain how we will get there? I've learned that the clear answer to the unclear question is daily faithfulness.  Dee Hock explains it this way: 

One need not know and be able to prove in advance what could be accomplished. One need not have a precise plan about how to get there.

In a complex, rapidly changing world, a clear sense of direction, a compelling purpose and powerful beliefs about conduct in pursuit of it, seemed to me infinitely more sensible and robust than mechanical plans, detailed objectives, and predetermined outcomes.

(p. 169, One From Many, Dee Hock)

I dig this concept, and yet I find that this isn't easy for most people.  I used to be one of those guys who needed to know every step of the way, and today I'm more willing to throw myself into the moment and trust that what I am giving my best swing at is somehow linked into whatever needs to happen down the road. Meaning, if I love God and others completely in whatever I'm doing (and without reservation), the rest doesn't matter because that moment absolutely does... and it becomes the metaphorical pebble that creates the ripples into the rest of the pond. 

And the secret of that?  One must live for something that actually lasts so that the details (which don't seem to last and yet demand so much of our attention) don't choke the life out of us.

fully commit

A buddy of mine has a great blog and recently asked for a tip for working with people, specifically students. Whether you deal with teenagers or not, here's what I shared. I hope it's a blessing.

---

Fully commit yourself to the awkward conversation.

Often when we approach students, they put up a wall of disinterest at our attempt to build a relationship with them. Whether it's legitimate on their end or if they are simply testing you, fully commit yourself the awkward conversation. It's better to have several conversations that go nowhere than it is to never even try because it feels "too hard" to find a way into their life. Ministry is hard - don't pretend it won't be. So make several, several attempts, never giving up. Eventually you'll find something to talk with them about and follow up with.

And if you need an example, you need only look to the constant invitational nature of God. How many times has He tried to build a relationship with us... only to have us brush Him off?

too much, too little

There is simply no excuse for not giving your best to something.

Even when there is a "lid" in your life, from a tough work environment to a personal limitation, you can still give your best.

Whatever your leadership task is - caring for kids as a parent, investing in the church you call home, making sense of the goals and relationships in your workplace, bringing your best to that activity you coach or the team you take part in, studying hard to maximize your education - you have the chance to really maximize an opportunity to bring out God's best for those around you.

You have to chance to be fully faithful... nothing more, nothing less.

We're all aware of how easy it is to stop short of that for the wrong reasons... but likewise, many of us can give too much for a whole set wrong reasons.

---

You know you've stopped short when...

You "settle" versus "let go." You can't finish every project with perfection. In fact, I find that perfection - where you know there isn't anything you could possibly do beyond what you've done to make something better - is rare. But there is a difference between settling versus letting go. Letting go happens when you were faithful to whatever level you could be, factoring in time, skills, team available, size of project, and so on. Settling, though, happens before the deadline hits... it's giving up before you have to - because you don't push yourself to be yourself.

You "give up" time/resources versus "run out" of time/resources. We all have things to do in our weeks... and then there are the things we don't have to do but like to do. Think of your favorite TV shows, movies, hobbies, and so on - things you "like." Some of these things may actually be "necessary" because they help us build pockets of Sabbath throughout our week, but in many cases we move past the thing that brought us life and it starts to steal life from us. That online or video game you once played for recreation has now become an obsession... that hobby has started eating up your savings... and soon your time and resources are depleted by choice.

You know you've given too much when...

You "pass water" versus "hold water." When you're good at something, you can begin to coast on your skills and charm at the expense of your soul. Soon you become a dry well with a shiny bucket... a water passer instead of a water holder. You won't notice it right away, but if/when that job/role is removed, you'll find yourself with a dry and thirsty life - whether you're an empty-nester who spent 18+ years focusing too much on your kids or a minister of powerful content who has lost sight of the very content you've presented. But the fruit we're producing today looks good, so we assume it's all okay... but did you know that even a branch cut off from its life source will bloom for a short while, even though it's actually dead?

You "copy/paste" when you should "choppy/taste." We live in a world of resources, and so it's easy to pocket someone else's sweat than it is to exert some of our own. We have to devise a better system of discipline that inhibits our quick movement to grab someone else's stuff before we let God grab us. So before you highlight the text to copy and paste, spend some time with the text in your heart... the text that your Creator has imprinted upon you specifically... and then chop it up and taste it. The unique thing you have been designed to serve up should be something you have first consumed yourself... never trust a thin chef.

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Again, the principle in all of these isn't becoming a workaholic - that's a sign you've gone too far. Nor is it becoming excessively Laissez-faire - that's a sign you don't really care about the things you allegedly care about.

The principle is faithfulness...

and faithfulness to the right things
will change the world in the right ways.

Start acting on who you are,
what you already have,
and the time you have to do it in.

And don't forget to remember your Sabbath...
keep it holy by making it holy.