Volunteer

I have the privilege of working with some great volunteers.  Today one of them can't do there role because silly enough, they have to do their day job.  Honestly the gall of some people.  Trying to make a living...  Anyway I am getting to see how much they mean to me and how much they do because of the vacum they leave.  This is scary I depend on this person every week to help mtake our ministry to the next level.  In that dependance I give up something.  Control.  By giving up control of his area of expertise.  I have to trust that it will be done right and with excellence.  At first it was a little ruff sometimes.  But now he routinely exceeds my expectations and does things better than I ever could.  A few things made this possible.

1.  I was desperate for help.  I'll admit it.  (This is when I should act spiritual and say I was continuously praying for the right volunteer)  In reality, I was way over my head and just trying to survive the weekly grind of ministry.  He came along to help and I was more than happy to give him things to do just so I could catch my breath.  I believe God saw my need and filled it.  And yes prayer was involved!

2.  I was willing to give things away.  I gave graphics away.  So much so that I hardly use Photoshop anymore.  I used to use it at least 8 hours a week.  Now its isn't even on my desktop.

3.  I want my volunteers to be better than me.  I want them to do things better than I can.  If they do, it builds the Kingdom and it makes me look like a genius :)

What just happened

What just happened?" Was it amazing, terrible, great, life-changing or just dumb?

The ability to take what we experience and put it through a filter to produce a better product, service, or whatever you do is incredibly important.  Aren't there those times when you look around and think well that happened.  But do you want a repeat? "This" happened last week and nobody changed anything, so it's going to happen again this week.  "This" can be either great or terrible, depending on what the "thing" was.  

Bottom line is this.  When asking the question, "What just happened?" ask yourself some questions.  Do I want that to repeat?  Is it in my power to change or capitalize on?  Don't waste a "what just happened" moment.  If it is either positive or negative you can get something out of it.

Sending

The fall for me is usually one of the most exciting times for me.  Its a natural momentum bulder.  I have the opportunity to meet new students and start great relationships.  I look forward to this time every year.  This year had been different.  While I am still incredibly excited about what God is doing here.  Part of my heart is somewhere else.  I had a class of 24 seniors this year and 12 of them went on to study for ministry or straight into missions.  That's amazing! Watching God use these students has been a privilege.    The only problem is you look around and see that they actually are not here anymore!

I always thought that I should be a sender, that the ministry is at its best when sending is occurring. My expectation was that this would be a joyful experience, in reality it is hard.  Your saying goodbye to the people you have invested the most into.  Im incredibly proud of them.  They carry on a mission and a calling that God has given them and take my part of me with them.  

The hard part about leading is there is no end point, it doesn't stop, or take a break.  There is no banner at the end that says, "Great Job now go check Facebook."  Nope, instead the Banner says, "Great Job now get back to work!"

There is a new generation ready in the wings to be equipped.  They require the same detail and attention that the last generation needed.

So who have you sent out lately?  Who have you been equipping?  How have you reacted to the sending?  Have you gotten back up from the loss?  Has it energized you or drained you?  What's your plan for getting back up?  Go send them, they will change the world and by so make your ministry so much more beautiful.  It may hurt, It may sting, It may just change everything.

Messy Stuff is Good Stuff

Now, I'm thinking of the "messy conversations", and to me that is exactly where this idea of the soft stone is at home.  To speak into someone's life means to find the courage to say the hard things but in love.  This idea is very hard for some people and easy for others.  There is a very important couple in my life who have full reign to speak to me about anything.  The interesting thing is one spouse struggles with being too nice while the other battles with ... let's say ... gruffness.  They are masters at it though.  No matter what the circumstance, they will push and prod with scripture and wisdom just to make you think.  If you're a leader in anyway, you have to get people like this in your life.  If you don't, you'll either give into the manipulators or actually believe the flattery or criticisms that are constantly brought your way.  The attitude of a messy conversationalist is one that you develop. 

Three ways to work on your messy skills.

        1.  Listen to what they are saying ... not just the words but the body language and tone. Is there a tear in their eye? Are there ears red? Are they having a hard time looking you in the face? To notice these details you have to be listening, not just planning on what you're going to say next.

        2.  Ask questions.  As cheesy as it sounds ask, "How does that make you feel?"  "What I hear you saying is ..." "What does that mean for you?" "What do you plan on doing about it?"  If you haven't helped them move past the problem, you let them wallow in the mess.  

        3.  Speak the truth.  Use scripture not as a hammer to beat them down, but to encourage.  To do this you have to read the scripture more than for message prep, "Ouch!"  Was that harsh? My bad.  Joshua 1:6 "Be strong and courageous", becomes the mantra for a "life speaker."  Say what needs to be said, but be sensitive to the limits.  Once again pay attention to them.  If you dont listen to them, it does not matter how much truth you drop on them if they're not in a place to listen to it.  By speaking too early, you may miss your chance to be heard.

Some days I am awesome at this, while on others I am terrible.  It's not that I dont like people, it's that I am afraid of messing up the friendship.  I want to be liked way too much to take the chance on speaking truth.  How do we find the balance and should there be a balance? Sounds like another soft stone to me.

Perspective

I just had an interesting conversation with the owner of my favorite local coffee shop.  We were talking about a church plant that meets there once a month.  She said, "honestly, I don't know why you guys dont stick with what you got."  Several things come to mind.  First, she is not a church goer.  Her frame of mind is business, why do you need 80 churches when 5 will serve the area ie. if you overpopulate the market with coffee shops you cut into your available profit.  Her thinking was why go to the trouble of building new when you have the old. Second, she sees all churches as irrelevant.  Not just the old the new too.  Yes even yours with the great music, casual dress, and cool looking graphics.  Are we so busy making cool churches that we forget the reason we are working for those in the first place?  My large white mocha lets me speak into her life, not the video I just put together.  My grilled roast beef lets me ask her about her day not my dark rimmed glasses or my MacBook Pro.

The question becomes do we get so busy with the pulling off church that we forget the people we are doing this for.  My personal church philosophy is attractional missional or if you prefer missional attractional.  Yes, I think you can do both and do both well.  If we haven't effected the community why would they care about our lights or the fog machine?  I believe that we should give people the best experience they possibly can have at church because that honors God.  Creating environments where people come face to face with Jesus is a beautiful calling, but it doesn't mean we shirk the responsibility to love on a personal level.  I also believe if we don't do the messy work of speaking to people where they are at we will never get the Sunday morning opportunity.  This all points me to my next post about how to have those conversations.  The conversations where soft stones are needed and required.

BB King and your art

As I write this I am watching BB King play in a concert honoring him.  (Its on TV I'm not there) The concert is something to behold.  I don't really enjoy the blues, i don't understand the different runs and musical things that are going on.  Yet, there is something in watching BB play that guitar.  It is effortless and beautiful.  While others look like they are lifting a boulder when they play their instruments BB looks effortless.  I'm sure that their has been days where he couldn't get the guitar to do what he wanted.  He has probably has had guitar cables go out on him.  He has probably been booed and walked out on.  But to watch a man that is the pinnacle of his craft is beautiful.  He makes it look so easy I almost think that I could play the guitar.  Unfortunatly, I know this to be false I cant, I'm terrible.  But his love and perfection of his art makes me what to participate in his art.

What is you "art"?   What do you do well?  So well that it might seem that you aren't putting effort into it.  What do you do that inspires others to try and do it?  Is it the way you teach, mentor, create, give announcements, or recruit volunteers?  Find your Art!  Protect it! Explore It!  Improve it!

Kindness

What could our students be capable of if we equipped and unleashed them?