Music I'm Stuck On...

Totally stuck on Charlie Hall's Bright Sadness. Haven't been able to stop listening to it...

Also been hitting The New Frontiers album, Mending, and I'll be checking out Nick Thurmond's new album Not Alone later today. Nick's guitarist Ryan Ash is in our LifeGroup, he collaborated on a couple tunes on the album so I'm eager to hear it. If the EP was any indication of what the album will be like, then it will be good... real good.

Help Me Pick...

Ethan isn't old enough to read so I think I'm safe asking for advice on one of his birthday gift's here. Help me pick:

Basketball Hoop?

or

Soccer Goal?

Obviously, both would be "minified." The hoop would be fun to have around the house, but he's really into kicking his soccer ball and he loves the outdoors.

What do you think? Take a vote...

Things I'm Doing Today

Currently: Blogging (duh!) while listening to Elmo.

Later today: Toys-R-Us run... birthday prep for the little guy.

And then...: The AT&T store to check out a new phone. My wife is trying to talk me into the iPhone - she must have her eye on some new furniture.

What I'm not doing that I should be: Reading. Been slacking this week and I need to hit a few books hard; including the Bible. Set my alarm (yes, on a Saturday) to wake up early and spend time with God only for the little one to wake up way early. Go figure...

I also need to run a few miles today. 3 more to hit my goal of 10 for the week.

Just FYI

Communication Goals

I think its important for leaders to keep growing and developing. Most leaders do. But one area that often gets neglected is the area of communication.

For leaders who communicate on a regular basis, and especially for pastors who have a regular appointment on their calendar to communicate each week, its easy to spend time working on your content without giving much thought to your delivery. After all, there is urgency in the creation of content.

As a communicator becomes more comfortable in his or her role, the tendency is to lock into a style that is comfortable and that works. Comfortable in the sense that it is natural, not forced; and by something that "works" I mean a personal style that is effective in reaching your target audience. Most of us don't mess with what works.

But that doesn't work for me.

One of the most visible areas of leadership for a pastor happens on Sunday morning. Few people ever see you lead throughout the week. Few people attend the meetings you do. Few people see you plan, strategize and manage; but they all see and hear you on Sunday. And while many pastors will - on occasion - seek to refine how they pull together their content and seek to sharpen their 'study' methods few consider how they deliver that content.

It seems to me, especially as I consider the act of 'preaching,' that if Scripture has more than one style (genre) to communicate God's story to us, so should those who communicate it.

So how are we growing as preachers? How are we seeking to develop as story-tellers? How can the Socratic method of inquiry influence and improve our delivery?

These are just a few of the questions I'm asking as I look at what I do as a communicator and how I can communicate more effectively. What questions are you asking? What styles or boundaries are you experimenting with?

If your not... maybe you should be...

Ice, Ice Baby

Each year I hope for a snow day. Nostalgia cries out for it. The little kid in me stays up late in the hopes that I won't have to wake early in the morning and go to school.

But I'm not in school anymore. I'm a grown-up. So even though I longed for a snow day today, I now find myself looking over my schedule for tomorrow wondering how I'm going to get all my work done before week's end.

Work at home? Sure... you try it with a two year old running around your chair begging for you to come and color.

Time to go color...

Resolutions

A week ago I talked about the need for leaders to visibly push forward and lead by example. People can't just assume that we are growing and developing, they need to see it and they need to be encouraged to follow our examples, not just our advice. So in the spirit of "practicing what I preach" I thought I would share with the world a few of my resolutions for the year.

Resolved:

1. To run 520 miles this year. If you're quick with the math skillz you'll note that this works out to be 10 miles a week. So far I'm only behind by a few miles which is to be expected when you get sick and miss a day at the gym. My plan is to keep on pace as much as possible and then finish the year out with a few big runs... who knows, maybe even a half marathon. For what its worth, this is a part of my commitment to being a good steward of my first trust - my body.
2. To read 24 books this year. This may not seem like much, especially if your goal is to read one a week like Chris, but for those of us a little further down on the I.Q. continuum this is plenty enough. 2 books a month keeps me focused and honest in my learning. My hope is to exceed this, but I've been overambitious on this one 2 years running now so I figured I would try to be realistic this year.
3. Publish an article. I love to write and this goal will either confirm and refine my gift or confirm that my time is better invested elsewhere. For the record, I'm okay with failing to get published but I am not okay with spending my life wondering, "What if..."
4. Write a personal leadership compendium. This is just for me. I have no grand ideas for writing a book on leadership - trust me!! I feel a heavy burden to be developing as a leader and learning from those around me. My goal is to sit with the top leaders in the Dallas area and learn from what they do best. By the end of the year I hope to have a personal leadership compendium - definitions of what it means to cast vision, lead a board, preach, navigate an organization through crisis and conflict, etc. I also hope to compile personal position papers on key issues. This will be something I carry with me for the rest of my ministry career.
5. Deepen in the Disciplines. For a short while I took 1 day each quarter away to spend with God in prayer. This year I want to deepen in the disciplines by being more consistent in my time away, more consistent in my devotional life, and more intentional about some of the disciplines I tend to ignore.
   

Obviously there are other areas of my life and character I want to see refined in the coming year, but these are some of the more concrete things that I will be actively working on; so keep me honest. Ask me how its going. Check in with me. And hopefully by the end of the year I'll be better off for having pursued these things and you will have been inspired in some small way to join me.

Resolute

resolute (rez' u loot') adj. fixed and firm in purpose; determined

It was once said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. I believe that. And so it is that with each passing year I seek to be more and more resolute in my actions, my vision and my course for the year. In my mind, those of us leading in the spiritual arena should be known for being resolute. And what we resolve to do should be known as well - especially by those we lead.

I think Scripture sets a precedent for making our resolutions known. Consider Paul's words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4. Paul called Timothy to be resolute in 'setting an example' and 'devoting himself' to key areas in his ministry; he was to 'be diligent' and to 'give himself wholly' to them "so that everyone may see your progress."

Now, I do understand that Paul was calling Timothy to specific pursuits related to his leadership and calling. These may not transfer to every leader and certainly don't translate to every believer since each of us is uniquely gifted. But that said, the precedent for a leader making visible his resolve is clear.

So how visible is your resolve? How visibly are you devoting yourself to Scripture, to setting an example and devoting yourself wholly to certain pursuits?

If I were to ask those sitting under your leadership what kind of person you were or what you were committed to, what would they say? Scripture? Character? Growth? Those seem like obvious things, perhaps; but how visible is our pursuit of these things?

If we cannot even begin to describe how we are pursuing them - with specifics - my guess is that its not that visible.

And probably not that effective.

 

Lukan Thoughts

I've been off of blogging lately - taking stock of the New Year and the new opportunities before me (please don't read into that last statement, I'm not talking about job offers). In the process I've begun a new focus in my spiritual life by joining with our church by studying the life of Christ this year. For the record, I can't think of a more worthwhile focus.

As I have been reflecting on the early chapters of the Gospels, I have been increasingly bothered by a common theme surrounding the birth of the Messiah. God, in no way, hid the fact that salvation had come. That God had entered time and space and took on flesh was no secret.

Prophecies from hundreds of years had stood in clear indication. The chief priests and teachers of the law knew it was coming. In fact, they even knew where. The Magi figured it out and traveled to worship Him. Simeon and Anna had been waiting for it, and loudly proclaimed His arrival in the temple when He came. And of course there was the whole issue of a star sitting over-top of Bethlehem for months, if not over a year, until the Magi could get there.

This is why Simeon prays in the temple that, "...my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people." (Lk. 2:30-31) Did you catch that? "Prepared in the sight of all people!" Not hidden. Not secret. It was the hibachi grill of Messianic fulfillment - a feast served up right in front of everyone's eyes.

But few got it. They knew the prophecies, but they completely missed its fulfillment. And it wasn't for a lack of God's trying...

It kind of makes me wonder what I may be missing; what God may be doing right in front of my eyes that I am too distracted to see.

John 1:1-18

I cannot think of a more profound way to begin the New Year than with these words:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

God with us! God isn’t simply aware of us; He isn’t simply watching over us, protecting us or guiding us. God came to be with us. That is supposed to be the most amazing part of this story. It is supposed to be, but it isn’t. The most amazing part of this story is not that God crossed time and space and miraculously and mercifully became flesh so that we might know Him; no, the most amazing part of this story is that when we saw Him face to face we simply shrugged our shoulders and moved on unimpressed. As John puts it, “the world did not recognize Him,” and, “his own did not receive Him.” (Jn. 1:10-11)

How could we be unimpressed with God? How could we not understand how incredible this was that God came near and made His dwelling among us? How could we stare in the face of our creator and not be moved? I’d like to think that I would have been different; that if I had been there I would have understood who He was and worshipped. But who am I kidding? I miss God all the time. Psalm 19:1 tells us that creation reveals God’s glory, and yet I drive through it everyday largely unmoved. I see the poor and needy regularly and fail to respond even though Christ said Himself in Matthew 25 that a response to them is a response to Him. And everyday God speaks to me through His Spirit, His Word, and His people. And yet I often miss Him. How often have I failed to recognize Him and receive Him because I am too busy, too distracted or simply too self absorbed?

My prayer for myself this year – and for you as you join us on this journey through Vertical – is that we would not miss Him. I pray that we would all slow down and seek to recognize this God who loved us enough to send His one and only Son to come near to us so that we might know Him… not miss Him.

Originally posted on http://www.verticaldevotion.com. Join me and hundreds others for a year-long adventure in the life of Christ. It takes less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Sign up to receive the free daily devotionals in your inbox!