Daily Vacations

Some people can get down right obsessed with vacations, spending crazy amounts of money,(they probably don't have) planning and making long lists of logistics like catching planes, getting people to watch the house, stopping the mail, and putting special voice mail and e-mail messages on our phones/computers to let people know we are gone. Then there is the issue of pet care, watering plants and if that is not enough, we have to work our brains and bodies to the bone before we can go,only to have everything piled up for us when we get back. When it's all said and done, we will either come back refreshed or....needing rest from our "vacation". How can we avoid this situation?

I do my best to spend time every morning and throughout the day getting refreshed in my soul, that way I won't NEED a vacation. Don't get me wrong, getting away is a great idea, in fact Karyn and I are leaving tomorrow to stay at a cabin in the mountains at about 5,000 feet elevation, just a few hours from our home in Charlotte. Getting away gives perspective that you can't get when you are in your same environment day after day. But...when we create balance in our lives and do our best to practice important disciplines, watch out for distress, spend time with friends who energize us and not too much time with those who do the opposite, then there is a good chance we won't be in a desperate place to have get away How are you at this? Part of the reason Karyn and I are getting away is to do some goal setting for our marriage, listen to God, dial it down and get away from demands. We SHOULD come back refreshed and ready to live out the goals we set from the vision we sensed God speaking into our lives. In my next post I will share what I do daily/weekly/consistently that leads me to having lots of energy, being mostly at peace and stay focused. I would love to hear your ideas, we can help each other!

Speed Mentoring

I heard this topic years ago and thought it was a really great idea, but I haven't heard it spoken of at all in a long time. Since there are so many different ways of learning I thought about this one and just in case you are not aware of it, here goes. Speed Mentoring is basically finding people who do what you do except that they do it better than you. What you can do is approach them and ask them to show you how they do what they do. It can take a couple hours in a conversation, or you can shadow them while they perform the skill, or both. Reading books is great, and so is going to conferences and hearing speakers expound on their skill, but Speed Mentoring gets you closer to the person (networking and relationship building) and you have a chance to get better too. So whether it is in your job, in a hobby or it's a spiritual skill, consider Speed Mentoring as a great option to get better at something you truly want to. On the other side of it, perhaps you are good at something and you see someone with potential, and that you believe in, why not approach them and see if they would be interested in being mentored by you. I urge you to be cautious about this as it may be perceived as prideful, so make sure you already work closely with them and you know that they respect you and your abilities.

It's the Simple Things in a Complex World

I am about to turn 54, ugh! Typing it looks like it's someone else's number, not mine. My body is starting to catch up to that number however and I am just going go ahead and admit that. BUT, what will always stay young is my heart and soul and I think one of the reasons why is because I keep things pretty simple. I literally stop and smell the roses, enjoy the shape of a cloud, smile at people having a good time, I love to laugh and play and be around happy people and so on. I KNOW that this keeps my heart and soul young. I can spot quickly when I am letting the complex and downer parts of the world in and I rebuke it. I am not saying that I duck responsibility, because I have walked through plenty of difficult situations with people and organizations. I am saying that I do my best to not carry the weight of those people and situations around with me. Take some time and consider the weight of your heart/soul. If it's feeling particularly heavy a simple test would be to figure out how much of the complex world you are carrying around with you and how you are missing the simple things in life. God wants us to live joyfully but I don't see a lot of joyful people. Who can blame anyone, the news and newspapers for the most part report bad news. Most people carry too much debt, don't like their jobs, have too many bills and too little time. Television has a few feel good shows out there but they are out-numbered, and we seem to be either in a big hurry or staring at our smart phones too much to even look up/around to notice the simple and good things in life. So, put your phone in your pocket, turn your music off in the car (every once in awhile), slow down and enjoy life a little, it's good for your soul!

Being Included

Inclusion is huge on the positive side, exclusion is frightfully damaging on both the short and long term. While growing up I nearly always felt on the outside looking in. I saw pretty early on that there is the popular crowd and then there is the rest? I have always felt like the rest but wanted to be the other. And that feeling hurt, what I did was either die inside but look happy on the outside, or....I worked hard to be included with the popular crowd. For the most part you CAN earn you way into the popular crowd by being smart, talented and or athletic, or you get in by being from a well to do family or being especially attractive. Early on I was not considered smart, a little below average if the truth be told,and athletically it took me awhile as well. Eventually I was good enough to compete at the college level but never won a championship. My parents worked very hard at providing for us 5 kids but we were not rich, and regarding the especially attractive part, let's just say even though I am not ugly, I am no head turner. Relative to this are those social events that come with invitations, some people get invited to things that the majority do not. Knowledge can be a cruel thing sometimes, like when you know a party or wedding is happening but you were not on the guest list. There is this wedding coming up, a huge affair, the Groom is the most handsome and amazing guy, the woman he is marrying is NOT. Most people figure that He is either codependent and rescuing her, or he sees something in her everybody else has missed. He lavishes her with love. So when the invitations came out, many of the people who received them thought about going but because the couple is so odd, many are choosing not to attend. They sent gifts ahead instead and are managing to find something else to do. The Bride has her family and friends who are coming and count this as the highlight of their lives for they never were a part of his crowd. In the region of the country where the wedding is taking place they have as a custom to go find people to attend so that the wedding will be well attended, the more the merrier! The wedding has not happened yet, for I am speaking of Christ and the church. The wedding will happen soon, I'm not exactly sure when because there are still seats to fill. It will be the most extravagant event in history, Royal weddings will have nothing on this one. All are invited but only a few (relatively speaking) will actually choose to come. It's a choice. I am over whelmed to have been invited, it feels so good to not be on the outside looking in, and because I grew up knowing what the opposite feels like,I am going because He loves me, forgave me and He sacrificed for me. I could never get there on my own merits, looks, talents or brains. His love is immeasurable and we are not just the invitee's, we are the object of His affection, the Bride. There is a seat at the wedding and reception for you, but will you come? For God so loved the world that He gave His very own Son to die for us so that we might live and have life forever, and all we have to say is yes to the invitation. Being included is a huge deal!

A Simple Discipleship Formula

Sometimes we complicate simple things. Think of jobs or projects from your past where rules and procedures so slowed outcomes down to the point it either robbed joy out of it or caused resentment and caused you to quit altogether. We make up rules and procedures that may look like safeguards but in the end they can easily take us down a path so far away from the original idea that we forget why we are doing what we are doing. Take discipleship, Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 that we should go into the entire world to make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey EVERYTHING He taught and as a promise, He'd be with us always. Looking at His ministry life we know that He spent a full night in prayer just to determine who the faithful followers would be who would become His disciples, God's agents of change. Next, He spent 3 years training, teaching, being with and praying for these guys. If it were an equation it might look something like this; Relationship + Spiritual Truth + Teachable Heart + Time = Transformation In our highly connected, socially savy, information revolution we must remember that there are no short-cuts to building/multiplying Jesus followers. Books, blogs, tweets and podcasts can help as long as they are pointing back to the Bible and not just about it. Authenticity and transparency are critical so that disciplers do not set up disciples with the idea that they personally get something out of the Bible every time they read it, or that great faith prayers are prayed that reap huge results morning, noon and night, and that new converts are won every week. I have had the honor of being poured into and been able to pour into others. Success rates climb really, really high when we take the time to dispense practical Biblical truth, over time to people who are teachable and real. Biblical truth can seem pretty overwhelming but an easy place to start are the Red Letters of the Gospels. What did Jesus say? Most people can quote only a fraction of it. And remember in the Great Commission quoted above in Matthew 28, that Jesus commanded us to teach them everything He commanded. We also have the Epistles of Paul where there is plenty to study and apply. We have the entire Old Testament which is full of great treasures of Truth/Gold. This can easily take you all of 3 years. As I have quoted many times from David Watson's classic book - "Called and Committed" "If a gifted evangelist could win 1,000 converts a night, it would take them about 10,000 years to win the world to Christ, not including any population spikes, but if a true disciple of Christ were to win one person to Christ per year and spend that year training and teaching that disciple to do the same it would take aprox. 32 years to win the entire world to Christ." Amazing! Let's make this simple, if you need to be poured into, ask someone around you whose walk with Christ inspires you and you wished to be like to help you become like them. If you are pretty mature and obviously walking with Christ, than you should be looking for someone to approach and pour into. It's simple!

There are No Short-Cuts!

This past Monday night I just finished several months of formal discipleship/leadership mentoring with some outstanding young men, followers of Christ. We met every other Monday night at our house and as each night approached I sensed my own excitement building. I had planned out the 10 sessions way in advance, I asked God what He wanted me to teach, and most nights that planned was followed. There were some nights however when what was planned got changed and that was great, for I love how the Holy Spirit leads like, and I am grateful to hear His promptings and as much as possible, follow them. One of the sayings that I repeated,t "there are no short-cuts!" In matters of spiritual growth, scripture knowledge, a deeper and more effective prayer life, growing more intimate with God and so on - "there are no short-cuts". I remember one of my spiritual/ministry mentors say to me many years ago; "you have as much God in your life as you want, you have as many close friends in your life as you want, you have as much love in your life as you want" and so on. He was and is correct. The question we must all ask is "how badly do I want something?" One of the keys in obtaining it is to make sure you have peace and confidence it is from God, if it is, than He will provide the plan, power and passion to see it through. Right now I am trying to lose some pounds around my stomach, re-gain some muscle, and get more limber, there have been several challenges like injuries, and those have discouraged me. Much of my success or lack of it will depend on how badly I want this. I know that there are no short-cuts. I am grateful for my relationship with God, my love for Him, the joy I get in serving Him and the people of the church I serve for they are a Godly, teachable and passionate bunch! There are no short-cuts in seeing our church become all that He desires. As I finished up our last meeting, I closed in a prayer for each man, a personalized prayer that I hope they get to see become a reality. I then challenged each of them to find 4 men they can mentor and I will do the same, that will become exponential. Come next Fall it will be time to Produce some more Reproducers, four new men will step into our living room and I will lead off with the same true statement - "Men, there are no short-cuts."

It's Still All About Relationship

We are all wired differently and of course that's a great thing. Some people are thinkers, others are inventors, engineers, artists, athletes, writers and relational. I was certified years ago as a DISC Personality Profile Facilitator and loved helping people and teams identify strengths, here is a simple view! D for Doer/dominant; I for Influence/people person; S for Steady/loyal and C for Compliance/correctness. There are also many ways to learn, reading, watching, listening, doing and mentoring. When it comes to discipling others in the ways of living the life of a Jesus follower all of these are needed but the one item that is MOST NEEDED is the Mentoring/Relational method. Jesus spent 3 years with 12 men who were willing and teachable and the world has never been the same. Who are we to think that reading the latest greatest book, blog or magazine is better than a real person? Doing is great but if you don't know what you are doing then failure is an option, and no one likes to fail. Listening is a great way to learn as well and there are so many great podcasts we can access at anytime from the very best teachers in the world, but unfortunately you can't take that teacher with you during your day. The best method of discipleship is still the tried and true method of on-going relationship. Even if you've never had this experience for yourself, you can still be that person for someone else. If you have been a follower for a long time, it's never too late to have someone do some nuturing/iron sharpening so that you can still become all that God desires for you as you follow, obey and reproduce. I encourage you to take some steps that are quite do-able. 1. Identify some people of the same gender whose faith you look up to. 2. Pray and ask God to lead you to the person you'd most love to be mentored by. 3. Go ask the person and be specific about what you are asking. 4. If they say yes, set up a time to begin meeting and decide a time frame, a curriculum/study to go through and discuss what it is that you need or they think you need to become a strong, God confident and producing re-producer for the rest of your life. It doesn't matters if you are relational or not, the reality is you have something to offer to others and you have needs certain others can provide. It's still all about relationship!