So close…

“Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” - John Maxwell

I have spent a lot of time over the last couple of months since Oak Leaf Church moved back to the Movie Theater looking at our stats. The one the drives me the craziest is looking at a 1-year ago comparison. Basically, I compare where we were a year ago this past Sunday and see how it compares to that Sunday in 2007.

After tracking it for the last 2.5 months I have determined this one reality…we are the exact same size we were a year ago. We had 800 people coming to church a year ago and that’s how many people come now.

Obviously, many things have changed at Oak Leaf Church and we aren’t exactly the same. We have different staff, we have seen many new people become Christ-followers, we have purchased a building, and we are probably smarter then we have ever been. Another weird thing is we are back to where we started and seeing God do exactly what He was doing last Fall when we moved from the Theater to Woodland High School.

Here is where I am going with this…

We are so close. We are so close to seeing what God wants to do in Cartersville. Seeing what this year of struggle, learning, waiting, thinking, praying and leading will result in is so close I can taste it. Maybe you can see the lit wick or maybe you can hear the rumble. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but I can’t help but think that God is going to use the House of Rock to cause a spiritual explosion.

I don’t know who reads this blog, or what prayers or thoughts it inspires. I do know that if you go to Oak Leaf you better buy a seat belt, because this Winter is going to be wild. I hope you are all prayed up!

Bad Habits

It’s very likely that if you are reading this blog about Bad Habits that a few of your own are coming to mind.  Maybe, you are one of those people who chew or bite your fingernails.  It’s possible you eat unhealthy, smoke, drink too much caffeine or some other habit that you know isn’t really all that healthy or is possibly very embarrassing.

If I could change my habits I would start with watching less TV and add to it that I wouldn’t always have it on in the background.  If you are like me you probably walk in your house, turn on the lights, check the A/C, and then flip on the TV.  Maybe you don’t even notice what is on the channel for 30 minutes, because you aren’t really watching it, it’s just ambiance.

Although this blog might be more appropriate at New Year’s I am writing it now because I saw a tragedy that must be averted quickly in order that more people would be able to stomach eating lunch with their co-workers.  For instance if the picture below is a fair representation of how you treat your pinto beans, you should be told by the waitress that it’s gross and cease and desist.

I can only pray that I am not alone on this one.

I admit it…

It might be a lousy revelation of character, but I admit that I typically vote along party lines.  I wish I spent more time researching candidates, delving into their policies, and making more of an effort to determine my allegiance, but it doesn’t happen.  It could be laziness, the feelings that what they decide or do doesn’t seem to directly affect my life, or it could be a strong conviction that God exults and demotes those He wants in leadership positions.

Unfortunately, I am in quite a lot of trouble this year.

On one hand there is a Republican Presidential candidate with lots of experience, who seems pretty smart and makes you feel like he could do a good job.  His running mate, seems to be not only clueless, but very close to what could be a poster child for “I don’t have any idea what I am talking about and would melt down and cry if I ever even toured the White House.”

On the other hand their is a Democratic Presidential candidate that has no experience to speak of, but you could make a case that his running mate could take up the slack.

What do you do when you have two choices that are like the choice between going on vacation to Sahara Desert or the North Pole?  Both options are terrible, but one of them is slightly better and somewhat less risky.

I have no idea what I am going to do, but I do know that I am less and less confident in John McCain and Co. after seeing his choice in a running mate.

Hello?

Interesting…

FEAR

One of the most debilitating emotions that a human being can face is fear.  It leads to inaction, unreached potential, and many times jumping to faulty conclusions.  Hollywood has built on the emotion with all kinds of thrillers and suspense flicks that cause you to tense up, grip your arm-rests and maybe even scream.

Most people don’t face a guy wielding a chainsaw or get attacked by a scary looking kid that crawls on the ceiling, but they do face obstacles that could cause them to shut down in fear.  Proverbs actually talks about the result of fear which is usually inaction.  If you drove around Cartersville or any other town in the Atlanta area you probably saw what I saw…empty streets.  People worried about the “impending economic doom” and further frightened by the lack of gas, staying home.  Some skipped ballgames, vacations, and others took a Sunday off from Church.

My conclusion isn’t that people who saved gas by staying home are idiots or that those that conserved the scarce precious commodity on Sunday are evil.  My conclusion is that those that searched for gas found it.  Those that were relentless, tenacious, and persevered got at least a couple gallons.

God didn’t invite Christians to play it safe, sit on the couch and avoid traveling outside of 3 sqaure miles from their house.  Instead he calls us to be salt, light, and sheep among wolves.  Life is tough and we have to weather the storm, but the worst example we can set for our faith, our children, and our Lord is that we are going to be scared of something that’s not really even there.  Sure if a guy with a 10 lbs. of C-4 attached to his chest says, “Don’t leave or I’ll detonate this,” stay home.  Otherwise, the Lion keeping you home is Simba on your kids portable DVD player.

What am I missing?

Sometimes I wonder what God was thinking when He created certain things.  Like why do people go bald, is there a point other then making people look funny, feel insecure, and create awful hair styles like the comb-over?  Why did God create fire ants?  Wouldn’t regular ants work just fine?  Why do they have to bite and cover you with pimple-like bumps?  Is there an explanation for people getting those rat-dogs?  If you want a pet, why don’t you get a goldfish or a hamster.  Why would you want your house to smell like urine and dog hair. Or, be one of those people carrying around a plastic bag of poop through your neighborhood.

I don’t know that I understand the total picture and it’s easy to jump to conclusions, but I am confindent that I would do it another way if I am in charge…that’s what scares me.

If you every have time to slow down and do a little introspection, you will probably think of lots of things you went through that you would white out of your life if you were in control.  There are scars you would erase by avoiding the accidents.  You would probably scratch out some relationships that still give you trouble as an adult.

However, what I think is part of the reason that God designed so many things the way He did is to help us appreciate, learn, and relish the good things in our life.  You can’t appreciate the sunshine without the rain, the energy of your youth until you are old and tired, or the complete hopelessness and directionless feelings you had before you met Jesus.

As hard as it is to say I am glad I am not in control…except for the continued existence of FSU and Tennessee fans.

Clairity

When I was a teacher I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out the system, the culture, they students, and the administration.  Texas and Georgia have two extremely different education systems and structures, which made for a huge learning experience each time I started over.

The biggest thing that I search for when I started as a Business Teacher in Texas was clarity.  I wanted to know what the expectations where, what the kids were like, the standards I had to meet, and what the administration was going to ask me to do.  As I got a clear picture of what was at stake and how I could be successful, I found myself feeling very good about my performance.  After a review or two my suspicions where confirmed I really was doing a good job and my job was secure.

Whether it’s church work, parenting, or managing a business I think one of the biggest disservices we do as leaders is being unclear.  It sounds easy, but it’s really harder to be clear then it is to be vague.  It takes way more effort to continue to ponder the same set of choices or to keep those who need an answer at bay then it is to make a decision and start working the plan.

Really, it’s that simple.  Choosing what you are actually going to do and moving past a position of indifference or contemplation is the biggest win.  Once you have made up your mind who you are going to hire, if you are starting a second service, whether or not they should be punished, or if it would be wise to borrow money then you can actually work to make it happen.  At that point the hard part it done.  Now it’s just about choosing how to go about it and there are probably three or four equally good ways.

There is no subsititute for good advice, prayer, and wisdom, but too much thinking will give you a headache and cause many opportunties to pass you by.

Role Models

Many times I have thought that there are so many inequitable consequences and misguided advice (because it becomes untrue) in life.  In other words principals, teachers, parents and others preach honesty, hard work, doing well in school, and making good choices, but it seems that in the “real” world you can screw up and act inappropriately and still get ahead and rise to the top.  Just look around and you will no doubt see the lack of penalties for people choosing the easy way out, doing the wrong thing, and spending without limits but receiving no real negative consequences.

Rather then write out my completely write out my thoughts I will just point you to someone who sums up my feelings in a great post.

Click here to read on and yes I believe it will matter in the end…but that’s not what I am talking about.

Equippers

Here is a devotional from our staff meeting.  If you work in a church it might be a good opening discussion at staff meeting, if not see where you are in the process:

Ephesians 4:11-13

Two widely held views:

1. It is that ministers were given their gifts to help other believers (specifically those that are a part of the local church) to become workers of service.  It doesn’t end until there is a high level of knowledge about God and maturity in Christ.  Essentially, that ministers help people know the Scriptures, experience God and that they can effectively say that they love God with all their being and their neighbor as themselves.

2. The second train of thought (based on grammatical and textual arguments about the preposition “for”) argues that it’s for everyone to participate in this leading and building up of the Saints.  It’s supposed that the argument is to avoid clericalism (official clergy) and support a democratic model of the church (nobody in charge).

Paul regularly insists that all believers are equipped with gifts to help the body of Christ (v. 16), so it would silly to choose the second train of thought.  Likewise, it would be silly to choose to act like we have chosen the second interpretation.

Equipping (this Greek word isn’t found anywhere else in Scripture) in this context means repairing, preparing, completing, training, discipling.  Essentially, the minister’s job is to prepare people for ministry, specifically making people fully qualified to serve the Lord by serving one another.

Critical point: Ministers should/do not get fulfillment in having the position, but only by preparing others to minister.  Don’t miss that!!

Who Cares?

There are lots of reasons that I just can’t get into politics.  I won’t bore you with my list, but my top reasons that I just don’t believe anything politicians are saying, that their subject matter is completely irrelevant to my life, and that I just don’t believe what they are saying.

Just yesterday I was reminded how little that I care about either one of the candidates.  There was breaking story on CNN, because Obama was in New Hampshire and was going to comment on Hurricane Ike.  What?!

Is it really a breaking news story that the Democratic nominee is going to comment on the storm?  What would he possibly say that would have any merit and be better then filling that same 20 minutes with a college football highlight, a spot telling us what the government is doing about gas prices, or a great joke from Mitch Hedberg?

My best guess on what happened: “Folks, there is a Hurricane headed toward Texas.  Those people are going to get wet.  I can’t wait to see pictures of people driving boats down the streets…that’s so cool.  Man I am sure am glad I in New Hampshire. That President Bush didn’t get people out of Louisiana during the last big hurricane down there.  If I was president I would passed out umbrellas.  Oh, it’s going to be windy, but don’t try and fly a kite.”

Nothing could be more irrelevant then a rookie politician acting like a weatherman on national television, but I am sure millions watch intently.  Wow?!