Are You A Drunk?
I ran across a verse in Ephesians 5 that reminded me of another passage in Acts. In Ephesians, Paul warns believers not to get drunk on wine because of where it leads. Instead, he says "be filled with the Spirit." That reminded me of an incident in the lives of the apostles back in Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were accused of being drunk, but in reality they had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Is it possible that a drunk & a truly faithful, Spirit-filled believer aren't that different?
After all, Paul compared the two. The crowd at the temple in Jerusalem mistook the apostles for a bunch of crazy drunks too. Next week, I'll point out some of the similarities between the two. Paul didn't warn people away from alcohol & toward sobriety. Instead he encouraged them to be filled with something else that is powerful enough to make you do stuff that's crazy! Next week, I'll point out some glaring similarities between the boozer & the spirit filled disciple of Christ. These are going to be posts about whether or not believers should drink or not. I'm not going there. Instead of focusing on the prohibitive part of Paul's writing, I want us to really consider the alternative that Paul encouraged all believers to partake of.
August 21, 2009
August 14, 2009
Who's Manning The Spotlight?
Remember this: "If the enemy puts the spotlight on your sin, you will be consumed. But if you put the spotlight on your sin, your sin will be consumed."
Sin like to hide in the dark, & we like it that way don't we? After all, we don't want anyone to know. However, you & I must remember that our enemy's plan isn't to simply get you to sin. We're good at that without his help. His goal is to take our sin public, & if you're a leader in ministry, you can bank on that. He's trying to find that thing that he can take public so that he can take you down. He knows that if he keeps the leaders ineffective, the church in general will be ineffective.
So who's got their hands on the spotlight? Is there someone in your life that you can share your struggles with? If you're a leader, are there people who can ask you incredibly difficult questions or call you out when they see you beginning to drift? When you drag your sin into the light, it begins to lose it's power over you. But if the enemy drags that sin into the light, well... I think you know the rest.
Remember this: "If the enemy puts the spotlight on your sin, you will be consumed. But if you put the spotlight on your sin, your sin will be consumed."
Sin like to hide in the dark, & we like it that way don't we? After all, we don't want anyone to know. However, you & I must remember that our enemy's plan isn't to simply get you to sin. We're good at that without his help. His goal is to take our sin public, & if you're a leader in ministry, you can bank on that. He's trying to find that thing that he can take public so that he can take you down. He knows that if he keeps the leaders ineffective, the church in general will be ineffective.
So who's got their hands on the spotlight? Is there someone in your life that you can share your struggles with? If you're a leader, are there people who can ask you incredibly difficult questions or call you out when they see you beginning to drift? When you drag your sin into the light, it begins to lose it's power over you. But if the enemy drags that sin into the light, well... I think you know the rest.
August 7, 2009
Strategic?...Really?
First of all, thanks to Pastor Steven Furtick at Elevation Church & leadership guru, Seth Godin for some inspiration on this topic. Today Pastor Furtick tweeted a message that coupled with Godin's blog post really fired me up.
One of the biggest buzz words in business & ministry these days is "strategic". Everyone wants to be considered a strategic leader in whatever field they are involved. However, when I look around at different organizations, I have to say, "Strategic... really?" To borrow an idea from Seth Godin, I believe that many of us have confused tactics with strategy. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in many ministry organizations, the tactics are the strategy.
Strategy involves identifying what your ministry or business is trying to accomplish. It doesn't have to be flashy, but it needs to be defined, & it would be great if it's accomplishing something that no other organization is able to accomplish. However, strategy is not tactics. Tactics are the means by which you go about implementing your strategy. Unfortunately we spend more time refining our tactics rather than making sure our strategy is clear & that everyone involved in our organization understands that strategy. What follows is "vision leakage". Opposing visions/strategies arise because the group has never really been unified on strategy. Instead they've been focusing on tactics/programs/events/promotions.
Steven Furtick commented that "all motion is not movement". We've all been there right? Has your car ever been stuck in the mud? There's lots of motion & lots of energy being expended, but there is no real movement. Sometimes our organizations get into similar ruts. We're expending lots of energy & doing lots of stuff, but we're not really going anywhere, & we're not leading our people anywhere. Therefore, we have to fight the temptation to focus on tactics at the expense of our strategy & vision. If we're not unified on strategy & vision, then the greatest tactics in the world will fail to accomplish anything that's lasting.
How have you seen this tension in your own organization? How can you begin to make sure that strategy comes before tactics in your ministry or business?
For more on this topic:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/when-tactics-drown-out-strategy.html
http://twitter.com/stevenfurtick
One of the biggest buzz words in business & ministry these days is "strategic". Everyone wants to be considered a strategic leader in whatever field they are involved. However, when I look around at different organizations, I have to say, "Strategic... really?" To borrow an idea from Seth Godin, I believe that many of us have confused tactics with strategy. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in many ministry organizations, the tactics are the strategy.
Strategy involves identifying what your ministry or business is trying to accomplish. It doesn't have to be flashy, but it needs to be defined, & it would be great if it's accomplishing something that no other organization is able to accomplish. However, strategy is not tactics. Tactics are the means by which you go about implementing your strategy. Unfortunately we spend more time refining our tactics rather than making sure our strategy is clear & that everyone involved in our organization understands that strategy. What follows is "vision leakage". Opposing visions/strategies arise because the group has never really been unified on strategy. Instead they've been focusing on tactics/programs/events/promotions.
Steven Furtick commented that "all motion is not movement". We've all been there right? Has your car ever been stuck in the mud? There's lots of motion & lots of energy being expended, but there is no real movement. Sometimes our organizations get into similar ruts. We're expending lots of energy & doing lots of stuff, but we're not really going anywhere, & we're not leading our people anywhere. Therefore, we have to fight the temptation to focus on tactics at the expense of our strategy & vision. If we're not unified on strategy & vision, then the greatest tactics in the world will fail to accomplish anything that's lasting.
How have you seen this tension in your own organization? How can you begin to make sure that strategy comes before tactics in your ministry or business?
For more on this topic:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/when-tactics-drown-out-strategy.html
http://twitter.com/stevenfurtick
August 4, 2009
When Good Men Do Nothing
Yesterday I began writing about the question of whether evil is triumphing in our churches. As the old saying goes, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." My fear is that in so many of our churches & denomination our agendas have replaced God's mission for His people.
Yet everything we need in order to stem the tide is already in place. There are godly men & women already in our churches & ministries who see where we're straying away from what God wants for us, yet they remain silent. I've had conversations with many of these people, & I hear the same thing over & over: "I'm just one person; what difference am I going to make." What follows is that those folks begin to back away from opportunities that they have to affect change in their local churches. When will those who see our recognize both the failures & the solutions rise up & speak up in order to restore the church to its mission?
What we are lacking in so many ministries is courage. Courage in many ways is the essence of leadership. Courage is what establishes one as a leader. It's not having the best idea. A lot of people see problems & have good ideas. Being a leader means standing up & speaking out when everyone else is too afraid to do so.
Our churches desperately need courageous, godly leaders, both pastoral & volunteer. Pastors must find the courage to lead their churches into the mission that God's called them to, not to appease everyone around them. Church members must find the courage to rise up & support these leaders when the naysayers come, & they will come. You are right; you are only one person, but one person who courageously leads can make a lasting difference in this world.
Yesterday I began writing about the question of whether evil is triumphing in our churches. As the old saying goes, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." My fear is that in so many of our churches & denomination our agendas have replaced God's mission for His people.
Yet everything we need in order to stem the tide is already in place. There are godly men & women already in our churches & ministries who see where we're straying away from what God wants for us, yet they remain silent. I've had conversations with many of these people, & I hear the same thing over & over: "I'm just one person; what difference am I going to make." What follows is that those folks begin to back away from opportunities that they have to affect change in their local churches. When will those who see our recognize both the failures & the solutions rise up & speak up in order to restore the church to its mission?
What we are lacking in so many ministries is courage. Courage in many ways is the essence of leadership. Courage is what establishes one as a leader. It's not having the best idea. A lot of people see problems & have good ideas. Being a leader means standing up & speaking out when everyone else is too afraid to do so.
Our churches desperately need courageous, godly leaders, both pastoral & volunteer. Pastors must find the courage to lead their churches into the mission that God's called them to, not to appease everyone around them. Church members must find the courage to rise up & support these leaders when the naysayers come, & they will come. You are right; you are only one person, but one person who courageously leads can make a lasting difference in this world.
August 3, 2009
Is Evil Triumphing?
Edmund Burke has the famous quote, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." When I heard that line again recently, it made me think about the church. Is evil triumphing in the church because people refuse to do anything about it?
It doesn't take one long to learn that many churches & denominations are at best stagnant & in many cases, they're dying. Other churches struggle with the fallout of some sort of scandal. Meanwhile, there are places where the kingdom is forcefully advancing in ways that many of our churches can't imagine. In fact, many ministries that are struggling resort to attacking ministries that are actually reaching people.
I'm sure there are some who wince at the idea of evil triumphing in the church, but think about it: If we use the church to advance our agenda, aren't we in opposition to God's mission? And if we're in opposition to God, isn't that evil? I'm just saying.
Yet I think the answer to some of these problems is already in our struggling churches & ministries. Later this week I'll go into more detail about how all that is necessary to triumph over evil is already in place; it's simply time for action.
Edmund Burke has the famous quote, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing." When I heard that line again recently, it made me think about the church. Is evil triumphing in the church because people refuse to do anything about it?
It doesn't take one long to learn that many churches & denominations are at best stagnant & in many cases, they're dying. Other churches struggle with the fallout of some sort of scandal. Meanwhile, there are places where the kingdom is forcefully advancing in ways that many of our churches can't imagine. In fact, many ministries that are struggling resort to attacking ministries that are actually reaching people.
I'm sure there are some who wince at the idea of evil triumphing in the church, but think about it: If we use the church to advance our agenda, aren't we in opposition to God's mission? And if we're in opposition to God, isn't that evil? I'm just saying.
Yet I think the answer to some of these problems is already in our struggling churches & ministries. Later this week I'll go into more detail about how all that is necessary to triumph over evil is already in place; it's simply time for action.
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