I Never Imagined. . .

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20

I don’t know if I lack vision or if God just wants to surprise me, but most of what happens to me is more than I could even ask or imagine. Truth is I like it that way. I would hate for God to do only what I could ask for or imagine. So yesterday He “surprised” me again. He surprised me by doing a number of things that I couldn’t ask for or even imagine.

I never imagined. . .

• That people would find us on Easter, even though we were meeting at a different location.
• That we could consume 12 gallons of Starbucks coffee and 10 dozen Krispy Kreme in less than 15 minutes
• That volunteers would happily “move” the whole church from one location to another just for one service.
• That people would invite their family and friends to a church that didn’t have a building. . .and they would come!
• That my granddaughter (and her mom and dad) would visit on Easter so I could “show her off” to the church.
• That my wife would love God, me, and the ministry enough to stay up way past midnight to finish my PowerPoint.

But as good as that is I never imagined . . .

• That God would love me so much to send His son Jesus to became “what we are, so that He could make us what He is,” Isaiah 53:5
• And that I could have the opportunity each week to encourage others with the same encouragement that God encourages me with, 2 Corinthians 1:4

And most importantly I never imagined that

• the tomb is empty and HE IS ALIVE!

Leadership Lessons from Brett Favre

I am always reading other people’s blogs and their insights. Recently I was reading Mark Batterson’s blog and he had written down these leadership lessons learned from Brett Favre. And since it's Super Bowl week I thought I would "pass" them on to you. Get it "pass" them on to you? He's a quarterback! Oh well, here they are.

1) Slap your teammates on the butt.
No one does it better than Favre. Great leaders are great encouragers! They go around slapping people on the butt, figuratively speaking of course! Love the way he head butts his lineman too. Again, I would practice this one figuratively!

2) Call an audible.
On this one I'd say that the only quarterback who is better at it than Favre is Peyton Manning. Great leaders recognize when there are eight men in the box and they need to audible to a quick slant or screen pass. Leadership is not static. It takes all factors into consideration. It is the ability to process a ton of information in a short amount of time and make a good quick decision!

3) Throw a block downfield
One of the things I love about Favre is that he's not afraid to throw a block for his teammates. Quarterbacks don't do that. Favre does. Great leaders are great servants. They set the example they want others to follow.

4) Laugh in the locker room.
No one has more fun than Favre. Plays the game like a kid. Anybody see his rendition of Pants on the Ground after the game? Gotta love it. I think laughter is so critical to leadership longevity, especially in ministry! There's lots of crying so you need to counterbalance it with lots of laughing!

5) Huddle Up
Favre exudes confidence when he's in the game. You're never out of it with the old gunslinger in your huddle. I think great leaders build the confidence of those around them. Love the way Drew Brees does this in New Orleans too! Amazing pre-game chants!

6) Keep Watching Game Film
Favre has played the game for eighteen seasons, but he puts in the time watching game films. After every series you can see him coaching his young receivers and looking at pictures from the coaches booth. Leaders keep learning and keep teaching!

7) Don't be afraid of throwing interceptions.
Favre had his career-best when it came to interceptions this season, but he holds the all-time interception record. Lesson? If you want to hold the record for most touchdown passes you're probably going to throw some interceptions along the way! Great leaders aren't afraid of making mistakes. They're afraid of missing opportunities! Win or lose, they leave it all on the field.

Are You a Risk Taker?

If had a choice which of the following activities would you do?

Read a good book by the fire or. . .go snow skiing?
Take a walk or. . .ride a motorcycle?
See and action adventure movie or. . .watch a romantic comedy
Take a cooking class or . . .or take a hang gliding lesson

I don’t know whether Jesus would take a cooking class or go hang gliding but one thing for sure, Jesus never “played it safe.” How do I know that? Well for one thing, when presented with a choice of healing a leper, he chose not only to heal him but to touch him in the process, Matthew 8:1-3.

1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Lepers were the ancient world’s “untouchables.” Lepers were required by law to remove themselves from society, to live in colonies and to cry out or ring bells in warning when approached. Even today, in some parts of the world, lepers are still considered untouchable and as such, they live in permanent quarantine.

Jesus didn’t have to touch him to heal him. He had healed people before, often with just a word. But the leper needed more. He needed to know that there was someone who cared, not only for his physical healing but his emotional healing as well. Who do you know that needs touching? Will you risk touching them today? Your touch could bring the hope and healing they need.

Wow, Can He Say That?

I don't know if you saw it or not, but listen to what Brit Hume said yesterday. I think he hit the nail on the head. Maybe it's because he cares more about Tiger, the person than Tiger, the golfer.

It All Started and Ended at Caribou

Caribou is probably my favorite coffee shop right now. Although Panera is still better for breakfast and lunch, Caribou has the best coffee. Consequently Carol and I start every Sunday morning Caribou Coffee. We have a large light roast and a French toast muffin. We share them both, but more importantly she brings in her computer and I bring in my notes so we can review the morning and make any final changes on the power point.

This Sunday morning was going to be different though. I wasn’t going to be speaking. I was going to share communion but we were going to open up the service to let people share their Thanksgiving “stories” instead. I wasn’t sure how many people were going to share their “stories” but I knew there were a lot of people with "stories" that I hoped they would share. As it turned out there were more than a dozen people who spoke. They were all lined up in front of the auditorium and simply shared their "stories" and then passed the mic down to the next person so they could share theirs.

The “stories” were awesome. None of them were stories of thanksgiving for a simple life, instead they were stories of thanksgiving for God being there when life was tough, when they lost a job, when they got sick or when their children or parents got sick. Isn’t that the way it is, we sometimes forget to be thankful when life is “easy.” It’s not until we lose something or at risk of losing something that we stop to be thankful. It was so moving that someone said, "the only thing we need to do next time is hand out Kleenex."

In the beginning I wondered "can you do that?" "Will anyone share?" "Will people feel “cheated” because there wasn’t a “message?" "Would they get bored with people just telling their “stories?” Well I didn’t need to worry, everyone loved it, and so did I. Not because I didn’t to speak, but because God got to be lifted up in “real life.”

That’s what I am thankful for about journey. Not just that there is permission to do things different but that you get to be “real.” And then after being “real” you are still loved. That’s what I think church is. It's not a place or a program but a people, a people who are on a journey together towards loving God and one another.

But as great as that was our day wasn’t over. After church Carol and I went out to dinner with the family. We celebrated our daughter in-law's birthday and the boys being home for Thanksgiving. Then we went home and took a nap. We needed it after a busy weekend that included hosting Carol’s family for Thanksgiving on Saturday. We must have had too much coffee because we couldn’t rest for too long so we went shopping. After shopping we went out to eat again and then stopped by Caribou to finish the day off where we started, only this time we didn’t have to share, we each got our own coffee!

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” 1 Chronicles 16:8

Count Your Many Blessings. . .

Every year on Thanksgiving Day. . . the average person consumes 4500 calories. America feast on 535 million pounds of turkey and more than 40 million green bean casseroles are served.

Well I don’t know about the green bean casserole but I do know that this year as American faces dark days and severe challenges it is more important than ever to count your blessings. A great idea is to get out a piece of paper and write them down. Be specific. Name individual family members and friends. Think of your health, home, city, country and church. Ask yourself what, exactly, about those people and places are a blessing? How about your skills, talents, education and job? Think about those things that happened this year that seemed like a coincidence. Were they a coincidence or was it really God at work, providentially providing you with just the thing you needed when you needed it? Then don’t forget God’s greatest gift, His Son, Jesus Christ. You will be amazed a how many blessings you truly have.

Lessons from Riding the Roller Coaster

More than just keeping your arms and legs inside the car. . . we are called to lean forward and enjoy the ride.

Carol and I went to Kings Island on it's opening weekend. It was Memorial Day weekend 1972. It was probably the last time Carol rode a roller coaster with me, at least willingly. She doesn't like roller coasters but I do, or at least I used to.

It's been a long time since we've been to an amusement park let alone ride a roller coaster, but one of the things I remember them saying was "keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times." That's before they strapped you into your seats with saftey harnesses that make it nearly impossible for you to breath.

I used to think that was the way we should live life, surrended to the one who orders our steps with all of it's ups and downs, and twists and turns, but I'm afriad that is a bit fatalistic. I think instead we should learn to live life leaning forward, enjoying and anticpating whatever comes our way knowing that God can be trusted, after all the cross stands as a constant reminder that we have nothing to fear.