What an Adventure!

I love what I do! This really is the most exciting time of my life. There are so many things going on and so many people working hard to make this church happen.

I am not sure what I am learning more about right now, me or church planting. There is so much on both topics it might be a dead tie. Here are just a couple things that I have been learning this week:

1. Never forget why you do what you do. It is so easy to get caught up in the development and growth of the church that we honestly lose sight at times of the people who make up the church. The reason we are starting a new church is to inspire people that their souls may live. We long for people to experience that same resonance in their spirit that we feel when we are following Jesus in connection with others.

2. Don't lose sight of where your strength comes from. God equips us to do the work he calls us to do. Sleep is good, exercise is good, friends are good and eating good food helps but to be disconnected from the source of true spiritual power and influence is a dangerous place to be. I am finding that there is an internal meter within me that let's me know when I am running out of juice. When I am connected and charged nothing can shake me. Stuff can be stressful, but there is a security in where the power comes from that gives tremendous peace in rough times. When healthy concern evolves into worry I know I need to reconnect and get recharged. Are you paying attention to the indicators in your life?

3. To steal a great line: Self-leadership is the most important type. Discipline and follow through are essential. Whether it is spiritual issues, leadership, business or relationships, as leaders we have to be leading ourselves. It is imperative to develop good habits of time management, to respect the time of others, to return calls and just plain follow through. I read a great line: Inspiration motivates, planning mobilizes. You can inspire someone with God given vision and passion, but without good self-leaderhip and discipline you will not mobilize them to do anything. (I work on this everyday and thank God for Tanya and Mark who both encourage and challenge me in my gift of leadership.)

4. It's all about love. God loves the world so much that he gave up his only son. Jesus loved us so much he gave up everything to humble himself and become one of us, even to die as one of us. The mark of a follower of Jesus is true, sincere and authentic love. When our motivation to pastor and lead becomes about our own ambition and validation we lose sight of the mark of a leader, which is a true and deep love for Jesus, the scripture, the church and people.

5. Insecurity and pride suck, but they are a reality. I had a great conversation recently with my mentor, a great leader and pastor. He expressed his growing awareness of insecurity in ministers. I find that with some people the enemy will feed their pride and get them out of focus, with others he feeds insecurity and gets them out of focus. Which ever you are prone too, he will push with the hope of getting you out of focus. If we can stay focused on who called us, who empowers us and who is glorified when we are obedient we stand a chance of not being swayed by these outside forces. A good reminder: we are not fighting a battle against other men here in what is physical, but in the spiritual and metaphysical which is real and powerful. I wonder at times if we get dangerous in minimizing the great lengths that our enemy will go to in order to see that we do not succeed. The fact is, criticism and accolades will both come, the questions is what do we do with them when they come.

6. Things don't have to be so complicated. There are so many area of church planting that can get so complicated. We can be pulled in many different directions. We must stay focused on what he has called us to do. People need Jesus, he uses us to tell them and walk with them. Easy. The rest is in addition to this. I feel sometimes that as a result of living in such a busy, cluttered and complicated culture that we busy, clutter and complicate a faith that at its roots is so simple. Like Jesus said, love God with everything you have and love other people. We will have different expression of how to live out these commands but the root is so simple.

7. Change is good and conflict initiates change. Sometimes we can be too stubborn. We have a great idea that really is not great at all. We live in changing times. The face of the emerging church is changing faster than I can type this sentence. We have to be willing to wrestle with stuff. We have to take the time to process ideas and methods. When we come to a point of conflict with an idea or a person, we can not run! We must stay and face the conflict. Let you guts get involved as you weigh out past practices with future ideas. Come to grips with what is non-negotiable and let the rest hit the fan. For crying out loud, we serve a God who made everything we can see with simple words and breath, yet we are afraid of creativity. I have to admit that the flip side can be as dangerous. Change simply for change sake is goofy. I know it can be fun, but I fear we lose people sometimes with wacky ideas and far out laguage. This hits home for me because I love new goofy stuff. I honestly believe that God can inspire us with some unbelievably creative stuff. I ask for that everyday, but with the purpose of greater resonation not less.

8. Lone Rangers are dumb. I thank God all the time for the Ministry Network I am connected too, my coach Scott Harris, other friends who have experience in church planting the incredible team around me and the support of a local church and pastor, John Martin at CCA. There is no way I would go down this road without these connections. I feel bad for those that do and I honestly think it is dumb. If you are considering flying solo, out from under the covering of a sending fellowship - DON'T DO IT! Trust those that God has brought into your life. It will pay off very quickly!

Well, I think I better call it quits for now. I could keep going on and on, there is so much learned and experienced.