Are You Kidding Me?
“The ultimate reason God assigned me to any position was because he could best use that position, at that time, to accomplish his purpose of shaping me into the image of Jesus.” - Jeff Iog
When I first read this, I must admit that I was a bit shellshocked. I sat there with my iPad in my hands a bit stunned. What? You're kidding me, right? After some thought, I began to reflect back on my life and think through a variety of situations. I can remember my days growing up on the farm back in Amboy, Indiana — my college days at Indiana University—Kokomo and Ball State University. From there, my journey took me to Lake Station at Edison High School. Finally, I land at Living Stones Church in Crown Point.
All of those seasons and experiences brought different challenges. Some of those challenges were more pleasant than others. However, my primary reason for being there, at that specific point in time, was not because there was something I brought to to the table that made me stand apart from the others. When I was teaching at Edison, I was there for one primary reason. Notice I say "primary" reason. There are many reasons that God places in different places at different times. However, the PRIMARY reason was for my own growth.
I have come to grasp the idea that God has placed me at these various places because this is where he could best make me more like Christ. Does God want to use me to impact the world? Does God want to use me to mentor, train, and pastor people. Absolutely! But before any of that, God is interested in my heart. He's interested in me growing into the image and character of Jesus Christ.
Are you embracing the current role, position, place, and people you are surrounded by in order to become more like Christ?
Stop the Madness
This last week has been one of the busiest for me in a while. I've had something happening each night of the week. I try really hard to make sure this doesn't happen, but this last week I did it to myself and overcommitted myself in a couple of areas and wound up with a full schedule. This was no one's fault but was the result of my own making. In the midst of this, I learned an important lesson that helped me; perhaps, it will be valuable for you as well.
After a busy day, I came home and realized that I was on stimulus overload. I spent a lot of my time that day constantly listening to music, video clips, Christmas music for our services, etc. Fortunately, I came home and realized that this was happening and made a conscious choice. I decided to leave the TV and music off at the house for a couple of days. I often turn on the TV in the morning to catch the news and weather (I am a self-proclaimed meteorologist). At the end of the day, I'll usually do the same thing. However, for several days I left the remote on the endtable while the rooms remained quiet. I was amazed at the result. I found a greater sense of peace and calm in the midst of a crazy week's schedule.
So … if you have an over-stimulated week or find the holidays a bit chaotic, I would encourage you to give it a try. You may find some solitude in the midst of a sometimes hurried life.
To Defend or Not to Defend
Matthew 27:12-14 (NLTSE)
[12] But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. [13] “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. [14] But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.
Jesus made no response to any of the charges. How often is our first response when we are accused is to respond in our own defense. I don't know about you, but I find it quite easy to come to my own defense. Right or wrong, our human response seems to be a defense mechanism. Whether that is part of the normal human response or just our lack of Godly character, I'm not sure.
Forward is Sometimes Back
We just learned a small lesson at the office today. My friend, worship leader, and office assistant, Joey, was working on our computer to get it prepped for our Sunday service. We've been having an issue with the PowerPoint files not looping for our announcements. Now we all know that if it were a Mac, we wouldn't be having such issues, but unfortunately, we're still stuck with a PC in the booth. Joey did research, uninstalled stuff, researched some more, read posts, tried this, and tried that. Nothing. It still wouldn't work.
I came up with a crazy idea. How about we just uninstall PowerPoint 2007 and just go back to the solid standby version of PowerPoint 2003 which was working just fine before this. Ok, let's try it. Joey uninstalled 2007 and reinstalled 2003, and it works like a charm.
Why do I tell you this story? To get every one of you to throw your PC out the window of at least a two-story window and go to your nearest Apple store and buy a new legit computer they call a Mac? NOPE. That's not why I tell you this. I came up witha quick, short, yet profound take away from Joey's journey with the PC.
"Sometimes the best thing you can do to move forward is to go back."
We don't often talk about this because "going back" is perceived as a negative. If you go back, then you're admitting defeat; or you're not willing to do what it takes to move forward; or you're just flat out a whimp. Not true. Sometimes we think that moving ahead is always the right thing to do. What we sometimes find out and what we discovered today is that sometimes after you've moved forward in a direction you realize that going back makes the most sense. Maybe it's because you went in the wrong direction in the first place and now need to go back to your starting point. Maybe it's at that place you refocus and move again.
In no way do I think going backward is the normative behavior. However, at times, it's exactly the right thing to do.
Are You Being Followed?
Last week some of the guys from my lifegroup went to Chicago to celebrate one of our members' birthday. The birthday boy picked The Cheesecake Factory in the Hancock Building to celebrate his big day. After a couple of hours of great food, fun conversation, and, of course, amazing cheesecake, it was time to go. I was on the outside seat of the circular booth we'd been sitting in so I was the first out of my seat. I put on my coat and headed for the door without a thought. Then it me (the thought, that is). I had walked quite a distance without ever looking behind me to see if everyone was following me. If you've been to The Cheesecake Factory in Chicago, you know it's a pretty big place, and we were all the way in the back. I was nearly to the door when I finally turned around and looked back. Fortunately, they were all there following me.
I sort of laughed to myself and had the thought, "If you're leading, turn around and make sure someone is following." This is often true in life and leadership. Often times as leaders we are plowing our way through the restaurant of life without a thought of anyone else. Did someone get hung up along the way? Did they misplace their phone, meet someone else in the restaurant, or decide to make a detour along the way at the restroom? This happens all of the time in life. Things come along that distract those that are following you. Good leaders are aware of those that are following and turn around every once in a while and make sure they're all still with you.
No matter what type of person you are, there are those that follow you at some level. Just make sure they're still following while hurrying your way to the door.
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