Is It Worth It?

Here I am sitting in the voted “Best Coffee in Wichita” coffeehouse, gazing out the window on a beautiful winter day, wondering how do I start over in 2016? What should I write about it? Are my thoughts worth writing? Is my writing worth reading?

Doubt easily fills my head with negative thoughts. But then I remember one of my core beliefs—everyone has value and everyone has something to contribute to society. It does not matter how many people read what I write. What matters is that I am creating something new. What matters is that I am contributing to our culture in some way, shape or form. And maybe, even if just one person, someone is challenged and inspired.

So is it worth it? Absolutely.

So again, what should I write about in 2016? Here are some of my writing goals that I have for myself (and anyone who wants to follow along):

• I hope to write a new blog article a week. So by the end of 2016 to have published 52 articles.
• I intend to keep writing about leadership lessons learned in the everyday life.
• I will probably focus on non-profit/small business leadership.
• I want to do some interviews with individuals who are in various leadership roles in our community.
• I hope to use my blog to connect individuals and organizations together.

These are lofty goals I have set, but I know that they are attainable. As the year progresses, feel free to drop a line or make a suggestion.

 

What Being Selfish Taught Me About Giving

One of biggest lessons that I constantly seem to be learning in life is that I am a selfish. I want things how I want, when I want and want others to do things for me the way I would like them done. I place high expectations on what I hope others will do for me more often than asking what others would like me to do for them.

No one experience has taught me I am selfish more than being married. Newlyweds or recently engaged couples will often ask me what is the biggest lesson I have learned since being married, and I constantly come back with this: “I never knew how selfish I was until I got married and had to learn to love someone different than me.” And it is true. Put two people together, with two different upbringings and family backgrounds and you are bound to spot the differences of how you want things done very quickly.

Being selfish is almost second nature to us, yet most of us would never want to be labeled as selfish. Ask most anyone and they will have excuses for why they think of themselves before others. We will use phrases like “I want” or “I need,” without any regard to the person we are using these phrases against. Sometimes people will recognize their selfishness and justify that they aren’t that bad by saying things like “Well I’m a good person. I go to church. I give a little money away. I’m not that selfish.”

You see, justify all you want, you are still being selfish–even with your good deeds. So what can we do to truly overcome our selfish desires and attitudes? It’s really simple. Just do selfless acts for others!

I have learned, sometimes the hard way, to overcome a selfish attitude I have to purposefully do selfless acts.

Selfless. A word that we don’t use or talk a lot about. In today’s world we like to put ourself first, and think of others second. It’s a cutthroat culture. We push others away to get to the top. Finding selfless acts seem harder to come by. In fact, when the world does see a selfless act they may make it on to the local news or even national news. They get labeled as heroes. We love to see these kind of acts, and deep down I think a lot of us want to live a life of selflessness we just don’t know where to start.

How about we start living a life a life of selflessness by giving back this year. What would your life, your family or your community look like if you gave back 10% of your time this year?  You see the thing about giving away time is you will never get paid for it, you will probably not get recognized and you will quickly see that life is much bigger than you and your little world.

We all have 168 hours a week to use. If we work 40 hours a week, and get on average 56 hours of sleep that leaves us with 72 hours of free time each week. Do you think you can you spare 2 hours a week? 4 hours a week? 10 hours a week? The impact you can have not only on yourself but others around you would be priceless and I bet that people would start to know you as a selfless, giving person rather than a selfish one!

Here are some organizations to get your started giving back this year. Here’s to a new year full of giving back!

www.RaphaHouse.org

www.choicesmedical.org

www.artfeeds.org

www.bgcswmo.org

www.unitedwaymokan.org

The Call To Live Upside Down

Last weekend I had the opportunity to preach at the church I work out for my third time. I love opportunities to talk and challenge our church body. It excites me and gives me energy! But this particular Sunday, I felt I was in over my head. Why you ask? My assigned text was Matthew 5:1-12 or in other words the Beatitudes. I never knew so few verses to unpack would make me want to pack up and leave!

Most people have heard these words of Jesus, but few have ever listened to what Jesus said. As I studied and prepped for the message, I was torn by what Jesus was challenging his followers to do. Jesus ultimately was beginning to teach us that if we are going to follow after him, we must be willing to start the process of turning our lives upside down. Jesus whole mission in his life was to show the way to God and to debunk myths of what following God looked liked. Jesus would say things like, “You have heard it said…but I tell you…” You see Jesus was not scared to give us the complete picture of what God wants from us, and he was not scared knowing that this would cause us to look different than the way the world expects us to be.

In fact, it is through the beatitudes and the whole Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is starting to paint a picture of what a disciple looks like. And it is different than what anyone would ever have expected. As Jesus paints his picture, he starts to drop hints to his disciples that he is talking about them and he’s talking us! He is including us and is painting us into his masterpiece of the kingdom. He challenges his disciples to know that to follow him will not be easy but that he will be with them every step of the way.  And as their journey embarks, Jesus blesses them and gives them promises of a better future and is leaving for his disciples the responsibility of carrying this picture of his kingdom out into the world.

Here is why I wanted to pack my things and leave; going against the grain, swimming upstream against the current is hard. It is so much easier to go with the current and not push back against the grain. But Jesus doesn’t call us to this. He calls us to a life lived upside down. Jesus gives disciples a blank canvas to reflect what he is doing in his or her life, and as we start to paint the canvas of our life, the world will look at us and turn their heads and ask, “Why is your painting upside down?”

New Beginnings

After two years in Milwaukee, God had new plans for Katie and I. After week of praying and searching we knew without any doubt that God was calling us back to southwest Missouri. Neither of us ever thought we would move back to our stomping grounds, but we have learned that God definitely has a sense of humor. First, I once said I don’t want to live somewhere cold. Well God laughed and he moved us to Milwaukee! And God might have heard me say that I didn’t want to move back to the Joplin area or close to family. Again, we have learned that God has the last laugh.

A few phone calls, two airline tickets and an interview later, we were sold on moving back home and getting involved in student ministry again.

We were very sad, and maybe even slightly disappointed to move from the city. We had grown there as a couple. Our identities were solidified, and our understanding of what it meant and what it looked like to be a Christian were expanded. As we worked in the new church we saw many lives changed, and our lives were being changed right alongside them. It was one of the greatest experiences a young pastor could ask to be a part of.

Working in new church work, in a metropolitan area forced me to grow up and mature quickly–both spiritually and personally. The best experience of church planting was growing as a leader. I grew as a leader in my home and in my marriage. I grew as a leader within my sphere of influence outside the church walls. I grew as a leader within my areas of responsibility within the church.

With these new life experiences, and our new understanding of the Christian faith, and our passion to serve within our strengths of ministry, we packed up our apartment and headed south to the join the team of Racine Christian Church.

Katie and I have already been blessed by our short time at Racine. We have been accepted with open arms, been surround with a great team of leaders and get the chance to work with an amazing staff. We know without any hesitation that SW Missouri is exactly where we are supposed to be for this season of our lives, and we can not wait to see what God is going to do with us in the years to come!

We appreciate all the prayers and support over the past few years and months. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for our many friends and family. Thank you.

Everyone Wants to Be a Somebody

As a young college student I remember striving to be recognized by my peers and professors. I wanted to be noticed and remembered as someone important, cool and as someone who become a movement maker. I would walk past other students and watch as they become a professor’s “chosen” or as they were selected to fill the shoes of a student who went before us.

I must admit, I was slightly jealous.

Sure, I had my group of friends on campus and I was known by more people than I thought. But I never felt that I had reached the level of celebrity that I so desperately longed for. I wanted to do something great and become a leader in the church. I wanted to be recognized and awarded for my achievements. My alma mater even gives out a “Distinguished Alumni” award each year. I would walk down the hall filled with their names and faces. I would say inwardly to myself, “I want to be up here someday.”

I wanted to be recognized.

I know that I’m not alone in feeling this way. In today’s American culture, celebrity status is what people long for. People are driven to become someone, to be famous, to be a star. It is the thing to do.

I am embarrassed to even be talking about this, because I’m a pastor. I know that my job is to care for, lead and take care of people. I know the job of pastor was not designed to be glamorous, sleek and sexy. It is a humble calling, with little earthly recognition. The job of pastor seeks a reward that comes from leading others to Christ, a reward that only God can give.

Abraham Lincoln once said:

“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”

Lincoln definitely got this one right. At the end of the day, it does not matter whether I am recognized for my talents and job performance. Most likely I will never be noticed and recognized. I will probably not be a famous pastor or lead a church of thousands. I will remain a nobody except to the somebody I lead here and now.

What matters more than any recognition I might receive, is that I live a life that might be worthy of recognition one day.

This means living a life of courage, character and integrity. This means giving praise to those who God blesses and are recognized for his efforts–and doing this gladly because we are all on the same team. This means being faithful the calling that God has given me and my life, and working to accomplish that calling for Him, not for me.

Then God will get the glory.

Then that God will get the praise of men.

Then God will get the recognition He so desperately deserves.