Archive for August, 2008
· Categories Christianity, Spirituality
Someone asked me recently, “What do you do when you can’t hear God?”
Here were my answers:
1- Just keep doing the last thing you know you heard Him say?
He won’t lead you astray, and if you know what He said before, just keep doing that until you hear something different.
2- Keep moving toward Him.
Sometimes when my wife or kids are saying something upstairs and I’m downstairs I can’t hear them. So I have to move closer to them to make it out. I’ll get up and walk upstairs so I can hear what they are trying to say. The same is true with God. While there is no magic formula, keep moving closer to Him. Spend time talking to Him, and listening for Him. Pray, read, serve, worship… Remember, “I will never leave you nor forsake you“…He’s there, you just can’t hear Him.
3- Go to the places He speaks to you most.
This isn’t hard. Some of these will be the similar for everyone, and some will be extremely personal. Read the Bible, pray, worship, go to church, go on a Mission’s trip, practice solitude, journal…it might be that these places cause you to cut out distractions that are limiting your ability to hear, or it may just be comfort.
4- Anticipate.
Unlike us, when God speaks, He has something to say. My Pastor spoke last Christmas about the 400 years of silence “between” the Old and New Testament. When He finally spoke…WOW!
I don’t offer this post as if I always hear God’s voice, never get discouraged, or that you aren’t human if you are experiencing these things. I offer them as encouragement.
I pray that you have an incredible conversation with God today.
August 27, 2008
· Categories Humor, Sports
(only 1 more day til football season…hallelujah)
Received this today in an email:
God asks Mark Richt first: “What do you believe?”
Mark thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, “I believe in
hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in
giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my team.”
God can’t help but see the essential goodness of Richt, and offers him a
seat to his left.
Then God turns to Tommy Tubberville and says, “What do you believe?”
Tommy says, “I believe passion, discipline, courage and honor are the
fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky, but win or lose, I’ve
always tried to be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields.”
God is greatly moved by Tommy’s sincere eloquence, and he offers him
a seat to his right.
Finally, God turns to Nick Saban: “And you, Nick, what do you believe?”
Nick replies, “I believe you’re in my seat.”
August 27, 2008
· Categories Church, Student Ministry
Yesterday our church turned 21. We had an awesome day celebrating what God has done through the people and ministries of our church this last year. There were 6 stories/testimonies shared live, through video, and interview.
One of those stories was a young lady in our Student Ministry named Marcie Wallace. Marcie has a great story. God brought her to Mt. Paran North at a time when her divorced family was struggling due to her mom’s battle with Stage 4 breast cancer, an almost fatal automobile accident, and financial woes. She got involved through our Student Music program and started playing drums in the HS band. She met a lot of new people, and began to grow in the Lord. Someone in the church paid her way to camp, and there she made a public declaration of her faith through water baptism. The line that killed me yesterday was, “last year I was sitting by myself way up in the back of the balcony, and today I’m giving my testimony.” Wow! Lord help us be sensitive to the people in our church.
The rest of the day was great. The music was good, and Pastor Mark did an awesome job challenging us with where we are headed. It was a great day. You can view it HERE.
August 25, 2008
· Categories Family, Humor
My brother is an idiot…in a great way. His wife is a few days past her due date with their first child.
He posted this earlier this weekend:
A FEW REASONS WHY ITS GOOD TO HAVE A WIFE WHO IS PAST HER DUE DATE!
August 23rd, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized
1. Everyone keeps encouraging you to have a lot more sex. I get told at least 3 times a day.
2. Everyone answers your phone calls. No one is screening your calls just in case you are going to the hospital.
3. You have to keep your calendar clear because the baby could come any moment. An easy schedule for a couple of days is always a good thing.
I just found out they are on their way to the hospital, so say a prayer for my idiot brother and his wonderful wife.
August 25, 2008
· Categories Leadership
In the last 10 months, my Pastor has allowed me to be a member of 2 search teams for Executive Level Ministry positions at our church. The first was for Director of Children’s Ministry, which we filled in January, and most recently we interviewed candidates for a Director of Discipleship.
These 2 searches have accrued more than 150 resumes. After searching through them, we have conducted phone interviews, presented names to our Senior Pastor, and he has invited certain individuals to come for several days worth of on-site interviews with our team. After those have been conducted, he compiles all the data, opinions, and his own personal findings, and he extends an invitation to someone to join our team. It’s a wonderful, long, and productive process.
In both processes I have attempted to weight out these options:
– Is it better to have a utility player who can adapt and play multiple positions? or
– Is it better to have a niche player who is good at his/her job, but isn’t suited to move around much?
I see pros and cons in both. Utility players, are not necessarily better teammates, but they do allow you more flexibility as a team in the short term and long term. They usually have a competence in multiple areas, which can make them appealing. With that, though, comes a downside of either limited experience, competence, or skill in any one, certain area.
For the niche player, they usually bring to the table a plethora of experience in one area. They know the skills, training, and nuances needed to succeed. But, they are landlocked to that job for this time. If growth, timing, or personnel require changes to be made, they may not provide the flexibility to adjust job descriptions or tasks.
This is not a question about the 2 jobs we have searched or hired for. This is a more general question of leadership.
Would you as a leader prefer a team of utility players or niche players? Where might it be necessary for both to exist? Why?
August 22, 2008
· Categories Student Ministry
2 weeks in a row I lead with the same sentence.
Last night was one of my favorite nights ever. We had a great night. As we graded out this morning in our Creative Team Meeting we gave it an A-, but only because we have too many perfectionists in the room. The worship was great. We played a brand new, in-house created game called “My Name Is” that fostered a lot of interaction among old and new students. We gave away some iTunes cards, movie tickets, and the Biggie. The last 2 years for our Fall Kick-off we give away a trip to New York City. A lovely young lady visiting us for the first time named Andrea from Pope High School won, and I was ticked, because I wanted a guy to win. Since it’s a girl, my lucky lovely wife Corrie gets to go for the 2nd time, to accompany her. We will also be giving her $100 spending money and we’ll buy her lunch in Time Square.
The message went well, and I gave an opportunity for students to come forward and pray with leaders to receive Salvation for the first time or to recommit their lives to God and live a life of greater purpose. We had more than 20 students come forward. We had 25 first time visitors which was cool. We showed a couple videos throughout the night with no technical hiccups, 1 funny, 1 serious, and 1 preview of the new series starting next week.
It was a great night. I can’t wait for next week!
August 21, 2008
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