Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #2 Jesus Said "Thank You"

⁴¹ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” -John 11:41-42

Think about the above verse... Just before Jesus commands Lazarus to rise from death, Jesus stops and thanks The Father for hearing Him. This is just one verse out of many where we see the thankful heart of Jesus, but it is important to see that Jesus was a thankful man.

Gratitude is a key element to the success of leaders. How can we truly lead without being grateful? Grateful to those who follow our leadership, grateful to those who challenge our leadership and make us sharper, grateful to God who places us in positions of leadership.

Before I ask something of someone I am privy to lead, I pray that I have first conveyed to them and to God how thankful I am that God has put them in my life.

I pray that I can follow the example of Jesus and be a grateful leader that is full of thankfulness and gratitude.

Pastor Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #1 Do hard things

As a leader, it is so easy to just take the easy route. Just like anything else, we want to follow the path of least resistance. This is something that I have to fight against every day.

But when I look at the example Jesus left me as a leader, I see something very different...

He did the hard things!

Jesus was focused to the point of tunnel vision on accomplishing His mission in this world. I, for one, am glad that Jesus didn't base His ministry on opinion polls and popularity contests.

Doing the hard things simply means that we don't let things like public opinion, a little sweat, or a little extra effort keep us from doing what our gut, spirit, and instinct (God's leading) is telling us to do.

I love that Jesus was willing to stand alone to accomplish His Fathers will. He "set His face towards Jerusalem" knowing His death would be the consequence.

We as leaders must have more than vision and communications skills... we must also have resolve!

Jesus did the hard things!

Are you willing to do the hard things? Even if it means standing alone?

A thought out biblical response to this whole Usama ordeal.

I have really been blown away with all the controversy in the Christian world over Usama Bin Laden's (UBL) death. First of all, you can really tell it has been 10 years since 911. I promise all these social network posts saying things like "We shouldn't celebrate a soul going to hell" and "why are we taking joy in another persons death" wouldn't be there. (mostly because social networks didn't exist)

There also wouldn't be the wild parties in the streets like we saw last night in New York and D.C. Because killing Bin Laden would have been the universally expected and accepted retaliation of those horrible attacks. But as we all know 10 years and some time changes everything.

So how should we react as Christians to the news that UBL is dead?

First, nobody should be "celebrating that UBL is in hell... that is just twisted and wrong. we, as children of God, should never rejoice over hell and say "that is what he deserves." The fact is WE ALL DESERVE THE SAME HELL BIN LADEN IS IN!

But that still leaves the question of WHAT should we feel and HOW should we react to this news? The answer (as always) lies in The Word of God.

First we must look at Romans13:1-5

1 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. 4 The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. 5 So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

According to the above passage we learn that

#1. Those leading and making decisions for our country (like them or not) have been placed there by God.

#2. Those who rebel against these establishments rebel against God. Remember Bin Laden brought this fight to us!

#3. "They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong." I believe we saw this truth carried out in Abbotabad Pakistan by some great men in our military yesterday.

But, many will bring up Proverbs 24:17-18 which says...

17 Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;

don’t be happy when they stumble.

18 For the Lord will be displeased with you

and will turn his anger away from them.

That verse seems to teach us that we should feel somber and take no joy in the capture and killing of UBL... but what about when you contrast that verse with Psalm 21...

8 You will capture all your enemies.

Your strong right hand will seize all who hate you.

9 You will throw them in a flaming furnace

when you appear.

The Lord will consume them in his anger;

fire will devour them.

10 You will wipe their children from the face of the earth;

they will never have descendants.

11 Although they plot against you,

their evil schemes will never succeed.

12 For they will turn and run

when they see your arrows aimed at them.

13 Rise up, O Lord, in all your power.

With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.

Wait? It looks like this verse teaches us to celebrate the death and the "devouring with fire" ... and we are to celebrate it with "music and singing" ?

Here is what you need to know about these verses... first off Proverbs 24 was written by Solomon to his sons to help them gain Godly wisdom. That verse is talking about getting puffed up with pride, arrogance or selfishness over the demise of your enemies. God is teaching us that it is WISE not to celebrate our enemies death in a PRIDEFUL WAY.

So can we celebrate the death of Bin Laden? The answer is a YES and a NO... We can celebrate, but we are not to celebrate death, BUT RATHER WE ARE TO CELEBRATE THE JUSTICE OF GOD! WE ARE TO CELEBRATE GOD AND HIS WILL AND CHOICE FOR THIS FATE OF USAMA BIN LADEN.

WE ARE TO GIVE THE LORD ALL GLORY FOR THIS HISTORIC MOMENT!

Thank you lord for bringing justice to our nation. God you knew this would be Bin Laden's fate. Lord in your sovereignty you knew this day would come. Lord don't let my flesh or the flesh of this nation be puffed up with pride because Usama is dead, but rather let us rejoice in your just ways. You alone are God, all authority belongs to you. And I pray to you in the name above all names JESUS!

Sun Stand Still Book Review

Just finished the much publicized book "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick. If you don't know Pastor Furtick is the young pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America - Elevation Church in Charlotte NC.

Basically, if you haven't read the book, the theme is what he dubs "audacious faith." He asserts that Joshua's prayer in Joshua 10 (found in the paragraph below) can be applied to our lives and we don't see supernatural things from God because we don't pray audacious enough prayers... but if we do pray these audacious prayers, God may not always answer them and that is okay too. (?)

“The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel.” (Joshua 10:13b-14)

The idea of bold and audacious prayer is a Biblical concept and I believe Furtick is genuine is his belief that God has worked amazingly in Elevation Church as a result of this type of prayer.

Some of my takeaway from the book...

- "Seizing his big purpose for your life is not just about figuring out what God wants from you and getting down to business. It’s about becoming intimately acquainted with who Jesus is. It’s about mining the depths of who you are in him.”

- “How will God accomplish the impossible vision he has planted in your heart? By his grace—and through your willingness to sacrifice your life for the sake of Jesus.”

- "Time can talk you out of your dreams. Routine can weaken your propensity toward audacity."

- "I despair at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf" (This quote is one Furtick used that is from "Fresh Wind Fresh Fire" -Jim Cymbala)

- "I am not raising my kids to survive the world. I'm raising them to change it"

- "Rules without revelation result in rebellion"

*Side note: if you get sick of hearing "catch phrase" type words used over and over again, you will be sick of the word "audacious" before the 3rd chapter.

Final anaylasis: The book was good but not great. I have heard Furtick preach this subject, and honestly I think I gained more take-away from the spoken messages. I know it must be a rule that all mega-church pastors have to write a book, but that doesn't mean all should.

On a 1-10 scale I give it a respectable 6 ;)

Book Review: "Communicating for a Change" -Andy Stanley

I finally finished reading "Communicating for a Change" by Andy Stanley.

Really good read. Although much of the stuff centered around things that I have already applied to my own communication style, I still got much takeaway from the book. If you are a Pastor/Spiritual Communicator, you should probably go ahead and go get you a copy and read this book.

I love a very honest and practical read, and this is both. Andy does a great job of just sharing his convictions about preaching in a very easy to understand way.

The main theme of the book is really focused around "one point preaching." I have been a one point preacher for several years, but it was good to read this book and refine my process a little.

Here are a few great quotes I highlighted...

"We shouldn't be so focused on teaching the Bible that we forget our real goal is to teach people the bible."

"First, we connect with people; then we move to the Bible"

"Today you have to show people how the truth impacts their lives"

"we have to remind people that they want to change"

"Just because it is simple doesn't mean that it is not effective. The best tools are."

"What concerns you more, how you did on Sunday or what your people are doing on Monday?"

"a lack of genuineness makes it difficult to trust a speaker."

"make (your text) fascinating enough that people will want to go home and read it on their own"

"People loved or hated Jesus, but when he spoke nobody fell asleep"

"boring is not a (preaching) style. Boring is boring"

All-in-all it was a good Read

Nathan

2010 In Review

This is my 2010 in review blog (*Note- most people do this way before now)

As I look back on my life and all God has done in and through me in 2010, I guess the defining moment was the big move to Texas. Everything else seems to filter through that process.
But here goes a look at my 2010...

Spiritual

I guess it all starts with God and God has done much through me in 2010. This biggie being - again - the move.

The process really started back in June of 2009. Tony Harp (associate pastor here at LMBC) invited me to come and speak at their 2010 D-Now youth event in February. I made the trip down along with our worship band from Cave City and the process began. I got a call one week after the event from the pulpit committee chairman and (as the saying goes) the rest is history.

At first I was real hesitant about whether or not God was calling me out of Cave City and into pastoral ministry. As the process went along, God kept moving me and my heart in the direction he wanted me to go, and in Mid-April, Ericka and I announced to First Baptist Cave City we would be headed to Texas.

It was VERY hard to say good-by to FBC Cave City (probably the most difficult thing I have ever done in my ministerial life), but God was moving me and I had to submit to His will. I will be forever grateful for the love, support and respect I received in Cave City. Ericka and I still see it as out 2nd hometown.

I became the Sr. Pastor of Longview Missionary Baptist Church in June of 2010...

Another great spiritual high of 2010 was the small role I got to play in the life of Thamail Morgan. God gave me a great opportunity to be a spiritual voice in the life of this young man with an amazing story. He was featured in a short documentary during the 2010 Super Bowl Here is the video... Thamail Morgan

There are so many other great spiritual highs from 2010, from D-Now, CityReach, 7.Twelve, and all the great things that God has already done here at LMBC, that I could ramble on for pages... It truly was an amazing year!

Family

Needless to say, the big Texas move also dominated our family life in 2010. The kids have settled in to Texas life well and are doing great! Ericka and I can truly say we are home here and happy. Our family is amazingly blessed by God and we can see his hand in every aspect of our family life.

Ericka is settling in great in our new home and seems to be enjoying decorating our new house and doing the things to transform it into our home. She works hard volunteering weekly at Hallsville School District. (where our kids attend) From having a great fitness center to workout at, to her capitalizing on the many area shopping opportunities, I think Ericka is liking living in a little larger city (Longview is about 80,000 compared to Cave City's 1,900)

Bethany is doing well in school. (she always has) She has adjusted to the new place real well and real fast. She is my more adventurous child and rarely has trouble making friends or feeling out of place. She has gotten involved in the arts and loves acting in the theater. She has already had acting roles at the school theater, community theater and the church.

Sadly she didn't get to participate in her first play back in July after she fell off the stage. (she gets her clumsiness from me) She cracked her skull and was placed on bed rest right before the play was scheduled.

Micah was a little different than his sister in that he had trouble adjusting after the move. At 5 years old I think he had trouble understanding that this was our new and permanent home. It made for some challenging conversations with him and we had to pour out a little more love toward him in the beginning. He is doing great here now and seems to love it.

Turbo (As he has become so affectionately known here by our church people) got involved in flag football this year and loved it. His team went undefeated during their regular season and Micah got to play and learn about the game of football. He seems to really love football and baseball and we are excited about playing a little baseball this spring.

Travel

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to go! 2010 gave me some great chances to spend some time in some awesome places.

My first trip of the year was to Jacksonville Florida for the FBC JAX pastors conference. Jax is an amazingly beautiful city. The highlight of the trip was seeing St Augustine beach and climbing the St. Augustine lighthouse.

In April Ericka and I spent a little time in Washington D.C and NYC after I spoke at the momentum youth conference in Inwood WV. It was Ericka's first time to see both D.C. and New York and I am glad I got to take her there and spend that time in those awesome places with her.

I also got to spend a little time in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Niagara Falls and Toronto Canada through my service to the CityReach board. I always enjoy visiting the northeast.

Ericka, myself and the kiddos closed out 2010 in Summit County Colorado (Dillon) with Ericka's family. It was my kids first time to see the Rocky Mountains and we really loved watching them learn to snow ski.

Everyone has a passion that they love to spend their $cratch on... I love to travel, see the different culture that is found all over this great country and around the world, and gaze at the amazing wonders of God's creation.

Health


If my greatest accomplishment of 2010 was the move to pastoral ministry, then my marathons were 1b.

I was able to finish not just one but TWO marathons in 2010. The Berryman Trail Marathon in Missouri back in May and the Freedoms Run Marathon that trekked through West Virginia and Maryland last October. Although I was pretty dog-gone slow, it is still a great accomplishment to finish the grueling 26.2 mile run. It is said that only about 1% of people ever accomplish this. It was good to enter the 1% club.

Probably the greatest highlight was sharing this accomplishment with my great friend Eric Richardson. He was my motivator through the entire process and I know I couldn't have done it without his encouragement.

Also if you notice in the above pic, the 2nd marathon was ran with an entire team of guys that God has connected me with through ministry. I am so thankful for all of the amazing people God has put in my life that I would have never known otherwise if it wasn't for answering his call to ministry.

Although my goal in running wasn't really to lose weight (I never did diet during my marathon training) It is nice to say that I was able to shed about 35lbs total in 2010.

-

God thank you for an amazing, life changing year in 2010... I can't wait to see what you have in store for 2011. To you I give all glory for all the joys in my life

Amen

Nathan

Going "all-in"

Getting people mobilized in the church can be tricky. Obviously God never intended for the church to be a place where one guy gets up on stage and entertains the audience then sends the listeners home until next weeks "show"

So how do we get people out of the seat and mobilized?

It starts by creating an environment where people feel empowered and enabled to do ministry. Leaders need to communicate to the people that showing up and sitting down is not the biblical model of church.

Sure... preaching is a great way of presenting truth and challenging the people, but if a persons church experience stops there... well then their spiritual maturity is going to be lacking and the church is going to be incomplete.

And we as leaders can't expect people to just "get it." We must teach, train and encourage people to be more than just church attenders. We have to show people the value and importance of being ministers.

So how do we accomplish this? Here are a few suggestions...

#1 Change the mindset of who should do ministry
- This should be done through constant teaching and educating.
- People need to know that the work of ministry is to be done from the pew, not the pulpit... in other words, everyone should be involved.
- Leaders must cast vision of how people can get involved

#2 Only place people in area of giftedness.
- God has given us just who we need to accomplish what we need to accomplish as His local church. The problem is we have the few doing all the work and the most doing nothing at all in most churches.
- One of my favorite quotes says "nobody should have two jobs in the church until everybody has one" The only way we can accomplish this is for everyone to know their gifts and use them to serve.
- We must start a discovery process on how our people can learn their gifts and use them
for the Lord.

#3 Emphasize high commitment.
- Too many times we under-emphasize commitment and let our people off the hook. God expects much of us, and we as leaders shouldn't expect any less of our people.
- Would you rather lead a Church of hundreds of people with 25 workers or a church of hundreds of people with hundreds of workers? Easy answer huh? Well if we are going to accomplish that, then we must raise expectations.

People want to be a part of something they know matters...

Nathan