Thoughts on Life and Leading

This Sunday at Cross Community.

Acts 27

A Storm at Sea

^1-2As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

³The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there.

^4-8Out to sea again, we sailed north under the protection of the northeast shore of Cyprus because winds out of the west were against us, and then along the coast westward to the port of Myra. There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board. We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).

^9-10By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned, “I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship—to say nothing of our lives!—if we put out to sea now.”

^12-11But it was not the best harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more suitable. The centurion set Paul’s warning aside and let the ship captain and the shipowner talk him into trying for the next harbor.

^13-15When a gentle southerly breeze came up, they weighed anchor, thinking it would be smooth sailing. But they were no sooner out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor’easter, struck. They lost all control of the ship. It was a cork in the storm.

^16-17We came under the lee of the small island named Clauda, and managed to get a lifeboat ready and reef the sails. But rocky shoals prevented us from getting close. We only managed to avoid them by throwing out drift anchors.

^18-20Next day, out on the high seas again and badly damaged now by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.

^21-22With our appetite for both food and life long gone, Paul took his place in our midst and said, “Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you that there’ll not be a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship—the ship itself is doomed.

^23-26“Last night God’s angel stood at my side, an angel of this God I serve, saying to me, ‘Don’t give up, Paul. You’re going to stand before Caesar yet—and everyone sailing with you is also going to make it.’ So, dear friends, take heart. I believe God will do exactly what he told me. But we’re going to shipwreck on some island or other.”

^27-29On the fourteenth night, adrift somewhere on the Adriatic Sea, at about midnight the sailors sensed that we were approaching land. Sounding, they measured a depth of 120 feet, and shortly after that ninety feet. Afraid that we were about to run aground, they threw out four anchors and prayed for daylight.

^30-32Some of the sailors tried to jump ship. They let down the lifeboat, pretending they were going to set out more anchors from the bow. Paul saw through their guise and told the centurion and his soldiers, “If these sailors don’t stay with the ship, we’re all going down.” So the soldiers cut the lines to the lifeboat and let it drift off.

^33-34With dawn about to break, Paul called everyone together and proposed breakfast: “This is the fourteenth day we’ve gone without food. None of us has felt like eating! But I urge you to eat something now. You’ll need strength for the rescue ahead. You’re going to come out of this without even a scratch!”

^35-38He broke the bread, gave thanks to God, passed it around, and they all ate heartily—276 of us, all told! With the meal finished and everyone full, the ship was further lightened by dumping the grain overboard.

^39-41At daybreak, no one recognized the land—but then they did notice a bay with a nice beach. They decided to try to run the ship up on the beach. They cut the anchors, loosed the tiller, raised the sail, and ran before the wind toward the beach. But we didn’t make it. Still far from shore, we hit a reef and the ship began to break up.

^42-44The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none could escape by swimming, but the centurion, determined to save Paul, stopped them. He gave orders for anyone who could swim to dive in and go for it, and for the rest to grab a plank. Everyone made it to shore safely.

The Message (MSG)

Tomorrow marks the conclusion for me of 90 days through the Bible. I utilized youversion.com to help me track progress. I have read my way through all 66 books on my smart phone and Mac, not one page from my printed Bible. I have to say that it has been an intense three months of reading but I am so glad that I committed to this process. I did so with many people from Cross Community Church who enjoyed an “Exponential Summer” (E90).

Now that I have just a few chapters in the Book of the Revelation left, there is a small part of me that will miss the large amount of reading every day. I think I averaged around 16 chapters a day. I do have another reading plan in mind to start on September 1, but it will not be this great of a challenge.

Here are just a few takeaways:

• I am full to the brim with the Bible. I find it interesting that staying focused on God is much easier these days. There isn’t a lot of interest in other things, some hobbies have taken a back seat. I do not regret the TV I have missed, the baseball I didn’t watch or the Internet surfing I eliminated.

• I am at peace. Even some stressful situations that I faced this Summer didn’t rock me as they normally would have. I am stronger. I even received some comments about how much more laid back I appear to be!

• I got a TON of great message ideas. I feel like I could preach for a year on the passages that I have been reading just the last few weeks. I guess it helps when pastors actually read the Bible, huh?

I did hear a little criticism this Summer from people who didn’t like my approach: “Too regimented”, “There’s no way you can absorb all that material!”, “I emphasize quality over quantity”, etc. Here’s the deal: I read every word for myself, and God really spoke to me. Don’t criticize unless you can show me how to improve.

Let me encourage you – spend some time with God and His Word. Be intentional and committed. God has something to say to you that will change your life.

We are intentional with our spiritual formation process at Cross Community Church. The conclusion of E90, an “Exponential Summer” has escorted us into the next season of growth. Take a look at Next Steps. Regardless of your location, you can participate with us as we pursue God. We are committing to Grow, Connect and Serve. As we process, we will impact others. The result will be more lives changing as we connect people with Jesus Christ.

Come go with us.

I wrecked my bike today. Nothing serious but it could have been. I am in training for the 120 for Orphans, a 120 mile bike ride to benefit the orphans of International Orphan Support.  I have been putting in quite a few miles the last few weeks.

Today, while buzzing along on a trail, I came around a corner at about 13 mph. Another rider was coming the other way, headed straight for me. To prevent a head-on, I hit the brakes hard and went over the handlebars. I messed up my bike a little – the brakes and gears are whining. I didn’t hurt myself much, a few scrapes and bruises.

But I was wearing a helmet. I NEVER wear a helmet.  The only one I own is real goofy – a cheap old Specialized that I got on ebay years ago. I was leaving this morning and told my wife, “I’m wearing my helmet today – I’m going to be on the road a lot.”   I am not saying that the helmet saved my life but I landed on my head and shoulder and managed to do a tuck and roll. I did hit my head and it hurt, so I think I prevented a concussion by wearing a helmet.

So given the choice between looking stupid while keeping my brains, as compared to looking cool and having amnesia, I’ll choose the former.

This Sunday at Cross Community is big. Don’t miss it!

This week, I was privileged to attend the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit. The event is held every year in Chicago, but I attend a video venue here in Palm Beach Gardens. I highly respect Willow Creek Church Pastor and WCA Founder, Bill Hybels. He has been a stellar leader for many years and his stock continues to rise in my book.

The variety and quality of leaders at this event is unparallelled. Each year they gather well-know and lesser-know men and women from around the globe who are leading businesses and NGOs and ministries to present fresh leadership concepts to over 180,000 Summit participants.

This year, some of my favorite presenters were: Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, Seth Godin, Mama Maggie Gobran (blog post coming on this woman!) and Michelle Rhee.

For a very thorough look into the training and the specific talks given by these amazing leaders, access the official blog. There is a month’s worth of great reading on the site. One of the beauties of the Summit is that it serves as a place of exposure and access to such a variety of gifted leaders and communicators from an amazingly wide variety of fields.

I highly recommend the WCA Global Leadership Summit to anyone who is leading or plans to lead. The date next year is August 9/10. I am a better leader today and will be into the future because I was involved in the 2011 Summit.

The concepts taught in this simple video are some things we are working on at Cross Community Church.  We believe that there is more to church than what we see in many cases. Take a look and feel free to process it with us.

It’ not a good day in America. Today, rating agency Standard & Poor’s says it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from its top rank of AAA. This will more than likely start an even further negative downward financial spiral in our country. We’re in for tough times.

Here is what I want to ask Christ followers right now: are you ready to offer some hope to the people around you who will be reeling from all of this? My fear is that we will be just as freaked out as everyone else and we will miss this major opportunity to display our faith in a time of crisis.

Bad times always create ministry opportunities. People are hurting and the pain will increase. We simply must be in the position to make a positive difference.

Her are some of my suggestions that will insure that you are ready to be used by God in the rough days ahead:

1. Be sure that you trust God. If you don’t believe that He will take care of you, you have nothing to offer to anyone else.

2. Stop looking to people to provide for your future. No politician can offer the security you are looking for. Only God can do that.

3. Be sure that you are not too much in love with luxuries and a comfortable lifestyle.

4. Commit to God that, no matter what happens, you will live for Him. This is no time for fair-weather Christians.

5. Be faithful in your stewardship. Tough economic times are not the time to cut back on your giving to God.

6. Have a long-term perspective. I’m not giving investment advice. I am saying that this world is not our home. We won’t be here much longer. Heaven is where we belong.

7. Look at the believers around the world. For centuries, Christ followers all over the world have displayed grace and dignity when deprived of wealth. Allow their testimonies to encourage you.

Get ready for difficult days. Don’t lose your composure and blow your testimony. Let’s not miss this excellent opportunity to show those around us how Christ-followers face, with great faith, difficult times.

I am thinking that, from a spiritual perspective, this crisis may be the best thing for America. Maybe we will return to God.

Me: (to someone I just met): “you go to church?”
Him: “Yes, we go with my mother in law to her church.”
Me: “Great! What church is it?”
Him: “New Harvest Church over on Elm Street.” (fictional church and street names)
“Where is your church?”
Me: “Prosperity Farms Road, just north of PGA BLVD.”
Him: “That’s closer to us. Maybe we’ll come to your church.”
Me: “No, please stay at your church. We aren’t trying to reach people who are already in church. We are trying to reach people who don’t go to church.”
Him: “OK. I understand”.
Me: “God bless!”

So, how’d I do?

Friends, please take a look at the website we are working through for our upcoming 120 for Orphans bike ride. It is a work in progress but it is functional. Let me know what you think!  Click on: 120 for Orphans

Thanks!

You probably think I’m going to give you some safety lecture on making sure you have the ability to stop when necessary. Not so.

Yesterday, my nephew Rich and I took a 30 mile bike ride as we are training for the “120 for Orphans”, a fundraiser bike ride for International Orphan Support in October. It was an especially hard ride. I felt like the wind was in my face the whole time. Rich was very patient and, several times, he waited for the old guy to catch up.

Here’s the thing: I got home and realized that my rear brakes had been dragging the whole time. Distance cyclists will tell you that this is a psychological game that can be played on you while on a long ride. But this was no game. I was shot after thirty miles of peddling with my breaks on.

As usual, I try to find some meaningful application from the everyday lessons of life.

Make sure your breaks aren’t dragging:

Don’t make life harder than it needs to be. Drop the stuff that slows you down. Stop long enough to evaluate if something seems wrong – and make adjustments! Don’t travel through life alone – make sure that there is someone who cares enough to wait for you when you are slow. And thank God for the difficult sessions – you are in training for some great things.

These pictures were taken at the Rio Bravo Feeding Center in Guatemala on a recent trip, partially sponsored by International Orphan Support. The volunteers are from the US. The shoes are donated by Genesis Church in Tallahassee, FL. and Pastor Brian Hunter.  The kids were doing without food and shoes until some generous people stepped up.

This is what motivates us to do what we do. If you want to to join in, you are more than welcomed to do so!

Here is an incomplete list of “little foxes that can spoil the (leadership) vine”.

I can do my own thing. A leader’s “thing” is not her own. Her thing is her followers’ thing. Followers are why leaders exist. Apart from them, a leader has nothing. Any leader that forgets this is history, and a forgotten part of it. Leader – you can’t do your own thing and remain a leader. It’s about sacrifice for those who are looking to you.

People pay attention more to what I say than what I do. It has been said that talk is cheap, but actually, talk can cost you a fortune. People actually expect you to do what you say you’ll do. But it’s not the talking. It’s the follow-through with actions. A leader who talks but does not walk will make the journey alone. Leader: They are not just listening, they are watching – closely.

Image is more important than substance. While this is true for rock stars, it’s not true for leaders. A pretty face won’t get you very far when it comes to really influencing people. Character trumps charisma.

There are little areas where, as a leader, I can fudge. A day off of integrity or a vacation from morality never hurt anyone, right? Wrong! Leaders open themselves up to deserved criticism if they cross the line of acceptable behavior. Even if followers have no ethics, they like their leaders to have some.

My reputation is secure. If you think your good name is enough to give you the benefit of the doubt, you’d better think again. All it takes is one suspicion that you’ve done something wrong and it can all come crashing down on you. Fight hard to preserve your reputation. You only have one and once it’s gone, so are you.

I realize that this may have created some pressure on you, if you are a leader. Maybe you disagree, possibly you think I’m overboard on these issues. But in a moment of real honesty, I wish that some leaders who are not serious about their followers would either get serious or relinquish their leadership posts. We have too many followers emulating leaders and they are all going astray.

Any feedback?

Confession time.
As I am blazing my way through the Bible as part of our E90 (Exponential Summer at Cross Community Church), I am gritting my teeth at some of the stories in the Old Testament. There is so much bloodshed and abuse and annihilation. And much of it is orchestrated by God. Great men of God had multiple wives or were dishonest. They lied and cheated. And innocent people suffered a lot. Even to the point of children and grandchildren paying for the sins of their father’s while their fathers got off with no penalty. And what about how people with handicaps cannot approach God? And entire populations, women and children included were wiped out by God’s armies. Pretty heavy stuff.

I hope not to dissuade you from reading the Old Testament. But I am not afraid to tell you that, sometimes, it is a little much.

Before you start typing out your rebuttal comment – understand – I comprehend what is going on. I know why these details are important. And I think I get why this stuff happened.

Here is the message I am reading into all of this: The Old Testament simply points out how badly we need Jesus. Every detail and story in the Old Testament is screaming out for Messiah. Without The Savior, humankind is depraved. We are quite evil. And God allowed us to live out that misery so that we could see the reality of that need. We are desperate without Him.

If you think about it, those who are living without Jesus today are living in the same kind of Christ-less funk.

I will keep reading the Old Testament. It is gory and disturbing and sometimes frightening. But it shows how badly we need Jesus. I will be sure to balance out with some hope-filled New Testament.

Read on!

I think it is very important for us all to recognize our weaknesses. If we can realize the area(s) where we are less than competent and work on utilizing those weaknesses for the good, we will all benefit.

For most of my adult life, I have been aware of my tendency to obsess. There has never been a clinical diagnosis but I come from a long line of obsessors – I know well the indicators. I would not consider it much of an emotional imbalance but there are times when it is easy for me to get focused on one thing to the exclusion of other important things. More of a danger than overlooking other important things is my tendency to go overboard with whatever it is I have in my crosshairs.

A few times in my life, I have gotten into such an intense workout regime that I have injured myself. Repetitive motion and intense use has resulted in tennis elbow, stress fractures in both ankles and low back damage. I guess that may qualify for obsessive, huh?

But I have had the opportunity to accomplish some very important things by utilizing my obsessiveness. In 1999 I helped raise $10,000 by running a marathon. We used the money to build a church in Cuba (yes- I carried the cash to Cuba and hand-delivered it to church leaders there).

I am headed for another one of my obsessive but beneficial projects. Some of my friends and I plan to ride 120 miles over two days on bicycles. We will be raising awareness and money for International Orphan Support. I know myself well enough to know that between now and our October 20/21 ride date, I will log a lot of miles on the bike. I just have to be careful to not injure myself in the preparation process.

I think my obsessiveness serves me well. The key for me is keeping it channeled and not going crazy.

So, is there a weakness, or even an obsession that you can make productive?

We need some creative help for an awesome project we are zeroing in on. I am in the planning stages of a very long bicycle ride to raise awareness and funds for International Orphan Support, a non-profit that I help lead. Click here for our website: iorphan.cc.

The idea is to ride around Lake Okeechobee, a trail of 120 miles. This would be a two day ride with a night’s stay somewhere in one of the lakeside towns. I would open this ride to my biking friends, and we would find sponsors for a per-mile or a flat amount donation. The ride will probably take place in October (date to be determined within the week). The money collected will go to feed hungry children.

So, creative thinkers, here is what we need:

A theme or title. Keep in mind, it is Lake Okeechobee or “Lake O”. Orphans will be the beneficiaries. The ride is 120 miles. Suggestions?

A logo and design: We will be making t shirts and we’ll need a graphic for promotions. Any designers out there willing to throw around some ideas?

Best way to get the word out: I am no marketer, so any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Administrative support: We will need assistance with communications and organization, as well as social networking help.

Corporate sponsors: Do you know of a corporation or local business that would consider  a supportive donation? Now, would you be our representative and ask them?

So, you think you’re creative? Imagine it – your creativity can save the life of a child! Let’s hear your ideas. And pass this along to you buddies, as well.

Remember, this is a pro-bono gig. We do not want to spend any money we raise paying for services on this end. But it is definitely a rewarding and feel-good project that will save lives!

All donations are tax deductible.

We can use lots of help. I’d love to hear from you with any ideas! Leave any and all of your ideas as a comment or you can email me at rick@crosscommunity.cc.

Thanks!

Rick

At our church, we have recently made a conscious effort to stop hounding people for money every week. We had gotten into a pretty bad cycle of hitting the people up every week for some kind of fund raiser. We were having bake sales, spaghetti dinners, asking for special contributions and taking special offerings. This was all in an effort to fund the ministry. Missions and outreach and youth ministry and building funds needed to happen. No one complained but I’m sure people were getting tired of this process.

We decided to take a more positive and Biblical approach. The solution is the Biblical concept of tithing.

Here’s the real problem. Most people were not tithing (giving 10% of their income to the church) and we were trying to make up for it. Interestingly, many of the tithers were the ones who gave over and above to our special pleas. In essence, they were giving more so others could give nothing.

I realized the problem and started backing off of asking for people to give to these special projects. The truth is, if half of the people of the average church paid true tithes, there would be no need for any kind of special offerings.

I came across some great research by sociologists Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell. Check this out:
More than one out of four American Protestants give away no money at all—”not even a token $5 per year.”
Of Evangelicals Thirty-six percent report that they give away less than two percent of their income. Only about 27 percent tithe.
Pretty pitiful, yes?

Now, think about what could happen if these Christians would tithe. To cite more from Smith, Emerson and Snell:

Those who attend church at least twice a month—earn more than $2.5 trillion dollars every year. On their own, these Christians could be admitted to the G7, the group of the world’s seven largest economies. Smith and his coauthors estimate that if these Christians gave away 10 percent of their after-tax earnings, they would add another $46 billion to ministry around the world.

If these stats are accurate, churches could feed the hungry people of the world, could provide an amazing amount of support to issue like AIDS, homelessness, widows and orphans. These issues are not the responsibility of the government. The scripture gives this calling to the church. We are required by God to take care of the needy. We are supposed to have enough resources to show God’s love and compassion to hurting people in the world. As it is, paying the light bill is a real issue for many churches.

I am going to try to do my best to make an agreement with the great people of our church. If you guys will tithe, we won’t nickel and dime you to death, trying to fund the work of the ministry. Thankfully, the number of tithers at our church is up! We are grateful! If the tithe does not continue to come to the church, well, the ministry must go on. So we would need to get ready for more raffles and auctions and begging for money. What do you say we avoid that?

You can read more of the report I cite at:
http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2009/01/what-could-happen-if-all-christians-tithed.html

Last week, while visiting one of our church members in the hospital, we met a Nurse’s Aid who has quite a story.

She told us that she had lost all three of her children to street gunfire. Her youngest son lost his life about one year ago. She shared with us how only God’s grace has enabled her to get through every day of her life. As if this was not profound enough, she told us something that grabbed my heart.

This grieving mother has started a non-profit organization to help the families of violent crime AND the families of those who are accused of committing violent crimes. If ever there was anyone who has the right to bitterness and anger, aimed at the senseless loss of young life, this woman is that person. But she chooses to try to make a positive difference in her community, in spite of her loss and pain.

I see in her the grace of God in action. Grace working in her and through her.

This lady told me that she would visit our church. I really hope she does. We would be honored to include a person who possesses this caliber of grace and depth of character into our faith family. We could learn much from her.

“My sheep know my voice.” (Jesus Christ)

In recent conversations, I have heard a couple of long-time Christ Followers mention that they have a difficult time discerning God’s voice. How can we know when God is speaking to us?

I think hearing and knowing God’s voice comes with familiarity. Once you hear it, it is difficult to forget.

I had a very nice experience today. Our new baby granddaughter was in one of our church services. My wife was holding her on the back row. When I spoke, the baby reacted to my voice and started looking around for me. That’s because my voice is familiar to her. And I think it is comforting to her.

I have a few theories about why we can’t hear His voice:

• We aren’t listening. Maybe we are in too big of a hurry or maybe we have so many other voices in our heads or maybe we are so far from Him that we can’t hear Him or maybe we don’t like what He is saying so we tune Him out.

• We are disobedient to what He tells us (why would God talk to people who ignore Him – right?)

• We are duped into believing that we don’t hear God’s voice. Of course we hear it – Jesus said we would, and He doesn’t lie. The enemy of our soul wants to keep us doubting ourselves and doubting God. How about if we stop buying what he is selling?

Whatever the issue, this is not a good situation. Hearing and knowing His voice is essential.

Here’s the truth, if we don’t hear His voice, we will get totally lost. And lost sheep get eaten by the wolf.

Hear the Word of the Lord:
Isaiah  28:23 Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. (NLT)
Isaiah 30:21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.  (NLT)

The island thing didn’t work out so well for me. You’ve heard, “No man is an island” (John Donne 1572-1631). This statement basically means that none of us were created to do life alone. Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. I just came through an especially isolated season, not because of any deliberate decision on my part, but more as an evolutionary thing. The administrative load at church was pretty heavy and I found myself stuck in the office way too much. I was saddled with lots of intense decisions and pressure. More computer time – less human contact. More head-down pushing through the grind and less head-up looking for life.

Some things resulted:

• detachment from people outside my immediate circle

• minimization of my impact on others

• discouragement

So a few weeks ago, I made a very intentional decision to personally engage more people and a wider variety of people. I started making appointments with some people I did not know well. I reached out to some friends that I haven’t spent much time with recently. I started meeting more guys for lunch and coffee and hang out time. I found this to be energizing and invigorating. I learned lots of things I did not know. I got feedback I did not know existed. I made some new friendships and strengthened some old ones. The cloud of discouragement hanging over me dissipated. It was life-giving! I am a much happier person right now.

I came to this conclusion: I cannot lead this church from my office. I have to be out among the people.

Administrative stuff must happen. I have to spend some time away from others, alone with God. I can’t run around every day yucking it up with the boys. But I must remain intentional in my relationships. I have plans to keep this idea rolling. You probably would benefit from doing the same thing.