Thoughts on Life and Leading

The 8 people who know me really well know that I have issues with my feet (now all of you know). I admit it, I am podiatristically challenged. Here is why: I grew up in the inner city of St. Louis and, due to all of the debris on the ground, never went barefoot. As a result, I am a tenderfoot. In other words, I wear shoes all the time in and out of the house. I can’t stand to go barefoot anywhere. Two of our friends and colleagues, Kathy Rogers and Megan Graffam, make fun of me for wearing house shoes in the house. My question for them is, why would God create house shoes if He did not want us to wear them in the house?

Contrary to me, Letha grew up a long way from the city and she never wore shoes until I met her and introduced her to the concept. It took her a long time to adapt, she kept saying, “my doggies can’t breathe!” Anyway, when I was a kid, our family was poor and I had to wear cheap shoes. This is not an exaggeration – we bought shoes 2 pair for $5 – and you wonder why I have issues with my feet (and a truckload of emotional baggage!).

I am careful what kind of shoes I purchase. Since I spend a lot of time on my feet, I need something that is going to hold up. My idea of a good pair of shoes includes the following: They should be solid, sturdy shoes. They should have good arch support. They should have a wide base, kind of clunky. They should be soft on the inside. Looking good is just a bonus.

My special foot needs carried over into my parenting. When our girls were little, I insisted that we spare no expense when it came to their shoes. We took them to specialty shoes stores for kids and made sure that they had high quality footwear. No kid of mine would ever wear K-Mart shoes. I loved the high-top, ankle supporting tennis shoes, preferably Keds. No cheap shoes and for goodness sake, no jellies! I believe these plastic wanna-be shoes to be the culprit behind most of the foot problems in America today.

So last week, I found a pair of shoes my size for $16.00 dollars on clearance at Kohls. They were $85 dollar shoes (or so the price tag said). Like a dummy, I bought them, not because they were comfortable but because they were cheap. You would think I would know better. Not so. I broke my own rule. Big mistake!

I wore the shoes to a wedding on Saturday and to a meeting today. They are tight. The elastic on the tongue squeezes my feet. They hurt. I hate the shoes. But I have to wear them because it would be wasteful not to do so. So I limp around. I am hoping that they will stretch.

A couple of years ago, our staff went to a conference in Indiana. The suitcases that Letha and I checked did not arrive on our flight. Wearing the same underwear for three days in not a problem, but going without house shoes? This could be considered cruel and unusual punishment! I had no choice; I had to go around the hotel the first night without protection on my feet. I made it through most of the night with no problems, being very careful not to step on a foreign object. Then, around midnight, I heard a noise outside our door and thought that our suitcases had arrived. I got up to go check and, in my haste, I kicked the chair that was next to our bed. I broke the middle toe on my right foot. I know, kind of emotional, huh? It immediately swelled up and turned purple. Oh, the trauma! I considered calling 911, but decided to tough it out – with no pain medication. I suffered through the night. The next day, Kathy and Megan had great fun laughing at me. I am still working on forgiving them.

There is a spiritual lesson in all of this:
Just because something looks good does not necessarily mean that it is.
Or
Tender feet mean a tender heart.
Or
Don’t make fun of your friends who have infirmities.
Or
Bad shoes are the work of the devil.

Take your pick.

If you wear a 10.5, maybe I’ll donate a pair of gently used, cheap shoes to you. Or how does $16 sound? I’ll pay you to take them.

Below are a few highlights from today’s message, part two of “The Fresh Prince of Egypt”. The audio will be up on our website in a day or two.

Simply because God gives you something to do doesn’t mean that it will be easy.

“Becoming obsessed with what people think about you is the fastest way to forget what God thinks about you.” (Todd Rhodes)

At what level of obedience are we operating?
-At the level of personal comfort.
-At the level of moderate sacrifice.
-At the level of giving it all if required.

Sometimes our emotions get rocked, but our emotions are not God’s top priority.
His top priority is that His plan is fulfilled.

God wants His people free from any and all bondages!

4 major points of the message…
When God selects us, we need to lay down every excuse.
Obedience in not always easy but it is ultimately rewarded.
God is sending a message to us: “I want you to be free!”
God is sending a message through us (to others): “Be free!”

We have a choice; Fade away in a life filled with meaningless activity or engage in the most awesome activity known to humankind; kingdom work.

Can’t wait for nest Sunday for the wrap up. Join us.

Week two of The Fresh Prince of Egypt will be about how Moses reluctantly obeyed God when God told him to lead the Israelite people out of Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3-12). I am really enjoying studying through this guy’s life. But something is hitting me while I am preparing. I had seen this aspect of Moses’ life before but it is settling in at a new level for me.

All of this information about Moses; his rescue from the Nile, growing up as a prince, his failure, going into exile, even the burning bush experience… none of this was about Moses at all. It was all about God and it was all about the people that needed to be led into freedom. It appears to me that Moses was at least mildly self-focused. His responses to God at the burning bush revealed that. Interestingly, God did not deal with this directly. In fact, it is as though God just let Moses think what he wanted to think while He got him in a place where he could be utilized.

Have you ever thought of Moses as being selfish? He is not in slavery. He is not living in Egypt, he is a free man. He is married, has a steady job, has kids. What about those he had left behind? He had family members and friends who were existing under the heavy hand of Pharaoh. How did he feel about these people? Sure, he had committed a crime and was on the run, but his efforts were to save his own life. He cared more for his well being than that of his own flesh and blood. He was allowing his own personal failure and the resulting pain keep him from doing what God had called him to do; deliver the people. He was selfish. After forty years, and a lot of arguing with God, Moses finally got it. He accepted his responsibility as the liberator of the children of Israel.

So much of what God is doing in us is not about us at all. Our challenges, our transitions, our defeats and victories – while they certainly include us, there is a bigger picture. The people of God are put on this earth to serve God and to serve others. Many of the details of our lives are put into place for the purposes of preparing us to fulfill this call more effectively. Don’t kid yourself, it’s not all about you.

I will try to remember that later today when something happens. “It’s not about me.” It sure FEELS like it is about me. Sometimes I WANT it to be about me. But it’s not.

Someone needs to be set free and God is calling me to that, preparing me for that.

We met this evening with our missions team that will be going to Guatemala for a Thanksgiving trip. For the first time, we will be working with a complete team of experienced short-term missionaries. All of the participants have been to Guatemala before. It is amazing how much simpler it is to prepare a group trip if everyone involved knows the ropes. On every other previous trip we have led, we spent up to six weeks in training the individuals, getting them ready for the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges they would be facing. This training has resulted in some incredibly successful trips. This time around, we are able to simply deal with specific situations we will be facing on this particular trip. Way easier!

I am really looking forward to working alongside this team. More details about the trip are forthcoming. As we prepare, please pray for the team: Janice, Duane, Kelly, Meg, Than, Megan, Letha and me. Also pray for those we will be serving – the beautiful children of Guatemala.

I am vacillating between optimism and pessimism when it comes to the spiritual development and resulting responsible behavior of Christian people. My activities over the last couple of days have included observing disappointing behaviors from some people who should know better. These separate episodes were not serious, at least as they relate to life and death situations, but they were each nonetheless negatively impactful in their own right.

Clearly, this kind of behavior is common, but I do not believe that it should be the norm. Leaders have to maintain a certain level of hope and positive expectation in regard to the spiritual maturity of their followers. If we begin to expect the worse from people, we will lead them that direction. If we become skeptics to the possibility of Christ-like lifestyles, we are unqualified to be leaders.

Jesus calls us to raise the standard of expectations very high and to maintain the integrity of godliness. Scripture presents to us some pretty unmistakable guidelines of how Christ-followers are supposed to behave. Spiritual leaders have to stay committed to the expectations that God establishes for his people.

So should we be surprised when people behave poorly? Only if we live in a cave. People have a propensity toward sin, a natural bent that leads us away from God and toward spiritually immature behavior. But I do not believe that we can be responsible leaders if we accept this kind of behavior as normative. If we observe behavior by our followers that is inconsistent with what Christ teaches, and we do not confront these behaviors, we are as guilty as those who are behaving poorly. It is our spiritual responsibility to teach and to lead.

I plan to challenge individuals who call themselves Christ-followers but who behave differently. I plan to be very busy in the future.

We launched our new series yesterday, “The Fresh Prince of Egypt“, a study on the life of Moses. If you were not able to be with us, you can listen to the message here. It was a pretty good day at Maranatha, and a couple of people requested that I post the summary points of the message. Here they are:

-God is concerned for hurting people, He hears their cry.
-God selects unlikely people with questionable pasts to accomplish His plans.
-We may need to go through a season of “exile” (trials, a desert experience), to get prepared to be utilized by Him.
-God speaks. God tells His plans to those who will listen.

Kick these ideas around in your head this week. Next Sunday, we will take another look at the development of Moses as a liberator. The theme will be, “Acquiescing to God”. Make plans to join us if you can.

This story will absolutely inspire you! Click: Blind Man Adopts Blind Son

We just arrived home from a quick trip to Guatemala. We enjoyed the Casa Shalom Assembly and we were blown away by the plans that are in place. More details will follow but be aware, some great things are happening in this beautiful place.

Now to hit the ground running, getting ready for a great weekend at Maranatha!

New series this Sunday: The Fresh Prince of Egypt!

Letha and I are flying to Guatemala tomorrow to attend the Casa Shalom Orphanage Assembly. Take a look at the details: Casa Shalom Assembly

We are leaving on Tuesday for a three day trip to Guatemala. The first annual Casa Shalom Assembly will be held this week and we are headed there on Tuesday. This is an event to highlight the work of the orphanage and to secure more support. Former directors, current and former volunteers and supporters will gather to celebrate the great things that are happening.

Tonight, Letha and I loaded up four large suitcases (200 pounds) of shoes and clothes for the kids at Casa Shalom orphanage. While this is a very busy time at our church, these trips provide some much needed life for my spirit. I am looking forward to it.

As usual, I will post a few pictures upon our return.

If you think about it, say a prayer on behalf of the people in Guatemala and those in needy countries around the world.

Shalom!

Letha and I took the opportunity to walk on the beach this evening. It was a beautiful night. Enjoy a couple pictures I took.

I am thrilled to share the great news that our Beach Service has a NEW LOCATION! If you are a regular reader, you know that I posted a couple weeks ago about an obstacle that we encountered in regard to our Beach Service. For almost nine years, Maranatha Church has conducted an outdoor sunrise service on the beach every Sunday at 7:00 AM. I know, for those of you up north, it sounds really glamorous. It’s not very glamorous in July when it is 90 degrees with 90% humidity! It is also no fun in hurricane-force winds! We have only missed one Sunday in about five years.

The County Parks and Recreation Department informed us a month or so ago that we would no longer be able to conduct our service at the park where we have been. We tried our best to work with them in the fulfillment of their regulations, to no avail. There was a real chance that we were going to lose this service altogether.

A lot of prayer went into this process. We also had to do a lot of teaching and leading by example as to how we are to respond to situations like these. It would have been very easy to become defensive. We could easily have protested with the County. We decided to take another approach.

God has come through big time for us. On Monday, the Town of Palm Beach Shores gave the OK for us to conduct the Sunrise Service in their Community Center (pictured above). When I say, “Community Center”, you may conjure up images of a gray gymnasium building that smells like, well a gymnasium. Not the case! This is one of the more beautiful locations in our County. Get this: we will be worshiping on the second floor (elevator included) of a beach-front building where, in the comfort of air-conditioning, we can see the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean! There is a huge wall of windows facing east, this will be the backdrop for our sunrise service! The first time I walked in this building, about a year ago, I started hoping for a chance to use the facility for worship. Now, it has become a reality.

We consider this a huge opportunity to do something awesome for God. The Town of Palm Beach Shores is located on the southern end of Singer Island, which has a population of 29,975 residents. Get this: There is no other church on the entire island! We have the incredible opportunity and responsibility to share Christ with this entire community!

I think this entire turn of events can be credited to a few considerations:
Faithfulness – we have ministered for nearly nine years outdoors, through all kinds of weather, through the distractions of dogs barking and fire trucks driving by and loud motorcycles, and we have remained consistent through difficult times. God rewards faithfulness.
Good people – we have found favor with town leadership and they are going above and beyond to facilitate our service.
God’s goodness – this is His Church, He has decided to bless us immensely.

Church at the Beach is moving to the front burner of our vision. This is an excellent chance for us to fulfill our God-given mission of “Changing Lives by Connecting People with Jesus Christ”.

We couldn’t be much more excited!

Check out the Moju Project.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3532799&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

The Moju Project from Moju Project on Vimeo.

I am glad that this week, I will be taking in some good information from some great sources. I have the opportunity to be with some friends while we receive training. I’m grabbing it!

Three things will be happening on Monday and Tuesday:

I am meeting with the Fusion Leadership Group. We will discuss topics relevant to young pastors in Florida.

I will receive coaching from consultant, Conrad Lowe, along with with the Regional Bishops from Florida. This is a great opportunity for me to learn from a guy who has spoken into my life and ministry for several years now.

While driving, I will listen to Donald Miller‘s new book on CD: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

Overall, I will invest about 20 hours of time over two days (sleep doesn’t count), and hopefully gain some life-changing knowledge.

If you have the responsibility of leading others, you had better be sure that you are following someone. This is necessary for everyone on any level of leadership. Let’s get growing!

I am leaving in a couple of hours to speak at another Anniversary Celebration for a church, this time up in Port. St. Lucie, Florida. This church is comprised primarily of Jamaican believers. The pastor is a good friend, Michael Higgins.

I am enjoying these opportunities to interact with and speak to cross-cultural faith families. It is an honor for me, considering they could invite whomever they wish. I am praying that what I have to share will be of some benefit to them as they celebrate this milestone.

I am also praying that God extends our opportunities locally for cross-cultural work. At a childrens’ event at Maranatha today, several Hispanic kids and parents came from the neighborhood. This reflects a recent change in makeup of our community. We have been hoping for several years that we could open up ministry to this segment of our culture. This recent activity causes me to want to gear it up!

Let’s be the family of God!

While I am dealing with the subject of influence, both positive and negative, I am reminded of our tendency to emulate those we respect. This may not be a harmful thing, but in an extreme form, it can be dangerous.

I plan to use this statement on Sunday:
You don’t become a disciple by emulating one of the disciples. You become a disciple by emulating Christ.

When we hear about or are exposed to a very successful individual, we wish to be like them. This is true with spiritual examples as well.

There are some Bible verses that may throw us. In 1 Corinthians 4:16, Paul writes, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (TNIV) And in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “You must follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (CEV) Sounds as though Paul is encouraging what I am discouraging. I don’t think so. I think a more concise way of making this statement may be, “I am trying hard to be like Christ, I want you to try just as hard as I do to be like Him.”

I have been in conversations with individuals who have read about incredible people of God. Their lives were full of awesome experiences with God – God used them to to do miracles. These folks who were reading their stories got the idea that, if they could simply copy the behaviors and lifestyles of these spiritual heroes, they too could do the miracles. And it didn’t work out that way. I think the mistake was trying to be like the other person, rather than trying to find out what God wanted for them as an individual.

This happens in churches all the time. A successful church gets some press for doing great ministry. A successful pastor writes a book on how to build a growing church. Other pastors read it or hear about and set out to duplicate it in his location. And it does not work.

We are individuals. We are called by God to do something unique for Him. Rather than trying to produce a carbon copy of another person or church or ministry, we should be ourselves, be exactly what God made us to be.

Getting inspiration from others is great. We need teachers and coaches and mentors. But we need to have as our primary influence, Jesus Christ.

If you want to emulate someone, make it Jesus. And that is precisely the problem – other people are much easier to copy than He is!

I am working late tonight on my message for Sunday. We are in the middle of our series called Life Swap and I am sharing about the transformation that takes place in our lives when we follow Christ. Sunday’s big idea is basically that those who wish to be like Christ have to hang around Him enough to be influenced by Him.

I am reading a lot about how the disciples were influenced by Jesus and even how they impacted one another. And I am wondering how I am impacted by others and how I impact them. I have some really great friends who build me up, encourage me, keep me focused and let me know when I am messing up. I believe that I have more positive influencers in my life than negative. This helps keep me on the right side of things. This is the power of relationships.

The wrong relationships can work against us. We must maintain friendships with people who do not know Christ. But we cannot be be spiritually influenced by them. We must dialogue with them, hear their issues, do our best to relate to them, but we cannot allow them to steer us in a direction other than Godward.

Honestly, most people fall on one side or the other. Either they know only Christ-followers or they know only people who are lost from God. Either extreme is not good, we need balance.

Time for an assessment:
Are you a positive spiritual influence on your friends?
Are you more influenced by people who pull you toward God or by those who pull you away from God?
Are you in relationships that 1) require you to reach out spiritually and 2) encourage you to grow spiritually?
How is the balancing act going?

If you can, come to one of the services this Sunday and be challenged to grow in your relationship with Christ.

I Kings 19:11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. (MSG)

God’s voice is not always a whisper but it sure it nice when it is. It is for me today.

On Sunday, I am preaching about how God changes lives. I am sharing about Paul’s life-changing experience with God, how his name change (from Saul to Paul) symbolized that he was a new man. When Saul met Jesus, he got more than a new name; he was completely transformed into a new person. The verse that he wrote and that I am using to describe this process is found in II Corinthians 5:17 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

We need that kind of fresh beginning. Believe me, Saul was a complete mess and he was in desperate need of transformation. God gave it to him. He changed him from the inside out. I hope you will be at/were at church to hear the message. If not, I hope you can check out the message on our website later this week. I think the concepts I share will help you or someone you care about.

I have been changed by Jesus and I am in the process of being changed. God is still working out some of the kinks in my life. Thank God I am not what I was. I am not yet what I will be, but there is hope.

I wish I could also have a name change. My mother named me Wendell. That’s right, Wendell Richard Whitter. As you would imagine, I had more than one fight as a kid when someone made fun of my name. When I was born, my 10 year old brother had enough sense to refuse to call me Wendell, so he referred to me as “Rick”. And it stuck – thank God. Until I was about 5 years old, I thought my name was “Window”. Wendell is such a nerdy name. By the way, I am not at all concerned about offending anyone else who has that name because no one else in the entire world is stuck with it! If they are, they are keeping it quiet. When I hear the name “Wendell”, I picture some twerpy, coke-bottle eye glass wearing geek, wearing plaid shorts, tube socks and a turtle-neck sweater in the summer. He spends his days collecting postage stamps reading old comic books. His voice always cracks and he never brushes his teeth. I wish, when I met Christ, he would have said, “What a stupid name, what was your mother thinking? Let’s try something else.”

If I could choose my name, it would probably be something cool like “Sergio”. Can’t you see it? Long flowing black hair, broad shoulders, dark skin, steely black eyes… or maybe “Antoine” – sophisticated, cultured, and wise in the ways of the world. Or maybe the name “Thor”. Nobody messes with a guy named “Thor”! Or even the Greek name Aristotelis, you have to be a genius with that moniker. But no, I got “Wendell”. Thanks mom.

I guess the important thing is, no matter how goofy my name is, God is changing me. I am thankful for that. Wouldn’t it be cool if, when I get to heaven, God opens His Book of Life and reads out loud for all of creation to hear, “Rick Whitter” or “Thor Whitter” or “Siegfried Whitter” or anything but “Wendell Whitter”… but then He turns to me and invites me in… I guess it won’t matter at that point!

I am the guest speaker tonight at a church that will be celebrating 20 years of successful ministry. Pastor Eustace Douglas started the Joy of Living Church in 1989. Their congregation is made up primarily of Jamaicans and it is an awesome church family. It should be fun!

I am talking tonight about how, upon crossing the Jordan River, Joshua directed the leaders to select 12 stones from the river to place on the other side as a reminder of all they had been through (Joshua 4). He said that one day, the children coming behind them would ask, “What do these stones mean?”. The stones were to be a memorial to all that God had done for them, up to that point. But the purpose of the stones was not just to point back to history. It was also to encourage this new generation that, if God had been faithful to their parents, He would be faithful to them. They were not just a history lesson, they were also a vision lesson.

We have to be sure to provide balance for those who are coming behind us. It is necessary to be able to look back in celebration and look forward in anticipation. Respect for the past, excitement for the future.

What are the “monuments of vision” in your life? These are the things that remind you of all that God has done in your life, and all that you expect Him to do for others. You are going to need them. More important, those who will follow you will need them.