the reluctant leader

Can I Get A Witness?

Can't get the idea of being a witness off my mind today. Here's why:

- At church yesterday (Bethel Franklin) the band played one of those "Can-I-Get-A-Witness-Shout-Amen" gospel songs.

- This morning I opened my Purple Book to page 113 and answered questions based on Acts 1:8 that asked, "What is a witness? What does it mean to be Christ's witness? Where were Christ's followers to be witnesses?"

- Then I clicked the sports page and read about Tim Tebow's latest football exploits and how his teammates admit he is a 24/7 witness.

A witness is someone who tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

1. THE TRUTH. A long time ago a powerful, but misguided political leader asked Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38) Good question. Jesus pre-answered that question in John 14, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Do you talk about the Truth, not just the facts, but the Person? 

2. THE WHOLE TRUTH. It is common for pastors and church people to edit unpopular truth out of their sermons and conversations, but a true witness will un-apologetically tell the WHOLE truth, and...

3. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. Nothing added. No matter how popular and relevant the ad-on might be. Even if Oprah's latest guru of the month endorses it. A witness tells nothing but the truth.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." --Jesus in Acts 1:8

Can HE get a witness - one who will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

 

 

A Thanksgiving Blog: Where Are the Other Nine?

You know the story. Luke 17. Jesus meets 10 lepers. Leprosy in the Bible times was an incurable disease, dooming its victims to a life of poverty, rejection and hopelessness.

According to Jewish Levitical law and cultural tradition, any time lepers were around normal people they were supposed to broadcast their problem by shouting "unclean, unclean."  But the 10 lepers in Luke 17 broke the rules, and rather than shouting their problem, they shouted the answer. 

And, Jesus healed them. He didn't heal all lepers, but he healed the 10 who broke the religious rules and shouted the answer. 

Here's the strange, but sadly familiar part of the story. Only 1 of 10 returned to say "thanks."

Only one. 1. Uno. Isa. Satu. Une. Eins. Een. واحد. ένας. אחד. один. एक. 하나. ひとつ. หนึ่ง. ONE! 

Jesus ends the Luke 17 story with a question: Where are the other nine? We are not told where they were, but we can speculate. One was busy at work. Another was at his kid's soccer game. Some were on the testimony circuit, telling everyone what Jesus did for them. But only 1 made time to return to Jesus and give him praise and say thanks.

Like the 10 lepers, I was a hopeless case, until Jesus made me clean and whole. But too often I am more like the 9 than the 1. I am too busy to return and say thanks. I get so busy telling the world what he did for me, that I have no time to daily return to Him and say thanks. Does this sound like you? Not good.

In America this week is a holiday we call Thanksgiving, a day to overeat and watch American football. And hopefully a day to say THANKS to God for all He has done for us.

Final thought. Be the 1. Not the 9. Not just on Thanksgiving. Every day.

 

"I Wish I Was A Better Father"

A couple of weeks ago while reading the latest on-line sports news, I clicked on a link to Dennis Rodman's NBA Hall of Fame acceptance speech. That 12 minute speech answered a lot of questions about the enigmatic basketball star. After viewing the video twice, I tweeted that Rodman's speech was "sad, heart-breaking & refreshingly honest." Here's a quote from speech that many can relate to:

"I have one regret: I wish I was a better father." --Dennis Rodman

Inspired by Rodman's gut-wrenching honesty and by Psalm 127, last Sunday I preached a sermon about NO REGRET PARENTING.

My basic premise: if we see children the right way, we will treat them the right way. And seeing them the right way is seeing them as the Bible describes them. The last 3 verses in Psalm 127 give us a proper, but uncommon, picture of how we should view children.

1. HERITAGE. "sons are a heritage from the Lord" (Ps 127:3) That word "heritage" comes from the same root word as inheritance - something valuable given to us by another. 

I am a watch collector. While preaching Sunday I was wearing my most valuable watch. Not my most expensive (because i didn't pay for it), but definitely my most valuable. It was a 1959 stainless steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust. You can find a similar pre-owned Rolex Datejust on eBay for $3000. But I would not take $30,000 for mine. Why? Because of WHO gave it to me. That watch was made in 1959, the same year I was born. My Dad wore it every day of my life. He wore it to work and to coach my Little League games. He wore it when we went hunting and fishing. He wore it to my wedding. He left it to me when he died nine years ago. Maybe it is not that valuable to anyone else, but to me it is priceless - because my dad gave it to me as an inheritance. Kids are like that, times 1000. They are a "HERITAGE FROM THE LORD." Valuable. Priceless. Irreplaceable. Given to us by God.

2. REWARD. "...children are a reward from Him" (Ps 127:3) Do you see your kids as rewards, or as accidents? Did your parents see you as a reward, or as a distraction? 

3. ARROWS. "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in ones youth" (Ps 127: 4) Arrows are point & shoot, not remotely guided smart bombs. If we point arrows (kids) in the right direction, they will hit the target. But after pointing them in the right direction, we must let go, take our hands off. Some parents never take their hands off, so their kids never hit the target. Some parents take their hands off too soon. Other parents obsess over trivial details rather than direction. When we realize children are lilke arrows, we will be concerned with DIRECTION not with PERFECTION. 

I don't know how you see your kids, or how your parents saw you. But I do know that while we will never be perfect parents with perfect kids, we can avoid major regret if we learn to see kids from a bible perspective.

You can listen to this & other sermons on the Bethel-Franklin podcast page

 

 

Thanks Dad

I repost this blog about this time every year. Since I'm such a traditional guy, here it is again.

On January 28, 2002 at 9 PM, my dad breathed his last breath and slipped from time into eternity. He was seventy-four years old. He had been in and out of the hospital several times since August of 2001. His tired lungs just stopped working.

He died peacefully because he finally was at peace with God, after a lifetime of resisting the gospel.

His journey to God hit warp speed when his heart stopped on October 11, 2001. The doctors were able to revive him, but more importantly, the Lord visited him. While laying on his back in the emergency room, he came face to face with the God of eternity and lived to tell about it. In fact, he later told my younger brother that when his heart stopped, he had a vision that God was giving him one last chance. In the vision, as he watched the doctors frantically trying to revive him, he suddenly saw a whiskey bottle, a pack of cigarettes, a handgun, and a Bible floating around his lifeless body in the emergency room. He knew he had a choice to make. He told my brother he decided in that moment to choose the Bible rather than the things that were destroying his life.

Three months later, he would face God again, this time forever. But this time, he was ready.

Providentially, I happened to be in New York City ministering in our new church when my brother called saying that I better get on the next plane to Mississippi if I wanted to see Dad alive. While on the plane, I wrote what would be my last words to Dad. I read them at his funeral a few days later.

Here’s what I wrote:

Thanks, Dad, for never missing a baseball game, basketball game, football game, track meet, birthday party, or anything else that mattered as I was growing up.

Thanks for being there for me...
every time I crossed the finish line at a high school track meet,
when I fell through the frozen lake while duck hunting when I was nine,
when Mike Croswell’s easy grounder rolled under my glove at second base, costing us the Little League championship.
You were always there for me, and I’m glad the Lord allowed me to be there when you crossed your final finish line.

Thanks for trusting me, accepting me, and supporting me especially when I...
grew long hair in the ’70s,
quit the football team in tenth grade,
became a pastor rather than your business partner,
moved to the other side of the world to be a missionary.

Thanks for teaching me...
to ride a bike and drive a car,
to throw a baseball and hit a golf ball,
to fly fish and quail hunt,
to work hard and save money,
to write a check and pick a mutual fund,
to be a good boy and a real man,
to be an grateful son and a dedicated father.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you and will see you in a few years.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)

How To Earn $1 Million Per Minute

1.5 million dollars a minute.  That’s what Ricky Hatten was paid to have his face re-arranged by Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao Saturday night in Las Vegas and around the world on PPV.

Manny made about $2 million per minute.

Of course if you add in all the hours of training, running, sparring… Manny actually made a little over min wage - well, maybe a lot over. But the point is that every minute of glory and victory requires a thousand hours of hard work, preparation and strategic planning. And every minute in the glare of the spotlight and the sound of 10,000 adoring fans - requires weeks of lonely painful blood, sweat and tears that few are willing to endure.  

We all want victory and success, but most of us run from the pain and discipline that is the foundation of success. We want the glory, but not the cross.

Hard work and discipline is not nearly as exciting as “$1 million per minute” – but that’s reality.  There is not an top-shelf athlete in the world today who trains and plans as hard as Manny P.

His victory did not come easy - neither will yours.

Humility is Refreshing, and Rare

Humility in pro boxing is about as rare as a spotted owl or a white tiger - almost as rare as a unicorn.

When Ricky Hatten finally woke up and attempted to stand after being run over by a train - Manny Pacquiao extended his hand to help his opponent.

When questioned about that moment, Manny said, “I thanked Ricky for giving me the opportunity to fight him because he put his championship at stake.”

Wow. He thanked his opponent. No insults. No trash-talk. No taunts. No self-congratulatory victory dance. Just a thank-you.

Reminds me of the one other top pro athlete with a bit of humility and dignity – Rafa Nadal - who seems to apologize every time he beats his idol, Roger Federer.

Back to Manny. After helping Hatten to his feet and thanking him, Manny went on to say, “I told him it is nothing personal, that I just had to do my job, like he has to do his. I’m only a boxer so this is my job.”

And my favorite post-fight Manny quote: "He's a great fighter. I just got lucky to hit him first."

Gotta love that blue-collar working-man attitude. “Just a job” – not a war, not a vendetta, nothing to prove, nothing personal. How refreshing. 

Humility is always refreshing, no matter where is shows up. It is also always rare. And that’s sad.

Thanks Manny, for bringing a bit of dignity to a dark sport.

Pastors are Supposed to Know Stuff

Since I'm always trying to improve my diplomatic skills, I was listening to Jim Rome’s radio show yesterday, while driving my truck to meet my wife for lunch at Blue Coast (best burritos in Nashville).

I have no idea what it was, but something Bro Romy said prompted me to grab a pen & a scrap of paper and write the following list:

“The Pastor’s Job Description”

1. Know Stuff.
Pastors are supposed to know stuff – Bible, theology, history, leadership, management, etc. Therefore, we have to constantly learn. Best way I know to learn is to read. Pastors who don’t read end up either repeating things over and over or making stuff up.

2. Live Right.
People may or may not listen to our sermons, but they definitely watch how we live. That’s why, in the long run, being a good Christian is way more important than being a good preacher.

3. Preach the Bible.
Seems redundant to say, “Preach the Bible.” What else would a preacher preach? You’d be surprised. I was. I’ve heard “sermons” that hardly mention Jesus or the Bible. Too many sermons have slick power-points but little power and no point. If your pastor does not study and preach the Bible, find another church. And Pastor, if you don’t want to study and preach the Bible, find another job.

4. Be Spiritual.
Pastors do not have to be cool larger-than-life “really really good looking” type A personalities with toothpaste commercial smiles, but they do have to be spiritual. Not weird, scary, spooky, religious, mystical – spiritual. By spiritual I mean things like loving God, forgiving people, reading and applying the Bible, being a witness to neighbors and baristas.

5. Lead.
Leaders come in all shapes, sizes, volume levels, ages, ethnicities and accents. If God has called you to be a pastor, then He has also gifted you to lead. If you are not comfortable leading, find a mentor and learn.

Of course, that’s not all a pastor does – throw in some weddings, funerals, baptisms and county fair appearances - but that’s a good start.

Gotta go read another book, so I will know more stuff, so I can be a better preacher and leader.

***Not sure if this is an apology or an announcement, but... new short blog on my accidental missionary site called "Pastor on the Dance Floor" with rare vid footage of Ferdie C and Nuel N doing their thing during a training event for small group leaders. Scary.   

Stupid Statement #3: Thankfulness Run Amuck

He was the top NBA draft pick a couple of years ago. A teenager. Right out of high school. A gifted athlete. An instant millionaire. 

And, apparently a real thankful guy.

Before thanking his momma, his shoe company, his agent, his high school coach and the man upstairs, he said:

“First of all, I want to THANK MYSELF.”

Being thankful is a good thing. But this guy took it to a new level. An absurd level. I have never heard of thanking yourself. I’m not even sure why anyone would want to do that.

Here’s the leadership lesson: we need to be thankful people.

Whether you are a famous teenage millionaire athlete with a shoe deal who can dunk from the 3-point line, or a balding middle-aged middle-class weekend-warrior with a 3-inch vertical and no shoes - you have plenty to be thankful for. 

Specifically, we need to:

1. Thank God. If our heart is still pumping blood and our lungs are still sucking air, then we owe God thanks - every minute of every day.

2. Thank our family. All of us are who we are because of the love, care and help of family. Husband. Wife. Dad. Mom. Brothers. Sisters. Sons. Daughters. We owe them lots of thanks.

3. Thank our friends. Friends who are “born for adversity” and friends who “stick closer than brothers” deserve our thanks. (Pv. 17:17, 18:24)

4. Never thank ourselves. Also, it’s probably a bad idea to congratulate ourselves and to honor ourselves.

*** New post on my multiply site called, "A Message to Worship Leaders" ***

I Love the Church!

It seems to be popular these days to criticize the church. Some who have given up on organized church are even being hailed as "revolutionaries" by pollster George Barna.

I guess I am not much of a revolutionary since I freely admit that I love and need the local church.

Why do I love the church? Because almost every good thing in my life came through the church.

- I first heard the gospel at First Presbyterian Church.
- I Got filled with the Holy Spirit at New Covenant Church.
- I met my wife and got involved in world missions at Maranatha Christian Church.
- I raised my sons at Victory Christian Fellowship.
- I get to work with my best friends at an organization called Every Nation Churches.

I thank God for the church. The organized church. Even organized churches that are a bit disorganized. And, I  thank God for the the flawed churches like 1st Pres, New Covenant, Maranatha, Victory and Every Nation that helped shape my life. They are not perfect, but that didn't stop God from working on me through them.

The NBA used to have a commercial that featured spectacular dunks, ankle-breaking cross-overs, celebrity fans and buzzer-beaters. At the end of the commercial, players and fans would look into the camera and shout: "I LOVE THIS GAME!"

The news often shows the darker side of the NBA: drug suspensions, out-of-wedlock children, drunk driving arrests, strip club violence, etc. Some fans got so sick of the dark side that they began to vocalize their hate for the NBA, the game of basketball and all the players.

Others simply switched the channel and watched a respectable sport like wrestling. 

The are many church people who are following the example of the NBA-haters and channel-switchers. Some are so offended by religious scandals that they end up criticizing and attacking everything church. Others are so sick of religious hypocrisy that they roll their eyes and switch the channel anytime church is mentioned.   

Not me. I still love the Church. I love my church. And, I love the church down the street that has a different name and style. I still believe the church is or has the answer to almost every question or problem out there.

What about you? Do you still love the church?

I think God does.

A Reluctant Leader with a Tennis Racquet

"Hey Bob, thanks for the Bible verse. It really helped today!"

The scene was the sacred grass of Wimbledon. These words were spoken by a professional tennis player after winning a match in one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world.

Bob Kraft, the founder of Tennis Ministry International, sends a text/email "Bible verse of the day" to hundreds of professional tennis players and coaches all over the world.

I have added Bob to my list of reluctant leaders. Here's why.

Many years ago Bob felt called to be a missionary to China, so he trained with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and moved to Hong Kong. After serving China's underground church for a few years, he got busted and decided that maybe ministry in China was over.

Rather than giving up on mission work, he, like Moses of old, thought about what was in his hand. For Moses it was a shepherd's staff. For Bob it was a tennis racquet.

What do you do when you feel called, but the door is slammed in your face? Quit and go home, or find another door? Bob found another door and another mission field. That same sense of calling that took him from Illinois to Hong Kong, now took him from the underground church in China to the tennis courts of Wimbledon. He is known by many players and coaches as the unofficial chaplan at the Grandslams and other professional tennis events.

Bob is spending a few days in Manila this week. I just had a lunch with him, along with Michael P and John S from our Every Nation missions department. We talked about how God is moving in Vietnam, Cambodia and Wimbledon.

During our talk I realized again that lost people are all the same, whether they are bald-headed rich & famous professional athletes or bald-headed orange-robed Buddhist monks - they are all in the same boat, and that boat is sinking. And we are called to help them.

Today's question for reluctant leaders everywhere: "What is in your hand?" 

Whatever it is, God can use it for His glory, if you will let Him.