Major life hack: Stop waiting for permission.
You want approval before you start, validation before you ship, consensus before you move.
But success finds people who take fierce action.
Make the call.
Take the risk.
Own the outcome.
Stop waiting.
Start building.
May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace. (Titus 1:4)
Tonight I was part of something new in our household - Tuesday Night Date Nights with a Parent.
With four younger kids at home, it’s tough to carve out real one-on-one time. And honestly, eating out as a family? It’s expensive, loud, and usually more chaotic than fun.
So we decided to try a new system. Tuesday nights are usually open, so each week, one of the kids gets to go out with a parent - just the two of us. Amber even made a rotation so every kid gets a turn with each parent before the end of the year.
Tonight was Seth’s turn with me, and he chose Golden Corral (all you can eat dessert). We talked about friends, school, his dreams, and all the things he loves. We even snuck in a quick Five Below stop - his happy place.
It felt so good to slow down and focus completely on Seth. I can already tell this is going to become one of our favorite family traditions.
What’s your favorite way to carve out one-on-one time with your kids (or loved ones)? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Trials are anything that cause you to question your faith. James doesn't say "If trials come," he says "WHEN trials come."
"Suffering is a beautiful hermeneutic." - Dr. John Piper
We come to know God not in the blessing, but in the breaking.
Trials "hyper-stand us;" they train us like a muscle to be stronger in the future.
Too often we focus on the pain of the trial, not the product of the trial. If you focus on the pain, you will become disillusioned with God and the Church.
Tragedy introduces us to our own heart - Jeremiah 17.9.
Trials reveal not God's absence but His presence. Theme of 2 Corinthians = ministry is death. Chapter 1 = the comfort you recieve from God makes you compassionate toward others in pain.
Trials knock down the things that we trust other than God. Idolatry-killer.
Godless leadership is leading from our own strengths & gifts (i.e. Samson).
Godly leadership is leading from our weakness (i.e. Gideon - prunes the pretenders away).
The man that God uses mightily He wounds greatly.
Why would God take away your weakness when that's the trigger for His power?
Double-masters & double-doctorate church planter wizard Ed Stetzer shared some good insights on Biblical Missiology:
Balance Jude 3 & 1 Corinthians 9.22-23: Contend & Contextualize
Too many church planters plant in their heads and not in their communities!
Good theology leads to good missiology.
Church plants best break the cultural code.
1795-1810: largest church planting movement in American history led by the Baptists & Methodists in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Thousands of churches planted. All the while the east coast Episcopals, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists were complaining and making fun of the Bap’s & Meth’s.
21st Century: the evangelicals are the east coast Christians making fun of the emerging, post-modern church planters...
Ecclesia semper reformanda: the church is always reforming
People aren’t ATTRACTED to other religions; they are REPELLED by ours!
Content without culture is irrelevancy.
Traditions are an obvious and frequent barrier, but technique is more dangerous.
Beware Sermon-tainment
Revolutionaries are so committed to truth that they will do ANYTHING to advance the movement.
There truly is nothing new under the sun. If you are coming up with new things, you’re probably a heretic!
The real Jesus is complex, frightening, and powerful. Matthew 16 - can you declare Jesus?
Don’t get bogged down by secondary issues.
The core of Satanic doctrine: worship anything other than God.
Our egos are a weakness to our purity.
You are not called to imitate; you are unique and only you can lead the church God is planting.
Don’t define yourself by something you’re not.
Notes from Developing Elders, Deacons, & Members:
Jesus is the Senior Pastor of the Church. Check out Hebrews 3.1 & 1 Peter 5.4. He plants, builds, & sustains the church, not you.
3 Reasons you do NOT want to be your church’s Senior Pastor -
1) You will try to control it.
2) You will want all the glory.
3) It brings security to you and your church knowing that Jesus is in control.
Elders/Pastors are the senior leaders under Jesus. Elders are the senior male leaders of the church who are also synonymously called ‘pastors,’ ‘bishops,’ and ‘overseers’ throughout the New Testament.
Elders are brothers who will go to war with you.
Chan’s 7 characteristics of an Elder:
1. Christian - a man who loves Jesus (1 Timothy 3.6)
2. Character - In the heat of battle, the character of Christ comes out, not some other character! Interview his wife. Every husband should pastor his family. Every man in your church should aspire to become an elder.
3. Commitment
4. Chemistry (Titus 1.8). Men who will guard the unity of the church.
5. Confidence - can teach Scripture. Can refute false doctrine. Spend a year taking him through Systematic Theology.
6. Capacity (1 Timothy 3.4) - manage home well.
7. Courage (Titus 1.9). Most men hate conflict; you need men who will stand up and fight for what is true.
Every church must deal with the tension between syncretism (too much culture) and
sectarianism (too much church-bubble culture).
“Missions is not something that happens over there; it happens over here.” - Leslie Newbegin
Coolest part of the conference this past week was getting to hang out with some of our staff at NewSpring. I roomed with our Pastor of Outreach, Jake Beaty, and our Worship Leader, Lee McDerment. Lee got a little crazy in the hotel room and posed for this pic, much to Jake's displeasure:
Perry also introduced me to uber-blogger Tony Morgan. He's such a neat guy - I can't wait to come visit Granger next year. Please note: we are all wearing pink shirts:
