The Hidden Life of a Leader

 Church Planting, Faith, Leadership  No Responses »
Feb 032012
 

God often takes us into a dessert experience to do a deep work in private before he performs a broad work through us in public.

A life that is characterized by spiritual depth is most often cultivated in time spent in solitude, quietness and obscurity.
Paul experienced this dessert obscurity and solitude immediately following his Damascus Road conversion.

Galatians 1:15–18 (ESV)
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

 

Paul spent 3 years in dessert obscurity for the purpose of preparing him for the ministry to which Jesus had called him.
I am reading Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit by Charles Swindoll, and I cannot remember EVER being taught about Paul’s 3 year journey into the dessert.  Why did he spend 3 years in the dessert prior to his public ministry?
Before we answer why, let’s take a look at who else spent time in obscurity before their ministry went public:
  • Moses fled to the plains of Midian and tended sheep for 40 years before God used him to free the Israelites from Egypt.
  • David spent 13 years as a fugitive in the caves of Engedi where many of his Psalms were born before assuming the throne of Israel he was anointed for when he was a boy.
  • Joseph spent time in jail unjustly accused in Egypt before he ascended to a place of authority that would allow God to use him to protect his family from famine.
  • Elijah spent time hiding in the wilderness being fed by ravens.
  • John the Baptist ate locust and honey for most of his ministry.  He announced the public ministry of the Messiah and he was beheaded as a reward for going public with the truth of a political leader.
Here are 3 areas that God often works on while we are in the dessert:
  1. God often desires to forge in us a work of lasting transformation and character.  To do the work of God in ministry we must have a heart for people, we must craft our theology and we need to cultivate an identity solely in Christ.
  2. Often it takes time to discover what REALLY matters.  In the dessert experience we learn that to be great leaders we must lead in areas that truly matter to God!
  3. When we are so busy and fixing everyone else at breakneck speed, we simply can’t hear God’s voice clearly.  God takes us into solitude in order to slow down, get quiet and listen to his still, small voice.
I spent some time in the dessert under a pastor that lacked integrity and leadership.  It was in that experience that I learned to depend on God.  My relationship with my wife grew stronger during this time as we leaned into God and one another.

The church I planted and now pastor went through a very difficult period two years into the plant.  It was a bit of a dessert experience where I learned what really mattered.  

Have you spent some time in the dessert?  What did you learn?
 Posted by at 5:57 pm

Gravity is not good for the soul

 Faith, Jesus, Random Thoughts  No Responses »
Feb 012012
 

The older I get (no jokes, comments, or making fun of me please!) the more gravity wreaks havoc on my body!

Things sag where they didn’t before, clothes don’t fit the same and all of that, BUT the biggest difference is related to exercise and fitness activity. I have never been able to jump extremely high or run exceptionally fast or for extreme long distances, but the older I get, the STINKIN’ less I can do anything without killing me!

I have tried to reverse the process with adding P90x to my regular routine, but it is harder and harder the older I get.

It all comes down to gravity weighing the ole’ body down! I feel the weight more than ever on my body and the body feels good for nothing!!!!!

Isn’t that the way it is with us spiritually? The more weight we carry spiritually, emotionally, and relationally, the less we feel capable of being loved by God and we feel less capable of being used by God.

GOD WANTS US FREE FROM JUNK THAT CONTINUES TO WEIGH US DOWN!

Read Hebrews 12:1-2 here.

I talk to people that have turned to follow Christ and they inevitably say, “Yeah, I trusted Christ to forgive me for my sins, BUT……….THAT IS A BIG BUT! They always refer to something that keeps them from living free!

Either he forgave us or He didn’t. The same work that Christ did on the cross to forgive us from our sins is the same work He did to remove the baggage and free us from the baggage that weighs us down. GRAVITY WREAKS HAVOC ON THE SOUL!

God does not want….nor did He intend for you to carry baggage for the rest of your life! We are not built to carry sin, shame, guilt…..whatever it is, into eternity. I say get rid of it now.

I want to jump higher….run faster….dance more freely! God wants that for me too!

The Body can be good for something!

Jesus came to free us from the baggage…….

 Posted by at 11:37 am

Let’s Keep Growing: 3 ways for Church at the Grove to continue to grow!

 Church, Church at the Grove, Community, Faith, Jesus, Random Thoughts  No Responses »
Jan 302012
 

We have experienced enormous blessing over the last year and specifically over this past month as we have launched our new campus in Social Circle!  We continue to see new people added to both our campuses this month!   We are growing and it is exciting!

Here is my BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL and desire for Church at the Grove right now!  Are you ready?!
Let’s keep growing!  Yeah, I said it!  Let’s keep growing and here are the specific areas I want us to focus on growing:
Let’s keep growing numerically!  
  • I will never apologize for wanting and desiring our church to grow numerically.  Do a word study in the book of Acts on the word “numbers” and you will see that Luke records over and over when people were added to the church.  If our mission is to lead people to follow Jesus and Make Disciples then we should be adding people.
  • I want to see 100 people baptized this year!  There, I said it!  I believe it can happen.
  • I believe that we can average over 500 people in attendance by September this year!
Let’s grow spiritually!
  • I want us to have more people reading their Bibles daily.
  • I want to have more people engaged in serving their community.
  • I want to have more people being transformed into the image of Jesus in every area of their life.
  • I want to see more people sharing the gospel with their family and friends.
  • I want to see more people investing in people and inviting them to our Sunday CATGrove gatherings.
  • I want to hear about more families having a nightly family devotional/prayer time.
  • I want more marriages to grow stronger and healthier.
  • I want to see more people involved in Community Group Bible Study.
Let’s grow relationally!
  • I would love to set a record this fall for how many people are involved in Community Groups.
  • I challenge you to make more time to simply develop your friendships and relationships this year.
  • Make time for people.
  • Come early and stay a little late on Sundays so you can have a conversation with some people you don’t know that well.
  • Plan to get to know some of our newer attendees over this next month!
  • Remember, we are about PEOPLE!
I love Jesus!  I love what He is doing.  I love Church at the Grove!
 Posted by at 11:26 pm

Don’t Give Up; Think Long!

 Church at the Grove, Church Planting, Faith, Leadership  No Responses »
Jan 272012
 
In February of 2008 I was ready to quit.
We had planted Church at the Grove in September 2006 and had an exciting launch and quick growth in the first year and a half.  There were several disappointing circumstances at the end of 2007 that led some families to leave the church.  Our attendance was stagnant and I was simply tired and discouraged.  Our financial support would be ending later in the year and the numbers did not add up for us to be self-sustaining.  I spent some time on more than one occasion looking at the classifieds in the paper thinking I could get a “regular” job and be a great volunteer leader to a pastor somewhere.
I called one of my most encouraging friends, Mike Linch, pastor of NorthStar Church in northwest Cobb County where I had served almost 5 years as student pastor.  I knew Mike understood what I was going through after planting NorthStar several years earlier. He shared with me some of the ups and downs he personally had experienced and then gave some simply, yet profound advice.
Don’t Give Up! Hang in there!  Give it some time!  Think Long!
I listened and God has blessed my “Thinking Long”!  I am in this for the long haul!  I love church planting!  I love Church at the Grove.  I intend to honor God and spread the gospel through a long term commitment to a local church that plants churches!
I am reading Mark Batterson’s book, The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around your Biggest Dreams and Biggest Fears.  In the book Batterson issues a challenge to “Think Long” in our prayers, dreams and ambition to see God move.
He states,
“We live in a quick-fix, real-time culture. Between the news ticker and Twitter, we’re always in the know, always in the now. We don’t just want to have our cake and eat it too; we want the instant brand. We want to reap the second after we sow, but this isn’t the way it works with dreaming big and praying hard. We need the patience of the planter. We need the foresight of the farmer. We need the mindset of the sower.”
Batterson goes on to tell this incredible story about “Thinking Long”:

“On the Swedish island Visingsö, there is a mysterious forest of oak trees; mysterious because oak trees aren’t indigenous to the island, and its origin was unknown for more than a century. Then in 1980, the Swedish Navy received a letter from the Forestry Department reporting that their requested ship lumber was ready. The Navy didn’t even know it had ordered any lumber. After a little historical research, it was discovered that in 1829, the Swedish Parliament, recognizing that it takes oak trees 150 years to mature and anticipating a shortage of lumber at the turn of the twenty-first century, ordered that 20,000 oak trees be planted on Visingsö and protected for the Navy. That is thinking long. For the record, the lone objector was the Bishop of Strängnäs. He didn’t doubt that there would still be wars to fight at the end of the twentieth century, but he was the only one who anticipated that ships might be built of other materials by then.”
Chances are some pastors and church planters reading this might be in the midst of some discouragement and doubt about continuing on.  Listen:
Don’t give up! Hang in there! Give it some time! Think Long!
 Posted by at 7:10 pm
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