Be Of Good Courage

Be of good courage.  This statement is rehearsed many times throughout scripture.  In its most consistent context, it is found when God communicated to Moses, to Joshua, and to the children of Israel at specific moments where He invited them to embrace their destiny.

I often consider that life was easier in days of old.  Sure, we have modern conveniences.  We have a vast amount of improvements in our lives.  We even have improvements over our improvements.  We have tractors to work the fields, where we once had oxen.  Now we have air conditioned tractors.  I don’t care what you say: it is easier to plow a field in an air conditioned tractor than it is to plow behind a team of oxen.

So what was easier in early times?  The decision to move on with one’s destiny – to reach into the unknown – had to be easier.  I am not discrediting the courageous decisions of our forefathers, but hear me out.  How difficult was it for Seth (the son of Adam) to move out into his own dwelling? 

“Yesterday, I lived in my dad’s tent.  I ate food that we killed or grew. Today I live in a tent next door.  In killed something and ate it. Oh, and I planted something I can eat later.” 

It is a drastic overstatement, but with the intention of pointing out that the more complex life has become, the more difficult it has become to break free of that life to embrace any new direction to which you are called.

Generations after Adam, Jesus pointed this out.  To the rich, young ruler He instructed, “Sell all that you have and give to the poor.” He was communicating a need for the willingness to lay aside all that seems secure in favor securing your future and your destiny.  Sometimes you simply have to do that.

I live in America.  It is a nation that was birthed with exactly that sentiment in mind.  It is a nation birthed through the courage of men and women who were willing today all on the line to carve out a future and a destiny.

"With nothing more than the clothes on their backs, they came to seek a better life, where they could live as they believe".  

 That took courage.

Be of good courage.  It takes courage to step beyond the status quo.  It takes courage to reach beyond what is known.  It takes courage to build on your faith and belief system, especially when it means challenging things you have always known in the context that you currently know them. Yet, the Gospel and history itself have proven that such measure is often the necessary ingredient in fulfilling your purpose.

Paul the Apostle offered great challenge to both Jews and Greeks.  He challenged early believers who, in short order, fell into the status quo of Christian life and became lukewarm and irrelevant. Like Jesus, he challenged people to lay it all on the line and pursue with great passion that which God was placing before them, not allowing anything – life or death – to hinder them from pressing on to fulfill their life’s purpose in God.

Consider some of the courageous leaders of modern times. Their ability to succeed and do extraordinary things started with the ability to step beyond the status quo and reach beyond the limits of their current state in order to function in a greater capacity.  They were willing to reconsider how man interprets certain ideas.  They were willing to think outside the box. They refused to step away from truth, but instead were willing to let truth expand their thoughts, their faith and their walk in life.  They learned hard lessons and suffered failures among their successes, but they passionately blazed a path which changed the course of history.  Each one attributed to their success the attribute of courage.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.”

Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur who gave us Apple and negotiated Pixar into the Disney family taught, “Time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Each of these spoke of the courage necessary to be victorious.  But they also demonstrated that victory requires action as well as faith.  Dale Carnegie once said that “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

All this to say –  

Be of good courage.   

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

Do not allow another day to occur in your life that is less than full of passion for God and His Kingdom.  Each day carries with it a battle - sometimes against a principle that works in opposition with God.  Sometimes it is a personal challenge.  Sometimes it is simply a battle against mediocrity. In each case, there will be aspects of learned behavior and the current status quo of your life that can hinder you rather than help you.  Be willing to look beyond it to see more. In so doing, you will become one who does more than you ever dreamed possible…and…you will step into YOUR destiny.

About Your Head…

One day a few of years ago, I was working on a project in my house.  I was "milling" around doing "the man thing", which in this case involved a plethora of power tools operating at what a competent craftsman would call "a mediocre level of skill".  As I was demonstrating my prowess in artistic craftsmanship, I managed to run a power tool through a knot in a piece of wood I was working with.  The knot broke loose and became a projectile. It seemingly developed the power of a small missile whose trajectory was targeted at my forehead.  It found its mark with amazing accuracy.  I never could have done that on purpose. 

Performances of "the man thing" usually involve some level of personal injury.  They are actually part of "the man script".  Following any such injury is usually the mantra, 

 "I'm good! I'm okay!" 

  Groaning and grunts are also included in these moments. Sitcoms have made millions on the portrayal of "the man thing".  Another attribute about "the man thing" is that after one incurs such an injury and has declared his strength in crisis, he must duly continue his duties, albeit with one less eye, arm or leg.  To stop in mid project is to admit defeat and declare failure, or worse, to create another nameless evil which has its own mantra.  This one shouts, "When are you ever going to finish that thing?"  Needless to say, the project must go on.

The problem was as I continued on with the project, which had initially been progressing with some degree of success; I began to run into complications.  Measurements were not going quite right. Pieces of the project were not coming together. What started out as a perfect "man thing" was rapidly deteriorating in front of me.  My then four-year-old daughter happened to make her way out to the front yard where I was working, where she found me trying to control my anger over my incompetence.  I glanced up at her to find a look on her face that measured somewhere between surprise and concern.  She said four little words, "Dad, about your head…"  In the heat of the evening, combined with the heat of the moment, it had not occurred to me that the wooden knot missile that had targeted me managed to carve a niche in my forehead.  I was bleeding.  Amidst the heat, the sweat and the frustration I hadn't even noticed the cut and the huge lump that accompanied it.  Yet, it was there.  Little wonder I was having trouble concentrating.  I have enough holes in my head without adding anymore.  She did not ask if I was okay.  It was very clear to her that I was not okay.  While icing down my wound, I made a telephone call which returned my sanity and gave me insight on how to do the job correctly.

The purpose for this story is this.  People often find themselves in a position of having to do things in life that are not their greatest gift.  Learning to budget finances, developing productive family relationships, building effective communications skills or even for some, picking up dirty laundry all seem to bring some to a place of frustrated incompetence in their life.  It is guaranteed that in the mechanics of life development, sooner or later you will run a power tool over a knot and get hit in the head.  I have counseled many people over the years who have expressed exactly that feeling - that they have been hit in the head by their problems.  They become frustrated because their measurements do not go quite right.  The pieces of their life are not coming together.  Yet they continue to muddle along, trying to make it work when all the while the problems begin to compound. 

Before I continue, I must say this.  Give me someone who will do everything to press on through over someone who throws in the towel, sits down and quits ANY DAY!  If both lead to failure, the former is at least a noble failure and thus, worth celebrating.  The latter is just defeat and difficult to change.  Change must occur.  The determination to muddle through moment by moment without any real degree of true success is often an indicator that there is something wrong with your head. I am not suggesting mental incompetence but rather "stinkin' thinkin' ".  Somewhere along the way, you got hit with a problem and it created a bleed.  It created dizziness in your logic.  It made it difficult to work your way through the problem and you cannot even understand why.  Hey…about your head…!

 Consider the allegory.  View "the man thing" as your established way of thinking and doing.  View the project as life situations.  View the knot-missile as the occurrence or occurrences that shape or alter the way you are viewing those situations.  View the lump as unseen distraction.  View the blood as the feeling that life itself is seeping out of you.  Finally, ask yourself what you could have done to avoid this encounter.

For myself, I could have paid attention to the details and how they would affect the future of the project.  If I had looked for knots before working with the wood, I could have avoided the injury.  Failing that, if I had paid attention to the detail that I received a blow to the head, a little cleaning of the wound and a little ice would have been a huge benefit to the project.  A release of the pride that held me to "the man thing" might have persuaded me to ask someone more proficient than me to offer insight into the project.  This act alone could have helped ensure success. It is even interesting to note that the problem was so obvious to the outside world that the insight of a four-year-old child was capable of bringing change -- in short, I should have caught it myself!

Therein lies the problem.  In many situations in life, people are too close to the problem to catch it themselves.  People view failure as defeat.  But, people view the need for help as failure.  They struggle through major issues in their life, compounding problem after problem until they are too deep to break free. As I stated earlier, an alternative action is to quit and expect everyone else to do what you should be doing -- unacceptable.  The acceptable alternative is simple.  It involves two considerations: the release of pride that says "you have to do it alone," and accountability which always leads you back to considering the wisdom of someone who can see what you cannot see.  My four-year-old told me I needed to go clean myself up.  She was right and I submitted to that wisdom.  I even asked her if I did an acceptable job.  In an odd kind of way, I chose to be accountable to her wise counsel.

What problems are you encountering?  What kind of blood and sweat is dripping into your line of vision?  What kind of bump on the head is making you dizzy in your life decisions?  Who are you willing to hear?  What level of accountability are you willing to embrace?  Who can say to you, "Hey…about your head…!"

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

We are here!  The Christmas season has arrived!  Not the one that comes at W***Mart the day after Halloween, when all of the decorations go up for sale and the marketers go crazy bidding for who will get the bulk of your Christmas fund…

I am talking about the "Deck The Halls - Joy To The World - We Wish You A Merry Christmas (not Happy Holidays)" season where the ideals of mankind momentarily change.  While it is true that some find the holiday depressing, it is also true that it is not the holiday itself that is depressing.  Rather, for some the holiday can serve to accentuate the desperation of their daily lives.  I am fully convinced that although people say they want to avoid the holiday, they are really saying, "I do not want to be reminded of my situation."  Yet what most people do not realize is that the more they avoid the holiday and keep to themselves while the it continues around them, the more time they spend focusing on their pain.

I believe that in reality, people are not looking to escape a holiday; they are looking for a cure to their pain.  This has been defined even by the world for decades.  Consider all of the movies that have been created with sad and desperate people just like the ones I am describing.  It is amazing that they all find their way to a happy holiday ending!  In real life, people say "That's a fairy tale" and yet, all too often I find people secretly looking for a fairy tale to come true in their life.  They want a happy ending.

The way to a happy ending is to find joy in life, now.   

If you always focus on the bad things, you will never pursue the goods things.   

Psalm 126:5 reads. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."  Sowing and reaping are a daily part of everyone's life.  You are constantly planting something into someone, whether it is a material thing or a thought or idea.  What this verse indicates is that even during the darkest of seasons, you must continue to live your life.  Find something good -- some good ground -- and invest your life into it.  The sorrow may rest in your heart.  The tears may occasionally stream down your face.  But, in the end, you will find joy! 

How does one do this?  You have to choose what is important to you.  You must remember that God did not just take delight in us.  He chooses to delight in us.  He chooses to get excited over us.  He does not quit when we fail, but delights when we overcome that failure.  He keeps pressing on even when we disappoint Him. We are to be like that.  Rather than waiting for the "Christmas Spirit" to sweep you away, choose to embrace it.  Don't hide from the holiday, embrace it.  Find a way to share the joy.  Remember the greatest gift that was given to us; the life and love of Jesus.  As He gave us life, we should also give life to others. 

So DO IT!  Deck the Halls!  Offer Joy to the World!  Wish someone a Merry Christmas!  Choose to reach for a little joy in your life by investing some in someone else's life.   

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY!

LIFE…The Journey

You hear it all the time. "You're going to another level."  You sing it.  "Another level, another harvest, another day for you to manifest your promises…"  I often hear people offer the same sentiment I have uttered from my own lips:  I am tired of getting there.  I want to be there. 

"I want to be there!" While this may sound great, it does not truly reflect the design that God has for you.  To be there means that at some point, you no longer need to grow. It means that you have arrived at your destination as a person.  People often say, 

"I don't want to wait forever for the blessing that is supposed to be my life."  They forget that they have been raised in the "instant generation." Television media has brought America to a six second attention span.  Microwave ovens have staged and upscale mugging of the family dinner table.  We measure our success by what we achieve.  We constantly rush to get where we are going.  We forget that life is not about the destination.  Life is about the journey.

We forget that when God built His church through the teaching of His Son, Jesus, that He was very careful to build it over time.  I think that we could all agree that as Jesus was anointed enough to draw crowds of thousands, he could have chosen to launch His church in a much quicker fashion.  Instead, he chose to impart to twelve men who would be given the responsibility to carry it forth -- without the benefit of telephones, computers, e-mail and satellites - or even a tour bus. 

If you read the communication of the Apostles to the early church, you will recognize that the church did, in fact, begin to emerge quickly once the work was started.  You will also discover that it was plagued with many problems - most of which could be chalked up to spiritual immaturity.  Perhaps we should consider that God in His infinite wisdom knew that in order to have a glorious church, men and women of Christian maturity would have to be raised up 

to develop and disciple it.

Discipleship is both one of the simplest and most complex attributes of life.  In its simplest form, discipleship is training.  Through a combination of teachers, mentors, parents, both physical and spiritual, and Holy Spirit, there is an education process that ultimately is supposed to lead you to spiritual maturity.  However, the complex portion of discipleship is that all of this education is never truly embedded until it is tried.  Life lessons then become one of the greatest tools of discipleship.           

The problem for many is that once they have a dream, a vision, and some education, they develop this understanding that they are ready to take on the world.  They are pretty much prepared for anything.  And, if they encounter anything they are not prepared for, God will surely protect them.  While it is true that God will protect you and guide you through such times, you usually create circumstances in those times which will be a permanent part of your life.  Abraham got ahead of God and ended up with Ishmael.

You must remember that with the development of your Christian maturity, your ultimate teacher, mentor, and spiritual father, is God.  His perspective is so unique because His ways are higher than yours.  His thoughts are greater than your thoughts.  He can truly see the alpha and omega of your life on earth.  What's more, He understands how and why He created you.  His motive for being a part of your life is to see you fulfill what He carefully created for you to fulfill.  Since He is not bound to the limitations to which every natural teacher, mentor, and parent is bound, he has the added benefit of connecting your education to life lessons in a way no other can connect them.  In other words, he may keep you from prematurely stepping into your destiny because he knows that there is something you need in your life that you do not yet have and cannot yet see.

Abraham was an old man before the promise of a generational seed, and a son came to fruition.  Jesus was thirty before He was released into His three short years of ministry.  Wanting it now may not always be the best course.  Having it now can place you in the position of damaging your life or others.  A fifteen year old girl can become pregnant and give birth to a child.  She can probably raise that child and both of them survive.  However, the opportunity for her to make irreparable mistakes in her life, the child's life, and in every other relationship she has, is greatly increased because she is not mature enough to handle to handle those situations.

This holds true for every area of life: ministry, business, family, etc.  That is why you must recognize that for God, His focus for you is the journey.  Your Amazing Life is about the journey.  The destination is a motive to keep you moving on the journey.  When you get there, I promise you there will be another destination in front of you because - LIFE'S A JOURNEY! Do not let impatience rob you of your true destiny.  Do not allow yourself to sacrifice the process for the prize.  If you do, when you arrive, you will be more "stuck" than you can possibly imagine.  And, the only thing more frustrating than having to wait at the starting gate is waiting for the wrecker to drag you out of the ditch.

God is bringing you through each day, placing in you all that you need to fulfill His plan…in His time.  He gave you an Amazing Life.  Enjoy the journey.

PURSUING YOUR DREAM

I often teach about vision.  One of the reasons it is a favorite subject of mine is because there are so many misconceptions about it.  I really celebrate when someone captures an understanding that sets him free from his current frustration and launches him into journey toward purpose and destiny.  The concept of such a journey, from a macro perspective is vast.  However, every journey is completed in increments - particularly, the journey of life.  As long as an individual pursues God, He will take that individual through a series of experiences, the sum of which becomes the path of their life.

While the reality of this process is real, the pain and aggravation it sometimes produces is equally real.  I have found that most of this pain and aggravation is generally birthed from a lack of understanding.  That is why God has made it clear in His word that certain things are vital to our spiritual, emotional and natural life.

Vision is one of those vital aspects.  Proverbs 29:18 states: 

"Where there is no vision (or revelation) the people perish (or cast of restraint)."

  It is widely taught that vision is a picture of your desired future.  This is true, but is only a part of the picture. Vision is seeing yourself from God's perspective.  It is who you are as God designed you - alpha and omega, beginning to end. If you limit vision to just what is in front of you, you never fully recognize your complete path of life.  Your "ups" become successes.  Your "downs" become failures.  Effective business people are wise enough to see their productivity over the duration of time.  They look at a chart that records many ups and downs.  They spot moments where failure is evident or success is ensured.  They recognize that not every down turn or trial is a failure - it is merely a trend.  They look at the overall vision of their company.  They evaluate the long term path it has taken.  They ask the crucial questions to make corrections to fulfill the purpose they have established for their company.  Vision must include the entire picture.

The picture of the desired future is really a dream or a goal.  It is the part that God naturally

created in man to give him an objective to achieve.  There are many people

with a picture of their desired future who perish because 

they have little desire to face their life NOW!  They have a desire to "make it BIG" but will

not embrace the discipline to make the immediate changes that will ensure their success

 They have a dream but no vision!

A dream is only as powerful as its pursuer.  A person can declare that dream all day long.  If he is unwilling to pursue that dream, it will evade him forever.  It will become a hope that is "put off" or, perhaps completely lost.  In the end it is destructive because "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12)  That verse also goes on to state "…but when desire comes, it is a tree of life."

God gives you a dream to motivate you toward the future he designed for you.  But, you must pursue the dream.  In a recent interview on a major news network, Millionaire Maker, Laura Langemeier shared a "secret of success".  To succeed, you must think success.  She went on to explain that most people interpret this to mean "take some time to think about it.  If you think about it, it will happen."  Some people sit around their entire lives "thinking about" their dream. 

To think success does not mean daydream 

about your future.   

To think success means to pursue your dream.  You must develop the practice of thinking about the success of that dream as it pertains to your immediate life.  When you are about to make a purchase, whether it is a car or a candy bar, you must think of the effect that action will have on the outcome of your dream.  The more you develop this thought process, the more likely your dream will become a reality.  True thought produces action.  A dream fulfilled is a dream pursued. 

I encourage you to day to ask God to give you a clear vision of your life.  Be willing to evaluate it.  Ask the painful questions.  Chart your high and low points and determine what they have taught you.  Take a fresh look at your desired future.  Establish goals that will bring that future into reach.  Make a decision. Pursue your dream!

Heroes

Throughout history there are heroes.   They are usually considered men or women of great acclaim – people who have changed history or have gained a spot in the record of life because of something they stood for or something they accomplished.  In most cases, their life actions proved to demonstrate their core belief system.  Over time, the attributes that qualify them as heroes are found more in their beliefs than their actions.

Not every hero is famous. Some are infamous.  Others may even be notorious.  Most are unsung, every day people, who have chosen to pay the price to live as they believe.  What makes a person a hero is in what he chooses to mean for others – even if they will never see it.  He is not motivated by personal glory, but by a sense of doing what is right – a sense of purpose fulfilled in that there is something that needs to be fulfilled in the world and they are the ones in the right time, the right place and the right season to bring it about.  They are human and real, and like the rest of the world, have their faults and weaknesses.  Yet, they are not defined by those weaknesses but by their strengths.  

Most never recognize their value as a hero.  They do not see their strength and are often even lost to define their purpose because they did not “locate it” in the sense that we are taught to do. They simply walked into their purpose and embraced it as it unfolded.  Ironically, they are the ones who usually look at the fabric of their lives, wondering if they will ever accomplish – ever have value.  They never recognize that the value they offered is found in the significant life change they bring to those they touch.

God placed such a hero in my life.  I will even identify him by name because I believe that when someone is a hero, he deserves the respect of recognition.  God blessed our family and our ministry nearly fourteen years ago by bringing David Gardner into our lives.  He embraced us, and in so doing, he chose to recognize and embrace the call of God on our lives.   We were still early in our ministry.  In many ways, our ministry and even our lives were being defined.  David risked his future and took the plunge to become part of the fabric of our lives.  He embedded himself into the work for whatever was needed to make for our success, both as ministers and as family.

David embraced the understanding that the Apostle Paul identified to the church at Ephesus,

  “What you make happen for others, God makes happen for you.”

Young men are philosophers and identify with such sayings in a particular way.  David embraced our ministry, our lives, and our faults when both of us were young enough to 

“have all of the answers.”  We were 

“God’s ministers of faith and power”

and knew how to rightly divide the principles of God(mild sarcasm implied). Age offer a clearer picture of life, and we matured, and grew.  In so doing, as we did for others, we developed a clear understanding of what would unfold for us – both individually and together.  Like so many others, we looked at the Elijah/Elisha model and followed the teaching of many of the voices of the day.  In that era, the understanding of the reward of an armor-bearer in ministry is that such a role was a necessary stepping-stone to having your own ministry.  You serve a man in ministry and God will elevate you to your own ministry.  A lot of “armor-bearers" embraced the task with exactly that in mind.  

And, a lot quit on God when they realized disappointment when their “ministry” never materialized.

I can honestly say that the price of launching successfully into your own ministry is that you will have to serve another’s.  It is part of the training ground and part of the price – a combination of “God’s School of Hard Knocks” and the seed sown into a successful future.  But through years of watching people “try and fail” in pursuing this path to produce ministry, I have come to understand something.  

There are those who have a season of serving another as they reach toward their destiny, and there are those who God uniquely ordains and commissions to serve the destiny of another.  

They are the Samwise Gamgee to Tolkien’s Bilbo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings.”  The destiny of the one they serve becomes their destiny.  The notion that what you make happen for others, God makes happen for you takes on a different meaning. What happens in the life of the one you serve is a part of you.  The destiny you help fulfill n their life becomes your destiny as well. 

The world creates famous heroes.  They are identified throughout history, beginning with the heroes of the faith.  Yet, for all of the accomplishment of the famous heroes, nearly all of them would have been lost to success without those who were close behind them offering support and making things happen.  

The Apostle Paul is a great hero of the faith.  He even acknowledges some who stood with him and co-labored with him.  He gets the accolade because he authored the letters that became the foundation for the modern church.  But, what of those who dedicated their life to making certain that the churches throughout Asia received those letters?  It took great faith and great courage to write those words of inspiration form prison, but what of the person who risked his life to make certain those letters were read?  Without them, Paul’s writings, regardless of how profound, would have meant nothing in the course of history. 

In modern times we look at great ministers of the faith.  We see the Joyce Meyers, the Jentzen Franklins, the Andy Stanleys, the Creflo Dollars, and the T. D. Jakes of the world.  We hear their messages of hope and challenge.  We identify their testimonies and their crises of faith and we identify how they overcame and found their destiny.  We see their destiny unfold as they communicate with millions of people, both in huge live events and via television and books. Yet, we never realize that the destiny of those people was only brought into fruition by those who made certain that the cameras were pointed in the right direction, the editing was done with excellence, so that that individual could be cast in their best light.  More importantly, those individuals had to look past the human frailty of the leader they serve.  They have to wade past the “human condition” to recognize the greater purpose in that individual, and that without them you would never know who these individuals are.

There are people who have worked with Billy Graham for perhaps half a century.  Their call was his call.  Their destiny was fulfilled in his.  The destiny of Joyce Meyers is also the destiny of those who have co-labored with her behind the scenes.  Their destiny is not to “fulfill her destiny.”  Her destiny is  their destiny.  What God unfolds for her, He also unfolds for those who serve her purpose.  They share like purpose.

David asked the question many times: “What is my purpose?”  Or, 

“When will I discover my purpose?” 

He also has answered it many times, perhaps without realizing it, because his answer was cloaked in the mission of the day.  

“My mission is to see that the ministry that I serve reaches and brings change to others – that the minister God has called me to serve is able to effectively do what God has called him to do.  Whatever I need to do to help him accomplish his mission

becomes my task.”  

David started the process by serving the destiny in our lives.  He expected that God would allow him to fulfill the destiny in his life.  Fourteen years later, some would argue, he hasn’t found his destiny.  I say our destiny is intertwined.  My destiny is his destiny.  The success I enjoy is also his success.  That which happens for me also happens for him.

Paul defined this in Ephesians when describing the gifts God gives to all men, that we function together utilizing our specific abilities until all come into the unity of the faith.  Would I have a ministry without David?  Probably.  But it would not look anything like it does now.  Would it touch the same people? Perhaps not.  It may have touched other people in a different capacity.  Would it be what it is today? No.  

The sum of the parts is greater than the parts themselves.

When David embraced our lives, he did so as a ministry.  To embrace our ministry meant that he embraced our family.  He helped us raise our children form the time they were in diapers.  (Yes, he even did those.)  He has lived as their Uncle David and has played a pivotal role in their personal growth and success.  He has responded to every request I have ever asked of him, for the purpose of making certain that when the time came, that which was necessary for ministry to go forth would be in place, ready to function.   He saw us lay our life and our future on the line to see accomplished the task God placed in our hands.  He laid his life on the line to make certain that we could truly accomplish that task.  As a result any success we have in our church, in our ministry and even in our family is a success in which he shares.  He did not need to look for a purpose.  He simply embraced purpose.  If he hadn’t, I do not know where I would be today. That makes him a hero – just as certain as if he had jumped into a burning building to rescue me.  Anyone who lays his life on the line for the life of another is a hero – and deserves a hero’s reward.  I cannot think of our life without David's existence.  Nor would I want to... we are more complete because of his role in our lives.

As you read this, you may be one who is trying to find your destiny.  You may be questioning your value or your purpose in life.  Consider whose life you touch right now.  Consider how their life would be different without you.  Consider further the gift they are to others.  Would they be the same gift without your input into their life?  You may be fulfilling destiny and not even knowing it.

What Kind of Leader Are You?

I love the way the Apostle Paul articulates.  If you read through his writings, it is helpful to remember that the translation into the English language (and particularly the Old English Language) can at times seem like a woven labyrinth of literary mystery.  When that happens, it sometimes clouds the simple eloquence of what is communicated.

Paul addresses the church at Corinth and speaks to the divisions which are occurring among the people based on whose teaching they chose to follow.  He made a point of communicating the fact that the leaders of the church were people who were gifted and anointed of God to carry forward the message of the Gospel. They were also, simply stated, people.  He further identified that there was danger in failing to recognize the common goal of the leaders because in doing so, one can easily divide Christ and his purpose in their life.  Such action creates for men to seemingly identify the Gospel based on how it fits their desire.  It “makes wise” one who begins to believe he knows more than what he really does, and in so doing, creates a distortion of the Gospel in both their thinking and in the thoughts of others.

In the third chapter, Paul stated that he could not speak to the church members of Corinth as “spiritual people” but as “carnal people” – a distinction he identified in several places within his writings.  He constantly focused on man’s ability to discover and discern the “mystery of God” – to identify life on Kingdom terms.

I like how the Message communicates this thought.

1 Cor. 3:1-4 "But for right now friends, I am, completely frustrated with your dealings with each other and with God.  You are acting like infants in relation o Christ, capable of nothing more than nursing at the breast.  Well then, I’ll nurse you since you do not seem to be capable of doing anything more..  As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything is going your way?  When one of you says, “I am on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?"

There are two things I want to consider here.  One is that  

Believers often have a tendency to gravitate to a teaching or to a leader who leads in the direction they most want to go. 

They embrace the doctrine that suits them or is comfortable for them.  They resist anything taught that stands in opposition to aspects of their lifestyle they do not want to change.  Or, they religiously hold to what they have always heard, as Paul often communicated when speaking to people bound by both tradition and law.  People can vest themselves in problems on both sides of this fence.  They either become so “free of the law” that the law carries no value in their life, or they hold to the law with such tenacity that they miss the purpose of its fulfillment.  Worse, they are so blinded by what they hold to, that they miss the value of what God really wants to do in their lives.  Jesus came, not to bind us to the law, but to fulfill the law in us – that the lessons learned in keeping the law would reveal to us a much greater purpose – a more complete way.

The second issue is that

 

living through this dichotomy in a personal level tends to damage your ability to lead in the manner in which God called you.   

You can lead strongly in the areas that you are comfortable – even to the point that you can unwittingly lead people in a wrong direction because of how you embrace it.  Or, you take the lead in certain areas, but avoid leading in others because to touch those areas means that you have to deal with those same areas in your own life.  You become weak as true leaders in the kingdom because what invariably occurs through this process is a diatribe certain to overpower almost every voice of reason.

Paul identifies something else, which I believe speaks on several levels. He discusses what a leader really is and isn’t.  In doing so, he defines those you follow, but I believe also sets the stage for leaders to recognize who they are in their own estimation.

Look at 1 Cor. 4:1-5  (the Message)

“Don't imagine us leaders to be something we aren't. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God's most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don't even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I'm not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn't mean much. The Master makes that judgment.  So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When He comes, He will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God."

I find in most cases that how a leader responds to situations identifies a lot about his own heart. 

If a leader is a servant of Christ, he is a steward 

of the mysteries of God.  

In keeping with how Jesus taught, such a person will be far more interested in guiding (or leading) someone into the mysteries and workings of God, than he will be as an enforcer.  Earthly enforcers tend to enforce what matters to them.  This is true in every aspect of earthly life, from law enforcement to our judicial system.  Government and education are all guided by the law, but the law winds up being interpreted and enforced based on what matters to the enforcers.

It is because of this that people tend to gravitate to the leaders who “think in kind.”  Such division has polarized our nation.  I believe that it polarized the church beforehand.  If you look hard, you find that polarization in the family unit.  Look even harder, you find it in man.  James 1:8 identifies that a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Paul reminds people to be careful of whom they follow.  He cautions them to be careful of how they view who they follow.  He reminds everyone, both the leader and the led, that God chooses the true qualification for leadership, not man.  He warns the church to avoid jumping to conclusions about what He does in people before the evidence is in.  

 Many relationships are destroyed because people speak against their perception of something without realizing what God is really doing that they cannot yet see.  

 In so doing, they will fail to see what God will do next because their eyes as well as their hearts toward that relationship will be blinded by their judgment.

Consider who you follow.  Consider who you lead.  Consider the “hows” and the “whys” of both.  Are you an encourager or a “scourger.”  Do you prove a point or make a plea?  Do you issue an edict or extend an invitation? All of these things speak to how you rightly divide the Gospel.  It will help you answer the question, 

“What Kind of Leader Are You?"