Reasonable Doubt

This weekend, we launched a new message series REASONABLE DOUBT that addresses some of the most prevalent questions, objections, and doubts confronting the Christian faith. The reliability and authority of Scripture stands virtually central to this series (and any conversation about doubt/faith), and we dealt with it in some detail this weekend. Click HERE to watch the message.

Below is a chart that I referenced comparing the Bible’s literary and historical reliability in comparison to other ancient texts:

The Church, Starving Artists, Sellouts, & Tweeners

When our church was interviewing architects for our building design, in trying to understand who we are, one group posed a fascinating question: If your church's building were a car, what would it be? I LOVED that question because it allowed us to be so descriptive in a completely fresh way (our answer was a Suburban with leather seats, btw).

I thought about that question when I was looking at our church through a different lens this week: If we were a band, who would we be? Realizing that some bands and groups are starving artists who are hyper-talented but connect with very few people, some are complete sell-outs, and a precious few are great and connect with millions of people--it seems like a great question to ask of a church. For Lake Hills Church, the answers really don't have anything to do with a musical style that we would or would not use in a worship service per se, but they reveal volumes about who we are:

U2--phenomenal artists, groundbreaking sounds, lyrics, and subject matter for a rock band. AND they touch hearts and stimulate minds through a phenomenal sense of poetry and aesthetic better than anyone alive. They're not afraid to entertain and celebrate while also making you think. And they've almost singlehandedly made social activism that makes a difference cool.

Lyle Lovett--Texas to the bone because that's who he genuinely is, but his intelligent lyrics transcend the Lone Star State and his comfortable-in-his-own-skin persona works in Carnegie Hall as easily as it does in Gruene Hall. Precious few people can pull off (custom-made) pointy-toe cowboy boots and Armani.

Hillsong Worship--as well as anyone around, they know who they are and why they do what they do, and they never stand pat. They are always evolving, growing, and breaking new ground lyrically and musically.

The Rolling Stones--the power of energy. There's something undeniably powerful and compelling about Mick's stage presence, Keith's guitar and Charlie's backbeat.

Who (in addition to Jesus!) would your church's culture, personality and presence reflect and why?

Clarifying... Pt. 3: Voice & Responsibility

As you clarify and refine the vision for your team/staff/church/business/school/family, you also have to clarify and refine the VOICE. The voice of a team is the shared sense of mission, joy, urgency, passion, work ethic, philosophy, and responsibility that defines the culture of that team. I CANNOT overstate how mission-critical the voice of your team is. It is sink-or-swim, do-or-die, life-and-death critical.


Some people that you recruit/hire/bring on will just "get it," almost from before day one. Some people don't get it yet, but they will as you teach and share it. And, some won't. For those who won't or can't, it means that you hired the wrong person. Not necessarily a bad person, but the wrong person for this team. 


And, some people are just so wounded that they can't get out of their own way emotionally and relationally and it doesn't matter what you do--it will never be enough. We have to love these people, invite them to join us in the larger mission/vision of the team, and help them where we can (or help them find help where we can't help them). But because of our responsibility to the larger team and mission or vision, we can't allow an individual or small group of people to be a drag and drain on our overall culture, performance, and team. 


Hopefully, we're engaged in something so audacious, so monumental, and significant, that to allow that would be catastrophic to our cause. As the leader, we don't have the luxury of settling for the catastrophe of mediocrity. We are responsible and accountable for the vision and the voice that are the vehicles for our vocation, our calling. Regardless of our leadership context or style, our personality, the benefits and rewards, or challenges and obstacles--responsibility is the defining characteristic of leadership. Accepting and embracing responsibility reveals a true leader.


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Clarifying Dreams & Vision, Pt. 2

Way back in Feb. I wrote Clarifying Dreams & Visions as a calm, almost academic reflection on Dr. Sam Chand's observation: Leadership is like changing the fan belt on your car. While driving down the highway.

At the time, I didn't intend it to be a multi-part posting. But, in the interim six months, God has changed not only the fan belts of our church and my life, but the oil, radiator fluid, all four tires, the transmission, and the very engine itself. All, while driving down the highway. And, sure enough, he has used this process to clarify and refine the vision that he has called us to realize.

The vehicle has changed. Significantly. But the destination, the object of our prayers, work, dreams, hopes, time, resources, pain, and joy remains the same as it ever was: TO GROW THE COMMUNITY OF CHRIST ONE LIFE AT A TIME.

Over the next few days, I'm going to share some of what we've learned and experienced and decided as a result of this crazy ride. Here's the first thing: THE COMMITMENT TO TRAVEL TRUMPS THE MODE OF TRAVEL. If your car breaks down, don't abandon the journey. Repair it or replace it, but whatever you do, keep moving!

If your team's communication, passion, unity, joy, or effectiveness breaks down, the leader is responsible/accountable to repair/replace whatever or whomever needs to be repaired/replaced. The journey (mission, vision, purpose) is too important and the stakes are too high to abandon the journey.

The Exponential Power of Birthdays

If you can tell your story simply and beautifully, you've got a shot. That's one of the reasons that I'm a big fan of charity: water, the NYC non-profit started by Scott Harrison <@scottharrison> to provide clean water to people in developing nations. The other reason is that they are changing the world by changing people's lives right here, right now.

To celebrate their founding every September, charity: water launches a specifically targeted mission to raise funds for digging water wells in a particular region of the world. This year, they are targeting the Bayaka people of Central African Republic. Take 5 minutes and see their story and how you can simply and powerfully make a difference below. Then, go to the charity: water website (plus, you'll see how well Scott's wife Vik <@vikharrison> crafts their communications).

In four years, charity: water has gone from being a cool idea to a legitimate world-changer. I know these people and what they're doing and I'm honored to call them friends. They're making a difference and doing it for all the right reasons. They do what they do really, really well. And, above all else, they're the real deal.


charity: water 2010 September Campaign: Clean Water for the Bayaka from charity: water on Vimeo.

Clarifying Dreams & Visions

At last week's C3 Conference, Dr. Sam Chand likened leadership to changing a fan belt on your car while driving down the highway.

Just for the record, he's right.

God is in the midst of changing some fan belts in me, in our family, and in Lake Hills Church--all while we continue screaming down the highway. It is an incredibly fun, somewhat scary, hugely faith-building time. It's a time of praying, dreaming, seeking counsel, praying, planning, and praying.

I don't know exactly what the next set of fan belts looks like yet, but I know they are bigger and able to sustain higher speeds, hotter temperatures, and greater loads. These dreams and visions that God is leading us into demand change. But, they are clarifying who we are, what we do, and who God wants to be a part of them.

Buckle up.

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Distractions

Good is the enemy of best.

When you woke up this morning, you had a choice: Invest yourself in the things that matter. Or, chase rabbits.

Rabbits are the distractions that vie for our time, attention, money, energy, and soul. Some people use email to further their purpose and reason for getting up in the morning. Most people use it to distract themselves from the banality of their job. Some people use Twitter to build a brand, communicate quickly and concisely with their audience, or drive people to their website. Most use it to distract themselves from the task at hand, whatever it may be.

Sometimes, chasing people down who've left your company, church, or team is a distraction. Or, chasing people down to try and change their mind or opinion is usually a distraction. When someone lobs a false accusation at you, defending yourself can be a distraction.

A good friend of mine was asked by the mayor of his small town to serve on his community's school board. Taking his responsibility seriously, my friend proposed instituting higher accountability for the teachers in that system. In an effort to derail that direction, defenders of the status quo hurled accusations of racism at him. He listened to their charges, dismissed them as a desperate attempt to distract from the task at hand--he did not even respond to the charges, they were so ludicrous--and moved forward the work to serve the students of that system.

The word distraction tells us what it is: dis ~ away from; tract ~ to draw/carry. To draw or carry away from.

What distractions are drawing or carrying you away from what you GET to do today, this week? Get past them and get on with it.

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Discerning

¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town...¹⁶I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 
       Matt. 10:14, 16

Judgmentalism and Discernment are like twin sisters: One is ugly as homemade sin and the other is a knockout beauty. Yesterday's post looked at judgmentalism--and she's still ugly. But, discernment is a beautiful thing in the life of someone who prays for it, exercises it, and reaps the benefits of it.

We have to be shrewd, even cunning, when it comes to choosing what streams we drink from, what spiritual/relational/intellectual food we ingest and metabolize, and what relationships we cultivate. But, the line between judgmental and discerning is hairline-thin. It's a matter of the heart.

Judgmental

The army of God is the only one who shoots its own wounded.

That statement hits just a little too close to home. Not because of wrongs I've suffered or wounds I've received, though. It hits so close because of wrongs I've committed and wounds I've inflicted. I've done it: Judging another person by deciding in my own mind what their motives, insecurities, and intentions are based solely on what they do.

When God chose David as the second king of Israel, he told Samuel during the vetting process that it's people who judge by appearances, but God examines the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Whenever I have judged exclusively by externals, I've noticed that I'm excluding several significant internal realities:

1. The actual heart condition of the other person. Jeremiah 17:9 says that no one can understand the heart. That's God's job.
2. Hurt people hurt people. Whenever someone lashes out or attacks someone else for no reason they are responding out of their own woundedness. MONSTER CAVEAT: Explaining their attack in NO WAY excuses it.
3. It's possible--just possible--that I don't have all the facts. Maybe, just maybe, that person has genuinely prayed and sought God's heart and is following the leading God gave her. Maybe, there's a calling on her life that I can't or haven't yet considered that would explain why she does what she does.
4. Judging others' judgmentalism is...oh, what's the word?...judgmental! I can get haughty in a hurry when I've been wronged or someone close to me has been wronged.
5. The task of judging others has already been assigned--and I didn't get the gig. God promises that He will set everything to rights. He will account for every injustice, from the Holocaust to my haughtiness and everything in between.
6. Judging others wastes time that I will be held accountable for what I DO with it. A lot of people don't yet know Jesus and the extravagance of his love. What in the world am I doing wasting a nano-second on a job that's not mine? Lives are at stake.

Tomorrow, I'll post about judgmentalism's beautiful cousin that is separated by a very, very fine line: discernment.

Where do you see judgmentalism rear its hideously ugly, green head in your life?

Colt McCoy & the Cultivation of Character

When Colt McCoy was knocked out of the National Championship Game on the 6th play from scrimmage, he was eliminated from the most significant game of his career so far. No meter could measure his disappointment, frustration, anger, and loss.

Yet, his comments in the immediate aftermath of that experience reveal a character and faith that doesn't just happen. You can't create it on the spot in the moment. It has to be cultivated over years. Below is a clip from his post-game comments, but below that is an interview with Colt and his dad that we taped for Father's Day last year that provides amazing insight into how he was "prepared for the path" he's currently on.

Colt After-game Interview:


Brad & Colt McCoy LHC Interview:

Rev90 Checking In

MERRY NEW YEAR!

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE ATX as we shake out the holiday cobwebs and get back to a little bit of reality. 39 deg. and not a cloud in the sky. In pilot lingo, it's cold and clear, visibility unlimited.

What a great way to describe a new year! Unlimited visibility, unlimited possibility, unlimited hope. All of that unlimitedness feels really strong given the last four days of REV90. A few personal highlights:

*The creative, organizational, and relational genius of God. Reading through the first few chapters of Matthew, God's reminded me of all the history, families, and circumstances he orchestrated to prepare the world for the birth of Christ and the fulfillment of his plan for people. OVERWHELMING.
Reading, discussing, and discovering God as a family. Because of the holidays and some downtime, we've been able to read the daily readings as a family, discuss what we're reading and discover more of God through each other's insights and thoughts and what God is saying to us individually. HUGE blessing as a parent.
Some personal wins physically and morally as I've been reminded to be PURE physically. Individually, the wins are small, but I can already tell that collectively God is moving me more toward where he wants me and where he can use me more powerfully in every area of my life.


Let me know what you're doing and how God's using REV90 in your 2010 so far... Comment below.

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Expo Coaching

Over the years, Julie and I have had the privilege and blessing of meeting some incredible pastors and their wives. One couple at the top of the list is our good friends Bil and his wife Jessica from Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi.

In December, Bil is leading a mentoring event especially targeted for pastors and church planters titled Expo Coaching. This is a unique opportunity to learn from someone who’s done it and doing it at a high level. Bil will share his proven track record knowledge and experience in an in-depth format that will help you grow your ministry, make it stronger and healthier. Jessica will also lead a mentoring program for pastor’s and church planter’s wives. Ministry for those of us married takes the full effort of both in order for it to thrive. Bil & Jessica get it. Julie and I have been blessed by knowing and learning from Bil & Jessica and are honored to call them friends.

GREATER THINGS Unexpected Lesson #1

Last night, I got to share with some LHC'ers the vision behind the GREATER THINGS season of ministry and where God is leading our church in the next few years. We talked about prayer, planning, giving, more prayer, and uniting as a church family through this season of ministry. It was a time of sharing, questioning, praying, eating, and a LOT of laughter.

The Unexpected Lesson from last night's gathering was the flat-out fun of community. This morning, we're making plans for another round of gatherings in the New Year where other pastors and I get a chance to just go and visit the LHC Community WEBs and fellowship and enjoy the amazing blessing of the LHC community. From the very first days of our church's existence, it's been clear that our greatest asset as a church is the people who are LHC.

Thanks to Bill & Laurel Daniel for opening their home and their hearts to make it happen and to everyone who made the time to be there and be a part of this amazing adventure called the Bride of Christ.

If you've received an invitation to a GREATER THINGS gathering, I hope you'll be able to join us. If you haven't and would like to, email Sarah Williams at swilliams@lhc.org.

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Where There IS Vision...

In the King James Version of the Bible, Prov. 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." It's an often-quoted axiom that is so undeniably true. Absent a God-given, God-honoring vision, dream, revelation of what might be, people die a little on the inside every day.

But, the flip side of that axiom is equally true and infinitely more powerful: Where there IS vision, the people flourish. Lock eyes with someone who's chasing a God-sized vision or calling, and you lock eyes with passion, joy, peace, determination, loyalty, clarity, and the power to bounce back from setback. (For another take on this see Mike Hyatt's post--very good stuff).

What's interesting about this is that the word vision chosen by the King James translators is more accurately rendered in our day revelation, as in the Word of God revealed in Scripture. With no vision, no revelation from God, people perish--they cast off restraint. REAL vision begins with what God has supernaturally given to people in the Bible. He gives us his Word in divine communication, protects it through human translation, and reveals its power through faithful application.

What's your dream?

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Feed the Fire, Pt. 3 (Put Another Log on the Fire)

When you build a fire, huge energy goes into lighting the fire. Gather the wood...stack the wood...light the wood...re-light the wood...

But, once it's lit, just a little bit of kindling added in at the right times in the right places can continue to fuel the flames for hours. Before Lake Hills Church began generating its own heat, the Ground Floor Group who were there at the beginning poured huge amounts of time, energy, prayer, generous giving, and some more prayer into lighting the fire. As God has grown our congregation and increased our influence, one of the most flammable materials we use to feed the fire is Story.

Story feeds the fire like little else can. There's no way that we can even know, much less capture all the stories and moments of God's moving in people's lives. But, when we hear about them and share them, then those stories become logs that feed the fire in other areas. People naturally place themselves in the story being told and instinctively draw parallels to their own stories.

Managers instruct. Leaders inspire.

Manager: Person A should accomplish task #1 and then partner with Person B and they should...
Leader: Let me share with y'all what Gina did when she was approached about providing a service that our group has never considered. She set up a meeting to discover what their need really was, and then...THAT'S who we are. THAT'S what sets us apart from the other teams...

What stories are you telling that are feeding the right fires in your team/group/church/business?
How do you make sure they're told?

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Feed the Fire, Pt. 2

As I've been processing the Feed the Fire leadership paradigm, I've tried to identify specific strategies, activities, and action items to share. And, there are some that are powerfully effective that I will share in a coming post.

But, as I was processing and thinking, one item kept leaping to the top of the list. When I think about the things that feed my personal fire(s), there's one that always works, every time, everywhere: PEOPLE.

There are a few people in my orbit who just fire me up, empower me, and encourage me every time I'm around them. When I leave their presence, I love life, my family, my calling--everything, that much more. These people fall into several categories:

• Truth-tellers--everyone in this category who feeds my fires will tell me what I need to hear and not just what I want to hear. BUT...I listen because I know they truly love me and want God's best for my life.
• Encouragers--these are people who routinely make time to breathe life into whatever I'm doing or trying to do. They know my strengths--and, therefore, my weaknesses--and they feed the fire of those strengths. They share stories about things I've done that have helped them and give me the courage to use those gifts and strengths to try something new.
• Big-idea Thinkers--these folks are the ones who challenge me and stretch me intellectually or practically to do something better or bigger in the world. They're the ones who dream big dreams. I LOVE being around these folks.
• Half-fullers--they know the world's not perfect, but they choose to believe that we can make a difference. They engage each day with hope, enthusiasm, and a let's-go mentality.

As I look at that list, it challenges me to BE that kind of person for the people I serve and lead, so that I'm feeding the fire in them.

What other fire-feeders are in your life?

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Feed the Fire (Back from Hiatus), Pt. 1

Like Jack Bauer, I've recently gone dark in blog-world, not so much intentionally or for a lack of inspiration, but for a lack of time. Coincidence or not, this blog blackout corresponded to a fairly significant shift in my personal leadership paradigm.

Essentially, the shift comes down to this take-home: FEED THE FIRE. Where things are working, where people are doing well, casting vision, serving people they lead, executing and bearing fruit from their labors--wherever that is happening, FEED THE FIRE. Fan those flames into infernos, those sparks into flames, and those embers into steady burns. Feeding the fire is really another way of saying inspiration. The word inspire means to "breathe into." When we inspire someone, we're literally breathing life into their lives, their souls. That's a good business to be in.

Too many times, I've operated from a fireman mindset: Putting out fires that destroy what we're trying to build or accomplish. To be sure, course corrections are sometimes necessary. But, the majority of my time, energy, and leadership capital is better invested in feeding the fire that's generating the heat for what we're trying to build or accomplish.

Oil well firefighters use a counterintuitive tool to put out oil well fires: They set off an explosion near the fire that uses up all the oxygen in the area and therefore starves the fire of oxygen. When you feed constructive fires, you starve destructive ones.

(Preacher's addendum: What's true for day-to-day leadership is ESPECIALLY true for preaching: Inspiration is more effective than either information or condemnation. Obviously content and doctrine matter. And, again, sometimes a rebuke or correcting is necessary and appropriate. But, over time, feeding the fire works better at stimulating spiritual maturity than putting out fires.)

What are some ways that you feed the fire or have been inspired by someone?

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Spur Leadership Conference

Two days from today, hundreds of leaders from the marketplace, government, ministry, the military, school districts and every imaginable arena will gather for the second annual Spur Leadership Conference. Months of planning, prayer, preparations, and work have been poured into making this a unique event that truly serves every single person who attends.

This morning, we were given an entire hour of morning drive radio time on KVET FM with Bucky Godbolt & Bob Cole. General Tommy Franks and GSD&M's Roy Spence called in and we got to share with the city a little taste of what's coming Thursday and Friday this week. KVET was kind enough to post the segment and you can listen to it here on their website (right underneath the blurb about Robert Earl Keen--good company!).

It's not too late to register and be a part of the Spur Leadership Project at WWW.SPURLEADERSHIP.ORG.

Faith vs. Science Resources

As I mentioned in this morning's message, here are the books that are a GREAT resources for the faith vs. science discussion:

(Huge thanks to John Fones for formatting this for me and making me look like I know what I'm doing w/ technology!)

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