Step up to the Microphone

This morning I accidentally made myself puke in the front row at church. Brent was standing by my side during worship band rehearsal, practicing his electric guitar. The piano I was sitting at was a tall Yamaha upright grand piano (it's beautiful). While my back faces the church congregation, I can see a reflection of the entire room in the piano. I've always used this as a "rear view mirror" of sorts.

This particular morning, a special reflection caught my eye during rehearsal. In the very back of the room (in the nursery window), I saw my mom, girlfriend, and a little girl playing in the nursery ...

My voice isn't the greatest at 9am. In fact, it's quite pathetic. Since the girls in the back could hear every mistake through the nursery room speakers, I decided to have a little fun. I started hacking and coughing into the microphone ... attempting to stir some sort of reaction from the back.

Then it backfired. Literally. The one cup of coffee I had that morning began to backfire. I slowly raised my right hand and motioned to Brent to stop. He couldn't believe it.

Still tasted (and smelled) like Coffee.

The moral of the story: I'm not sure it has one.

Being vs. Doing

Over a year ago, I wrote on the topic of "Being" vs. "Doing".

I think it's time to revisit this. The following are some excerpts from my recent talk to Normandale Reformed Church.

Do we really “Get it” that God isn’t interested in how much we “DO” for him, but rather, just want us to “BE” with him?

This was a huge revelation for me this week.
That God isn’t interested in how much I DO FOR HIM, but His head turns when I express that I simply want to BE WITH HIM.

In English, we call this abiding (connect, be close, to be attached). Abiding might be a little like constant text messaging – even though a person is not here, you are remaining connected to them while living life.

Jesus tells a story of two men in Matthew 7. One builds a house on the sand, the other on the rock. The winds and rains destroy the house built on the sand, but the one on the rock stands firm.

I’ve read this a kazillion times, but something new was revealed to me this week – THEY BOTH BUILT HOUSES! They both had something to show for their work. They both labored furiously, and from the outside-looking-in, you might not have known the difference. In fact, you might have walked in the house built on the sand on the day it was built and said to yourself “Man! I wish I could build something like this! This person has it all together! They are a master builder!”

I can’t believe I’ve missed this all long. They both were furiously laboring, tirelessly building, and both had a house to show for their work.

But the problem was in the foundation.

And I’m not much different. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and my mind immediately begins calculating the list of things that I need or should do that day. Those are good days – usually the list gets put together a few weeks in advance. And sure, I find “space” for God – sometimes – where I’ll just sit and be with him.

But Jesus says makes it very clear that our lift ticket into eternity is a personal relationship with him. A deep abiding relationship, that is willing to be quiet, and listen to his still, small voice. Look with me – just a few verses before, in Matthew 7:21:

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Sometime when you have a chance, read John 15:1-17. Jesus invited us to abide in Him. The word abide appears 11 times!

The bottom line:
More than how much we “do for” Jesus, Jesus wants us to simply “be with” him.

Fuller's Prez is Blogging

This afternoon I was writing a letter of recommendation for a friend of mine. He's applying at Fuller Theological Seminary. While on their website, I noticed their president has a blog. He's new to blogging, and I enjoyed his healthy perspective on the concept of blogging and MySpace:

One thing that has been on my heart lately is space. Along with exploring blogs this summer, I became familiar with MySpace. I did some browsing, and was amazed by the sheer volume of this phenomenon: thousands and thousands of pictures of people supposedly inviting you into their “space.”

When I look at all those pictures, I think about how, in some primordial sense, each of these folks realizes that they are not alone. I think that, at some level, they realize the truth of the Psalmist when he said: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Or in today’s vocabulary, we might say: If I retreat into my own website, my own blog, my own MySpace…there, too, I am in your presence.

As Christians in this MySpace culture, we need to be reminding people that everything we call “my space” is also, in a very profound sense, God’s space. We are inescapably in God’s presence.

Whether it’s on MySpace, in classrooms, or in the workplace, each person we encounter in our day-to-day lives has a God-sized space within their souls. This is a space that can be filled only by a relationship with the one true God.

Richard J. Mouw

Catalyst Conference - Day ONE

Incredible drumline, live monkey on the stage licking a lollipop, surprise guest comedian/preacher Jeff Foxworthy (yes, redneck guy), knights on real horses, and a Beatles cover band ... these are the things we experienced today at Catalyst 2006.

Justin has some great Foxworthy quotes on his blog. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the speakers today:

Andy Stanley on Humility

• The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to anyone he wishes (Daniel 4). This should change our perspective on leadership, and eliminate our arrogance.
  
• Leadership is a stewardship. It's temporary, and you're accountable
  
• Christ-like leadership should be diligent, fearless, and humble ... because God has placed me where I am, and I just serve as a temporary sub here for Him.
• This isn't about My Story - I am a substitute helping with God's Story

Marcus Buckingham on Management

• All great teams have one thing in common: great management
• The job of the manager is to turn individual talent into performance, and grow team goals
• We're always a work in progress. We are never done with our work
• If you can't do - teach. If you really can't do - consult
• Capitalize on individual uniqueness
• Great managers never speak in generalities about their team: they know vivid detail about each person
• When dealing with difficult people, managers should spend 80% of the time sharpening the person's strengths, and 20% of the time filling-in for weakness (most managers have this backwards)
• Door after door will continue to open, but not all doors open to your strengths
• If you studied "Bad" and inverted it, you don't get "Good" - you get "not bad"

George Barna on the Church

• We're not called to "go to" church. We're called to "be" the Church.
• Family is the central church experience
• "Bigness" is not as big of deal as "depth"

John Maxwell on Leadership

• In the beginning of your leadership journey, do everything. In the process, lean towards the things you do very well.
• Begin to develop people to complete you in your weak area
• We attract who we are, not who we want.
• Jesus did not spend equal amounts of time with everyone (Pete, Jim, and John - what do you think Matt and Barts convo looked like?)
• The greatest investment in the Kingdom, is to invest in your best (Phil Jackson -> "Get the ball to Michael")
• Paul said, "This one thing I do" ... NOT "Fourty things I dabble in"
• I'll buy lunch to the first person who reads this line and comments
• People who lead the most, have not always had the highest position
• Moral failure in leadership is usually due to (1) No accountability, (2) No time in the Word, and (3) a "it won't happen to me" mentality.

Tomorrow ... Louie Giglio and Donald Miller!

To see what my fellow travelers are saying, check out their blogs:

Charlie Dean
Chris Evans
Justin Ganschow
Tim Schraeder
Leadership Journal Blog