Hearing God

May 2, 2012 in Theology with 2 Comments

Where do you see yourself next year? How about in three years, or five, or ten? Those questions often come up in the interview process, or when meeting with interns, but they easily stick with you for years. Over the past twelve years, I would have probably answered those questions at least twelve different ways. What we want to be when we grow up can change as much as often as the four seasons, or persist through years of growth. I’ve wanted to be everything from an astronaut to a youth pastor and an architect to a rock star.

Over the course of working and trying to figure out what I would some day become, I’ve often felt overlooked. I’ve watched positions open up that I wanted to fill, only to see someone else get the job. I’ve been leapfrogged by people who I was once a leader to. I’ve pressed hard to find my place, only to be met by closed doors and solid walls.

One thing that I haven’t done in regards to my career is fervent prayer and fasting. Sure, I’ve prayed for God to open doors to new job opportunities or for an interview to go well, but I’ve never truly sought His will in the matter. I’ve worked like it depended on me, but I haven’t prayed like it depended on God. Continue Reading…

The Go-To Person

April 27, 2012 in Leadership with 1 Comment

Baseball

Do you want to be a leader in your field or would you rather stay in the same job forever? Do you feel like your salary matches your production? These questions probably have one of two effects on you. Either your frustration level rose because you feel underappreciated or stuck in a dead-end job, or you felt encouraged because you love what you are doing and you are being well compensated for it. Take a look at this list and tell me where you feel like you fit best.

  1. You pour your heart out into your work, but you feel underappreciated because your compensation barely pays the bills.
  2. You have been working hard at you job, but you don’t feel like you are just going in circles as you grind the millstone.
  3. Your vocation is unfulfilling and you feel like any job would be better than the one have.
  4. You have the best job you could ever ask for, if only you made a little more money doing it.
  5. You are in the perfect place with the perfect job, the right salary, and you enjoy both your job and your family like never before.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of  possibilities, and I know you might find yourself feeling something different, but try to pick what matches you best. Many people who are further along in their careers have experienced all of these seasons at one point or another. If you are fresh out of college, you might feel like there’s nothing more than the first season on the list.

Let me give you some tips that I am still learning. Some of them might seem counterintuitive but they make more sense the more you think about them. Continue Reading…

Supportive Team Analyst

April 24, 2012 in Leadership with 0 Comments

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In my quest to better understand myself and how I function in team and leadership settings, I try to take advantage of any opportunity I have to learn through my leaders, peers, and tests or assessments. When I saw the Action & Influence was giving away free assessments and coaching this year, I jumped at the chance to win.

Over the course of a busy week, I had all but forgotten that I entered to win the free assessment and coaching until I saw on Twitter that I had won. This is exciting to me because not only did I get a chance to learn more about myself through the AI assessment, but I also get a free coaching session with John Saddington (TentBlogger.com, 8BIT.io, ChairCo.org, myAI.org) this Friday. Continue Reading…

Hearing God: Circling Your Jericho

April 18, 2012 in Theology with 0 Comments

What is stopping you from hearing God? Does He only speak to the extraordinarily holy people among us, if at all? When was the last time you knew you were hearing from God? If you never have heard from Him, are you trying? If it’s been a long time since you’ve heard from Him, what has changed since the last time you did? Do you think your posture, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually, has anything to do with it?

If you don’t have 30 minutes right now to watch or listen to the following message, make sure you come back when you do. Pastor Doug Melder was truly anointed as he spoke on the subject of hearing from God this past weekend. Check it out:

Acting Like a Child

April 17, 2012 in Theology with 0 Comments

God is a good Father who wants to give good gifts to His children. Sometimes I forget this truth and beg as though He needs convincing. It’s as ridiculous as if my kids thought they needed to beg me to hug them. It delights my heart to hug them.

Francis Chan – Forgotten God (iBook, Amazon)

When I read that segment of Francis Chan’s book, I immediately thought of the relationship I have with my own children. I love to go overboard in buying them gifts for their birthdays and Christmas, and I love it when they come to give me a hug. They know that they can get a hug from me anytime they want and in comparing that relationship to our relationship with God, I am reminded of Luke 18:17 that says we should receive the Kingdom of God like a child.

Continue Reading…

A Delicate Balance

April 15, 2012 in Leadership, Theology with 0 Comments

Create an environment that helps people engage in worship and the Word of God. This is the task for production teams in large churches around the world. Everyone connects in different ways, and something that might help one person engage might be a distraction to someone else. No matter what we do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like at least one aspect of the services that we produce. To some people it probably even sounds weird to hear that we “produce” services. I’ll touch on that shortly.

Think about the last concert you went to. Do you remember the bright lights that were aimed at you and the crowd? I have some lights like that at our church, and I love to watch the congregation in worship when I bring them up. From upstairs in our production suite, I see more hands raised and I can hear the collective voice of the congregation grow louder. From my perspective, people are engaging more and focusing their attention on The One they are worshipping rather than the ones leading them in song. Continue Reading…

Stuck in Saturday

April 5, 2012 in Life, Theology with 0 Comments

Put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, Jesus’ closest friends.

He’s been saying all kinds of weird things about leaving, being denied, and rebuilding temples. All of the sudden, Jesus gets arrested, tried, and crucified. Now it’s Saturday and there is nothing but confusion, fear, and most likely a tinge of hopelessness in your heart and mind. The one you thought came to save you is dead and buried. The way they killed him over the course of a day with extreme prejudice makes you want to hide from the masses, so you mourn the death of your savior in private. Continue Reading…

In Mourning

April 1, 2012 in Life, Theology with 0 Comments

I am no stranger to the loss of a loved one. My grandfather passed away when I was in junior high. One of my cousins was killed in a car accident when I was in college. My dad died two years ago from cancer. The professionals who have studied grief tend to say that there are five stages of grief, known as the Kübler-Ross model, that people go through: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. These five stages are sometimes simplified to Arthur Schopenhauer’s three stages of the learning process: Ridicule, Opposition, and Acceptance.

Many people believe that everyone who experiences a loss or traumatic event goes through these stages of grief. Some experience the stages faster or more intensely than others, but everyone goes through them. I don’t think that is entirely true. Looking at myself as an example, I was sad when my family members passed away, but I don’t remember going through denial, anger, bargaining, or depression. I think that’s why I have such a hard time knowing what to say to people who have lost someone they love. Continue Reading…

Stewardship of Time

March 16, 2012 in Leadership with 0 Comments

Like many other people, it took a financial crisis for me to understand the importance of financial stewardship. I used to operate under the thinking that if I had money, I could spend it. If I didn’t have money, I would either borrow it or not eat for a few days until payday. That’s easy to do when you don’t have a family to feed but I had to make a change when I realized that I have children who depend on me to provide them with food and shelter. Being a good steward of time is just as important as stewarding finances well. Sometimes handling time poorly can even translate into handling money poorly. Continue Reading…

Ideas For Action

March 14, 2012 in Life with 0 Comments

One of the things I like most about the results from the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test is “Ideas for Action” section. This section gives you specific things you can do with each of the five personalized leadership themes that the test reveals. You might already be taking some of the action steps, and some of them might seem beyond your power at first, but you have to remember that they are suggestions based on your strengths. I think it’s important to at least pick a couple to work on at first, and I’d like to share a few of the action steps that I plan to work on from the results of my most recent test. Continue Reading…

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