Do You Give A Rip?

Check out this video of Penn from Penn & Teller. This should challenge us to ask ourselves some hard questions…

Do we really care about those that are far from God?

Do we really believe that Jesus has given us eternal life?

Is our fear of sharing our faith really the fact that we have very little faith to share?

Let’s take some risks…the world needs to hear the truth!

Are you wishing someone was home for the holidays? Ding.

Ok Creekers & Peeps…I just realized that I have one Southwest award coupon for one free roundtrip flight that is about to expire next week(Dec. 5th) & I would hate to see it go to waste. So…I’m giving it away…no strings.

Here’s the deal…the flight needs to be completed by Dec. 5th. So, I was thinking that maybe there is someone that wants to visit someone for Thanksgiving or get someone home for Thanksgiving. Maybe a college student…maybe a relative…maybe a close friend. 

If this works for you or a loved one… Email me. Make sure that you check Southwest.com for departure cities/destinations. I’ll update the post when the ticket is gone

UPDATE: THE FREE FLIGHT HAS BEEN CLAIMED…SORRY!

I care about Joe the Plumber for a different reason

A middle class, blue collar plumber named “Joe” was made famous in the last presidential debate. Each candidate used Joe as an example of who they are fighting for in this election.

I care about Joe the Plumber for a different reason…

I got to thinking about the “Joe’s” all around our community and County…The hard working men and women that are just trying to make it through life one day at a time. 

These “Joe the Plumbers” are all over the place and are looking for answers in life and hoping for change. Joe struggles as a divorced father trying to raise his kid properly. Joe tries hard to balance work with family. Joe wonders what life would be like if he did things differently. Joe struggles with addiction problems. Joe struggles to make ends meet each month. Joe wants desperately to find happiness. But Joe is looking for answers in all the wrong places.

I give my life to helping Joe find truth. I find myself praying for Joe when I can’t sleep at night. In fact, I can’t stop thinking about Joe….Joe is always on my mind. I’ll do everything in my power to help Joe find peace in this life and the next. Our church exists for Joe. We love Joe. We accept Joe for who he is. We don’t judge Joe. We don’t think we’re better than Joe. Joe doesn’t have to clean up before he comes to our church. We will serve Joe. We will invite Joe to discover life in Jesus.

Jesus died for Joe…and that makes all the difference in this world and the next for Joe.

Are “They” the right “They”?

On Monday, a few of us went to the Creative Church Conference hosted by Northway Church in Upstate NY. My pen was on fire as I scribbled down leadership insights that will take me weeks to process!

Ed Young talked about having the right “they” on your team if you are going to be able to carry out the vision that God has given us as pastors & primary leaders. Ed gave us an acrostic for “they” and I’ve added my thoughts on each letter. This acrostic helps us determine where we are weak, where we are strong, and when we might need to move someone along. It also sets a high expectation for our leaders. Here we go…

T = Tough 

The right “they” are tough. They don’t melt under pressure. They provide solutions not just tell you what the problem is. Being tough means not allowing conflict to overwhelm you, but to understand that conflict is a natural part of the spin cycle of leadership. No conflict means no growth. Tough leaders understand this. They might not like it, but they understand it and they deal with it in a healthy way.

H = Honest

This might seem obvious, but what about the less obvious forms of honesty. Like being honest about your limitations as a leader, or being honest about when you as a leader drop the ball. Leaders own their mistakes and don’t try to point the finger. The right “they” are not always right, but “they” are always honest. Honest in the small things as well as in the Big things.

E = Encouraging

The right “they” are always encouraging. They are always encouraging the primary leader as well as the rest of the team. If “they” are not encouraging, “they” are discouraging. It’s either one or the other and there is no middle ground. Even in the difficult times and during the hard conversations “they” are encouraging. Leadership brings enough discouragement of it’s own without the “they” being discouraging. There is “0″ room for a discouraging person on the team.

Y = Yielded

• Yielded to God – The right “they” are yielded to God. If they are not yielded they will make selfish decisions that honor themselves not God. If they are not yielded to God, they will not “get” the vision since the vision comes from God. The right “they” read their Bibles. The right “they” pray instead of “fray”. The right “they” are growing and maturing not suffering from spiritual atrophy.
• Yielded to the Vision – The right “they” understand the vision, they care about the vision, they carry the vision, and they protect the vision at all cost. 

The vision and mission that God has given us is way too important for us to not have the right “they” on the team. It’s the difficult job of the leader to make sure that “they” function on every letter. If even one letter is missing, “they” might not be the right “they”.