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Jul 09 2012
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#2020Heaven, Andy Stanley, Christianity, Heaven, Religion

#2020Heaven

On Saturday night, 20/20, with Barbara Walters asked the question, “What is Heaven?”  This two-hour special looked at many of the major religions and religious leaders of the world and asked then to describe what heaven is and how we can make sure that we get there.

A common theme began to develop as snippets of past interviews of common, everyday people, along with celebrities and religious leaders began to try to describe what heaven would be like after our deaths here on earth.  This common theme resulted in the idea that heaven was all about us.  Interviewees described what they thought they would experience, people they would meet, and how heaven would be for them.  The problem with this lies in the fact that everyone had their own ideas, yet all had the same notion that heaven somehow would be primarily about them; the individual.

Heaven is being overwhelmed by the perfect prescience of God in our spirit forms.  Heaven has never been about us, but rather about God.  

Throughout the Biblical Scriptures the progressive story of God’s love extending towards humankind with this purpose: the Restoration of all creation to Him.  This restoration, yes for our benefit, does not negate the fact that restoration can only come from God and therefore is about coming to Him.  Hence the answer to, “How do we get to Heaven?” must also come from God.  This was the second theme from 20/20, try to be a good person and do good deeds and you will get to heaven.  Here’s the problem, as Andy Stanley puts it, “How Good is Good Enough?”  One persons good might be better than anothers, and what standard do we have for simply trying to be/do good?

This is where the Bible helps us again; there is a standard, not made by man, but rather by God.  Verses like John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Or John 14:6, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now I could go on giving similar verses that point to Jesus as the only way to “get” to heaven or to find salvation, but you get the point.  The kickback with this is that it just seems unfair to most.  They ask Christ-Followers, why would God be so rigid, or why would a loving God make this the only way?  I don’t know why, but I choose to put my faith in something much more concrete, something that has plumb line, and I recognize that I am finite and don’t have to understand it all to put my faith in Christ.  The fact of the matter is, Christianity is the only religion where God shows love.  Yes, Christianity is entirely unfair.  It is so unfair that God gave up His Son to a sinful, fallen world so that we might be able to come into relationship with Him once more.  Christianity is so unfair, so merciful, so gracious, that no matter what you have done in your life you can choose to be redeemed and restored back into relationship with God.  It doesn’t mean that forgiveness washes away consequences here on earth, but it does mean it washes away the consequences of sin in the next life.

I couldn’t agree more that Christianity is unfair, and we are the beneficiaries of that unfairness.

I believe heaven is real.  I believe heaven is all about the presence of God consuming us.  I believe Jesus is the Savior.  I believe through Him our stories here on earth help change the stories of others.  Every person has a soul.  Every soul has a name.  Every name has a story.  Every soul and every story needs redeemed and restored by the Creative God.  Heaven is real, and so are you.  The only question is whether you will accept His standard, His love, His Son?

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Jun 21 2012
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#wcalgs, Andy Stanley, Bill Hybels, Change, Christianity, Church, Culture, The LIFT Project, Willow Creek

The LIFT Project Week 2 – Culture Can Change

We are on week 2 of the LIFT Project that focused primarily on the values and behaviors of the leadership culture of an organization.  There are 3 sections that I want to highlight from this weeks sessions.

1.  Leading Culture

The first session video by Bill Hybels talked about the purpose of leadership: “To Move People from HERE to THERE.”  This is as simple and as difficult as it gets.  Hybels brought the realization that people want to stay in the “here” because it is generally safe and comfortable.  People oftentimes remember the former “here to there” movement and are satisfied with the former movement.  As leaders, we can’t afford to be satisfied.  What Hybels suggested next was a great way to help jumpstart vision for the future.  Essentially, the leader must make the current reality seem unimaginable.  The current reality must appear unjust, unreasonable, and in need of major renovation.  The leader must eloquently help people realize that the current reality is neither safe or comfortable any longer.  When that message is received, then the message of the preferred future is ripe for the people to pick.

2.  Values in Culture

The second session video by Mac Lake discussed the values of an organizations team.  Values oftentimes are just words that organizations strive for, but never actually achieve.  Values are the behaviors in an organization.  Values are actions.  Organizations must strive toward creating systems that reinforce the desired values and behaviors that they want to see.  Words on paper mean nothing without the behaviors to follow them up.  Since values are behaviors, the behaviors end up creating the organizational culture.  Like Andy Stanley says, “What gets rewarded, gets done.”  What cultural behaviors are rewarded get done.

3.  Ministry Team Dysfunctions and their Effect on Culture

Finally, an article by Nancy Ortberg touched on a topic that I believe is often overlooked by teams because when they see the word, “dysfunction,” teams don’t even bother to look at the information because there is a belief that, “We might have problems, but not dysfunctions.”  Dysfunctions brings about thoughts of mental and emotional derangement; as if there is an abnormality.  This doesn’t resonate with most leaders, because how many leaders are going to see their teams and organizations as something that are drastically abnormal in mental or emotional functions?  In reality the 5 dysfunctions that Ortberg addresses all fall under the area of communication.  This is not communicating from a platform or sanctuary, but rather communicating within a team culture environment.  Ortberg states the “Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Inability to Make a Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability and the Inattention to Results” make up the 5 common dysfunctions of a team.  In almost every single one of these dysfunctions is the solution of starting with a conversation.  They might not be easy conversations, but conversations nonetheless.  When there is good communication on the leadership level, it breads a culture of trust, confidence, commitment, accountability, and better results for the organization.  Communication gives birth to a culture that doesn’t have a “lone ranger” mentality, and shares the responsibility in creating a culture that moves people from “here to there.”

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May 21 2012
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Andy Stanley, Be Present, Catalyst Dallas, Catalyst Dallas 2012, Christianity

Andy Stanley Opening Session Catalyst

Over the next couple of posts, I am going to simply give you some of my notes from different sessions of Catalyst Conference.  I might put some commentary, but mostly just summarizing my notes for you.

Andy Stanley Part 1

Andy started out the first session of Catalyst Dallas speaking on the “casualty of growth.”  He asserts that with growth comes the lack of accessibility for the leader.  Usually there are 2 extremes that occur in a leader when growth hits:

  1. The Leader tries to do everything still and will eventually burnout – This also will lead to bitterness
  2. The Leader will say that he can’t do anything and will pull back so much because since he can’t be “fair” to all he won’t do anything – this leads to becoming a cynic

Galatians 6:9-10

Stanley proposes a middle of the road method – “Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.”

The push back from this is that this just doesn’t seem fair.  If you can’t do it for everyone, then should we do it at all?  “Don’t try to be fair, be engaged.”  Being engaged means:

  1. Going Deep rather the wide – Go deeper with an individual or small group rather than trying to grasp everything/everyone.
  2. Go Long-term rather than short-term – Long-term means that a commitment is there.  You can’t really make change without a long-term commitment to an individual or small group.  A Short-term outlook doesn’t look to the real issue but rather the surface for a quick fix
  3. Go Time, not just money – Don’t just throw your money at a problem, but your time as well.  Some things might just need money, but when you put your time into it there is more buy in and commitment

“When you do for one what you wish you could do for everyone, more often than not you end up doing for more.”  When you affect the life of one, they in tern will pour into someone, because it has been modeled for them.

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Mar 19 2012
2 Comments
Andy Stanley, Christianity, Clarity, Leadership, Uncertainty

Seeking Uncertainty

“I’m just not certain about what is going to happen.”

Have you every found yourself saying that?  More than likely you have at some point in your life.  Usually we don’t like the feeling of uncertainty.  Our nerves begin to fire, worry begins to creep in, and fear of the unknown bounces around our thoughts.  We like to be certain about our decisions, don’t we?  It makes life a lot easier to know that a decision we are going to make or that we believe we should make will turn out the way we hope it will.

In any type of leadership, uncertainty will always be something to wrestle with.  I love the way Andy Stanley puts it in Next Generation Leader,

“Uncertainty is a permanent part of the leadership landscape.  It never goes away.  Uncertainty is not an indication of poor leadership; it underscores the need for leadership.”

I have come to realize that the amount of uncertainty in a leaders life directly relates to the amount of growth and vision a leader wants to achieve.  Uncertainty has the ability to do one of two things:

  1. Stop a leader from all forward motion or…
  2. Empower a leader to act

It is strange that these two outcomes, which are so different can both be solutions to the same issue of uncertainty.  The first solution is stopping motion.  This is the most often solution chosen by leaders.  It is not as if a leader desires to stop all forward motion, any person wants to see all the angles before acting.  This is not to say that stopping and gathering information is not a good or wise decision.  The problem arrises when the leader needs to be sure about all of the outcomes before making a decision.  This is where true leadership comes in to play.  Leaders lead people to places that they have not been before themselves.  They don’t know the outcomes; they have hope for the outcome.

This is where the second solution comes into play.  Uncertainty can empower a leader to act.  How so?  Every time there is uncertainty, it gives the leader the opportunity to reexamine the vision and mission of the organization.  Uncertainty allows the leader to bring clarity of direction.  It is never the responsibility of the leader to remove uncertainty; it is the responsibility of the leader to bring clarity of motion.  Leaders must seek out uncertainty as an opportunity for forward motion and growth.  Where there is uncertainty there is opportunity to reignite and reaffirm the core values of the organization.  The byproduct is a more focus, moving organization.  The longer a leader stands still in uncertainty, the more momentum is lost, and the more scattered an organization becomes, because decisions (or lack thereof) are not being based on the values of the organization.

As leaders, in any environment, we must seek out uncertainty and see it as an opportunity to move it more towards who we already are.  The value of uncertainty is forced clarity.  Clarity empowers an organization.  Stalled uncertainty implodes an organization.  Seek uncertainty and act.

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Oct 05 2011
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#wcalgs, Andy Stanley, Book Review, Choosing to Cheat, Family

Choosing to Cheat

Wanted to write a quick post today about a book that I picked up and read a while back by Andy Stanley entitled, Choosing to Cheat.  You might be saying to yourself, “Oh this must be some book about why people cheat on each other; probably not the right book for me.”  In reality, this book sets up with the premise that “Everyone cheats”.  We are not talking about sexual cheating, but cheating when it come to time and energy.

Stanley subtitle to this book is, Who Wins when Family and Work Collide.  This is a constant tension for most people.  Wanting to be successful in our business life and yet wanting to make sure  that we have a loving family as well.  Too often what happens is we focus solely on business life, making the excuse that being successful in our jobs means providing for our families.  Providing our families with what though?  It my provide them with money, but is that really what your family wants.

There is no doubt that our families what financial security, but what about your focus, energy, and presence?  Haven’t we seen too many families break apart because spouses become roommates, and kids act out in order to gain the attention of mom and dad?

We all choose to cheat; how will choose to cheat is the real question?  In a talk at a past Willow Creek Leadership Summit, Stanley made a great statement for all church leaders.  Stanley stated that “Jesus said that he would grow his church.  He told us to love our wives like he loves the church.”

The inference here is life changing if we let it be.  It was never out job to love the church, but rather to love our families.  Our priorities must fall in line with God’s priorities.  When we love our families and choose to cheat on work or church, then we are choosing what is best.  We are not saying that you don’t work hard or don’t commit yourself to work, but what we must realize is that we are first called to our families.  We are going to cheat someone; at least we get the opportunity to choose who and what.

Aug 29 2011
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Andy Stanley, Decisions, Direction, Judgement, Principle of the Path, Wisdom

I Judge…So Do You…Let’s Listen

There is a part of all us, I believe, that looks out and reflects on the actions of others.  As Christians, we begin to get uneasy when we say this though, because we want to say that we definitely don’t judge people.  However, I think that if we are all really honest with each other, we are constantly judging or making judgement calls.  Whether we want our kids to hang around other kids, whether or not we want to do business with an individual, or even just looking out someones life-decisions, we make judgment calls.

Is this the right thing to do?  We always bring up the verse in Matthew 7 where it tells us, not to judge or we will be judged.  And so we will talk about individuals and even preface it with, “I’m not judging them, but…”  I once heard someone say that all “but” means is that everything I just said isn’t what I really think and now you will hear what I really believe.

Once again, it goes back to the struggle, is it good for us to make these judgment calls in peoples lives?  It’s a calculating question.  Although we know what Matthew 7 states, we also know that God expects us to make wise decisions, to protect our families, to guard our hearts and character, and even to look at the fruit that is produced in our lives and the lives of others.

I think our main issue is not that we need to worry about making judgment calls; because I believe we all do.  It’s understanding out to react to the judgement calls of others in our own lives.  The problem arrises when we are fine making judgment calls on others actions, but when someone makes a judgement call in our own lives, we find it all to be “unfair”.  We build the walls around us, and are in shock to think that “they” would think or say such a thing.  However, this is the wrong attitude to take.  If we believe that all of us have to or at least do make judgment calls about the way other people live, why not take the information that is given to us and use it to our advantage.

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley highlights this in a great way:

Just about every decision we make becomes other people’s business…At every level, we pass judgement on decisions people make around us make.

His point is this: If our decisions are going to be public anyway, and judged by others, why not bring people into our decision-making process.  Why not hear first-hand what others are already going to talk about anyway.  This then takes being judged out of the equation, and sees what people have to say as insight.  This doesn’t mean we ask everyone’s advice.  It means we find those people who we trust the most; we find those people who we look at their lives and say, “That’s where I want to be in the future, tell me how you got to where you are at.”

Accept judgement calls from those who you respect the most…allow them access to your lives.  And the rest of those that judge; pay them no mind.  The truth is that “you will never reach your full potential without tapping into the wisdom of others.”  Find those that your trust and ask them point blank, “What do you think of this decision.”  Don’t worry, I am sure they will have an opinion for you!

Jul 27 2011
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Andy Stanley, Consequences, Decisions, Direction, Principle of the Path

Sacrifice and Investment

We don’t really like sacrifice too much do we?  Even the word sacrifice brings to mind us having to give something up.  Investment on the other hand gives us a feeling that we will get back later what we are putting in.  The problem is we can’t separate these two ideas.  The reason we can’t, lies in the fact that both conjure up emotions and feelings that we choose (or not ) to act on.  And there in lies the bigger problem.  When we begin to make decisions on emotions, truth and consequences begin to get blurry in our vision.  When it comes to decisions, Andy Stanley’s book, The Principle of the Path is tops on my list.  In it, Stanley addresses the idea of sacrifice and investing that puts everything in the right perspective.

What feels like a sacrifice now will feel like an investment later on.

We know that this is true, and yet we don’t live like it is.  Sure in some areas we live this way, but most definitely not in all of them.  We only have to look at how we spend our money, what we eat, how often we exercise, how often we pray or read the Bible, and we begin to realize that we are viewing these areas of life as a sacrifice…a sacrifice that we do not want to make.  Yet time continues and then we wake up one day in a daze of wonderment of “How did I get to this point in my life?”

Decisions are not stagnant.  The consequences don’t stop when a decision is made.  This is true with a bad decision or a good decision.  They linger; pointing us toward a direction to the near and ever passing future.  Sacrifice now, for that sake of later.

I read this morning in Proverbs 27:12 TNIV,

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.  

The most common danger that occurs in our lives are the everyday decisions that lead us one step closer to future suffering, future heartache, and in some cases a future where we are not involved.  Yet the prudent, the wise; see the danger that decisions can have in our lives far down the road and choose to sacrifice now.  And the wise know it is not a sacrifice, it is an investment.  Any decision that leads us to a better future can’t ever be considered a sacrifice because the future is now.

Jun 15 2011
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Andy Stanley, Change, Consequences, Family, Legacy

Generational Consequences

Not too long ago I started using youversion.com with my daily devotions.  It is a great resource with all sorts of devotional plans and ways to share what you are learning.  Interestingly enough, one of my readings today really showed me something that otherwise would seem like monotonous reading.  In I Kings 16, the writer goes on what seems to be an endless cycle of Kings that take the throne of Israel and how they “did what was evil” in the site of God and essentially God killed them (or had them killed in battle).  Through this monotonous reading of names and how they dishonored God it hit me on how the author kept going back to the name of Jeroboam.

Why is this all of a sudden important or even significant?  The reason is that the decisions that Jeroboam made while he lived and ruled on the earth had consequences generations after he was gone.

Some people argue that families or people who continually have troubles or issues have a family or generational curse (ie. Kennedy Family).  However, I tend to lean less towards the curse idea and more towards how Andy Stanley puts it, generational consequences.

When you look at I Kings 16 the reoccurring theme is that each king, “followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam.”  They followed.  They made the same decisions that the previous generation had made before them.  We look at it from an outside view and we think, “Why did they continue to make the same mistake as the one before them?  Didn’t they see that each king was removed by God because of their wickedness?  Why didn’t they change?”

Those are easy questions to ask when we are on the outside looking in.  However, when someone has been raised to believe and act in a particular way, the way of their father’s and ancestors, change is anything but easy.  Why?  Because decisions made now by you and by me will affect the way our future generations decide as well.

This seems pretty weighty doesn’t it?  How can we be responsible for the decisions of those that come after us?  We are responsible to put the next generation on the right path through our decisions…that is our responsibility.  If they choose to deviate from that path, then the responsibility falls to them.

Why is it that people who were molested as children are far more likely to also molest when they get older?  Hurt people, hurt people.  Alcoholics generally produce alcoholics.  Addicts produce addicts.  Our decisions have a compounding impact on those around us.  They don’t just affect us or our children after us, there are generational consequences to our decisions.

What are you deciding today?

 

 

Jun 03 2011
2 Comments
Andy Stanley, Character, Direction, divorce, Family, Love, Marriage

Just Married: Preparing is an Inside Job

Having just listened to one of the best sermon series on The New Rules for Love, Sex, & Dating from North Point Community Church it interested me to come across an article entitled, “Did You Marry the Wrong Guy?”  In this article, author Kimberly Goad talks about how %30 of now divorced women say that they “knew it was wrong from the start,” yet they walked down the aisle anyway and got married.  In this article, Goad makes reference to an individuals story of some of the reasons why she still decided to walk down the aisle even though she felt that it was the wrong thing to do.  Some of the reasons include:

  • Unrealistic view on Love
  • Feeling uneasy about getting older and the biological clock
  • Wedding fever
One of the most interesting statements of the article was this though:
“…you’re leaving behind your 20s – a decade of experimentation, one-night stands, and making mistakes, professionally and personally. In the next decade, you’re seen as an adult and can’t do those things.”
I think that this statement sums up much of the problem with the ideas of marriage and contains all of above bullet-points.  First of all your 20′s don’t have to be a decade of “experimentation, one-night stands, and making mistakes.”  This is a choice.  The fact remains that the decisions to make a season of your life all about experimentation and one-night stands puts you on a path that leads to always dating the kind of people that want experimentation and one-night stands.  In The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating, Andy Stanley talks about the phenomenon of women who say that they always seem to date “bad guys.”  His response is that the only common factor in every one of those “bad relationships” is the girl.  She is choosing to date the bad guys…why?  Because who you are is who you are going to have relationships with.
The woman who made the comment about the “decade of experimentation” is somehow shocked by the fact that she feels uneasy about marrying a guy whom she has probably dated throughout her entire 20′s.  Why is she so worried?  Because those are the kind of guys that you don’t make a life with; you make one-night stands with…there is not trust in that.
The other reasons for “rushing” into marriage (the biological clock and wedding fever) have an easy answer to solve.  If you ever feel like your “clock” is running short or you “just really want to get married” then remember this:
There are far more worse things in life than not being married.
What is worse?  Being in a marriage where you cannot trust the one that you are supposed to be able to trust fully.  Being in a marriage that is abusive physically, mentally, emotionally, and showing no signs of love or respect.  Being in a marriage “only for the kids”; living as roommates.  There are more, but you only have to ask those who have been through the muck and mire of marriage that destroyed people’s emotions, lives, and time.  People who have had these kinds of marriages will tell you that marriage is not something to go into lightly.
How do you then have a successful marriage?  It first starts with you.  You become the individual that you want to marry.  It’s an inside job.  Working to refine who you are as an individual.  Look at your past decisions and they will tell a tale of where your future is heading.  Likewise, look at the past of your potential spouse.  Their past decisions layout a picture of where they are headed, and once you get married, you will be headed in the same direction.  If you find yourself believing that he/she will change particular actions once you get married, you will be gravely mistaken.  As we get older, we only become more of who we already are.
Future hope is great.  Marriage is great.  But don’t get blinded by the aspirations of a life that you never prepared for.
May 16 2011
2 Comments
#Cat11, Andy Stanley, Clarity, Donald Miller, Listening

Clarity: Framing the Obvious

There are a lot of things that make a great communicator.  I recently had the opportunity to go to Catalyst Dallas and see so many great communicators.  Some of them had passion.  Others had facts, and others took us on a journey through their words.  But all of them were very clear when it came to their purpose.  They knew what they were going to say and how they were going to say it; they were clear.

As I was listening to Donald Miller speak, something seemed to hit me:

Clarity is digging out the obvious and framing it for the world to see and understand.  

In a recent podcast, Andy Stanley had stated that he often gets attacked by people who say that he is not “deep” enough.  His response, “I am not, not deep, I am just clear.”  Too often we mistake confusion for being “deep” and fail to see the value of clarity.

Having clarity,

  •  keeps everyone on the same page
  • allows people to retain and remember what is said
  • refreshes everyone who hears it
Clarity digs out what is already known, but frames it in a way that creates a wonderment in the souls of people.  Different speakers have different ways to communicate, but really good communicators tend to be clear.  When we are clear, people not only leave with understanding, but also see what was already right in front of them.  In essence, having clarity gives light so that they can see clearly for the first time.
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