leadership
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International Adventures leadership ramblings
Open Letter To Our Mission Trip Takers
December 13, 2011 – 11:16 am
Once again we have a solid group of students – both high school and college who have already committed to doing a mission project in the summer of 2012. This is such a huge highlight for me because I know these are life-changing opportunities for both the students as well as the place they go. The big one for Western Hills is of course our partnership with Word of Life in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
This is the letter I wrote the team this week…
An open letter to our students going on a mission trip this summer,
From your favorite pastor. (Okay – I’m your only one. Just humor me for a moment.)I don’t want to sound over-dramatic but there two things that I think the Lord is pressing on me to say to you.
First – thank you. For the last 4 years, the only international mission trips that Western Hills has been a part of has been with students. It should NOT be this way – we grown ups should be modeling for you what the Great Commission and Great Commandment look like. But it is. You are showing us.
You are showing us to be obedient to the command of Jesus – to go into ALL the world to tell ALL people about Jesus. We need this. I need this. Without this model – we’ll never grow into the church we need to be. You are the church of the NOW.
Second – hang in there and get wet.
What the heck is that supposed to mean?
Here’s what it means – Joshua 3 – God has given this ridiculous sized mission to a young leader named Joshua who has never led before. The mission was to occupy the land that God had been promising Israel for hundred of years. It would be a mission of incredible importance and supreme danger.
The biggest obstacle? The first 50 feet in front of them. The Jordan River. In flood stage.
In order to get to the land, they had to cross the river and it just looked insurmountable. Joshua was thinking about giving up before they ever got started.
Look at how many times God says to Joshua “Do not be afraid, have courage” in the first 3 chapters. It’s ridiculous. It’s beyond ridiculous. It makes you wonder if Joshua was really just a big baby and God was having to babysit him. Why does God take so much time at the start to “talk Joshua up?”
Because the biggest obstacle to completing the mission of God will always be the first 50 steps. ALWAYS!
The enemy knows that if he can get you to quit early, it’s done. People who have seen God work and have a taste of God coming through at the last minute – they don’t quit. They know better. So the pressure to quit is ALWAYS at the start, near the beginning.
And again at the very end.
Back to Joshua 3 – get wet. God is going to give Joshua a glimpse of what He can do if he will just obey. A glimpse enough to get him moving and obeying. God tells Joshua and the leaders to go stand in the Jordan river as if they are going to cross it.
When they do this — the river stops flowing. It becomes a dry river bed. Easy to cross. And they cross it. And hence a pattern is started for God’s people. You start the journey, you be obedient, you get wet. Then I’ll show up. But you are going to have to get wet first.
So my friends, here is what I’m telling you…
GET WET, PEOPLE!!!!!!
And let the rest of us watch God work in you and through you.
It’s my honor to be your pastor and friend.
Worship Leader vs. Worship Pastor
November 29, 2011 – 3:46 pm
Got into an interesting discussion this past week with a buddy about worship leaders and worship pastors. After we made the requisite metro jokes – we got serious for a moment. Here were some of thoughts….
A worship leader (wait for it….) leads music and song whereas a worship pastor leads people into experiences that collide them with God.
A leader plans and practices transitions from song to song whereas a pastor looks for holy interruptions that could send us deeper.
A leader will make sure his part of the service is done well while a pastor focuses on the WHOLE worship experience.
A leader will be great with the music, a pastor will experiment with different disciplines (silence, prayer, readings, communion, video, etc).
A leader will evaluate notes and tuning, a pastor will evaluate the impact and response.
A leader will understand response as someone walking down the aisle, a pastor will see response as life change once the service is over.
A leader wants to run a smooth practice, a pastor wants to develop other worshippers.
What would you add?
The Unfiltered Truth About Tebow
November 18, 2011 – 2:27 pm
It’s not rocket science why Tim Tebow is so polarizing. It’s part Jesus…and part Tim Tebow.
Listen, I cringe at the “Tebowing” kneeling posture that has somehow become larger than planking. But do you know how many football players kneel on one knee before a game or on the sideline to get focused before the game? Take a look the next time you get a chance. There’s quite a bit. The fact that Tebow is praying when he does it instead of listening to rap music that celebrates guns, drugs, sex, and more sex seems to really bother most of the other NFL teams, ESPN, NFL Network and FOX Sports.
I can understand the hesitancy and skepticism of most people. We’ve been sold the fakes so many times that our first instinct now is to dismiss Tebow as another nut job that one day is going to get found out. How many “Jesus” players have ended up in the news with drug charges, late night arrests, and overall fairly selfish behavior in life?
Then there is the actual gameplay of Tebow. He plays like a linebacker, talks like a pastor, leads like a general, and has a competitive fire of the likes we haven’t seen since….Michael Jordan. We don’t know what in the world to do with him. How is he 4-1?
Every player that has ever played with him says the same exact thing. I believe in him. He’s the biggest competitor on the team. He’s a beast. He can’t throw an out pattern to save his life but he can run over the middle linebacker, get up and do it again on the next play. He’s smart enough to figure out what the defense is doing and what he SHOULD do with the ball. He just can’t always do it. He’s what Ray Lewis would have been like as a quarterback.
I don’t think Tebow is the long-term answer for the Broncos. This run has been nice in terms of the record but it’s painful to watch. And one bad game by the defense renders this offense completely obsolete. See the Lions game.
However, I’m tired of announcers and players trashing and making fun of Tebow because instead of buying bling and Bentleys, he’s building hospitals in the Philippines. Instead of being a jerk and talking in 3rd person, he walks by kids with jerseys and hats and signs autographs until he’s pulled away.
I’m pulling for him. I hope he gets this throwing the ball accurately thing down. Because if he does, he’s going to be a beast of a quarterback and a heck of a leader.
But if he doesn’t get it figured out – the only thing that will be true is that he’s not an NFL quarterback. I’m guessing he’ll still sign autographs, build hospitals, and talk about Jesus.
And that’ll be okay too.
If he only had gone to Alabama.
I’m Not A Real Veteran
November 11, 2011 – 1:06 pm
I served in the Army. I was a combat engineer, combat military police in charge of prisoner escorts, and finally a Chaplain. I made the rank of Captain which only proves that anybody can join the Army and make Captain.
I was 45 days away from going to Kuwait when we were told to stand down. I resigned my commission 2 months before 9/11. I’ve done forced marches, night fires, NBC training, blown up tanks, roads, bridges, and building. I’ve repelled out of a perfectly good helicopter 100 feet up in the air. I experienced a fellow soldier die in training. I’ve broken up bar fights and help soldiers figure out their marriage as well as introduced them to Jesus.
But I’ve never been shot at. I’ve never dug a hole in the ground with the knowledge that it might just be the only thing between me and heaven. I’ve never had to clear my M-16 of blood and sand or drag a friend back to the Humvee. I’ve never been surrounded by the enemy.
I’ve never been thousands of miles away from my family…missing birthdays, anniversaries, football games, and pizza parties just for the love my country.
But I know men and women who have done those things. I’m both thankful and humbled by their attitude and sacrifice. And I’m thankful. Very, very thankful that they left their homes so that the rest of us can enjoys ours.
The Ministry of Interruption
September 27, 2011 – 8:44 pm
It’s only Tuesday night and it’s already been a week of interruptions. Which is better than okay. It wasn’t that long ago that a week like this would have totally cratered me and made me one irritable, exhausted man. That was before God smacked me around a bit.
Interruptions are God-opportunities. And they are not even in disguise. They are God’s billboard that is screaming “I AM DOING SOMETHING HERE AND YOU NEED TO WAKE UP AND JOIN ME RIGHT NOW!!!!”
A couple of late night phone calls. Some early morning conversations. Another friend who is dealing with the loss of his dad. Another friend dealing with her last days on earth as cancer wins. Another friend dealing with the loss of a sibling. Another young man processing the loss of his best friend at the young age of 29.
God is close to the broken because the broken seem to be open to hearing Him. And that’s the ministry of interruption – being there in that moment. Not to fix it. Good night, some things just can’t be fixed this side of heaven. In fact, I think God chooses not to fix some situations because their is something in the brokenness we can’t get anywhere else. Not sure if I can articulate exactly what THAT is but….
To be in that moment is not rocket-science. Pray, show up, love on them like Jesus, pray, be still, pray, wait, then speak when He speaks. Keep quiet if He is quiet. Be there.
Exposed and Protected
September 20, 2011 – 10:44 am
I need to tell this story about my day yesterday. This is the time of year where we enter budget mode at the church. We’ve been dreaming and seeking God’s face as a staff and leaders as to what He has for us in 2012. We’ve prayed through those and are continuing to pray through them, starting to put numbers to those dreams and then those numbers make up the budget.
But putting all of that together, keeping that juggling act of activity focused on Making disciples who love God, live connected, and serve all stretches me in areas that I didn’t even know I had. I love the dreaming and team building part. I love the putting steps in action to accomplish this. I love that more so than ever we have a more holistic approach to this process.
But when it comes to numbers and budgets, I just feel overwhelmed. As a leader, there is this huge temptation to be ‘good at everything’ that comes to your desk. Bible question? I gotcha. Counseling? Marriage? Kids? Sports? Politics? Budgets? As these questions and opportunities come flying at you, there is this evil voice gently whispering – “go ahead, fake it. You can be the expert.” And most leaders know enough about any subject to sound intelligent about for about 5 minutes. After that, the gig is up.
So I’ve learned to just punt that first 5 minutes. There is no sense in pretending, you’re going to get exposed sooner or later. Last night I was asked by a dear friend, ‘how are you really doing.’ I leveled with him – “This is the worst time of the year for me. I feel completely exposed as a leader and inadequate in this area of budgets. I can follow one, I can keep an organization under one. But creating and organizing?”
He just looked at me and said the exact words I needed to hear. “Grant…we’ve got people for that, right?” It wasn’t a question. He pushed me a bit more – “Just close your eyes, trust God and keep teaching the word.” Later that night he said something else that jolted me – “We need to do anything we can to keep bringing people to Jesus Christ. That’s the focus. Nothing else matters.”
Exposed and protected. That’s what I felt last night. What a great place to be as leaders in the church. This is the huge benefit of team leadership, in community with authenticity and humility. I’m off the ledge this morning.
Football Thoughts, Week of September 11
September 13, 2011 – 5:14 pm
Alabama
The defense is every bit as good as advertised. The offense and special teams needs some work. Their next test will be Arkansas in a couple of weeks. The pundits are saying that the Tide is rolling towards another national championship. I’m thinking that may be premature. Every one in the stadium knows that #3 is getting the ball and that just isn’t a great recipe for a season long run to the Championship. AJ McCarron will have to develop as well as a wideout other than Maze.
Auburn
As Coop and I were watching the game wind down, I told Cooper that the right call would be to throw now with 10 seconds left that way MSU has two plays. MSU runs and Auburn’s safety makes one heck of a play. I’m not sure if MSU just choked away a win or if Auburn is that resilient. Either way, Auburn is 2-0 and while they aren’t as talented or dominant as they were last year – they still play hard, still play the WHOLE game.
Georgia & South Carolina
Uga now has a different meaning. Watching Georgia self-destruct in that game was painful even for me. Murray still makes those one or two bone-head plays a game that just makes you go – “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??” Which should totally sound familiar for South Carolina fans as they have watched Garcia…dare I use the phrase ‘grow up?’ Shame for Mark Richt – who will probably lose his job after this season.
NFL
The Broncos…here’s the deal. I’m not anti-Orton. It’s just that we’ve seen this ineptness the last 4 years. Dink, dink, short run, turnover, field goals instead of touchdowns, penalties, and unable to finish games. It is clear that Orton is an average quarterback who at times plays awful but generally speaking will play to the level of talent around him. He isn’t going to put the team on his shoulders and take them to the next level.
What we don’t know is what we’ve got in Quinn or Tebow. And since it is apparent that the Broncos are going to be in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, wouldn’t it be great to figure out what you’ve got with Tebow or Quinn? Maybe they do know what they’ve got and it’s so bad they are just trying to get as much as they can in trade value from the other teams. The 23-20 score is so deceptive. The game really wasn’t that close and it was a slow, ugly game. Penalty Bowl.
The cool thing? The Orange Jerseys!!! Love that look!
The only team that I thought looked worse than the Broncs this past weekend was the Chiefs. And unless there is a major attitude change in KC, they could be the worse team in the NFL. They didn’t look ready to play and completely out-coached on Sunday. Could be a long season for the Chefs.
The Ft. Georges In Your Life
August 18, 2011 – 1:18 pm
This originally appeared on whillschurch.org as the weekly devo.
Thanks to my in-laws, Amy’s entire family was treated to a cruise vacation this summer. That’s a total of 13 of us. It was a great time even though a tropical storm diverted us from our original destinations of St. Martin and St. Thomas to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.
When you travel in a group of 13, a little bit of research goes a long way. We had done our research for St. Martin and St. Thomas but we were no longer going there. There were a couple of flyers on the boat about Grand Cayman and Cozumel but nothing in detail. One possible destination in Grand Cayman was a place called Ft. George.
I love old forts, the history, the cool canons. You can get the best viewpoint of the surroundings from a fort. I drag my family through them whenever I get a chance. Most of the time they end up liking it but quickly get bored. We do get some cool pictures out of these trips…so most of the time, it’s worth it.
According to the brochure, Ft. George provided a great place for pictures. It was the fort that protected Grand Cayman’s bay from pirates. I decided not to really push the fort on the rest of the family but I was going to explore it whether anyone else went with me or not. I did go around humming the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean just to see who else would get in the mood to go with me.
Turns out, I was the only one. But my brother-in-law and his sons reluctantly said they would go. That in turn guilted Amy and my sister-in-law to go along as well.
We get off the boat, I go into the visitor’s center and grab a map. I meet the rest of the crew right outside the gate of the port area. I spread out the map completely looking like a tourist but I don’t care. We’ve got a fort to find. “Gang, listen…this is going to be fun. I promise. These old forts are awesome. It’s not going to be as bad as you think it is.”
As I’m looking at the map, Amy pipes up. “I think found your fort.”
She can barely keep from laughing out loud.
The picture above is Ft. George. Located a mere 12 yards from the entrance to the port. All of it. At least, all that is left. If you look closely, my nephew is sitting on a replica canon. That’s right – the canon isn’t even real. The wonderful view has been replaced with a chain link fence and tropical pink wall. Right behind that wall is the bay and port of Grand Cayman. It’s beautiful. You’ll have to trust me on this one.
I’m still holding the map in my hands with this look of utter disbelief as Amy starts snapping pictures. My sister-in-law is in tears. Amy moves from pictures to video of my stuttering and looking in circles. My nephews start in on the Fort jokes. My brother-in-law said…”You’re right, Grant. That didn’t take any time at all. Not nearly as bad as I thought.”
As the gang took video and pictures – and made many a joke at my expense – I shrugged my shoulders and had to laugh. The trip to Ft. George will be remembered by our family for a long, long, long time. It’s one of the most memorable experiences of all of our time together.
We all have Ft. Georges in our lives. Things that we build up as so important, so meaningful, so wonderful then when we get there it is nothing like we thought it would be. Great plans that don’t pan out. Something or someone doesn’t deliver what was promised or what we thought it should have delivered. Those times can either be a place of major disappointment OR a place of laughter and refocus. Depends partly on our attitude but also partly on who we are traveling with.
This is why a Life Group is such a necessary part of our walk with Jesus. Ft. Georges are going to happen. Some will be funny, some will be painful. All can be bearable if we decide to travel with others that love us and love God.
Before this school year gets too crazy busy and full of your own Ft. Georges – check out a life group and get involved in one. I promise you it will be worth it.
For more information on a life group – click here or email Gary Manford at gmanford AT whillschurch.org.
At the Campus Crusade for Christ, err… I mean Cru Headquarters
August 8, 2011 – 11:02 am
I preach this coming Sunday – new series called “We Believe” – and so I got up this morning to put in a few hours of writing while my father-in-law went to some meetings.
CCCI made the news last month with its new name change coming in 2012 from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru. Reaction was all over the place – some saying “they’ve taken Christ out of the name,” “Bill Bright is rolling over in his grave,” and even had some folks quit giving to the ministry.
I’m here in the heart of the beast and I think it’s my duty to report to you the horrific truth of the matter – these people…are still the most Jesus focused people I know. There are signs at every desk cubicle in the building that say – “People are coming to Christ today because of the work I do.”
I like that.
I also like the name change. It’s actually not anything radical. If you’ve been on a college campus that had Campus Crusade on it in the last 15 years, you’ve already heard “Cru.” Over the years Campus Crusade for Christ got shortened to Campus Crusade then to Crusade then to Cru. Do you have any idea how hard it is to text “I’m going to Campus Crusade for Christ tonight, wanna go with me?” Much easier to say “Going 2 Cru, U can 2.”
I like the name change because it is going to infuse some courage into the campus ministries to keep changing HOW they tell Jesus’ story. The point is to reach as many as possible with Jesus’ story, build them into maturity, then send them back into the wild to do the same. As generations change, so must our methods.
Not the story…just the methods.
Have They Read What Jesus Says?
July 19, 2011 – 12:22 pm
I’m in the middle of a conversation with a good friend right now about salvation. We both noted that the “brochure” of salvation we were sold as children looks nothing like the words of Jesus. It’s like we were tricked into buying a time-share. Who knew that the “free” lodging was going to be this expensive?
I remember sitting in a life group and this topic came up. I challenged the group to actually read the words of Jesus and look at how He described a relationship with himself. Take up your cross, follow me, obey me, put my yoke upon you, when you DO this, obey, stay IN the vine, produce fruit, there will be some who say ‘Lord, Lord’ that I never knew.
What we often paint as the “hard words” of Jesus is in reality the baseline of His understanding of relationship. What we often paint as the baseline of relationship with Jesus is strangely absent: pray a certain prayer, cognitively recognize certain theological truths, have an emotional experience.
Got your attention yet? It’s concerning to hear the gospel presented as a set of theological truths to be “believed” in with no real life change, no real relational investment to Jesus at all. It’s more than concerning. It’s horrific and “selling” a false Gospel.
What Christianity is (should be) at its core a relationship with Jesus Christ. A living, breathing relationship. And all relationships take some work, some investment. All relationships change us in some way. Bad relationships change us for the bad, good relationships change us for the good. Relationships require time. All that is true of a good, healthy “earthly” relationship is true of our spiritual relationship with Jesus.
I’m not proposing a “works based” salvation. I am suggesting that a relationship with Jesus requires more than just a prayer and cognitive recognition of a set of facts. Just like my relationship with my wife took more than me standing up in a tux and saying “I do.” My whole life changed because of that relationship…and so should any relationship with Jesus.
Just saying….
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