We're taking this thing to a Whole Nutha Level!

This will be last post on the blog formerly known as Real Life Leaders.

From now on, you can join the revolution at OhioValleyRevolution.blogspot.com

See ya there!

So I got this message in my Facebook inbox (I've deleted last names):

Hi Jessica - I don't think we even know each other. I actually clicked on your profile to see who the nice person was that was going to take Mike's puppy. From there, I "snooped" around. Long story short, I have been trying to find a church that would work for my family. I am not interested on an "If you (fill in the blank)_________, then (and only then) will you be "good", "saved", etc. Something tells me you might be the person to ask about something out there that is a little different, and more accepting, positive, real, etc. If you'd like to share, I'd love to listen. Thanks so much, Amy

I wrote back to Amy and hopefully we can get together soon.

We've been asking God to move in BIG WAYS in Belmont County and He certainly is! People are hungry, restless.

Pray for Amy and her family.

Pray for our team.

Pray for Belmont County.

Amen!

From TheDailyVerse.com:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... Ecclesiastes 3:1

Change is going to happen. You can count on it like you can count on summer turning into autumn, autumn turning into winter, and so on. There is a divine purpose for change - it is necessary to prepare for the next season. Instead of spending your energy reacting to the changes that are bound to come, start considering how you can spend that energy embracing those changes and living them out to the fullest.

"I want a church that my children can understand and enjoy going to."

That was facebook chat from an old high school chum.

An old high school chum who is surrounded by churches in St. C., but NOT ONE that is applicable to her and her childrens' lives.

You hang on, baby!

It's coming!

Let's do this thing!

From Steven Furtick: That can’t happen
One of the sayings we used to employ around here is: That can’t happen.

Battery in a handheld died during announcements? That can’t happen.
Audio on a video didn’t fire on cue? That can’t happen.
Staff member showed up late for a meeting? That can’t happen.

We don’t use the phrase quite as much these days. Because fact is: That can’t happen does happen. Inevitably. Inconveniently. In recurring patterns.

So what do you do when that happens? Here are a few suggestions:

Force accountability for the mistake. In our weekly production meeting, there’s a section called hits and misses. Under misses, everything that went wrong on Sunday is listed and scanned by the entire group. We don’t discuss the majority of the items, but requiring that they be listed and acknowledged is a step toward ensuring that it won’t happen next time.

Diagnosis systems-not symptoms. Don’t settle for: “Jeff forgot to change the battery…I yelled at him”as an acceptable explanation for the mistake. Cause Jeff might not be the one to change the battery next time. What’s the system to make sure the batteries get changed? Is it a good one? If so, why was it violated? What have you done to prevent it from happening again-not just next week-but 6 months from now?

If that keeps happening, either change the standard or change the personnel. Otherwise, you’re sending a message: that really can happen-it’s no big deal.

Mistakes aren’t fatal. Apathy is.

Wow! Now THAT'S a Standard of Excellence!

From Mark Batterson:

When it comes to leadership, half the battle is an uncompromising commitment to do it big and do it right. Come hell or high water, great leaders don't settle for anything less than their best effort. They are relentless. In many ways, great leadership boils down to this: you do whatever it takes to make the dream become a reality. You settle for nothing else. You settle for nothing less.

Thanks, Mark!

From You Can Know God:
Thinking out loud about some of the things I’m learning about leadership. Today…here’s some thoughts on vision.

• People will not buy into a vision that they do not understand. But if they understand the WHY, then will often jump in with both feet.
• It’s virtually impossible to over communicate the vision. We must keep telling (and showing) people the WHY behind the WHAT.
• Casting the vision doesn’t always mean it’s understood. We need to ask follow up questions to make sure people are on the same page.
• Sometimes, people get disgruntled or don’t act the way you want them to act, because they don’t understand
• The more confusing the concept, the smaller the meeting needs to be. If I’m talking about something really intense, I need to process it through small groups first…not the entire church all at once.
• When it comes to making decisions about vision, ask if the PRICE is worth the PRIZE? When we were talking about doing the Egg Drop, I decided that the PRIZE of connecting 300+ OLC volunteers to a community event was PRIZE enough, even if it cost us a little money.
• It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” - Walt Disney
• Everybody says it, but it’s absolutely true. Vision leaks over time. We have to keep reminding people.
• It’s better to illustrate the vision than to describe it. SHOW people what it looks like.
• A phrase I’m learning to use more and more in discussions is “So, just to be clear…”
• Vision cannot be imported. If you borrow your mission and vision statements from other churches, you’re trying to import your vision.
• Be ruthless about the vision, and don’t change it just because someone doesn’t like it or quits giving money to it. (My Favorite!)
• Vision is what leads the leaders.

Yea Baby!

My turn to post from Perry Noble...

Four Leadership Myths That Aren’t Usually Talked About–Part One
In this series of posts I completely understand that I will really tick some people off…but I feel like some people will be set free. Understand this before you begin reading…God doesn’t use people pleasing pastors to accomplish His purposes! He uses men SOLD OUT to Him…and His call, which means there are times HARD things must be said and done.

Here we go…
Myth #1 – Anger Is Ungodly
Have you ever been told after a message, “You seemed mad today? You should really try to be more kind?”
Believe it or not—that’s been said to me a time or two.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this and came to the following conclusion…if a pastor isn’t pissed about something…he probably doesn’t preach/lead from passion and conviction, but rather from convenience and apathy.

Every leader that did something significant in the Scriptures was ANGRY about something…
Moses was angry about his people being enslaved.
David was angry about Goliath.
Jesus and Paul were angry about religious people.

But the one who sticks out to me on this point is Nehemiah!

In Nehemiah 1-12 we see a man completely sold out to a vision. He risked his life for the vision in chapter one, fought his critics and enemies, dealt with leadership challenges and poured his heart, soul and his money into seeing the vision God placed inside of him come true.

He then honored his word and went back to see the king…then returned to Jerusalem in Nehemiah 13 to see what he had fought so hard for fall completely apart…

And he was pissed!

He SERIOUSLY did things that probably caused the bloggers to go nuts!
In Nehemiah 13:7-9 he literally cleaned out a dudes “office” by throwing things out in the street.
In Nehemiah 13:10-11 he rebuked the leaders for not carrying out the vision.
In Nehemiah 13:15-22 he literally threatened to beat the crap out of people who were threatening the vision.
In Nehemiah 13:23-25 he lost it and DID beat some people up!
In Nehemiah 13:28 he fired a guy pretty forcefully!
Nehemiah was ANGRY…godly anger! He was full of passion…godly passion. He did some things that would be considered unorthodox in today’s world…and yet there is not one single Scripture rebuking him for how he acted.

As a leader there have been things I’ve had to apologize for…but I will NEVER apologize for passion…ever.

MAYBE that’s one of the problems in church world today—there aren’t enough leaders who will FIGHT for what they believe in. The early church leaders were willing to sacrifice their lives…unfortunately many leaders today won’t even sacrifice a paper cut!

People full of passion are used by God to accomplish His purposes. Apathy is absent in heaven…it should be absent in the church and her leaders!!! A leader should always be willing to repent from ungodly anger…but NEVER for being angry because the God given vision is being polluted or diluted.

Well, well. Read that last line again. "A leader should NEVER repent for being angry because the God given vision is being polluted or diluted."

Belmont County is STILL in need of a church that values unchurched people more than religious people.

Belmont County is STILL in need of a church that is willing to set the preferences of Christians aside in order to reach those who don't yet know Jesus.

Belmont County is STILL too full of churches who are willing to tell the unchurched people of Belmont County to "Go to Hell" (LITERALLY) because they are afraid they'll get too big ("I won't know everyone's name") or because they feel more compelled to display their "acts of holiness" (read "weirdness" if you are unchurched) than they are compelled to not freak out their unchurched neighbor.

And THAT makes me VERY angry. And I will not repent!

From Steven Furtick's blog:
They can’t stop you
You probably remember the occasion when Gamaliel told the Sanhedrin to leave the disciples alone because:
“If their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”Acts. 5:38-39

If you are doing the work of God for the purposes of God in the power of God, you’re unstoppable too. Just like the early church. Just like Jesus Christ.

I don’t remember where I first heard this little quote, but it has enlivened me on many tough days (it’s even posted in one of my assistants’ office):

When I want what God wants for the reasons God wants it, I’m unbeatable and unstoppable.

Receive that today. Breathe it in. Then walk it out.

Maybe you’re a pastor squaring up with a carnal deacon board, trying to pursue a God given vision in the face of tremendous scrutiny and opposition. Stay on the wall, Nehemiah. That deacon board can’t stop you. God is fighting for you! Dream, implement, preach, evangelize, cast vision.

It will come to pass.

Maybe you’re a parent trying to instill godly values into your child, and they’re putting up a hell of a fight every step of the way. Remember, your child isn’t fighting against you. According to Gamaliel, they’re fighting against God!

And whether they know it or not, they’ve met their match. It’s just a matter of time ‘til He lands the knockout blow.

Keep training, encouraging, correcting, disciplining, praising, mentoring, sowing. It will produce a harvest.

If God is for you, who can be against you.

http://www.driveinternational.org

DRIVE-IN is a series of live Web events featuring Andy Stanley created for international church leaders. DRIVE-IN explores the foundational philosophy and principles that guided the leadership of North Point Community Church in creating irresistible, relevant environments that continue to attract people who don’t like church.

Urgent personal finance advice from Seth Godin:

If I could only share one piece of personal finance advice to grads or to just about anyone, it would be this:

Only borrow money to pay for things that increase in value.

It's a short list: your business, your house and your education, mostly. Stocks if you're smarter than me. That's pretty much it.

If you have credit card debt, you're in big trouble. Your bank account has a huge leak in it, and it's getting worse. Hence the urgency.

If you have credit card debt, that means that every time you spend money (even cash), you're borrowing money to do so. And so, if you're going out to dinner or buying a new pair of shoes, you've just broken the single most important rule of personal finance. You're spending borrowed money on stuff that is decreasing in value.

This is an emergency. It's an emergency because every single day you wait, the problem gets worse. A lot worse.

My suggestion: Go to defcon 1, and do it immediately. Shift gears to live well below your means. That means:

• No restaurants
• No clothes shopping
• No cable TV bill
• No Starbucks
  

It means:

• Take in a tenant in your spare bedroom
• Carpool to work
• Skip vacation this year
  Eat brown rice and beans every night for dinner
• Act like you have virtually no income.

The result? You'll save $5,000 to $20,000 a year. Send all of it to the credit card company. Do this until you're debt free, the faster the better.

There. Now you're rich. Now you get interest on your savings instead of paying the bank. Twenty years from now, this emergency action will translate into perhaps a million dollars in the bank, depending on how much you earn and how serious you are.

You can thank me then.

From Geaorge Ambler:

“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” - Robert Jarvik

Leaders pioneer and initiate change. Leaders are not sheepwalkers and they do not follow the traditional cow paths of life. Leaders bring the future into the present. This is because leaders see what others do not, they think differently. It’s because of this that visionaries find resistance from many fronts. Consider the following…

“The flight be machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible” – Simon Newcomb, an astronomer of some note, 1902
“It is an idle dream to imagine that . . . automobiles will take the place of railways in the long distance movement . . of passengers.” – American Road Congress, 1913
“The odds are now that the United States will not be able to honor the 1970 manned-lunar-landing date set by Mr. Kennedy.” – New Scientist, April 30, 1964
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” – Ken Olsen, president Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

Leaders create change and are often faced with resistance and challenge. In spite of this many succeed…
(From Jess-Let's revisit a video that was posted awhile back...)

You know, for years, one of my favorite sayings has been:

"Life's too short to hang around a bunch of people who don't realize how wonderful you are."

Now, I recognize on first glance that could seem a little arrogant. But I believe that it is ABSOLUTELY true. We all vascillate from moments of vanity to moments of insecurity, depending on the situation, but I believe THIS to be true-

In general, we should surround ourselves with people who see the potential in us that we don't yet see...people who will help us stretch and grow into all God created us to be.

Unfortunately, if we aren't careful, we'll find ourselves in the opposite situation instead, surrounded by people who really don't see what we bring to the table, and never will. Then we find ourselves trying to continuously prove ourselves and justify our position, our worth, and our value. That can be a full time job.

Sometimes, you just have to step off the treadmill of trying to measure up to other people's standards. Life's too short...

From Tony Morgan's blog:

I’m growing more and more convinced that the worst thing an organization can do is try to reach a consenus about something. Think government. Think church committee meetings. Think declining big business.

On the surface, reaching a consensus seems like a positive thing because it means people have agreed to move in the same direction. That’s a good thing isn’t it?

Actually, I’m not convinced that’s the case. For example, here are 5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks:

1. It embraces the status quo. Change, whether positive or not, is not human nature. We would prefer for things to remain the way they are today. So, when people get together to discuss the possibility of doing something a little different in the future, it’s normal for the majority to avoid making changes.
2. It gives the malcontents an equal voice in your decision. Reaching consensus gives everyone a voice at the table. When that happens, even the negative, bitter folks that don’t really embrace the vision have the opportunity to pull the rest of the group away from what could really be the most desirable outcome.
3. It short circuits the radical ideas that lead to the biggest breakthroughs. The big, bold ideas won’t see the light of day. Yet those are the ideas that could potentially lead to the best innovations. Consensus brings people back to the middle where the majority approves but mediocrity reigns.
4. It leaves unresolved conflict on the table. At the opposite ends of a decision are distinct opinions which, if left unresolved, could potentially lead to division. Consensus prevents tough conversations from happening. It gives people the freedom to jump to compromise without engaging a healthy debate.
5. It discourages people from dreaming big dreams. Want to neuter the creative-thinkers and entrepreneurs and visionaries in your organization? Force them to reach consensus with the rest of the crowd. These are the people that make you uncomfortable. They can drive you crazy. That’s OK. They’ll just go work someplace else if you keep forcing them to compromise their dreams.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or, have you actually seen consensus work? What would you add or delete from the list?

Let’s try to reach a consensus on whether or not consensus sucks.

From StevenFurtick.com:

Swatting at gnats

I heard this from an eyewitness:

An internationally famous minister recently spent some time with another well known pastor. The more experienced pastor was listening to the other guy elaborate about some things that were weighing heavily on him, keeping him up at night, stealing his focus.

After this went on for a little while, the more experienced minister looked at his friend and told him: “You’re swatting at gnats. You’re going to wreck your car swatting at gnats.”

That spoke to me. I spend too much time swatting at gnats. I expend my energy fighting battles where there are no spoils. I let worry and anxiety overwhelm me about situations that are either hypothetical, or outside of my control. I let stupid comments from stupid people occupy oh-so-valuable bandwidth in my brain. I blow my dilemmas out of proportion until they seem larger than life, and impossible to solve.

We’ve got to stop swatting at gnats. We’ve got places to go, and bigger things to do.

Got this today from TheDailyVerse.com
If you don't subscribe, I would encourage you to check it out...

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ... 2 Corinthians 10:5

You can't control everything that happens to you, but you do have the ability to choose how you respond to things. Choose to run your thoughts and your actions through the filter of Christ, taking captive those that won't move you, your situation or the Gospel forward."

Apparently, the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan is AMAZING. Although, I haven't read it, many of the people that I love are RAVING about it!

These quotes are from Perry Noble's blog, but come from Chan's book:

• “Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?”
• “I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered.”
• “Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a “Christian” without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd.”
• “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” (DANG!!!)
• “Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to other believers.”
• “If a guy were dating my daughter but didn’t want to spend the gas money to come and pick her up or refused to buy her dinner because it cost too much, I would question whether he were really in love with her. In the same way, I question whether many American churchgoers are really in love with God, because they are so hesitant to do anything for Him.”

How's that for blunt? Talk about a smackdown! I'm feeling convicted...how about you?

From BEYOND RELEVANCE:
The Stadium Principle (part 3) (copyrighted by Richard L. Reisling)

This is the third installment in The Stadium Principle. Let’s finish this off.

After many years of playing, usually someone with great talent develops—from little league to college to the big leagues. Picture a rising star with me. He’s like a Nolan Ryan or a Roger Clemens. He’s Randy Johnson. Ok, imagine it’s the bottom of the ninth inning at game seven of the World Series. We’re talking intense—the President of the United States threw out the first pitch, Grammy-award winner sang the national anthem like you’ve never heard it before, the game has been back and forth, back and forth. Bottom of the ninth and everything is on the line. Randy’s on the pitcher’s mound and it’s the moment of a lifetime for him. All of the years or little league and college ball have built up to this. Randy has lived baseball—eaten, drunk, and slept baseball. His friends love the game and they love how he plays the game. Bottom of the ninth—it’s a full count, two outs, one strike and we win. People are tuned in around the world watching this.

Do you think Randy Johnson, at this moment, remembers what it feels like to not care about baseball? Do you think he’d be able to relate to someone who has never been to a game at this moment? Just like Randy, do you think pastors who have lived church—eaten, drunk, and slept church—with friends who love God and admire them…do you think they remember what it’s like to be a stranger to church and to not know God? Do you think most pastors routinely remember what it’s like to hear about Jesus for the first time? It is almost counterintuitive. After all, as church leaders, we spend most of our time with church folk.

I say this in prayer that we never forget what is going on in the hearts and minds of those people in the upper deck. Those are the most overlooked and least connected with. It’s easy to pitch for the lower deck—they are the cheers we hear the loudest. A good pitcher learns how to make the game great for people at all levels of the stadium. God give us a heart for the upper decker and allow us to never forget the first time we heard the crack of the bat.

© Richard L. Reising

From BEYOND RELEVANCE:
The Stadium Principle (part 2) (copyrighted by Richard :. Reisling)

Last time I gave a baseball analogy and talked about how I went from making fun of the baseball freaks to actually becoming one. I talked about the fact that I didn’t get there overnight. It was gradually through baby steps. I went from hating the game, to giving in and actually going to a game, to discovering that baseball might even be enjoyable, to going back to another game, to buying season tickets, and joining a softball league.

These baby steps could be paralleled to many people’s experience with the church and accepting Christ. I thought I would never set foot in a church until my friend pleaded and I gave in. I sat there feeling empty and full all at the same time. It was obvious to me that there was something more and when the pastor spoke, it was like that home run—in my heart. His words inspired me and I returned.

Later, I committed my life to Christ and I found myself more and more sold out. I was investing more--paying more for my seats. I wore the Christian t-shirt and I had the leather Bible. God was working in my heart and people began to see a change in me. I joined the church and solidified my commitment.

One day, as I was growing, God called me out to the playing field. I now find myself serving any time that I can. I can’t wait to see all of my friend and family come to know Christ. Sometimes, like Paul, God completely knocks you off your horse and you go from disconnected outside of the ballpark to the playing field in a very short time. Unfortunately, this is not the case most of the time. It’s a matter of progression over time. During that time, God works in our hearts and minds to change our perception. Now I am not saying we are not all immediately called to be witnesses, I am saying that we grow and progress in our walk with Christ at different rates, but in similar stages.

So what can we, as a church, do to help those outside the ballpark make it to the upper deck? What about the upper-deckers moving to the lower deck? How do we challenge the lower deck to get on the playing field and be part of the team? I’m sure you’ve seen the parallel that I’ve made by now and I pray that you understand I am not belittling the church with this illustration.

My heart is simply to understand that perceptions are quite varied in our churches. Whether it’s unbelievers, or scholars, we’ve got to learn to reach people right where they are and motivate them to the next level. Are you thinking about that every week as you prepare your messages? Make it so.

© Richard L. Reising