As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5 NIV

Have you ever had something in your life that you just couldn’t figure out? I know I have. There have been some situations, which have occurred to me personally or people I love that left me asking God “why”. I have witnessed friends go through trials that seemed at the time beyond God’s repair (they really weren’t) and I kept wondering how God could possibly “work all things for good”.

Then I remember this verse. I remember how the tornado that devastated our town a decade ago escaped every weatherperson’s predictions. No one knew it was coming. There was no warning, but as much physical damage was done, not one life was lost. No one could explain it.

I think about watching a child being born and witnessing the miracle of God clearly unfold before my eyes. How could this perfect child have grown so lovely within his mother’s womb? I’ll never understand it.

That’s the way it is with certain situations in life as well. How do we explain them? We can’t. How can we understand them? We can’t. What we can know is that there is a God who understands, a God who cares, and a God we can trust.

Our mission as followers of Christ is not to understand all God’s ways, because we will not be able to in this life. Our mission is to trust the God whose ways are so much higher than ours.

What is it you have a hard time understanding in life?

Related posts:

1. Questioning God When I Don’t Understand
2. 7 Ways to Make Your Prayers More Effective
3. 7 Ways to Hear From God Through the Circumstances of Life

We continue our series on Everybody…Everywhere this Sunday at Grace Community Church, this week focusing on local missions. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour for daylight savings time. You do not want to miss this series. I’ll be looking at a familiar story to challenge us to think. We will also have some community ministry opportunities represented. The music lineup is incredible. Join us at 8:30, 10:00 or 11:30. We love visitors!

Hope to see you in the morning.

Who could you call tonight and ask them to join you?

Related posts:

1. Three Services Sunday at Grace Community Church!
2. Operation Serve Sign Ups This Sunday
3. An Important Experiment This Sunday with Grace Community Church

My boy’s can “fondly” remember the time we drove from our driveway heading to an undisclosed location on vacation.  I decided in advance not to tell them where we were going, but to let it be a surprise.  We were actually heading to St. Louis, but to complicate the situation, I decided to drive all side roads.  We went through what seemed to be every back road between our house and the hotel.  What should have been a four and half hour trip ended up being an eight-hour trip.  The boys complained frequently, which I expected, but when the trip was over, they realized we had experienced a great time just being together.

Why did I put my boys through such misery?  Am I a bad dad?  Well, the jury may still be out on that answer, but my logic was simple.  I wanted us to enjoy the day together as a family and I knew if I told them in advance what I planned for us to do and how we would do it, there would have been no cooperation on their part.  As it turned out, we had a great trip, saw things we wouldn’t have seen on the main roads, and enjoyed the time together. In addition, it gave us a lasting memory and joke of a time when they were “miserable”.

How many times as parents do we wish our children would just go along with the plan? Are there days we simply wish they would cooperate, because we know in advance that if they will, everything will be so much better? Do we want our children to cooperate with others, maybe even others with whom they do not agree on every issue?

We are each born with natural tendencies towards selfishness and independence, but families work better when everyone gets along and cooperates.  Teaching your children to cooperate should begin at an early age, as they first begin to play with other children. Once a child reaches elementary school there is a certain expectation, that he or she knows how to cooperate with other children.  Learning to cooperate with others, however, is something in which each of us continues to mature throughout our life.

If you are struggling with instilling the value of cooperation in your children, here are some suggestions:

Do not make your children think they are the center of the world.  Sometimes we mistakenly give our children everything they want, refuse to see their faults, and never allow them to fail.  The danger is that when they become adults they expect equal treatment from the world.  How is that working for you as an adult?

Model cooperation with others. Let your children see you getting along with other people, including people different from you.   If you are constantly complaining or arguing with your spouse or other family or friends, your children will be more inclined not to cooperate with you or others and they will have learned it from you.  Do you need to reconsider how you talk to people around you?

Do not provoke your children.  Ephesians 6:4 is our encouragement here, where it says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children”.  I was probably pushing that limit with the illustration above, but I kept it light-hearted and I knew my limits.  Don’t make your expectations for them be so high they can’t live up to them.  Remember they are children you are teaching how to be mature adults.  Are you placing too high of expectations on your children for their age?

Be a giver. Let your children see and participate in opportunities to give to others.  Find ways they can observe you being generous with others and look for family activities where they can help you bless other people.  What’s is a way you could lead your family in a project to give back to others?

Live life with other people. One of the benefits of being in a healthy church or playing on a local sports team is your children get to be around other people and are often forced to figure out how to get along with each other. Find ways to allow your children to experience different cultures. How have you exposed your children to people different from them?

(I originally wrote this as an article for Clarksville Family Magazine.)

What ways have you taught your children to cooperate?

Related posts:

1. Cross Street Live (Night of Fun for Children and Parents)
2. 10 Steps to Raising Generous Children, Part 2
3. Building a Lasting Connection With Children

 
“The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?’” Joshua 7:10 NIV

The people Joshua was supposed to be leading were not going in the direction he was supposed to be taking them. The Israelites had fallen to the ways of the world, following other gods, and choosing to reject their commitments made to God and to Joshua.

Joshua, in a fit of desperation, tore his clothes and fell on his face before God. In essence, God must have seen into Joshua’s heart (He does that well) and saw that Joshua was ready to quit. God’s word to Joshua: STAND UP! Joshua had an assignment from God and it wasn’t time to give up his post.

When I read this recently it was a great reminder of our calling as leaders. Too many times, I have been tempted to give up when the pressure mounts too heavily, but that’s not how a leader responds to troubled times.

Are you a weary leader? I know the feeling, but I need to remind you that leaders don’t give up when things get difficult…

Sure, critics will arise…
People will resist your leadership…
Some days nothing will seem to go right…
You’ll be over your head many times in your leadership…
Quitting may even seem like the best alternative…
Still, in spite of the circumstances, leaders push through and pursue the vision God has called them to…

If God has called you to a task, don’t let others distract you…don’t let fear or failure get in your way…don’t allow the discomfort or setbacks of leadership keep you down for long. Stand up! Fight the good fight! Complete the task! Give God the glory!

That’s what leaders do!

Have you ever been tempted to lie down on the calling God placed on your life? How did you find the courage to keep going?

Share your story here and let it encourage others.

(For similar encouragement, read THIS POST.)

Related posts:

1. The Best Leaders Give Their Vision Away
2. Leaders Encourage Their Organization to Victory!
3. 5 Reasons You May Not Be Leading and What To Do About It

 
In a previous post, I wrote the reasons to micromanage. (Yes…there are times…Read that post HERE) Most of the time micromanaging is not a positive characteristic of leadership. Here are some reasons leaders resort to micromanaging:

Fear – When the leader feels that another person may receive credit or recognition greater than the leader; he or she is more likely to try to navigate every outcome.

Insecurity – When the leader is afraid he or she doesn’t have what it takes to lead the team or organization, in order to protect his or her back, the leader begins to control the actions of those on the team.

Wrong team members – When the leader doesn’t feel he or she can trust the team members, he or she is likely to lead activities normally delegated.

Bad vision – The problem may not be the people…or even the leader…but the leader is pushing people to accomplish something that no one buys into or won’t work. Sometimes it’s time to move forward, but the leaders hanging onto a sinking ship.

Control Freak – Some leaders relish in the idea of holding power and so, to keep that sense of control, they use their position’s authority to retain control rather than delegating.

Leaders, are you guilty of micromanaging? Do any of these reasons apply to you?

(If you need help, read my post on 4 easy steps to delegation HERE.)  The important thing for a leader to do, if he or she wants to see the organization flourish, is learn to let go of control and let others lead.  (Read more about that concept HERE.)  If the problem is the organization or people, then work to fix it so you don’t have to micromanage.  If the problem is the leader…well…start developing yourself.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

What experiences do have with a micromanaging leader?

Related posts:

1. 7 Times it is Important to MicroManage
2. The Best Leaders Give Their Vision Away
3. Elements To Help Build a Healthy Team Spirit

Winners are announced at the bottom of this post!

Catalyst ONE DAY is a one day Christian leadership event with Andy Stanley & Craig Groeschel. The topic is Momentum: what is it? how do you get it? how do you keep it? (Watch the video below for more inspiration.)

Andy & Craig will be sharing practical strategies and personal examples that have helped them gain momentum in their churches. Also, there will be several sessions of Q&A. This is a great opportunity for you and your team to gain some practical insight on creating and sustaining momentum in your organization, especially in light of the current economic crisis.

I will be there and I hope to meet some of my online friends.

My buddies at Catalyst are putting on this event. They gave me two extra tickets to giveaway to you guys, so here we go:

HERE’S HOW TO WIN:

1. TWEET THIS: “Giving away 2 tickets to Catalyst ONE DAY Chicago. Comment & RT to enter http://bit.ly/buI6HG
2. COMMENT BELOW: with your twitter name (so I can verify you did step 1) and your favorite movie of 2009 (just for fun)
3. At 4PM CST TODAY: I’ll randomly choose two entrants below to win 1 ticket each!

Catalyst One Day from Catalyst on Vimeo.

The winners chosen randomly by comment number at Random.org are:

@dkdigital

and

@natewesterfield

Congratulations! I am sending your Twitter ID’s to Catalyst and they will be in contact. Thanks so much for playing along and look me up at Catalyst One Day. If you didn’t win, I still recommend you invest in this conference. All our churches and organizations can use a momentum refresher!

Related posts:

1. Catalyst One Day Chicago: Will I See You There?
2. Catalyst Video with Darren Whitehead
3. My First Two Book Reads of 2009

One of my pet peeves as a leader has been for people to refuse to try something new or fail to follow through on a project; giving up before it’s completed, because they think they do not feel they know how to do the task. I encounter far too many people that want responsibility or leadership assignments, but they are not willing to invest the time and energy it takes to learn the requirements of the task.

Here’s my bottom line on the subject:

“I don’t know how” is not a good enough excuse…

Be willing to learn something new…or get a new response…

Unless you are a dog, you can learn some new tricks…

Regardless of your age…income…background…

What’s something new you need to or want to learn how to do?

Related posts:

1. 5 Things Non-Profits and For-Profits Can Learn From Each Other
2. Who Needs to Be Fired?
3. Get To The Bottom And The Up Will Be Found

Thanks to Cross Point Church for allowing our team at Grace Community Church to learn from them. Pete Wilson and Jenni Catron have assembled a superstar group of people that love Jesus and truly desire to reach their city for Christ. Today we brought our staffs together for a joint staff retreat.

Over the last few years, our two churches have formed a special relationship. Cross Point is twice the age of Grace, so there is much we can learn from them. Today it was confirmed that we share similar visions, challenges, and opportunities. We began with prayer, had some learning opportunities, broke bread together, let the big boys and girls beat us in a game of Cornhole, and ended with a time of worship and communion. It was an encouragement to our team.

There is something special about sharing life with others. It keeps an organization fresh, energized and challenged.

Would it benefit your team to spend some time with another team? Who is challenging you to stay the course and improve or simply offering you encouragement?

Related posts:

1. An Interview With Jason Roy, Building 429 & Grace Community Church
2. Tribute to the Staff of Grace Community Church
3. New Property For Grace Community Church

I have written about leader Scott Hodge previously. (Read that post HERE.) Scott is pastor of The Orchard Community Church. He and his father are part of an amazing story of transformation in a church. I will say again, he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. Scott is a creative, inspiring leader. He is highly connected and was recently seen as host of Ben Arment’s Story Conference. You can follow Scott on Twitter too.

Here are 10 Questions with leader Scott Hodge:

When you were growing up, is this what you thought you would be doing vocationally? If not, what did you want to do?

Interestingly enough, yes. I was raised in a pastor’s home and have been around church/ ministry my entire life. I felt “called” to ministry at a very young age. Of course, the way it’s played out looks pretty different than anything I would have ever imagined. But I think it’s safe to say that I’ve felt a drawing towards ministry and have seen myself being in some sort of full time ministry role pretty much since I can remember.

The thing I really appreciate is that neither of my parents overly encouraged me or tried influencing me towards ministry. They did a great job of letting God do the calling and gave me plenty of space to respond to that call. I’m really grateful for that.

What’s the most different job you’ve had from what you are doing now and how did that job help you with what you are doing now?

My sophomore year in college I had a job managing a telemarketing company. Looking back, I think that job actually gave me some pretty good experience in areas like hiring/firing, promoting events, creating processes, “reading” people, and helping draw the best out of the team.

Who is one person, besides Christ, who most helped to shape your leadership and how did they help you?

I’d say that would be my father. Not only was he my “dad”, but he was a my friend, my leader, and my mentor. He was a great voice of empowerment in my life. He encouraged me, he constantly pushed me outside of my comfort zones, he taught me how to lead and love people, but probably the greatest thing he taught me was the importance of hearing God’s voice in my life. I’d probably say that the majority of that mentorship came through me simply watching and learning from his life.

Besides the Bible, what is one book that has most helped to shape your thought process in life and ministry?

Just one!? Wow, this is a tough one… I’d probably have to say J. Oswald Sander’s, Spiritual Leadership is definitely one of the top books that have influenced me the most – especially when I was a young leader just starting out.

What are three words other people would use to describe your work style/ethic?

1) Attention 2) Deficit 3) Disorder.

That’s three words, right?
I’d say:
Hands off, Creative, Unpredictable

What is your greatest strength in leadership?

I’d say casting a compelling vision/dream.

What is your greatest weakness in leadership?

Managing people.

What is the hardest thing you have to do in leadership?

Tell the truth.

What is one misconception about your position you think people in your church may have?

Hmmm…. There may be some (perhaps who are new) who think that I’ve got it all figured out and don’t struggle like everyone else. I try really hard to be intentional about leading with a posture of authenticity and openness in regards to my own struggles and brokenness, so hopefully not too many people think this way about me.

I’ll add an addendum to this… Just asked that same question to three of my support staff and they all said the same thing: “There are a LOT of people who have the perception that you are available to talk or meet with them at the drop of a hat and about anything. Or who think they need to talk with you, when in reality there are others who are more informed about certain things, that would actually be more of a help to them anyway.”

I hate to admit this, but I had no idea that this was as big of an issue as they insist it is. So KUDOS to them for apparently doing a great job of keeping the pressure of that expectation off my shoulders!

If you could give one piece of advice to young leaders from what you’ve learned by experience, what would it be?

The most important thing you can do for yourself and especially for those you’re leading is to position yourself to hear God’s voice every day of your life. Start TODAY.

Thanks Scott! Hope to hang with you again soon.

Are you enjoying these interviews? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related posts:

1. 10 Questions With Leader Geoff Surratt (Seacoast Church)
2. 10 Questions With Leader @ScottWilliams – LifeChurch.tv
3. 10 Questions With Leader Jenni Catron – Crosspoint Church

Supposedly this is the most requested video on the web right now…In case you missed it…

What did you think? Was she your choice? Did you tear up at her speech?

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1. How Google Encourages Innovation
2. Are You Feeling Unqualified For Today?
3. 25 Things to Hate About Facebook…Introduce Web 3.0