online treasure hunt

We are all different learners. Some learn by imagining, some are analytical, some are common sense type learners, and still some are more dynamic. I like to say that I admire all four but lean heavily toward story telling (imaginative).

I like stories best because it is truth or experience attached to someone's life. Not all stories are accurate depictions of truth but it is ok sometimes to hear someone else's story simply for the fact that you get to experience the joy of someone else's discovery (even if it is second hand) and most of life's lessons can be learned from someone else's vantage point whether by failure or success.

These last few years I have grown accustomed to learn by way of discovering LAWS. This blog is mostly for me so that I don't forget what I have learned. Here are a couple laws that I have been chewing on:
1. The Law of the Frame of Reference
2. The Law of the Boundry

I will edit this post in the future for sake of update and expounding but most likely it will be a whole new post for each LAW. These are two of many on my journey that I will learn. This should be fun. Go with me down the road for a spell and we'll discover some interesting things together. Just think of it as an online treasure hunt.

The Leader by Erwin McManus

I saw this today and just had to post it. I love what McManus says about spiritual leadership that it is both an art and science. He refers to himself as a cultural architect. Enjoy...

The Leader
by Erwin McManus

True leadership affects the soul of the organization and the spirit of the people. The irony is that, while secular leadership has become blatantly spiritual, Christian leadership has become blatantly (and blandly) secular. We need to recapture the invisible aspects of leadership. We must focus our attention on the creating and shaping of ethos and then on the structures that best nurture and harness its potential. In the end leadership is nothing less than spiritual. And spiritual leaders are essentially cultural architects.

Spiritual leadership is both art and science, so the pastor must be both artist and engineer. Frank Lloyd Wright’s assertion that form and function are one is nowhere more apparent than in the church. All the material from which God builds his church exists and emerges from the hearts of God’s people. The church is a construct of human talents, gifts, intelligence, passions, skills, disciplines, experiences, and commitments energized by the Holy Spirit.

If true leadership is essentially spiritual, then serving as a pastor is the ultimate leadership challenge-leading as a servant of God. The context is invisible, mystical, of the spirit-both the Holy and the human. The product is real, tangible, transforming both personal and cultural.

The metaphor of a leader as a cultural architect encompasses this dynamic, not on a parallel track in the leadership process but as an integrated component. The cultural architect effects cultural transformation from the wisdom of both disciplines. His work is sacred as he labors to build the house of God, not with brick and cement but through each life that is joined with the community by the transforming power of God’s Spirit.

Holiness

This was a good thought from Jerry Bridges book The Pursuit of Holiness.

"Prayer is a vital part of our fellowship with God; yet the psalmist said, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18). To regard wickedness is to cherish some sin, to love it to the extent that I am not willing to part with it. I know it is there, yet I justify it in some way like the child who says, "Well, he hit me first." When we are holding on to some sin we are not pursuing holiness and we cannot have fellowship with God."

Music I am listing to today:
1. The hand song - Nickel Creek
2. The Riddle - Five for Fighting
3. Danny McKee - Drifting ~ copy the link to see it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

Get Lost!

Have you ever driven past someone in their car unabashedly singing at the top of their lungs to a favorite song? I saw a kid at Starbucks in his car headbanging so hard I thought his head would have been thrown from the car if he would have kept it up. I don't know if he thought the 10% tint on his foggy windows provided him a mystical orb of protection around him but this kid was just lost in it. I can't say I minded too much to see his unbridled passion.

I played with a worship band one time that had a drummer with a very hard shell. He seemed to be the type that wouldn't let anyone in. I later found out that he had been through some major family problems at such a young age including being abandoned by his dad. His mom and his 4 brothers were left to fend for themselves. He was the oldest and felt the need to be the caretaker in his father's absence. I gave him a compliment after practice knowing that he probably hadn't received affirmation from a man in quite a while or if ever. His reply to my compliment was "Well, let's not get carried away". Before he could even finish his sentence I followed up with "No. Lets." After that I had a friend for life.

It is always ok to get carried away with a kind word or blessing! At all times it is ok to get lost in your music! Constantly shower those you love with love and get carried away! It is always ok to show God your love for Him in worship!

JT sings of a father lost in a trance dancing a dance he brought back from the war in France. Can you sense his imagery seeing a man come back from a war. Even though he saw men die he can get lost in a dance that brought out passion he never had known before.

My wife and I sat with my mom and dad at a pizza cafe in Springfield MO listening to the band play songs from my "dad's generation". I will never forget that moment. I could taste the nostalgia my dad felt. By the look on his face he would not liked to have been anywhere else in the world at that moment. Man - that is life!

Don't you ever be afraid to get lost in it. There is a treasure trove of passionate moments that go unnoticed everyday. Don't miss them.

BELTASHAZAAM

I was reading in Daniel about how Daniel's name got changed to Belteshazzar.
The King Belshazzar gave Daniel his new name because of his ability to interpret the “writings on the wall”.

I love what John MacArthur says about Daniel. "He was the King's favorite because of his leadership, his experience, wisdom, an excellent spirit, direct revelation from God Himself, and (Ilove this) a sense of history." This thought was more for myself but anyone in leadership must know that God uses some to influence the heart of a king so that God's ways might be established right where they are.

This is a call for shepherds to learn, know, and embrace history. There are so many benefits to it. In my own experience I've found that a good way to (number one) really attach yourself to the city God has called you to, (number two) and give yourself instant credibility as you converse with leaders in the city, is to learn its story.

And to those who are creative ~ How are you going to be able to navigate "out of the box" if you don't know what's "in the box"? Learn your history.

Song is finally done...

Hey guys I am excited to let you hear a song I had produced after wanting to do so now for a very long time. It was "Trains" and now is "The Train". Give a listen if you like on www.soundclick.com/inkerd and vote for it. I will have it on mySpace by tomorrow. The guy that produced it is Jeremy Medkiff. Wow this guy made my song sound like a million bucks - ok maybe a thousand...give or take. Thanks!

Don't Hate

Dude I swear I just came up with a new term for Evangelicals who are labled as intolerants. I was just emailing a friend and said this... "I saw this a few days ago and I think I mentioned it to you. It is a blog posted by Mark Batterson of National Community Church in DC. He is a pentecostal and I don't claim to be a baptihostile." And there you have it - a new term for someone to use against most of those closest to me in Baptist circles. Man I might end up regretting this. As of today "baptihostile" could not be googled. Man I hope I get an audiance soon. If I never do I reccomend it to all pastors to blog even just for the sake of journaling. Share the love - Tim