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

unfalsifiable evidence

I was listening to Ravi Zacharias today and he made a comment about something that I thought was so profound that I felt the need to blog about it even if I just posted his comments with adding nothing of my own. He used the text in Job where Job's friends were trying to console him in his agony. One of his friends Eliphaz told Job that a spirit glided over his face and this formless being asked him if mortals could be more righteous than God and if a man could be more pure than his maker. I can only imagine Job's indignation at his friends counsel. Ravi then made the point that some religions of the world are based off of one man's experience and millions follow without asking for anything to back it up.

I met a man that says that modern worship is doing a major disservice to those in the church simply based upon the fact that whenever he is exposed to modern worship it does something to his spirit. I in no way discount his emotions or experience but what this man is doing is forming a worship philosophy based solely upon what Ravi Z. calls "unfalsifiable evidence". This means that the argument is stacked in such a way that no one can refute their evidence.

Ravi went on to say that it is dangerous to form theology based upon an experience that is not sanctioned by the theoretical word of God. If we all based our theology on feeling we would be worse than sheep without a shepherd. Rock on Ravi Z.!!

Immanent Constraint

These last few weeks I have been mulling over something that I have seen a few men in my life go through which I feel is an immanent disposition for all of us with back hair and bald spots. I was sitting at Bob Evans eating my Border Scramble Omelet just lost in a fog of things to come on the emotional horizon and my wife asked me if everything was alright. It was one of those times when you feel so bad for someone in your life going through something and there's nothing you can do about it.

I have seen a lot of men in my life pass through emotional duress. I have been wondering what it is that sends men shamelessly through the proverbial 'midlife crisis' and if there is anything that whippersnappers like myself can do to ensure that we are prepared for it. First you have to ask the question of why guys go through it and then you can answer the question of how to prepare and recover.

I think it can come from someone that has spent the lion's share of their career headed in one direction and comes to somewhat of a crossroads asking themselves if what they have done has been as fulfilling and fruitful not only for themselves but to those in their direct influence .
A man can lose his sense of self-worth and effectiveness based upon a number of things including things such as energy level, unrealistic vocational demands, work ethic, family issues, intimidation, and so on.

I have been reading a book by Dr. Henry Cloud entitled ~ Integrity - the courage to meet the demands of reality. He states that a person's character is two-fold like the wake left from a boat. The two sides of the wake are task and relationships. Most people are capable of success based upon ability to preform and build alliances with others but it takes integrity to not screw it up over the long haul.

I firmly believe that faith is also crucial to those who are getting hit from an emotional storm. When it comes down to feelings of tremendous loss and also feels devoid of hope they really have to be a believer in the Resurrection. Peter told Jesus that he had left all to follow him. I can only imagine Jesus' response that Peter hadn't given up anything that he wouldn't get back 10 fold in eternity.

My prayer is that in my later years I can really believe in the promises in scripture that even though there might be a delay of gratification I can rest easy knowing that as a child of God I will someday have the full joy and inheritance of Jesus.

Finishing up on my breakfast platter I looked over and saw a man in his fifties wearing a bluetooth headset. I really think he thought that made him look younger. Man if you ever see me wearing one of those I promise to complete the outfit with black socks and flip flops.

Working Smarter...?

Um - I'm trying to think what's next with this blogging stuff. I've been reading lately about church prouction stuff and it has started a landslide of other info about this subject regarding tech, media, rss, hertz, SI and a whole lot of other terms that I had no idea even existed in my realm of expertise before this week. I get by pretty well in my job but I have to say that because of my knowledge or lack of knowledge in my perspective feilds - due to this weeks findings - is that if I can get along with half of the education that I need in order to be a 'specialist' - than most of all of us who claim to be "specail" at what we do are really good liars. I tell you one thing I'm not is a journalist. Man did you see that last sentance. I have no desire to go and fix it. Why because you get the point without me being a specialist in ... wordsmithing. I'd say that we generally get by with a percentage of education to do what we do on a regular basis. This in essence is what seperates most of us from becoming great - doing less for sake of working smarter.