I wonder...

I often have random thoughts and questions that really never get answered or go anywhere. Here are a few that have crossed my mind recently. Just a few things I am thinking and wondering about.

• I've been reading lots of stuff related to leadership lately. Sometimes though I wonder why. I really don't have any leadership role to use the stuff I am learning. Is it just to absorb more knowledge? I am just a consumer of leadership thoughts?
• Creative is more than coming up with good ideas. To be creative don't you have to actually create or produce something? Anybody can generate ideas (granted some aren't very good, but ...), that is the easy part, but making it happen is where the creative part comes in. Can you separate the creative process (the what or why) from the implementation (the how)?
• Ever feel like giving up on a friendship because it is messy and takes lots of work? Wonder if you are the only one giving? Never hear a word of thanks. Makes me wonder if that isn't how God feels about me.
• Think it would be cool if each team you are on would write a description of each member and what unique contribution they bring to the team. Might be tough to come up with those descriptions, but what a cool exercise. Read some of the ones Steven Furtick wrote about his team at Elevation and thought how energizing that would be for most people.
• Are backup plans a way to avoid stepping out on faith? Does that suggest we want to make sure we are in control just in case God can't handle it? Don't think all backup plans are bad, but sometimes they might be. When do you take the risk without a safety net? Or do you ever?
• I often wonder why I write this blog. Is it for me ego? (Doubtful as I don't think it is very widely read.) To process the things going on in my life? (Very possible.) To make some sort of difference? Because I can't not write?
• Are we content with God leading us one step at a time or do we want a lifetime plan?
• Are there any areas you are settling in? I never want an okay marriage, or an average friendship, or my boys to be average. Do I settle for average in my passion for Jesus? Not sure where contentment becomes settling but it is fine line in my opinion.

Hope your Thursday is incredible and that God is disturbing it in some huge ways!

Confession of inadequacy

Confession time. I struggle a lot with feeling accepted by people. I know who I am so therefore I have a hard time believing that people would desire a friendship with me if they get to know the real me. This week I have had one of my friendships probably run its course which brings up all of those feelings of inadequacy in me. The feeling of not being worth much and wondering if I have wasted my time investing in it. All that to say as I have stepped back a little from the situation it is amazing to see how well God knows me (he did create me after all) and has been building me up at the same time. This week I received an e-mail from another friend I don't get to talk to very often that basically just said thanks for being consistent in his life, an e-mail from another person I don't know very well that said they sent it to me because I seem trustworthy, a note from a new friend that said thanks for loving them. God was already addressing the thoughts he knew I would struggle with as this one friendship was ending. His way of letting me know he desires a relationship with me and loves me. I love the fact that He uses other people to show me how much He cares for us, even when we might be feeling hurt by someone else. How have you seen God working this week?

Who are you becoming?

What type of friends do you surround yourself with? It hit me today that most of my friends excel in areas that I value and want to strive to be better in. I look up to them and watch the examples they set. The one who bends over backwards to give in a friendship, the ones who serve the least of these, the one who leads even when it may be tough, the one who encourages me with his realness and transparency, the ones who love life and are passionate about having fun, and the ones who listen and challenge my beliefs. Those are things I strive to learn and do. I get the incredible opportunity to see it lived out in front of me every week. They say you are what you eat, I think you are what you surround yourself with. Want to know who you are becoming, look at the people surrounding you. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 it says "Bad company corrupts good character." I think good company can produce good character as well. So who are you becoming today?

K.I.S.S. method

Okay, for those of you who might have misread the title, the K.I.S.S. method stands for "keep it simple, stupid". Sorry to disappoint, but I am not offering any kissing techniques here. I do enjoy kissing my wife, but that isn't what this post is about. What it is about though, is that our lives are just a small part in God's story. Bottom line (i.e. the K.I.S.S. thought for me), it isn't about me, but it is about God.

Funny how we tend to see it differently most of the time though. We tend to think everything is about us, how it impacts our lives, how we will benefit from it, me, me, me. Really though we are just play the role of an extra in God's movie. We often see ourselves in the starring role, when actually we are on the screen for about one second (and usually then it is just the back of our head in a crowd scene). We think the whole story is revolving around our lives, but it is really just a little part of God's story. God created the universe (nope, I wasn't a part of that), God uses Noah (nope, not in that scene either), God chooses Abraham to play a role (not here either), God tells Moses to reclaim His people (nowhere to be found yet), God used Joseph, David, his prophets, Isaiah, and many others leading up to the turning point in the story - Jesus' resurrection (by the way, I'm not in any of those scenes either). Here is my big scene, the point where if you look quickly and really hard, I am there briefly between the turning point and the climatic finish of His returning. See the thing is, it really is all about God. I do have a part to play, but some perspective of what that part is needed today. We tend to think everything revolves around us when in reality it should all be pointing to God. Do your absolute best with your scene, but don't forget who the story is really about. Let's just keep it simple, and just say it is all about God.

"More God" versus "Enough God"

I am reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan again and can tell it is going to adjust my perspective all over again. I am pretty pumped as we are going to cover this book (along with the video series) in our Sunday school class over the next couple of months. I can't wait to see what might happen if it turns several people's world upside down like it is mine. My wife called me a radical last night, which I really don't believe I am, but I would love it if this book helped radically change the way some people see God and made us as the church more relevant in people's lives like we are suppose to be in bringing glory to God. Anyway, here is the thing that captured my thoughts today while I was reading.

Do you want "more God" or do you have "enough God"? I often think I desire to have more God in my life, but more often than not I live like I have enough God. I tend to live life trying to have just enough God to get by. Enough God to know that I am good enough. That I make the cut, even though I may have a few areas that I am lacking in. I want just enough God to be okay, but not really radical. I don't want to always be looking to serve the least of these, I don't want to love my enemies all of the time, to bring glory to God with every action, to pursue being like Jesus in everything I do - I want enough to know that I just make the grade and God will overlook the rest. Sound ridiculous to you? Honestly though isn't that how we as the church often approach the holy creator of the universe? We want just "enough God" to get by by and not "more God" that may upset our comfortable lives. We want "enough God" to feel good about ourselves, but not "more God" that may require us to do some radical things for Him. Are we consumed with being more and more like Jesus? Shouldn't people be saying that the church is doing some amazing things, but I don't want God in my life instead of that God might be alright, but I don't want anything to do with a bunch of hypocrites? I don't want to be the reason that people can't see Jesus or desire a relationship with God. If they reject God I don't want it to be because I am living with just "enough God" to get by. So what do you think? Are you living a life that screams I want "more God" or one that weakly proclaims that I have "enough God" for myself? To me when you boil it down, you probably fall in one or the other as there isn't really much in between those two.

Told you this book has helped turned my safe, little, comfortable world upside down. Ready to live a radical life?