Dinner Crew

We had a great time tonight over dinner with Russ Schlecht & Ben Adams from Grace Street and Nikki & Kelly Tshibaka from Mt. Vernon Foursquare.

I've obviously got to work on my photo-centering skills. My apologies to Josh's head.

Chat with Volker Heitz

I spent most of this morning chatting with Volker Heitz, pastor of Eckstein Birseck in Basel, Switzerland. He will be our speaker for our Men's Advance in September. And he has invited me to speak at the Foursquare Switzerland convention in late October... What a fun exchange of heart, thought, and vision we will share with each other's churches later this year!

In the course of about 45 minutes we talked and laughed as we worked out theme ideas for both events... Can't wait for the good stuff that's ahead of us!

(Re)Connecting

Josh, Michael, and I are at the Foursquare Convention in Houston. The opening session was tonight. My main goal at these events is to reconnect with my ministry peers. We ran into so many friends over the course of the evening that we actually never made it to the session! Oops! *smile*

Over lunch and dinner today, Josh, Michael & I took turns telling each other the stories of how we came to know the Lord and get into ministry. Although I've known and worked with these guys for years, there were parts of each of their stories that I'd never heard! It's been really fun & encouraging to get to know each other more.

Led With Peace

For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace. Isaiah 55:12

When we trust God no matter what, we're given an inheritance of incredible peace. God's peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but it is a powerful force that quiets the chaos that wants to consume us.

Sometimes worry and fear find their way into my heart and mind when I imagine that God wants me to figure things out for myself. Because He's invisible, it's easy for me to forget that He is leading me. Because He whispers, it's easy for me to get distracted by louder, more impressive sounding voices that tell me I should worry and stress.

But there is great peace in choosing to be satisfied with the leading of the Lord.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. Psalm 16:6

The enemy tells us that the simple place of rest and trust is not enough. With sinister intent, he tells us that we should doing more or better than we are. The enemy's accusing voice is so different from the Lord's (who brings peace and refreshing through His conviction).

Remember what God's voice sounds like and where He leads (beside still waters). Don't allow yourself to be deluded into thinking that stressful, worry-inducing voices are His.

VBS Team Leader Update

We've started having fun using videos for some of our announcements in services. Here's an example where we're putting out the word that we're looking for some additional female team leaders for VBS:

By the way, we now have almost all our team leaders in place... just one or two more ladies and we'll have a full roster. Keep up on all the latest VBS action on their blog.

Warmer, Not Better

One of the points of instruction that Matthias Nowak (one of my mentors) gave me when he visited our church a few weeks ago was, "Be sure to focus on making your church feel warmer, not on making it work better." He went on to explain that when we focus on doing a really good job, it can often leave our culture feeling cold, distant, and sterile (like a hospital). But if we focus on loving people more, it will create a warmth and life that's less focused on performance.

These words have been ringing in my ears again and again. It's so helpful and encouraging to remember that we focus on the people, not the job. Although the job is important, it must be put into perspective -- which is often a decision of faith and willpower (because I'm often tempted by a performance-orientation).

Here are a couple of personal examples:

• When my email inbox is full, instead of being overwhelmed by the size of the project (which often leads to procrastination), I want to see it as an opportunity to offer each person a glimpse of my heart (which is way more fun and personal).
  
• When a meeting is scheduled, I want to anticipate the opportunity for connection and teamwork. The enemy wants to steal away the joy of anticipation before I arrive by telling me that my schedule is too full and that this meeting is a burden.
  
• When I'm taking lots and lots of time crafting my thoughts, and over thinking and over planning my outlines, my emails, etc., it's a trigger to me that I'm falling prey to the pressure of trying to “sound and look smart” and to “have my act together.” Instead, I want to simply share my heart and thoughts with the people God has brought into my life.
  

God Uses My Mistakes

Last night I was laying awake remembering some of the mistakes I've made recently. The hardest mistakes to let go of are when I know that I've hurt people -- when I've corrected too harshly, or not returned a phone call, or forgotten people's names. These (and so many other) mistakes can be so painful and confusing for people. And stepping forward in leadership has meant having a huge reality-check with how much room I have to grow.

As I lay sleepless, I felt the Lord reminding me that He even uses my mistakes to draw people closer to Him. This wasn't self-justification or rationalization, but was instead a correction that brought a lot of comfort.