Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Spiritual Rhythm of Walking

by Josh Reich

Photo by Jad Limcaco on Unsplash

When we started our summer series Summer Reset: Reevaluating our Spiritual Rhythms, one of the rhythms we talked about was the practice of walking. Yet, as we wrapped up our series on Sunday, if you’ve been following along, you know that we didn’t talk about walking.

We planned to do it on July 24th when I came back from my summer preaching break, but I felt like we needed to spend a week on the rhythm of letting go and talking about what we’ve lost in these last few years.

In light of that, I wanted to write about the spiritual rhythm of walking. One of the books that was helpful to me on the topic was Mark Buchanan’s book, God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul.

Walking as a spiritual rhythm.

Why walk? What are the benefits of walking as a spiritual rhythm?

Here are a few:

5 benefits of walking.

Perspective. Have you ever had a heated discussion with someone, and you both got up and went to separate spaces to collect your thoughts and catch your breath? That’s one thing walking does. It creates distance. After a walk, I often feel clarity about things that were once foggy.

Silence. Coupled with perspective, it gives us silence. One of the things I think is vital with walking is to do it without your phone. Yes, walking can be a great time to listen to worship music or a podcast, and I’d encourage you to do that with this practice, but it is also a great time to get some silence, to listen to the breeze and nature, and still your soul and the voices running around in your head.

This silence allows you to hear God’s voice, get a sense of what He is doing or directing you, and pray about things.

Processing things. Moving is a great way to process and move items around in your head. It helps you to be more creative, let go of things and make better decisions.

Walking helps us to be more creative and make better decisions.

Health. Walking thirty minutes a day, getting your 10,000 steps in, is one of the best things you can do for your health, no matter your age. David Sautter, a NASM-certified personal trainer at Top Fitness, said, “A sedentary lifestyle is how muscle and connective tissue atrophies. Impact movement, such as walking, helps to provide the stimulus needed for maintaining muscle and tissue density.” And according to the Arthritis Foundation, “Walking is one of the most important things you can do if you have arthritis. It helps you lose weight or maintain the proper weight. That, in turn, lessens joint stress and improves arthritis symptoms.”

Slow us down. One of the things we see in the gospels is Jesus walked everywhere, and as we walk it slows us down. Our world moves quickly and our bodies are not created to move at the speed we often run. This is why we love nature, getting away, and breathing deeply in the mountain or ocean air.

Walking slows our world down to have greater clarity.

We need to slow down, and walking is one of the ways we do that.

Posted on Tuesday, August 9, 2022

How to Build Healthy Community

by Josh Reich

Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

All of us need community and friendships. Yet, if we’re honest, most of us do not put the time and effort into them that we should. I know that I can slack off, and when I need or want more friends, it is easy to get frustrated.

As I look at my own life, I think two things that get us into trouble are:

We don’t know the kind of relationships that we need.
We put too much pressure on relationships, thinking they all need to be deep, lifelong friendships.

Recently, I read The Resilient Pastor: Leading Your Church in a Rapidly Changing World by Glenn Packiam, and he uses Frodo and The Lord of the Rings to help us see the kinds of friendships we need.

As you read through this, ask yourself a few questions:

Do you have these kinds of people and friends in your life?
If you’re missing someone, how do you fill that space?
What roles do you play in the lives of others?

The first category that Packiam talks about is The Sage. This is Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings. The wise wizard who appears at all the right moments. The sage represents the wisdom of those who have gone before you. People who are further along, older than you, more mature, have more life experience and deeper faith than you.

You are further along than someone; you are more mature than someone.

You need a sage, and you might be a sage to someone else.

The sage isn’t necessarily the superstar, but they are steady and persistent.

Who is your sage?

The next category is Companions. For Frodo, this is Merry and Pippin, and Samwise. Faithful, loyal friends.

These are the people you call at 3 am when your life falls apart; these are the first ones you call when you need help or hit a tragedy. These are also the first people who call you when you play this role for them.

Who do you call when your life falls apart?

Sam never leaves Frodo’s side. Even telling Frodo, “I can’t carry the ring for you, but I can carry you.”

What a line.

We all need those kinds of friends, the kind of friends who carry us.

Who are the people who walk with you? Who do you walk with? Who do you reach out to when your life falls apart? Who calls you when their life falls apart?

Similar to this is Peers. For Frodo, these are the dwarves and the elves.

They know what Frodo is doing, they fight alongside him in the war, but they aren’t carrying what Frodo is carrying.

Our paths cross, but we live different lives, and that’s okay. They might be other parents at school functions, sporting events, co-workers, or neighbors.

Often, we don’t think much about this relationship, but it is crucial. We often put too much pressure on relationships; we believe every relationship has to be deep or take a lot of time, but we need people we pop in and out of life with.

The next category for Frodo is the King. In middle earth, this is Aragorn.

Think of the King as the person who can tell you no.

Who in your life can tell you no?

This is a person that carries some authority in your life.

They may be able to stop you from doing something, or they might have moral authority in your life that if they said, “You shouldn’t do that,” it would give you pause.

Who in your life has the power and influence to tell you that you are wrong or making a bad decision?

The last thing we need in our community is a Healer. In Lord of the rings this is Elrond and Arwen, the elvish healers.

This could be a counselor, spiritual director, group leader, or friend who can speak to our pain and wounds. Who looks you in the eye and says, “that’s hard, that stinks what you walked through; you shouldn’t have to go through that.”

This person can also hold up a mirror to you, help us see our sins in situations, and help us have needed perspective.

The 5 relationships we need in our relational circle.

Who is missing in your circle?

Again, ask yourself these questions:

Do you have each of these kinds of people and friends in your life?
If you’re missing someone, how do you fill that space?
What roles do you play in the lives of others?

Posted on Friday, August 5, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Jon Acuff)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Jon Acuff on “Building a winning mindset”:

A goal is the fastest path from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow.
Starting is fun, but the future belongs to finishers.
Overthinking wrecks more leaders than anything else.
Overthinking is the most expensive things business invest in every year without even knowing it.
Overthinking is when what you think gets in the way of what you want.
The soundtrack changes everything, and we have a soundtrack for every part of our lives.
The longer we listen to repetitive thoughts, the more it becomes part of the playlist of our lives.
Soundtracks are the culture of a company.
Great thoughts lead to great actions. Great action leads to great results.
Great leaders:
- Retire broken soundtracks
- Replace them with new soundtracks
- Repeat until automatic.
Ask the loudest soundtracks these questions:
- Is it still true? Don’t assume all your thoughts are true.
- Is it helpful? Does the soundtrack push us forward or pull us back?
- Is it kind?
Google wondered, “What do the most successful teams have in common?”
- Psychological safety: a shared belief held by the team that members are safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
- You can ask questions, suggest new ideas, and admit you’re wrong without being treated poorly by the team.
You only get to fix mistakes that you admit.
Leaders who can’t be questioned end up doing questionable things.
We struggle to know how to replace soundtracks because we think we can’t choose our thoughts.
Thoughts come by choice or chance.
Great leaders always pick ahead of time, and they pick thoughts that are actionable.
You have a soundtrack for every person in your life.
Empathy: Understanding what someone needs and acting on it.
What do the people you care about, care about?
It is much better to meet a need instead of inventing a need.
You’ll get out of touch if you don’t listen to people’s needs.
Everyone wants to know: Do you see me? Do I matter?

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Deb Liu)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Deb Liu on “Taking back your power”:

When was the last time you thought of yourself as having power?
Power is. not a dirty word.
Power is the ability to influence events and the people around you.
Power isn’t the problem, but the misuse of power.
When you hear no, that opens up the opportunity for someone to say yes.
Taking back your power doesn’t mean succeeding alone.
We have to ask ourselves, who does God want us to be? Who did God create you to be?

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. on “The Critical Role of Empathy in Leadership”:

We have a real empathy problem in our world.
We have had a rise in apathy and a decline in empathy.
Our public trust is broken.
With isolation and sharp political divisions, we have an empathy deficit.
Lacking empathy is extremely easy today.
To show empathy, we need to engage in discussions, not debates.
Getting in the last word or winning an argument loses the relationship.
Great leaders listen extremely well.
Showing empathy means embracing diversity and seeing how much we have in common.
You must meet people where they are and understand how they got there before you can help them get them to where they need to go.
Empathy means we must be kinder.
We treat people with civility, respect, and love when we see humanity.

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Craig Groeschel)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Craig Groeschel on “Lead Like it Matters”:

All leaders and churches want it.
It is not a model, a result of a program.
There are things you can do to lead towards it and things you can do to kill it.
Every leader that has it, they have very extreme qualities.
Greatness is found in the extremes.

Greatness is found in the extremes. -Craig Groeschel

Contradictory leadership qualities together create a synergy of undeniable leadership impact.
If you want to grow in your impact, grow in your extremes.

Leaders with it, are a contradiction.

Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are incredibly confident and humble.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are focused and flexible.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are driven and healthy.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are optimistic and realistic.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are direct and kind.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are empowering and controlling.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are urgent and patient.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are frugal and abundant.

Leaders that have it, are confident and humble.

Some leaders have too much confidence.
Some leaders are strong, talented, and capable, but you are still hesitant because you don’t know the greatness in you.
To grow in confidence and humility, push yourself to the place of leadership discomfort.
A growing leader is in a constant place of discomfort.

Leaders that have it, are both driven and healthy.

Some of you are doing too much. You are working too much, working outside of your gifts.
The best leaders learn to delegate.
You aren’t doing too much, but you aren’t recovering well.
You aren’t tired; you are depleted.
You need to raise your tolerance for work and stress.
The leaders who have it, bring a bit more but not at the expense of family.

Leaders that have it are both focused and flexible.

As a church, we started doing only 5 things: worship services, small groups, kids, students, and missions.
The greatest threat to you is not a lack of opportunities but a lack of focus.
Are we getting the most out of our use of resources and time?
The most spiritual thing you can do is not create a to do list, but a to don’t list.

Posted on Monday, August 1, 2022

Where is Your Church? Really?

by Josh Reich

Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

Do you know where your church is?

Most pastors think they do, and most church members and elders believe they do, but do you?

Do you know where your church is? Especially after covid?

After going through these last several years of people coming and going, people decided to stay or leave based on how you handled masks, vaccines, opening and closing, people moving because of jobs, or simply deciding that it is nicer to watch church in their pj’s. Do you know where your church is?

Really?

Taking a new job at a church towards the end of covid and the church gathering had some disadvantages, but it gave me some advantages. It helped me see more clearly where the church is and ask some questions because “I wasn’t in it” as much as others.

But even if you haven’t changed churches or jobs, you can still step back to see where your church is.

This matters because you as a pastor might think your church is one spot on the map, your elder team or staff believes it is somewhere else, and then throw in the people who volunteer and attend your church. If you don’t know where you are on the map, you won’t be able to lead people to the next place in the journey.

When I arrived at Community Covenant, I found documents of 4 different sets of mission statements or values in the last decade. When I asked people why we existed, I got the answer based on when they started attending and what they heard repeated the most. Consequently, we weren’t on the same page.

This happens in churches, even if the pastor doesn’t leave. Churches slowly lose their way, lose focus on their mission, go to a conference and hear a new idea they have to implement immediately and gradually; the direction they had isn’t laser-focused anymore.

In his excellent book, Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times, John Eldredge tells us what to do now: “The first thing you should do when you are lost is stop! This is critical – stop moving and get your bearings. Even if it takes some time.”

The first thing you should do when you are lost is stop! This is critical – stop moving and get your bearings. Even if it takes some time. -John Eldredge

Many of us, as pastors and leaders and churches, are lost. We are lost in the fog of covid, unclear on who is still a part of our church, and unclear on what church looks like in this post-pandemic world.

And we need to stop.

We must pull everyone together, figure out who is with us and where we are on the map, and then set a destination together.

When I arrived in New England, I interviewed almost 40 people in our church. People who had been a part of our church for decades and some who came in the last year. I asked them the same eight questions and those answers were invaluable to me. They helped me figure out where we were, so we could determine where we were going.

Once you know where you are, it makes it easier to know where you’re going.

Here they are:

What is going well at Community Covenant Church?
What is not going well at CCC?
What is one thing about CCC you hope doesn’t change?
What is one thing about CCC you hope does change?
What burning questions would you like to ask me?
If money weren’t an issue, what would be your next full-time hire(s) and why?
If you were in my shoes, what would you focus on first?
How can I pray for you?

Here’s the fantastic thing, 90% of the answers were the same.

Whether you are new to your church or not, you can ask these questions or questions like them to find out where you are. You might tweak them to find out what you learned in covid, what did covid reveal about your church, and what has God put on your heart in the last 2-3 years that you need to pay attention to.

But as I’ve said before, this is a season where pastors need to think like church planters as they move forward. Church planters are pioneers; they are starters, forging new ways of doing church and risking, and more and more pastors need to have this mindset.

How you need to be thinking as a pastor right now.

Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2022

7 Ways to Love Your Work & Glorify God

by Josh Reich

Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash

We spend the majority of our time in one place. Whether we work from home, are a stay-at-home parent, a business owner, teacher, or chef, we spend most of our lives thinking about, worrying about, and preparing for work.

We spend most of our lives sitting at a desk, in a cubicle, listening to a boss who is not as smart as you. Dreaming about when the weekend will come, the next vacation will arrive, or a promotion.

How to stand out at work.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. It can be different.

We often separate our work lives from our faith, but God cares deeply about our work. It matters to him a lot.

As I shared on Sunday, God created work and made it for us to glorify Him and find pleasure, joy, and meaning in our work, that we are to come alive when we work. Because of that, Christians should think about their job differently.

Yes, I know that work is hard, often stressful, and sometimes even a struggle. That is part of the fallen world we live in and one of the curses we live under because of sin (Genesis 3:17b). But it also doesn’t change God’s original intention for work. It just means we need to change our view of it and, sometimes, change how we do it.

In light of that, here are some of the ideas:

7 ways to glorify God at work.

1. Focus. What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Like most Americans, you reach for your phone and check your Facebook, Instagram, or email. What you fill your heart and mind with first thing in the morning determines much of what your day becomes. What if you grabbed your Bible and prayed instead of your phone? What if you took some silence to begin your day to center your heart and mind? Your life and day will change if, instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning, you prayed and said, “God, use me today, guide me, help me honor you in everything.”

2. Integrity. Be honest and trustworthy on the job. Be on time. Give a full day’s work. So many people rob their employer by being lazy, doing fantasy football, Facebook, and March madness at work. Go to work and work. Be that guy. It will be rare if you want to stand out at work and have integrity. Integrity and dependability are reasons people get promoted or not, whether or not they can come through on a promise or assignment.

3. Skill. Get good at what you do. God has given you the gifts, talents, and abilities you have. Take continuing education when you can, read books on your skills, listen to podcasts, and read blogs. We honor God when we use the gifts and talents he’s given to us to their maximum potential. The ability to grow in your skills and talents is another reason we do or don’t see promotions in our lives.

4. Beauty. If you’re part of creating things, create beautiful things. Beauty is in things that are pleasing to the eye, taste good, and work well. CPAs know this feeling when an excel spreadsheet adds up. That’s beauty: a beautiful meal, clothes. When you build something, create great stories, works of art, movies, or buildings.

5. Winsome. Being winsome is how you relate to others. Your speech to others should be kind and loving, and your countenance at work should be one of winsomeness, not being a jerk to those around you.

6. Money. Work is where you make (and spend) money. It is all God’s, not yours. Tim Keller said, “The way to serve God at work is to make as much money as you can so that you can be as generous as you can.” Turn your earnings into the overflow of generosity in how you steward God’s money. Don’t work to earn just to have. Work to have to give and to invest in Christ-exalting ventures.

7. Thanks. Always give thanks to God for life and health and work and Jesus. Be a thankful person at work. Don’t be among the complainers. You have a job; you have the boss God gave you. Think about that one for a moment.

7 ways to glorify God at work.

Posted on Monday, July 25, 2022

The Practice of Letting Go

by Josh Reich

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

On Sunday, I talked about the year(s) that we have lived through. It has been a lot.

Some of us have lost and started new jobs or watched family and friends do so. Maybe you have moved or watched friends move. We have seen friends and family get sick, and some of us have said goodbye to friends and family who have passed away.

All of it has been a lot to walk through.

Over this last year, I have heard from countless people and thought, “Can’t we just go back to how it was?” But we can’t. We can’t get back what we lost or go back to how it was; we have to move forward. But to move forward, we have to take stock of where things are and give things over to God.

Over this last year, I have heard from countless people and have thought to myself, “Can’t we just go back to how it was?”

Ecclesiastes 7 stopped me in my tracks one morning during my preaching break.

It says:

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart. Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind. The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun, because wisdom is protection as silver is protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

God has made the day of prosperity and adversity.

God has made the day of prosperity and adversity.

This season led me to an essential practice that has helped me immensely. I saw it in John Eldredge’s great book Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad. He calls it benevolent detachment. It stops several times each day to give everyone and everything over to God.

The practice of pausing in your day.

To help me with that, I use his pause app (which I’d highly recommend you download for free), set the time that works for your day, and pause to give everything and everyone over to God.

How to let go of your worries, cares, and stress.

Each day, my phone buzzes at 10:45 and 3:30 to remind me to pause. When I do, I sit still, take several deep breaths and pray over and over, “God, I give everything and everyone to you.” This has helped me let go of what is behind me and see what is in front of me so I can be fully present with God, myself and others. It reminds me that I am not all-powerful, but God is. It reminds me that God cares for me, and I can give him what is weighing me down. And ultimately, God has it all in his hands.

Posted on Monday, July 18, 2022

How to Create your Rhythm Dashboard

by Josh Reich

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

One of the things I hear people talk about way too much is the goal of balance in life. Google work/life balance, and you will find many ideas on how to balance everything you do.

The problem is that balance is a pipedream, an illusion, a mirage that is impossible to come by.

Instead of balancing life and all the demands that come our way, I have found it better to look at life through the lens of rhythms. Each season of the year has a rhythm. There are different feelings to the fall, winter, summer, and spring. And we need to understand that.

We were created to live in a rhythm.

God created the world in six days and then rested. There is a rhythm to sabbath rest, a flow that is so important.

But to understand that, we have to understand our rhythm dashboard.

When I burned out almost a decade ago, Katie and I sat down to create a rhythm dashboard. A system of warning lights to know when we are running too fast.

Think for a moment, when do you know you are running on empty? Can you pinpoint it? Can you look back a few days, weeks, or months to see what led to it?

This matters because if you can see when you get tired before you get tired, you can learn to live in rhythm.

If you can see when you get tired before you get tired, you can learn to live in rhythm.

Too often, we run until we run out of steam and then crash through a wall.

Here are some of mine:

The warning signs of burnout.

What usually is easy is now challenging. This is one of the first things that happen. Things you usually can do without much effort suddenly become tough.

Decision-making. You struggle to make simple decisions and find yourself paralyzed at making a choice. You are indecisive.

Sleep is hard to come by. For many Americans, sleep is hard as it is. We go to bed too late; we don’t take enough naps, spend too much time on technology, and get worked up. If you have to take sleeping pills, watch TV to fall asleep, or find yourself going to bed at midnight or staring at the clock at midnight, you need to work on your sleep.

It is hard to get going in the morning. Some people are morning people and can’t wait to get going; others are not. I’m not a morning person. But, when I find myself having a hard time getting going in the morning, needing multiple cups of coffee to stay awake or focus, that’s a warning sign. Think about this morning; how hard was it to get out of bed? The harder it was, the closer you are right now to burnout.

You get angry fast. When you are tired, you tend to get angry fast. Your fuse is shorter with those closest to you: family, friends, and coworkers. Your reaction to situations does not match the situation. You get angry at small things or cry without knowing why.

Motivation is hard to come by. You are indeed more motivated and alert at specific parts of the day. It is first thing in the morning, which is why I reserve that for sermon prep and not meetings. When I am most creative, I need to give that mental time to the most critical part of my job: preaching. When I find that motivation is not there, I know I have a problem.

You have impulses to eat and drink, and you struggle to control them. You may also use things to calm down. This might be food, sex, porn, exercise, drugs, smoking, or alcohol. While these things calm you down, and all of these are not necessarily sins, when used to calm us down or help us relax or sleep or “take the edge off,” we have a problem. If you think, “I just need ____ to calm down or feel better,” you have a problem.

You don’t laugh as much or have fun. This is connected to what we’ve already said, but if you can’t remember the last time you laughed and had fun, that’s a problem. When you are tired, the last thing you have energy for is fun or community. You are more irritable and have less courage.

What is on your dashboard? How do you know that you are running too fast? How do you know that one busy season has run into another season, and now that is just your life?

How to know if you’re about to burnout.