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Fighting Temptation

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All of us have things we wish we didn’t do. Maybe it is something small that doesn’t seem like a big deal, or it might be something that if discovered could destroy your world. It might be that you can’t stop talking about other people, you can’t stop eating, maybe you have to buy something every week and now have a closet full of clothes you don’t use, or maybe you can’t go a day without looking at porn.

Whatever it is, we all fight temptations.

What if there is a way out? What if there was a way to be free of falling into temptation? What if you could really fight temptation?

That’s what we will talk about this week as we continue our series in the book of James from 1:12 – 18.

I think this week has the potential to really bring freedom to a lot of lives.

Remember, we meet at 5pm at 6620 E 22nd St.

See you Saturday.

 

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Developing Leaders at all Levels

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“Apprenticeship is at the heart of this new approach to leadership development. To understand why, you’ll have to come to grips with a potentially controversial belief:  leadership can only be developed through practice. Those who have talent for leadership must develop their abilities by practicing in the real world and converting that experience into improved skill and judgment. That conversion does not take place in a classroom.” -Ram Charan, Leaders at all Levels

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Discerning Your Idols

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We often talk about idols of the heart and the gospel at Revolution. I will get questions about how you determine what your idols are, what is it that your heart longs for, how do you discern them and learn how the gospel transforms them.

Recently, I came across some great diagnostic questions in the Porterbrook curriculum that we will be using for our Surge School to discern what the idols of your heart are:

  • If you are angry, ask, ― Is there something too important to me? Something I am telling myself I have to have? Is that why I am angry — because I am being blocked from having something I think is a necessity when it is not?
  • If you are fearful or badly worried, ask, ―Is there something too important to me? Something I am telling myself I have to have? Is that why I am so scared — because something is being threatened which I think is a necessity when it is not?
  • If you are despondent or hating yourself, ask, Is there something too important to me? Something I have to have? Is that why I am so down — because I have lost or failed at something which I think is a necessity, but which is not
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What Pain & Trials Do

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We are kicking off a brand new series on James this Saturday. In one of the commentaries I’m reading, the author made this statement which summarizes what I’m talking about on Saturday really well:

We say that we believe that God is our Father, but as long as we remain untested on the point our belief falls short of steady conviction. But suppose the day comes – as it does and will – when circumstances seem to mock our creed, when the cruelty of life denies his fatherliness, his silence calls in question his almightiness and the sheer, haphazard, meaningless jumble of events challenges the possibility of a Creator’s ordering hand. It is in this way that life’s trials test our faith for genuineness.

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Favorite Posts of 2010

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In case you missed them this year, here are the top posts for 2010:

  1. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
  2. Radicalis Notes
  3. Being a Pastor’s Wife
  4. How a Wife Handles Her Husband’s Sexual Addiction
  5. Thoughts on Burnout, Sleep, Adrenalin, Stress, Sex and Eating
  6. Don’t Malign Your Spouse
  7. Someone Pays the Price
  8. The Role of Men in the Family
  9. Why We’re Homeschooling
  10. Leadership Lessons from the Dancing Shirtless Guy
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How to Get the Most Out of Reading

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I get asked a lot about reading. What I read? How I choose the books I do and how I find time to read. I thought I’d share a few tips.

I am always blown away when I meet pastors or business leaders who don’t read. If you aren’t reading, you aren’t growing. If you aren’t growing, you are not reaching your potential as a leader, human, Christian, husband, wife, father or mother. As a Christian, if you aren’t growing and learning, we often miss out on what God wants to do in our lives because reading and growing keeps us humble. Anytime you meet a leader who is doing great things, I bet they are a reader.

First, how to choose a book worth reading. Listen to people you trust. For me, if I hear from multiple blogs, tweets or friends about a book, I put it on my list. One thing I’ve learned is that who we read shapes us, so read authors you respect, leaders you want to become like. This doesn’t mean you should never read those you disagree with, but we’ll get to that. The choice of a book is crucial. Books get expensive and there is nothing worse than starting a book and realizing it isn’t worth finishing. If you are curious about what I’ve read recently, you can go here. I review every book I read as a way to help with this. If you start to read a book that isn’t worth finishing (typically, if I am not into a book by page 60 and feel like it is a waste of time, I stop reading it), put it down. Don’t waste your time. And don’t feel bad about not finishing it.

Second, always be reading. I have stacks of books in my office that I want to read. I have a stack on leadership, marriage and personal spiritual growth. Take a book and highlighter everywhere you go. Never go to a meeting or an appointment without one. We waste so much time waiting for people or getting into the dentist or doctor’s office. This is the perfect time to read. Studies show the average person can read at least 1 page a minute (without skimming). If you have to wait 10 minutes, you just read 10 pages.

Third, have a plan. This goes back to the stacks. Ask yourself, what do I want to grow in? What do I want to get better at? Is it health? Leadership? Marriage? Communication? Education? Right now, we are working on our budget for Revolution and I asked our staff members, “In 2011, what is one thing you want to grow in?” I do this to help them create a plan of growth for the year. If you don’t have a plan, you won’t know what to read. If you don’t have a goal, you won’t know if you reached it. Also, set a goal for how many books you want to read in a year. For 2010, my goal was to read 100 books and I am almost there.

What things help you get the most out of reading? How do you choose books? What book are you reading right now that is worth reading?

 

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Are You Wiling to Make the Sacrifices Success Demands?

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Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

One of the hardest things in life and leadership is feeling ready for success and effectiveness but having it elude you.

You might look around at other leaders, pastors, or churches and wonder, “Why do they seem to have the effectiveness and health, and I don’t?” The same thing can happen in relationships when it seems like others have an easier time than you do. 

There are things you can and can’t control regarding effectiveness in life and leadership.

One of the things you can’t control is God’s timing for your life. I remember reading a quote from Martyn Lloyd-Jones years ago where he said, “The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready.” Sometimes in life and leadership, you aren’t ready for the dreams that you have. There may be some lessons you need to learn; there may be some lessons others need to learn before they can come and help you take your next step.

The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready. -Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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The other thing I’ve realized the longer I’m in leadership is that looking back, I didn’t want the things I dreamed about. Every pastor, at some point, dreams of speaking on a big stage, writing books, and having a large platform, but deep down, many aren’t willing to make the sacrifices it takes to get there. You need to work long hours to be successful and effective at anything. Your life needs to revolve around something; the most successful are making sacrifices that others aren’t. There is a reason that few megachurch-lead pastors make it to the end of ministry with a marriage and family intact. And a lot of that has to do with the sacrifice and pressure others must make for someone to be successful.

Do you want the dreams in your head?

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A few years ago, I started to ask successful people, what things have you given up to get where you are? What sacrifices have you or your family made for your success? This question can be eye-opening when you hear the answers. 

I’ve talked to several “successful” pastors who have marriages that aren’t fulfilling or ones who rarely speak to their kids. I’ve talked to countless leaders who are incredibly lonely and have enormous platforms. 

One of the things it showed me was what I wanted out of life. I heard some answers and thought, “I don’t want to give that up.” When you realize that, you can see that you don’t want what that person has because you aren’t willing to do what that person did. 

That’s okay. 

Some of this is the season of life, and some is simply your life calling. 

So, before you start to envy the life someone has, look at the sacrifices they had to make to get there and then ask, “Do I want to make those sacrifices?” If you don’t, that’s okay; it just means you have a different life.