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Sep 13, 2012    |       6 comments

All the slow Brides are dying.

The local church since around 33 AD, has been called by Jesus of Nazareth, to be nimble and quick, and has been warned by Jesus, that if they are not, the Lord will jump over their candle stick.

Around 30 years later Jesus “whispered” in the ear and heart of the Apostle John to warn the local church about this and John’s recording of this prompting is found in Revelation 2:4-5, “4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Another warning from Jesus, recorded by John is Revelation 3:1-3, I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

These warnings are not written to unbelievers. These warnings are written to the Bride of Jesus of Nazareth, a.k.a. The Church.

The Church was created by God to be the Bride of Jesus Christ. A bride is only a bride when she is married and unified with a groom. The purpose of a groom and bride being wedded is love. The love, that this couple develops, creates and leads to reproduction of life. It is arguable, that in nearly every instance, true love produces new life. If new life is not produced it is usually due to a problem of bad health or lack of love.

The Church is wed to Jesus. The purpose of this wedlock is love first and reproduction as a result of that love. If the bride of Christ is not reproducing new life through this union of love with Jesus, then someone in this wedded union is unhealthy or lacks love. It doesn’t take a marriage counselor to determine who the guilty party is.

Now, I believe that the hope of the world is squarely centered in the local Church that is producing new life daily. My comments are not anti-church. My comments are anti church sterility.

Over the last 50 years too many have been witness to the dying of local churches in urban and rural America. A recent headline stated that Muslim congregations in America are beginning to purchase the facilities of former brides of Christ who quit reproducing. (The Old Testament is full of headlines just like this because God’s people quit being faithful to Him and the high places of their homeland became places of worship of idols.) I liken these churches to roadkill as a consequence of high speed culture flying down the highway of life. These dead brides, having the God given gears to travel at high speeds, mortally chose to faithfully walk and not faint on the spiritual autobahn. There is a time to walk and not faint, but there is also a time to soar as on wings of eagles. Church be nimble, Church be quick, or Jesus will jump over your candle stick as He travels nimbly and quick. Is Jesus quick and nimble? Jesus’s very nature is to keep His eyes on the will of the Father and complete what the Father asks of Him. Jesus had 3 years to land on earth and accomplish the payment for all mankind’s sins, past, present and future. I have heard stories of recent roadkilled churches, and how this once vibrant bride of Christ, somehow quit moving quickly and literally took 3 years to determine whether or not the carpet should be replaced in the sanctuary. It then argued another year about what color the new carpet should be. There are churches taking 3 years to decide what they should do with the $350,000 in the missions fund, all the while in that same 3 year period, approximately 20 Million children under the age of 5 will have died from the lack of food and clean water. The ghosts of this roadkill quote Bible passages to justify their death. They justify their death by saying they refused to conform to the patterns of the world and think themselves as martyrs. This inability of responsibility reminds me of a teaching of Jesus describing this very tragic behavior. It is found in Matthew 6:23, “And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”

Conforming to the patterns of the world has zero to do with church speed, or nimble and quick and holy decisions! Zero.

Many, unrepentant contributors to the cause of the roadkill justify their inability of responsibility by saying the kill is a product of a satanic attack. I, humbly, beg to differ. If the deceased church had the ability to move quickly and celebrate the risk of living married to Jesus of Nazareth, to spend large amounts of money on fulfilling the wishes and commands of Jesus, but chose not to…Why would satan need to attack such an infertile or castrated organism? I do not give credit to the devil for such roadkill. The roadkill can be explained by the simple choice of mankind to stop loving Jesus. In the passages that John recorded in Revelation there is a whisper from Jesus beckoning His bride to return to her first love. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey me.” If the bride doesn’t obey Jesus and thus return to her first love, then Jesus simply jumps over the candle stick and moves on. Another way to describe this moving on, is for Jesus to divorce this specific bride. Thus, roadkill.

Spiritual roadkill is not a product of satanic attack. It is a product of lack of love, light and ultimately life. It is best understood as men and women in the form of a fruitless bride of Jesus, worshipping the idol of one-another, circling the wagons and becoming the product of the circle of the cursed life. Men and women groping for power and influence and control, being made sterile or castrated by the worship of the idol of personal preference. It is the bride of Jesus of Nazareth having a love affair with herself right in front of her husband. When this happens, Jesus moves on. Thus, roadkill.

Is there any good news as we travel at high speeds down this spiritual autobahn that is littered with roadkill every quarter mile? Of course there is!
God said in Isaiah 61:3 that He can make beauty from ashes. The only way we can have less roadkill happening, is through the process of Christ-like evolution. Dare I say Christ-like elimination? Do not forget that a kernel of wheat must die before new life begins. In Revelation, Jesus whispered to the probable roadkill to return to her first love, and if she doesn’t obey, he nimbly and quickly moves on. What this leaves behind, is a bride that the devil does not need to concern himself with, and the Holy Spirit can’t even see in its rear-view mirror. This leaves a stranded bride in the middle of the highspeed road of life. It is not a surprise to the world, that all that remains, is another roadkill that vultures get sustenance from. Tragic.

The beauty that God can make from these ashes is the fact that slow brides become former brides and thus are unable to produce more slow brides. I am struggling to see this fact as beautiful, for there is nothing more disgusting in all creation than to see a church become non-living. I’m heartbroken to even write about it. However, talking or writing about it in a politically correct fashion is not the solution. Ignoring it, is not the solution. Calling it what it is, repenting of it, and changing gears is the solution. In one word, Change. If you can’t shift in this shift happens society, you become roadkill.

Heres the real truth. Church will go on. With or without you. Jesus told us all, that the gates of Hades will not prevail. Jesus promised, that this all ends in victory for the church. I think it is important to warn that the victory goes to the church. Not the roadkill. The roadkill used to be the church in its former state. If your former state is the church, then your current state is not the church. Only the Church is victorious. The Church will speed on.

The Bride of Jesus is meant to live for eternity. She is never meant to be roadkill. God doesn’t cause roadkill. I do not think that satan causes roadkill. People cause roadkill. It is not the driver, obeying the speed limit, that causes roadkill. It is the driver that thinks the road is all hers and is ignoring the speed of life that becomes roadkill. Lack of speed kills too.

You are the Church.
You are the Bride of Christ.
What gear are you in?
What gear is your church in?
Q: If your gear is too low and slow…who is to blame? A: Only you.
Q: If your church’s gear is too low and slow…who is to blame? A: My personal experience has proven, that the committees and groups of deacons and groups of elders that demand to control the movement of the Bride of Jesus Christ are the guilty ones. Also, the founding members who refuse to shift gears are the guilty ones. Also, the spiritual leaders who ignore their biblical mandate to lead diligently are the guilty ones.

The control monger committees, deacons, and founding members along with timid and diligent less leaders, afraid to pick up speed, simply will become a turtle with her head tucked “safely” away sitting on the fastest speedway of life and consequentially roadkill for passersby to gross out about.

The very people who Jesus died for, are traveling this speedway, and are witness to all the roadkill, and what they see is causing them to choose not to become the bride of Christ, for fear of becoming roadkill themselves. I believe that spiritual roadkill is the number one reason why unchurched people refuse to be a part of the Bride of Jesus of Nazareth. Nobody wants to drive in a pretty and slow car. Its embarrassing. Fears of becoming roadkill are strong influences.

The people, who are far from Jesus, are eternally dying to get behind the wheel of the greatest drive life can provide. That ride is supposed to be the Bride of Jesus. The Church. People, who are far from God, want to ride, but refuse to ride in the way that causes them to become roadkill.

The times we live in demand for the Bride to be swift and healthy and reproduction focused.
The times we live in demand quick and nimble churches.
The times demand urgent churches.
The times demand churches of responsibility and repentance of fruitlessness.
The times demand the church to be obedient to the King of Kings.
The times demand churches of mobility, maneuverability, and quickness of holy decisions.
The times demand the church to live in the now.
Speed up or get run over.
It is a choice.
vroom!

Sep 6, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

The Spirit of Discovery.

I am nearly breathless after trying to describe innovation in my previous lesson. I want to now take a look into the spirit of discovery. So, keeping it old school, Webster says that discovery is “The act of finding or learning something for the first time! 

My heart beats faster just after reading that definition. You’ve read the headlines; “Her research led to many important discoveries. Reporters discovered that the Governor had been unfaithful to his wife. We discovered a talented musician. A voyage of discovery. It was one of the most important discoveries in the history of _____________!” 

Discovery! Think of Lewis and Clark and their expedition of discovery. It required teamwork. It required admitting that they had no clue what they would encounter. Discovery has a knack for showing all involved that they are not in control. Discovery forces all involved to admit this phrase; “I don’t know!” Therefore, discovery creates humility. 

Here’s what excites me about the critical difference between innovation and discovery. I wrote earlier that innovation breeds arrogance; it has to exist already to breed arrogance. What’s thrilling about the act of discovery is that it creates humility. An arrogant person thrust into an environment of discovery can become humble. Humility is born in uncertainty and danger. Opening yourself or your organization to uncertainty and risk creates humility. Discovery creates humility which causes all involved to rely on each other humbly and usefully. 

Innovators command their teams to do as told. Innovation companies rely heavily on their policy manuals to police one another, and it breeds untrusting groups inside riskless environments. Please understand me; there is a need for policy. The attitude difference behind the policy is night and day different amongst innovative and discovery-type companies. It’s the difference between arrogance and humility. Discoverers have to rely on and trust each other. Which team would you prefer to work on? Don’t forget that Innovation and Discovery are both good. I like the discovery mentality and the bias you read in this article.

An example is from the book “Good to Great” written by author Jim Collins. In his book, Collins differentiates between Levels 1,2,3,4, and 5 leaders. Jim Collins talks about how level 4 and level 5 leaders can produce similar results, but a critical difference between a level 4 leader and a level 5 leader is humility or lack thereof. Level 5 leaders always lead through humility. Level 5 leaders tend to lead companies with a reputation for being discovery oriented. 

Many companies are known for being a company of discovery, and their leaders seem arrogant. Maybe a fine example would be Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. Steve Jobs carried a reputation for being arrogant. However, I think there are some nuanced differences between arrogance, confidence, and ego. Often all of those traits are shrugged off as arrogance, requiring discernment to know the subtle differences. The differences are known by how much character is evident in a person. The difference between arrogance and confidence is not discovered by measuring their ego but by their character. The ego is a good thing when the measure of character in a person is as high as the measure of ego. However, a high ego and low character are the chemistry of an arrogant person. 

How does one transform an arrogant innovator into a humble discoverer? An excellent example of creating humility through discovery would be forcing an innovative person who struggles with arrogance in the front of the boat as you White Water Raft a raging river. This control-type person and his arrogance wash away (in this case, maybe literally washes away) into humility as everybody else in the raft hears him scream like a child. HUMILITY SERVED! 

That is what I love about discovery. It is teachable. Innovation is contagious, and discovery is teachable. 

Discovery is the mentality that focuses only on causes and even invests fully in a cause regardless of the effect or the result. I said earlier that I am a pastor. So if I study the life of Jesus, I can see He was a man who even knew the result or the effect of His life. He was going to be badly beaten and murdered. Yet he stayed with the cause. By cause, I mean the foundation, the reason, the why we are pursuing a goal instead of forcing a specific result. Innovators push results, and discoverers focus on a cause and trust the results to manifest. In the people business, like ministry, the outcome/result/effect is God’s job, not mine. My job is to focus on the cause regardless of the effect or result. In the Lewis and Clark discovery expeditions, they couldn’t control any outcomes or results. Every step could have been their end. They had to live in the moment and keep discovering new things around every corner, river, crevice, predator, and tree. The results took care of themselves and were remarkable. 

Innovation focuses on the outcome and effects…the end result. 

Discovery focuses on the cause and behavior while pursuing a cause. 

Innovation measures results. 

Discovery measures faithfulness to the cause. 

One is motivated by control, and one is motivated by love for the cause. One is living for the future at the cost of the present, and one is loving the present and leaving the results in God’s hands. 

It’s scary and breeds humility to leave the results in the hands of God. I think leaving things in the hands of God is the safest risk you could ever take. In the Big Picture of life, the most important things are not at the end of the journey; what develops and shapes along the journey makes champions and usually creates an end product more remarkable than an innovator. If a climber of Mount Everest only focuses on the end result of attaining the top of the mountain, then what happens once the pinnacle is reached? (Many Everest Climbers have witnessed people who only focused on the result and forgot to focus on their next step, resulting in a fall to their death.) Also, once the climbers of Mt. Everest achieved the result of getting to the top of the mountain, those who only focused on the result struggled with depression soon after. The journey, the cause, is where fulfillment is found. Living for a cause is unending, leading to more discoveries. Achieving a final innovative result requires more critical thinking to start another innovative process that stimulates a vicious circle of arrogance.

Discovery is all about the mentality of facilitating the purpose and progress of others. Discovery is exhilarating along the way because of the thrilling unknown yet to be discovered, but it is not about you. It has to be about others. Discovery mixed with selfishness kills people. In its purest form, discovery is about team and trust, and reliance on the critical factor that everybody has each other’s interests above their own as they risk together on a path toward discovery. 

Discovery admits that the behavior never changes, but the answers and results do. So a person of discovery never has the solutions for tomorrow and only has their behavior to control.

Jesus taught that people shouldn’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough problems. (Matthew 6:34)

People with the Spirit of Discovery keep asking, “How should I treat this person right here, right now?” How should I behave as I proceed into this business meeting?” “How can I focus my attitude to deal with this next situation that will impact my company?” “In this current conflict, how can I respond to this person to show that I care about them, even if our conflict results in separation?” 

Discovery lives for the cause regardless of the effects/results. 

Discovery focuses on the cause, not the effect. It focuses on the journey, not the results. 

Innovation forces an outcome and controls and measures results over and over and over. Discovery measures behavior and leaves the outcome up to God. Discovery measures, but it measures very different things when compared to an innovator. Discovery is the best business model. 

Hopefully, you are thinking right now, “I want to be a leader of Discovery!” 

The attitude of discovery has no silo groups individually working toward some result. Discovery breaks down the walls of separation and verifies the need for each other. Innovation creates hierarchies and power pyramids that police each other. Innovative bosses control and measure according to a predetermined result they strive to achieve at all costs. Bosses and leaders are very different. Discovery creates circles full of people who honor and trust each other’s strengths for survival and discovering the result. Discovery teams are silo-less circles with a leader that does not have a Boss mentality. Oh, please don’t mistake me, the buck must stop somewhere, but the buck stops with the one who is the true leader. A true leader naturally facilitates the purpose and progress of all the others in the circle, even willing to lay down his life for them.

There is no “Boss” in the circle of discovery. Why? Because when you are out discovering and the “boss” finds himself in Quick Sand and about to die, his boss mode transforms into humility. He might just be left to die depending on how he treated his “underlings,” and it all gets covered up as a tragic accident! I don’t want to be a boss with everybody licking my boots out of fear. I want to be a leader who discovers with my team while keeping other people’s best interests ahead of mine. That’s discovery. That’s a level 5 leader. 

The spirit of discovery’s primary focus is not on the organization’s end goals but on the environment inside the organization that leads to great team discoveries. 

A discovery team maintains focus on the cause and the organization’s culture; then, the organization will grow as a result. Focus on the cause, not the result! A result that happens out of fear, control, and force is not a result that gets celebrated, except for a bonus check at the end of the year. The next generation of leaders is not motivated by bonus checks but by discovery relational teamwork.

How does a discovery-type leader grow?

A discovery-type leader rarely, if ever, looks into their field type for how to do it better; that is what innovators do. When a company of discovery quits its attitude toward discovery, it becomes innovative. A discovery company knows its competition is a company in a different field of interest, and its worst competition is itself. I love the slogan on Michael Jordan’s web page. “The only man who could stop Michael Jordan….Is Michael Jordan!” That is true of your company, church, family, and yourself. When a company of discovery finally feels like it has arrived and has the best idea, it has now transformed into a company of innovation. 

A company of discovery is full of observation towers instead of silos. It studies and learns (discovery) from its customer but is full of interaction with others outside its own company. A company of discovery never polls its own, only interacts. You can’t poll something yet to be discovered, so the company of discovery is full of trial and error. It has a culture of permissible failures followed by grace. How many times did Abe Lincoln fail? How many times did Albert Einstein fail? With unknowns around every corner, discovery keeps you and the team humble. It has a great sense of humor and often laughs at itself. It has a mentality of meshing and sharing with others. It trusts every individual in the company to utilize and expand on their expertise and strengths. Team and trust are a must in Discovery Companies. The company of discovery has an attitude of servanthood and adventure and considers others better than the self. Obviously, I have a bias towards the discovery company and carry a bit of displeasure towards companies of innovation. That’s my problem, that I will have to deal with. My simple question is, which company do you want to be a part of? Here’s what is remarkable about companies of discovery. They never end. They continue to discover and adapt and evolve into the future. Companies of innovation sooner or later celebrate how they achieved their final result; they nailed their ultimate goal! Hip-Hip Hooray, Hip-Hip Hooray. Then what? These are the companies people talk about when they think back at what used to be. They usually last one lifetime, measured by three generations. Again, not bad, not wrong; Just not where I want to leave a mark on history. 

So which of these two is the company you work in or lead? 

Innovative? Then you have good news; you can develop your spirit of discovery and be remarkable. It’s time to get your team together and go where no man has before. It’s scary! It creates humility. Are you up for it? 

Discovery? Then stand guard, for it is easy to start coasting, which can only happen on a downward slope. The instant you think you have arrived, you have transformed into innovation, but that is okay because you can decide to discover once again!

I hope you will discover who you are.

I hope you will discover what could change the world and make it better.

I hope you will discover the freedom of working humbly with a team.

I hope you will discover that the greatest joy in life is helping others achieve their dreams and desires.

When you discover that, you will be living your dream.

The journey will be unbelievable. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and pushback. I by no means am an expert in this. I am simply thinking out loud. I like to think it all makes sense, but I’m sure there are gaps. I’m still discovering what works for me, and it’s a thrilling and humbling adventure. 

Go Discover!

Sep 5, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Are you a person of INNOVATION or a person of DISCOVERY?

I have been in multiple meetings and asked questions about people’s perceptions of me and our organization. I have had many discussions in the past year of my life about perceptions. People’s perceptions are people’s reality, and people’s reality tends to be their truth. People’s first impression of you might be false, but it will be their perception of you. How people perceive you is more crucial than you might like to admit. How do people perceive you? I want to compare two popular leadership styles influencing how people perceive us: The spirit of innovation and the spirit of discovery. 

Please understand that innovation and discovery are strengths; each is important and good. I am confident that the spirit of discovery creates more success than the spirit of innovation. 

One is not born with either of these styles of leadership influence; they are a choice. Which type best describes you? 

The Spirit of Innovation

Webster says innovation is “to make changes or do something in a new way.” I define innovation: As taking something old and making it useable in a new way. Innovation is reformation; innovation is often the act of taking something that worked over there, tweaking it, and using it over here. Innovation is doing something old differently. 

On the surface level, the spirit of innovation sounds fantastic. I’m not opposed to the product that innovation creates; I’m apprehensive about what the spirit of innovation does to the innovators. 

When a group of people innovates something, they become very loyal to the innovation. Why? Because they innovated it, and it is theirs. 

When an innovator innovates, they take something old and reform it into something new. Once innovation occurs, the innovator naturally thinks their innovation is exceptional and loves it. 

When the innovating group believes they have created exceptionality, it is nearly impossible for them to innovate again. Why? Because innovation is making something work better. For an innovator to re-innovate is to admit that whatever they first innovated is now lacking. No innovator ever wants to admit that their innovation is no longer working or needs to be improved. 

Another problem with innovation is that anything innovative is not new but has a façade of new. Grocery Store shelves contain products with bright new advertising: “new and improved.” However, it is the same product with a newly designed label.

Innovators approach products and ideas with an attitude of “needs improvement.” Great leaders can see what’s not working and envision what is necessary to make it work. I’m calling into question the disposition of the innovator. An attitude of “that needs improvement” is usually preceded by an attitude of “I can do it better.” Having an “I can do it better” attitude and being humble is tough.

An innovator naturally believes they can improve a product and only achieves such by first criticizing it. Critics are rarely respected and sought out for advice because innovators breed arrogance. Innovation does not lead to arrogance; it breeds arrogance. To breed arrogance, one must have the arrogance to start with. 

The Wall Street Journal recently came up with a list of 5 common mistakes of Innovators. I will give a brief description of the errors, and if you want to read the full article, you can go to: “http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog” http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog 

I added a sixth to the mix of the five common errors of innovators.

1. You believe your numbers. You insist on “seeing the numbers” too soon, and you only have to base your numbers on your past statistics. Remember that innovation is not creating something new it is taking something old and making something you think is better, and numbers usually drive this reality. Driven by numbers creates a leadership mindset that RESULTS matter most. Using a biblical worldview to demonstrate my point, people of the Bible who focused on controlling their results always caused significant damage to relationships and hurt the numerical results.

2. The Success Trap. When a company gets financial success because it got very good at what it does, it focuses on what made it successful. This focus on “what got us here” causes a crowding out of other options and points of view, and it is only a matter of time before the company gets stuck in its inability to innovate itself, causing success to fatigue. Large companies are most susceptible to success fatigue, and their death is frustratingly slow and agonizing. In the book “In Search of Excellence,” by Peters and Waterman, the authors tell the fate of 43 companies recently leading the world that got caught in this trap. Today only 5 of those 43 companies even exist.

3. Believe they know the competition. The innovative company makes a substantial mistaken identity gaff when identifying the competition. Ask the innovative company’s CEO, “Who is your competition?” They will usually reply with the company that is most like them. The problem is that history proves that our most significant competitors typically come from a different angle. i.e., Shipping companies suffered from the steam engine; the internet threatened newspapers, and watch companies suffered because of mobile phone displays. In my opinion, Innovative companies get so caught up in the love of themselves that their greatest enemy is themselves.

4. Believe that because everybody has always done it this way, it is the best way of doing the next “new” thing. Innovative companies think they are on to something “new,” but they are only reforming the old, which is a significant detriment when entering uncharted territory. I have been in the leadership of a large innovative church. This church has such large numbers that for them to go to new levels means they have no organizations to innovate. They will never achieve the next level unless they eliminate their innovative spirit. For instance, when America landed on the moon. Innovation built the rocket, the space suits, space food, etc. But innovation is not what Neil Armstrong could build off of when he put his hand on the door hatch, opened the door to outer space, and took his first step onto the moon’s surface. The spirit of discovery was required for Neil Armstrong to achieve something that had never been done before. You cannot innovate to enter the uncharted successfully. When your company is leading the way, and you choose to move forward through innovation, you just signed a contract that says you are guaranteed to no longer be in the first position and possibly just inked your death certificate. Suppose an innovative company has earned first place. In that case, it must transition to a Discovery mentality to enter uncharted territory.

5. Asking the customers for their opinions. An innovative company is good at answering customers’ questions while ignoring new prospects’ desires. The organization’s current customers have already bought into the company and do not need to be asked about their loyalty. The mistakes breed when the company’s leadership team, which has innovated its methods from an old idea, is now sitting around the table making decisions based on past success. The company makes decisions based on keeping their customers happy while new and unreached people need to be “Discovered!” 

The spirit of innovation’s downfall is the team’s inability to innovate anymore because they would have to admit that their innovative idea “used” to be a good idea but is obsolete now. An innovative company never wants to acknowledge that its product no longer works. “Pride comes before the fall.” 

Innovators work hard to appear correct, regardless of the actual results. It is fascinating to me that innovators love upward results. Still, when the results prove a downward trajectory, the innovator’s arrogance cannot admit that their innovation is no longer performing. “Every bad idea used to be a good idea!” Innovation always leads to an eventual dead end.

6. Stop taking ultimate risks. Large innovative companies tend only to take calculated risks based on past success. There is a difference between discovery risk and innovative risk. 

Innovative Leaders are calculated risk-takers. The problem is that if you are the leading innovative company, which means nobody is ahead of you, you can’t calculate using your innovative spirit because there is nobody to innovate from in front of you. One can only discover from this point forward, and the risk required for an innovative company to shift into the spirit of discovery is terrifying. 

Companies in the lead usually end up not being in the lead anymore because the leader ran out of ideas to innovate. The top dog company begins to focus on how much there is to lose, settle in on their success, and “play it safe.” It’s like a Pro football game. The game is close, and the winning team has the ball at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The offensive coordinator tries to protect the lead and thus changes the game plan from ‘playing to win’ to ‘playing not to lose.’ What usually happens when that game plan is employed? It’s called an upset. 

What’s the solution? The leading company can only open themselves up to new learning experiences that make them feel uncertain and incompetent. Because there is nothing to innovate on, the leader must become like Neil Armstrong and begin to discover new! As my next post will describe, I call it the mentality of DISCOVERY.

Sep 2, 2012    |       3 comments

Can you define Christian? (Bond Servant)

From the instant Jesus left earth and returned to His gated community by ascending back to the right-hand side of the Father in heaven, there has been controversy about how to follow Jesus. The book of Acts in the Bible has multiple accounts where, even the apostles, argue amongst themselves about what to specifically do when it comes to following Jesus. We are a passionate people, and when it comes to our faith, things get very personal. Add to this natural phenomenon all the denominations and different religions throughout the world, and what we have is a mixed bag of ideas about what it means to get to heaven and what it means to follow Jesus. In fact, a majority of the New Testament is simply letters from the apostles, written to answer questions from local churches that were having problems. The Bible is a grouping of solution letters written under the guidance of the Creator, Jesus Christ Himself. This blog post is long but I hope worthwhile in painting a perfect picture of what it means to be a Christian.

I think the most important issue that we must deal with, in this blog post pertains to something that Jesus said Himself. It is recorded in John 14:6 (NLT). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

That is a very intense, bold, and what could be called, arrogant, statement. Could you imagine your child’s teacher sending home a letter with all his students that read like that statement. The letter sent home would be a short statement that reads like this: “To all parents of the students in my class: I wanted to simply inform you that there is a heaven and a hell, and I wanted to inform you that if you or your student wants to go to heaven, then please know that I am the way, the truth, and the life, and you or your student will not be able to enter heaven or meet the Father in heaven unless you go through me.”

Can you imagine the uproar? Can you imagine the controversy, the headlines? Yet, this is exactly what Jesus did. This statement from Jesus has caused an uproar since He said it. This statement has created controversy and anger ever since He said it. So, before we can become a follower of Jesus, we must sort it out in our own head and heart as to whether or not Jesus is who He says He is. I love the thought process that C.S. Lewis created a long time ago, in which he says that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord. It’s a fair proposal from Lewis. Someone can’t just show up on the scene, calling themselves the Way, the Truth, the Life, and not be considered one of those three. So as you read this blog post, I ask you to decide what you believe. Do you believe that Jesus is a liar? Do you believe that Jesus is a lunatic? Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is, and thus, is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and the only way to get to heaven?

If you chose either of the first two options about who Jesus is—a liar or a lunatic—then you can live the rest of your life however you want. I do not want to be cynical with you, if you have chosen either of these two options or both, but if you did choose liar and/or lunatic, then please eat, drink, and be merry…do whatever you want, for this life is as close to heaven as you will ever get. Enjoy it immensely. Indulge and grab life by the horns and live to the max. I would, if I were you.

However, if you chose Jesus to be who He says He is—Lord—then I want to welcome you to the path less traveled. You have chosen a narrow and challenging path that will rock your world. I am excited for you, and I hope the rest of what you are about to read will give you clarity on what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus.

The best example I use to help others fully understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus is actually an Old Testament example. The example is what is called a bond servant. I do not think someone can have a true and full understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus or a christian, outside an understanding of what a bond servant is.

A bond servant is an Old Testament term for what we might call a voluntary slave. I want to directly challenge the reader to remove all presuppositions from your mind as to what the American mentality of a slave is. Please understand that in the Old Testament Hebrew culture, to be a slave could be a very wonderful and voluntary form of making a living. It could be a lifestyle that someone would choose.

Now, when someone would become a slave in a Jewish culture, there were rules that God required to be followed, and they can be found in the book of Exodus in the Bible. Some of these rules may or may not make sense to us in our cultures today, and that is okay. They were still rules that God wrote, and thus, the people of that time must follow. Just for the sake of what I hope is your own curiosity, I want to include these rules below. Exodus 21:1-5 (NLT).

“These are the regulations you must present to Israel. If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.”

So, this gives us a perspective on some rules of slavery of the Hebrew culture in the Old Testament times. But something amazing is about to happen as you read the next verse of this same Bible passage I have quoted above. The next sentence is where we get the term bond servant. Just for clarity, it is Exodus 21:5-6 (NLT):

“But the slave may declare, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.” If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.”

That passage is astonishing to me. Let me put this in my own words. Remember, if someone becomes a slave, they can only serve as a slave for six years. In the Hebrew culture, every seven years, they forgave each other’s debts. Can you imagine how wonderful this system would be? I’m sure there are people who took advantage of this system, but it is still the system that God ordained. I have always wondered what this system would do to an American economy. I personally believe it would create an environment of honor and gratitude that would not allow the few bad apples to ruin it for everybody else. Call me an eternal optimist and idealist. I say all that to simply say this. I can’t wait for heaven!

So, back to point about this slave stuff. Once someone worked as a slave for six years, the Hebrew law required this slave to be set free. Now, a lot can happen in six years in the life of anyone, including the life of a slave, and even back in the day, where change came more slowly than today. So a man who became a slave, for whatever reason, in the Old Testament times, and six years later was set free, now was faced with a free choice and multiple choices at that. He could accept his freedom and move on with his life however he chose. One of those choices was to go back to his master and voluntarily become a bond servant. This was where we can begin to understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

This slave could go back to his master and stand at his master’s front door and commit himself to his master. He would do this by stating to his master that he enjoyed being a slave under him. He would acknowledge that his life with his master, and as a slave, was the kind of life he wanted to live for the rest of his life. Now remember, when this man went to the door to say that he wanted to remain a slave to the master for the rest of his life, he was doing it as a completely free man and in a voluntary free manner. So when this free man, previously the master’s slave, came back to the front door of the master’s home and declared that he wanted to voluntarily remain the master’s slave, there were some critical and permanent things that voluntarily happened. The master accepted this free man’s lifetime offer, if he wanted to. This lifetime offer from the requesting person was one that acknowledges that everything he owned or had in his life, now fully belonged to the master, including his own life and his own family and material things, for the rest of his life, voluntarily. This act of commitment was a lifelong, irrevocable, and voluntary commitment.

It seems to me that for this kind of thing to actually happen, the master must have been a very special person for this kind of commitment to take place. In fact, to demonstrate how permanent this is, the man making the commitment would stand in the threshold of his master’s home, and the master would take a hammer and awl and drive it through the earlobe of man, making the voluntary promise. It would be through the right ear of the man that this piercing would happen. The man who made this lifelong commitment would stand, for a brief time, nailed to the doorframe of his master’s home, to allow for people to witness, and be witnesses, to this irrevocable life long commitment.

When the awl that is piercing the man’s ear and permanently fastening him to his master’s doorframe, is removed, the master would give this man a gold hoop earring to wear, and a title would be given to this man; bond servant. How remarkable. What a commitment. The quality of person that this master must have been to result in such a lifelong permanent, life-changing commitment is remarkable. I hope you see the similarities of the story with being a follower of Jesus Christ. However, our situation with Jesus Christ is even better.

In the bond servant’s case, the man had to work off six years of his life to be free. In a Christian’s situation, we don’t have to work off anything to be free. Jesus is the one who paid the time for us. His death on the cross is the time that was paid for our crime. Jesus’s death on the cross is what removed God’s anger from us and made us free men and women. Jesus’s death took all of God’s anger away from mankind. Heaven and Hell are full of people who were free to choose and God honored their choice. Hell is full of people who were given freedom to choose how they wanted to live their lives; they simply chose to live in the qualities of hell and evil, and God simply honored their free choice and extended it into eternity. I think it breaks God’s heart that hell is full of people whom He loves. I think it’s for these people that God wishes He were a control freak, and I’d bet He wishes He would have forced them to love Him. But God is love. Love does not control or force. Love allows freedom of choice and then simply gives consequences to those choices. It is a choice to become a bond servant or not, and each choice has one consequence. Choose to be a bond servant of Jesus’s, and when we die, we will be reunited with the Father in heaven for eternity. Choose not to be a bond servant of Jesus’s, and when we die, we will be separated from the Father and go to a place called hell that, by the way, was not created for people. Jesus says in Matthew 25, that hell is a place that was created for the devil and his demons. God never intended for people to spend eternity in hell. He only honors our choice to live with Him or without Him. How hard it must be to honor the wrong choice of people who He loves. But, this is how God created the whole thing to work and then placed it all in the hands of His only Son, because of the price that His only Son paid.

Because Jesus paid such a huge price for our freedom, God the Father gave Jesus all authority in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. This fact is found in Matthew 28:18. So, after being given all authority and after paying such a high price, Jesus has earned the right to lay down some new laws and rules. If someone doesn’t like that, then they will have to take it up with Jesus when they meet Him someday. We call these new laws and new rules the New Testament. Jesus is now given the authority by the Father to declare that He is the way, the truth, and life, and no one gets to the Father except through Him. The Bible, especially the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are where we have recorded what Jesus means when He says we have to go through Him to enter heaven. To go through Him means we have to go through His approval and His requirements to join the Father in heaven for eternity. These requirements, if we do them, are what cause us to earn the free, voluntary, lifelong title called a bond servant. Please don’t forget that it’s your free choice to become a bond servant or not. Please understand that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, where we get to the Father in heaven, we must be a bond servant. Please understand that you can’t earn this salvation. You can only earn a title. Salvation is the free gift, just waiting for you to open. The way you open this free gift is to approach Jesus Christ and commit to be His bond servant. Jesus is the one who did all the work, so that all we have to do is commit to the title. But what happens when you do admit that you want to be Jesus’s bond servant? This is where the work begins. The title is a free gift. The question is then, what does it require of me to have the title of bond servant? It requires everything from you. If a man became a bond servant in the Bible times, but then didn’t fully do what a bond servant was supposed to do, the title would be removed. The bond servant could actually be put to death, if the master chose it that way. Being a bond servant is more than a title; it is living as a bond servant everyday. Remove the title or the lifestyle, and one was no longer a bond servant.

Remember, a bond servant owns nothing. He voluntarily and freely relinquished all of his assets and his life to the master. As I think about the physical process that took place to become a bond servant, it causes me to be thankful that when I became a Christian, there was no awl being driven through my ear that day, even though body piercing is pretty popular. I see the awl being driven through the ear of a bond servant as to what baptism is to the one who is making the commitment to be a follower of Jesus.

So, are you a bond servant to Jesus Christ? It is a lifelong, free commitment to become a slave of Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered, as you read through the New Testament, what Paul meant in some of His letters when He titled himself a slave of Jesus Christ? I think it would have done all of Christianity well if the translators would have, more correctly, translated the word bond servant of Jesus Christ instead of slave. I won’t go into detailed Greek right now, but the word is doulos, which our translators translated as slave. There are some current Bible translations today that actually kept the word bond servant. I know that one is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. There are a few others as well. I think bond servant is the better translation. Keeping the word bond servant in our Bibles would cause us to look it up and study it and define it sooner and fully understand what the term means. James, Peter, Jude, and John titled themselves the same thing in their letters in the New Testament; bond servants!

So now what? I think it is important to understand 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT):

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

I do not belong to myself. You do not belong to yourself. We were bought through the death of God’s only Son. That is a huge price. Whether we have chosen to be bond servants or not, we are still owned by God. Whether you believe in God or not, you are still owned by God. I pray you will choose to become a bond servant if you have not. How does one become a bond servant today? As a reminder, a true Christian and a bond servant are the same thing. In the New Testament, there are recorded only nine situations in which an individual or a group of people chose to become bond servants of Jesus Christ. They are all accounted for in the book of Acts. Every time somebody became a bond servant of Jesus’s in the book of Acts, five things actually happened. First, they heard the news of Jesus Christ, then they believed that Jesus was Lord. They then repented from living their lives outside the will of Jesus and confessed Jesus as their Master. It is at this point that each of them was immersed in water, which is what is called baptism.

As I read through the book of Acts and see that these things always happen when someone becomes what we now know as a bond servant to Jesus, I have no authority to change any one of those five things. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. If you have done those things by faith in Jesus Christ, you now are titled a bond servant to Jesus. A bond servant lives his/her life in a very specific way of obedience. The way of a bond servant is the way of obedience to the master. The next big question that I hope we would ask is, “Obey what?”

The answer, before I end this incredibly long blog, is simply, obey the teachings and commands of Jesus Christ. And when I say simply, I do not mean they are easy. The life of a follower of Jesus Christ is a not a path of ease, but a path of simplicity, of trust, and of focus. It is a good life that will someday become a great, eternal life. There are more than 300 specific teachings and commands of Jesus that we should obey, and they are all found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the Holy Bible. Read the and obey them. Of course there is a forgiveness clause added to this when we are not perfect in obeying all 300 plus of these; and none of us are perfect.

I hope that this study has been a motivating one for you. I hope that you will continue to grow as a fully developing follower of Jesus Christ. It is a life long process that only ends when your heart beats its last and you stand before Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings and are told, well done good and faithful Bond Servant!

Aug 22, 2012    |       12 comments

Church Planting Sequel

Do you remember the old Whitesnake song “Here I Go Again”? It was a #1 hit song. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their 1987 album Whitesnake. In 2006, the 1987 version was named the 17th Greatest Song of the 1980s by VH1.

The Lyrics resonate with me as I venture into what will be my 2nd Church plant. Some of the Lyrics go like this…my comments are in parenthesis.

I don’t know where I’m going, but I sure know where I’ve been. (Steve Jobs said, we cannot connect the dots looking forward, only looking back.)
Hanging on the promises in the songs of yesterday (Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Amazing Grace, How great thou art, The Old Rugged Cross.)
And I’ve made up my mind (I’m planting a church again. The first one was amazing, I have no idea how this 2nd one will turn out.)
I ain’t wasting no more time (I’ve been side-lined for more than a year now. Its time to do what God has created me to do, plant a Church)
Here I go again, here I go again (Yep…but the “I” should be a “we.” I can’t do this on my own. Its not mine, its the Lord’s. I want to include people from all around the world who will invest their time, talent and treasure in this church plant. What do you have that you would like to invest in this specific work of the Lord’s?)

There are so many unknowns in the future. I know this Church plant will come with some criticism, but we must move forward. There are thousands…no… millions of people who are far from God that if any Christ centered church out there doesn’t reach them, they will spend eternity is the most formidable and tormenting place ever in existence, Hell. The Church shouldn’t criticize each other. We shouldn’t compete against each other, we should celebrate our differences and march together as the body of Christ. We should complete each other.

So many people think the church is the most segregated organism on the planet. Some would “prove” this by saying that whites go to one church, blacks to another, hispanics go one way, Asians another and right on down the skin color chart….and then they’ll prove their segregation comments further by saying, the youth go to one place, the children to another, men this way, women that way, divorcees here, young couples there, senior somewhere else. This “glass half-empty” mentality says that these facts show that the current church is all a great tragedy.

I’m a “glass half full” mentality kind of guy. I agree with the description above, but I do not see it as segregation. I see it as the body of Christ and just as a heart goes one place, the lungs go to another, the toes, the head, the fingers, the kidneys, the eyeballs, the elbows, the knees….

I think the church is the most strategically located entity in the world. It has diversity that reaches to the ends of the earth. IT TAKES ALL KINDS TO REACH ALL KINDS! “Birds of a feather, flock together! Every color, race, tribe and misfit has a place in the body of Christ. A.K.A…THE CHURCH! If it is an organism that believes that Jesus Christ is THE way, THE truth, THE life…then it is a unified, universal, un-defeatable body that is a giant, beautiful, imperfect, spectacular….CHURCH! It isn’t tragic that we are spread out all over the world in like groups…its miraculous and beautiful.

I love the Church…even when her dirty laundry is hanging out for all the world to see. I love the Church. Even in it’s worst form…its beautiful!

That’s why I’m starting a brand new one in Orlando Florida…in a suburb called Oviedo.
I don’t know how it will turn out, but I give this one promise…
I’m going to love joining with a group of people who want to make a dent in this crazy world…where we team together complimenting each other with our different strengths, talents, and spiritual gifts. My greatest passion in life is helping you be successful by leading you to understand your purpose by helping you understand your giftedness that the Lord has blessed you with and then challenging you to storm the gates of Hell at all costs! I’ll storm them with you!

Its going to be an unforgettable, eternal journey.

To God Be The Glory…Great Things He Hath Done…

Here we are Lord…Use us!
TR

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