Sitting at the mall can make for a very entertaining afternoon. Watching people is one of my favorite past times. People are just interesting to watch. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Yet the most entertaining part is how most people work so hard to desperately impress those around them, when in reality no one is even watching or really cares.  If you really want to get a reality of this epidemic on steroids watch the red carpet at the Academy Awards! Now that is the treat that keeps on giving all year long!

What is it in us humans that cause us to do crazy things to gain the affirmation of others? Is it our need to feel important? Are we begging for attention? Is it our insatiable need for belonging to something bigger than ourselves.  Here is a great story that will make you laugh about a guy on a mission to impress a fellow worker.

A major was assigned to a new office on a military base. While he worked to set up his office, a private knocked on the door. The major quickly picked up the phone and motioned for the private to enter. On the phone the major said, “Yes, General Schwarzkopf, I think that is an excellent idea. . . . No sir, that’s fine, you feel free to call me any time. I’m glad I can help. . . . Yes sir, I will, and you give my best to your family as well. Thank you sir, and a good day to you too, General Schwarzkopf.” As the major hung up the phone he turned to the private and asked, “What can I do for you, private?” Sheepishly, the private mumbled, “Um, sir, I’m just here to hook up your phone.”

The most important truth you will ever understand is that you will be most accepted and loved and when you decide to just be you. No strings, no gimmicks, no fireworks, bells or whistles, just you being you. Those who I have grown to love and respect the most are those that realize that life isn’t about impressing others, but about living life for others. You will find the greatest happiness in life when you start to live life beyond yourself instead of attempting to live life for yourself. When you get out of the way, it is amazing how good you will feel about you, and the surprising conclusion will be that you will no longer have to spend all your time attempting to impress others at the mall!

 

I am often amazed at the way people lunge towards the momentary pleasure of the moment with full acknowledgement that the cost of such shallow actions will cost them something later down the line. We see it today in the way people handle their finances, their diet and exercise and even their spiritual life. The motto ascribed to is simply, “Eat and be merry for tomorrow we shall die.” For some, it is exactly what happens.  I heard a compelling story that illustrates this point quite well:

A man was dying in the desert. As he stumbled over a sand dune he was greeted by a man selling ties. The dehydrated man begged for water, but the salesman said he only had ties. In frustration and anger the weakened man continued on his journey for survival. In an hour he reached an isolated restaurant in the middle of the desert. Was it a mirage? As he drew closer, he saw it was real. He was ecstatic. With renewed energy he ran for the door. He was stopped at the entrance by a security guard who denied him entry. The guard said, “I’m sorry, sir, but you need a necktie to eat here.” Caution must be exercised in assessing relevance. We often discount the value and relevance of something without adequately studying our future needs.

It might behoove you to slow down and to assess certain areas of your life that you might be tempted to bend your principles for the emotion of the moment. A salad may not look as good as that 1/2 pound burger and fries, but you might live a day longer eating the salad. You might not feel as important driving that used 2001 Hyundai over the brand new BMW M3, but you just might feel a little better when you are able to pay for your light bill. You might not be as awake by getting out of bed at 5:30am to do your devotions, but you very well might sleep better the next night knowing the God is first in your life.

The next time you feel a war in your inner world between your principle and emotions, buy the tie now, you just might come out a better person in the end.

 

Yesterday we took a long hike to the end of the island.  As we forged our way through the lava fields, tide pools and the towering dormant volcano behind us, I was enraptured with the incredible beauty of God’s creation.  Everywhere we turned there was evidence of my Creator and His majestic creation.

It is amazing how us feebly-minded believers can get so busy in the rat race of life that we lose sight of all God has created. Once again I find myself slowing down and enjoying the beauty all around me and learning some important lessons from God Himself through His creation.

One of the amazing sights of our journey yesterday was the monstrous waves that continually crashed along the rigid shore line. These mammoth size walls of aqua-blue water reminded me of God’s relentless love for us. His love is never failing and constantly beats upon our shoreline and works to break of the rigid edges of our carnal nature. Just like the waves never stopping and coming in a variety of sizes and intensity, so His love never stops, one wave after another, in varying degrees of intensity depending upon the season we are walking through.

Take some time today and slow down a little and look around you. God just might speak to you in an amazing way through His amazing creation.

Each year, my wife and I try to get away and spend some time together alone away for the pressures and challenges of life. Although we are very passionate about what we do, time alone together is important in maintaining a thriving marriage. This year we landed in Maui.

Over that past few days we have enjoyed casual drives to various places on the island. Our convertible has helped make the drives enjoyable, despite the sudden rain showers. We have just chosen to leave the top down. After all, we are from Portland.

Our favorite place this trip is Lahaina. We have spent a great deal of time walking around the town, eating at our favorite eatery, Kimo’s, and even splurging on some Lappert’s Ice Cream. We have seen dozens of whales and have some great pictures from our hike today to southern Makena lava fields. The waves were spectacular.

Tomorrow we will go to Mama’s Fish House, watch some surfers on 30 ft. waves and the head off to a magic show. We will also do a whale watching trip this weekend so Susan can get some great pictures.

Next week, we will get back to our usual blogging, but thought I would just change the tempo this week to fit the spirit of the week.

Marc

Each leader plays a key role in motivating others in evangelism. However, for us to be able to impart a heart for the lost into our leaders, we must have this as an everyday part of our own lives. It is through your living example that you will be able to impart and sustain a harvesting gene into your leaders.

Here are six practical steps I strive to keep in my life on a daily basis to maintain a harvest mindset:

 

1.   Possess It- You must contend for it, as it is not what you confess, but what you possess that counts.

2.   Pray It- Make it a daily part of your prayer life, and ask the Lord to stir you in evangelism. Take that opportunity whenever it presents itself to pray this over those in your leadership group as well.

3.   Discuss It- It has been said, “you get what you preach.” Take the time to discuss evangelism ideas in every meeting.

4.   Encourage It- People need constant encouragement, especially when it comes to evangelism. Encourage those in your group toward every evangelistic effort that is put forth.

5.   Assist It- Get involved whenever your church is hosting some form of outreach.

6.   Model It- Jesus led by example, we should do likewise. Look for opportunities to bring your friends and neighbors to your small group meeting as well.

 

Sooner or later, you will be involved in a conflict.  A conflict is simply a disagreement or clash between ideas, principles or people. In most cases, conflict generates an emotional charge which causes people to react to the situation from a non-objective viewpoint which can create further division and misunderstanding.  The next time you get into a conflict with a spouse, worker, ministry partner or leader, take a moment and put the situation through the following thoughts. Our best method of handling conflict is to go to the Word of God as our guide. Below are twelve sure principles to assist in any conflict.

 

Principle 1:        Speak truthfully with love – (See Ephesians 4:15,25)

Principle 2:        Build up, don’t tear down - (See Ephesians 4:29-32)

Principle 3:        Be as gracious as possible - (See Ephesians 4:29-32)

Principle 4:        Express honest feelings - (See Ephesians 4:26-27)

Principle 5:        Don’t act in anger – (See Ephesians 4:26-27)

Principle 6:        Don’t involve others in the dispute  – (See Matthew 18:15-17)

Principle 7:        Once dealt with, wipe the slate - (See 1 Corinthians 13:5)

Principle 8:        Listen more, think before speaking  – (See Proverbs 15:23,28)

Principle 9:        Keep other’s interests in mind  – (See Philippians 2:4)

Principle 10:      Don’t retaliate – (See 1 Peter 3:8-9)

Principle 11:      Monitor your own motives  – (See Proverbs 13:10)

Principle 12:      Stay away from vain arguments  – (See Proverbs 20:3)

We are living in a time where prayer is a necessary component in living an abundant life. There is a real devil and he is hell-bent on creating havoc in your life.  In the past few weeks, I have grown to appreciate the prayer coverage in my life. Despite the onslaught of attacks, disappointments and tragedies in the lives of those close to me, I sense a supernatural peace and strength that can only be attributed to the strategic prayer coverage in my life.

If you are involved at any level of ministry and are dedicated to moving the kingdom of God forward, you will be resisted. The answer to moving forward with clear air space and head space is to develop a prayer team that is dedicated to 

 The following section gives some suggestions for implementing intercession into your life, your family and your group. These principles have been applied to my life and those who serve with me at City Bible Church. I give credit to my dear friend Mark Jones, Prayer Pastor at City Bible Church, for developing these tips as wll as the one who has saved my bacon on numerous occasions:

1.   Come to the awareness of your need to receive personal prayer coverage. Acknowledge that intercession will make a critical difference in the success and protection of your life and ministry.

2.   Ask God to reveal a few people that would commit to praying for you, your family and ministry. 

3.   Choose those with whom you have an existing relationship and are confident of their character. You want to find those whom you can trust with intimate details of your life. Confidentiality is a key ingredient to the ongoing success of your team.

4.   Begin to pray for God to show you those who you may link with in praying for.

 

5.   Contact those you desire to pray with and invite them to participate in interceding together.

6.   Bring the group together for an initial meeting and share your vision for praying for each other and for your life and ministry.

7.   Get together at least once a month.  Allow enough time for concentrated prayer and soaking times in His presence. You should also send them a weekly update via email.

8.   Grow with your intercessory partners. Let the trust you develop dictate the “width and depth” to which you open up with them.

9.   Don’t hesitate to alert your prayer partners of urgent situations that might develop between regular times of contact.

10.  Don’t neglect to keep your Intercessory Team active and in force! The enemy does not want anyone to succeed in developing intercessory prayer coverage. Press forward to see the team established, maintained, and moving forward.

11.  Intercessory partners are not to replace your personal prayer life. They are an addition to it. Each person will “stand in the gap,” “build hedges” and “bind and loose” on your behalf. Be consistent in wearing your full armor daily. Nothing is to replace your personal time and relationship with the Lord.

Prayer has been considered one of life’s greatest mysteries, yet seems to appeal to over 85% of the population. Surveys show that most people today both believe in and participate in some form of prayer.  For myself, I dedicate a good chunk of time every morning to prayer as I have learned it is a critical piece to my life.  Recently, I was reading through a great book by my pastor, Frank Damazio and came across this great list of reasons to pray. It revived my passion and commitment to prayer and thought I would pass it on to you as well. I hope it inspires you to pray more. These twelve principles have been taken from his book, Seasons of Intercession.

1.   Christ left us an example of the importance of prayer.

      (See Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; 3:21, 5:16, 9:18) 

2.   The Apostles left us an example of the importance of prayer.

      (See Acts 1:14, 4:31, 6:4, 12:5, 13:3, 16:3, 21:5)

3.   Prayer is God’s method for obtaining joy.

      (See John 16:24; Acts 16:25)

4.   Prayer keeps us spiritually fit and alert.

      (See Matthew 26:41; Luke 21:34-36; 1 Peter 4:7; Jude 20)

5.   Prayer enables us to receive wisdom and the mind of God.

      (See James 1:5; Acts 1:24, 10:9, 13:3, 14:23; Luke 6:12-13)

6.   Prayer transforms us into the image of Christ.

      (See Luke 9:28-29)

7.   Prayer is God’s means of obtaining our material and spiritual desires.

      (See Matthew 7:7-8; John 14:13-14, 15:7, 16:23-24)

8.   Prayer moves the hand of God to work in the affairs of men.

      (See Exodus 3:7, 14:10-11, 10:15; Jonah 2:1; Acts 12:5; James 5:17)

9.   Prayer expresses our dependence upon God.

      (See John 15:5; Zechariah 4:6)

10.  Through prayer we gain freedom from worry.

      (See Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 22:1-5)

 11.  Prayer unleashes the power and blessing of God.

      (See 2 Chronicles 6-7; Acts 1-2, 4:23-31)

12.  Prayer teaches us to know Christ intimately.

      (See Jude 20-21; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:9)

 

One of the most famous men in history, one who was responsible for shaping the history of mankind made this profound statement, “Give me a handful of young dedicated men who will give me their lives and I will control the world.” He did just that! In 1903, he had seventeen followers. By 1918, he had 40,000 followers controlling over 160,000,000 people. In less than sixty years he impacted one-third of the planet. His name was Vladimir Lenin! This man had a revelation of the power of multiplication. He built his empire on the philosophy of communism, which had a negative impact on the world using the same principle instituted by God!

For years, the term “multiplication” has raised more questions than answers. Many have associated the term to stale, modern-day techniques that bypass relationships in order to obtain the goal of big numbers. However, upon closer examination of the word in its Biblical context, this perception couldn’t be further from the truth.

•  Genesis 1:28 “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
•  Genesis 22:17 “blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.”

Jesus himself modeled this biblical truth in his ministry on earth. In His last words to His disciples He didn’t say, “Go and make decisions” but, “Go and make disciples.” That means, make “healthy, active, reproducing members of the body of Christ!” Jesus was the perfect equipper. Of all the options possible to build His church, He chose twelve raw recruits. He then spent more time with the twelve than all of humanity combined. He devoted three and half years concentrating on reproducing himself into these individuals, who would later change the world!  

•  Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

 Jesus followed a very methodical plan of raising new leaders. From the first contact with His disciples until the final meeting before His ascension, these principles are seen. (See Mark 3:7-14; Luke 6:12, 17-19)

                        Jesus’ Method                      Principle Learned

                        I teach, you listen                    Preparation

                        I do, you watch                       Observation

                        I do, you help                          Cooperation

                        You do, I help                          Application

                        You do, I watch                       Delegation

                        You do, I’m gone                    Multiplication

The principle and methods used by Christ moved in a strategic sequence. These four main steps are what He used to multiply the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This simple pattern should be applied to our process of recruiting, raising and reproducing leaders:

 

 Step One: Calling

He spent many months searching and observing those in the crowds. When He saw those whom He would choose, he put out the plea, “Come, follow me.” (see Luke 5)

 Step Two: Training

He spent the first stage of their relationship training the disciples in the ministry of the Kingdom. His first phase of ministry was primarily solo acts, with the disciples observing and learning. (see Mark 3:7-14) 

 

Step Three: Sending

Once they were trained, He began to use them in ministry situations, and ultimately sent them out to become agents of the gospel message. (see Luke10) 

 

Step Four: Reproducing

When He communicated His plans to leave, He commanded them to take the calling, training and sending to the lost, and reproduce themselves throughout the earth. (see Acts 1:8)

These four steps can be overlaid to just about any ministry development area of your church or organization. If you aren’t reproducing leaders you should stop and reflect on what you need to change.

For those of you that aspire to become the leader that God desires you to become, the road to accomplishing this reality is a tough, yet rewarding one.  A godly leader is simply, “One who has dedicated themselves to fulfill God’s purposes, being an example to all, and making sure that He gets all the credit.”

Serving God and building His kingdom is not about us, it is about others and about Him.  In a world that attempts to program us to build for personal gain, name recognition or self ambition, the challenge to stay focused on the true goal is a daily discipline.

The components needed to become a true leader can only be formulated through God’s direction, leading and involvement in our lives. These important components include, but not limited to:

• Strength
• Authority
• Direction
• Vision
• Credibility
• Loyalty
• Honor
• Greatness

How we attempt to forge these principles in our lives, will dictate the end product in our lives. The way that we perceive them to develop, might not be the way the God intends, or we desire. Here is a leadership reality news brief! These insightful tips were taken from a great man and author, Roy Lessin. 

•  A godly leader … finds strength by realizing his weakness
• A godly leader … finds authority by being under authority
• A godly leader … finds direction by laying down his plans
• A godly leader … finds vision by seeing the needs of others
• A godly leader … finds credibility by being an example
• A godly leader … finds loyalty by expressing compassion
• A godly leader … finds honor by being faithful
• A godly leader … finds greatness by being a servant.

Why don’t you take a moment and really contemplate the ramifcations of this short but life-altering list. Write down some things you feel you need to change in each of these areas and make a plan to change. It is only in this pain-staking process that you will truly be refined to become the godly leader that God desires you to be!