I am committed to improving

I believe that one of the essential for leadership growth is an attitude that expresses, "I am committed to improving." When it comes to a great marriage, people just don't accidentally fall into a good marriage. Instead, all great marriages have a common denominator - they are committed to improving their skills, and they seek out the best resources to allow it to happen. At our church I oversee a lot of talented people. And although talent can help get you down the road, rarely does talent alone have enough gas get you all the way home.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 reads,

If an ax is blunt and the edge isn't sharpened, then one has to use more strength. But wisdom prepares the way for success.

If a person is talented, but they are not committed to improving their skills, they are very much like this dull ax described by Solomon. Sure, they can rely just on their raw talent to impress a person or two, but when it comes to their full impact for the kingdom it will fall way short of God's outrageous design for their lives.

My prayer for me as I continue to walk this path of leadership is this: That by this time next year, I will have sharpened the ax even more by becoming much wiser through humility along with a deep passion and desire to always improve.

What about you? What do you see yourself becoming next year for Christ? What areas do you need to improve on (sharpen)?

Those Lovely Patterns

I was reminded this week, as I performed a child dedication at our church, how important the role of a parent is when it comes to spiritual development for their son or daughter. My mind went back to Sesame Street and the familiar song, "One of these thing just doesn't belong here." Remember that crazy game? The idea behind this particular lesson was for the child (watching from his or her television set) to point to that one object or "thing" that was different from the rest. For example, from the four objects listed, which one of these is not like the other?

One of the first things kids learn to identify are shapes. Much of our right brain stimulation comes from viewing shapes or patterns. And so when parents are standing up in front of the church dedicating their child to the Lord, I often wonder if the parents will commit their lives to a pattern in their home that best imitates the pattern of Jesus Christ. Will they show love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, and the many other important patterns for their child to follow? And most importantly, will they model a great marriage?

Wouldn't it be great for our children to identify which spiritual elements our from Christ and which ones are from the world? Well, in many ways, they will only know this if the parent best model the pattern of Christ.

"I think that's exactly what you do."

I was so moved by this homemade video by Francis Chan, Pastor of Cornerstone Church in California. What do our sons and daughters see in us as both dad and pastor? Certainly, our children do watch us closesly - and as you will see, do a pretty darn good job of imitating us as well!

Quit Stewing and Start Doing

Do you have a bad bout of the grumbles? Are you finding yourself a bit cynical towards life? Is it effecting your every day decisions and how you approach others? If you're human, you've probably gone through seasons of life in which your complaint switch is on. You might be in that season right now. To make matters worse, you turn in your Bible for help and your eyes glance down on this verse, "Do everything without grumbling or complaining..." (Philippians 2:14). Pow - added guilt.

Okay...I'm going to address this situation straight on with you. I find that way too many people who grumble and complain stay on this track, unnecessarily, too long. It is truly stewing without doing. Some of what we complain about we can't do anything about (rain, cold weather, illness, etc.). And yet there are other things that we do have control over and the Bible says that instead of complaining about these things that we should become actively involved in the solution. In other words, we should quit stewing and start doing.

I know people who don't attend church because they complain about this or that (music too loud or too soft, message too long or too short, too many people talk to me or not enough people talk to me, etc.). The complaining doesn't change - but the stories do. When complaining last longer than it should, it is important to seek out help or counseling from someone you trust. You don't want it to become habitual. From my own experience, when I get into a rut of complaining, it becomes more addictive - and more intense.

Okay...so if this is you today, you're going to need to put on your big boy or big girl pants and face this challenge head on. Nobody will do it for you. You may need to make a call to a friend and have lunch with that someone who can assist you in putting your stewing into doing.

And of course, I want to pray for you. Certainly, you can't be having fun in life. My prayer is that the enemey (Devil) will not gain a foothold on you - but that you will break free and find a peace that surpasses all human understanding.

Animal lover? This dog story will preach...

Every so often a bizarre story grabs my attention. Such is the case for this story about a plucky pooch that was separated from her owners when she fell overboard in choppy waters, but swam five miles to an island, surviving on a diet of wild goats for four months until miraculously being reunited with her family.

“She surprised us all,” ecstatic owner Jan Griffith told the National Australian Associated Press News Agency. “She was a house dog and look what’s she done, she’s swum over five nautical miles, she’s managed to live off the land all on her own by eating wild goats. We wish she could talk, we really do.”

I'm not going to lie. My first thought after reading this story was - "That will preach." It's a story of transformation.

In the book of Acts the Bible records an amazing example of this transformation among the first Christians who were gathered together to begin the routine of their day. But on this particular day, their routine would be cut short. The Bible records that suddenly each of the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit (transformed) and they began to speak in foreign languages. I don't know about you, but that's a bit different. You can't plan for this. It just happened. In a moment of time, they went from being domesticated to transformed. They no longer were of this world, but from a new island - a new kingdom - living a new way.

When we become a new creation in Christ a transformation happens like no other. It changes us from being domesticated by our earthly desires of this world, to an amazing creature that approaches life in a whole new way. We may not go from eating puppy chow to devouring wild goats, but we do go from eating off the food of our old nature to consuming a whole new passion for heavenly foods.

To learn more about this amazing dog story, click here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30088069?GT1=43001