When I joined the NewSpring staff and stepped into vocational ministry in 2005, I knew I had a heart condition. At the time, for some reason, I thought that this “step of faith” would be the cure for that condition. It wasn’t. In the spring of 2006 I was sitting in the same position that you gentlemen are right now and had this thought, “being ordained must be the ultimate cure for this heart condition”… It wasn’t.

My heart condition is something I have had all of my life and so have each of you. It’s the condition the prophet Jeremiah speaks of when he writes this “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). You see, I knew this was true of me before I accepted Christ as my savior… that’s why I cried out to him for help. But, I had this notion that salvation or vocational ministry or certainly ordination would be the cure for this condition… but as I have found out over the years, none of those things are a cure but more of an amplifier.

I will not try to explain the paradox that is the life of a follower of Jesus. The life that is at the same time completely forgiven and restored in our relationship with the Father but also not free from our battle with sin. I will simply state that I know this to be true from Scripture and my own personal experience.

So, what do we do?

King David knew also of this permanent heart condition. We see this in Psalm 51 where he prays for the Lord to forgive him after he, like all of us have at some point, had been found out for what he was… a sinner in desperate need of help. I love what David writes in verses 15 and 16, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” David knows he has done wrong and would love to make amends with God by bringing God something He would accept as payment or proof that David was sorry and wanted to change. But David knew that he could not offer God anything except a “broken and contrite heart”.

You see, the biggest danger in ministry is that we will get to do or be a part of some awesome things that at some point will tempt us. It will tempt us – when confronted with the remaining sin in our life – to offer it up to God as a sacrifice to try to say to him “look what I have done that is so good… will you take this as proof that I love you and that I am sorry”. What David knew and shares with us is that there is NOTHING we can offer to God that He will accept… Nothing except a “broken and contrite heart”.

With that said, I have learned that if I don’t actively pray for five things everyday (really just one thing with four ‘sub things’), I will lose the fight with the condition of my heart.

I have to Pray for… actually, I have to beg God to…

1. Break My Heart
Scripture shows us that in our heart lies our ultimate intent or motivation for anything we do. If I want to overcome this permanent heart condition I must beg God to break my heart so that I see things, people and situations the way Jesus does. If my heart is not broken then I will drift to the primary intent of my heart and that is to serve my own needs and to simply live to please myself.

2. Make Me Diligent
Because of my heart condition, I will drift toward ease. If I’m not careful, I will start to strive for ways to relax and just get by as opposed to actually work and work hard to honor this call on my life. Vince Lombardi once said that “the difference between successful people and others is not a lack of strength or knowledge but rather a lack of will”. Coach Lombardi is no theologian, but his principle is supported by Scripture. There are times when we simply can’t get by on what we know or our talent and have to persevere as a matter of will.

3. Make Me Thankful
My efforts will cause me to drift toward a sense of entitlement… its that nasty heart condition I have. I have to remind myself each day that nothing good or fruitful in my life has ever been earned by me… everything is a gift from God… no exceptions. Pride is the scariest of all demons and an antidote that keeps it at bey is a truly thankful heart.

4. Make Me a Good Steward
As my heart leads me, I will quickly begin to think like an owner and forget that I am, at best, middle management when it comes to everything I have. The three main areas I must steward well is my time and talent and my treasure.

I need to be reminded that when it comes to my time I must fight to steward well every opportunity to focus on my wife (& subsequently my family). I don’t believe the Lord will ever (ultimately) put my marriage at odds with my ministry. He chooses to use the metaphor of marriage to explain my relationship to Jesus. So, at what point does my relationship with Jesus put me at odds with the Father? It doesn’t. I believe I can know the condition of your relationship with God by looking at the relationship you have with your wife. For us all, our relationship with God and wife will always be in concert, never in conflict.

When it comes to my talent and treasure its this simple. In ministry I do not work a job, I steward a call. Therefore, my talent is nothing more than a gift. One that God wants to use to build his church… not my notoriety. And when it comes to “my” treasure, I need to be generous. I need to tithe and then ask the Lord “what else should I give?” And, if I’m ever in doubt (about whether or not to give)… give it away, no matter what it is. I have learned that the Lord does not bless hoarders and He has always made good on every promise in Scripture to provide for me… why should I fear giving?

5. Make Me Loving
Expressing love is tough for men. But, Jesus proved that a REAL man has a broken heart that LOVES. He even said in John 13:35 that “by this (love) they will know that you are my disciples”. So, if Jesus chose LOVE at the characteristic that distinguishes his disciples… how much MORE should it distinguish those of us who are called (by God) into and affirmed (via the church) by this thing we call ordination.

Finally, I want each of you to embrace the reality of something I have learned and come to trust. A heart that is truly broken and diligent and thankful and a good steward and loving is a powerful thing in the hands of an almighty God.

(These principles are offered from the vantage point of leading in ministry, however, my experience leading outside the ministry supports the truth of these principles regardless of the type of organization. The second principle is specific to ministry, but if as leaders we execute the other three well, we may just lead someone in the most import direction… to Jesus.)

As I lead, I should…

1 – Share my Faith

Philemon v6
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Anyone in leadership that is trying to lead well wants more knowledge. Leaders want to make good decisions that lead to team victories and increase team morale. Most of the time these victories come from the leaders effectiveness in creating the right environment or process that allows the individuals on the team to succeed. In this verse Paul say that if I am active in sharing my faith that I will “have full knowledge of every good thing…”.

How do I share my faith as I lead? I don’t think this means walking each team member down the “Romans Road” everyday, but do I think its as simple as leading by living out what I say I believe in as a follower of Christ. As a leader, I’m not one person at church and another at home and another at work. I walk the talk and as I instruct/challenge/discipline my team, I do it through the filter of my faith in Christ.

2 – Trust God

Philemon v8-9
Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.

If you are in the position of a leader (there is a difference between being a leader and being in the position of a leader – other posts address this issue) then you can demand actions from your team. What Paul is demonstrating to me in this verse is that although he could demand action (because of his position), he is choosing to appeal to the Spirit that lives inside of Philemon.

To me, the biggest win I can achieve as a leader is to cultivate an environment where each person on my team carries out his/her role not out of duty but out of faith (Colossians 3:23). The primary benefit of leading in ministry is that each person on your team is a follower of Jesus (at least in theory). If I am following God’s direction to lead “by sharing my faith” then I need to trust God’s work in the person I am leading. Over time if I find that the person I’m leading is not responding from their own faith, but begrudgingly out of duty or not at all, then I have someone who rightfully needs to be led off my team or out of my organization.

3 – Invest in the Person

Philemon v14
But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.

Simply, in this verse Paul is seeking Philemon’s buy in before any decisions or actions take place. My own experience has shown me that if I invest time into my team by seeking their input on a particular decision or course of action, then I am more likely to get their best effort in the execution of that decision. If I choose to not invest this time into my team, then there will be unanswered questions or confusion or a process that isn’t as good as it could have been with their input. That’s just bad and egotistical leadership.

4 – Serve the Person

Philemon v18-19
If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul… will pay it back.

My team needs to know that I will stand up for them no matter the personal cost to me. It is clear from this verse Paul is willing to go out on a personal limb for Onesimus. For me, if I don’t think my leader will take a bullet for me or seek to put himself out for me then I am slow to do the same for him. If I want to be led with that type of commitment, why would I not think I should lead with that type of commitment?

Leaders must first be servants of those they lead. Securing leadership equity (the need to call in and have something done with no questions asked by the team) will only happen if the leader earns it. I have found that the only way to earn that equity is through serving each individual on the team in a way that lets them know they are not on an island and that they are safe under my leadership. Leaders go first, take bullets, deflect criticism, and make sure the people on the team feel served… a guy named Jesus thought this was a good leadership principle too (John 13:1-17).

Leadership is as easy (and as challenging) as sharing our faith, trusting God, investing in our team and serving our team. And, its as easy (and challenging) as simply loving those you lead.

Here’s the deal, we all have dreams that are bigger than our abilities and we all have abilities that are bigger than our dreams. What I am starting to see is that the sooner I get my dreams synced up with my abilities, the sooner I will have a life that is full of purpose and accomplishment and hope and amazement and usefulness and contentment.

In the life of a follower of Jesus, this idea is even more true. The bible teaches that each of us have been given a gift (an ability) to do something that is essential and necessary for the whole Church. (Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12). If we do not use our gifts the Church will move forward because Jesus said that not even the gates of Hell could stop it, but I believe when a believer doesn’t use their gift for the Church, the Church moves forward with a limp. My own experience has shown me that its usually the gap between our gifts and our dreams that immobilize us.

Recently as I was having this battle in my own life – my dreams and abilities in conflict – I “just so happened” to be reading through 1 Corinthians… specifically chapters 12 to 14 when the following verses jumped out to me with very specific meaning:

I Corinthians 13:8
Love never fails…

I Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…

I Corinthians 12:22
The parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable…

As these parts of these verses came together in my mind, in regards to this struggle between my dreams and my abilities, I began to see more clearly that the longer I keep these two things in conflict the longer I will stay frustrated and the slower the Church moves toward its purpose. Conversely, I began to see that the sooner I embrace God’s love for me (that never ends) in what He has given me the ability to do (something that is indispensable), I will live at peace and on purpose.

You see, my experience in life and in ministry has shown me that when I use my God given gifts I experience the most fun and I am the most effective. But, when I found myself trying to do things that I am not truly gifted at the outcome would be, at best, serviceable. The former producing energy and excitement and results where the latter just produced frustration and questions.

Since the first time I saw the movie “The Rookie” (in 2002, staring Dennis Quaid – a true story about a baseball player named Jim Morris) a line from that movie has really bounced in around my head. It was in an exchange between Jim’s dad and Jim as Jim contemplated trying to something great but seemingly impossible… here’s the line… “Its ok to do what you want to do until its time to do what you were meant to do.”

Now, I know that line is not in the bible and is in no way absolute truth… but… I think it does carry the spirit of what I’m talking about here. We all want a life that is full and vibrant and meaningful. We all have dreams and how if we could just do “this or that” our life would be all those things. We all should pursue our dreams with great vigor… but… as we grow and as our experiences begin to show us that our dreams are in conflict with our gifts, we need to take pause to seek the Lord and begin to do what He’s gifted us to do.

Whatever you and I are “meant to do” will produce more joy and more excitement and be more challenging than anything we simply “want to do”. Why? Well, because our biggest dream for ourselves is so much lower than what God wants us to experience.

Isaiah 55: 8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Dreaming big is trusting God with the gifts He has given us and really living life is doing exactly what He created us to do. Its in this place that “want to do” and “meant to do” become the same thing and nothing will ever be better than that… and its only in this intersection that we will truly be able to try the impossible and guarantee we will not miss the incredible.

God equips imperfect people with specific gifts.

The gifts given to people by God are for a specific purpose.

The giver of the gift is perfect therefore the gift is perfect.

The gift is perfect for the purpose.

Therefore the person is perfect… for that purpose.

A person gifted by God is no longer imperfect but perfectly gifted for a specific purpose.

I don’t believe we can work, develop or mature into a spiritual gift. I believe we can only work, develop and mature from a spiritual gift. God has given us exactly what He wants us to have and He expects us to use it… for the purpose He gave it to us.

Too often I let my “want to” get in the way of my “meant to”. God has gifted me (and you) graciously, intentionally, specifically and perfectly. Ephesians 2:10 and I Corinthians 12 (and other places in scripture) make that truth and the reason clear.

The older I get and the more I listen to the truth of God’s word and the more I do what I am gifted to do, the more I see my “want to” turn into my “meant to”. The Lord knows I am so far from perfect, but He is also the One who has given me a gift that makes me perfect for the purpose he gave it to me.

(That’s true for you too… In Christ, God has not only made you perfect for heaven but He has made you perfect for the purpose He created you for in the first place… Wow! What a GREAT and GRACIOUS God!)

When our circumstances get tough we have only two options… we can be refined or we can run. We can seek relief from the pressure or we can persevere through the pressure. We can give up or we can give it all we got.

Here’s the dilemma for me… my flesh wants to run, but the Spirit wants to bask in it. When the heat rises my head tells me to move away, but somewhere in my soul I feel like this is something I need to walk through.

Vince Lombardi once said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” I believe he is correct… but is there a tangible way to distinguish between my will and God’s Spirit? Does this even matter?

God’s word says that “everything that does not come from faith is sin” and because that is true there must be times where I can “gut” through something really tough, but actually be in sin. In contrast, there will be times that I will want to run but even against my own will I will stay in the fire and make it through only because God carried me through it… literally against my own efforts to run. That is what I take from Philippians 2: 12-13:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

At the end of these thoughts I’m left with the truth that God wants me to persevere even in the toughest of situations because that is what Jesus did for me. My only gauge to know whether I have persevered in sin or as a saint is to check the condition of my heart once the trial has passed…

1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

… am I feeling better about myself or am I marveling at how awesome Jesus is?

My personal history reminds me that when I have survived by the efforts of my flesh I should expect that a similar trial is on its way… because God will not allow me to steal what He is trying to give me.

My first visit to NewSpring was a result of hearing the pastor of the church I was attending say something derogatory about this “church in town”. Being one who was full of pride (I didn’t really know this at the time, but in hindsight I do now) based on knowing all about God and the bible, I felt it my duty to evaluate the place and then heap my own, well informed, condemnation on this “church in town”. I mean, it was my responsibility to protect God’s good name, so it was something I had to do.

Needless to say, that first visit didn’t leave me with chest stuck out and my nose in the air… God used that first visit to break my heart with His truth and instead I found my head in my hands and tears flowing from my eyes. That was the first time I had ever seen Perry Noble or heard him teach. I went into the church looking for any out of line syllable and was met with the force of Truth – the whole Truth – taught in a practical way.

Fast forward five years and here I sit not as one who has seen or heard Perry preach a couple of times but as one who literally lives life with the guy. He first became my pastor, then my friend, then the one who asked me leap into ministry full time and be a part of what God was doing at NewSpring.

Over the last few years I have seen Perry verbally attacked in just about every way imaginable. Today if his name or NewSpring’s appears in a blog post, newspaper article, tv news story, radio talk show or even a casual conversation… everyone has an opinion… some of them very negative… some even go beyond questioning the ministry and actually question the man… his motives and his methods… some even dig into his personal life… I have yet to see one of these negative comments come from someone who actually knows Perry.

I know him. I have been with Perry when things are great and when things are really bad. I have seen him preach in front of thousands and I have seen him lying on a gurney very close to death. I have helped him plan amazing church services and I have talked with him about a staff person who’s hurting. I have laughed with him over the silliest things and I have wept with him over the most important things. I have seen him battle demons and I have watched him hold his daughter like nothing else matters in the world. I have argued with him and I have held his hand in prayer. I have seen the inside of his bible (which is cluttered from so much time spent in it) and I have seen his heart broken over idle words said or printed that are lies about him. I have been with him as he patiently talks to people who approach him at the most inappropriate times and I have heard his vision and passion for people to know Jesus when it was just the two of us. I have watched him give away his time and resources to all sorts of people (including church planters) and I have felt his hurt when those same people take advantage of his kindness.

I could go on and on… but the bottom line is… I know him… do you?

There seem to be too many people who claim to know Jesus that want to spend most of their time in the seat of scoffers. And my primary concern for those who sit in the scoffers seat and cast hate toward this man I know… is that I’m afraid that they are just proving that they don’t know Him. Oh, just to be clear… I don’t mean that the scoffers don’t know Perry… I’m afraid they don’t know Jesus. My fear is that their hate toward a man they don’t know is just evidence that they don’t know a Man they can know.

I Corinthians 8:1-2
But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

I John 2:9-11
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

So, I pray that the haters out there will remove their focus from the person they don’t know and probably never will and begin to focus on the One who they can know. Then we all can rejoice together and marvel at what God is doing in the lives of those who need Him.

Let me recommend our Unleash conference. It is a very affordable one day church leadership conference. To get a feel of what Unleash is all about check out the links in this post where you can get information about registration, watch the main sessions from 2007 & 2008 and see all the notes from every breakout class we offered in 2008. We’d love to have you be a part of Unleash 2009.

Also…

I’m often asked about the creative planning process we follow at NewSpring, so I thought it might be helpful connect this blog to some information about that process. Here is a link to the notes from the breakout session I led at Unleash 2008. These notes explain the system we had in place at that time. Since we are always looking to improve, our current process is slightly different (but not drastically) and if you come to Unleash 2009, I’ll explain how its changed.

Fortunately for all of you, Tony Morgan has convinced his team to extend the “early bird” registration deadline… check this out. Don’t miss out on this deal.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The particular employer I worked for happened to be one of the most recognizable companies in the world and it seemed that everyone I met had had some sort of experience with it. Also, simply being in the insurance industry made it rare for me to walk away from any conversation that did not involve someone sharing their own personal horror story or hatred for the whole industry. Because of these types of encounters I quickly built a defense mechanism that would have me at some point throw out the words, “That is just what I do for a living… It’s not who I am.”

Since going to work for NewSpring Church back on April 1, 2005, I have learned many things. The worlds of ministry and production have proven to be a great challenge and incredible thrill. Rarely does a day go by where I don’t learn something new or face a challenge I had never faced before. I love it and pray that God allows me to do this until the day that I die.

Since the move I have found that most conversations still eventually track toward me talking about my position or title. Also consistent with my time in the market place, most conversations end up with me hearing what people think about my church because in our town most have had some interaction with or have formed an opinion of NewSpring. Being in ministry, I find that also get the privilege of listening to some horror story or disappointment that someone has experienced because of some church somewhere.

But here’s what’s different for me… I can no longer say, “That is just what I do for a living… It’s not who I am.”

Why? Because the church (both mine and the “C”hurch) is a physical representation of Jesus. The church is supposed to be to the world what Jesus is to the world. As a follower of Jesus, I am supposed to walk as He did and be a living representation of who Jesus is. Working as a pastor in a church means that “This is what I do for a living… AND it IS who I am.”

Where I could easily slough off tough conversations about the ills of the insurance industry, I simply can’t do that about the church. Unfortunately, too many churches have soured people on Jesus. I’m afraid that is the reason many people who work in ministry have grown weary of hearing about what the world thinks about the church and have simply taken on my old line, “This is just what I do for living… It’s not who I am.”

For those of us in ministry we need to be quick to realize that what we do is who we are. If you can’t say that with great passion and conviction, then it would be my guess that you are in fact working a job and not following a calling. Please do yourself, your church and the Church a huge favor and quit. In ministry one’s vocation must be his passion. I will go out on a limb here and say that the reason who Jesus is and what the church has become are so different, is due to too many people in ministry living out this statement (whether they actually say it or not), “This is just what I do for a living… It’s not who I am.”