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God’s Will

I had a thought this morning about God’s will, here it is:  Knowing God’s will is more about education than revelation.  Reading from Ps. 143:10, David requests of God, “Teach me to do your will…”  This jumped out at me because I often ask God to show me his will.  But David asks God to teach him.  Moses asked the same thing in Exodus when he asked God to “teach me your ways”.

Here are some distinctions between teach me and show me:

• To be taught something takes effort.  It takes work to know God’s will.  It takes prayer, study, research, conversation, and attempts to know God’s will.  It’d be easier if God just showed me his will like a slideshow; let me just sit and watch the pictures.  To learn anything takes work.  But, my lazy side just wants God to show me.
• We are taught things that already exist. That is, teaching-learning is the discovery of truth that already exists.  When I teach my boys math, I’m not showing them anything new, I’m just helping them discover an already existing truth.  I often treat knowing God’s will as receiving new revelation when, in fact, God has already made his will known to us. For example, Paul writes in 2 Thess. that it’s God’s will for us to live sanctified lives.  Boom! There it is.  God’s will.  Rather than seeking “fresh” revelation of God’s will, I need to discover his already stated will. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s wrong to ask God’s will when faced with a decision; however, Jesus instructs us to seek God’s kingdom first, which is to seek out God’s existing design and desire.
• We learn by doing.  I’m an on-the-job learner.  I like theory, but I learn best by doing the work.  True learning comes by application not by only information. I think this is why David asks God to teach him to do His will. How often do Christians wait around in their prayer closet for revelation of God’s will.  I believe you can best learn God’s will through action.  In other words, sometimes we got to take a chance, take a risk, and not wait around.  Will you make mistakes? Yes, but so what.  Doing God’s will doesn’t mean you’ll be mistake-free!  Maybe God wants to teach you his will through the mistakes!

Knowing God’s will is more about education than revelation, it’s more about teach me than show me.  Often, when those in Scripture prayed “show me” they were asking God to show them his glory.  God’s glory cannot be taught, it must be experienced.  God’s glory is revelatory.  To know God’s will let’s be learners (disciples) and trust in the instruction of the Holy Spirit to counsel us in God’s ways.

U Da Man

We kicked off our “U Da Man” series for the month of June.  It’s an important series because it’s critical that we gain an accurate picture of true biblical manhood.  The big idea is if we’re to gain an accurate picture of biblical manhood we must measure masculinity correctly. That is, measuring masculinity with the wrong tool will give an inaccurate picture of manhood.

Often the measure of manhood is taken from culture which leads to a false measurement.  This series unpacks the proper measure of a man taken with the correct tool:  God’s word.

A note to the women:  this series applies to you too.  Though focused on men, this series will be helpful to everyone because 1) God’s principles are universal, and 2) it will give you insight in how you can support and strengthen your man as he grows into true biblical manhood.

This Sunday (June 14) we look at the difference between being a male and being a man.  It’ll challenge and inspire men to step up to the calling a being men of God.  We’ll look at the key to growing and maturing into the man that God has called you to be.

Wisdom for Life, part 3

This come Sunday (May 17) we hit part 3 of our Wisdom for Life message series at GBCK.  The big idea to the series is we gain wisdom for life by learning from other people’s mistakes. We’re exploring the life of Solomon, the wisest man to every live, and we’re peeking into his personal diary (book of Ecclesiastes) and asking ourselves, “What can we learn from Solomon’s mistakes?”

Each Sunday for May we’re exploring one mistake.  Last week we unpacked mistake #2 which is thinking we can manage and control time. You may listen to the message here called “Time Trap”.

This Sunday we explore a common misconception about money.  It’s a mistake we all make, yet it’s a mistake that can potentially destroy our physical, mental, and spiritual beings. We’ll look at how we can align ourselves with God’s view of money, and the corresponding results that will give you a sense of ease and security regardless of your economic situation.

Finally, May 24 (Memorial Day weekend) is Splash Bash 2009.  This is when we take church outside and hold our worship experience on the upper grassy area at Mauka Lani Elementary.  Along with a meaningful service, there will be special children’s activities, a water slide, games, and good food.  It’ll be a good time to enjoy the long weekend and hang out.  Please join us and be sure to INVITE some too.  The event begins at 10am.  Bring your beach chairs and towels.

Failure as an Event

Reading through It: how churches and leaders can get it and keep it by Craig Groeschel.  I love his thoughts on failure:  “Don’t internalize failure: failure is an event, not a person.”

Failures are the building blocks for success; all success is preceded by failure.  Yet, it’s so easy to internalize failure and conclude that I’m a failure.  Untrue.  Failure doesn’t define me as a person. Only Jesus can do that.  Failure is an event, it’s a moment in time, it has a beginning and an end.

The point is too many leaders are playing it safe because they’re afraid to fail.  They internalize failure to the point where it becomes their identity.  In an effort to change their identity they often will avoid making mistakes.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean we do things without wisdom and discernment.  It does mean that failure is always part of the equation of life, and to try and eliminate failure today short circuits the successes of tomorrow.

To paraphrase Mark Batterson: “The riskiest thing we can do in life is to play it safe.”

Wisdom for Life series

May marks the beginning of the “Wisdom for Life” series at GBCK.  The big idea behind this series is we gain wisdom for life by learning from other people’s mistakes. A seasoned leader once told me it’s important to learn what not to do from other leaders as it is important to learn what to do.  I believe this is why the bible records the failures of God’s people as well as their successes; there are lessons to be gained from the failures of others.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about when the Apostle Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.  This was significant since Pete was part of Jesus’ inner circle.  Peter was so confident that he wouldn’t deny Jesus despite Jesus’ prophetic prediction that he would.  The lesson: no one is above sin, we are all susceptible.

For the series we’re looking at the life of Solomon as recorded in what amounts to his personal diary, Ecclesiastes.  The bible says Solomon was the wisest man to ever live, yet he made some serious mistakes in his later life.  Fortunately, he made some observations about these mistakes and passes on to us the lessons learned.

Over the course of this series we’ll explore five mistakes we can learn from the life of Solomon, and how learning from these mistakes equates to gaining wisdom for life.  Last week we looked at mistake #1: looking for meaning in all the wrong places.  This week we look at a common mistake we all make with a common commodity we all have: TIME.

Aloha!

Pacing and the ministry

Rick Warren was interviewed by Andy Stanley on pacing and ministry.  There are too many pastors and ministers burning out and crashing because they don’t know how to pace themselves and rest because they’re doing “God’s work”.  Warren fainted in the pulpit the first year he started his church and he was depressed for the entire second year of his church – oh, it was due to working 18-20 hours a day.  So, he knows something about ministry burn out.

• Learn how to divert daily (do what energizes you), withdraw weekly, abandon annually.
• Don’t call it a “day off”, call it a “sabbath”.  You’ll cheat and work on the day off, but if you break the sabbath, you’re sinning.
• Learn to manage energy not time.  We all have the same amount of time but not the same amount of energy.  Learn your energy capacity.
• Never compare yourself to others.  If you do, you’ll always find someone better which causes you to be discouraged.  You’ll also find someone not as good as you and you’ll be tempted to become proud.
• Warren had a big old milk jug sitting near his front porch.  Every night when he got home he’d stand before the jug and dump all the stresses and concerns of the day into the jug before entering the house to see his wife and kids.  Don’t bring that stuff inside the house.
• God wants us to be faithful AND fruitful.
• You judge the health of your church not by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity.
• Three encouragements: 1. Never stop learning.  Only a fool thinks he can’t learn from someone else.  2. Don’t compare yourself to others (see fourth bullet above). 3. Never give up.
• Everything you do, do it like Jesus.
• As an aside, Warren hates the term “purpose-driven”.

God-sized Dreams

Here are some thoughts from Erwin McManus’ session, day 2 of Catalyst West Coast:

• There’s never been an ordinary human born yet we live the most ordinary lives.
• Church isn’t about stopping people from doing wrong, it’s about unleashing people to do right.
• Church shouldn’t be a prison, it’s a portal.
• It’s not about calling people to my vision, it’s about awakening the God-given dream in others.
• Before we were pounded into the ordinary, we dreamed God-sized dreams.
• People’s dreams are trapped under the rubble of their fears.
• Choose acts of heroism no matter how small.
• I must destroy the obstacles that prevent others from dreaming.

The Third Space

Great first day of Catalyst West Coast.  Erwin McManus’ opening session on “third spaces” was inspiring and challenging.  McManus divides one’s relational life into three spaces: 1st space is where people are like you, you are the norm.  The church is often a 1st space where no aliens or outsiders are allowed; 2nd space is a broader set of relationships where not everyone is like you, yet there’s still relationships; 3rd space is where there’s no relationships, and there won’t be unless invited; you are the alien.

Christians tend to create exclusive 1st spaces and never cross over into the 2nd space, meaning they will never be invited into the 3rd space.  There’s a lot of talk about changing culture for Christ but this means we must leave the 1st space; “Jesus thrives in the 3rd space”.  He likened trying to change culture without leaving the 1st space to the Mississippi having an impact on the Pacific; the Mississippi is powerful but will never affect the Pacific.

McManus’ text was Acts 17 with Paul in Athens.  Paul was distressd by the idolotrous city so he went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks (1st space), then he reasoned with those in the marketplace (2nd space), and then he was invited to the Areopagus by the city’s philosophers (3rd space).

Paul crossed the cultural divide and left the space where he was comfortable, normal, and right.  He entered the marketplace where he wasn’t the expert and had to earn the right to be heard.  Then Paul was invited to the city’s philosophical, open-air think tank to share his “strange ideas”.

The big idea for me is culture doesn’t change in 1st spaces.  First places are good and necessary.  This is why I wouldn’t say we need to leave the 1st space in order to reach the 2nd and 3rd.  I see it where we flow in and out of these spaces like the ebb and flow of the tide.

In the end, it’s not about cramming people into our 1st space, but loving them in their space.  It means we give up the comfort of only being around others like us and intentionally engage those far from God.  It’s understanding that living only in the 1st space makes one irrelevant to those in the other spaces.

Whew, a lot to chew on.

Take a Breath

After running wind sprints for Pee-wee football our coaches always yelled for us to catch our breath by facing the mountains. We’d face toward Wa’ahila ridge from Crane park in Kapahulu and suck in the fresh mountain air to replenish weary nine-year-old lungs. As the oxygen did its job, our bodies would recover just in time for another round of 100-yard sprints!

I’m writing this post from gate 22 as I ready to board my flight to LA where I’ll attend the Catalyst West Coast conference. I’m looking forward to this trip because it’s a “face the mountain” moment for me. It’ll be a time when I can catch my breath. It’ll be a busy few days for sure. I have a series of meetings between the meetings on top of all the normal week-to-week stuff. Nevertheless, it’ll be a time to pull back the lens a little and gain some fresh perspectives. It’ll be a time to learn from and listen to what’s happening in other ministry circles. It’ll be a time to break routine and freshen up a little.

Catching breaths is key to longevity. Catching breaths is different from taking vacations though. Taking vacations means to completely vacate; no work stuff allowed. Catching breaths, however, are mini pauses we take to refresh ourselves in the midst of life’s busyness. What’s amazing is our bodies are wired to take these mini pauses – it’s called sleep!

I think fatigue, burn out, depression, and frustration happen because we don’t face the mountain enough. The demands of a 24/7, super connected, ultra busy culture do not allow for pauses. Some may even feel guilty for taking a pause to catch their breath; they feel there’s too much at stake. Let me say this: it’s too costly NOT to face the mountain. You’re too important to God and others to crash and burn because there was stuff to be done.

So, what do you do to face the mountain? Is it a walking around the block, finding a moment of solitude, having coffee with a friend, taking in a sunset, taking a nap, attending a small group of people to process faith and life?

My LA trip is needed because I can sense the need to catch my breath. Plus, I know there’s another round of 100-yard sprints waiting for me when I get back.