Lessons from Letterman

This past Thursday, while in New York, I attended the taping of the Dave Letterman Show with a pastor friend Tommy Duke from Pittsburgh.

I learned some invaluable lessons I hope to employ at Life Church.

Here goes my Top Ten List:

10. Make people line-up and get tickets in advance for church.

9. Have young pages with way too much energy whip up the crowd. "If you give a lot, Dave will give a lot."

8. Have a team of writers who do nothing but write jokes and find great illustrations for me.

7. Have a comedian come out and "warm up" the audience.

6. Have movie stars, politicians, and sports heroes drop in for a visit. (Howard Stern was the only guest my night :(

5. Have a band of professional musicians who can play anything. (But still volunteer)

4. Have a make-up person. (You all know I need this one).

3. Have a team of people standing around getting me coffee and telling me I'm wonderful (wait, that's what my wife does)

2. Stop every ten minutes for a commercial and a break between sermon points.

1. The ability to edit out all my mistakes!

Selling Out

Continuing in Matthew 13, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a treasure hidden in a field and a pearl of great value. In both cases the man sells out completely. He cashes out his savings, empties the bank account, the 401K, liquidates his stocks, his baseball card collection, sells the fishing boat on eBay and has a garage sale to scrape together the cash he needs for a single purchase.

How irrational can someone be? Every prudent financial planner would say the man should diversify, spread his money around, don't put all his eggs in one basket.

But those people have never seen THIS pearl. They do not know the value of THIS field. To this man they are worth everything. He doesn't think about what he will miss or future security. He has found what he has sought after his whole life. Somehow he knows the value of the treasure in the field or the pearl will be enough to sustain him.

This is another radical call of Christ. Abandon conventional wisdom and what is prudent. Sell out for His kingdom. Far greater than a field or a pearl Jesus promises us that if we seek His kingdom all the stuff we valued and depended upon before, would be provided, daily.

We lay down our life and pick-up a cross. We follow Him. We seek the welfare of others. We give rather than receive. We lead by serving. The economy of this kingdom operates on far different principles than the kingdoms of this world. I want to live in this kingdom, how about you?

Memo to Weed Pullers

In every generation there are those who feel they have a special calling to root out heresy and expose weak doctrine. These people have it so together they speak for God on every issue and interpret correctly all of scripture.

In Matthew 13 Jesus gives His church instructions in how to handle these issues, do nothing. He makes the point that if we try to pull out the weeds we will inadvertently pull out the wheat as well. He explains to His disciples that at the end of the age His harvesters, the angels will, "weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil."

I don't expect everyone I pastor to believe exactly what I believe or see me as the final authority on every issue. This is just insecurity and arrogance on the the part of leaders who have to have the final word and exercise control over the people they lead.

The Apostle Paul encouraged us to be on guard and watch over the flock as leaders. He told Timothy to make sure his doctrine was sound. Sound doctrine like a boat that is sound will float. It may not be perfect, but it will float.

Too many churches are being built just around beliefs. The New Testament had very little doctrine but they had walked with Christ and walked with one another and the Holy Spirit seemed to orchestrate everything. Thats the model I want to follow.

Lets quit over-examining each other's doctrines and purpose to take Christ's message to a hurting world that needs the doctrines we all agree on, Jesus Christ came to save sinners.

Coming back from captivity

Reading Psalm 126 this morning I meditated on the experience of the Israelites when they were delivered from seventy years of captivity in Babylon. The psalmist is almost beside himself exclaiming their restored joy and freedom because of the goodness of God.

I thought of how I had been captive at times in my life. Dark areas and times that turned me away from God or more recently little things that captivated my time and distracted me from God.

Freedom from captivity meant the same to the Israelites 2,500 years ago as to us in 2008:

• The ability to dream again
• find joyful in worship
• see God at work in our lives
• recognize His blessings

To be free from captivity involves something on our part. The latter verses describes, "sowing in tears" and "going out weeping". This posture of brokenness and hungering for God's presence in every area of our lives. There is also a picture here of serving and giving, "carrying seed to sow". In ministering to others we are doing the work of God.

Three qualities here I want continually in my life: worship, humility, and a servants heart.

Leadership vs. Discipleship

I have been pondering the difference between leadership and discipleship. Leadership has become the in vogue thing for Christians. "Everyone is a leader", "all have a call to lead", these mantras are quoted over and over in Christian books and seminars.
Whatever happened to discipleship. I think it is unpopular because it is based on humility rather than being in-charge. It doesn't have that carrot dangling in front of someone who is looking for power. Disciples don't get to bark order, they are looking to follow.
These principles seem to get lost in leadership training. Of course we mention in passing the need to serve but it seems more of an afterthought than a primary qualification to lead.
When Jesus called His first disciples it began of journey of laying down their lives, their aspirations, their need to lead. As John and Jame's mother lobbied for them a cabinet position in Jesus new administration and Peter assumed the role of number two, Jesus was on His knees washing their feet, carrying their dirt, below them, serving.
I am grateful God has chosen me to lead, Life Church and my family. I am only successful in leading as long as I remember I am first a disciple and here to serve God first, them second, and me last.
I want to be a disciple and make disciples, I'll let God pick the leaders.

Future Me

I love a new website I have found at www.futureme.org. The whole purpose of this website is to create emails that will be mailed back to yourself in the future.
Being the end of a year this may be a good time to set those goals and then list them on an email to send to yourself. No one knows you better than you, and you may be the best coach to encourage or challenge yourself to stay on course with those goals.
Anyway, check it out and see what you think.

Drive-by Majesty

One of the greatest places to live is Colorado. Lori and I lived there for four years and never got tired of seeing the mountains. I remember on a day-off going up to Rocky Mountain National Park and spending the afternoon just staring at the 14,000 ft. Long's Peak. Sitting there in that field gave me a new understanding of the word majesty.

A few years later, living back in the flatlands of the Midwest, we had the opportunity to take family vacation to California. We traveled up the coast from LA to San Francisco and over to Yosemite National Park. I was so looking forward to experience that view of the mountains I now missed. On the the day we went to the park we were accompanied by several thousand other people seeking solitude and a chance to get away from the noise, and traffic and crowds. There we all were, thousands of people and cars snaking their way through the park in one long traffic jam. Every now and then you would stop momentarily to take a quick glance through the exhaust fumes and see part of a mountain. It just wasn't the same.

Majesty is not something you comprehend quickly. You have to take time to take in the view, realize your own size and mortality by comparison to something as ageless as a mountain.

I think it is the same way with God. We cannot just skim the scriptures, drive-through a worship service, or go on autopilot in our prayer time and expect to comprehend the majesty of God.

We have to slow down, sit in God's presence, gaze into the picture of Him in His Word, and meditate on who we are in comparison to the awesome, ageless, majestic God who always delights in revealing more of himself to us.

Jack Hayford wrote these lyrics to the classic song, "Majesty".

Majesty, worship His Majesty,
Unto Jesus, be all glory, honor and praise!
Majesty, kingdom authority, flows from His throne,
Unto His own, His anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus.
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King.
Majesty, worship His Majesty,
Jesus who died, now glorified,
King of all kings.

I bet Pastor Jack was staring at a mountain.