My boss is taking a month off from work?? (REPOST)

Last summer I posted this article… now that the time is upon us again, I thought I’d repost it!

My friend, pastor, and boss is about to start his weekly summer study break.  This is a season where he takes off the whole month of July (from teaching and much of the day-to-day) to refresh his spirit, recalibrate his priorities for the upcoming year, and prepare to lead us the next year of ministry.  I think this is one of the most important things he does every year for a number of reasons.  If you’re on a church staff, you need to read this post to help you understand the why behind the what.  Today I want to discuss some reasons why this season is so important.

• It gives him a chance to recharge his batteries. Leading a church is HARD work.  Make no mistake- the pressures of leading a ministry, staff, other ministry leaders, and balancing that with being a great husband and father are HUGE.  He needs this time to get out of the rhythm of leading day-to-day and simply fill his tanks that have been depleted from leading all year.  He needs to build some margin back into his life.  His emotional, physical, and spiritual tanks are empty, and this gives him time and the resources to refill them.
• It gives him an opportunity to connect deeply with God. Without the day-to-day pressures of “running” the ministry and teaching 40+ weeks a year, he can make sure his study and praying time has no agenda other than meeting God and hearing His voice.  Staff, this is SO critical for your leader, I cannot stress this enough!  You are depending on your senior leader to take this time and connect with God so he can be sensitive to the leading of God.  I don’t want us moving forward based simply on our creative ideas.  I want Scott to connect with God and find His heart for Aurora, The Orchard, the surrounding areas, and other areas of the world, so he can lead us to serve in ways that bless the heart of God.  If you were in the military, you’d want your leader making well-informed decisions prior to launching an offensive in battle.  It’s the same with ministry.  I want my leader taking us into battle with the best intelligence there is- the Voice and Heartbeat of God.
• It gives him a chance to give his family some quality time. His kids need him to just be dad for a bit.  The church takes much of his time (and many church leaders are guilty of not setting good boundaries and let the church do this) so the kids need to see dad focused on them.  I’m guilty of this.  My wife has often said, “You’re here but you’re not here.”  My body is there, but my mind is on church junk.  My senior leader needs to be able to get away and invest in his family in some quality, uninterrupted time.  This is a win for the team.  We’ve all seen people in ministry bite the dust because they neglected their family and have gotten their priorities mixed up.  I don’t want that- so this time is very important!
• It gives him a chance to step back and see things from a fresh perspective. Too often when we are in the leading daily routine, we don’t zoom out to 30,000ft and see things from a renewed perspective.  I once read a quote from Mark Batterson that has stuck in my mind: “A change of pace + a change of place = a change of perspective.” I’ve found this to be true.  Your senior leader will benefit from some time away to think big-picture and to see things he might miss when he’s in the grind of it.  He might visit some other churches and get fresh ideas.  Some staff hate it when their senior leader takes this time because he comes back with a laundry list of things to tweak/change, but that is an immature, non-team attitude.  Don’t fear the “notebook filled with things he wants to change;” trust that God is speaking to him in this time and it’s for a good purpose.  Remember, you’re co-laboring together, and he’s the leader, so follow well!
• Finally, it gives him a chance to learn and be a better leader. How often has your bookshelf lined up with more and more books that you “intend” to read but just get busy and put it off?  The other day in a meeting, Scott talked about how it has been awhile since he’s been really able to dive into some good leadership books. This time off will be spent reading some great leadership material and I have no doubt it will give him some added umph going into the fall.  Every professional career has continuing education, so this is a great time for your leader to learn some new skill, to engage in an ongoing global dialogue about leadership, and to ultimately learn some tools that will help him lead even better.

This list certainly isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a start.  Tomorrow I’ll be back with a look at some ways you can ensure this is a healthy, productive season for your senior leader.  I’d love it if you’d comment with your thoughts and perspective and share some other reasons this is a good thing.  Invite your friends to stop by and give their .02 cents as well!

 

New Series at The Orchard…

I’m so excited about the new series we’re beginning this weekend at The Orchard… it’s called What Jim Said, and it’s a 5-week journey through the New Testament book of James.  We’re going to be looking at some key statements James makes in this book.  I know we always say this, but I think this is going to be one of the best series we’ve done yet!  If you haven’t journeyed through James, I’d love to invite you to join with us!  We’ll also be reading a chapter a week as a church community.

To help get prepped for What Jim Said, here are some things you can do:

• Watch this video of Scott talking about the series (he’s REALLY excited about it too!)…
• Read James 1:1-18 3 or 4 times before this weekend’s service (or listening to the podcast, if you’re not local).  Ask God to speak to you.
• Write down the 5 or 10 things that stick out to you the most.
• I’m including some thoughts below about the book of James (who wrote it, to whom he wrote, key ideas, etc).  It’s a short read but it helps us as we approach a book to understand some basic things about how it ended up in the Bible.
• hop on our Facebook page and keep up with the comments & even add your own…

A Little Background on the Book of James…

Remember the most famous line from the movie, Jerry Maguire? It’s become a saying deeply embedded in pop culture: “Show me the money!!” Talk is cheap. In the end, it’s our actions that are important and prove that what we say really is what we believe. This is the message in the New Testament book of James. James encourages readers to put their actions where their mouth is. In only 5 chapters, James delivers a whirlwind of practical topics that are relevant to followers of Christ all throughout the centuries.

The book of James is largely considered to be the earliest New Testament book to be written, likely written in the early to mid 40’s, just a decade or so after the death of Jesus. James was a younger brother of Jesus Himself, and although he grew up with Jesus, he did not become a Christian until after the resurrection. He went from being a skeptical unbeliever that his brother was who He said He was to leading the church in Jerusalem and having tremendous influence on the early church. He was a powerful servant-leader who, although he was the brother of Christ, considered himself only “A servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (v.1).

Although James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, he wrote this epistle (that’s a fancy word that just means a letter) to followers of Christ who were spread out around the world. This book is filled with powerful statements from James, and challenges for Christians to put their faith into action. There are over 50 imperatives, essentially “do this” statements in this short book… averaging one for every two verses. James deals with many elements of the life of a Christian, from dealing with trials and temptations, how to treat one another, how to properly use the tongue to avoid hurting others, dealing with the rich and the poor, our relationship to God, wisdom, and others. It’s a flurry of heavy-hitting yet immensely practical discussion in only 5 action-packed chapters!

 

My boss is taking a whole month off of work??

My friend, pastor, and boss is about to start his weekly summer study break.  This is a season where he takes off the whole month of July (from teaching and much of the day-to-day) to refresh his spirit, recalibrate his priorities for the upcoming year, and prepare to lead us the next year of ministry.  I think this is one of the most important things he does every year for a number of reasons.  If you’re on a church staff, you need to read this post to help you understand the why behind the what.  Today I want to discuss some reasons why this season is so important.

• It gives him a chance to recharge his batteries. Leading a church is HARD work.  Make no mistake- the pressures of leading a ministry, staff, other ministry leaders, and balancing that with being a great husband and father are HUGE.  He needs this time to get out of the rhythm of leading day-to-day and simply fill his tanks that have been depleted from leading all year.  He needs to build some margin back into his life.  His emotional, physical, and spiritual tanks are empty, and this gives him time and the resources to refill them.
• It gives him an opportunity to connect deeply with God. Without the day-to-day pressures of “running” the ministry and teaching 40+ weeks a year, he can make sure his study and praying time has no agenda other than meeting God and hearing His voice.  Staff, this is SO critical for your leader, I cannot stress this enough!  You are depending on your senior leader to take this time and connect with God so he can be sensitive to the leading of God.  I don’t want us moving forward based simply on our creative ideas.  I want Scott to connect with God and find His heart for Aurora, The Orchard, the surrounding areas, and other areas of the world, so he can lead us to serve in ways that bless the heart of God.  If you were in the military, you’d want your leader making well-informed decisions prior to launching an offensive in battle.  It’s the same with ministry.  I want my leader taking us into battle with the best intelligence there is- the Voice and Heartbeat of God.
• It gives him a chance to give his family some quality time. His kids need him to just be dad for a bit.  The church takes much of his time (and many church leaders are guilty of not setting good boundaries and let the church do this) so the kids need to see dad focused on them.  I’m guilty of this.  My wife has often said, “You’re here but you’re not here.”  My body is there, but my mind is on church junk.  My senior leader needs to be able to get away and invest in his family in some quality, uninterrupted time.  This is a win for the team.  We’ve all seen people in ministry bite the dust because they neglected their family and have gotten their priorities mixed up.  I don’t want that- so this time is very important!
• It gives him a chance to step back and see things from a fresh perspective. Too often when we are in the leading daily routine, we don’t zoom out to 30,000ft and see things from a renewed perspective.  I once read a quote from Mark Batterson that has stuck in my mind: “A change of pace + a change of place = a change of perspective.” I’ve found this to be true.  Your senior leader will benefit from some time away to think big-picture and to see things he might miss when he’s in the grind of it.  He might visit some other churches and get fresh ideas.  Some staff hate it when their senior leader takes this time because he comes back with a laundry list of things to tweak/change, but that is an immature, non-team attitude.  Don’t fear the “notebook filled with things he wants to change;” trust that God is speaking to him in this time and it’s for a good purpose.  Remember, you’re co-laboring together, and he’s the leader, so follow well!
• Finally, it gives him a chance to learn and be a better leader. How often has your bookshelf lined up with more and more books that you “intend” to read but just get busy and put it off?  The other day in a meeting, Scott talked about how it has been awhile since he’s been really able to dive into some good leadership books. This time off will be spent reading some great leadership material and I have no doubt it will give him some added umph going into the fall.  Every professional career has continuing education, so this is a great time for your leader to learn some new skill, to engage in an ongoing global dialogue about leadership, and to ultimately learn some tools that will help him lead even better.

This list certainly isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a start.  Tomorrow I’ll be back with a look at some ways you can ensure this is a healthy, productive season for your senior leader.  I’d love it if you’d comment with your thoughts and perspective and share some other reasons this is a good thing.  Invite your friends to stop by and give their .02 cents as well!

 

Some exciting news and a chance to win a trip to England!

We’ve all heard the phrase, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”  Those of us who follow Jesus really believe the story of the Gospel is so powerful, and I love when people take seriously communicating it in a powerful way.  Today I want to tell you about a one-of-a-kind experience that’s coming to Chicago this fall that is all about creatively communicating the Gospel.  It’s called Story, and it’s the brainchild of Ben Arment.  When I first heard about this, I got really excited, and as more details emerged, I got pumped!  I’m glad that today we can officially tell you about it!  

 Here’s the official blurb:

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns – CS Lewis’ home in Oxford, England – at www.StoryChicago.com.

Story is going to be a powerful discussion with communicators from all over the country- all committed to exploring powerful ways to sharing the gospel within our culture.  Ben has lined up some great communicators to help lead the discussion, and I’ve heard he’s lined up a pretty awesome emcee as well!  Again, I’d go right now and register at www.StoryChicago.com .  Early bird registration will save you some money!  If you’re into architecture, Story is hosted in a beautiful old theatre right in downtown Aurora- next to the river.  Love that place!

Now if you can swing it I’d plan to spend the whole week in Chicago- on Tuesday you can attend the Cultivate conference in downtown Chicago (click here to read what Dawn Nicole Baldwin has to say about this awesome opportunity!).  Then head to Aurora for Story Chicago on Wednesday- attend the Story workshops on Thursday at The Orchard, (we’re honored to host the workshops!) golf or explore the city on Friday, and come out to The Orchard on Saturday where we’re going to be having a very special guest speaker at our weekend gatherings.

One final plug-I’m pretty sure Ben’s web team one-upped Disney on the Story website- It’s better than the Narnia websites hands down!  When I first saw it it gave me that awe-inspired majestic feeling, the way Narnia did.  Just looking at the website grabs me and makes me want to be a part!  I’d love some feedback on what you think of the site!

Hope to see you and your team attend Story with us- you won’t regret it!

 

Finding My Way Again…

My brain is 200mph as usual this morning but I’ve settled on a couple of thoughts I’m really chewing on and I’d love to get your input…

• I was listening to the audiobook for Brian McLaren’s Finding Our Way Again this morning at the gym and it really got me asking this question: “Why don’t we spend most of our energy in discipleship teaching people to feed themselves?”  Really, the spiritual practices are a way of making our faith a part of the inner fabric of our everyday lives.  Part of the reason Christianity is in the shape it’s in in our country is that people make it an add-on, a sort-of social addition and minor spiritual blessing.  We just don’t want it to mess up our daily lives too much.  But in other Abrahamic faiths (Judaism and Islam), their faith is an inseparable part of their lives.  What if we put a whole lot of energy into helping new believers incorporate these ancient practices into the  everyday rhythm of life?  It should be a part of their life DNA- this is why spiritual practices are so important.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t offer supplementary teaching on other issues- I’m simply pondering the thought of putting a TON of energy into helping people build their foundation.  Seems like a no-brainer to me and maybe I’m just ignorant but I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of energy put into this in the past.  If people are making the spiritual practices a part of their daily lives, won’t they grow (with the Spirit’s help) and learn what they need to?  Seems like often the Church has had that backwards.  Give them a ton of information and some of it will stick and they will grow.  Hmm.
• Maybe part of the reason our efforts to design environments that facilitate community have largely failed is because we have A. not spent a good deal of time equipping people to own their faith journey and live it out as a part of their daily lives and B. We haven’t considered the rhythm of our local church community.  Over the years I’ve come to believe that every church community has a unique rhythm.  I think the Spirit is doing unique things in each community.  It’s up to us who are in leadership to find that sacred rhythm and work within it.  I’m developing this concept more in my thinking, but at this point, I’m wondering if we’ve tried too hard to prescribe what community is without considering the spiritual foundation of the people who are supposed to be a part of it and without designing environments that fit what God is doing in our unique church communities.  Just a thought.

I’ve probably been a bit confusing- yes, I’m thinking out loud (so to speak) and that can be dangerous!  I just sense God is speaking to my heart in some way about my efforts to make disciples and create community- I want to find His heartbeat for this and am glad to share my journey with you!  

Thoughts?

 

Help me get INKED!

Hey peeps!

The Orchard is doing a series right now called INKED that is focused on how to take relationships more than skin deep.  You can check out mytatstory.com to read some powerful stories of people and their tattoos.  

SO- I’ve been really wanting to get a tat for quite some time.  I’ve been thinking that the INKED series could be a great opportunity to explore this possibility.  The main problem I have with tats is that they are permanent- SO- you REALLY want to choose wisely when you decide to get one.  I know that whatever I decide is going to be with me for a LONG time, so I’d better pick the right thing!

I’ve had a few ideas…

• I’ve seen some wedding ring tattoos that I REALLY like…at this point I am leaning this direction…
• something in greek or hebrew (some biblical word with meaning).  My only fear here is the artist getting the lettering exactly right… especially in Hebrew a slight variation can render it a completely different letter.  Wrong letter can lead to wrong meaning= not good!
• an interesting symbol from the ancient faith…
• a butterfly in the small of my back (Okay, that one was a joke!)

So, I thought I’d throw it out to you.  I’m looking for an interesting idea for a tattoo.  What do you think I should get?  Could be color, or plain black/blue, whatever.  Get creative.  Respond here or send me an email and I’d love to hear your thoughts!  And for those of you with tattoos, how painful is it?  Will I cry?  What’s the process AFTER you get the tat like?

Looking forward to your responses!

 

On My Mind

I’m home this week taking the last of my vacation time and preparing to enter into a new season of ministry.  As most of you know, I’m transitioning to a new ministry venture (you can read about that here and here).  Here are some things on my mind:

• I’m listening to this as I sit and collect my thoughts.  Been listening the last couple of weeks.  I liked it okay at first and it really grew on me with each new listen… great background music!
• I’m really craving some sushi right now!!
• I’m so grateful to be leaving a wonderful church with some amazing people during an amazing season because God is clearly leading us and not because anything’s wrong.  I know many people who have left churches because they weren’t in a good situation- that’s NOT the case for us, we’re so blessed to have been here!  If you’re digging to see “why are you really leaving?” to find some dirt, save your breath because there isn’t any!  SBC is a great community with great leaders and volunteers and great people and we’ll be so sad to go!  I’m grateful for our friends who are helping make this a great transition!
• I’m so grateful to be going to an amazing church community with a great leader as well!  I’ve prayed for a healthy transition and I’m grateful I get to step out of one great situation into another great situation!  The Orchard is making a dent in their community and around the world and I’m blessed to be partnering with them!
• Whoever gets my job here is walking into an amazing situation.  As I reflect on the last several years, I know I’ve grown tons, have been stretched tons, and have been blessed to see a great move of God that is simply inexplainable…. the church loves people and reaches into the community (you may not know this but we felt compelled to give $100,000 of our first 1,000,000 on the new building campaign to help other ministries)- SBC is a generous church.  Great people.  I just can’t say enough good things!  So the next person to step in and take my role is walking into a gold mine of opportunity, working with an incredible team of pastors, elders, staff, and volunteers that rock your face off!
• Transition is hard- there’s no way around it.  Last week our pastors were off planning some things for next year and it felt strange not being with them.  I spent the time cleaning out my office.  I’ve had a ton of conversations with people-and it’s hard to convey all God’s done in our heart in a short conversation! I think I may do a series of posts in the future about transition and following God.
• I’m SO proud of my wife for leaning forward to see what God really wanted in our lives.  So many have assumed this was an easy decision- I assure you, it was not!  Sure, we’re SUPER excited about The Orchard, but we love SBC and it has been a great church family for us.  I watched Annette wrestle with God and choose to listen to Him- I know you’re jealous guys that my wife is both hot and spiritual!!
• My wife is super awesome- she just sent me an email and it said: “I want you to know how I much I love you. I’m amazed at the man your are. You are a great husband and dad. Our new journey will be an exciting one.I hope your day is going well. Can’t wait to see you tonight. I really enjoyed our coffee-time together this morning.”  HOW ENCOURAGING!
• I’m excited and scared to follow God on this journey.  I’d love to help any of you on your journey as well !
• My iPhone says it’s 52 degrees here and 24 degrees where we’re going!  I love the cold so BRING IT!
• I’m going to Chicago next week to start working with some folks on my new team.  See you soon!

Well, that’s all for now.  Peace!