I see 100 life groups happening all over Central Massachusetts.

I see people people living out their lives together and learning what it is to “be like Jesus”.

Different backgrounds.  Different stages of life.  Different living conditions.

But one God.

And one Savior.

100 Groups of people listening to the Father, much like the One who gave His life for all of us thousands of years ago.

Not judging, criticizing, or forcing one another into a mold.

For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And we were created for freedom.

And for Him.

I didn't know the kid from the "Wonder Years" played basketball!

Intensity.

That’s what happens when the commanding officer calls his or her platoon out and moves them to another level.  Or when the coach builds a plan to utilize the strengths of the team in an effort to win the game and ultimately, the championship.  Or what happens when a leader builds a plan to take his tribe through a new open door of possibilities.  Or when a pastor calls the people in the church to move out of Ur.

The platoon or the team or the group or the church begins to feel stretched and intense and insecurities come to light, and all the good and bad of the group floats to the top for all to see, and the question remains, “How do we handle the good and the bad now?”  Or perhaps a better way to put it is…

How do we handle the intensity?  Peyton Manning or Brett Favre?  Kobe Bryant or Allen Iverson?  Ulysses S. Grant or Leonidus Polk?

In my middle school years I played basketball for a small Christian school.  I remember one night in 8th grade at the York School (our home ‘arena’) we were playing another middle school rival known to us only as Stateline.  The Red Machine came into our home and I figured we would beat them, because I thought that of everyone we played.  That night the game was close (tied at half) and then they took the lead by 5 with a minute to go.  Their lead was still 5 with 14 ticks left on the clock, and with that amount of time remaining, I brought the ball down the court and launched what felt like an NBA 3 pointer into the air.

Now I move to present tense for the play by play.

Thankfully the ball swishes through the net, making one of the most beautiful sounds ever made in history, and the crowd goes wild.  Time out.  8 seconds left on the clock – they bring the ball in and we foul them.  Stateline goes to the line, and misses both shots.  We quickly bring the ball in, but in some freak of nature, we lose the ball and it’s Stateline’s ball under our basket.  We call another time out.

Intensity.

The coach gives us a quick speech about hustle and winning and getting the ball in the hole, and we head out onto the court, and I swear the point difference between the two teams is 3 points.  I’m standing at the middle of the key guarding my player in a mano y mano press, when the whistle blows and play starts.  The crowd is still cheering us on, and everything is kind of blurry, when out of nowhere the ball lands in my hands.  He throws it right to me.

I stand stunned, trying to figure out what to do with the allotted time left on the board, and I head for the 3 point line.  I wish I could end this story hailing myself as an excellent hero of this intense game, but alas, the Spirit of Brett Favre took hold of me (he started his career about 4 years later), and the referee calls me for traveling as I dribble (or not) the ball out of the key.

My return to present day and past tense.

To make matters worse, the point difference between the two teams was not 3.  It was 2.  So as I stood by myself about 4 feet away from the basket, all it would have taken was a layup.  It was an intense game, and intensity took hold of my body and spirit, but unfortunately the intensity controlled me, and not vice versa.

When a team or a platoon or a group or a church decides to move past where it has been, it gets intense.  But the intensity can’t control us…

We must control it.

The more I do what I do, the more I begin to realize the difference between someone I  may like and someone I want to be around.

I may like you if you can talk about sports and music and how your day is going.  But I want to be around you if you can tell me the way something should be in real life.  I may listen to you if you come to me and complain or you’re having a rough day and need to get it out, but I’ll want to stay there and keep listening if you then go into how things can and will be better eventually.

When someone paints a picture of how things could be and should be in the world, people follow.  I follow.

So today if you talk to your friends and share how things are going and maybe you get the urge to complain a bit about all the bad things going on, follow it up with how things will eventually turn around, and maybe even share with them a vivid picture of what that looks like.

If we were only as descriptive about the good things that are happening as we are about the bad things…

Part of the awesome team doing the right thing at Fellowship

Let’s assume that you want to do the right thing.  And you have a vision to see the right thing occur.  This may not be the case, but it’s fun to think that way.

The problem in wanting to do the right thing is that there are people who a)want to do the wrong thing, b) want you to do the wrong thing, or c) just want to hate you no matter what you do.

So here’s what generally happens in a person’s life who wants to do the right things from the beginning.  They come out of college ready to “change the world” or do the right thing, and then get to work.  This occurs in many professions – politics, law, church, medicine, education, engineering, and even entertainment.  Eventually they run into resistance, or people who would rather do a), b), or c) than allow that person to do the right thing.

Consequently, that person spends all of their time early on trying to fight the system of people who don’t want to do the right thing, and they never get around to actually doing the right thing.  They get angry.  They get complacent.  And typically they quit.  But there’s a solution.

Point the people that want a), b), and c) to someone else’s vision

Now lest you point out this post, please note that I did not say don’t love them.  In fact, sometimes pointing people away from where you are to somewhere else is indeed the loving thing to do.  Some of the most freeing moments in my life here at Fellowship have been when I’ve invited people to attend a different church that they would connect with on a vision scale.  It’s not because I hate them, but because it’s the loving thing to do based on keeping unity in the body of Christ.

If you’re trying to do the right thing, don’t attempt to change people’s minds or spend all your time fighting those who want to see you do the wrong thing or even their version of the right thing for your life.  Either leave or ask them to leave, depending on what’s best for the right thing.  Don’t quit.  Don’t let them get the best of you.

Keep doing the right thing.

I have a question.  How do you know you’re getting things done?  I mean valuable things accomplished, not mind-numbing work that you make up to make it look like you’re doing something.  When I was a young kid in ministry, I remember feeling bad if I envisioned and planned, so I just did countless hours of menial tasks intended to show people what I could do, not what I was actually doing.  I think most of us get caught in this struggle – the tension between getting something accomplished now and looking toward the future.

Here’s what I did to relieve some of that tension.  I wrote down the 5 most important things that I do.  They are general enough to umbrella a full work week and specific enough to focus on my goals.  Then I attempt to only do things that directly relate to those 5 things.  Obviously this isn’t always possible, but you’d be surprised at how many time it is.

Since that time, I’ve worked much smarter, and accomplished much more.

I just have to say this:

I’m really excited about what is happening at Fellowship Church here in Central Massachusetts.  The community that is being built and vision-driven for His glory is an amazing thing to watch.  I feel humbled and stoked  by the stories I’ve heard over the last 6 months about what God is doing in the lives of people in and through this community.  Whatever is happening, it’s because God is using amazing people who are using there gifts to further his kingdom, as opposed to their empires.

I believe this weekend will only fuel this fire in our community as we begin the “One Prayer” series for the 2nd year in a row.  This will be a month long series we’ll be doing with 1600 other churches in the US and 20 other countries!  As Fellowship grows, it shouldn’t just grow in number (though that’s what a healthy church does), but in it’s impact on the kingdom of God.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this weekend, my favorite pastor in the entire world (outside of my dad) will be speaking at our church.

This will be good times!

Yesterday I wrote about Vision, and today, I’ll share with you the 2nd part of what I gave to our team – Execution.  This is the toughest part of seeing any project through.  Anyone can think of an idea, but only hard workers and smart thinkers can make it happen.  Personally, this is one of my toughest challenges in ministry.  So I’ve come up with this list to help me.

Execution is making the Big Picture happen.  In order to make the big picture happen, you have to…

     -Lay out the ways you get from here to there.

           Brainstorm  (think big!)
           Ask questions  (Why?  How?  Where?  When?  How much?)
           Delegate  (Who does what?)

           Write down everything (trust me, your memory is not enough)
           Over analyze (Have we missed anything?)
           Remind (Act like the people you’ve delegated to have forgotten)
           Demand excellence (the last two should be done with respect)

What is the bad word you might be asking?  Well, if each of these things aren’t done and done well, it is…

Incompetence

I shared these thoughts with some of our team this  afternoon.  People are usually good at one or the other.  But what does it take to capture the vision of what you’re trying to accomplish AND execute that vision?  Here’s part 1:

Vision

Vision is seeing the big picture.

Vision can take the form of:

     *A statement – FC’s vision statement is to “lead people into a 
       growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

     *A goal – “We want to see people _____________ people in 
       attendance for our Easter service.”

     *A drive – “I will do whatever it takes to make this succeed.” 

Another definition – Vision is seeing something that you want to see happen even when it hasn’t happened yet.  (this resembles faith, doesn’t it?)

     -If you don’t have a vision or a passion for your 
     ministry/work/innovation, get one, get out, or be looking forward
     to having someone else lead the way.

Tomorrow, pt. 2

I suppose surrounding yourself with people who inspire you has some drawbacks as well

Have you ever tried to do something more than you were actually doing?  Like not just the status quo, but more or bigger or better?

I’ve been inspired this morning as I’ve read a pile of blog posts from 4:45 am to 5:30 am, to do my part to continue my quest to make Fellowship Church better, bigger, and more, with the intent of connecting and helping people abide in Christ.

Mark shared his adventures in Nashville,which he travelled to from Egypt this week.  He’s a worship leader there.  Pete tells of how the community he’s a part of is gathering steam and doing amazing things for God.  Katie inspires me to want to ride a bike, though the last time I tried, I almost got arrested for stealing a bike,  (the truth is,I had borrowed a really nice bike from a friend, had some problems riding it, rode past a construction zone, and the police officer told himself “no way is that his bike”)  And Buddy not only excels at leading one of the premier churches in the northeast, he also desires more for his health and competitive side.

I desire better when I can help make it that way.  I desire bigger, if bigger coincides with healthier.  And I desire more, if that is God’s intention in my life.  This kind of thinking is not wrong and it’s not easy. In fact, to accomplish this takes hard work, determination, and a lot of perserverence.  I’m thrilled to be surrounded by people in my life who foster this sense of thinking.

One thing that’s not difficult however, is the desire for people who don’t want better, bigger, or more to criticize those who do.  Being critical is outrageously easy.  I could do it in my sleep, and probably even yours (but that sounds more like an episode of “Fringe”).  I’m pretty sure there are times I’m surrounded by people who foster this way of thinking too.

Which one are you?

We tend to look at how successful something is or isn’t in the context of time.  How was your summer?  Your semester?  Your school year?  Your year?

One month of 2009 is now finished and we are into month number 2, typically known as February.  So I’ve begun to think of the first month of my 2009, and asked myself how my year is going?

Am I reaching my goals?  Building relationships?  Forming new ones?

I don’t want to waste a year of my life, and wonder what happened to it.  I want to live the way I’m called to live.  With a calling from God to connect and point people to God through Jesus!  I want to make the most of my time.  I want to fall more in love with Carie.    I want to love you as myself. I want to see the beauty of God’s creation, and see things through His eyes.  And…

I want to say “GO STEELERS!  World Champions baby!