It - Craig Groeschel

The LORD said: It isn't too late. You can still return to me with all your heart. Start crying and mourning! Go without eating. Don't rip your clothes to show your sorrow. Instead, turn back to me with broken hearts. I am merciful, kind, and caring. I don't easily lose my temper, and I don't like to punish. I am the LORD your God. Perhaps I will change my mind and treat you with mercy. Then you will be blessed with enough grain and wine for offering sacrifices to me. Sound the trumpet on Zion! Call the people together. Show your sorrow by going without food. Make sure that everyone is fit to worship me. Bring adults, children, babies, and even bring newlyweds from their festivities. Tell my servants, the priests, to cry inside the temple and to offer this prayer near the altar: "Save your people, LORD God! Don't let foreign nations make jokes about us. Don't let them laugh and ask, `Where is your God?' "

Joel 2:12-17 (CEV - in honor of Ben . . . congrats)

• IT: is that "something special" from God.
• it is not ours to create
• it is not about technology
• it attracts critics and controversy
• it is not the result of a service format or a worship setlist or any other way of doing things
• it changes lives

• for your church to have it, YOU must have it
• for you to have it, you must have relationship with Christ
• for you to have relationship, you must have DISCIPLINE

• being in "the ministry" sometimes quenches it and beats it out of us
• like a hole in the tire, it leaks out slowly until all of a sudden we realize we're driving off the road
• YOUR church and GOD'S church are not the same thing
• GOD does not attend First Presbeterian Church of Episcopalian Catholics
• make sure that when you spend yourself for God's church, you are actually using yourself for His church, not yours.
• if you are losing it while you work for God, you might want to double check your motives and objectives, and line them up with scripture

PRAYERS FOR IT

3) Stretch me
2) Heal me
1) RUIN ME

• ruin me? Don't rip your clothes to show your sorrow. Instead, turn back to me with broken hearts. (Joel 2:13 - CEV)
• NIV says "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. REND YOUR HEART and not your garments."
• break my heart for the things that break Yours
• step into the emotion
• when we are ruined, God gets the glory
• when we are vulnerable, God's power shines brighter
  
• when we step down from the Almighty Preacher Man persona (or whatever other persona), and let people know that we are just human, then the glory goes to God
• ruin my addictions to adrenaline, energy, and people pleasing
• people pleasing is idolatry
  
• nervous cares more about what people think than what God thinks

This is going to be a DRAMATIC recovery, cause if it was easy, it would have been done a long time ago.

RUIN ME!

Tribes - Seth Godin

People ask 2 questions: who's going to be there? and who's going to lead us?

• people like to do things together, to be together
• this togetherness makes tribes
• it's a natural desire to be part of something
• a crowd is not a tribe
• a tribe is a group of people with a common interest, common leader, and a way of communication
• it is extremely difficult and slow going for a tribe to be big and tight at the same time (side note: are we growing our church, or making people "tight" with God?)
• it's not about entertainment, its about community, connection, unity
• in our generation, people are not seeking a safe leader
• Heretic: people who believe in something enough to accept criticism for doing it
• heretics don't let rules or religion stand in the way of faith

LEADERS have to:

• challenge their tribe
• create culture in their tribe
• create curiosity for the tribe
• utilize charisma
• communicate with the tribe
• connect the tribe members to each other
• commit to the tribe

TRIBESPEOPLE want to:

• connect
• create meaning
• be noticed

where is my tribe?

Between the Promise and the Payoff - Steven Furtick

• when God makes a promise, between the promise and the payoff, there must be a process
• this process usually hurts . . . a lot
• you have to rely on God to give you vision when there's nothing to see
• it always starts small, don't give up hope
• ministry is going into the world with the things people need

with the non-abundance of notes from this message, you may think that Mr. Furtick was not engaging or "good." on the contrary, the reason there are not many notes is because he was so engaging. He passionately encouraged us to keep striving for what God has promised. Go get 'em.

A Credible Witness - Brenda McNeil

*I walked in late for this session because the bathroom lines were so long*

• "here" is temporary, it's a place thats on the way to "there"
• Acts 1:8 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
• Jerusalem: home turf, your clique, comfortable, people understand one another
• Judea: still somewhat comfortable, but different subcultures and lingos, potential awkward moments of confusion
• Samaria: don't know what to do, how to act; awkward; hostile territory

• the power of God will come upon us not for our glory, but for his.
• this is why we can only do it together
• if one accomplishes something, the one gets the glory; if we accomplish things together, God gets the glory.
• Unbelievers won't believe you if you try to pull it off alone
• "it's not important who gets the credit as long as God gets the glory" - Craig Groeschel
  

Good to Great - Jim Collins

• not all time in life is equal
• if all we had were great companies, that would not automatically make us a great country
• we must have great everything
• good is the enemy of great
• greatness is not a function of circumstance or luck, it is a function of choice and discipline
• the path to greatness for any given social enterprise is not to become like a business
• its not about the difference between business or social, its about good or great
• FLYWHEEL DISCIPLINE --> keep pushing
  
• it takes a lot of effort to gain momentum, and the first 10 revolutions of the flywheel require much force, and when you have momentum, it requires discipline and perseverance to keep pushing the flywheel, even though it would coast for a while on its own.
• success breeds complacency, complacency breeds failure (you may see this again)

• the # 1 cause of failure: overreaching
• overreaching is the undisciplined pursuit of more
• this is how the great fall. they become seduced by their own greatness
• “Many companies die from indigestion of opportunities rather than starvation.” - David Packard of Hewlett-Packard
• "what?" is the wrong question
• its unpredictable
• the question is "who" will you put on your "bus"
• when you have the right whos, you will get better whats
• this is how to prepare for the unpredictable

• the signature characteristic of good to great leaders: humility
• humility is selflessness, being more focused on the enterprise's gain than your own.
• great leaders say "the greatness of this company will continue to thrive and grow even when I leave."
• you will be unavailable one day. . . its not about you
• the flywheel of church is different than the flywheel of faith
• how to turn the flywheel: the hedgehog principle (in honor of this, Lanny brought out a pig/hog, thus dubbing this the hedgepig principle)
• there are foxes and hedgepigs
• foxes have lots of little ideas and tricks
• hedgepigs get one big idea
• FOCUS, DETERMINATION, DISCIPLINE --> be a hedgepig
• having a "to do" list is a lack of discipline if it is not partnered with an equally robust "to not do" list

random bits of knowledge

• practices are not equal to values
• every generation needs to come up with its own practices to demonstrate eternal values
• greatness is not equal to success
• everyone on your bus should be able to articulate their responsibilities without having a title
• don't spend 5 years getting 2 years experience --> if you're not serving others, then invest in yourself (sharpening the saw). if neither of these are happening, get out.
• white days: mark a day off your calendar to think
• we are freed by the choices that no one sees
• jimcollins.com --> diagnostic test (self assessment) and other resources
• be able to answer about what people are on your bus, and about who is in the right seat. strive to make the seat to person match 100%
• build a personal board of directors
• get the right young people in your face --> new ideas
• build a counsel, ask questions
• a great leader's passion must override the pain of great leadership. find something you are more passionate about than you are afraid of the pain.
• responsibility is to mission and vision first, before the the individual
• try to minimize others' pain, but if they hamper the vision, they need to be out.
  

Interview: William Paul Young

The Shack

• originally written for his six children
• a metaphor for the human being and for the damage of the human heart
• the shack holds your hidden shame, secrets, and struggles
• there is a facade hiding your shack
• God will destroy the facade and reveal himself inside your shack

When asked about the controversy surrounding the theological elements of his book he replied that controversy is a good thing. It gets inner thoughts out on the table and helps us learn and analyze.

www.theshackbook.com

Moral Authority - Andy Stanley

• influence rarely comes from authority
• lead with influence
• moral authority: a line met between actions and words; walking the talk
• lead by earning respect
• make your private life public so there is no doubt
• everyone is a volunteer (even employees, who can quit at any time), thus there is no authority but moral authority
• all the leadership tricks in the world won't bring you restore a loss of moral authority
• leadership is passion and belief in your goal, it is decisiveness, it is respect

• Nehemiah comes to build wall, pays back the Jews' debts to the gentiles, starts working on wall
• People get back in debt, this time to other Jews.
  
• Nehemiah 5:6-13. This may be slightly long . . .
  

• When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.

  So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them—the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil."

  "We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say."
  Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!"
  At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

  
  
• So he speaks with the lenders and immediately convinces them to give everything back with no interest. They say "Amen" and praise the Lord. What? Kind of fairytale-like.
  
• His disclaimer: (Nehemiah 5:14-19)
  

• Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

  Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.

  Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.

• For twelve years he had walked his talk, he had built up his moral authority
• He didn't even indulge in his rightful dues, just because he knew what was best for the people and he did it.

• 3 main areas of displaying moral authority:
• forgiveness
• family
• finance

Forgiveness is the message of the Gospel, the essence of God's message to earth.

• it's what we preach . . . live it

Family

• if your family feels neglected because of your ministry in the church, you are part of the problem you are trying to fix
• Prioritize your family
• Prioritize the role only you can play (in your family), over the role many could play (ministry).
• There will always be another worship leader. No one else can take control of my life, my future, my family
• Permanent role trumps temporary role. Always.

Finances

• the best leadership decision Nehemiah ever made was to acquire moral authority in this area
• you can't be bold in your fundraising if you have guilt concerning your own financial decisions
  
• give to God
• If you want to lead generous people, you have to be a generous person