Walking through the Aurora Theater Weekend
Where the Aurora Theater shootings occured
As this last weekend has been a blur of action and emotion for the city of Aurora. I am taking the next couple of days to get my thoughts together. It is my hope for the next couple of weeks to share what I have experienced and seen. It is an opportunity to share from the perspective of a father, community member, and as a pastor. I pray that over the next couple of weeks we will walk together and experience this tragedy in a way that helps us learn in many different ways. Keep praying for the community and the families that have been hit so hard through loss and injury.
What were you doing when you heard about the Aurora Theater shootings?
Sandusky, Sullivan, and Scott
It has been one of those seasons in life where more and more that we are reading or hearing about another individual that has fallen in a position of leadership. In some cases they are things that just down right tick you off or shock you. Whether it is Sandusky and his abuse of his position that lead to the abuse of young boys, Sullivan being a sheriff and a person that is to protect and serve, not enslave through addiction and abuse. The thing that amazes me is that each of these men were at the top of their game, they were seen as men that were top notch in their area of leadership. So it really challenges me to say, “What about me?” What if my life, my career, my family, were all to become majorly successful? How would I handle it?
As I was reading through, “The Five Levels of Leadership” by John Maxwell a quote by Henry Ford really made think.
“More men are failures on account of success than on account of failures. They beat their way over a dozen obstacles; overcome a host of difficulties, sacrifice and sweat. They make the impossible the possible; then along comes a little success, and it tumbles them from their perch. They let up. They slip and over they go. Nobody can count the number of people who have been halted and beaten by recognition and reward!”
So many times we have seen great men and women take a tumble; why is that? Unfortunately, I believe it is because they start believing it is all about them. They believe because of their accomplishments they can begin to relax in the areas of importance when it comes to character and discipline. A couple of verses in the bible that I cling to daily is this;
Proverbs 30: 8&9, “First, help me never to lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.”
The more and I lead and watch other leaders around me I always come back to remember that “God is God and I am not him”. I always want to be a person that is satisfied with who I am in Jesus Christ. Because let’s be honest each one of us could very easily be the next person that tumbles and falls. May we each take the time every day to pray Proverbs 30:8&9 over our lives.
Leading The Hard Way
Morgan running up to me after finishing the race.
One of the things that I have always had to work at overcoming is that “I can’t finish”. I don’t know about you but there are those certain places in my life that have challenged me to the point where I just feel weak and beat up. I have had the privilege in my life to be involved in sports since I was six years old and I have experienced many times where I just wanted to quit. It was almost four years ago that I was able to run in the PF Chang’s Half Marathon. During that race at about mile eleven I just did not want to go on, my legs hurt, my chest hurt, my feet hurt, and all I wanted to do was stop. But I knew that at the finish line was my family and friends, I knew that at the end of the line I was going to be able to rest.
Hebrews 12:12-13 (NLT) So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. [13] Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.
Building the Lead Team
“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.” by Knute Rockne
This is a quote that I have had on my desk top for the last couple of weeks. I believe that this is a quote that I think that many church leaders really need to chew on for awhile. Unfortunately I believe that many people see the pastor of the church as the paid player in the game and that he is the one to get everything done. This is why I believe that so many churches are struggling to reach the people that are already attending their churches. So I think that we need to get back to some basics, we need to work together as a team we need to delegate off to capable leaders to work together so that people would be able to feel loved and cared for in the body of Christ, the church. We need to play the best players that God has provided to us as the church team.
Why do I say this? I say this because Moses experienced the same thing and was given some amazing advice from his father in-law.
The question that I have for you as a leader is: “What are you doing to prepare the men around you to shoulder the load for taking care of Gods people?” We need to be able to identify the leaders that we have and get them into the game to get them into the place where they can lead more people in a growing relationship with Jesus. How are you building the team?
