Personal Transformation

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Read 2 Corinthians 3:18

How does transformation actually occur? Many of us long for it but do we actually know how it happens. After years of discipling and counselling people through the process of transformation, I believe it happens best in 3 spheres.

Call to Personal Obedience – Often we are quick to try and resolve external circumstances rather than dealing with root causes. This is merely a band-aid attempt to deal with symptoms rather than the underlying issue in our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Guard your heart, for out of it flow the springs of life.’ Change is more than a white-knuckled attempt to take responsibility for external circumstances. A complete change of heart is required. One of the first steps to a change of heart is answering the call to obey the Scriptures and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our personal relationship with God.

Call to living in a community of grace and truth – This is where the church comes in. A healthy church isn’t just marked by acceptance and affirmation but accountability. Jesus came not just in grace but in truth (Jn 1:14). Grace only isn’t complete without truth. We must speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). It’s only when we confront the truth about ourselves in a grace filled environment that change is made possible.

Call to a lifestyle of reflection – This third sphere is characterised by daily spiritual disciplines. These include prayer, fasting, solitude, worship, bible study, reading, silence and journalling. Guard against compartmentalising your spiritual life from the rest of your life. A Grecian mechanistic worldview isolates reflection to a ‘quiet time’ but God is central to everything in life, not peripheral to the busyness of our lives. Do you have a prayer time or a life of prayer? There’s a big difference.

All 3 of these transformation spheres need to be held in tension with each other for deep personal change to occur. To the degree we are personally transformed will be the degree to which those we serve are transformed.

Grace!

You’re a Voice, Not an Echo

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Read Matthew 3:1-6 for context.

Buckminster Fuller Q: ‘All children are born genius’s, however, 9,999 out of 10,000 are swiftly, inadvertently de-geniusized by grown ups.’

I’ve had the privilege of seeing my 3 beautiful kids born and each time I observed the doctors keenly looking to see signs of normal breathing in the baby upon birth. Specifically, what they were looking for was the sound of the baby’s voice for the sign of life!

Your voice is a unique natural expression of who you. Popular TV show, ‘The Voice’ has popularized the unique vocal capacity of singers wanting to break into the music industry and be the next singing sensation. I like the show on many levels because it looks for originality, not simply an imitation.

Your voice represents your unique life calling and life message Gods created you to share with the world. All throughout Scripture we read of God calling people like Moses, Esther, John the Baptist and others to lift up their voice in their generation.

Your voice is an inspiration of the Spirit breathing life into you and through you into others. There can be no more noble cause than to find your own voice and help others discover their voice as well. Unfortunately, too many of us settle for being an echo that simply repeats or imitates others rather than fulfilling the unique calling on our lives, in our own uniqueness.

John the Baptist was one such person whom God gave a unique voice to, to prepare Israel for the coming of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was known as the VOICE crying in the wilderness. He was so unique and influential that people were leaving the modern cities of the day and heading to the desert to hear the voice yell REPENT! There are some profound insights we can glean from JB’s example:

1. Your voice will connect to people in ways other voices never will

2. Your voice is your discovery, not your decision

3. Your voice is your Holy Discontent

4. Your voice has a narrow focus to it

5. Your voice will be most developed in the wilderness

All 5 of these insights were at work to an unusual degree in Johns ministry. Jesus said of him, ‘there has not arisen a greater prophet in all Israel.’ Gods given you a voice. Don’t settle for being an echo!

Grace!

Spacial Relationships

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Every relationship belongs in a space in our lives.

Problems arise when we allow someone to occupy a space they shouldn’t be in. I’ve observed that in leadership we can have inappropriate people too close to us and the appropriate people too far away from us.

God didn’t build us to have relational spaces for everyone.

We each have a limited amount of space in which to place people. Our spirit has infinite capacity to be with God but we have emotional limits when it comes to being with others.

Every country has controlled airspace above it. There are specific ‘no fly zones’ that if you violate you risk being attacked. You can’t just fly into a country’s air space. You need to ask for permission and for a commercial airline paying a fee is required.

Everyone of us need to take responsibility for our own ‘relational space’. There are some people that are ‘no fly zone’ people and there are others who are allies and there are others who are partners. Don’t turn your landing lights on for every passing relationship that enters into your life.

I wonder if you have ever been on a vacation with someone you got on well with over a meal but being on a vacation with them was another experience. You came away exhausted and wondering what just happened? Just because you get on well with someone in one space doesn’t mean they are suitable for other more private spaces of your life.

The key question before embarking on a relationship journey is, ‘Have I got space for you?’ Don’t drift into a relationship you have no room for. Think about where you will put this person in your life.

Proverbs 12:26 ‘A righteous man chooses his friends carefully.’

A classic biblical example of spacial relationships is Abraham and Lot. God called Abraham to go to the land He would show him but Abraham invited Lot along for the ride and it proved disastrous. Abraham’s family and Lots family had to eventually separate because the land could not sustain both of them. Abraham had to end up rescuing Lot from disaster. One episode after another occurred because Abraham invited Lot into a space, God never invited Lot into. It was only after Lot had separated from Abraham did God speak to him again about his call.

Heed the lesson.

Maybe there are some things God wants to say to you but he can’t until you reorder your relational space. You are responsible for your relational spaces. Don’t give your most important spaces to the wrong people and sideline the right people from your life.

Gods got a dot to dot plan of your relational world. Pay attention to the sign posts and build significant relationships with the people God wants in your relational space. This isn’t being arrogant, it’s being a wise steward of your relational spaces and emotional well being.

Grace!

Culture Trumps Vision

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In 2008 I wrote a book on Vision. I defined vision to be a clear and compelling God-given picture of the future. The book had minor success and from all reports, readers found it very helpful for their own lives and ministries. I have a vision and I have casted vision to people around me. I believe vision is critical to the success of any venture…

HOWEVER… Since I wrote the first edition of ‘Vision’, I’ve come to discover that it doesn’t matter how clear or compelling your vision is, if your culture is unhealthy (or shall we say stuffed), then nothing is moving anywhere.

Culture is the air a church breathes. The X Factor that brings definition to a group of people and distinguishes it from other groups of people. Culture is the social fabric that binds a group together and defines what’s most important in that group. Culture can attract or repel. Culture is the lens through which we look at the world around us. Culture hinges upon the dynamic intersection of core values outworked in the relationships we have with people in our particular group. Culture cannot always be easily defined but is smelt, felt and caught by osmosis.

The most influential people at the top of the tree define culture more than anyone else. Just as the inner workings of a city influences the culture of the suburbs and surrounding regions, so too does the inner workings of a core leadership team impact everyone else around them. That’s why Jim Collins research principle ‘First who, then what’ is so profound. It’s who you have around you that often determines the quality of the culture you are attempting to build. Before you work out what you want to do, get the who right. The right people in the right seats on the right bus will have the biggest impact on your culture than your vision will.

The sort of people you are looking for are self-motivated and self-disciplined mixed with a paradoxical blend of humility and ferocious resolve to obtain the desired outcome. These people bring music to the ears of the leader and can help build the sort of culture that is not only sustainable but free of micro-management. Constantly attending to motivating people is one of the leading causes of burnout of leaders in every field. I’ve given it up and chose rather to just recruit gun people to play key roles. Can you nurture these qualities in people? To a point but I’ve observed people either have the basic wiring for it or they don’t. I know this is challenging for those of you who believe you can disciple people to life change. I believe and practice discipleship and mentoring but the whole process is predicated on the willingness and positioning of the individual themselves. I can’t change people, but God can and sometimes does.

If your culture has the necessary ingredients, vision momentum will accumulate to the point of breakthrough. If the culture is unhealthy, you will feel like you are in a dense fog and you are groping around for answers that aren’t forthcoming. I know what’s it like to be apart of an unhealthy culture and thankfully the opposite as well.

Leader, get your vision from God. Clarify it, process it with the key people on your team and cast it in as many creative ways as possible but for goodness sake, pay attention to the culture because if the horse is stuffed the cart isn’t going anywhere. I’ve come to learn that culture pulls the vision, not the other way around.

Grace!

Weekly Wrap Up

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book of the week

‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’ is a short book written by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Tim is a NY Times best selling author. This is one of the most explosive and helpful little pocket rockets I have ever read. It’s in my Top 10 and I encourage you to get a hold of it.

quote of the week

‘Humility isn’t thinking more of myself or less of myself but thinking of myself less.’

Tim Keller

moment of the week

I received a very timely and powerful prophetic word from a respected prophetic ministry here in Australia. Prophecy encourages, affirms, clarifies and edifies.

news of the week

I heard recently of a fantastic church in Adelaide (Edge) baptizing nearly 100 people in a single service. Awesome news.

Grace!

Chronos and Kairos Time

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Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.’

There are two dimensions of time that God has appointed – Chronos and Kairos.

Chronos time is measured by the ticking of the clock and the turning of the calendar. chronos time is based on the motion of the rotation of the earth around the sun. Kairos time is that God appointed moment when an opportunity appears before you and you seize it and as a result a breakthrough in your life occurs.

When a space shuttle returns to earth, there are windows of opportunity that they must wait for and ultimately seize if they are going to return into the earths orbit.

Fulfilling your calling isn’t determined by simply living in chronos time but by your insight into the kairos moments that God brings your way. If all you’re doing is waiting for hours, days, weeks and months to pass by before something happens, you may miss the kairos signposts God is trying to give you. Start looking at your life from a kairos perspective. If you do you will be much more prepared for the kairos moments God is leading you to and momentum will result.

When young David went to the battlefield (1 Sam 17) to deliver food to his brothers, he didn’t realise that he was about to find himself in a kairos moment where everything in his life would change. He seized it and as a result, his calling came into high definition. Kairos opportunities can be cloaked in giant challenges but nevertheless be Gods invitation to you to step onto the stage of your calling.

Several times the words, see and perceive appear in Ecclesiastes 3. I’ve observed that Gods kairos becomes discernible when we look and listen to God and his signposts in our lives. Gods speaking a lot of the time but unfortunately we aren’t always looking or listening.

Are you looking and listening to God and for his kairos time in your life? Discern it, seize it and breakthrough!

Grace!

Vision Requires Capacity

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Ecclesiastes 5:3 ‘A dream comes with much business.’

If there is anything I’ve become acutely aware of, as a senior pastor, is that vision requires great personal capacity. Leaders don’t just need clarity of vision or good communication skills, they need great capacity.

I haven’t met one great leader who didn’t have a deep well of capacity inside of them. It is one of the marks of a great leader. The point leader doesn’t need to know everything and doesn’t even need to be the most talented but needs to have great capacity.

God hands out dreams and visions to leaders for the benefit of Gods purpose for his people. A leader is gifted with influence to steward Gods vision and lead Gods people from where they are to where God wants them to be.

I believe that capacity is a grace God gives to leaders for their calling but it can be developed as well. I believe that increasing capacity requires an intersection of 5 key things:

1. A lifestyle of training

When I was an athlete in high school I would train every morning for 2-3hrs before school. This training gave me the capacity to perform well in competition. For the spiritual leader a lifestyle of training would include daily spiritual disciplines such as prayer, study, worship, solitude, fasting. I devote the first 3hrs of my day to training spiritually for my calling.

2. Incremental increase in responsibility

When I was a personal trainer, I would teach clients seeking to get fitter, that they must increase the resistance of the weight they were lifting or the amount of reps they were completing in order to grow stronger. If you don’t allow for incremental increases in stress in life, you won’t grow. We grow with resistance and increased responsibility stretches our capacity to lead.

3. Prioritize the main thing

My observation is that a great leader is only great at 1-2 things. Rather than being average in 5-6 things, you should devote your energy to building your capacity in 1-2 areas and become a master in it. Divide your week into 4 categories – Rest / Results / Response / Refocus. Devote chunks of time to each.

4 Find your daily rhythm

Every one of us has a natural rhythm that we need to connect to. Peak performance comes from connecting to your natural rhythm and getting into the zone each day in your work-life. Where are your energy peaks and lows each day? Do your results activities in your energy highs and your response activities in your energy lows.

5. Increase your energy

Your physical energy will have an impact on your emotional energy and mental energy. Exercise regularly and eat healthy to not just look after your body but increase your energy for life.

Grace!