Tag Archive - teaching

Simply the Good

October 2, 2008 in Ministry with 2 Comments

Every morning when I drop Ryan off at school I tell him, “Give your very best today.” Ryan almost mimics me when I say it. At every soccer practice and game, I tell the kids I coach that what’s really important is that they give their very best. That if they give their best, then they
have nothing to be disappointed in. At the conclusion of every Children’s Ministry team meeting, I always remind those in our area that it’s important that we give our best at every task we have to do.

It’s really something that’s important to me. I don’t want to be viewed as someone who does something half-way, or as someone who needs motivation to get on with a project. Then this weekend I heard this quote,

“Don’t let your BEST be the enemy of your GOOD.”

My brain begin to churn, and it hit me. When my best is limited, I just don’t do anything. When I’ve planned to run 4 miles, but sunlight gets away from me, and life gets busy I just don’t run at all. Instead what I should do is get off my butt and go do 1 mile. When things get out of my control at work and above my pay grade; I tend to just throw in the towel. Instead I need to grasp that while my best might not be happening, I can still do something good.

All this thinking led me to the parable of the talents, when Jesus tells the story of the master who entrust three men with different amounts of money. Two of the men return a profit on the money, but one buries it in the ground and returns exactly what he was given. The master calls the man that made no profit evil and wicked, and gives his money to the man who turned his 5 talents into 10. But what about the man that was given 2 and turned it into 4? I love it that Jesus was saying that doing nothing is the unacceptable response to our opportunities.

I guess the challenge is in discovering why the best can’t be done. If it’s because of factors outside of my control, then let’s make things good. If it’s because of a lack of intelligence on my part, then I need to fix that so that the best can happen.

The kindergarten areas at our church really need to be in at least 3 different areas, 50 five-year olds in one space is too much. However 3 different areas don’t exist, and they will NOT exist anytime soon. But instead of settling for defeat I need to do the good thing. Maybe I could find one additional classroom space, or maybe I can change the teaching format. While it might not be perfect and the best thing to do, it can still be good. I’m starting to process all the things that I’ve laid off to the side because they couldn’t be done perfect, and I’m beginning to see that making things GOOD could be a step towards making things the BEST.

Don’t Know. First Time.

September 19, 2008 in Ministry with 1 Comment

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a
life spent in doing nothing. –George Bernard Shaw

Yesterday we got some great comments about living with a fear of failure, or maybe some who live with no fear of failure. There are so many ways of dealing with failure, and I appreciate all the feedback.

As I’ve thought about failure I’ve come to an opinion that there are two kinds of failure. The first kind of failure, is the most common. I’ll label it as Passive Failure. This would be the kind of failure that comes from a lack of preparation, laziness, being overly cautious (or overly patient for you super-spiritual folk), waiting to long to get started, or simply happens because we don’t try hard enough. To me passive failure comes because of inaction on the part of the leader. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past, but at the same time it’s also what I guard against the most as a leader. I’ve learned to limit this kind of failure, and I feel as a leader that there is no excuse for passive failure.

The second kind of failure is less common, and I’ll label it as Aggressive Failure. Weird label, huh? Let’s define this as the kind of failure that comes from a lack of knowledge. Sometimes even with all the best planning and preparation, a lack of knowledge about a situation can still exists. Here’s why I think so. I think Aggressive Failure comes from those willing to step out and do something that they may have not ever done before. It’s comes from someone willing to try the “new” thing and learn through the process. I find that those most successful at anything, are usually the ones that have learned to live through this kind of failure. They recognize that exploring uncharted areas will bring about some failure, but it’s the only way they will ever gain the knowledge and experience success.

This reminds of the scene from the Karate Kid when Mr. Miyagi uses his karate chop to break the top off the three glass beer bottles left sitting on his car. When Daniel asks him how he did it, he responds, “Don’t Know. First Time.” Sometimes when we do things for the first time we are taking that chance that could lead to failure. (But we are also taking the chance that we could chop the top off of three beer bottles!)

When I mentioned yesterday that I don’t know if I’d had enough failure, I mean that I don’t think I’ve had enough Aggressive Failure. To experience this kind of failure, means that I could potentially be setting myself up for some great successes!

Failure is Not My Enemy

September 18, 2008 in Personal with 2 Comments

For the past few weeks I’ve had the word failure ringing in my ears. Specifically something said to me when I was interviewing for the job I currently have. I was told that failure was not looked down upon, and that I would be allowed the opportunity to fail from time to time. Over the past year I haven’t failed much, if at all. And to be honest, it’s been bothering me. Why haven’t I failed? Is it because I’m a great planner, and overseer of Children’s Ministry (which may or may not be true) or is it because I haven’t really taken BIG risks since I’ve been here?

As I sat in a meeting this week, our pastor was teaching about the characteristics of a growing environment. One characteristic was that a growing environment is a place were failure is not an enemy. (I believe his teaching originated from something John Maxwell had done.)

I’m thinking there might be different types of failure, and tomorrow I’ll share my thoughts on it. Before then, how about some thoughts on learning to live without a fear of failure.


Come on, any failure scaredy-cats out
there?

Book Review: The Sacred Echo

September 17, 2008 in Personal with 1 Comment

A few months ago a friend mentioned on his blog that Margaret Feinberg has sent him a book for him to do a blog review. When I found out that he passed the book off to his wife, since he never reads I told him to tell Margaret that I would love to read her new book and do a review. In about a week Margaret sent me a signed copy of her newest book, The Sacred Echo, in the mail. This Internet thing creates some amazing community!

Book Cover

The Sacred Echo challenges readers not to listen for the seemingly distant voice
of God as much as to listen for the echo. When God really wants to get your
attention, he doesn’t just say something once, he echoes. He speaks through a
Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, and even a
random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in
surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is
at work. As God’s voice echoes to us, we are invited to echo back to him in
prayer. We are invited to be persistent and tenacious not only in the things we
ask but also in our desire for a relationship with him.

I have never read any of Margaret Feinberg’s books, nor have I had the opportunity to hear her speak in person. I have however been a follower of her blog, and have had her books recommended to me by many. I don’t know why I never picked up her books, mostly laziness I guess. If more authors would send me books, I guess I’d read more…

When I read non-fiction Christian books they usually fall into one of two categories. The first, and most popular kind are the books birthed out of a successful sermon series the author has done. I’m NOT knocking this approach, I’m just labeling them as mostly teaching in nature. The teaching can be challenging, but mostly it’s educational in design. The other category would be a book that is challenging to the reader through and through. The kind of book that makes me feel like the author has been impressed by God to write what is on their heart. I would put The Sacred Echo in the latter category.

Reading The Sacred Echo felt like reading a letter from a friend. Sure, it was teaching me things and bringing some insight to my life; but mostly it was speaking to parts of my own soul that only a dear friend would know about. Margaret has a fantastic communication style that disarmed me even when she was talking about some sticky topics. For example, Why doesn’t God always seem to answer our prayers? Does God care about my pain? Why doesn’t God answer my questions like I want him to? are some of the thoughts she speaks to. She consistently brings her points back to scripture and real-life experiences. It’s a rare author willing to expose her own doubts, fears, and mistakes in a book; and at times it made me uncomfortable (in a good way) to read about her own struggles in learning to hear God’s voice.

The Sacred Echo is a book that I highly recommend; more specifically it would be a wonderful small group study book or accountability partner study book. This might be my highest honor, but it could potentially show up in some Christmas presents I give this year!

Thanks Margaret for the gift!

Powerful Assumptions

September 9, 2008 in Ministry with 3 Comments

Yesterday I held our weekly team meeting at a local coffee shop. I try and take a few off-site meetings every quarter, just to get away from the office atmosphere. While at these off-sites I will hit our weekly agenda with a high-speed pace, and try and make time for some teaching and encouragement. So this week I totally stole a lesson from HERE, and adjusted it to fit what I felt our team needed.

There are 4 assumptions I asked our team to make as we headed into our semi-busy fall season of children’s ministry. We’re planning Halloween alternatives (ugh…), Thanksgiving themes, Christmas story lessons, and finally launching into 2009 with some new programs, events, curriculum, etc… Again, the full list of assumptions can be found HERE; but I want to highlight the fourth assumption I asked everyone on our team to put into practice.

Assumption #4: Assume that you are the right person to do your job.

I challenged our team to assume that they are where they are, because God put them there. I asked them to go ahead and assume that they are where they are, because I (the boss) want them there. It’s high time that we all stopped assuming that someone must have made a mistake to put them in the position are in. It’s important that everyone on our team, including me, come to realize that God has us in the right place. I have lived in the past, where I assumed that someday somebody would finally figure out how terribly unqualified I am for what I’m doing. Then my secret would be uncovered!

To state a disclaimer: I also said that if they really feel they aren’t keeping up with the team, that it might be time for a change; but until that proves true we can all assume that they are the right person for the job.

For me this is challenging. I have a very easily comparable job. I can look at those in much smaller churches and think I’m in a better place. I can also look at those in much larger churches and think I’m in a worse place. I can compare myself with those that operate with no supporting staff, or those with dozens of support staff; those with more flexible church leadership and those with completely inflexible church leadership; those with supportive Senior Pastors and those with incognito Senior Pastors. I can get lost quickly in this comparison game, and really it should all come down to this fact: I am where I am, because God needs me to be where I am! When God decides to move me, I’ll know. (And trust me, I’ve heard that voice before; and I’ll know when I hear it again!)

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

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