If you really want to drive them apart, talk about worship.

It really is sad, isn’t it? We have so much to agree on in the majors, but we continually gravitate to the minors and fight viciously over stuff that barely matters.

It’s kind of like two countries that share every single value, but go to war over the cost of the toll bridge between them.

Yes, I am a veteran of the worship wars (an idiotic phrase, but one that fits all too well). In the churches I have served, the music ministry was often in a state of ‘transition.’

This is the worship pastor’s way of saying, “Our worship was something, now its something else, but we hope it will somehow morph into something completely different.”

In the church we’re constantly searching for that ancient hymn, that only sounds good with distorted guitar which causes teenagers to weep with conviction while simultaneously prompting our seniors to yell at the sounds booth, “Turn it up my man, it’s just not loud enough!”

… I can dream can’t I?

Why is worship so hard? On the continuum of musical expression we find many who desire the traditional format. Traditional worship is often mistaken for old, but thats not always the case. For something to fall into the realm of traditional worship, it just has to be “The way we’ve always done it!”

You know, the call to “Get rid of them drums and keep the pipe organ, because if the organ was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it should be good enough for us! Amen and Praisealujah… bless God… bless God… bless God….”

I find that when most people rail on an on about keeping the faith and real worship, they aren’t trying to stay connected to the ancient church fathers, they are trying to rekindle the fires of the glory days from the 1950s.

I’ll probably be the same way in my later years demanding that the song leader dress and act the way I want it. “That young man better put on those hammer pants and beat box the way they used to, or I’m leaving this church and taking my money with me.”

The other end of the spectrum is no better, where we find the proponents of the contemporary format. Contemporary is a struggle for the church. Most churches who try to be contemporary have this weird time warp thing happening, where their version of modern is 10 to 20 years old.

So, their attempt at an up-to-date worship service comes off like a rerun of the Cosby Show. Kind of warm and entertaining, but overall… just a little sad.

By contemporary, the adherent usually means excessively loud sound systems, seizure inducing lights and ‘relevant’ music.

Now there’s a concept, relevance. To the contemporary worshipper relevant means anything they’ve heard on the radio, including songs that have absolutely nothing to with  Jesus, the church or faith. But, if they’re cool, use ‘em!

The rallying cry of the contemporary worshipper, “Come on, we’re trying to reach people here!” Applying the not so subtle implication that if you don’t agree with us, you’re trying to push people away.

Which is never the case… even though its exactly what happens.

You know your a contemporary worshipper if you’ve ever had a moment like this in church: “It was so cool they way they used that Nickleback song for the offering. It was inspired how they replaced all the curse words with ‘Hallelujah.’”

Right in the middle of the worship war battlefield is blended worship. Fitting snuggly between traditional and contemporary formats, the blended style is the covert agenda of a pastor and worship leader to do what God is leading them to do while attempting to NOT get fired.

It really is a crime.

Oh, yes, it is a crime to put pastors in that position, but what I was referring to was the crime of the music produced by the blended style.

When you fire up the tunes at a blended worship service, it feels like well all just stepped in, the doors closed, and the elevator started its 30 minute climb.

There’s something definitely wrong with taking the worship of Almighty God and reducing it comma inducing, drool provoking, mind numbing choral renditions that sound like they could be softly played over any mall’s public address system to keep the shoppers calm and sedated.

If blended is your worship style, then pull out your oversized New King James Version from its zippered “His Pain, Your Gain” Bible cover and… read anything. You must break the connection with the Matrix. Take the red one Neo. Wake up from this nightmare.

Hmmm… I guess I may have been a little hard on these different styles. You may be wondering which style I like.

And, that’s the issue!

Worship is about so much more than music. It’s about life, relationship, service, prayer, laughter, worship is about everything! But, we reduce to it to music, styles and preferences.

When we ask which style do you like we reveal what worship wars are all about: our personal preferences. They have nothing to do with reaching non-believers, keeping the real faith and especially have nothing to do with God.

The worship wars are all about us. Again, it’s very sad.

In John 4 Jesus met a woman at a well and after a display of His ability to know what your thinking (I love Jesus, but that really is creepy), she recognized He was the Messiah.

What was her first response?

• What’s the meaning of life?
• How can I be saved?
• How do resolve the realty of prodigious evil in the world with my beleif in an omniscient and omnipotent God?

Nope. She asked wether her church, or that other church was worshipping right.

It’s been a long war…

^{John 4:19-24} “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

First, look at her position. She begins with “OUR” showing that she has a set of preferences and practices she is holding to. When she says “OUR FATHERS” she shows her grip on traditions and patterns that she grew up with and probably wants to keep. Finally, she says “BUT YOU” and begins to draw lines between her church and other churches and she becomes one of the original Joan of Arcs in the millennial struggle of the worship wars!

Jesus’s response is amazing and simple.

First, He doesn’t pick either. He doesn’t give credit to her style or any other style being the right one.

Second, He says that worship is not defined by style, place, time, language or any external.

Real worship is done in SPIRIT: not in the preference of our flesh, in what might appeal to our ears or eyes. You can worship in your spirit whether or not there is ‘worship service.’

Real worship is done in TRUTH: not dictated by traditions and practices no matter how old or relevant they might seem. You need not worship the past, or the latest. Worship the One, True, Living God.

So, two things I want to encourage you to do.

One, learn to worship God as a lifestyle out of your spirit in all things you do and in the truth of who He is from Scripture.

Two, set down your hymnal and back away from the electric guitar; quit fighting the worship wars. Even if you don’t like it, you worship in spirit and truth and trust that God is leading your leaders. Follow them and God will bless you.

I guess we won’t know much more about worship until we get to heaven and hear the worship there.

I sure hope they let Stryper lead every couple thousand years.

That would rock… just a thought.

^{2 Timothy 3:16} All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Perfection from Andy Addis on Vimeo.

Bible Study Helps Card

Maybe its an overabundance of testosterone. Maybe I have an over developed sense of confidence. Maybe I am unapologetically competitive and can’t stand the thought of not winning (you see, there is no losing, just not winning).

In some circles I’m sure they would call it pride and arrogance, yet in others they would call it perseverance and determination. Whatever you might label it, I simply know me, and I know that unless we are moving forward I feel like we’re moving backward.  And, that is not acceptable.

I’m that way in all my relationships, work projects and hobbies. Maybe that’s why the enthusiastic tone I felt whilel reading an article on church growth kind of left me queasy.

In an article from christianpost.com I read this line:

Every year, approximately 4,000 churches are birthed in the U.S. (500 more than are closed).

You have to know the title of this article was “Total US Churches No Longer In Decline, Researchers Say.” (The article).

In other words, they are saying this is a good thing! Let’s do the math on their stats:4000 church openings averaging 500 more than church closings equals 3500 church closings every year.

I guess in a mathematics sense this is a gain, but when you look past the numbers you have to ask yourselves the very research oriented question, “What’s the deal?!”

There really aren’t 4000 church openings every year if there are 3500 closings. A good chunk of those have to represent splits of existing churches, wandering sheep from church to church and any number of other non-growth/swapping sheeple scenarios.

So it’s hard to get really excited about a net gain of 500 churches when there is obviously so much dysfunction, bad management, immature believing and brokenness in church after church.

Lately, I find myself standing alone in church group circles. The emphasis as of late has been on church planting, meaning an emphasis on putting more and more churches out there in the hopes that it will fix all our problems we have by working on sheer volume.

In other words, the standard answer for declining spirituality and bad church growth/health is… to do more of it?

Thats like saying I can’t stand eating asparagus, but when I do it in bulk… mmm, mmm, mmm!

Its just like the much over-used quote from Albert Einstein defining insanity as “Doing the same thing but expecting different results.”

Trying the same diet that failed you last year. Dating the same person who treated you bad last time. Reading the same self-help book that sent you into spiral pit of depression and despair clamoring for any hope that life was worth living… again.

When something doesn’t work, more of it is usually not the answer.

More isn’t better, better is better.

That’s why planting churches for the sake of planting churches isn’t a long term solution to changing the world. We will eventually not be able to sustain a church planting pace to match our system wide dysfunction.

We will run out of energy. We will run out of money. We will run out of ideas.

The answer then isn’t how to do more of what we got. The answer is how do we do better with what we already have.

How do we become more dependent on God? More focused on His mission? More pliable in His hands? More responsive to the Spirit? More focused and determined to improve our our walk with Him before we work on His church?

When we take care of issues like these, God will grow His church and we’ll just be along for the ride.

I pastor a multisite church that has grown from 120 to nearly 2000 in the last seven years. We moved from one location to six campuses in five cities, with several other partnering ministries around the state and it’s all be done in a rural setting.

The vast majority of our staff have no ministry degrees and never served in ‘church work’ until we convinced them to give up their real jobs and real paychecks and work for us.

So how does it work?

It doesn’t. We’re pretty clueless. We lack focus and vision. We’re pretty short on long term plans. But, as a faith community we just believe that God is big enough to more than make up for our inadequacies and we do everything we can to give Him our all.

We read and study, work and pray hard, and we only try to reproduce what God has His hand on. We don’t want to work harder, we want to work smarter. We want to generate more of Him and less of us.

I hope and pray we have a close kinship to the ministry style and philosophy of the Apostle Paul. I think I see an excerpt of his desire to good ministry, not mass ministry, and trust God for great results in Acts 14:

1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news.

Look at the quality of this ministry.

1. They practiced consistency. At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. Paul and Barnabas knew what they were good at, what they were called to, and where their gifts were. They didn’t  come into every town and do deep demographic studies, prayer walk the perimeter and then pursue a strategic plan to isolate a particular people group within the subculture of that indigenous region. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. They just did what they were used to doing because God built them that way. Churches today, and ministries and ministry leaders, need to know where their gift sets and callings are. Then unapologetically use what God has given you to make a difference in whatever context God put you in. We need to move beyond the paralysis of analysis and just do what we’re good at. Find your sweet spot in ministry and with laser focus keep pulling that trigger.
2. They got good at what they did. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. The talents that God has entrusted us with need to be developed. If it’s speaking and teaching, it’s giving and serving, if it’s worship and praise, if it is prayer and devotion; it does not matter what your gifted with or called to it matters only that you become devoted to using what God has given you.  Skill, practice and effectiveness are the calling cards of successful,  good ministry. You will know a tree by its fruit. If you can’t sing, stop it. It may be a joyful noise in heaven, but down here it’s not helping. Save it for your quiet time. The same goes for anything that you might enjoy but aren’t necessarily a “blessing” in. Do what you’re good at, and get better at it every day.
3. Add endurance to your consistency. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there.  This cracks me up! Just about the time anyone else would have given  up because of pushback and dissension, that’s when Paul and Barnabas decided to set up shop. It seems like an opposing response; the ministry  team did not receive a favorable response, so they stayed there a considerable time. part of good quality Ministry is staying power. We all know the stats. Pastors barely stay in one location long enough to become a pastor, and support staff have tenures measured in months. What does that teach our late leadership about commitment to leadership and endurance?
4. Be bold.  So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. I think we get confused sometimes about whether to be an Old Testament church or a New Testament church. The latter is full of love, grace and mercy. We’d never do anything to isolate or ostracize anybody, I mean come on, WWJD?  But, a good Old Testament church will send you straight to hell on your first visit. The healthy balance between the two is a church that stands on the word boldly, loves boldly, serves boldly and takes risks for the kingdom boldly. Boldness is a quality of a quality church, ministry or leader.
5. Exercise wisdom. There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.  But they found out about it and fled.  wisdom is the key. Wisdom is not intelligence because you can be extremely smart yet oh so dumb. Wisdom is not education because you can be extremely informed and still monopolize the market on ignorance. Wisdom is not street smarts or common sense because wisdom is supernatural. Wisdom is a connection not to your own abilities or understandings, but a reliance on the knowledge, power and authority of your God. Wisdom is the ability to hear from Him and know what He would have you do and then do it, no matter what the latest books are telling you to do.
6. Focus. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good news.  New city, new people, same mission.  This biblical lesson on leadership ends where it began with Paul and Barnabas doing consistently but they did everywhere they went.  They built on the gifts that they had been given, they gave all they could as they used them, and they trusted God would do great things. And He did. Focus…log out of Facebook, quit twittering all the time (no one cares what you had for lunch), limit yourself to a reasonable amount of leadership books and conferences, and pour yourself into the work God has created you for and created for you. FOCUS!

I believe in the depths of my being that God does not care if we do more, He only cares that we do well with what we have. He is in charge of more.

Whether you’re a pastor, church planter, ministry leader, or simple devotee of Jesus Christ simply remember that more is not better, better is better. Focus on being who He made you to be and get better at it every day.

Many think that because I am a public speaker and a leader that that I am a bold individual. They assume the stage persona that delivers the weekly message is the same guy wandering around my house.

Well, I hope I am the same kind of man with the same kind of character both in and out of the spotlight. But, truthfully, my persona on stage is not the same as it is when “the switch is off.”

That’s why it always cracks me up to have people say to my wife, “Wow, it must be a real blessing to be married to him. You’re probably laughing all the time!”

Her response is usually a very dry, “Yeah… he’s a real riot.”

In fact, one of the secrets to my message/sermon preparation is that 90% of the lessons I teach, I am delivering to myself. I feel them because I need them.

So, what about this confession I need to make?

I am not as bold as I want to be, or even as I should be. Often, I am afraid to take risk.

In fact, all through junior high… and high school… and college… I guess my whole life… I never asked a girl out. At least not the first ask.

Way too afraid of rejection!

Consequently, I didn’t date very much and you may be wondering how I ever got married. Just let me say arranged marriages are wonderful!

Just kidding. My parents could never have afforded the dowry on Kathy.

In our history Kathy asked me out first (lunch at Long John Silvers, we’ve always been classy), Kathy kissed me first (extremely romantic and no, you can’t know anymore than that), but she did draw the line at the marriage proposal. Apparently, that was my job.

Even then, after years of friendship and dating, and knowing this was God’s woman for me, I was still chicken.

I took several dry runs in the month or two preceding our engagement asking questions like, “So, if I were to ask you to marry me, what would you say?”

Ah, I can still remember the love and pity in her eye each time I’d ask.

I think I made up for it though when I finally did ask, it was in front of her whole family (all 97 million of them) at the annual Oklahoma Christmas gathering.

She was impressed. And, my thought was, “She can’t say no there!”

What is it about the vast majority of us that we struggle to take the necessary risks that make life worth living? Not stupid risks, or risks for the sake of risk, but risk that is pointed in the right direction with a real chance of getting us where we need to go.

The best stuff in my life has come from those white-knuckled moments, griping the railing while your stomach does flip flops and your mind races faster than words can express just before the jump.

• Risking marriage when both of us came from broken homes and the success of marriage was highly questionable.
• Risking career when I switched from journalism to ministry and all of the rolled eyes that told me I was crazy and it was just a phase.
• Risking everything from financial hardship to decades of stress to potential heartbreak as we decided to become parents.

All of these were terrifying at the on set, but after taking the leap, I cannot imagine my life without these and a thousand other necessary risks.

I was challenged by this fact again at a conference I attend annual called The Creative Church Conference (C3). Although there were a hundred moments of potential life change, there was one in particular that I could not shake, and I really don’t want to.

Dr. Sam Chand spoke on the 7 areas of capacity we have to enlarge if we want to get out of ourspiritual, mental and emotional ruts. We literally have to work on expanding our capacity for these seven things, if we are going to have the capacity to do anything of consequence.

I don’t have the time, space or desire to completely rob Dr. Chand of his material, to discuss all seven areas, but the one that really hit me… you guessed it: risk capacity.

Leaders (and I would say anyone who wants to be a liver – not a bodily organ, but someone who wants to live) have got to intentionally increase their risk capacity.

How many times have I second-guessed myself, my friends and co-laborers and even my God because I feared rejection, failure or embarrassment? Worse, how many times have I missed the greatest of opportunities, or wasted some serious mileage by circling the airport instead of taking it in and landing that sucker?

I’ve already seen that the greatest things I have in my life have come from risky decisions, so, why wouldn’t I want to increase my risk capacity? When I do, I increase my capacity to be blessed, move quickly, take new ground and do something with the few years I’ve been given!

Dr Chand said, “If you’re 100% sure, you’re already too late. Go play in traffic!”

When he said those words I felt a fire in my bones. I could look back in the last year or two and see several places where as a pastor I have let my risk capacity shrink to a debilitating place.

Our church has grown from 140 to 1,700+ in seven years and moved from one campus to a multisite ministry with six campuses in five cities. It’s been awesome, but here we sit 6 weeks before Easter with a huge problem.

We’re looking at the biggest number in the history of our church headed our way, and we don’t have anywhere to put them. We’ve known about it for months and have talked, prayed, studied, reported and done nothing.

I feel like a scientist standing on the beach watching a tsunami come in while looking back at the crowd around me only to say, “See, I told you we were all going to die.”

Thanks Captain Helpful. Why don’t you take your sidekick Boy Obvious and come up with another brilliant statement of utter fact.

I can pinpoint at least two times in the last year that we should have taken the risk. But, we didn’t want to offend, move to quickly, not be smart, or… take a chance.

Man, I sure hope God gives us another, chance that is. I am so ready to take it.

Dr. Chand said, “Aim, Aim, Aim… pull the trigger man!”

I’m ready, are you?

The Bible is replete with stories of God’s blessing being poured out on those who take risks, or are limited by the too-small capacities of those receiving it.

• Luke 5 – the miraculous catch of fish was awesome, but the nets broke and the boats were sinking. There were a lot more fish in the ocean, but these guys were at their capacity.
• John 4 – the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. It’s not about the harvest; it is about the capacity of the harvester.
• Isaiah 54 – “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 54:2–3.

Dear God, may You forgive us for the times we looked at the wind and waves when we could have been walking on water. And whether its in our career, our ministry or our personal life, please help us to increase our risk capacity so that we may see more of You in us.! Help us to say yes to the things You’d have us say yes to when everything inside of us is screaming no. In Jesus name!

I am hopeful that God’s hand of blessing will not have to leave our faith community because we/I lacked the courage to follow God in the past year or two. I am hopeful that He is still waiting for us feel our heart race, our hair raise and for us to leap into the uncertain! Right where He has been all along.

A few years ago leaving a men’s conference I had been speaking at, all the guys were shaking hands, packing up and heading out. I heard a hundred times, “See you soon, be safe.” But, there was one guy (there’s always one guy, isn’t there?) who set the bar a little higher.

As he said goodbye he kept repeating, “Drive fast, take risks.”

Do it baby! It’s time to take that risk.

__________________________

For what it’s worth, here are some of the highlights from the C3 conference we attended. It was beyond fantastic. Enjoy.

Bishop TD “Hear God & who cares what anyone else says.”

Leon Fontaine “We don’t need to pray down the power of God, we need uninsulated hearts, bare wires exposed to Him & His power for.”

Ed Young Sr  “Anybody that’s available all the time isn’t available any of the time (Dr Trueblood) & come apart before you come apart.”

David Hughes “Pastors need to have a big “ask.” Ask people to show up, be generous, the mature to self feed, be loyal, work hard, etc.”

Ed Young  “If we have been radically rescued, we should rescue radically & the church’s target is not sheeple but lost people.”

Sam Chand “Risk Capacity: when you’re 100% sure you are too late! Go play in traffic. Aim, aim, aim.. pull the trigger already man!”

Young John Cross “You can get there too soon. Your gifts can take you where your character can’t keep you. Don’t despise small beginnings!”

Ed Young “Haters always run in packs, like dogs & don’t put the negative/opposition on the rotisserie grill of your mind.”

Ed Young “When you have opportunity you’ll have opposition AND in a leadership vacuum the wrong people always rise to the top.”

Ed Young “When you go to a whole nutha level, you unleash a whole nutha devil.”

Ed Young Sr “A leader is someone who steps out and others step out behind them. If this happens alot, then it’s the gift of leadership”

Ed Young Sr “You always get the loudest boos from the cheapest seats.”

Ed Young Sr “All are called to fulltime Christian service, some in the church and some outside the church.”

Jentezen Franklin “Hell has done nothing to you that God cannot work out for you!”

Jentezen Franklin “God is greater than any circumstance, so, I have not come to give you leaders a pacifier. Learn to fly!”

Jentezen Franklin “Some days you’re the big dog, some days you’re the hydrant, but don’t give up! You were made for this!”

It’s State Fair time!

Living three blocks from the fairgrounds is a good or bad thing depending upon what you think of the fair.

The Addis from high atop the Weenie Wheel.

I get most of my fair jollies just sitting on the front porch. Watching the parade of happy people walking to the fair early in the day as they park somewhere beyond my house.

And, then, I am blessed with the occasional treasure of seeing the exact same people coming back later that night… transformed.

Tired, broke, sun burnt or freezing (it’s Kansas, you know) and almost always “less happy.”

This people watching is a little thing I have learned to enjoy in the last seven years of living here in Hutch. I do it every year as I listen to the concerts from the comfort of my porch swing.

You know what else doesn’t change?

The Fair!

That’s amazing to me.

• They set up the rides in the exact same place that they did in previous years (although some of the rides change).
• They do the concerts in the exact same venues as every year gone by (although some of the artists change).
• They have the same vendors in the same booths making the same claims as they did in every year past (although some of the prices change).

And, honestly, I love it.

Why?

Because it makes my wife think I’m a genius.

Every year at the fair she’ll be looking for something, somewhere that she can barely/vaguely describe and I take her right to it.

Then she looks up at me with those big beautiful eyes of hers, with a look I remember from our dating days, and she says “You’re amazing! How do you navigate this.”

With a cocky sneer, a little grab of the belt loop to hike the pants a tad, I humbly reply, “Baby, it’s just a guy thing.”

We (humanity) love familiarity! It’s comfortable, it’s safe, it’s easy.

Even those of us who push for change and claim to abhor the mundane for the new, we still have our routines.

It’s a horrible confession, but even as I sit here in this coffeeshop writing this blog, my brand new 3G iPhone is pumping… Air Supply’s Greatets Hits into my brain.

Why? Because no one writes music like that anymore, and I’ll fight you over that!

Here I am, the one that you love, asking for another day…. (pause, enjoy, remember… ah)

Change is hard, even for those of us who push for it, but change is necessary for growth, development and progress. Sure, there will always be those who stand back and think it’s a tragedy that we left the old ways behind. They are “Lost In Love” for the past. They are “All Out Of Love” for the future. They can’t stand taking “Chances.” They aren’t able to grasp that “You’re Every Woman In The World To Me.”

Someone save me. I need an iTunes card. That last one didn’t even make any sense.

Change is a Biblical must:

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

The Holy Bible  : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), Mk 2:21-22.

In this passage Jesus was talking about far more than change itself. He was talking about religion, faith, theology, fasting, but in each of these areas He was talking about change that was necessary.

You can’t pour the brand new into the old. It’ll break and both will be ruined. We have to let go of past if we’re going to get a hold of the future without losing sight of the purpose, meaning and significance of both.

It’s difficult to say the least; almost as difficult as not ending a sentence with a preposition like both (Man! Now I’ve done it twice).

I saw a great example of change this past Sunday. Tough, arduous, hard-fought change, but change that was worth it.

I haven’t been in services for our church for just over a month as I have been recovering from brain surgery. But, this weekend I went to our Sterling campus.

As a church we have changed. Seven years ago we were a traditional little Baptist church of about 140 people.

Today we are a multi-site, faith community with video-driven venues and campuses across the state weekly seeing form 1,200 to 1,500 in attendance. We have two campuses in Hutchinson, and one in Sterling, Hays, Salina and Great Bend.

Obviously, things have changed.

As I sat there to worship in a gymnasium there in Sterling I heard the excitement about the new building that’s nearing completion. I listened to the Celebrate Recovery Band lead the music. I watched the well-written, fantastically edited and polished video teachings on worship from our team.

The service was great, and I was in awe.

The quality was top-notch, and I was awestruck.

Then the intangible hit me, and I was amazed.

God had gently whispered in my ear, “Hey Andy, they did all this without you.”

I’d admit that I teared up, if I ever admit that I cry. But, that’s not going to happen.

I sat there thinking Daniel, great job. Paul, wow! Rod and Bobby, way to go. Shivawn, yes! Irv, you the man. Matt, you go boy.

The list could go on and on, but all I could think was that seven years ago we could not have pulled that off at even one campus. And, if we tried I would have had to put my hand on every element of it. From picking songs, to shooting and editing the video, to setting up the equipment.

It’s no slight on anyone, its just that seven years ago we didn’t have the skill sets. But, as I sat there this weekend I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t be more proud of my church family, my staff and my Lord.

Oh the changes He has wrought in us, in me!

Some have come easy, some have been battles and as sure as Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 was the best radio program ever, more changes are going to come for us as a church, as families and as individuals.

That is, if we want to grow or go anywhere.

We could take the familiar, the easy, the safe, but tomorrow we’d be the same people and the same church we are today.

And, I know that’s not what God wants for us.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. The Holy Bible  : New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), Php 1:6.

Change is in the DNA of the believer. It’s what got us to become believers!

So whatever obstacle is before you, don’t run from it, embrace it.

Change must come if we are His people.

And, when we come to the other side of our difficult transitions we will see that “Even The Nights Are Better.”

… I need help.

I’ve never written a ‘to be continued’  before but I thought I would give it a shot. If you haven’t read “I knew I was right” from a day or two ago please take a minute, or none of this will make any sense.

Honestly, the way I write, it might not make any sense if you read it anyway, but it’s worth a shot.

I decided to continue the article, or at least make it a two-parter when I saw that Acts 16 (the continuation of the passage we were looking at) appeared to be a contradiction of Acts 15.

In theological terms, we call that a bummer. The oxymoronic value of that moment reminded me of those laughably contradictory statements like :

• Act naturally
• Clearly confused
• Pretty ugly
• Hell’s Angels
• Minor crisis
• Seriously funny
• Microsoft Works
• Family Vacation
• Only choice
• Original copies
• Deafening silence

And, this too would have been funny if I hadn’t felt so smug about being right! Don’t sit there smiling, based on your comments, so did you…

So, here’s the problem: in Acts 15, the church said it’s not right to force Gentiles to be circumcised to become believers, in fact, the mantra was, “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ac 15:19). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

But, in chapter 16 (by the way, there were no chapter divisions in the original letter, we put those in later to make study easier. Originally, this all flowed together as one big letter), here’s what you get:

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ac 16:1-5). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Say WHAT!!!

Paul had Timothy (a Greek Gentile) get circumcised because of the Jews who lived in the area…?

Did chapter 15 not happen, or was that in my other Bible of Convenient Truths… you know, the one we keep the Global Warming conspiracy secrets in.

According to verse 4 Paul and his posse were traveling from town to town telling people what the Jerusalem Council had decreed: that the church had become a circumcision free zone. But, all the while he was making those closest to him, his newest leaders, do exactly what he was saying you didn’t have to do.

If I was Timothy listening to that sermon, I’d be a little bit confused… ticked… sore.

This sounds like hypocrisy doesn’t it?

Yep, sure does. But if we see hypocrisy, the problem is we are focusing on the wrong issue.

Paul and Timothy were leaders with a heart for God and mind for leadership. This article is written under the category of Leadership Journals because once again it is written for those of you who have a calling that places you at a higher level of accountability.

You are not allowed to focus on the wrong issues.

How many times have you seen marital disputes violently erupt over stupid issues like who takes the trash out? The issue isn’t about household chores. More likely it’s about respect, trust and years of back-logged feelings.

How many times have you seen a co-worker sabotaged on a project? It’s not because of the project. It’s because of a long history of interpersonal struggle, unresolved conflicts and bad communication.

How many times have you seen a church conflict over little-to-nothing decisions? It’s not about the decision. It’s about the process, the people, the power, the control.

How many times have you seen road rage flare up over a simple driving mistake? It’s not about the driving. It’s about the absence of Prozac.

As a leader, you have to look past the circumstance and grip the issue. Paul and Timothy were doing just that. Even though they were on a Mediterranean world tour broadcasting “Just Say No To Circumcision” to make it easier for Gentile converts to turn to God, when they picked up a Gentile preacher (Timothy) the standards changed.

Why? Because the issue wasn’t circumcision, the issue was how to make it easier for people to turn to God. And, removing circumcision as a barrier made it easier for Gentiles to come to God.

But, the unconverted Jews would never listen to an uncircumcised Gentile. So, even though it was not required. Even though it was spiritually unnecessary. Even though it was painful, old school and would not be required of the general population.

For a leader, the standards are higher because the risks are greater and the cause is larger. Timothy was circumcised because they didn’t want to make it hard for the “Jewish” unbelievers to turn to God.

They found the real issue.

Timothy was not obligated to go through with the…er… procedure. He was completely within his rights to refuse. He had Biblical rights and was carrying a letter from the church saying he was in the clear

But, he did it anyway.

Because as a leader you have a choice: You can be right, or you can be effective.

What’s the real issue?

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PS – If you were looking for a direct connection to the title of this article, well, here it is. My wife recently reminded me that she had once bested me on Star Wars trivia by correcting me and correctly attributing the genetic background of the Clone Wars Stormtroopers to Jango Fett as opposed to Bob Fett… I was having an off day. So, maybe I was wrong…

Financial issues, health concerns, family matters, ending opening sentences with prepositions…

The only people who really have anything to worry about as it relates to their fears are the ones who say they aren’t afraid of anything. Take it from me, I’m an expert in fear as one who is afraid of a multitude of things (not a positive, of course, just a statement of fact)… everyone is afraid of something.

The problem is our fears tend to camouflage themselves. We see the obvious ones:

· “I’m afraid of dogs” – Well, you were probably bitten as a child

· “I’m afraid of getting pulled over by the police” – Well, slow down genius

· “I’m afraid of tornados” – Well, you’re not an idiot

· “I’m afraid of those creepy sounds downstairs in my house at night” – Well… Well, actually, I agree. Do you mind going down to check? Thanks.

The obvious fears we get. They are easy to spot, label and either accept or deny. The problem is many leaders are leaders because they have learned to wrestle these obvious fears to the ground and knock’em out with the classic sleeper hold!

They rise from the mat victoriously standing over their fears as they smugly announce, “Can’t touch this.”

Problem is you didn’t realize this was a tag team match. The obvious fears that were so easy to takeout are backed up by a stealthy, super buff powerhouse of a partner called unrealized fears.

And, just like any professional wrestler… they cheat.

They have already crawled up on the top rope and have launched into a swinging, superfly, death drop rolling atomic leg drop guaranteed cage match stopper (dude… maybe I should cut out the testosterone TV for a while).

So what are these unrealized fears? Since it’s so easy to spot regular fears, it may take some time to recalibrate yourself to identify these unrealized fears in you, but here are some classic examples:

Some are afraid to succeed – afraid of the consequences of what might actually happen if we get where we’re going. If we actually succeeded they might put us in charge and we’d have to lead, be responsible and be held accountable We move in the direction of success, but often hesitate, slow our pace, alter course or even stop short for fear of actually succeeding.. Oh, we’d never say those words out loud, but that’s what it is…

Some are afraid shine – afraid to stand out because the value of team and companionship has been ingrained to us. We may have been burnt by others and their pride/ego, and inwardly we are scarred and worried that we could become that same monster, so, we don’t even give ourselves enough leash to get into that spotlight….

Some are afraid to finish – afraid to find out what might come next. We have become so comfortable with the status quo we have decided to perpetually exist where we are even if it means we never get anywhere else. Like terminal students, always pursuing a degree and never entering a career…

Some are afraid to be ‘in the box’ – afraid to do what works, we feel the need to be novel, unique, original and constantly reinvent the wheel. As if God and the world are waiting for us to come up with something the world has never seen before, we refuse to do what obviously works for fear that someone might think it’s not a completely original thought….

The list is endless. Unrealized fears come in all shapes and sizes and have clotheslined many a leader bringing them to the mat for a stunned 3 count.

So, once again, I ask a question ending in a preposition: what are you afraid of?

Sure there are obvious things, but what are the unrealized fears that lurk in the shadows that you didn’t even know were fears until you took this moment to look them square in the face?

I just spent the last week with my family on vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Ks.

For those of you who don’t know, this is a little kid paradise. It’s a wolf den themed hotel with a huge indoor water park. It has four stories of a water playland, several pools and 5 uber cool slides.

On day one I had to spend about 15 minutes convincing my oldest that the slides were not death traps and that if he did not try them he would regret it, the rest of his week would not be as fun as it should be, his younger brother would make him look like a wussy, the other kids would secretly laugh at him, he’d probably never marry a cool girl, the college of his choice would never accept him and the Second Coming of Jesus may be delayed.

After this gentle nudging… he tried a slide… loved it and we could not stop him. He owned that water park after that.

I could not have been more proud.

It was later while I was sitting in the hot tub with my wife watching the boys play when I was struck by something. One of the water features at this park is a huge bucket.

Huge is an understatement.

Every 5 minutes it dumps 1,000 gallons of water from 4 stories down onto the floor below. I watched it wash kids off their feet. I heard adults talk about how bad it hurt to be pelted by the water. I witnessed smiling children enter and saw crying children retreat. I saw dads drag toddlers kicking and screaming under the flow (parent’s of the year, let me tell you!).

As I sat there in the hot tub I remember shaking my head thinking… idiots. Until, I saw my kids playing there.

WHAT!

My boy who wouldn’t slide down the slide yesterday is now standing under a 1,000 gallon bucket and taking a water whipping… by choice. And, he’s coming out smiling.

He’s gone insane!

That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t afraid of the slides, but I was afraid of the big bucket.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to explain the psychological underpinnings of unrealized fears to my 10 year old and ask for a pep talk ‘back at ya’ since he owed me one, so, I just had to suck it up.

I pulled myself out of the hot tub, walked to the center of the floor and stood there on the cold concrete staring up at the bucket. I’d heard it a hundred times before, the alarm started to ring signifying the great dump was at hand and the bucket started to tip.

My heart began to race, I wanted to run, duck, at least close my eyes… not this time! Here it comes… 1,000 gallons of cold water from four stories up came crashing down.

BOOM! It hit like a brick, the water stung every inch of my body, and I was in just a little shock from the cold and the force of it all.

It was even more than I had expected, but it was awesome!

I yelled out, “YEEEEESSSS”

So did the four year old girl next to me.

Here’s what Scripture says,

17 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Is 41:17-18). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

God is willing to pour out His blessings, His flow into and onto our lives, ministries and world. Far too often our unrealized fears keep us just out of frame, on the shoreline, within spitting distance of the blessable zone, but not under the flow.

We’re in the hot tub, when we should be under the bucket.

What does that mean? Seek out and find your unrealized fears, then face them head on like you do all the obvious points of fear in your life. Dealing with unrealized fears is usually handled best simply by realizing them.

We’re afraid of things we didn’t know we could be afraid of, and it’s time we stopped. It’s time we stepped out of the comfortable and into the path of blessing.

Let it pound us, sweep us off our feet, sting us, scare us to death. Stand there, take it.

Put yourself in the path, the flow of God’s doing and blessing. Don’t be afraid.

Back at the Great Wolf Lodge, I stayed under the bucket a few more times. I learned to love it. I learned to laugh. I stood there with my family.

I want to go back.

Today, the CrossEyedLife announces a new category for it’s teaching/blog articles called Leadership Journals. I’ve noticed that many of the comments and the emails received are from people in leadership positions whether in small business or in ministry, so, I’m creating a new line of thoughts for our readers specifically for them.

Hopefully these articles will have principles that translate to all readers, as I really enjoy communicating directly with fellow leaders from time to time. So, whether you’re a CEO who crunches numbers and meanders through the marketplace maze, or maybe you’re a fellow under-shepherd smacking a few sheep back into the flock, or maybe your captain MOM of the good ship “OBEY ME NOW OR THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES”… I hope Leadership Journals has something for you!

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Have you ever missed out on a good thing because you haven’t been willing to do the hard thing?

The obvious answers lie before us like broken toys on a toddler’s bedroom floor (man, I have to get some non-parental metaphors):

· The better body we always wanted, but never produced because sit ups cost more than Ding Dongs

· The training and education we were always going to pursue later when we had more time (you can stop laughing now)

· The career or life goal that was actually achievable, but never achieved because it required a change that you still haven’t found the words to share with “you know who”

· The savings account that never was because the flat panel, the ipod, the boat, the new car, the… oh, you get it!

When we get honest, this list of good things gone undone can get sickeningly long real quick, and what makes it even worse is we can add another page of how we are planning on starting them all tomorrow.

Yeah, right.

As a leader, there another item for this list that often gets overlooked because of our culture of teambuilding and inclusion. It’s an area that, if properly diagnosed, may lead us and our areas of leadership to seasons of incredible gain and success.

In other words, if we are willing to do the hard thing, we may see some good things happen. Jesus, of course, lead right through the trap I am talking about and is the perfect model for us. Check it out here:

The Transfiguration

1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 17:1-9). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Jesus was transfigured. Literally, the Greek says that Jesus was metamorphosized.

Honestley… I have no idea what physically went on up on that hill… but, whatever it was it was uber cool. It had to be! It was so amazing that Peter went moron again and started talking like a babbling brook of nonsensical ideas (roughly translated, this is where modern day politicians come from):

· Lord, it’s good to be here

· Let’s stay here forever

· I can build You a house

· I’ll build three

· Can I get Your dead friend’s autographs

· You look good all glowy and stuff

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Jesus needed anything. This transformation was not for His improvement. I think He organized this day trip for his peeps, but the leadership lessons here are transforming… transfiguring you might say.

This was an amazing moment of metamorphosis, and as a leader I know that I yearn for, chase after and die for moments of change like this!

I need to get past who I am, to grow up and become something I wasn’t if I am ever going to lead my church to the places it needs to be. And at the same time, there need to be certain people that take that trip, too!

Here’s where it gets hard: But not everybody can/will make that trip at the same time.

When Jesus went up on the Mount of Transfiguration… He only went with three guys: Peter, James and John.

This is one of the coolest moments in all of the New Testament. This is one the most impressive things that ever happened in the earthly ministry of Jesus. This display of power and affirmation of divine pleasure would have assured a skeptical world that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Chosen One.

If He had only done this event in downtown Jerusalem, or on the steps of the Temple. But, no… just for Peter… James… and John.

And, then He told them not to tell them anyone!

What!?!

The Transfiguration… the Transformation… was for them!

Can you IMAGINE the whining Jesus must have endured day in and day out by people who felt left out. People who wanted more and more of His time and attention, who wanted to direct His steps rather than follow them, people who jockeyed for position to be closer to Him than the next guy.

Even at an event like the Transfiguration there must have been jealousy:

· Everyone would have wanted to go and see the show, even the skeptics.

· The disciples, the thousands who claimed faithfulness, may have claimed their rights to be there.

· If there was a real case for attendance, it was with the Twelve. Don’t you know there was some gossip and fussing for those left behind at base camp when Jesus called out Peter, James and John as the only attendees!

Can’t you just hear Andrew talking all snotty-like, “Peter-James-and-John, Peter-James-and-John, Peter-James-and-John… I’m so sick of hearing their names. I hope He leaves them on that mountain. Lord’s pets.”

Everyone wanted to go up on the mountain, but Jesus only picked three because that’s where the transformation began.

As leaders we have stymied and stifled our personal and our organization’s progress again and again and again because we refuse to do the hard thing.

We try and take everybody up the mountain, and we refuse to head upward to transformation:

· Until we can get everyone to agree on which mountain

· Until we can get everyone to agree on what to pack

· Until we can get everyone to agree which trail to take

· Until we can get everyone to agree on when to leave

· Until we can get everyone to agree on what order we hike in

· Until we can get everyone to agree how far up the hill we’re going to climb

· Until we can get everyone to agree on what the agenda is for the climb and what the purpose is for the excursion and we come to a final agreement pertaining to the mission statement for this particular escalation, well, we just can’t set out… there’s no unity

Serioiusly… If we can learn any leadership lesson from Jesus in this passage it is that real moments of change and transformation are going to happen in small groups of leadership. Then their beliefs, experiences and drive can trickle down through the rest of the congregation/organization.

Leaders… it’s ok to lead. It’s your job.

There is no guilt in not taking everyone up the mountain. It’s the group you take up the mountain that you bring back down in the valley to lead EVERYONE over the next hill!

In church its understanding that not everyone will be on board with every change, nor can they be a part of every decision. It’s just not healthy.

As a parent it’s knowing that you don’t have to do it alone, but that there need to be some ‘mountain moments’ with a spouse and maybe even and older child. Transformation happens together.

As a businessperson its a greater understanding that tranfiguration happens at the top so that it can breath throughout the body. When a small team catches a vision, they can change they world.

Not everyone will make the initial journey, and there is no promise that everyone will make the trip with you even when you do come back from the mountain. Remember, even Jesus didn’t graduate all twelve from the program (Can any say, Judas?).

But, as a leader, we make the hard call and take those we need around us up on the mountain for moments of transformation. Then, it’s back to the valley to see what our metamorphosis has done.