Axiom Chapter 14
I really like the statement at the end of the 3rd paragraph: “Whatever the value, if its alive and well in a local church today, it is not by accident. Its only there because of intentional, committed, dedicated effort.”
Whether it is our church, our personal lives or our business, we must be intentional about our values. For instance, in our church, if we are not intentional about thinking big church-big influence strategy we will quickly slip into doing good things that have little impact. We receive offerings very rarely for a couple of reasons—to remove the misperception of being all about money and to make our offerings have huge impact. If we begin asking people to constantly give to “good” projects, we will lesson the impact on the “God” projects that create lasting influence.
We must stay committed to those things we value. That means when other things are demanding our attention, time, talent and resources that we remain committed to the values and vision. Being dedicated means we do not have the option of letting our values or vision slide while we give our attention to other things (beware the squeaking wheel). At Lockheed, when we said a machine was dedicated to a certain process that meant the use of that machine was that process only. Even if someone had an extremely urgent project that needed to be done, we did not do it on the dedicated machines because, in the long run, the whole process would suffer. Don’t fall for the trap of letting urgency determine priority.
Lastly, it takes effort to keep our values and vision hot. I have noticed that being wild, barbarian church planters does not get easier. The challenges are different but they do not get easier. It takes effort, intentional effort, to make sure everything we are doing is infused with God’s presence and not just something we have become good at doing. It takes intentional prayer, Bible reading, being around like-minded people, and seeking God’s face. Otherwise, we slip into a program driven church with a maintenance mindset instead of being the Wild Barbarian Church Planters that were so attractive to those looking for a place to see their lives transformed.
Examine yourself. Are you still a wild barbarian or have you settled into just doing what you do? Be intentional, committed and dedicated to put some effort into turning up the heat this week!
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This is something God uses to continually challenge me. We get so good at doing "the stuff" that we loose focus of Him. What we do must come out of who we are and of course whose we are. When we get them flipped, we are headed for a mess. I believe our focus and priorities should be to be passionately in love with Jesus and passionately love people. Everything we do in ministry or life should flow from this river. This should be very noticeable for everyone we do life with. It should be seen in the dicisions we make, what we talk about and how we invest our time.
ReplyDeleteWOW~! I loved reading this blog this week. Some one just mentions the phrase "Wild Barbarian Church Planters" and i automatically get fired up.
ReplyDeleteI find that talking about the vision with your team is the best way to "turn the heat up". James 3:6 says that the tongue "is a flame of fire". Though the passage context centers around the effects of negative words, it is fair to conclude that fire in itself isn't bad, if wielded skillfully and strategically.
I am also reminded of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus. When he sat down to break bread with them their eyes were opened and they realized that they had been sitting with Jesus. In fact their response was, "Did not our hearts burn with us while He spoke?". I think it is so cool that in simply sharing a meal with our team, we are given the awesome opportunity of sharing a similar Jesus-encounter with them. People eyes are opened to God's vision and hearts are set on fire. Anybody excited! LET ME HEAR AN AMEN!!!! DON"T SHOUT ME DOWN!!!
I loved the blog and the chapter this week. It's so timely for CAML! Amen to everyone who posted before me. I don't really have anything new to add to what they said. Just that truly focusing on the presence of God in everything we do keeps you wild!
ReplyDeleteJust a cool little tidbit that is really off the wall...
ReplyDeleteDid you know that in the Disney movie, "Wall-E", the spaceship that the humans lived on in outer space was named "The Axiom"?
I think it is a sign...the Axiom blog is OUT OF THIS WORLD!! Let us know your thoughts and let's take this ship to a HNL ('Hole Nutha Level)!
I had the wonderful privilege of attending the Joyce Meyer Conference the last week with my friends. While we were in St. Louis some of us ladies went to one of the well known churches in the area. Once we arrived I was eager to observe the areas of ministry we oversee at CAML. Not once did I notice the ones serving filled with enthusiasm as I walked around waiting to be greeted. I was saddened at how newcomers might have felt as they entered the building. I began asking myself how do our newcomers feel when they walk onto the Pavilion Campus at CAML. I believe that for the most part they feel celebrated and that our teams are there to serve with a servants heart. However, I can see how this could become the routine instead of as Bill Hybel stated, " an intentional, committed, dedicated effort.” Pastor's the heat has been turned up!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe routine of getting complaisant of "doing the stuff" is something we can easily fall into when we are not intentional and focused on others.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a match when lit..it fires up a big flame in the beginning and then tapers off-but if you add something to the fire then that ignites the flame bigger again ( i.e.- meditation, bible study, church, serving, praise music, prayer, etc)
Hope this made sense....Go C@ML!
Not letting urgency determine priority is always a challenge at times. The presence of God is the priority as well as serving others and making sure they are celebrated is the ministry. This is why our teams are so valuable in ministry. The teams at CAML are always seeking how to be more life giving and how to serve more effectively.
ReplyDeleteAmen... Amen... and Amen!!!
ReplyDelete