Tampa to Indi...er...Minneapolis

I want to dedicate this post to my friend, John Palmer, who recently wrote a very similar post on his blog. I must admit that when I read his post I congratulated myself for having never missed an airline flight...2 weeks ago...

Today I learned that it is possible for the temperature to drop 79 degrees in 2 ½ hours. That’s because I missed my flight from Tampa to Indianapolis by 8 minutes. Not the flight, mind you, but the 45 minute baggage check deadline. Did you know that it doesn’t matter if you have a boarding pass and can still make it to the gate before boarding stops but if you can’t get your bag on the flight…you can’t go! When I left Tampa it was 81 degrees and when I landed in … Minneapolis … yes, Minneapolis (now on my way to Indianapolis) just 2 ½ hours later it was 2 degrees.

Here’s the kicker. The flight from Tampa to Indianapolis left at 1:50 and the flight to Minneapolis left at 1:58…but I made the baggage deadline (and the final gate call I might add) for the Minneapolis flight. All I have to say right now is… Thanks Abraham for that Ishmael thing (for those who might know what I mean).

So, I am sitting in the Minneapolis airport as I write waiting for my 8:00 p.m. flight to Indy knowing that for the sake of 8 minutes I would have been sitting in my recliner in my living room almost 2 hours ago.

Now…let’s get to brass tacks!

My class ended at 2:30 on Friday and the only hard appointment I had on my calendar was being on an airplane at 1:50 on Saturday. Why was I late? A lack of focus. That’s right John, a lack of focus. You warned me!

On the way to the airport I looked up and saw a sign that said “Tampa 13 miles” and I said to myself, “David, you are going to miss that plane.” You see, I knew about the 45 minute cutoff for checking baggage.

But here’s my lesson…I’ve gotten so comfortable with air travel and I know all about the hoops and the tricks so I got a little too lax with some unbendable rules.

There’s a lot of things in life and leadership that if we get too comfortable we can let down our guard and lose our focus at critical moments. Accidents happen when we’ve done something thousands of times and we divert our attention at a critical moment. Leadership failures occur, most of the time, not when we do something out of ignorance but when we knew better but we just got in a hurry in familiar surroundings and lost focus at a critical moment. Personal Spiritual failure happens when we think that we can loosely navigate the disciplines and the focus that is necessary to stay sharp.

When I came through airport security today I was flustered because I had to hurry or miss my flight. I almost walked away with the man holding my boarding pass. I told him I was flustered because I’d already missed one flight. He said, “just slow down and focus…that will help.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…slow down and focus. The guy is right.

I’d better close this blog post. I’m sitting right across from my gate but the flight will be boarding in an hour and half…I’d really hate to miss it!

If You're Gonna Fish Keep Your Line in the Water

I never cease to be amazed.

Why can't someone answer the phone at most churches? And why, when an answering machine answers, before I can leave a message, do I have to endure a litany of every service venue the church offers along with start times. Please folks, if all I want to know is the service times I'll look at the website...what? You don't have a website... Oh my.

Leadership and ministry brings a lot of victories and a lot of defeats but one thing I know for sure, If you don't keep your line in the water you can't catch fish.

Don Padgett is my #1 fishing buddy. Neither one of us gets to fish 1/10th as much as we used to when we were younger and had less responsibilities but we still enjoy getting a line in the water once or twice a year.

Don used to consistently catch more fish than me by about 4 to 1. If you know me you know that I think analytically...okay, I OVER analyze everything... so through the years I watched Don. At first I thought that he caught more fish than I did because he just knew more about fishing than I did. He regularly read Bassmasters Magazine and, while I know that he would not want to admit this, he even clipped and filed articles--probably never to look at them again.

After a couple of years I decided that Don was probably catching more fish than I was because he was operating the trolling motor and was always in the front of the boat. Actually that might have had something to do with it but I hate fishing and simultaneously running a trolling motor so I never complained. I figured it was better to catch less fish than to have to run the trolling motor half the time.

But the 4 to 1 discrepancy actually had little to do with his superior knowledge or his sitting in the front of the boat. After much thought and analysis I discovered why Don consistently caught more fish than I did. His line was in the water more than mine!

The gap has narrowed now that I've stopped changing lures as often, getting my line tangled, cleaning out "birds nests" (for you civilians that's a reel backlash), and just generally fooling around. Don and I both have good days and bad days but overall we do about the same (though I must admit that other than this past summer Don usually catches the biggest fish ...biggest fish for 2007 is to the right...if Don had a blog he could post the biggest fish from the last umpteen years--not that we keep track, you understand).

Your line has to be in the water to catch fish. On game day you have to show up. There are a few basics that, when missed, are like being on a boat without your line in the water.

First, for crying out loud, make sure someone answers the phone! That's as basic as it gets. Go ahead and make excuses. If you don't want to catch fish that's fine with me. An organization that doesn't answer the phone is not going to grow.

Click here to check out the Barna Group research on the percentage of churches that answer their phone. A human being cannot be reached at 55% of all churches in America. Its insane that somebody can't answer the phone with cell phones, call forwarding, and other technology. You can't catch a fish if you don't have your line in the water.

The second basic I will mention is a web site. Again, go ahead and make excuses about how you can't find a high school kid and $120 bucks a year to have a website hosted with basic ministry information. If you don't want to catch fish that's OK with me (well, really that's not OK with me but I can't take responsibility for your life).

Here's a few pointers from Tony Morgan on church websites.

We've discovered that at Lakeview Church about 60% of our first time visitors found the church online before they decided to visit. 57% of U.S. churches have a website and if yours doesn't chances are there is a church in your neighborhood that does. Our website isn't the greatest in the world because we do not have a dedicated staffer managing it but it does establish a presence for Lakeview so the person moving from Saskatoon, Mozambique (not a real place:) searching for a church on Indy's westside can find us.

Hey guys and gals...I know it's tough to balance all the demands of ministry but pay attention to a few basics and find a way to keep your line in the water.

Christmas Cheer

Christmas at our house is a festive time. Joyce is the chief decorator and she does most of the work with the exception of the nativities (we have 34) and the train that I set up under the Christmas tree.

It seems that she packs up almost everything in the house and replaces it with Christmas decorations (it's not really that bad but during the process of unpacking decorations, packing regular stuff for 40 days of storage, unpacking the regular stuff, and repacking the decorations for 325 days of storage it seems that way).

Christmas is our favorite time of the year because it is the time when our family intentionally comes closest together more than any other time of the year.

People generally seem more loving and gracious during the Christmas holidays. Family and loved ones become more important during the holiday season than at any other time of the year. People feel generous and compassionate. It's a great time of the year. Not only that, when else can you walk into a Target or a Wal-Mart and hear songs about Jesus playing on the store P.A. system.

Wouldn't it be nice if we just left the Christmas decorations up 365 days a year and somehow sustained the benevolent feelings and the intentional expressions of love?

Hey, if we had Christmas 365 days a year I wouldn't have to put the decorations back into the attic.

Leaders are Readers

I've always had to push myself to read. I really hate to admit that. Watching television is just so much easier. When faced with decision to either read a book or see if Andy and Barney get things squared away with Helen and Thelma Lou (even though I know that they did the last 132 times that I watched the same episode) I'm hard pressed to choose the book.

Well, all of that being said you will be happy to know that once I pick up a book and start reading it, not only am I glad that I did but I actually enjoy it.

I've read more in the last 3 years than I have in the rest of my life combined. My hunger for knowledge has just exponentially increased. What made the difference--being stretched out of my comfort zone and feeling the need to grow.

It's not that previous ministries were not challenging, because they absolutely were and are, but keeping up with a church of a couple of thousand people is ever changing and if you don't keep learning you get mangled beneath those wheels that just keep rollin' down the tracks.

I'm starting a Master's program in Organizational Leadership in January. I'm going to be reading no less than one book a week (or more) for the next couple of years...and probably for the rest of my life.

While Barney and Andy still beckon, the trade off is worth it. Here's a few things I've learned about reading and learning.

1. Leaders really are learners and if you stop learning you will eventually stop leading.
2. The more you read the more you can read. The ability to process and synthesize information keeps increasing with practice.
3. It is important to read from multiple disciplines. I am a pastor and I love spiritually focused books but is is important for me to be exposed to other ideas and ways of thinking. It actually causes me to grow stronger in my own discipline.
4. You can read dozens of books a year if you consistently read in two 15 minute time slots every day. You don't have to do marathon reading...short bursts can accomplish a great deal.
5. Chart out a reading track. Decide what you need to learn and the things you need to pump into your mind for personal development and chart out a reading track that will take you there.
6. If you start reading a book and it stinks, put it down and forget about it. Maybe you will connect with it a few years from now. (Unless, of course, it is assigned reading >:(
   
7. If you are reading a book and you come to a segment of the book that feels like a waste of time start skimming until the book gets back on track for you.
   
8. Don't neglect the classics. When people are still reading a book 500 years after it was written there is usually a reason for it.

Leaders are often overwhelmed with their responsibilities and sometimes they just don't think they have time to read. Big mistake. Books are the stepping stones that will bridge where you are and where you need to go.

Okay, here it is... I'm committed to reading at least 4 books a month (unless, of course, I have to read more on this Masters Degree journey).

Sorry Ange, I'll see you in a couple of years.

You Can't Lead Without Passion

I am passionate about the call that God has placed upon my life. It motivates me at the deepest level of my being.

I've always been suspect of guys who have lost the fire in their belly. You know, those guys who used to be propelled by a mission that gave way to a full blown vision but somewhere along the way they kicked into auto-pilot and started repeating a routine. I've always had this tiny fear tucked away in the back of my mind that I would one day become one of those guys who allows their fire get doused.

Lately I've been thinking about the passion that presses me forward. Where does it come from? How do I keep it alive? How important is that passionate vision?

I'll start with answering the question, "How important is that passionate vision?" My opinion...you can't lead without passion. Otherwise, what's the motivation? I cannot lead another person or organization to the fulfillment of a vision that I am not passionate about. It is passion that causes me to find a way when everyone says it can't be done. It is passion that presses me past the naysayers. It is passion for the vision that motivates me to sacrifice and press forward.

Where does such passion come from? I'm not a business guy and I've never been much on being passionate toward temporal goals...I'm geared toward spiritual results that are eternal. So, where does my passion come from? It comes from the Presence of God. When I encounter the Presence of God through intimacy with the Holy Spirit I "catch" the heart of God. I sense the things that are important to God and the fire that He is stoking in my belly. This incredible passion arises when I am in the Presence of God and this passion motivates me, propels me forward. For me...this is always where the passion comes from.

How do I keep it alive? I've got to stay connected to God's Presence (you notice that I capitalize the "P" in Presence...it is because I equate the Presence of God with the person of the Holy Spirit so to me God's Presence is not a ethereal aura but it is contact with the person of the Holy Spirit).

The Presence inspires the passion for the mission, the passion paints the vision, the vision begs the goals, and the goals guide the implementation.

I can't lead without passion and I really don't think any other leader (particularly spiritual leaders) can lead people on a mission unless they (the leader) feels the mission on the deepest level.

I love feeling the mission, I love being engaged in God's plan, I love the passion that arises in my heart, and I love pulling people around a vision to engage in building things that will last, literally, forever.