BLOG MOVING TO NEW LOCATION

Due to the launch of Pastor2Pastors / ConnectionPoint Coaching, we have moved (or are in the process of moving this blog to the www.connectionpoint.org site. Please check us out over there and let us know how you like the new site. (which should be live sometime before January 2011.
Blessings,
Keith

Blogging break

For the year 2010, I am taking a short break to sharpen my focus. Because I value coaching so much, I will be receiving some coaching myself.

Please stay tuned for the next post...I'm not sure when it will be, but it should be worth the wait!

Thanks!

Keith

No Man is an Island

"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment." Proverbs 18:1 (ESV)

When we isolate ourselves from our support system of family/friends, we are really being selfish. If we are to become all that God wants us to be, we must trust a friend with our heart and take guidance from them at times.

No man (or woman) is an island! We were created for communion with our Creator as well as other created beings. We need the wisdom of those who've gone before us as well as the boldness of those who challenge our thinking to help us become better. What would happen if we didn't ever take instruction and advice from a friend who has my best interest at heart?

May we not retreat unto ourselves, but allow our own "fellowship of the heart" to encourage us to be a better person.
WE NEED ONE ANOTHER!
(check out all the bible verses that have the words "one another" in them)

Good Leadership

"Good Leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; He directs it to
whatever ends He chooses." –Proverbs 21:1 (The Message)

Wow! Good Leadership is defined by the world in a “results-drven” or “money-driven” way most of the time. Even by some prominent Christians as “Influence” or “Power”. (which is partially true) This verse describes leadership that is “good” as God-Controlled Power/Influence, or “Power Submitted”. Not what we normally think of when looking at most leaders today.
What if the “old-school” existing leaders would submit and share some authority and wisdom of experience with the younger “emerging” leaders? What if the young “know-it-all” leaders would submit to the older leaders and ask for wisdom and mentorship from them?
What if ALL leaders (especially in the American Church) took on a “posture of learning” and submitted to God in all things—even those things we think we already know how to do? What if there were a “safe place” for existing and emerging leaders to sit down at the table and respectfully learn from each other?
If this happened, I think we’d have some “good leadership” in this world for a change! May it be so…"

Funny TV Story

I just wanted to post this quick and funny story that REALLY did happen to us!
Last Sunday we visited a church gathering where, in the course of a conversation, we were challenged by a lady to do something we had already been talking about lately…to stop watching Television for a week. The reason for this is to see just how much time we waste worshipping the tube! So we took this challenge seriously and didn’t turn the TV on for the entire week. Not just any week, but the week of all the season premiers of some of our favorite shows.

All week, we seemed to have more time to read, study, talk and work on cleaning out the basement, getting ready for an upcoming and unavoidable yard sale.
After working all evening on Friday, we decided to watch the season premier of “Numbers” at 10:00 p.m.

What happened next is possibly the funniest thing that has ever happened to us in nearly 11 years of marriage. At exactly 10:06 p.m., the TV blew up! Yes, the picture suddenly went out, and smoke began to billow out of the back of the TV! Quickly we unplugged the smoking TV, and laughed as I exclaimed, “Okay God, I think we get the picture!”

I’m not saying that we will never watch TV again, but because of this funny experience we will keep track of how much of our lives we devote to the nothingness that is Television!

We cannot let the important things be held hostage by the unimportant!
Thanks be to God for having a sense of humor and caring enough to continually teach us

Knowing the Will of God

I found an interesting post on Knowing the Will of God that connects beautifully with the discussions we've been having in my "church without a name" (see previous post). Please click the link Knowing the Will of God and let me know what you think.

I find it interesting that God can and will use almost anyone in almost any situation to accomplish HIS WILL to the exact extent to which that person makes themselves available to Him. His "will" is not a destination, it's an attitude of "willingness".

Labels: "A sticky situation"

This post is a result of a friend's suggestion that we write a book together about our "church without a name". Thanks Rick, for your suggestion...who knows, maybe this will be the future introduction to our "book". :)

I was asked by someone the other day regarding the name of the church gathering I attended. I love it when I get asked about our church's name because it gives me the opportunity to share about my "fellowship of the heart" with others. I also hate it when asked this question, because I feel like most folks think we are attending some type of "cult" or something. "drink the koolaid! drink the koolaid!" Nothing could be further from the truth!

Our little "fellowship of the heart" doesn't have a name on purpose. We frankly don't like labels. As the title to the post reflects, labels tend to stick to a person or group of people and rarely effectively represent a true picture of said person or group. Labels limit. Labels reduce the essence of a living being down to a controllable size. Labels are not what God intended for His people.

I answered the question, "what is the name of your church gathering?", with "it's the Church that meets at the Coffee Company downtown on Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m., come in the back door." My friend laughed and said, "that sure is a funny name for a church, but it is descriptive." I wish we humans didn't have some innate need to label everything. I wish we didn't feel the need to compartmentalize everything, but I guess that is an "easy" way out. Applying compartmentalized labels to everyone and everything keeps us from having to get involved; keeps us from having to get "messy", but it also becomes a "sticky situation" when we consider the thing that Jesus pushed us toward: Living in REAL RELATIONSHIP with God and with others.

Be careful about applying labels, it can become a sticky situation! One in which you do not want to get "stuck"!