GlocalNet

31.  When God reveals something to you - he gives you spiritual authority or jurisdiction over that area - walk in it.

32.  When you get too busy, you don’t think, and you wind up not making the best decisions.

33.  The disciple is the LCD(lowest common denominator) and the society is the grid from which we work. 

34.  Unique moves of God always signal something else about to happen.

35.  Credibility comes over time from production based out of character.

36.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t stay within our plans!

37.  Recognize then run with the unique opportunities that God gives - as long as they are in line with your calling - this will be where the greatest fruit, and the greatest learning will take place. 

38.  If the church were walking in the Sermon on the Mount like Jesus taught - we would be the ultimate peacemaker - not peacekeeper. 

39.  Everything is related to everything.  The big picture helps us see consilience and integration of all.  Things really are not disconnected.

40.  Loving people in words and ACTION in the name of Jesus - telling them how he he’s changed us and can them not only brings hope but is the greatest thing we can do for a person.

I watched the this video and found it fascinating - though you might enjoy it -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEr_YW4Kak

#21 I would be connected throughout my ministry with different kinds of people I’d never related to before - mentors who already lived in that field were able to help me significantly.  I would pray for them to come into my life - God would reveal them, and they would always take me to a level above what I had even dreamed of. 

#22 As a newcomer to a field with people intrigued by a “pastor” being involved in some of the things I was they would often try to get me to leave the pastorate to do something else.  It took time, but I began to realize, what made it all unique was, that I was a pastor working with diplomats doing people to people diplomacy, or businessmen doing development projects as a pastor - that was the purple cow.  Had I left my gifting, I would have lost my uniqueness. 

#23 When you are a purple cow - you get more opportunities than you can humanly respond to - just be careful you don’t get the purple spots erased from some who want your milk!

#24 The future is the moment.

#25 God taught me to pull a heavy wagon as a little kid having to pull my brothers and sisters - I was too big to ride!

#26 True worship transcends all styles and formats and traditions.  If I’m worshipping in Spirit and Truth I can do it anywhere, anytime, anyway.

#27 Never be tied to your time and era, understand it AND transcend it.  Some men know the times and respond to them.  Some men know the time keeper and it makes them eternal in their response.

#28 When God makes you fertile - he sends lots of seeds - and then lots of water - and then lots of fruit - be ready.

#29 Religious work always cheapens, slows, and stunts Kingdom work.  Religion is about me and what I believe - God’s Kingdom is beyond me. 

#30 When I was in my 20’s and 30’s I wanted answers.  Now, I love the adventure of watching and observing the mystery.

Today I preached on our focus for this year as a church.  It’s the year of the disciple.  Our verse is Luke 9:23.  You can hear the sermon tomorrow at Northwoodchurch.org - I didn’t finish the sermon so I listed the goals for members here.  I know if you’re outside NorthWood some of this might not make sense to you - it’s in house talk - but what a great sermon aid when you don’t finish!

Tomorrow I’ll resume lessons from journals. 

#What we set as goals 15 years ago becomes daily practice today. 

Tlife is made up of interactive relationship with God (IR), Transparent connections (TC), and Glocal Impact (GI)

Our purpose is to glorify God in IR, TC, and GI.

1.  MAKE DISCIPLES–New T-Life format with 25 different groups.  Define it.  (T-Life – All 3)
2.  ALL NATIONS-Invite 5 churches new to work with us internationally as we do and bring over one International CP Intern. (GI)
3.  BAPTIZING THEM-200+ (GI)
4.  TEACHING-Prayer by 3 church wide prayer gatherings.  Conference on prayer (IR)
5.  ALL THINGS-225 Teams-Observe life together.  (TC)
6.  ALL THINGS-Giving - $600,000 toward missions. (IR)
7.  ALL THINGS-Children building plan, develop it and develop plan to pay cash for it. (TC)
8.  ALLTHINGS-Go from 1000 glocal volunteers ’08 to 1500 ’09 – Glocal – Currently 65% monthly, 52% bi-monthly, 34% weekly.  (GI)
9.  ALL THINGS- NorthWood as a Teaching church.  Streamlining organizations.  Resources.

#11 Spiritual passion and maturity are my only hope - I’m too screwed, sinful, insufficient, incompetent - God really is my only hope.

#12 God’s call was so apparent throughout my life and ministry but so hard that I would question and even throw out fleeces - asking God to remove the passion or provide the resources - at times I felt like he did neither - but it drove me to him.

#13 Knowing who I am, and what God has called me to is critical to effectiveness and focus.

#14 Big things come from small obediences.

#15 Focus long enough, hard enough on something - and stuff happens.

#16 God’s will must be lived out in every single moment of life - especially the small ones.  Looking for the “big” opportunities, secrets, systems, spiritual answers, etc. . . . are always a waste of time.  Following God isn’t finding a “key” a “secret” a new “way” of doing things but it’s found in him and him alone.  Until he is enough - nothing will be enough.

#17 Matthew 28 should never be read in isolation - but with Matthew 5-7 and Matthew 25.

#18 You can scale only as good as the team around you - and when you’re looking for team players - you can’t tell a man’s heart without time.

#19 Nations are eternal - this is why the front door is critical - God made it - he doesn’t need to be sneaked in anywhere.

#20 Inter-disciplinary reading, learning, study, living - is critical for impact and understanding because everything really is connected.

Recently I read all my journals and keep a running list of things I began to see:

(BTW a journal is a “catalogue of reflections.”

Reflection #1:  What I set as goals years ago are now daily activities that are no big deal - just part of life.

Reflection #2:  God is always in control even making bad things work out to our advantage if we won’t panic and wait for God to work and move.  Seen a lot of good and a lot of bad - but God is with us and in control in all of it.

Reflection #3:  Credibility has come from what we’ve produced from long term focus and production - not ideas, visions, dreams, or events. 

Reflection #4:  Me and NorthWood staff are asked to speak outside NorthWood not because we are the greatest speakers with the greatest presentations but because we have an ongoing story and people want to hear it - then they want to know the ideas that drove it and the implementation that makes it happen. 

Reflection #5:  It’s critical to recognize opportunities - it’s also equally critical to know if the timing, conditions, and people are right.  Grabbing an opportunity where it isn’t right, becomes a distraction if not a nightmare!

Reflection #6:  Most of us build idols in our lives based on what we fear, not what we like.  Slay fear, and you destroy love - when love comes then hope is freed and faith is possible.

Reflection #7:  I can gather, convene, and point in a given direction and generally people will go. 

Reflection #8:  We have more to learn from the church in the East than they have to learn from us.  We need them far more than they need us.

Reflection #9:  Leadership - I’ve learned from David - involves first a pure heart, then skilled hands - but you have to have both if you’re going somewhere for God.  One alone is not enough.  To develop both require time and discipline.

Reflection #10:  The most impactful decade of my ministry has been in my 40’s - the most impactful year - has been this year.

So, if you know me, whether you are a NorthWood member, good friend, church planter who I’ve trained, man I’ve discipled, or friend, you know how important I believe journaling is.  Each year I read through the Bible and write out my prayers in a wide margin Bible.  In addition, I journal, generally daily, and it winds up being about 200 handwritten pages a year.  Soooo . . . . I began reflecting on 2008, read the journal, read the prayers, looked for the lessons, patterns, obstacles, challenges, successes, failures, joys, frustrations - - - - all of it.  I had been reading it already throughout the month of December so it wasn’t hard.  Then I did something very, very dangerous, I read the “lessons learned” from the back of my ‘07 journal.  Doing this caused me to read it more - just for fun I jumped back to my journal from the mid-90’s and a couple from the 80’s.  This turned into an all day thing.  I read them all and kept a piece of paper near me so I could reflect on what I was reading, what was the big pattern, what were the big lessons, what were the themes I could see in the past 15+ years. WOW! I am glad I journal.  It’s been incredible.  It has caused me to think hard, look at patterns, recognize God’s hand.  I had certain people give me verses and words and so many of them wound up coming true a year or two later.  This was had such an impact I’m going to go back and read them slowly over the next few months. 

At NorthWood we talk a lot about worship or an interactive relationship with God.  As you start this New Year, please read the Bible daily as a living book and write down what God is saying to you.  Nothing will grow you as much or have as much of an impact on your life as that.  Journal the lessons, the heart aches, the challenges, all of it and you will see how God works. 

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to give 5 to 10 lessons a day that are over arching lessons I have learned from years of God working in my life.  I have over 60.  There may be more. Some may be combined.  Not sure.  As I read over my …

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We often debate at what level of maturity a disciple is functional.  I think, frankly, that the disciples of the early church were probably far less “mature” than we would want to believe.

We debate methods of catch and release; How much? How far? In what ways?  How connected do we stay with people we disciple, etc? 

We debate process, methods, etc., many things about how to make disciples.  We get in little groups, or one on one, or bring our Bible’s, I’m just not sure there’s any one way.  I’m not sure any one approach for an entire lifetime works either.  We hopefully outgrow systems, processes, and even disciplers along the way.

I’m thinking the core of the issue in producing rapidly growing disciples that are expanding is in the whole issue of “conversion.” What are we calling people to?  As I’ve recently read Acts, and Luke, and tons of other scriptures this week, there was a real call to abandonment.  Jesus said, “You follow me, you’re gonna die, but be ok with it because life is eternal.”

I think we try too hard to ease people in.

When people are eased in to a relationship with Christ and a body of believers they ease out, real easily.  If a decision to follow Christ doesn’t make someone uneasy they may have joined a religion, but they haven’t found Jesus.

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