Turning an 11 day journey into 40 years of wandering.

My devotional reading today was Deuteronomy . Moses is recapping where the nation of Israel has been. It is a reminder of how important it is to get things right the first time. When God says to go and do.... we are wise to listen. If the Israelites had listened, they would have saved themselves much grief and they would have enjoyed the blessings that only the next generation were able to enjoy. In essence they missed out because of their unbelief. The Bible says that the Lord heard the sound of their words and was angry. I do not want my words to cause God to be angry with me. What comes out of our mouth is a reflection of what is in our hearts. When we refuse to believe God or take him at His word and speak things that are contrary to who He is or what He desires for us. He gets angry with us. God's anger is something that I do not pay much attention to in the Bible. I have the ability to pay attention to the attributes I like. God is love....yes I like that one. Anger, not so much. Can you fathom that 11 days became a 40 year experience because of words that came out of the mouths of the Israelites? Moses lived it. He missed out and knew it. So he writes a summary of his journey to admonish the next generation to be careful to fully obey the Lord's commands. Perhaps all of us have examples of our own moments where we look back and realize that our perspective was steeped more in doubt and unbelief rather than faith and obedience. And we too, are able to share with others that is wise to listen and do what God wants the first time around. Who wants to waste 40 years in the wilderness when we could be living in the fulfillment of His promised blessings. The old hymn says it clearly, "trust and obey for there is no better way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey"

Great week end

Wow, what a week end. Friday night we celebrated Sarah's 20th birthday even though it is actually on the 17th. We went to Eddie Merlot's and it was fantastic. Debbie and I both had "all you can eat" Alaskan King Crab Legs. I ate way too much and enjoyed every bite. I am so proud of Sarah. She is walking with the Lord and wants to do His will. In contrast, at age 20 I had not even begun following Jesus. Debbie and I are so thankful for the Lord's help in raising two daughters who love God with all their hearts. My birthday prayer for Sarah is that she will continue to draw closer to Jesus and that everything else will flow out of her heart that is centered on that relationship.

The Hinzman's were with us all week end. So great to connect with them. God is using them to bless youth leaders. Paul preached with conviction and clarity. I was personally refreshed by the presence of God. I needed it.

Debbie, like always was a fantastic hostess. She flows with hospitality making sure everyone is taken care of. I pray that the proverb will be true for her, that he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Ministry

Ministry takes place in as many different places as there are places where people are. So far today ministry took place in prison, at the paint store, the church gym, Yats, and sitting in a co-workers office, on the phone and now on the computer. A core value for me is that ministry is about people. That is why we are to "go" and make disciples. Go to where people are and bring Jesus into their arena. I love walking with God, who loves walking with me down life's pathway. Ministry takes place in our day by day encounters with others and having a mindset that we are God's workmanship, God's temple, God's ambassadors, witnesses, instruments, vessels and more.

The five dysfunctions of a team

Patrick Lencioni lays out the following 5 dysfunctions of a team:
1. A lack of trust - invulnerability
2. Fear of conflict- artificial harmony
3. Lack of commitment - ambiguity
4. Avoidance of accountability- low standards
5. In attention to results - status and ego

Members of trusting teams;

• Admit weaknesses and mistakes
• Ask for help
• Accept questions and input about their areas of responsibility
• Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion
• Take risks in offering feedback and assistance
• Appreciate and tap into one anothers skill and experiences
• Focus time and energy on important issues
• Offer and accept apologies without hesitation
• Look forward to meetings and opportunities to work as a group.

Absence of trust

• conceal weaknesses and mistakes from one another
• Hesitates to ask for help or constructive feedback
• Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility
• Jump to conclusions about the intentions of others without attempting to clarify
• Fail to recognize and tap into one anothers skills and experiences
• Waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect
• Hold grudges
• Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together

How to build trust:

1. Personal Histories Exercise - number of siblings, hometown, unique challenges of childhood, favorite hobbies, first job, worst job.

2. Team Effectiveness - Identify the single most important contribution that each of their peers makes to the team, as well as the one area that they must either improve upon or eliminate for the good of the team. Focus on one person at a time beginning with the team leader.

3. Personality tests

4. 360 degree feedback

Teams that engage in conflict

• have lively meetings
• extract and exploit the ideas of all team members
• solve real problems quickly
• minimize politics
• put critical topics on the table

Teams that fear conflict

• have boring meetings
• create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive
• ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success
• fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members
• Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management.

A team that fails to commit

• creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities
• watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay
• breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
• revisits discussions and decisions again and again
• encourages second - guessing among team members

A team that commits

• creates clarity around direction and priorities
• aligns the entire team around common objectives
• develops and ability to learn from mistakes
• takes advantage of opportunities before competitors do
• moves forward without hesitation
• changes direction without hesitation or guilt

A team that avoids accountability

• creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance
• Encourages mediocrity
• Misses deadlines and key deliverables
• Places and undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline

A team that holds one another accountable

• Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve
• identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another's approaches without hesitation
• Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards
• Avoids excessive bureaucracy

A team that is not focused on results

• stagnates and fails to grow
• rarely defeats competitors
• loses achievement oriented employees
• encourages team members to focus on their own careers and goals
• is easily distracted

A team that is focused on collective results

• retains achievement-oriented employees
• minimizes individualistic behavior
• enjoys success and suffers failure acutely
• benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team
• avoids distractions

The captivating Church

One of my take aways from the Life shapes book on a captivating church. This book is a good tool for creating discipleship models. I liked the use of shapes to give life to principles of our follower ship with Jesus. The shape of a circle's is used to describe the process of repent and believe. The authors suggest that repentance is a process that all followers of Christ must go through in order to keep following. Repentance takes place by our ability to observe what we have done, reflect on it through the lens of scripture and discuss how we measure up. Believe is to make a plan that gives account of adjustments that need to be made in order for our actions to line up with the word so that our faith is an accurate portrayal of what a Christ follower is. This is the James model of show me your faith by your works. I love repentance. Maybe not always loving the process but the end results of a life lived in alignment with Jesus.

What amazes God?

I was checking out the passage in Mark 6:1-6 where Jesus was limited in what He could do because of the lack of faith by those in his hometown. Those who knew him best were blinded by their familiarity. They saw him in the light of his humanity and were challenged to embrace His Deity. So much of our culture is blind to who Jesus really is. The more we comprehend who He really is the more we should believe that with HIM nothing is impossible. I do not want the Lord to ever be amazed at my lack of faith. I would rather He be amazed at my faith as he was with the centurion who simply understood authority, applied that thinking to Jesus and settled it in his heart that whatever Jesus said would be done. Not only does that kind of faith amaze Jesus it pleases him. Remember Hebrews 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who deligently seek him. Let's strive to amaze God by our faith not the lack thereof.