Pastorpreneur

My Dad's Passions...

So, like a lot of people, I've been thinking about my dad. My father in law and father both are with the Lord now.  My step-father-in-law (we just call him dad!) is still living.  But today, on Father's Day, I've been thinking about my dad.

My dad had LOTS of flaws.  Big ones.  Many of those flaws I grapple with today.  But today I have not been thinking about his flaws.  I have been thinking about his passions.  In the end...8 years after his death...it is his passions that have shaped me.  Here are a few of them...

1)  Dad was passionate about Jesus.  Jesus was not a word in a song, an image on a screen, or a dusty memory.  Jesus was who my dad loved.  I think all of his life my dad knew that Jesus had forgiven him greatly.

2)  Dad was passionate about his family.  My dad and mom never had a "ken and barbie" marriage (whatever that is!), but they loved each other and they sure loved us kids.  4 kids and dad & mom...we were a very tight family.  We've been through lots of storms...but we're still tight.  Dad was often the glue (or the sledgehammer!) of the family...and we are just now figuring out how to do it without him.

3)  Dad was passionate about reaching lost people.  I've seen my dad lead people to Christ in restaurants, airplanes, car dealerships, homes, ballfields, etc.  My dad was passionate about leading people to Jesus.  I never thought I was an evangelist like dad...and I'm not in the technical term...but his passion for lost people flows through my veins to this day

4) Dad loved life.  He loved to travel. He loved his Boston Celtics (which was rough for me as a Laker fan in the 1970's).  He loved to eat.  My dad loved life.  When he died, my oldest daughter said, "Grampie lived until the day he died".  Dad's passion for life is something I've come to later in life...and praying that I make up for lost time.

Well...that's just a snapshot.  My dad had flaws--BIG ONES (just like I do).  But his passions are what stayed with me and shaped me.

Teams: The God Factor

I was recently sharing with the team that is putting together Thriving Churches International about the importance of teams.  While I was sharing, I used an illustration that seemed to impact several team members, so I'm going to share it here as well.

The basic point of my illustration was that teams need to have a common goal, unity of spirit, and healthy relationships.  But even if all that works, there is still (especially in ministry) a HUGE God-factor that is responsible for any measure of success we ever experience.  So when you get to be part of a team that experiences the movement of God in powerful ways...don't ever take that for granted; celebrate His goodness and the amazing privilege it is to serve Him.

My prime example?  The Apollo space teams which got to participate in a moon landing as the ultimate fulfillment that came from the promise of a President several years earlier.  Think about the joy of the Apollo team.  Now think about the Challenger space team.  Imagine the years of hard work, the effective team principles they lived with.  Now think about their pain and loss as they, and the nation, experienced tragedy together.  Was the Challenger team less committed?  NO WAY!  I'm betting the Challenger team was made up of hundreds (thousands?) of dedicated people all pulling for a glorious launch.  And yet that team had to confront pain, loss, difficulty, defeat, and probably despair.

The lesson for all of us?  There is an amazing God factor whenever we do work (alone or in teams) in His kingdom.  We pray for Him to use us and our teams.  But whenever we do get to experience the joys of ministry that works and seems miraculous...let's not forget that HE is the source of any success and impact we have...and let's remember to celebrate the miracle that He inhabits.

Reproducing Who You Are...

So I'm talking with a friend and leader in our church .  In that conversation, he talks about how people in a meeting went from being very excited about something to developing an action plan--with what seemed to him to be very little prayer.

I felt like he was describing a real problem that sometimes happens with...ME!  People around me (like me!) tend to move from passion to action.   Here is what I think should happen:

Prayer---Passion---Prayer---Action

The truth is that you can have the right passion and take the wrong action unless prayer is part of the entire process.  Truthfully, I believe that...

In fact, I think that Prayer+Passion+Prayer+Action=Kingdom Impact

what do you think?