Leadership Wednesday 16 - Leadership Lessons from @robackercbc

I’ve been working at my church for almost three years now and I still thoroughly enjoy it. I consider myself rather blessed because I know that isn’t always the case. A lot of pastors I know feel trapped or underappreciated in their jobs and can’t seem to find any way out; I have never felt anything remotely similar to that. I wake up every day thankful for the job I have, and a lot of that has to do with our senior pastor, Rob.

Technically, I guess Rob is my boss, since he’s the one who ultimately made the decision to hire me and is the one who could ultimately make the decision to fire me. But, beyond him being my boss, I consider Rob to be my pastor and someone from whom I can learn a lot about leadership.

This week, after Easter and all the preparation put into our services, Rob made the decision to close the church office the following Monday. It wasn’t a vacation day and we didn’t have to take time off, the office was just closed. It’s not a huge deal to close the office, it’s not like the church was going to miss out on any big bids or massive sales, but it does show a lot of concern and care for staff.

Properly caring for subordinates is definitely a lesson I want to learn. At this point I don’t have that many subordinates, but those I do oversee and the volunteers I work with absolutely deserve my care and concern. I’m not really a warm, fuzzy guy, but Rob has shown me what it means to care for and pastor those God has placed in our care.

Hopefully this isn’t seen as some sort of virtual suck-up because that’s not my intention; I just enjoy when I don’t have to open a book or go to a conference to learn a leadership lesson. Rob is one of the many people I can learn lessons from; I just pray that my heart stays malleable enough to continue learning.

From whom in your everyday life do you learn leadership lessons, positive or negative?

Topical Tuesday 20 - Financial Peace Update

My 13 weeks of Financial Peace University are getting close to wrapping up. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the class and the lessons I’ve learned from Dave Ramsey. I was telling a friend that before I started FPU I would always hear people preface statements about money by saying “Dave Ramsey says…” I would always wonder about the Kool-Aid these people had drunk and why they were such passionate disciples of Dave Ramsey. Now, after my time in FPU, I have drunk the Kool-Aid; I often find myself saying “Dave Ramsey says…,” trying to get people to believe in the principles that have changed my financial life.

I’m still a long way off from where I would like to be. However, I am making smarter decisions about my money and I’ve been able to save more than I ever have before. Pictured below you can see the status of my savings accounts.


And below you can see where I was at almost three months ago.


That’s a difference of $1,448.15. Knowing where I was, that’s a huge number for me, yet I know I’m still a long way off. However, it does feels good to have a plan in place and a goal in mind. I’m also very thankful that I’m armed with Dave Ramsey’s principles before getting married; I know that having a clear financial plan and sticking to it will make my marriage a lot stronger.

If you have any questions about the steps I’ve taken or the plan I’m on, please let me know. I’ve got to warn you, though, I’ll probably start out any answer with, “Dave Ramsey says…”

Music Monday 20 - Entrance Songs

When attending a live baseball game I am always fascinated by the songs the players choose when they come up to bat. At any given game one might here a mixture of rap, rock, country and Latin music. My personal favorite was the song selected by Julio Franco. Franco played for a number of teams and chose Crystal Lewis’ song “People Get Ready…Jesus is Comin’” for when he came up to bat. I always enjoyed hearing a soft, Christian ballad amidst the songs chosen by the other players.

I don’t know if “People Get Ready” got Franco fired up to take his at-bats or if he simply liked the message but it always made me think about what song I would choose. I don’t know if I would choose a song that had a message like “People Get Ready,” a song to fire me up like “Faint” by Linkin Park or just a joke to make people laugh like “Like a Virgin.” I would probably end up picking “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2 because it’s my favorite song and it does a good job of getting me fired up. I would try to work it out in my contract, though, that I would get to choose a new song every home stand. U2 may be good in April, but maybe by August I’d want to listen to Celine Dion or Justin Bieber. Just kidding, who would want to listen to Justin Bieber?

If you were a Major League Baseball player, what song would you choose to play before you came up to bat?

Freeform Friday 11 - Good Friday

I feel the same way about Good Friday that I do about a memorial service for a truly committed follower of Jesus. There’s always this tension, on Good Friday and at such memorial services, between sorrow and celebration. When my grandmother passed away we truly celebrated her life and her love for Jesus, but to this day I still feel an amount of sorrow because she’s gone, because she won’t be sitting with my family on Sunday for Easter dinner. So I celebrate my grandmother’s life and what she did for God’s Kingdom, but also feel the sorrow over her absence.

I also feel sorrow on Good Friday, reflecting back upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. At churches all over the world, people will gather and remember what Christ did. They’ll think about the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ trial before Pilate, Jesus’ beating at the hands of the Roman soldiers, Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary and ultimately his crucifixion, the Son of God hanging on a twisted tree. With images such as these, it’s almost impossible not to feel some amount of sorrow or to carry around the somber weight of what Christ did for us. The sorrow and weight, though, need to be held in tension with the reality that Sunday dawns and, with it, a new reality.

We shouldn’t be filled with sorrow to the point of breaking on Good Friday; Jesus already went through that. Good Friday should be a somber celebration: we recognize what Christ did, yet celebrate what his death means for us and the entire universe. Because Jesus died on a cross the world is being renewed: from the hearts of people to every corner of creation. And while Christ’s death, which initiated that renewal, is a somber reality, we need to willingly celebrate it, because it is good.

Theology Thursday 14 - April Fools'

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let those who boast boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

April Fools’ Day has been around for centuries. One of the first references to April Fools’ Day came in a 1539 Flemish poem about a man who sends his servant on a number of different wild goose chases. As soon as the servant realizes what his master has been doing, the servant regards himself a fool.

No one likes to be regarded as a fool. When I hear the word “fool” I think of a court jester or someone who makes increasingly bad choices. When I call someone a “fool” it’s usually because I do not want to use a harsher word like “stupid” or “moron.” I have no desire to think myself a fool or to live my life in a foolish manner. Once again, though, my desire for my life is different from God’s desire for my life.

We’re told that God chooses to use the foolish, the weak and the lowly because the foolish, the weak and the lowly bring more glory to God. An army of 300 defeating overwhelming odds glorifies God more than an army of 25,000. Uneducated fishermen glorify God more than educated teachers of the law. A crucified carpenter glorifies God more than a conquering king. If we want to glorify God to the best of our ability then we need to be regarded as fools in the eyes of the world.

It’s foolish to think that God uses broken, weak and flawed people to fulfill his purposes, yet he does. We’re just asked to acknowledge our foolishness and brokenness, and then trust in God’s wisdom and righteousness.

How can you acknowledge your foolishness and trust God this April 1st?

Music Monday 19 - Wedding DJs

One summer I went to seven different weddings. That many weddings in such a short amount of time really afforded me the opportunity to form some strong opinions about what I wanted and didn’t want at my own wedding. Some of the things I learned I wanted were a short ceremony and a location that wouldn’t be too hot. I also learned that I didn’t want to have Communion during the ceremony and I didn’t want to make my guests wait three hours while my wife and I took pictures. During that summer I also learned a lot about wedding DJs.

Wedding DJs have two responsibilities: play music and keep the party moving. That’s it. If a wedding DJ begins to tell a story, draw attention to himself or practice his fledgling stand-up routine, he has failed in his purpose. Luckily, Alycia and I seem to have found a DJ who clearly understands and embraces his role. He was the DJ for both of Alycia’s sisters’ weddings and we met with him this past weekend. I was very excited when he himself said that his role is to play music and let people know when they can get cake and when they can dance.

Obviously that dancing involves music, which is where we need a little help. We were given a piece of paper and told to pick 20-30 songs that we would like to have people dance to at our wedding. If it was up to me I would just play Thriller back-to-back three times, which is why I’m asking for suggestions. If you have some good songs for people to dance to, I want to hear them. If you think of one or two or ten songs, share them below.

Topical Tuesday 19 - The Bachelor

In the interest of full disclosure, I do not watch The Bachelor. I’ve never watched The Bachelor. The most I’ve ever seen of the show is when it was on in the background at my friend’s house while waiting to watch South Park and Chappelle's Show. So I don’t know who Jake, Tenley or Vienna are; the only information I’ve gleaned from this season of The Bachelor has come from Twitter, websites mocking the show and Facebook status updates. And, from what I can tell, people are way too invested in fake romances produced for television.

Looking at Twitter and Facebook, people were not only shocked that Jake had chosen Vienna but offended that he hadn’t chosen Tenley. But should anyone really be shocked by the choices of a grown man who chooses to find true love on a television show? Jake chose to find a wife on The Bachelor; he lost all credibility before the cameras even began to roll.

People also like to defend Tenley and image her as the innocent, good girl compared to Vienna’s trashy, bad girl. But Tenley has the same misconceptions of love and marriage that Vienna does, she just didn’t get the final rose. I’ve got no sympathy for someone who thinks that they’re going to find true love on a television show.

I’m fine with people watching The Bachelor; a lot of my good friends enjoy the show. However, with any show or movie or book, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get too emotionally invested. We should recognize entertainment as such and enjoy it. Then when the show ends, when the credits roll or we finish the final chapter, we should choose to emotionally engage with the friends, family and loved ones God has placed in our lives.