the vision at sea
Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 05:57AM They’re out there on waves of sea?
They’re no different than you or me
Except they have no hope
Trying desperately to cope
With the perilous tides of despair
while many simply stop and stare.
They have no hope beyond death’s door
They’re the ones that we’re created for.
The storm erupts, the desperate age
Doomed to die in selfish rage
The Captain beacons us to come
We hear the cry but choose to run
Run to ease, comfort, distraction
To seek our selfish satisfaction
Will you heed the call?
Or build a wall
Will you stare at this universal tragedy
Or rescue them eternally.
gut check
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 03:00PM before the journey into a new reality
before staring at death's finality
ask yourself if you are willing to walk
(step by step)
into the place God beckons you
Let his voice wreck you
Don't expect
to elect yourself
and erect a dream
And reject the labor
Instead, expect...
Expect the passion of hard decisions and tough days
Which will lead to endless praise of the One who joins you
This is His story and for His glory.
life has a rhythm
Friday, August 13, 2010 at 04:08PM The follow is my sermon intro for this Sunday it will be read/performed with a bongo player! I've never done anything like this and will probably not be wearing a dye-died t-shirt and I hope I won't hear people snap their fingers in approval after it's over.
Life has a rhythm
(Drums Start)
It’s an unpredictable series of declarations
Of our lives
From exposition
To Rising Action
Conflict
Climactic scenes
Resolution and denumaunte
(Silence)
It has a rhythm but you can’t always hear that sound of the drum
(Drums)
Sometimes you create your own rhythm
Other times the rhythm creates you
It creates movement and color
It connects us
with each other
It connects us with God.
Life is a holy rhythmic festival of faith
Even those without faith
Hear the beating
Of life and wonder
At night’s desperation
When there is no sound
No sleep
No up or down
We all ask
“Is there more?”
(Silence)
It started with a death.
John the Baptist
His head on a platter
The one who prepared the way.
The one Jesus knew as a child
For a moment the beating stopped
And Jesus went to a solitary place
A place to connect
A place to weep
A place to question
The lonely place
(Drums start again)
But the people saw him
And the tempo increased
He saw them coming
He felt their struggle
Broken people
His disciples heard the rhythm of desperation
The word spread
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
The rhythm of healing
The rhythm of teaching
The rhythm of worship
And then rhythm of desperation.
But the rhythm collided with practicality.
(Drums Stop)
We are out here in the middle of nowhere!
The people are hungry! There’s not a fish stand for miles! Jesus what are we going to do! Somebody close in prayer! And tell them to go away!
(Drums start again)
Jesus spoke
Matter-of-factly
Jesus spoke
From a different perspective.
The disciples worried
The disciples spoke
From their inadequacy
Jesus spoke
From his sufficiency
He said “You give them something to eat”
(Silence)
Wait a second. Us? You want us to give them something to eat? I’m a firm believer in delegation but you don’t understand we don’t have what it takes to feed this many people.
He said it again! “You give them something to eat.”
We only have five loaves and two fish.
I can use what you have.
He gave thanks and broke the bread
(Drums start)
First slowly
Then surprisingly
The rhythm
Of giving
The rhythm of a whole lot from very little
The rhythm of provision
But not just provision
Abundance
And after this Jesus sent the disciples on a boat to go ahead of him
And Jesus went to pray alone
(Silence)
He knew the rhythm of the divine and the rhythm of rest, the rhythm of connection
It’s a slower rhythm but a rhythm still the same
(Drums start)
As the disciples jumped
Into a boat
Things started slowly
The rhythm of paddles caressing the glassy surface of the water.
But the sky darkened,
The night fell
The waves rose.
3 AM
Weary from the dance
Of crashing waves
And bailing water
And screaming fits
And fearful souls
A figure came
They thought it was a ghost.
And amazingly
They realized it was Jesus
Just passing by the boat.
(Silence)
In the original Greek it doesn’t say he stopped
He just casually walks on water.
This was a new rhythm of reality.
And suddenly in the middle of the deep darkness of night
And in the middle of wide-eyed amazement and confusion
Jesus said Take courage. It’s me! Don’t be afraid!
Fast Drums- Loud
At that moment everything in Peter commanded him to shout to Jesus
Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.
Jesus cried out. OK Come on out.
All the sudden things just stopped
(Drums Stop)
Peter looked at the water.
Looked back at his travelling companions.
Looked at Jesus
He gripped the side of the boat as if his life depended upon it.
Did I really say what I thought I said?
I’ve been a fisherman all my life.
I know what happens to people when they leave the boat.
Am I crazy?
I saw the fish.
Jesus did it.
I saw the bread.
Jesus did it.
I also heard about John and things didn’t turn out so well for him.
I know what the waves are like.
It’s the middle of the night
The conditions are far from perfect for swimming much less walking… on water.
What am I thinking?
This is crazy
Why did I even open my mouth?
But he said come.
(Drums begin slowly)
One foot
I’m actually doing it.
Two feet.
There’s no stopping now.
Three steps.
Lord, could you please say peace be still?
Fourth step- the wind.
And then
Lord save me.
(Silence)
Jesus plucked him from the water.
Jesus smiled, “Peter where’d your faith go?
And they climbed in the boat. And they worshipped Him for who he was the Amazing God that breaks the rules of physics. The rules he created when God said, Let there be light.
He was and is the God of wonders. A God who invites us all to get out of the boat.
End
After sermon
And the rhythm continues
Life is filled with uncertainties
And the waves are overwhelming
The wind howls today just as it did in Jesus day.
When a car hits a tree and the sirens wail
When you see the culture destroy children
Denying that there is a God
When leaders get sick
When leaders are nowhere to be found.
He’s calling out to us
Get out of the boat
This perfect storm is God sent- even in all its complexities.
The rhythm goes forward
Pressing
Bidding
Daring
For you to risk
For you to be an active participant rather than a feeble spectator.
But to hear the rhythm
We have to slow down
And really listen
To let go of the rail
To let go of the fear
And allow his challenge to actually, incredibly surprisingly calm us
So that we
Can be
Completely
Desperately
Abandoned
To Him
Daniel Pink: Three main motivator for teams
Friday, August 6, 2010 at 12:27PM Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
Management is an 18th century technology. Management is a tool of compliance. We are motivated by autonomy over various dimensions of their work.
If you get out of peoples way you get results.
Gmail was not an official project.
Google news was notable official project.
In your organization, try a FedEx day. Get an idea there overnight.
Time
task
technique
Exercise: when people in the organization say we instead of they, there is progress.
What all of this is about is change. One person can't change an organization. One person can change themselves.
Every great business, romance and organization begins with a conversation.
