40 Hour Call

The last few weeks have been filled with what I usually call the madness of the Fall season. The New Year’s still 4 months away, but for many of us the Fall always feels like the new year.

• The kids go back to school.
• The vacation season is over.
• The church gears up for a new season of ministry.
• New programs are introduced.
• New series are begun.

Like every leader in a church, I always feel the weight and excitement of the “New Year” unfolding in front of us. I find The Call compelling me to retool, refit so the season turns from summer to autumn.

I’ve learned something in these times, a hard truth, one that could seed frustration. The Call – The purpose of our lives doesn’t fit a 40-hour work week. Every August ends the same way, many meetings, many hours of administration and much planning on top of what is normally required.

I’m in my 3rd week of the joke of a 40, 45, or even 55 hour work week and it’s not over yet! I still battle my emotions during this season. I get tired, the load seems great. Patience is thin. It becomes too easy to feel robbed of time off.

But I’ve learned that my frustration is heightened because I’ve been lulled into thinking The Call – the purpose of our lives fits into a 40-hour week.
Leaders – real leaders, those ones who rise and get it done. They know a deep truth.

The Call – The purpose of our lives was never intended to fit into a 40-hour week. Or a Sunday morning, a Sunday evening youth meeting, a Wednesday night study or 2 hours of children’s ministry.

The Call – The purpose of our lives is who we are and what we are.
Sometimes it fits neatly into clearly defined schedules and time limits. Other times it asks for more. And leaders get it done.

Why?

“For the Sake of the Call!”

For every leader who in this season is getting things done. May you know the smile of the Author of the Call.

When Mentors Mentor

Last Sunday, a Ministerial student preached his first sermon ever. I was privileged to not just have him do it in my pulpit, but to have walked with him through the process of sermon development. This Sunday, a mission student will share his first sermon. Again, I have been intimately involved in his preparation.

Both young men felt the weight of responsibility and the weight of significance of preaching as they prepared. Both have battled feelings of inadequacy, fear and nerves. While they each selected their own passages to exposit, I have had an impact on how they prepared and how they deliver their messages. With both young men, I have grown closer and we now share things that others will never understand. The crafting of a proposition statement, preaching keywords that guide a sermon, the power of story to connect with listeners. All these we now share.

What happens when mentors, mentor?
They increase their impact on the world and the kingdom, and they share with others what they have learned and know about their gifts.

What happens when mentors, mentor?
They develop deeper relationships with those in whom they invest.

What happens when mentors, mentor?
They enjoy the satisfaction of watching others succeed in areas they have traversed.

What happens when mentors, mentor?
They lead.

The Call to Lead

I buried a friend last week. A West Virginia, Ohio steel mill worker who for 40 years impacted the kingdom of God by faithfully serving alongside a line of pastors in a local church. I was privileged to have been one of those pastors.

In my wife’s words, he had always been the pastor. Those of us paid to do ministry there simply joined him. Not that he lorded it over people. He simply shepherded the flock. He was a faithful leader. In his local church they will feel the loss, not just in grief but in ministry impact.

What do leaders do when one of their own dies in their midst. They look to the rest, to the others left behind and wonder, will another rise to the challenge of the task? Will another be raised up to shepherd, to lead? The Holy Spirit will nudge others, tapping them on the shoulder. Will they respond to His call? It’s your turn now.

Leaders lead, and when their day is done, others will need to shoulder the task. When your turn comes, when you hear His voice urging, will you rise and lead?

Addicted

The leader of leaders said, “Come, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Interesting thing about fishing, it gets addictive. My wife and my son are now battling their own addictions with it.

Cheryl and I were fly-fishing recently and she was having a good day. Using a side cast, her left hand technique was perfectly dropping an egg pattern under the boughs of a low hanging pine. Time and time again she coaxed a trout out from its hiding place, enticed by the potential of a tasty morsel. For the first time, my wife was in a double digit tally count. I knew that she was addicted. It was apparent when late in the day as it approached the time to leave after catching and releasing another fish, she said to me, “I guess once you get started you keep wanting to catch just one more.”

Addicted.

Followers of the Forgiver are meant to be addicted. Once we discover the satisfaction of catching men, leading individuals into the journey with the Forgiver, we find ourselves compelled to continue casting, working the streams of life, yearning for yet another one to catch-one who is enticed by what we share, and picks up the offering, not to be caught but ultimately set free.

How’s your addiction? He will make us addicted to fishing for men.

What happened?

Gas hit $4 a gallon for the first time this last month. I’ve noticed a number of things.

When gas hit $3 a gallon, people complained and griped a lot! But they drove. They searched for cheaper gas stations and saved up their fuel perks. They may have combined a few more errands in one trip, but they drove.

When it hit $4, people complained but other things began to happen.

 I saw people walking home with grocery bags.
 Bikes are everywhere.
 I saw a middle-aged woman riding her bike in the rain.
 Motor scooters are in vogue.
 People are staying home.

What happened? The price of gas got high enough that we knew we had to make changes.

Sometimes as leaders we approach challenges the same way.

First, we complain about the problem. We acknowledge it, we talk about it, but often that is all we do.

Then when the situation is finally tough enough, critical enough, we figure out a way to address the problem.

Once the issues create the challenges in your life, your calling, your ministry, how long will you wait until you address them?

Lost your edge?

It was my wife’s birthday and she wanted me to create a special dinner centering on a salad. So after a trip the store, I decided on a Surf & Turf salad with a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

As I was searing a NY strip in Cajun spices, I went to slice some tomatoes for the salad. My 5-inch chef’s knife was dull.

I was faced with a number of choices
 skip the tomato
 let someone slice them
 saw away at them
 mash them up

OR
I could get out my steel and put a new edge on my knife.

Sometimes every leader gets a little dull. He is faced in that moment with a number of choices.

 ignore the issue
 let someone else do it
 accept poor performance
 pretend it doesn’t matter
 make excuses

OR
Do what is necessary to sharpen the skill once again. Read a book, evaluate with others, refocus, refresh.

Lost your edge?

Leaders know when it’s time to hone their skills.

Marking Time

Just marking time.
Just counting the days.

It’s the attitude a high school graduate feels in his final weeks of school. Papers are done, tests are finished, and all that’s left is graduation.

Just counting the days until, “it”, the big day arrives.

That’s an okay attitude for a high school senior with only a few days until graduation. But would you hire someone with that attitude on life?

“I’m just marking time until payday, until the weekend. I’m just putting in the days until my next vacation. I’m just waiting on retirement.”

Followers of the Forgiver often fall prey to the same attitude. Often it occurs late in May as we look toward the summer. Sometimes we can find ourselves saying, “I’m just marking time until my summer break”, “When fall get’s here. . . “ , and “After vacation . .” It has become so easy for us just to mark the time during the summer.

The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us run the race set before us.” No marking time in a race. No “just coasting” until the finish. Nope. If you are in a race, you may pace yourself but you are running to win.

So one leader to another, on the edge of another summer season, run hard.

The race is on.