In my life I’ve had many mentors. Some intentional, most not. It’s vitally important that you have mentors in your life. I have some mentors that I disagree with on most everything… on purpose. Most people choose mentors based upon common beliefs, career fields, life stage, etc. And that’s good. But I challenge you to find someone you KNOW you will disagree with. Hang out with them. Learn from them. And don’t argue your point with them. They are your mentor, not the other way around. That is, of course, unless you are prompted to do so. Horizons are broadened. World views are changed. And you have a better idea of the real world than just your little bubble.

In the past year I have had 3 primary mentors who I spend time with. And here is what I have found. When your intentionally find mentors, you find yourself “digging deeper” when you search out new mentors. Again, sometimes this is a conscious decision, other times not so much. In my most recent case, it was completely a God thing.

I was going through some tough emotional baggage that I most enjoy carrying around and I began to ask who I needed to call. Out of nowhere, I contact someone I had only been introduced to. I really didn’t know him at all, really.
But I contacted him. And he met with me and I began a new, deeper journey than I was ever expecting.

Naturally, I found that my previous mentors were setting me up for this one. And this is a very scary thought right now – this mentor is setting me up for a deeper mentor later. Right now my mind is so blown that the possibility of “going deeper” scares me to death!

Mentorships take us where we’ve never been, and sometimes where we don’t want to go. It’s those times where growth happens and new milestones are set. Seek out the mentors in your life. Here are a few guidelines that one of my mentors taught me:

1) Anyone worthy of being a mentor generally doesn’t have time to be your mentor – so don’t ask them to be. Ask them out to lunch and give them a heads up on any questions or topics you would like to discuss so they don’t feel their time is being wasted.

2) Know what you want to learn beforehand. Even if the direction of the mentorship takes another direction than originally anticipated, it’s ok. Just don’t go in blind.

3) If you take them out for lunch or coffee, don’t make them pay. If they’re worth the time, their worth the dime. (sorry, I needed to rhyme for some reason)

4) Understand that most mentors are seasonal.

5) Finally, always seek mentors who go deeper (usually, the mentors of your mentors are a good place to start)

Man, had a great (and terrible) time with the Father this morning. I woke up at 5:30 and immediately started running through my day and next week in my head. Then, I had what I call a “Bob Roberts moment” – A moment when everything goes quiet and I hear, “Why are you chasing after the approval of men?” (If you know Bob Roberts or read his book “Transformation” you know what I’m talking about). From that moment and for the next one-and-a-half hours I began seeing my day, next week, and the next few months in a whole new light. It was refreshing… and very scary, I’ll be honest. There’s something that is freeing when you know you don’t have to win the approval of everyone. When you it doesn’t matter if you get recognized for your hard work or not. But it’s terrifying because when you know that the Father’s in control… all bets are off. You never know what the Spirit will be having you do next. My initial reaction this morning was massive relief, then anxiety. But then I opened the Word and read the following. It’s a gentle reminder that I’m a part of a family, and as a part of that family – even though I may screw up – is always there for me.

Ephesians 2.16-22

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles (orphans – my word here). This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day – a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

I especially like the part where the apostles and prophets are the foundation and now he’s using me.

Ok, that title’s not entirely true. Here at NorthWood, we train young pastors who want to start new churches from around the world. We do that through our Modular Training – 4 days of face-to-face and several months of online training. Doing it this way helps with guys who want training, but can’t (or won’t) move to Texas for 9-months of training (which is the way we’ve done it in the past).
But more than the training, we create a comradery. We laugh, we play, we cry… but mostly laugh. Seriously, it’s a lot of work leading up to the event for the staff, but when we get there we are seriously having the time of our lives! I absolutely LOVE watching the “lights come on” in these guys eyes when a new concept takes hold. I thrive for those moments.
We teach 4 components, or “Modules” – Kingdom (how do you not only see, but live within the Kingdom of God here on earth), Disciple (how to create a discipleship process), Society (we start with the society, NOT the church), and finally, Church (what does a Kingdom minded, Disciple-making, Society-engaging church look like?).
Here are some highlights from this weeks’ training:
- A true disciple both hears AND obeys when the Father speaks… moment-by-moment
- The point is not growing your church, but investing in your community
- Jesus is the head of the Church, not the pastor – all believers can hear from the Head… not just the pastor. (learn to let go of control)
- Don’t quit… it WILL get hard, there WILL be opposition, and you WILL get discouraged.
- Be smart with resources (what really is that $20,000 lighting system going to get you when you’re first starting?)
- Love one another (it’s a harder topic to learn than it is to teach)
- Discover what God is already doing. Don’t try to drag him along in your endeavors
- Release your people to engage the domains of society (Domains are the grid by which we engage, not the church)

This is just a sampling of what happened on one day of the total training… if you’re interested in getting in on the action, go to www.glocal.net/turbo and read the pre-requisites for the “Modular Training” (not the “Turbo” – that’s another deal completely).

Love these guys and can’t wait to see how they will take this and run!

*PARENTAL WARNING*
There is one use of the “F” word in here… just letting you know so you don’t listen with your kids in the room!

I just wanted to make a comment on two parts of this video and I would like to open the discussion boards up below for comments.
First, notice what happened to him when he expressed his view of only Atheists can be moral in front of “christians” (small “c” used on purpose here for the obvious reasons). Shame on them! And, Penn, if you’re reading this, don’t let those idiots talk to you that way (by the way, bravo on being the bigger person in that situation!).

Second, I want to say that I agree with him 100% when he says, “If you are doing it [good, moral work] for reward or punishment you’re not doing it because it’s right, you’re doing it for reward and punishment.” Funny, I think the Bible teaches the same thing…

“For by grace you have been saved a through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

We cannot do ANY works for reward or punishment. We do good works because it is right.

Thoughts?

I love art. Many people don’t know this about me, but I took some advanced placement art classes when in high school and was offered several scholarships to some prestigious art schools. But I didn’t take them because, well, artists don’t make money (we’ll discuss my insecurities and self-worth another time).
There are different views of art. Some look at Picasso or Warhol and just love it. That is not me. I’m more of a da Vinci and Michelangelo type person. I look for realism. “Modern” art just doesn’t float my boat. If someone hands me a picture they painted and tells me it’s a beautiful woman, it had better look like a woman. I don’t have time to stand there and wonder what the artist was thinking when they threw a bunch of paint onto a canvas and called it “woman on couch”.
That got me to thinking this morning as I was reading in I Corinthians 12:12 and it said, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”
Now, if you are a Picasso fan, please indulge me for a moment.

The world moves at a very fast pace these days. I’m on the edge of that generational gap that remembers life before computers, so life and information can even move faster than I’m comfortable with at times! With this fast-paced life those who are outside the church walls don’t have time to stop and contemplate what you are thinking when a pastor or fellow believer makes a negative comment or heavily critical toward non-believers (which is another one of my soapboxes, which we can discuss later). They don’t stop and say, “Well, they could be talking about X or Y.” No, they take it at face value – right or wrong.
Sometimes I wonder if the body of Christ looks more like a Picasso than da Vinci. People look at us from the outside and go, “Wow…” and not in a good way. They look at us and wonder what kind of monstrosity they are beholding.

And that leads us to how we live our personal lives as well. To our neighbors, what do you and your family look like to them? Do you exude the love of Christ, or do people look at you and see, well, a messed up painting that resembles nothing but a mess.

Mona Lisa

I’m not perfect. My family has its flaws. I live in a neighborhood where all my neighbors know us and know us well (better than we probably should sometimes). But I strive to have my life and my family resemble a beautiful painting that reflects the awesomeness of the creator and shows the love and care that was taken to restore me to my pre-fallen state.

I want my life to be the spiritual equivalent of the Mona Lisa.

Let me start by saying this… I hate vacations.
The last time I had a vacation was June, 2007. I have, quite possibly, the coolest job on earth (everyone who loves their jobs say this… if you cannot say that about your job, quit)! When you love your job that much, you can go longer between vacations (although I would not recommend it) without noticing much. As the time draws near for us to go “home” to Colorado, I’m starting to feel the excitement of having a vacation. I’m going to have to battle everyday the need to work, though. I know that taking two weeks off of work is going to mean that I’m going to have a pile to deal with when I return… for that reason alone, I hate vacations.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE going to Colorado to see family. I love the time to be able to re-calibrate myself. I love the time with my girls. But the sheer fact of knowing I will have two weeks worth of work to deal with upon return is more stressful than just not taking vacation. One of my goals of 2009 is to learn how to vacation well, how to take a proper Sabbath, and how to re-calibrate on a monthly basis. I’m not good at those things. I’m a workaholic. I have certain processes I live by, schedules I keep, and vacations and days off mess that system up.

With all that said, pray for us. We leave either tomorrow night or Monday morning for Colorado. It’s been snowing there. Pray for clear roads and safe travels. For some reason I’m worried about this trip this year. It’s funny, I’m less stressed about flying half-way around the world than driving my family to Colorado!

I’ve been so busy I haven’t even posted to the blog here. I’m thinking about doing a fresh re-design for 2009, and doing a more “focused” blog. Being on staff of NorthWood has presented some exciting opportunities for me and the family and people are beginning to ask, “Where’s your website?” Since this has, to this point, been a mostly private blog for family and friends, I’m going to have to do something, I guess. So, tell me, should I keep this one for family and friends and make another public blog? Or, do I just re-design this one to accommodate the public?

What say you?

You have got to listen to this. Penn (one of the duo of Penn & Teller) talks about a man who gave him a book. Pay attention to what this self-described Athiest says, “I don’t respect anyone who does not proselytize.” That’s deep.

Here’s a little video I put together on my free, rainy Sunday. It may sound funny, but making this video was one of the best personal worship times I’ve had in months! Enjoy.

Well, you can keep an eye HERE for more updates, but the rains and floods are getting worse by the minute. I’ve never in my life seen rain and floods like this. Stores are closed and the ones that remained open get a foot of water every time a car drives by! Major intersections are blocked by stalled cars, causing major traffic issues. I couldn’t get a better video of the floods, but this video is of Huong, one of our GVI staff members going back to the office with some things we dropped off for her. At one point in the day, the knee-deep water you see here was waist deep! We did not make it to the orphanage this morning because of the flooding, and we’ll see if we can make it tomorrow. But the weather says it’s supposed to rain the entire time we are here. Start praying for us now! At this point we’ll be lucky if we make it up to Sapa!